My guest this week is fiddle player George Jackson. George, originally from New Zealand, now living in Nashville, won the 2022 IBMA Instrumentalist Of The Year Momentum Award. He's played with a wide range of artists with artists such as The Jacob Jolliff Band, Jake Blount, Tall Poppy String Band, The Local Trio, Front Country,…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Kyle Tuttle. Lots of you will know Kyle as the banjo player in Molly Tuttle's band Golden Highway, but he also has a fantastic new record called 'Labor of Lust', which he's joining me to chat about in this episode. We talk about the roots of the record, the theme…
Read MoreThis is the final episode in the series celebrating Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday. My guest for this one is Jim Mills. Jim is a fantastic banjo player, who spent over a decade playing with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He's also an expert on pre-War Gibson banjos, so is the perfect person to talk about…
Read MoreThis is part 3 of the celebration of Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday. In this episode we're talking about Earl's influence on the younger generation of players and also celebrating his wonderful guitar playing. You'll hear from: Trey Hensley, on Earl being his main influence on the guitar, as well as getting to meet and play…
Read MoreThis is part 2 of the celebration of Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday. Earl's influence on bluegrass is huge, as you'll hear from my guests this week. You'll hear from: Jerry Douglas, on Earl being one of the first sounds he heard and why starting The Earls of Leicester felt like a calling Alison Brown on…
Read MoreJanuary 6th would have been Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday. To celebrate Earl and his extraordinary influence, I've been speaking to people who knew, played with and have been inspired by him. This is part 1, featuring three amazing banjo players: Tony Trischka Kristin Scott Benson Alan Munde They all share their thoughts on Earl and…
Read MoreFor this week's episode I'm doing something I don't normally do – reposting an old interview. In fact, I don't think I've ever done it before. The reason I'm doing it is that so many of us make resolutions at this time of year to practice more, play better or just improve on our instruments….
Read MoreJanuary 6th 2024 would have been Earl Scruggs' 100th birthday. I'm putting together a very special set of episodes to celebrate. As part of them I spoke to Jerry Douglas, who's organising a spectacular night of music at The Ryman on Earl's birthday to mark the occasion. This is a taster taken from a much…
Read MoreIt’s almost the end of 2023. Where did the year go?! I’m already working on some exciting stuff for 2024 but, before we head into the holidays, I wanted to have a look back at 2023 on Bluegrass Jam Along as it’s been an extraordinary year. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to some truly…
Read MoreMy guest this week is Ted Olson. Ted is Professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University. He's also written liner notes and essays for some wonderful projects, including “Doc Watson – Life's Work: A Retrospective,” and the fantastic “Nothing But Green Willow: The Songs Of Jane Gentry and Mary Sands” by Martin Simpson…
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