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 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 MoreMy guest this week is guitarist Jake Workman. Jake joins me to talk about his recently ended 9 year run with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, including a great story about how he got the gig, what he learned from playing with Ricky, why rhythm guitar is so important in that role and why now…
Read MoreMy 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…
Read MoreThis 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…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Rebecca Frazier. Rebecca was the first woman ever to appear on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and her band Hit & Run are the only band to win all three Rockygrass, Telluride, and SPBGMA Festival Band competitions. She joins me to chat about her new record Boarding Windows in…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Alister Atkin of Atkin Guitars. I've been following Atkin's progress for a few years now and have been blown away by the quality of guitars they're producing. They combine some cutting edge techniques with a bespoke approach, to bring out the uniqueness of every guitar they make. As Alister puts…
Read MoreToday – June 8th – is Tony Rice's birthday. To celebrate, I'm reposting the chat I had with Alison Krauss as part of the 'Church Street Blues' 40th anniversary celebrations last year. The final episodes ended up being almost 5 hours long, so I thought it would be fun to re-post this as a standalone…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Bill Amatneek, who joins me to talk about his fascinating new book 'Discovering Tony Rice.' Bill shares his memories of playing with Tony in the David Grisman Quintet, officiating at Tony's wedding to Leela and spending time with him on the road. He also talks about how an article on…
Read MoreMy guest this week is guitarist Ethan Sherman. Ethan joins me to talk about his new record 'Passages', which is due out on March 8th. We chat about working with producer Wes Corbett on the project, why it was important to write for specific players and how Ethan came to string band music in the…
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