Bluegrass 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. 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...

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) IBMA app Apple Google Releases (The Grass is Ne...

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 Peartree 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'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. Bluegrass Jam Along News Bluegrass Jam Along website News and announcements (Church street News) Brad Farmer scholarship info Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New Spotify playlist Other bits Sign u...

Hi everyone. Not a full episode this week, I just wanted to let you know what's going on over the summer as I'm taking a short break. Happy picking! Matt Support the show === Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!) Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premi...

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 List of tunes on the website News and announcements (Church street News) IBMA music awards nominees IBMA industry/momentum award nominees Releases (The Grass is...

My guest this week is singer songwriter Caitlin Canty. Caitlin joins me to chat about her new album Quiet Flame , produced by Chris Eldridge (of Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar) and featuring a fantastic band, including Paul Kowert, Brittany Haas, Sarah Jarosz, Noam Pikelny and Andrew Marlin. We talk about working with those musicians, the fact that the record was about to be made when the pandem...

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 List of tunes on the website News and announcements (Church street News) New Northfield mandolin (and guitar) models Ron Block banjo app Releases (The Grass is N...

This week's episodes were supposed to be a set of backing tracks for Big Sandy River. I recorded them and started editing and they just sounded a bit....well...bad! So rather than put them out, or make up an excuse, I thought I'd share that in the hope it helps a few other people go a little easier on themselves on their bad days. Because we all have them (even Bryan Sutton). It's 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. Bluegrass Jam Along News New Bluegrass Jam Along website News and announcements (Church street News) IBMA Mystery Merch Sale Releases (The Grass is New) Wyatt Ellis ‘Grassy Cove’  Other bits Sign up for emails http...

My guest this week is Tim Stafford of Blue Highway. Tim joins me to chat about his new record Guitar Melodies, a wonderful album of guitar instrumentals. We talk about the tunes, the guitars he used, who else plays on the record and why Tim dedicated the album to the memory and legacy of Tony Rice. It's a great record and it's always a pleasure to chat to Tim. Head to Tim's website...

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 New Bluegrass Jam Along website News and announcements (Church street News) Samuel Smith story Samuel’s Instagram Listen to ‘In the Springtime’ Releases (The Grass is New) Watch Molly Tuttl...