Bluegrass Jam Along

This week we're jamming along to Big Sandy River and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the you play rhythm track where I play the melody so you can work on backup.  It's four times through in the key of A at 75 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more o...

This week we're jamming along to Big Sandy River and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the you play lead track where I play backup so you can work on the tune.  It's four times through in the key of A at 75 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more or ge...

This week we're jamming along to Big Sandy River and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the jam along track where I play backup, followed by the melody then we keep swapping.  It's four times through in the key of A at 75 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find...

This  week we're jamming along to the classic tune Big Sandy River. This is a performance track, rather than a backing track. It's me playing both tune and backup so you've got a reference to listen to if you're new to the tune, or just want to be able to listen a few times to the whole thing. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done and jam...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and announcements (Church Street News) Energy Curfew Music Hour tickets Releases (The Grass is New) Kelly Hunt - Ozark Symphony The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy Mandolin Cafe In My Ea...

This week we're jamming along to Home Sweet Home and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the you play rhythm track where I play the melody so you can work on backup.  It's four times through in the key of D at 85 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more o...

This week we're jamming along to Home Sweet Home and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the you play lead track where I play backup so you can work on the tune.  It's four times through in the key of D at 85 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more or ge...

This week we're jamming along to Home Sweet Home and I've got  three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the jam along track where I play backup, followed by the melody then we keep swapping.  It's four times through in the key of D at 85 bpm. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find...

This  week we're jamming along to the classic tune Home Sweet Home. This is a performance track, rather than a backing track. It's me playing both tune and backup so you've got a reference to listen to if you're new to the tune, or just want to be able to listen a few times to the whole thing. If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more or get in touch),  head to b...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and announcements (Church Street News) Grammy Nominations Releases (The Grass is New) Catilin Canty ‘Quiet Flame’ video (with Paul Kowert) The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy ArtistWorks...

2023 is the 20th anniversary of the release of Mike Marshall and Chris Thile's album of mandolin duets 'Into the Cauldron'. To mark the anniversary and celebrate the album, and the influence it's had on a whole generation of mandolin players, I've put together two very special episodes. This is part 2, featuring interviews with mandolin players who were influenced by and l...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and announcements (Church Street News) Earl Scruggs’ 100th Birthday Celebration Bluegrass Guitar Sicily - With Bryan Sutton and Chris Eldridge Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify play...

2023 is the 20th anniversary of the release of Mike Marshall and Chris Thile's album of mandolin duets 'Into the Cauldron'. To mark the anniversary and celebrate the album, and the influence it's had on a whole generation of mandolin players, I've put together two very special episodes. This is part 1, featuring a brand new, in-depth interview with Mike Marshall. We chat a...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy Elderly Instruments named America’s Top Small Business In My Ears Bear Family CDs We Shall All Be Reunited - Revisiting The Bri...

This week we're playing another tune back to back at two different speeds  - once at 75 bpm then again at 85. We're doing Big Sciota and we're in the key of G. We're using the jam along format - that means I'm kicking off playing backup and you're on the tune, then we swap and go round 4 times. Then, after a quick pause, we do the whole thing again at 85 bpm. Don&apos...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Bluegrass Jam Along News Clarence White Tribute - part 1 Clarence White Tribute - part 2 Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy Mandolins and Beer podcast Earl Scrugg...

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Clarence White - one of the undisputed greats of bluegrass guitar. To mark the occasion, and to celebrate Clarence, I've been speaking to people who knew and played with him, as well as musicians who were influenced by his playing. This is part 2, featuring all new interviews with Russ Barenberg, Diane Bouska, Michael Daves and Tim Stafford. Rus...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Bluegrass Jam Along News Clarence White Tribute part 1 Sweet Relief Musicians Fund News and announcements (Church street News) Celtic Connections Oh, Didn’t They Ramble - Rounder Records book Blue Ridge Guitar Camp...

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Clarence White - one of the undisputed greats of bluegrass guitar. To mark the occasion, and to celebrate Clarence, I've been speaking to people who knew and played with him, as well as musicians who were influenced by his playing. This is part 1, featuring all new interviews with David Grier, who knew Clarence in the final year of his life, and...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Bluegrass Jam Along News IBMA episode News and announcements (Church street News) Caitlin Canty and Chris Eldridge - ‘Come By the Highway Home’ Nechville Billy Failing banjo Sarah Jarosz tour dates Releases (The Gr...

This week's episode is a special IBMA World of Bluegrass 2023 round up. I was incredibly lucky to be nominated for an IBMA Momentum Award for the podcast, so I made the trip over from the UK to Raleigh for the awards ceremony and the conference.  While I was there I interviewed a few people, some you'll be very familiar with, some maybe less so, about their experiences of IBMA and what i...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Bluegrass Jam Along News IBMA website Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz interview News and announcements (Church street News) IBMA music award winners Releases (The Grass is New) Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz recor...

My guests this week are Martin Simpson & Thomm Jutz, who join me to talk about their wonderful new record  'Nothing But Green Willow : The Songs of Mary Sands and Jane Gentry.' The album brings together a selection of British folk songs collected in Appalachia in the early 20th century by Cecil Sharp and Maud Karpeles. Alongside Martin and Thomm it features a range of incredible arti...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. Bluegrass Jam Along News Bluegrass Jam Along website Peghead Nation Use the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any course News and announcements (Church street News) Punch Brothers - Energy Curfew Music Hour Relea...

My guest this week is James Kee, lead singer and guitarist with East Nash Grass. James chats about how the members first came together via a regular Nashville gig, how that slowly began to turn into a band and also about their fantastic new record Last Chance to Win . You can find out more at the East Nash Grass website, where you'll find tour dates, music, merch and links to social platforms...