This 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 on mandolins and Beer, because the guest was....me!

Daniel has been on my podcast a couple of times and was kind enough to invite me onto Mandolins and Beer to chat about how I got into bluegrass, how the podcast started, how t's developed, some of my favourite moments and (of course) what my favourite beer is.

I really enjoyed chatting to Daniel for this. If you want to hear the full interview just head to the Mandolins and Beer website. You can also listen on Apple, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts.

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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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- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly 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.

Pod News

• Doc Watson 100th birthday episodes
  • Part 1
    • Apple
    • Spotify
    • YouTube
  • Part 2
    • Apple
    • Spotify
    • YouTube
• Bluegrass Jam Along guests on mandolins and Beer
  • Apple
  • Spotify
• Bluegrass Standard article on Bluegrass Jam Along!

News and Announcements (Church Street News)

• Telluride lineup
• Rockygrass lineup

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My 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 a milestone record in bluegrass, despite it not really being a bluegrass album at all in some ways. 

We chat about the musicians who made it so special, including the rhythmic magic Tony Rice and JD Crowe had; why Ricky Skaggs is potentially the greatest tenor singer in bluegrass; why you it's important not to underestimate Bobby Slone's role in the band and the Jerry Douglas break on this record that was so good all three singers forgot to come back in after it!

Tim also tells me why the session almost didn't happen due to Tony cutting his hand and suffering from a bad cold, plus plenty more fascinating detail about the band and the making of this record.

You can see the video Tim talks about (along with the wonderful hair and shirts!) on YouTube

2025 is also a big anniversary year for Tim's band Blue Highway, who turn 30 this year. Fund out more at bluehighwayband.com

Happy picking,

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly 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.

Pod News

• Bluegrass Jam Along guests on mandolins and Beer
  • Apple
  • Spotify

News and Announcements (Church Street News)

• Rhiannon Giddens’ American Tunes
• DelFest Lineup

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Sierra Hull - Spitfire video
• Sierra Hull - tour dates
• Max Wareham - tour dates
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Scroll on Buddy/In my ears

• Jake Workman - Northern Shore video
• Atkin Guitars - D37 vs White Rice video

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars
• Peghead Nation
  • Use the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any course

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My 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 was the time to look for a new challenge.

We also talk about Jake's long standing teaching career, including his thoughts on why listening is more important than transcribing and the importance of being yourself as a musician.

To find out more, visit jakeworkman.com and follow Jake on Instagram and YouTube

Jake is also teaching at Bryan Sutton's Blue Ridge Guitar Camp this year.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

Happy picking!

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly 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)

• Grey Fox Festival
• Casey Driessen Fiddle Camp Scholarship

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Scroll on Buddy/In my ears

• 1925 Fiddle Convention 100th anniversary tribute pre-orders
• ‘Complete’ Tone Poems at Acoustic Disc

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Peghead Nation
  • Use the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any course

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

This 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 missed it first time round, or just want to hear some bits again. If you're new to the podcast they'll also give you a great sense of what's there, so you can dive in and discover some of the older episodes.

This first one is a real favourite of mine. Back in 2023 I did a bunch of episodes celebrating Doc Watson on what would have been his 100th birthday. I spoke to people who  played with Doc and spent time with him (including Jack Lawrence, Happy Traum and T. Michael Coleman), as well as players who just love Doc's music (including Critter Eldridge, Tim O'Brien, Bryan Sutton and many more).

This comes from the chat I had with Jack Lawrence. He shares a wonderful story about Doc giving him an iconic Martin D18 that needed a little TLC.

I hope you enjoy this. It was great listening back to it!

If you want to hear more from the Doc episodes, you'll find them here:

Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - Part 1

Doc Watson 100th birthday celebration - Part 2 

Jack Lawrence conversation in full 

Happy picking,

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly 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)

• ETSU Artist in Residence post
• Punch Brothers tour dates
• Green Mountain lineup

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Scroll on Buddy/In my ears

• Bela Fleck ‘Throw Down Your Heart’ documentary (YouTube)

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Peghead Nation
  • Use the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any course

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My 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 building in Minneapolis and move his entire shop to Sisters, Oregon; returning to his passion for hands-on building of custom instruments on his own with complete control over the outcome; the role  bluegrass plays in building and strengthening community and developing the Vintage Eclipse model for and with Billy Failing, who plays banjo with Billy Strings.

For more info on Nechville Banjos visit www.nechville.com

Happy picking,

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Welcome to this week’s Bluegrass Briefing, a weekly 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.

Pod news

• Eric Skye - Phillips, Grier & Fliner special 
  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify

News and Announcements (Church Street News)

• Alison Krauss pre-order and tour info
• Billy Strings tour dates
• DelFest lineup and tickets
• Blue Highway 30th anniversary concert

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Peghead Nation
  • Use the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any course

Happy picking.

Matt

Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!)

Support the show

===

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

- 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts