My guest this week is Paul Kowert, bassist with Punch Brothers and Hawktail. Paul joins me to chat about Hawktail's wonderful new record 'Place of Growth', how the band came together, why they decided to record an album designed to be listened to in one sitting and some of the music and musicians that had…
Read MoreHi everyone. I've had a couple of weeks off the podcast to have a holiday, but I've been mulling over something Dan Tyminski said in the interview I did with him a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share it. It's about the idea of reacting in music, rather than just playing. Dan talked…
Read MoreMy guest this week is bluegrass legend Dan Tyminski. We chat about Dan's new EP 'One More Time Before You Go : A Tribute to Tony Rice.' We talk song selection, what Tony's music means to Dan and some of the great musicians he plays with on the record, including Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Josh…
Read MoreThis week we've got another mini jam episode. This time we're stepping things up to 85 bpm and playing 3 tunes back to back. This week's tunes are Cherokee Shuffle in A (starts at 1:03) Blackberry Blossom in G (starts at 8:08) Big Sciota in G (starts at 14:34) We're doing all three at 85bpm…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Chris Pandolfi, banjo player with The Infamous Stringdusters and also the host of my favourite podcast, Inside the Musician's Brain. We chat about the podcast and the lessons Chris learned from it, as well as how the lessons we learn through music can be applied to life (and vice versa)….
Read MoreMy guest on the podcast this week is guitarist and Peghead Nation founder Scott Nygaard. We chat about playing with Chris Thile and Tim O'Brien, including how Scott got the gig with Tim after a chance meeting. We also talk about how Peghead Nation was founded, the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award they're receiving next month…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Cameron Knowler. Cameron is a multi-instrumentalist who specialises in bluegrass, old time and jazz. I was first introduced to Cameron by Bob Minner, who I interviewed back in March 2022 (episode #177). Cameron also writes regularly for Acoustic Guitar magazine and has written a fascinating book called 'Guitars Have Feelings…
Read MoreThis week we've got something I haven't done in a while – a mini jam episode. That means we're playing 3 tunes back to back instead of focussing on just one. The idea is it feels a bit more like playing at a jam session. I know some of you use these tracks to work…
Read MoreHi everyone. This is another Food For Thought episode and it centres around the idea of perfection. Chris Eldridge said something recently that made me think about letting go of the idea of playing perfectly – I had an experience at a jam this week that really made me understand what he meant. Have a…
Read MoreThis week we're jamming along to the classic tune Big Sciota and I've got three brand new backing track episodes for you. This is the jam along track where I play backup, then the tune and we swap over. It's four times through in the key of G at 85 bpm. backing track starts at…
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