This week I'm joined by bluegrass legend Bryan Sutton for a very special episode to benefit the IBMA Trust Fund and help people suffering the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

In the run up to recording the episode we asked for questions for Bryan for Bluegrass Jam Along listeners - in this interview you'll hear me put those questions to him. We talk about growing up in Asheville and how important that community was to Bryan's musical development; about his relationship with Doc Watson and the time he got to spend with him; about how he goes about learning complex music and his thoughts on practice; why learning more than one instrument is a good thing...and his admiration for Metallica's James Hetfield. We cover a lot of ground!

Everyone who asked a question donated to our GoFundMe fundraiser, which remains open after the episode goes out. If you're able to, please do consider donating whatever you can. As you'll hear from Bryan in the interview, there are people in desperate need of help as they rebuild their homes, lives and communities.

Having grown up in Asheville, one of the areas hit hardest by the hurricane, Bryan knows just how important community is at times like this. The relief effort will take months or, in some cases, over a year, so every penny donated will be incredibly important to the ongoing efforts.

All the proceeds from this episode will go to the IBMA Trust Fund so please do donate what you can via the GoFundMe campaign.

If you can't donate, or have already donated to other fundraisers, please do share this episode with anyone you think would enjoy it and help spread the word.

Thanks to the team at IBMA for all their help putting this together and getting the word out and thanks to the team at ArtistWorks for an incredibly generous donation to get things moving. Thank you to everyone who submitted a question and everyone who's donated already (and thanks in advance to those of you who donate after hearing this!)

Here's the link again - https://www.gofundme.com/f/bluegrass-jam-along-helene-fundraiser

And thanks, of course, to Bryan for taking part in this very special episode of Bluegrass Jam Along.

Enjoy the interview and happy picking,
Matt

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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

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