My guest this week is Tom Nechville from Nechville Banjos. Tom joins me to chat about 40 years of making banjos, including what he's learned along the way and some of the innovations he's brought to the banjo, including his revolutionary Heli-Mount head tightening system. We also chat about why he chose to sell his building in Minneapolis and move his entire shop to Sisters, Oregon; returning to his passion for hands-on building of custom instruments on his own with complete control over the out...
Feb 05, 2025•55 min•Ep. 442
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. Pod news Eric Skye - Phillips, Grier & Fliner special Apple Podcasts Spotify News and Announcements (Church Street News) Alison Krauss pre-order and tour info Billy Strings tour dates DelFest lineup and tickets Blue Highway 30th anniversary concert Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 pl...
Feb 03, 2025•12 min•Ep. 441
My guest on the podcast this week is Eric Skye, who joins me to celebrate the album 'Phillips, Grier & Flinner'. Released in 1999 on Compass Records, it marks the first collaboration between bassist Todd Phillips, guitarist David Grier, and mandolinist Matt Flinner and features three original tunes from each. We chat about how Eric first discovered the record and why it means so much to him, plus what's so special about these three musicians and this collection of tunes. We also chat about t...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 440
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. Pod news Daniel Kimbro interview Apple Podcasts Spotify News and Announcements (Church Street News) Dawg at 80 Sierra Ferrell tour dates Earl Experience Banjo Camp Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Scroll on Buddy Martin Guitars Billy Strings signature models Other bits Sign up f...
Jan 27, 2025•8 min•Ep. 439
My guest this week is Daniel Kimbro. Daniel is the bass player in Jerry Douglas's band and plays with Jerry in Transatlantic Sessions and The Earls of Leicester. He's also part of the trio Harley Kimbro Lewis and joins me this week to chat about his first solo record Carpet in the Kitchen . This was a fun conversation that touches on story songs, fishing, murder ballads, collaboration and finding a sense of place in music, plus lots of chat about how Carpet in the Kitchen came together and the m...
Jan 22, 2025•55 min•Ep. 438
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) Sierra Hull - pre-order/pre-save the new record Bluegrass in La Roche info Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Full list of inter...
Jan 20, 2025•10 min•Ep. 437
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) Chris Thile’s Acousticamp Station Inn book Bluegrass Hall of Fame - John Hartford Days Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist Full li...
Jan 13, 2025•14 min•Ep. 436
My guest this week is author Dan Gutstein, who joins me to chat about his book 'Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane'. The book traces the history of one of America's most recorded folk songs, from its origins amongst enslaved people on southern plantations, through the Civl War and minstrelsy, to the folk revival and beyond. On its journey Little Liza Jane, and its variants, was performed and recorded by a huge range of artists, including Del McCoury, Nina Simone, Merle Travis, Do...
Dec 11, 2024•54 min•Ep. 435
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) Noam Pikelny and Friends tour dates Alison Krauss tour dates Earl Scruggs Center events Bela Fleck’s Blue Ridge Banjo Camp European Bluegrass Summit Releases (The Grass is New) Buy Sarah Jarosz's Blue Heron Suite Sierra Hull’s Holiday Favorites 7” vinyl The Grass is (mo...
Dec 09, 2024•15 min•Ep. 434
My guest this week is Darol Anger, one of the leading lights of progressive string band music over the last 50 years. Through his work with the David Grisman Quintet, the Turtle Island String Quartet, bands like Psychograss and New Grange and his long standing collaboration with Mike Marshall (not to mention his own wonderful solo records), Darol has been at the forefront of pushing perceptions of what string bands can do for decades. Today we're chatting about Darol's current band, Mr Sun, and ...
Dec 04, 2024•59 min•Ep. 433
My guest this week is Charlotte Carrivick. Charlotte is one of my favourite guitarists, so I'm delighted she's back on the podcast to talk about her new record Sensible or Otherwise . We chat about why, despite having written tunes for years, it took so long to make an instrumental record; the new guitar she commissioned for this album; why she's not uploading it to Spotify and where some of the names for the tunes on this record came from (there are some fabulous titles on this one!). We also c...
Nov 28, 2024•40 min•Ep. 432
My guests this week is Olli Chanoff, Director of Programming at the FreshGrass Foundation. So much music I love has its roots in FreshGrass Commissions, from albums like Becky Buller's Jubilee , Sarah Jarosz's Blue Heron Suite and Aoife O'Donovan's All My Friends, to instrumental works by Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas and Jacob Jolliff. So I was delighted to get the opportunity to chat to Olli about how FreshGrass goes about commissioning these works, why they support the FreshGrass Foundation's mi...
Nov 20, 2024•46 min•Ep. 431
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) Blue Ridge Guitar Camp Allison de Groot’s ArtistWorks clawhammer banjo course Releases (The Grass is New) Charlotte Carrivick Bandcamp The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn’s Holiday Card list Other bits Sign up for emai...
Nov 18, 2024•11 min•Ep. 430
My guest this week is Sarah Jarosz. Sarah joins me to talk about one of my favourite albums, 'Blue Heron Suite', which is getting a physical reissue on November 22nd. We chat about how the record developed out of a FreshGrass commission, what that process was like, the central themes that underpin the album, the decision to arrange it for a trio rather than including drums and how it fits into Sarah's journey, both personally and as a songwriter. Getting to chat about new records is always fun, ...
Nov 13, 2024•44 min•Ep. 429
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. This week we have a special episode looking at the artists from the bluegrass and string band world who've been nominated for a Grammy. There'll be some music in here you're familiar with and, hopefully, something new to discover too. The awards themselves will take place on Sunday February 2nd 2025. Who are your favourites? Other bits Donate to the Bluegrass Jam Alo...
Nov 11, 2024•11 min•Ep. 428
My guest this week is Sierra Hull. Since I spoke to Sierra for the podcast back in January 2023 she's been ridiculously busy touring and recording. We chat about the extended tour she's been on for Bela Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart (which she describes as one of the highlights of her musical life), her current and ongoing tour with her own band (which has been chaotic to say the least!) and why she chose to have a drummer in her band, even though she confesses she's not generally a fan of drums in...
Nov 06, 2024•44 min•Ep. 427
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 Bryan Sutton IBMA fundraiser interview Donate to the Bluegrass Jam Along/Bryan Sutton fundraiser to help people and communities devastated by Hurricane Helene News and Announcements (Church Street News) Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostl...
Nov 04, 2024•9 min•Ep. 426
This week I'm joined by bluegrass legend Bryan Sutton for a very special episode to benefit the IBMA Trust Fund and help people suffering the devastation of Hurricane Helene. In the run up to recording the episode we asked for questions for Bryan for Bluegrass Jam Along listeners - in this interview you'll hear me put those questions to him. We talk about growing up in Asheville and how important that community was to Bryan's musical development; about his relationship with Doc Watson and the ti...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 425
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) Donate to the Bluegrass Jam Along/Bryan Sutton fundraiser to help people and communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. Biscuits and Banjos European Bluegrass Summit Restring Appalachia Releases (The Grass is New) Chris Eaton & Flint County - Pheasant Pie The Grass...
Oct 28, 2024•12 min•Ep. 424
My guest this week is Daniel Patrick, host of the excellent Mandolins and Beer podcast. Daniel has interviewed dozens of great mandolin players for his podcast, but today we're going to talk about his new record Around the Clock , which features him playing with eleven of his heroes, including Tim O'Brien, Ronnie McCoury and Sam Bush, as well as some of the top players on the scene today, including Jarrod Walker, Jacob Jolliff and Harry Clark. We chat about how the record came together and how i...
Oct 23, 2024•55 min•Ep. 423
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) Donate to the Bluegrass Jam Along/Bryan Sutton fundraiser to help people and communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. Celtic Connections 2025 Blue Ridge Guitar Camp 2025 Michael Daves’ Clarence White Muleskinner zoom class New Acoustic Facebook group Releases (The Gra...
Oct 21, 2024•11 min•Ep. 422
This week's episode is about a very special fundraiser I'm putting together. I’m working with Bryan Sutton to raise funds to help people suffering the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. Bryan is from Asheville, NC, one of the cities hit hardest by the hurricane, so this cause is very close to his heart. We’re putting together a one off episode of Bluegrass Jam Along where you, the podcast's listeners, get to interview Bryan! Here's how it works... When you donate, you get to send me a ques...
Oct 17, 2024•7 min•Ep. 421
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) Donate to the Bluegrass Jam Along/Bryan Sutton fundraiser to help people and communities devastated by Hurricane Helene. Appalachian Allies benefit concert Energy Curfew Music Hour YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024...
Oct 14, 2024•12 min•Ep. 420
My guests on the podcast this week are Lillian Werbin and Kristina Gaddy. I caught up with them at IBMA to chat about Roots Revival : A Black Stringband Symposium , a collaboration between IBMA and The Banjo Gathering. Hosted at IBMA's World of Bluegrass, the symposium celebrated and explored Black contributions to Bluegrass and other traditional music, both historic and continuing, featuring contemporary conversations about diversity and inclusion in traditional music and the ways in which Blac...
Oct 09, 2024•40 min•Ep. 419
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) Donate to help those devastated by hurricane Helene John Hartford tune marathon Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Full list of i...
Oct 07, 2024•13 min•Ep. 418
This week's episode is a selection of interviews I carried out at IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina last week. It was the last IBMA in Raleigh before the event moves to Chattanooga in 2025, and was an amazing week, full of great conversations, events, music, instruments, picking and people. I had a fantastic time and can't tell you how much it means to me to feel so welcomed by the bluegrass and string band community. But it was also a devastating week for the people of western ...
Oct 02, 2024•55 min•Ep. 417
This week’s episode is all about learning to play music. I’ve been listening back to the interviews I’ve done over the past 3 years and so many of them touch on some really core stuff when it comes to being a musician. All of it has helped me at one point or another, so I thought I’d put together a compilation of some of my favourite bits. There’s something in here for everyone, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been playing for years and just need some inspiration or encouragement. Whe...
Sep 26, 2024•58 min•Ep. 416
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 World of Bluegrass info Collings Hill Country guitars Kruger Brothers Music Academy Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Scroll on Buddy Billy Strings ‘Seven Weeks in County’ video Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalo...
Sep 23, 2024•9 min•Ep. 415
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 Interview episodes by category News and Announcements (Church Street News) Vasen & Hawtail Preorder link Tour dates Releases (The Grass is New) Andy Statman album Buy on Amazon The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist Other bits Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/ The Grass i...
Sep 16, 2024•15 min•Ep. 414
My guest this week is the legendary Jerry Douglas. Jerry joins me again to chat about recording his first new album in six years. It's called 'The Set' and features the band Jerry's been playing with for a decade now. He talks about what's special about playing with that band and why he chose to re-visit some tunes that will be familiar to his fans for this record, as well as new material, including 'The Fifth Season', which started out as a FreshGrass commission. We also chat about some of Jerr...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 413
