Our podcast interview today features fiddle maestro Stuart Duncan.  A long time member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Stuart has also played on nearly 900 recordings in multiple genres working as a session musician.  Today I will talk with Stuart about his participation in the Sturgill Simpson Cuttin’ Grass projects, his early years playing bluegrass in California, his session work, the recent passing of Tony Rice, and much more.

Our podcast interview today features bluegrass banjo master Scott Vestal.  Scott has a very long history in bluegrass having played with Larry Sparks, Southern Connection, Doyle Lawson, Live Wire, Continental Divide, John Cowan and Sam Bush.  We talk to Scott about his time in these bands, his engineering and production work, his winning the Steve Martin banjo prize, his stealth banjos, his work with Sturgill Simpson, and more.  You will also hear a tune from Scott’s most recent solo recording and something from his newest various artist project Bluegrass 2020.

Our podcast interview today features Sierra Hull.  Sierra, a two-time IBMA mandolin player of the year award winner, is one of the most outstanding musicians and singers in bluegrass music today.  In this podcast we talk with Sierra about her involvement in Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass projects, her hosting of the IBMA virtual awards show, her newest album release 25 Trips, her work with husband Justin Moses on his new CD Fall Like Rain, and much more.  You will also hear a cut from Sierra’s 25 Trips album.  

This podcast features Tim O’Brien.  Tim’s skills as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter will be familiar to anyone who has followed bluegrass music.  An original member of the band Hot Rize, Tim has also released many projects under his own name, led several configurations of his own band, partnered to record and tour with multiple well-known musicians, such as Darrell Scott, and he has written dozens of well-known songs that he and other bands have recorded.  

Our podcast interview this week features Roland White.  Roland is a true legend in bluegrass music having played with such prominent bands in as the Kentucky Colonels, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass, the Country Gazette, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, and now the Roland White Band.  Roland discusses time spent with those bands and we play you a few cuts from a couple of Roland’s most recent CDs.

This week's podcast interview features Bluegrass Hall of Fame bass player Tom Gray.  In this interview Tom talks about how he discovered bluegrass, the Washington DC bluegrass scene in the 1950s, his time spent performing with with the Country Gentleman and the Seldom Scene.  He also discusses the early years of Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine.

This week's Podcast features banjo legend Alan Munde. Alan has a long history in bluegrass music starting back in the 1960s with Poor Richard’s Almanac and then Jimmy Martin.  He spent a short time with the Flying Burrito Brothers, toured in Europe with the New Kentucky Colonels, and, starting in 1972, was long-time member of the Country Gazette. In 1986 Alan joined the faculty of South Plains College and taught bluegrass music there for over twenty-years.  He currently teaches at various music camps and workshops and performs with the Alan Munde Gazette.  In this podcast we focus on Alan’s early experiences with bluegrass music, his time with Jimmy Martin, and discuss his thoughts about some of the early bluegrass bands.  You will also hear Alan play is wonderful arrangement of “Durang’s Hornpipe.”

    This podcast features an interview with Stephen Mougin, guitar player with the Sam Bush Band and owner of Dark Shadow Recording.  Stephen talks about his work with the Sam Bush Band and his duo with Ned Luberecki, Nedski and Mojo.  He also discusses his engineering and production work with artists on his record label, his True Fire guitar lessons, his harmony singing instructional CDs, and his band coaching work.  You will also hear two cuts off of Stephen newest solo recording Ordinary Soul.

This podcast features Dan Cary.  Dan is a legend in bluegrass music known for being one of the early lead guitar players in bluegrass.  He has played with a variety of bands over the years including the Bluegrass Alliance, Berline, Crary and Hickman, and California.  He now performs with Crary, Evans and Barnick.   In this podcast Dan talks about his experiences with bluegrass in the 1960s, his time with the Bluegrass Alliance, and his work with his current band.   You will also hear two cuts from Crary, Evans, and Barnick’s newest CD.  

Our podcast interview today features Nate Lee.  Nate is a graduate of South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, where he studied with Alan Munde and Joe Carr.  While still in college he performed with The Hard Road Trio and the Alan Munde Gazette.  Since moving to Nashville in 2006, Nate has performed with the Jim Hurst Trio and is currently with The Becky Buller Band.  In 2015 Nate was the winner of the IBMA’s Momentum Award in the Instrumentalist of the Year category.  We are going to talk with Nate about his time at South Plains College, his involvement with the aforementioned bands, and his instructional material.    Additionally, you will hear a couple of cuts off of Nate’s solo CD, "Wings of Jetliner," which was released earlier this year (2020).