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 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 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 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…
Read MoreMy 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…
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