Bluegrass Jam Along Interviews

Kristina R. Gaddy joins me again to celebrate the paperback release of her fascinating book “Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History”. We chat about the reception to the book's publication in hardback, what information has come to light since publication, Kristina's hopes that her book will inspire others to pick up where she left off and dig deeper, plus how Beyonce&ap...

**This interview was originally posted in September 2022** My guest this week is Kristina R. Gaddy, who joins us to discuss her fascinating book “Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History”. We chat about how she came to write the book and some of the key discoveries she made along the way, in particular the banjo’s unknown history as an instrument of ritual and rebellion. Kristina’...

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  Church Street Blues reissue Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The...

My guest this week is Matt Glaser, Artistic Director of Berklee's Center for American Roots Music. Matt joins me to celebrate 15 years of the program, but also to delve into some of the themes of his superb Keynote Speech at IBMA 2023. In the speech, Matt sets out the idea that American music can be seen as one thing, rather than simply a series of genres, and goes on to give countless exampl...

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 Rhiannon Giddens on collaborating with Beyoncé on 'Cowboy Carter' Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll o...

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 ticket info Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Bob Minner - Sulphur Dell Other bits Sign up for emails https://blue...

My guest this week is Lindsay Lou, who joins me to talk about her wonderful record  Queen of Time . We talk about the arc of Lindsay's creative journey, from her previous record  Southland  to this record, and beyond. We also chat about why it's important to know where you came from, both personally and musically, and why that led to Lindsay using interviews with her grandmother on two 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  Well of Souls - Kristina Gaddy Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Punch Brothers - Just What I Needed Other bits Sign up...

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 Music Festival lineup Mike Marshall and Caterina  Lichtenberg’s mandolin retreat Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll...

My guest this week is singer-songwriter, producer, author, and playwright Michael Johnathon. Michael is probably best known as the founder, producer and host of The Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour. He joins me to talk about Woodsongs' extraordinary history, from its humble beginnings in a tiny room with an audience of 12, to being broadcast on 537 radio stations and heard by over two million li...

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  North Carolina Guitar Celebration Chris Thile’s Acousticamp Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy New Music Streaming Bill...

My guest this week is guitarist Ethan Sherman. Ethan joins me to talk about his new record 'Passages', which is due out on March 8th. We chat about working with producer Wes Corbett on the project, why it was important to write for specific players and how Ethan came to string band music in the first place. We also chat about a wonderful book Ethan co-wrote with Adam Levy called 'St...

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  Lessons With Marcel Tony Rice video Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Earl Scruggs’ D18 Other bits Sign up for emails h...

My guest this week is Missy Raines. We talk about Missy's wonderful new album 'Highlander' and her journey from being a bass player to becoming a singer/songwriter and bandleader. Along the way Missy talks about being part of a musical tradition, what that means to her, how working with producer Alison Brown shaped the record and why it felt like coming home to a place she'd ne...

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  Song Farmers Casey Driessen’s Blue Ridge Fiddle Camp Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Scott Nygaard on playing for peo...

My guest this week is fiddle player George Jackson. George, originally from New Zealand, now living in Nashville, won the 2022 IBMA Instrumentalist Of The Year Momentum Award. He's played with a wide range of artists with artists such as The Jacob Jolliff Band, Jake Blount, Tall Poppy String Band, The Local Trio, Front Country, Peter Rowan and Missy Raines. He joins me to chat about a fascina...

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  Steve Gulley Memorial Scholarship Bluegrass Today piece Crandall Creek website New Mexico Banjo Camp Discovering Tony Rice Book Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is...

My guest this week is Kyle Tuttle. Lots of you will know Kyle as the banjo player in Molly Tuttle's band Golden Highway, but he also has a fantastic new record called 'Labor of Lust', which he's joining me to chat about in this episode. We talk about the roots of the record, the theme that runs through it, Earl Scruggs' influence on Kyle (and the banjo in general) and usin...

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  Michael Daves Facebook page Bluegrass in La Roche Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Alex Hargreaves ArtistWorks course...

This is the final episode in the series celebrating Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday.  My guest for this one is Jim Mills. Jim is a fantastic banjo player, who spent over a decade playing with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He's also an expert on pre-War Gibson banjos, so is the perfect person to talk about how the banjos Earl played influenced the sound and, as a rewsult, the type of ba...

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 official showcase Ramble applications  Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots Festival Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on B...

This is part 3 of the celebration of Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday.  In this episode we're talking about Earl's influence on the younger generation of players and also celebrating his wonderful guitar playing. You'll hear from: Trey Hensley, on Earl being his main influence on the guitar, as well as getting to meet and play with Earl Kyle Tuttle, on why no banjo record is comple...

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. Podcast news Earl Scruggs 100th birthday celebration part 1 Part 2 Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass...

This is part 2 of the celebration of Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday.  Earl's influence on bluegrass is huge, as you'll hear from my guests this week. You'll hear from: Jerry Douglas, on Earl being one of the first sounds he heard and why starting The Earls of Leicester felt like a calling Alison Brown on why the timing of Earl's arrival on the bluegrass scene (and the wider...

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. Podcast news Earl Scruggs 100th birthday celebration part 1 News and announcements (Church Street News) Earl Scruggs Center - Center Stage shows Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist S...