Bluegrass Jam Along

My guest this week is Alister Atkin of Atkin Guitars.

I've been following Atkin's progress for a few years now and have been blown away by the quality of guitars they're producing. They combine some cutting edge techniques with a bespoke approach, to bring out the uniqueness of every guitar they make. As Alister puts it: 'We're all about getting the feel and the sound of the instrument, and the aura of a great instrument.'

We talk about some of these processes, including baking wood, freezing guitar bodies and even 3D printing moulds, as well as how Alister got into guitar making in the first place. We also chat about Atkin's White Rice model, a tribute to the Martin D28 owned by Clarence White, then Tony Rice (hence the name!) and the new range of electric guitars they're making.

You can find info and drool over their guitars at https://atkinguitars.com/ and follow the Atkin Guitars Instagram feed for updates.

But what I'd really urge you to do is to find one and play it, which you can do by checking the list of Atkin Guitar dealers around the world.

It was a fascinating chat - I hope you enjoy it.

Happy picking,
Matt

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

Last week we lost Happy Traum, one of the shining lights of acoustic music for over half a century.

It’s hard to fully grasp, in our online world where everything is right there whenever we need it, just what an enormous contribution Happy and the Homespun team made to helping people learn roots and acoustic music.

I was lucky enough to get to chat to Happy a couple of times for the podcast, and he spoke about how strongly he felt that their role was to document, as well as teach. Watching the videos they put out with Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Norman Blake and Bill Monroe (and many more) it’s hard to think of a bigger contribution to documenting an era of music!

To celebrate Happy's extraordinary influence, which will continue for many years through Homespun's legacy, I'm re-posting the chat I had with him for the podcast back in June of 2022. Countless people learned to play an instrument thanks to the books, tapes, videos, CDs, DVDs and downloads Homespun put out, with some of the leading names in roots music, including Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Bill Monroe, John Hartford, Sam Bush and many, many more.

Happy shares the story of how Homespun was born, around a kitchen table, as well as memories of working with some of those iconic musicians, many of whom became friends along the way.

Happy will be dearly missed by those who knew him, as well as by people like me, who didn't, but whose lives were enriched by his work.

Thank you Happy!

Matt

Visit Homespun's website to check out their extraordinary catalogue  

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 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

- 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)

• IBMA award nominees

Releases (The Grass is New)

• David Grisman & the Rounder Album Band - Live at Grass Valley
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

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

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest this week is Roger Siminoff. Not only is Roger an authority on instrument making, the physics of music and tap tuning, he's also an expert on the life and work of Lloyd Loar.

Loar worked at Gibson in the early 1920s and oversaw the production of some truly remarkable, game changing instruments - most notably the F5 mandolin, which went on to become an integral part of bluegrass music and shape how we see mandolins for the next 100 years.

We talked about Lloyd Loar's background, why his approach to making mandolins was both revolutionary, yet also harked back 200 years to the golden age of violin making and how Roger ended up researching Loar for a magazine piece (a piece that went on to develop into an interest in Loar's work, a deep friendship with his widow, the discovery of some long lost instruments and, ultimately, a life's work for Roger himself).

It was a fascinating conversation - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

To find out more about Roger and his books, visit siminoffbooks.com

In particular check out The Life and Work of Lloyd Allayre Loar and The Art of Tap Tuning

Roger mentions Dan Beimborn's wonderful Mandolin Archive site, detailing all the known Loar-signed instruments out there.

For more on mandolins, including info and a truly excellent forum, I can highly recommend Mandolin Cafe

Happy picking!
Matt

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 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

- 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)

• IBMA Black String Band Symposium
• Volunteer at IBMA
  • Email [email protected] for more info

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• East Nash Grass at DelFest
• Tony Rice Native American vinyl reissue

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

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest on the podcast this week is Chris Eldridge, guitarist with Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar.

Chris is not only one of my favourite guitarists, he's also one of my favourite people I've had on as a guest, so I'm delighted to welcome him back to Bluegrass Jam Along to celebrate the podcast's 400th episode.

In this special episode we're chatting about Bela Fleck's ground breaking record Drive. It's a record that's really important to Chris, and also played a key role in the early days of both The Infamous Stringdusters and Punch Brothers.

Chris talks about first hearing the record, why it grabbed his attention so much and why it holds a key place in not only Bela's output, but also in the rich tradition of progressive, instrumental string band music. We also talk about the remarkable contributions made by the players Bela assembled for this record, including Sam Bush, Mark Schatz, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Mark O'Connor and, of course, Tony Rice.

It was a fascinating conversation to get to have. Drive is one of my favourite records and I know it's a favourite of so many bluegrass fans and players too.

Thanks Chris and here's to the next 400 episodes!

Happy picking!
Matt

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 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

- 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.

Podcast News 

• Gabe Witcher interview
• Brittany Haas interview

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Fretboard Summit
• IBMA Bluegrass Ramble

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

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guest on the podcast this week is Brittany Haas, fiddle player with Hawktail and, now, Punch Brothers!

I interviewed Gabe Witcher last June, a few days after he played his final shows with Punch Brothers at Telluride. Almost exactly a year later to the day I spoke with Brittany to chat about joining the band as his replacement. Brittany had just played with Punch Brothers at Telluride, so there was a lovely symmetry to it.

We chatted about how Brittany got the gig, the challenges of replacing one of your favourite fiddle payers in a band you love, how knowing the rest of the band really helped with that process (both musically and socially), how her first shows with the band have been and what Punch Brothers 3.0 might look like.

Brittany also has a brand new record of fiddle duets with Lena Jonsson, called The Snake, which you can stream in all the usual places as well as buy on Bandcamp

Happy picking!
Matt

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 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

- 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 

• IBMA International Booth info 
  • Contact Christopher Howard Williams (IBMA board member) via the contact form on the Bluegrass in La Roche website
• Nice Like That Kickstarter page
• Blue Ridge Banjo Camp

Releases (The Grass is New)

• The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Punch Brothers’ set at Telluride 2024

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

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts

My guests this week are Ruth Oxenberg and Rob Schumer.

They join me to talk about a very special series of concerts they've curated called Bluegrass on Hudson, which are happening at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, in New York's Hudson Valley.

But we start by talking about a wonderful documentary they directed and produced called Bluegrass Journey. It's a movie I've watched multiple times and really love. We chat about how they got into bluegrass in the first place (including how the Del McCoury Band almost became their wedding band!), how a TV news segment on bluegrass turned into a feature length documentary, their experience of filming the movie at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and some of the legends of bluegrass who feature in the movie, including the Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan, Tim O'Brien, Jerry Douglas, Chris Thile and an iconic performance of Shenandoah by Tony Rice.

If you haven't seen Bluegrass Journey I'd urge you to check it out.

This was a wonderful conversation. I hope you enjoy it!
Happy picking,
Matt

Watch Bluegrass Journey on Amazon Prime

Bluegrass on Hudson info and tickets

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 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

- Review us on Apple Podcasts