Bluegrass Jam Along Interviews

My guest this week is Alex Graf and we're talking all things Manzanita.

Alex made the shift from a more jazz based background to flatpicking a few years ago and Tony Rice's Manzanita became one of the absolute cornerstone records for him on that journey. We talk about why it became so important, what Alex learned from Tony's playing on the record and why he still finds something new in it every time he listens.

You'll hear about:

• How Tony's jazz influences shaped his approach to guitar
• The importance of musical conversation between band members on Manzanita
• The myths and legends that surround Tony's albums
• How Tony Rice's approach to chord voicings was inspired by jazz piano legend Bill Evans
• How reinterpreting melody, rather than just blowing through the changes, keeps music fresh

and much more.

To find out more about Alex, including his great teaching resource Alex's Acoustic Club, head to alexgrafmusic.com

For news, updates and great free content on improving your playing, check out Alex's Instagram and YouTube

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

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Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass.

Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode.

Podcast news

• Brad Kolodner interview
• Bill Nowlin interview

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Del McCoury Band with Peter Rowan & David Grisman 
• Michael Daves & Jacob Jolliff
• Tony Trischka Earl Jam 2
• Blue Highway - Live at ETSU! A 30-Year Retrospective (preorder)
• Jesse Apppelman

Other bits

• Thomm Jutz/Martin Simpson interview
• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest this week is Bill Nowlin, co-founder of Rounder Records.

Bill joins me to talk about Rounder's extraordinary 50 year legacy as one of the most important, influential and best loved independent labels in American roots music.

We chat about how Rounder started, after Bill was randomly assigned Ken Irwin as his college roommate, and how, along with Marian Leighton Levy, they grew Rounder from a small enterprise releasing a couple of records a year into a successful label, responsible for the career of one of the most awarded artists in the history of the Grammys. 

Bill shares how they discovered Alison Krauss, via a demo tape she wasn't even the lead vocalist on, and subsequently signed her when she was just a teenager. We talk about how Alison's success, along with that of other artists like George Thorogood, helped Rounder establish themselves and how Rounder managed to position themselves at the forefront of industry developments, including releasing the first ever bluegrass CD.

We also chat about some of the iconic records Rounder put out over the years, from artists like JD Crowe, Norman Blake, Tony Rice, Tony Trischka and Alison Krauss, and how the founders eventually decided to sell Rounder. That led to a new label, Down the Road Records which, in a lovely full circle moment, put out Alison Krauss and Union Station's return to bluegrass 'Arcadia' in 2025.

This was a fascinating conversation about a fascinating legacy.

If you want to hear more about Rounder's history, I can highly recommend Bill's book Vinyl Ventures: My Fifty Years at Rounder Records and David Menconi's Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest on the podcast this week is Brad Kolodner.

Brad is a fantastic clawhammer banjo player. As well as his solo records - 'Chimney Swifts' and the recent album of solo gourd banjo tunes 'Old Growth' - Brad also plays with the band Charm City Junction, as a duet with fiddler George Jackson and with his father, Ken, as part of Ken & Brad Kolodner.

He's also an award-winning radio broadcaster for Folk Alley and Bluegrass Country Radio, jam leader, festival organiser, community builder and ambassador for old-time and bluegrass music, as well as serving on the board of the IBMA.

We chat about Brad's route into old-time music - which took longer than you might think, given his upbringing - as well as his love of gourd banjos, the different projects he's involved with and why community and connection is so important as a musician.

Check out bradkolodner.com for more info.

The tracks played in the show are:

• Chimney Swifts - Brad Kolodner (Chimney Swifts)
• Shakin' Down The Acorns - Ken & Brad Kolodner (Stony Run)
• Red Prarie Dawn - Brad Kolodner (Old Growth)
• Grigsby's Hornpipe - George Jackson & Brad Kolodner (Shady Lane)

Check out Brad's website or Bandcamp page to buy his releases

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest this week is John Wirtz.

John, along with his partner Moira, runs Sore Fingers, a UK bluegrass and old time music camp that celebrates it's 30th anniversary this year.

John joins me to chat about how the camp started up and how it's grown over the years to play a major role in the UK and European bluegrass scenes. We talk about some of the extraordinary tutors who have travelled across the Atlantic to teach at Sore Fingers over the years and how they've helped thousands of people develop their musical skills, whilst helping to shape a community in the process.

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the first event and this year's courses feature some wonderful tutors, including Tony Trischka, Michael Daves, Jacob Jolliff, Mike Compton, Stephen Mougin and Becky Buller.

For more info, visit the Sore Fingers site at www.sorefingers.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass.

Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode.

• Ted Olson interview
• Doc Watson 100th Birthday Celebration - part 1 - part 2

News and announcements - church street news 

• Punch Brothers tour dates

Scroll on Buddy

• Atkin Guitars pallet guitar
• Jude Rogers - The Sound of Being Human
• Brittany Haas w/ Paul Kowert & Mike Gaisbacher - Impromptu Sessions

Other bits

• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest this week is Ted Olson, professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University.

Ted joins me to celebrate the Rich-R-Tone record label and it's offshoot Folk Star. Rich-R-Tone was founded in 1946 by James Hobart Stanton who, in Ted's words, "was probably single-handedly the most important documentarian of Appalachian music."

Ted has extensively researched Stanton and the Rich_R-Tone label for a project he co-produced for Bear Family Records - The Rich-R-Tone/Folk Star Story: Appalachia On Record, 1946-1954. Featuring 317 expertly remastered recordings spread over 12 CDs and including a 144-page hardcover book, this set, produced by Ted Olson, Matteo Ringressi, and Richard Weize, features newly researched liner notes and a complete discography. Many of these recordings are incredibly rare and are taken from 78 rpm discs held in private collections.

We talk about Stanton's background in jukebox repair and distribution and how that helped shape his vision for the label; why both place and time are so vital in this particular story; the importance of Rich-R-Tone being a label based in Appalachia, rather than being a major label coming to the region just to record local talent and how Stanton played an important role in The Stanley Brothers' career. It's a fascinating story and one I knew very little about before my conversation with Ted, who was a pleasure to chat with as always.

During the conversation we play excerpts of three tracks from the box set. You'll hear (in order):

• The Stanley Brothers - Molly and Tenbrooks
• Wilma Lee Cooper - The Tramp on the Street
• The Caudill Family - Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down

For more info on the box set visit Bear Family Records

To hear my previous interviews with Ted, check out the two episodes below:

• The Bristol Sessions and Beyond
• Doc Watson's 100th Birthday Celebration (featuring Happy Traum, John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, T. Michael Coleman, Jack Lawrence, Lindsay Craven of MerleFest and Ted Olson)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest on this week's Bitesize episode is Sara Watkins, who joins me to talk about I'm With Her's Grammy winning album 'Wild and Clear and Blue'. It's an album I really love (and a conversation I loved too) and I wanted to put something out to celebrate not only the Grammy win, but also the Grammy they won for the opening track 'Ancient Light'.

Sara talks about the process behind writing the record, which began to take shape shortly after the pandemic, why collaboration was so important and the central themes that emerged during the process. We also talk about community and connection in music and how the line between audience and stage is a little thinner in folk music than for some other formats.

This comes from a longer conversation we had in 2025. You'll find the full interview with Sara here.

Sara also mentions an interview I did with her bandmate Sarah Jarosz, about her album 'Blue Heron Suite'.

For more info on I’m With Her, including upcoming tour dates and to buy I’m With Her vinyl, CDs and merch, visit imwithherband.com

For regular updates follow Sara on Instagram and Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a monthly series of episodes taking a look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass.

Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode.

News and announcements - church street news 

• Chris Thile’s Acousticamp
• Tony Trischka’s New York Banjo Night
• Bruce and Darol’s Great Big Fiddle Hang
• Sore Fingers
• Rockygrass

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Bryan Sutton/Billy Strings video
• Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
• Tony Trischka Earl Jam 2 (preorder)
• Della Mae

Scroll on Buddy

• Willie Nelson (preorder)

Other bits

• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest this week is sound engineer Dave Sinko, who returns to chat about The David Grisman Quintet.

We've talked about that record a lot on the podcast, but this is less about the story behind the album and more about how it influenced Dave and informed the way he approaches recording. In his words 'it changed my life.'

We chat about his subsequent work with members of the DGQ, including Grisman himself, and recording Tony Rice for a project with Alison Brown. We also discuss how that first DGQ record set the standard for what acoustic instruments could and should sound like, the contributions Bill Wolf and Bob Shumaker made to recording acoustic music and how Dave approaches miking instruments, based on what he learned from the first DGQ album, including on Chris Thile's latest Bach album, an extraordinary and challenging project to work on.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)

Bluegrass Jam Along is proud to be sponsored by Collings Guitars and Mandolins and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

- Follow Bluegrass Jam Along for regular updates:

• Instagram
• Facebook