Bluegrass Jam Along

My guest this week is singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman. We chat about Rachel's new record Common Nation of Sorrow , how she made the transition from being an instrumentalist to being a songwriter, how she re-imagined a little known John Hartford song for the new record, why it can be good to include covers on your records as a songwriter and much, much more. This was...

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. Pod news Sign up for email alerts The Grass is New - new releases The Grass is New Spotify playlist Tony Rice live recordings Tony & Wyatt Rice - Together! The Tony Rice Unit - A Beautiful New Year’s Eve The To...

Hi everybody. I recently released two special episodes to celebrate Doc Watson's 100th birthday. I chatted to so many amazing people for them I ended up with almost 5 hours of content! I'm aware not everyone has the time to listen to that much content, so I've decided to pull out some of the key bits and release them as standalone episodes, for those of you who'd like to hear t...

Hi everybody. I recently released two special episodes to celebrate Doc Watson's 100th birthday. I chatted to so many amazing people for them I ended up with almost 5 hours of content! I'm aware not everyone has the time to listen to that much content, so I've decided to pull out some of the key bits and release them as standalone episodes, for those of you who'd like to hear t...

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. Pod news Sign up for email alerts Church Street News Tyler Grant’s new ArtistWorks course Tyler's Facebook IBMA tickets Billy Strings tour Inside the Musician’s Brain podcast The Grass is New - new releases Th...

Hi everybody. Last month I released two special episodes to celebrate Doc Watson's 100th birthday. I chatted to so many amazing people for them I ended up with almost 5 hours of content! I'm aware not everyone has the time to listen to that much content, so I've decided to pull out some of the key bits and release them as standalone episodes, for those of you who'd like to hear...

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 Saint Anne's Reel and we're in the key of D. 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 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. Pod news Sign up for email alerts Church Street News Rob Ickes' Reso Summit Slide Fest DelFest lineup The Grass is New - new releases The Grass is New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy Chris Pandolfi's Ins...

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 Red Haired Boy and we're in the key of A. 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&...

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. Pod news Bluegrass Jam Along is now sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins Sign up for email alerts Church Street News Blue Highway Fest The Grass is New - new releases The Grass is New Spotify playlist Scroll...

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. Pod news Sign up for email alerts Church Street News Fretboard Summit The Grass is New - new releases The Grass is New Spotify playlist Scroll on Buddy Alison Brown and Steve Martin In my ears this week The Grass i...

My guest this week is Noam Pikelny. Noam is probably best known as a member of Punch Brothers, but he joins me this week to talk about his new project, Mighty Poplar. He’s joined in this band by fellow Punch Brother Chris Eldridge and former Punch Brother Greg Garrison, as well as Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse and Alex Hargraves, fiddle player with Billy Strings. We chat about how the band came toge...

This week we're jamming along to Peartree 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 G 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 get i...

This week we're jamming along to Peartree 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 G 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 get in to...

This week we're jamming along to Peartreeand 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 G 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...

This  week we're jamming along to the classic tune Peartree. 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 along!...

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. Pod news John McEuen interview  - Apple - Spotify - YouTube Church Street News Pat Morris, IBMA’s Executive Director, has announced his plans to resign Alan Bibey joins Balsam Range Bluegrass Situation piece on to...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a new 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. Pod news Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - part 1 & part 2 Bluegrass Jam Along’s YouTube channel Sign up for email alerts Church Street News IBMA lineup and tickets Kyle Cantrell leaves Sirius XM Ron...

My guest this week is John McEuen, founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I recently put together two special episodes to celebrate Doc Watson's 100th birthday (links below in case you missed those). I interviewed over a dozen guests and John was kind enough to take part and share some memories of recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken with Doc. Those episodes ended up being so long I...

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a new weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. This week we’re all about the birthdays and anniversaries. We’re celebrating Doc Watson’s 100th, as well as Telluride’s 50th…and Bluegrass Jam Along’s 2nd! Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - part 1 &a...

Hi everyone. Today (March 3rd 2023) would have been Doc Watson's 100th birthday, so I've put together a couple of really special episodes to celebrate.  I spent the past 3 months interviewing people who knew, played with, worked with, were inspired by or just loved Doc and his music. I ended up with hours and hours of wonderful conversation and have edited it all into two episodes. This...

Hi everyone. Today (March 3rd 2023) would have been Doc Watson's 100th birthday, so I've put together a couple of really special episodes to celebrate.  I spent the past 3 months interviewing people who knew, played with, worked with, were inspired by or just loved Doc and his music. I ended up with hours and hours of wonderful conversation and have edited it all into two episodes. This...

Welcome to the very first Bluegrass Briefing, a brand new weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. This week we’ve got plenty of Doc Watson related content in the run up to his 100th birthday on March 3rd. I’ll be releasing two extra special episodes of the podcast on Doc’s birthday, featuring 4 hours of brand new interviews with people who knew, worked...

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 Salt Creek and we're in the key of A. 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...

My guests on the podcsat this week are Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. Rob and Trey have a fantastic new record out called 'Living in a Song' and they joined me to chat about the inspiration behind the songs, the recording process and much more. Trey has been on the podcast before, but this was my first time chatting to Rob, so that was a real treat. They're great to chat to and I love...