Bluegrass Jam Along

My guest this week is Joe Brent, founder of Adhyâropa Records. So many of the guests I've had on the podcast have released their albums through Adhyâropa and I was fascinated to find out more about the label. We talk about why Joe set up the label in the first place, the reasons why it's almost impossible for musicians to make a living today, how Adhyâropa is trying to change that and wh...

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) Alison Krauss vinyl reissue from Craft Recordings  The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass is (mostly) New...

This week's Bitesize episode comes from one of my favourite interviews, the conversation I had with Caitlin Canty about her record Quiet Flame. The album was produced by Chris Eldridge (of Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar) and features a fantastic band, including Paul Kowert, Brittany Haas, Sarah Jarosz, Noam Pikelny and Andrew Marlin. In this excerpt Caitlin talks about the delay between exp...

Hi, This week's briefing is slightly different - I'm running you through some of the nominees for this year's IBMA Music Awards. I'd love to hear what you think - who you think will win, who you think should win, who's missing from the lists and any other thoughts. Come and join the conversation via Instagram , Facebook or Threads and let me know! Matt Support the show ===...

My guest this week is Sara Watkins, with a deep dive into I'm With Her's latest record, 'Wild and Clear and Blue', which has already become one of my favourite records of recent years. We talk about the album’s first writing sessions in 2021, just as the world was starting to reconnect post-pandemic and how that theme of connection eventually grew to run through the whole recor...

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) Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Tiny Desk Concert IBMA Nominee Announcement details Releases (The Grass is New)   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Bud...

My guest this week is Shelby Means.  Lots of you will know Shelby from her time with Della Mae and, more recently, from her time as the bass player in Molly Tuttle's band Golden Highway, who she won a Grammy with. She now has a new solo record out called Shelby Means . We talk about making the record, including the people she assembled to play on it; the songs, which were written over a long...

My guest this week is Joe K Walsh. Joe plays mandolin with several projects, including Mr Sun (featuring Darol Anger, Grant Gordy and Aidan O’Donnell); the Mike Block Trio; a duo with Matt Flinner and a trio with Ella Jordan and Jed Wilson.  He joins me this week to chat about his most recent solo record “Trust and Love” and also his previous record ”If Not Now, Who?” Both records have a quiet, co...

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) IBMA Picking For the Prize Noam Pikelny tour dates Jake Workman safari Ned Luberecki safari Releases (The Grass is New)   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist In My Ea...

This week we're celebrating IBMA World of Bluegrass as it prepares to make the move to Chattanooga after a successful decade in Raleigh. First I'll be talking to former IBMA Executive Director, and current board member, Paul Schiminger about the history of World of Bluegrass, how it started, the various cities it's been hosted in over the years and why it's moving this year. Af...

We're celebrating 50 years of the David Grisman Quintet with a special set of 3 episodes. This week is part 3, featuring the man himself, David Grisman. I chat to David about how the Quintet came together and developed over those early years, how it built on the work he'd already done with The Great American Music Band, how Tony Rice joined the band and what he brought and how, through c...

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) Tony Rice Backwaters re-release Del McCoury Pickin’ Party Bluegrass at the Ryman Releases (The Grass is New)   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy Gab...

We're celebrating 50 years of the David Grisman Quintet with a special set of 3 episodes. This week is part 2, featuring Todd Phillips, who was in the band before it was even a band! We chat about how he got to know David Grisman and how, through taking mandolin lessons from him, they started developing a duet that eventually grew into the Quintet. We also talk about his transition from the m...

2025 marks 50 years since The David Grisman Quintet first got together, an event that changed string band music forever.  The DGQ played a huge part in the careers of some incredible musicians, including Tony Rice, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger and Todd Phillips, as well as including collaborations with Stéphane Grappelli. Their first record,  The David Grisman Quintet , remains one of the most impor...

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) IBMA Bluegrass Live - lineup and tickets Releases (The Grass is New) Acoustic Disc Frank Wakefield album   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Other bits Sign up for...

My guest this week is Bob Minner and we're celebrating one of the most iconic flatpicking records of all time - Norman Blake's 'Whiskey Before Breakfast'. We chat about Bob first hearing this record and why he loves it so much; its place in the flatpicking repertoire; the gear Norman used (including guitars, picks and even string gauges!) and we go through the record track by 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. News and Announcements (Church Street News) Romp Festival lineup and tickets Bluegrass Hall of Fame gigs Green Mountain Lineup Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Carolina Chocolate Drops documentary Releases (The Grass is N...

My guest this week is Wayne Erbsen, professor of old-time and bluegrass music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Wayne joins me to talk about half a century of writing about old-time and bluegrass music, including his latest book Southern Mountain Music: The Collected Writings of Wayne Erbsen. Over the past 50 years Wayne has interviewed many legendary figures in Appalachian music,...

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) Bluegrass on Hudson lineup and tickets IBMA WOB tickets IBMA International Stage applications Note - the deadline is being extended to the end of May Phillips, Grier and...

My guest on the podcast this week is six time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Jason Carter. Jason recently ended his 33 year run with the Del McCoury Band and we talk about that extraordinary journey, from the fascinating story about how he got the job in the first place, to the decision to move on and what comes next. We also talk about the huge changes bluegrass has gone through in those 33 years...

This Bitesize episode features a conversation I had with Wyatt Rice for a set of episodes in 2023 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tony Rice's 'Church Street Blues' album. Wyatt talks about his experience of playing on the sessions aged just 17, hanging out with Tony, the first time he saw an Ovation guitar at Tony's house and the track from 'Church Street Blues'...

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) Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest Banjo in Sicily with Tony Trischka Releases (The Grass is New) Daniel Kimbro album - buy/stream   The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlis...

My guest this week is Katie Harford Hogue, who joins me to chat about the wonderful album 'Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 2' We discuss how the project came about, following the discovery of dozens of John Hartford's notebooks, kept between 1983 and 2001, full of as many as 4,000 original fiddle tunes he'd composed. That led to the book - 'John Ha...

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) Darol Anger’s Big Book of Tunes vol 3 Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy Steve Earle’s Fifty Years of Songs and Stories t...

This Bitesize episode comes from an interview I did in April 2023 with Rachel Baiman about her wonderful record Common Nation of Sorrow I re-listened to the episode (and the album) recently and this section really stood out. We chat about storytelling in music; the power of infusing a song with emotion; the importance of connection and conversation and how music can foster community. I really enjo...