Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a new 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 Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - part 1 & part 2 Bluegrass Jam Along’s YouTube channel Sign up for email alerts Church Street News IBMA lineup and tickets Kyle Cantrell leaves Sirius XM Ron Block banjo app The Grass in New - new releases Might Poplar tracks Missy Raines new single with Dan...
Mar 12, 2023•15 min•Ep. 262
My guest this week is John McEuen, founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I recently put together two special episodes to celebrate Doc Watson's 100th birthday (links below in case you missed those). I interviewed over a dozen guests and John was kind enough to take part and share some memories of recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken with Doc. Those episodes ended up being so long I didn't have room for all of the conversation I had with John, but there was so much great stuff in there ...
Mar 09, 2023•35 min•Ep. 263
Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a new weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. This week we’re all about the birthdays and anniversaries. We’re celebrating Doc Watson’s 100th, as well as Telluride’s 50th…and Bluegrass Jam Along’s 2nd! Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - part 1 & part 2 Jarrod Walker interview Jake Eddy first interview Jake Eddy second interview (Andy Statma...
Mar 06, 2023•10 min•Ep. 261
Hi everyone. Today (March 3rd 2023) would have been Doc Watson's 100th birthday, so I've put together a couple of really special episodes to celebrate. I spent the past 3 months interviewing people who knew, played with, worked with, were inspired by or just loved Doc and his music. I ended up with hours and hours of wonderful conversation and have edited it all into two episodes. This is the second.... This one focusses on people who were inspired by Doc and his music. You'll hear from: Mike Ma...
Mar 01, 2023•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 260
Hi everyone. Today (March 3rd 2023) would have been Doc Watson's 100th birthday, so I've put together a couple of really special episodes to celebrate. I spent the past 3 months interviewing people who knew, played with, worked with, were inspired by or just loved Doc and his music. I ended up with hours and hours of wonderful conversation and have edited it all into two episodes. This is the first.... This one focusses on those who worked and played with Doc, plus a couple of people responsible...
Mar 01, 2023•2 hr 7 min•Ep. 259
Welcome to the very first Bluegrass Briefing, a brand new weekly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass. This week we’ve got plenty of Doc Watson related content in the run up to his 100th birthday on March 3rd. I’ll be releasing two extra special episodes of the podcast on Doc’s birthday, featuring 4 hours of brand new interviews with people who knew, worked with, admire and have been influenced by Doc. Guests include T. Michael Coleman, Jack Lawrence, Bry...
Feb 24, 2023•14 min•Ep. 258
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 Salt Creek 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. Don't forget to grab a chord sheet if you need one from bluegrassjamalong.com Happy picking! Matt Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (D...
Feb 20, 2023•16 min•Ep. 257
My guests on the podcsat this week are Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. Rob and Trey have a fantastic new record out called 'Living in a Song' and they joined me to chat about the inspiration behind the songs, the recording process and much more. Trey has been on the podcast before, but this was my first time chatting to Rob, so that was a real treat. They're great to chat to and I love the new record. You'll find all the info you need on Rob & Trey's website . You can also follow them on Instagr...
Feb 08, 2023•33 min•Ep. 256
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 along! If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more or get in touch), head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bl...
Feb 03, 2023•4 min•Ep. 255
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 chart (or just want to find out more or get in touch), just head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along...
Feb 03, 2023•9 min•Ep. 254
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 want to find out more or get in touch), just head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forge...
Feb 03, 2023•5 min•Ep. 253
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 just want to find out more or get in touch), just head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't f...
Feb 03, 2023•5 min•Ep. 252
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 and I wanted to share it. So here it is! That's it, just a quick anecdote to listen to in a quiet five minutes! Happy pic...
Feb 03, 2023•4 min•Ep. 251
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 Bluegrass Heart' record and tour. We also talk about the new record Sierra's currently in the process of making, her Artis...
Jan 27, 2023•35 min•Ep. 250
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. Don't forget to grab a chord sheet if you need one from bluegrassjamalong.com Happy picking! Matt Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Alo...
Jan 22, 2023•17 min•Ep. 249
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 100th birthday this year. The shows feature Doc's long time collaborators Jack Lawrence and T. Michael Coleman, pl...
Jan 14, 2023•41 min•Ep. 248
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 tend to be more about why people play music, rather than what they play, and this is a wonderful example of the for...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 247
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 latest release 'Place of Growth' featuring Paul playing the bass we're talking about. Hope you enjoy it! You'll fin...
Jan 03, 2023•18 min•Ep. 246
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 making in general. So, here he is! I really enjoyed this one. We talked about how Nick got into bass making, how h...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 245
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 chord sheet if you need one from bluegrassjamalong.com Happy picking! Matt Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to incl...
Dec 12, 2022•16 min•Ep. 244
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 different bits of the instrument contribute to the sound of a guitar. We then look at alternative types of wood, w...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 243
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 our ears. It's really simple, but effective (I've tried it and it's working already!) If you missed the full inter...
Dec 02, 2022•6 min•Ep. 242
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's playing when I interviewed them (you'll find links to those interviews on the Bluegrass Jam Along website ). We chatted about...
Nov 24, 2022•44 min•Ep. 241
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 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 bp...
Nov 18, 2022•16 min•Ep. 240
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! Here's the Tim Stafford interview , in case you missed it. And here's David Grier's website , for no reason othe...
Nov 17, 2022•6 min•Ep. 239
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 biography of Tony Tim co-wrote and the CD box set he's currently working on!) For news and updates go to Tim's ...
Nov 14, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 238
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, then we swap and go round 4 times. Then, after a quick pause, we do the whole thing again at 85 bpm. Have a go and see what you think. I...
Oct 13, 2022•11 min•Ep. 237
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 along! If you want a chord chart (or just want to find out more or get in touch), head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to ...
Oct 10, 2022•3 min•Ep. 238
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 chart (or just want to find out more or get in touch), just head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Alon...
Oct 10, 2022•5 min•Ep. 237
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 just want to find out more or get in touch), just head to bluegrassjamalong.com Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't for...
Oct 10, 2022•3 min•Ep. 236
