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 

• Well of Souls - Kristina Gaddy

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Punch Brothers - Just What I Needed

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 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:

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• Facebook

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Bill Amatneek, who joins me to talk about his fascinating new book 'Discovering Tony Rice.'

Bill shares his memories of playing with Tony in the David Grisman Quintet, officiating at Tony's wedding to Leela and spending time with him on the road. He also talks about how an article on Tony turned into a 260 page book and what he learned about Tony from interviewing his friends, musical colleagues and family in the process.

It's a fascinating insight into one of the most extraordinary musicians of our time and was a truly wonderful conversation to get to be a part of.

You can buy the book from Vineyard Press

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 

• Earl Scruggs Music Festival lineup
• Mike Marshall and Caterina  Lichtenberg’s mandolin retreat

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• The Last Repair Shop

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 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 singer-songwriter, producer, author, and playwright Michael Johnathon.

Michael is probably best known as the founder, producer and host of The Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour. He joins me to talk about Woodsongs' extraordinary history, from its humble beginnings in a tiny room with an audience of 12, to being broadcast on 537 radio stations and heard by over two million listeners.

We also chat about his SongFarmers project, a global network where musicians become leaders and mentors in their communities through monthly gatherings.

You can find out more about SongFarmers at www.songfarmers.org

You can also find out more about Woodsongs at www.woodsongs.com, where you can listen to and watch hundreds of past episodes, including performances from some of the greatest names in roots and acoustic music.

The movie Michael mentions is Caney Creek: The Legend of Alice Loyd

Thanks for listening and 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 

• North Carolina Guitar Celebration
• Chris Thile’s Acousticamp

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• New Music Streaming Bill
  • Pitchfork
  • Mixmag

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 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 guitarist Ethan Sherman.

Ethan joins me to talk about his new record 'Passages', which is due out on March 8th. We chat about working with producer Wes Corbett on the project, why it was important to write for specific players and how Ethan came to string band music in the first place.

We also chat about a wonderful book Ethan co-wrote with Adam Levy called 'String Theories'. I've been working with it for a couple of weeks and it's really inspired me to focus more on where I want to get to on guitar. I can't recommend it enough.

Ethan is also Michael Buble's touring guitarist - but we don't really talk about that at all!

You can find out more about the book on the String Theories website and more about Ethan at ethanshermanmusic.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.

News and announcements - church street news 

• Lessons With Marcel Tony Rice video

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Earl Scruggs’ D18

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 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 Missy Raines.

We talk about Missy's wonderful new album 'Highlander' and her journey from being a bass player to becoming a singer/songwriter and bandleader. Along the way Missy talks about being part of a musical tradition, what that means to her, how working with producer Alison Brown shaped the record and why it felt like coming home to a place she'd never left to begin with.

It's a great record and I really enjoyed the conversation.

To find out more about Missy, including links to her social channels and ArtistWorks bass school, visit www.missyraines.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.

News and announcements - church street news 

• Song Farmers
• Casey Driessen’s Blue Ridge Fiddle Camp

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Scott Nygaard on playing for people to dance to

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 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 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, Peter Rowan and Missy Raines.

He joins me to chat about a fascinating project he's working on with Tristan Scroggins, called The Old Time 100. George and Tristan recorded 100 fiddle tunes in a day. Our conversation starts off with the obvious question ('Why?') and spreads from there into a wide ranging chat about how they chose the tunes, which versions they went for, how the tracks were recorded, why their key purpose is educational (although they sound great to listen to as well!)  and the differences (and similarities) between old time and bluegrass.

I really enjoyed this one.

To find out more about The Old Time 100, including transcriptions, videos and more, follow the links below. 

Instagram

• Tristan’s Instagram
• George’s Instagram

Patreon

• Tristan's Patreon
• George's Patreon

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