My guest this week is Sierra Hull. Sierra has been a guest on the podcast twice before and both times we chatted about an ongoing project she's been working on since her last record 25 Trips. That project eventually became her new album, the wonderful A Tiptoe High Wire, which we talk about in this…
Read MoreMy guest this week is a legend of American string band music. When David Grisman raised his middle finger to MCA Records, after being dropped for failing to meet arbitrary sales targets, he couldn't have known it would spark a 35-year musical revolution. As one of America's foremost, and best loved, mandolin virtuosos turns 80…
Read MoreThis week's episode is a Bitesize episode, which is a short section highlighting a previous episode you may have missed, which feels apt, given that this is episode #450, so the back catalogue is getting pretty big! But, it's not a previous episode of Bluegrass Jam Along. This week I'm sharing part of an episode…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Tim Stafford, who joins me to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the best loved and most influential albums in bluegrass. 'JD Crowe & The New South' was recorded in January 1975 and released in August the same year. Tim joins me to chat about what makes it such…
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 MoreThis is the first of a new series of episodes on the podcast I'm calling 'Bitesize'. I've done well over 100 interviews for the podcast now. That's a lot of conversations! The idea with these episodes is to pick out a highlight from a past conversation and share it again, in case you missed it…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Tom Nechville from Nechville Banjos. Tom joins me to chat about 40 years of making banjos, including what he's learned along the way and some of the innovations he's brought to the banjo, including his revolutionary Heli-Mount head tightening system. We also chat about why he chose to sell his…
Read MoreMy guest on the podcast this week is Eric Skye, who joins me to celebrate the album 'Phillips, Grier & Flinner'. Released in 1999 on Compass Records, it marks the first collaboration between bassist Todd Phillips, guitarist David Grier, and mandolinist Matt Flinner and features three original tunes from each. We chat about how Eric…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Daniel Kimbro. Daniel is the bass player in Jerry Douglas's band and plays with Jerry in Transatlantic Sessions and The Earls of Leicester. He's also part of the trio Harley Kimbro Lewis and joins me this week to chat about his first solo record Carpet in the Kitchen. This…
Read MoreMy guest this week is author Dan Gutstein, who joins me to chat about his book 'Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane'. The book traces the history of one of America's most recorded folk songs, from its origins amongst enslaved people on southern plantations, through the Civl War and minstrelsy, to the…
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