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Here's your Bluegrass Briefing for November, our monthly 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 Chris Thile interviewNews and announcements - Church Street News  Peghead Nation Norman Blake courseCraft Recordings Tony Rice reissues (Including Acoustics)IBMA Award winners Releases - The Grass is New Bela Fleck Live Heart Other bits Full list of interviewsCollings Guitars 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

This week's episode features a segment of a conversation I had a while back with Marcel Ardans of the Lessons With Marcel YouTube channel. Marcel has spent hundreds of hours transcribing guitar breaks from some of our favourite pickers, so I thought it would be fun to find out what he learned in the process. This particular segment is about Billy Strings. We chat about Billy's lead and rhythm style, including the obvious Doc Watson influence, but also what else Billy brings and how he blends bluegrass, country, jam band and rock influences into a style that is very much his own. The full episode also included Marcel discussing Tony Rice, Molly Tuttle and (one of Marcels' personal favourites) Trey Hensley. You'll find the full episode here. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Chris Thile and he joins me to chat about The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers.  We talk about how the album came together and why, after 20 years as a band, it's only now they've got round to making a fully instrumental record. Chris also tells me how Brittany Haas joining the band and their first project together, Energy Curfew Music Hour, sowed the seeds for the album and why not having vocals on it left space for instrumental voices to shine. Chris also talks candidly about why he didn't feel like writing lyrics right now was the right thing and how the tunes on this record grew out of musical nuggets, with each then being explored by the band and shaped in whatever way that particular idea needed.  We also explore the overarching narrative of the record, how that came together and the band's approach to reimagining the traditional tunes on the album, treating them as though they were new material and giving them the same level of exploration and development as the original tunes. It was a fascinating insight into creativity, artistic process and how one of my favourite bands goes about making a record. I thoroughly loved this conversation. You can buy The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers (and some cool related merch) via Punch Brothers' online store. For info and updates, follow Chris Thile and Punch Brothers on Instagram. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is fiddler, string arranger, composer and session musician Matt Combs. After decades working in the service of other people's music, including a stint in the Opry house band, Matt has just put out his first solo record 'Fifty Years of Clown School.' We chat about why now felt like the time to put out his own record, as well as the reasons why he shelved a previous project he'd already recorded, and what he learned in decades of playing and arranging for other people. We also talk about how the tunes for this project grew out of his daily, meditative slow practice sessions, how John Hartford helped him understand his own creativity and why Beethoven's Ninth Symphony became a model for what he was trying to achieve on this album. It was a thoughtful, wide ranging and fascinating conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. For info and updates on Matt follow him on Instagram. You can buy Fifty Years of Clown School on Bandcamp and learn more at mattcombs.com 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is singer-songwriter Kristy Cox and we're chatting about her brand new album 'Winds of Change', due out on October 9th. Kristy explains why this record is her rawest and most personal yet and how, through her long term collaboration with producer Jerry Salley, plus her co-writers on the album, she created a journey that took heartbreak and turned it into hope.  We also chat about her background growing up listening to bluegrass and country in Australia, before moving to Nashville when she was offered a record deal. Kristy is also now on the board of the IBMA and is passionate about connecting the  international bluegrass communities around the world and 'putting the I in IBMA'. This was a great conversation. You can find out more about Kristy at kristycox.com - follow Kristy on Instagram for regular news and updates. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Bertolf Lentink, better know as simply Bertolf. Bertolf grew up listening to bluegrass at home in the Netherlands with his parents and learned to play guitar with his father. Then he discovered other bands, including the Beatles and Radiohead, and began writing songs of his own. After several albums in a pop/rock, singer-songwriter vein, he was drawn back to his initial love of bluegrass and decided he wanted to make a bluegrass record. Bluefinger was recorded in Nashville with string band legends including Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan, and featured a selection of Bertolf's existing songs, alongside some newly written instrumentals. When Bertolf returned to the Netherlands and began touring the music with a local band, he decided he wanted to follow it up with Bluefinger 2, this time featuring all new songs and his touring band. We chat about how Bertolf came to love bluegrass, what music was playing in his house as he grew up and what ultimately drew him back to the music after building a successful career. He talks about the conversation that planted the seed of an idea for Bluefinger, how the record came together and how it felt coming back to the music he loved as a child. This was a fascinating conversation and I'd urge you to go and check out both records, as well as Bertolf's other work. You'll find more info at https://bertolf.nl and you can follow Bertolf on Instagram for more regular updates. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Julian Lage and we're talking about his extraordinary solo guitar album 'World's Fair'. Julian will be known to many of you as a jazz player but is also widely known in the bluegrass and string band world through his wonderful duet records with Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar. In fact, Julian's first recording was an acoustic duet with David Grisman as part of the 'Dawg Duos' album. Julian talks about the challenges and opportunities of playing solo, how he approached making this particular record, why he threw away his first attempt and what he learned about his own playing from making 'World's Fair'. We also discuss the role acoustic music has played in his career, why being able to interpret song and tunes is so important and how playing music socially in New York with singer songwriters gave him the seed for what turned into 'World's Fair'. This was a fascinating conversation about a superb album, but also about some of the deeper questions about what it means to make music, both alone and with others. You can buy the 10th anniversary vinyl and CD reissues of 'World's Fair' and the accompanying songbook via Julian's store. Follow Julian on Instagram for regular updates and news. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly 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 Sean Sullivan interviewLindsay Lou’s Bluegrass Women interviewJulian Lage Australian tour dates News and announcements - church street news  Bela Fleck pre-order Releases (The Grass is New) Billy Strings - So Much For GoodbyesLindsay Lou - Bluegrass WomenBryan Sutton - From Roots to BranchesBryan interviewMr Sun - The Idea Guys Other bits Full list of interviewsCollings Guitars 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is 5 time Grammy award winning engineer, mixer and producer Sean Sullivan. Sean has worked with dozens of artists, including Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, The Steeldrivers, The Del McCoury Band, Michael Cleveland, Andrew Marlin, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and Mighty Poplar. We chat about his route into recording and how he only came to love string band music when he started working on it. Sean also talks about what he learned in his time at The Butcher Shoppe Studio, owned by John Prine and producer David Ferguson, and his current studio, The Tractor Shed. We also talk about what's really important in music, Sean's approach to working with artists and why, sometimes, the best sounding records just aren't the best records. Follow Sean on Instagram or check out www.seansullivanaudio.com to keep up to date with what he's working on. You can find out more about The Tractor Shed at www.tractorshedstudio.com 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Lindsay Lou. I chatted with Lindsay a while back, about her record Queen of Time. This time we're talking about her brand new record Bluegrass Women. Lindsay reveals how the project came about and why she wanted to make a record celebrating the contributions of women to bluegrass. We talk about the musicians on the record - including Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Laurie Lewis and Alison Brown - and why mentorship and multi-generational music making are so important. Lindsay also discusses the origin of some of the songs on the record, many of which will be familiar to regular listeners to bluegrass, but not everyone will realise they were written by women (I certainly didn't). We also chat about the importance of vocal harmony and how Bluegrass Women was a natural progression from Queen of Time and its predecessor Southland. Here's some info on where to buy or stream Bluegrass Women You can check out the harmony singing lessons mentioned on Lindsay's Patreon page. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly 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 Album Band reissueBlue Waters BluegrassDawg at 80 videos Releases (The Grass is New) Lindsay Lou - Bluegrass WomenMike Marshall Sings BluegrassKen and Brad Kolodner - Hand’s CoveNew Acoustic Collective - Double Course Scroll on Buddy Telluride documentaryOther bits Full list of interviewsCollings Guitars 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

To celebrate Punch Brothers' new record, The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers, I'm reposting a fascinating conversation I had with Brittany Haas after she joined the band. This is the first Punch album with Brittany in the line-up so I thought it would be fun to listen back and hear how she joined the band and what her first shows were like. I'd interviewed Gabe Witcher a few days after he played his final shows with Punch Brothers at Telluride and, almost exactly a year later to the day, I spoke with Brittany to chat about joining the band as his replacement. Brittany had just played with Punch Brothers at Telluride, so there was a lovely symmetry to it. At the start I mention the episode I recorded with Brittany and her sister Natalie when they released their duo record Haas.  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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Jerry Douglas and we're celebrating the reissue of Boone Creek's first album. Boone Creek has a fascinating story behind it, which we covered in last week's interview with Scott Billington, who put together the reissue for Craft Recordings. In this episode I chat with Jerry about the place Boone Creek had in his career, his memories of the original sessions and what the band were trying to achieve, what it was like to hear the lost tracks for the first time in 50 years and how playing in Boone Creek helped shape the musician he is today. As always, Jerry was warm, funny, generous and full of fascinating insights. It's always a treat when I get to chat with him. You can buy Boone Creek from Craft Recordings on vinyl, CD or digital download Follow Craft on Instagram or Facebook to keep up to date with new reissues of classic roots music. 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Scott Billington. Scott is a Grammy winning record producer, an author, a record company exec and a musician. But what we're chatting about in this episode is a fascinating story about a pivotal string band album and it's journey to being reissued with extra tracks that went missing for decades. The record in question is Boone Creek's debut album Boone Creek, from the band Jerry Douglas and Ricky Skaggs formed after they left J.D. Crowe and the New South. Scott talks about how the album was recorded and how, at the time, Rounder felt it was too progressive, and asked the band to go back into the studio and record some additional tracks. After the album was released, the original tapes went missing and Rounder were keen not to reissue it on CD or streaming services until they'd been found. As a result, the record disappeared from circulation for years. We talk about how the tapes were finally unearthed, what state they were in, the process used to retrieve what was on them and how Boone Creek was finally reissued by Craft Recordings. We also chat about Scott's long career with Rounder Records and his current role with Craft Recordings, working on several key projects, including the Doc Watson A Life's Work box set.  This was a fascinating conversation about a fascinating project, as well as Scott's long association with outstanding American roots music. Next week's episode will feature an interview with Jerry Douglas about Boone Creek, his memories of that band and what it was like hearing the reissued tracks everyone thought had been lost for good. You can buy Boone Creek from Craft Recordings on vinyl, CD or digital download Follow Craft on Instagram or Facebook to keep up to date with new reissues of classic roots music. For more info on Scott, including links to buy his book Making Tracks: A Record Producer’s Southern Roots Music Journey, check out www.scottbillington.com 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to the Bluegrass Briefing for July 2026, your monthly look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass and beyond. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) McCoury & Douglas Family Pickin PartyBéla Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart tour Releases (The Grass is New) Natalie & Brittany Haas - North NodeNoaBass - Late BloomerVoices: A Folk Opera Scroll on Buddy Punch Brothers - Found in a Frozen Fog Other bits Full list of interviewsCollings Guitars 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 premium guitar picks - Sign up to get updates on new episodes - Free fiddle tune chord sheets - Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews - Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates: InstagramFacebook- Review us on Apple Podcasts