Bluegrass Jam Along

My guest this week is sound engineer Dave Sinko, who returns to chat about The David Grisman Quintet . We've talked about that record a lot on the podcast, but this is less about the story behind the album and more about how it influenced Dave and informed the way he approaches recording. In his words 'it changed my life.' We chat about his subsequent work with members of the DGQ, i...

My guest this week is Tony Trischka, who returns to chat about the New York bluegrass scene in the early 1970s. New York and the surrounding area played a huge role in the development of bluegrass and in the genesis of what would become known as New Acoustic music. Tony talks about the early days of his career, including the bands Country Cooking and Breakfast Special and the overlap between that...

My guest this week is Kristina R. Gaddy, who returns to chat about her new book, a collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, called Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo . The book picks up on the research Kristina did for her previous book  Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History  (you can hear our conversation about that here ). Cruc...

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly 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 Highlights from the first 500 episodes Inspiration for Musicians episode News and announcements - church street news  Dawg at 80 on Nugs Billy Strings Tiny Desk Concert NPR Tiny Desk Contest Old Settler’...

If you were listening last week, you'll know that my interview with Trey Hensley about Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall was the 500th episode of Bluegrass Jam Along. To celebrate I thought I'd put together an episode with a few of my highlights and favourite moments from those first 500. You'll hear from: Alison Krauss, on two different car journeys with Tony Rice Wyatt Rice, on r...

Welcome to the 500th episode of Bluegrass Jam Along! My guest this week is Trey Hensley, who joins me to celebrate the very first record he bought - Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall. This historic album was a pivotal moment for bluegrass and also served as a personal intro to the music for many fans. We chat about why Flatt & Scruggs' performance at Carnegie Hall, on December, 1962 was...

This week's Bitesize episode celebrates one of the most important dates in bluegrass music - December 8th.  The main reason this date is so important is that it marks the first time Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe at The Opry, on December 8th 1945, leading many people to describe it as 'the birth of bluegrass'. That makes 2025 the 80th anniversary of bluegrass! Fast forward to Decem...

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly 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  European Bluegrass Summit registration Alison Krauss & Union Station - Live - vinyl reissue Bela Fleck Jingle All the Way tour dates and vinyl reissue IBMA Webinar...

My guest this week is David Grier, who joins me to celebrate the classic album 'The White Brothers - Live in Sweden' (recently remastered and reissued in an expanded form as 'The New Kentucky Colonels - Live in Sweden'). We talk about what makes this recording special, including the fact it was recorded live and never intended for release, and why Clarence and Roland had such a...

In an age where pop culture dominates the airwaves, understanding the rich variety of music beyond the mainstream becomes increasingly important. In this week's episode, journalist and broadcaster Craig Havighurst joins me to talk about his new book "Musicality for Modern Humans," his journey of exploring musical literacy and the importance of 'listening for' something in...

My guest this week is Eddie Barbash. We chat about his unique journey as a saxophonist who has embraced the world of fiddle tunes. He shares insights into the challenges and joys of transitioning from jazz to fiddle music, the intricacies of improvisation, and the importance of social music-making.  Eddie also talks about his three year journey playing with Sierra Hull and the recording process fo...

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly 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  Old & In the Way Live vinyl release Craig Havighurst book Blue Ridge Guitar Camp Releases (The Grass is New) Buy the records mentioned Alison Brown & Steve Mar...

This week's Bitesize episode features a conversation I had with Chris Eldridge from Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar celebrating Tony Rice's classic album Church Street Blues . Chris talks about Tony's ability to combine big musical gestures with intricate detail, how other musicians played better when they played with Tony and why you should listen to Church Street Blues on vinyl,...

My guest this week is Darol Anger, who joins me to discuss his new album 'Diary of a Fiddler 2 - The Empty Nest'. We chat about the original 'Diary of a Fiddler', released in 1999, and how the second volume celebrates and deepened Darol's connection to the fiddle community, in particular the players he's taught, mentored and collaborated with since the first record ca...

This week's episode is another special recorded at IBMA's World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga. I have four shorter interviews for you, each with someone connected to Dark Shadow Recording. First up is Becky Buller. Becky came onto the podcast in August of 2024 to chat about her record Jubilee . This time we're talking about her album of covers Songs That Sing Me and the role music has...

Welcome to this month’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 Sara Watkins interview News and announcements - church street news  List of IBMA Award winners Releases (The Grass is New) Alison Brown & Steve Martin album pre-order Pre-order Wes Corbett - Drift Vin...

My guest this week is Maddie Denton, fiddle player with East Nash Grass. I caught up with Maddie at IBMA World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga, the day after she was named IBMA's Fiddle Player of the Year! We chat about East Nash Grass and their wonderful new record 'All God's Children' and about musical communities, collaboration (both within the band and with other people) and wh...

My guest this week is Ben Garnett, chatting about his superb new record 'Kite's Keep'. The album features a core band of Ben, Brittany Haas and Ethan Jodziewicz, with guest appearances from Darol Anger, Paul Kowert and Chris Eldridge.  We talk about Ben's background, initially in electric guitar, and the influence his cousin Andy Timmons had on him as a mentor, before Ben start...

My guest this week is Alison Brown. Alison was the first woman to win an IBMA award in an instrumental category, winning Banjo Player of the Year in 1991. She's also a sought after producer, with credits including Dale Ann Bradley, Peter Rowan, Missy Raines and Bobby Osborne and she spent three years as a member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station. She joins me to talk about another lo...

My guest this week is Ethan Setiawan. Ethan's new album Enyclopedia Mandolinnica is a collection of duets and trios featuring some of Ethan's mandolin heroes and contemporaries, including Mike Marshall, Caternia Lichtenberg, Jacof Jolliff, Matt Flinner and more. Recorded over the space of a year, the album showcases a wide range of styles and dynamics and sits comfortably alongside class...

Hi everyone. This is a very short episode just to update you on a couple of bits and let you know about some changes coming to the Bluegrass Jam Along podcast over the coming weeks. There's some really exciting content coming your way but the format will be changing a little (I explain why in the episode). That's all, folks. Happy picking, Matt Support the show === Thanks to Bryan Sutton...

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  Fretboard Summit Alison Brown Banjo Basecamp Bela Fleck banjo raffle Releases (The Grass is New) Infamous Stringdusters website Michael Daves’ Bandcamp The Grass is (mos...

My guest on this week's bitesize episode is Gabe Witcher. This extract comes from a longer conversation I had with Gabe in June 2023, directly after he'd played his final shows with Punch Brothers at Telluride. Gabe talks about first meeting Chris Thile at a festival when they were kids; playing football together before they even got round to jamming; how they found the rest of the band...

My guest for this week's Bitesize episode is Jarrod Walker, best known to most of you as the mandolin player in Billy Strings' band. This is a segment of a longer interview from 2022. In this section Jarrod talks about getting the gig with Billy, how it was both the most progressive and the most traditional gig he'd had, learning to play plugged in and experimenting with pedals. The...

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  Joe Brent Adhyâropa Records interview JD Crowe and the New South reissue Tim Stafford JD Crowe interview episode Earl Scruggs Music Festival Sierra Hull Tiny Desk Concer...