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 MoreWelcome 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 MoreMy 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 MoreWelcome 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 MoreMy 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 MoreThis Bitesize episode features a conversation I had with Wyatt Rice for a set of episodes in 2023 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tony Rice's 'Church Street Blues' album. Wyatt talks about his experience of playing on the sessions aged just 17, hanging out with Tony, the first time he saw an Ovation guitar…
Read MoreWelcome 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) Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest Banjo in Sicily with Tony Trischka Releases (The Grass is…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Katie Harford Hogue, who joins me to chat about the wonderful album 'Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 2' We discuss how the project came about, following the discovery of dozens of John Hartford's notebooks, kept between 1983 and 2001, full of as many as 4,000 original…
Read MoreWelcome 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) Darol Anger’s Big Book of Tunes vol 3 Releases (The Grass is New) The Grass is…
Read MoreThis Bitesize episode comes from an interview I did in April 2023 with Rachel Baiman about her wonderful record Common Nation of Sorrow I re-listened to the episode (and the album) recently and this section really stood out. We chat about storytelling in music; the power of infusing a song with emotion; the importance of…
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