Bluegrass Jam Along

This week we're jamming along to Far From 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 G at 75 bpm. backing track starts at 00:42 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or...

This week we're jamming along to Far From 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 G at 75 bpm. backing track starts at 00:59 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or just...

This week we're jamming along to Far From 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 G at 75 bpm. backing track starts at 00:47 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord...

This  week we're jamming along to the classic tune Far From 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. Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done and jam a...

This is a really quick bonus episode I wanted to share with you all.  I'm putting together a Doc Watson 100th birthday episode, which is due out in March. I've interviewed lots of amazing guests for that and one of them was the wonderful Tony Trischka. At the end of our chat Tony told me a story about meeting Bill Monroe - it doesn't fit in the Doc episode but it's really cool...

My guest this week is Sierra Hull. I caught up with Sierra before the London show on her UK tour with Justin Moses.  We chatted about how spending so much time at home over the course of the pandemic changed her outlook on things and about some of the collaborations she's been part of over the past year, including touring with Cory Wong and her involvement in Bela Fleck's 'My Bluegr...

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 Cherokee Shuffle 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. Do...

My guest this week is Jack Hinshelwood. Jack is a guitarist, fiddler, singer and winner of the Knoxville World’s Fair Guitar Championship, the Wayne Henderson Guitar Championship, and a two-time winner of the Galax Fiddler’s Convention guitar contest. He joins me to chat about Doc at 100 , a really special set of shows he's co-producing to celebrate what would have been Doc Watson's 100t...

My guest this week is guitarist Eric Skye. We covered a lot of ground, including Eric's Santa Cruz signature model guitar, the joys of playing tunes slowly, why tone is so important and, especially, his wonderful new record of fiddle tune duets with J amie Stillway, 'Over the Waterfall', which is released on January 13th. I loved this chat. My favourite conversations on the podcast...

My guest this week is Nick Lloyd of Nick Lloyd basses. I recently interviewed Paul Kowert of Hawktail and Punch Brothers (see episode 228 if you missed that). Shortly after, I got an email from Nick saying he'd heard the interview and that he'd made the bass Paul talked about. We got chatting and I asked him if he'd be up for coming on the podcast to talk about that, as well as bass...

This episode features a short interview with Paul Kowert of Hawktail and Punch Brothers talking about his Nick Lloyd double bass. I interviewed Nick about making the bass (episode 245) and thought it would be cool to chat to Paul about what makes the instrument special and why he wanted a copy of Edgar Meyer's bass in the first place. You'll also get to hear a track from Hawktail's...

Hi everyone. We're back with another two tempo jam. This week it's Whiskey Before Breakfast, again at 75 and 85, 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 bpm. Don't forget to grab a...

Steve Nall (Nully), Collings' Head of Production, returns to the podcast to chat about tonewoods. When Nully was originally on the podcast in July we touched on this and I thought it would make for a great episode in its own right, as it's something lots of us have questions about. We start with a look at the woods typically used in bluegrass guitars, why they're chosen and what the...

Hi everyone. I've got another quick Food for Thought episode for you, inspired by my recent interview with Tim Stafford. Tim told me nobody could tune a guitar like Tony Rice and that he thought that was a big part of his sound.  He said we've all lost the ability to tune because we rely on electronic tuners too much, but suggests a new way to use them that will actually  help improve ou...

My guest this week is Harry Clark, a recipient of the 2022 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award. Harry plays mandolin with East Nash Grass as well as in Dan Tyminski's band, both of which have new records due out in 2023.  He also played in the band for Bronwyn Keith-Hynes' fabulous record 'Fiddler's Pastime.' Both Dan and Bronwyn were full of praise for Harry&a...

A couple of weeks ago I released an episode where we played Wildwood Flower back to back at two different speeds  - once at 75 bpm then again at 85. It proved so popular I've decided to do the same with some more tunes! This week it's Turkey in the Straw, again at 75 and 85 and we're in the key of G. We're using the jam along format - that means I'm kicking off playing bac...

I interviewed Tim Stafford for the podcast this week, which was an absolute treat. We talked about all sorts, from Blue Highway to Tony Rice, Billy Strings and Tim's songwriting. Tim also talked about David Grier's take on what matters when it comes to guitars, strings and picks, which is great. Tim also does a killer David Grier impersonation, which is worth hearing in its own right! He...

My guest this week is Tim Stafford. Tim is a multi award winning guitarist, songwriter, singer, producer and author. We covered a lot of ground, including the recent Blue Highway Fest, Tim's songwriting partnerships,  how bluegrass has changed in the last 15 years, why he has no time for people moaning about Billy Strings and, of course, plenty of Tony Rice chat (including the wonderful biogr...

This week we've got a bonus episode! As we've been playing Wildwood Flower for the past two weeks, I thought it would be fun to have a run through at 75 bpm, then, when we're warmed up, go through it again slightly quicker at 85 bpm. It's a bit of an experiment. We're using the jam along format - that means I'm kicking off playing backup and you're on the tune, t...

This week we're jamming along to Wildwood Flower 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 C at 85 bpm. backing track starts at 00:27 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or ju...

This week we're jamming along to Wildwood Flower 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 C at 85 bpm. backing track starts at 0:38 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord...

This  week we're jamming along to the classic tune Wildwood Flower. 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...

This week we're jamming along to Wildwood Flower 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 C at 85 bpm. backing track starts at 00:28 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (o...

This week we're jamming along to Wildwood Flower 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 C at 75 bpm. backing track starts at 00:34 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (o...

This week we're jamming along to Wildwood Flower 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 C at 75 bpm. backing track starts at 00:38 Don't forget to check out the other three episodes when you're done. If you want a chord chart (or ju...