Month: May 2025

Celebrating Norman Blake’s ‘Whiskey Before Breakfast’ with Bob Minner

My guest this week is Bob Minner and we're celebrating one of the most iconic flatpicking records of all time – Norman Blake's 'Whiskey Before Breakfast'. We chat about Bob first hearing this record and why he loves it so much; its place in the flatpicking repertoire; the gear Norman used (including guitars, picks and…

Read More

Bluegrass Briefing May 26th 2025

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) Romp Festival lineup and tickets Bluegrass Hall of Fame gigs Green Mountain Lineup Hardly Strictly Bluegrass…

Read More

Wayne Erbsen on 50 Years of Writing About Southern Mountain Music

My guest this week is Wayne Erbsen, professor of old-time and bluegrass music at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Wayne joins me to talk about half a century of writing about old-time and bluegrass music, including his latest book Southern Mountain Music: The Collected Writings of Wayne Erbsen. Over the past 50 years…

Read More

Bluegrass Briefing May 14th 2025

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) Bluegrass on Hudson lineup and tickets IBMA WOB tickets IBMA International Stage applications Note – the…

Read More

Jason Carter on his 33 Years With the Del McCoury Band

My guest on the podcast this week is six time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year Jason Carter. Jason recently ended his 33 year run with the Del McCoury Band and we talk about that extraordinary journey, from the fascinating story about how he got the job in the first place, to the decision to…

Read More