Stay Connected“Bluegrass Jam Along is a great, great podcast” – Chris Eldridge
The IBMA Award winning podcast for anyone and everyone who loves bluegrass.
Every week we feature interviews with musicians, writers, instrument makers and other key figures from the bluegrass and string band world, plus regular news and new releases.
Guests include Alison Krauss, Sierra Hull, Tim O’Brien, Wyatt Rice, Jerry Douglas, Sarah Jarosz, Jarrod Walker and David Grisman.
For more info visit https://bluegrassjamalong.com
Copyright: © 2024 Bluegrass Jam Along
My guest this week is Sarah Jarosz.
Sarah joins me to talk about one of my favourite albums, 'Blue Heron Suite', which is getting a physical reissue on November 22nd.
We chat about how the record developed out of a FreshGrass commission, what that process was like, the central themes that underpin the album, the decision to arrange it for a trio rather than including drums and how it fits into Sarah's journey, both personally and as a songwriter.
Getting to chat about new records is always fun, but I also love getting to dig into a record that's been out for a while and I've had a chance to really get to know - it makes for a different type of conversation and I loved this one.
We also chatted briefly about I'm With Her and the good news is that Sarah has been writing with Aoife and Sara and we can look forward to another album (although there are no specific dates yet).
'Blue Heron Suite' is being reissued as a CD and LP - you can pre-order your copy here, where you'll also find links to the album on streaming services.
For info and updates visit sarahjarosz.com and follow Sarah on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
Happy picking,
Matt
===
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:
- 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.
This week we have a special episode looking at the artists from the bluegrass and string band world who've been nominated for a Grammy. There'll be some music in here you're familiar with and, hopefully, something new to discover too.
The awards themselves will take place on Sunday February 2nd 2025.
Who are your favourites?
Other bits
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- Review us on Apple Podcasts
My guest this week is Sierra Hull.
Since I spoke to Sierra for the podcast back in January 2023 she's been ridiculously busy touring and recording. We chat about the extended tour she's been on for Bela Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart (which she describes as one of the highlights of her musical life), her current and ongoing tour with her own band (which has been chaotic to say the least!) and why she chose to have a drummer in her band, even though she confesses she's not generally a fan of drums in bluegrass.
We talk about the wonderful band she's assembled and what they've been up to in the studio, including recording a new album (due in the first quarter of 2025), two great covers (Tears For Fears' Mad World and The Grateful Dead's Black Muddy River), not one but two holiday songs (the first of which,The First Snowfall, is out this week) and her Freshgrass Concerto commission.
Lots to look forward to if (like me) you're a Sierra Hull fan!
This conversation was a lot of fun - I hope you enjoy it!
For info and tour dates head to Sierra's website sierrahull.com
For regular updates follow Sierra on Facebook and Instagram
If you missed it, check out my previous interview with Sierra.
Happy picking,
Matt
===
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:
- 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
News and Announcements (Church Street News)
Releases (The Grass is New)
Scroll on Buddy
Billy Strings - O Billy Where Art Thou clips:
Other bits
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- Review us on Apple Podcasts
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
===
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:
- 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)
Releases (The Grass is New)
Scroll on Buddy
Other bits
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- Review us on Apple Podcasts
My guest this week is Daniel Patrick, host of the excellent Mandolins and Beer podcast.
Daniel has interviewed dozens of great mandolin players for his podcast, but today we're going to talk about his new record Around the Clock, which features him playing with eleven of his heroes, including Tim O'Brien, Ronnie McCoury and Sam Bush, as well as some of the top players on the scene today, including Jarrod Walker, Jacob Jolliff and Harry Clark.
We chat about how the record came together and how it was recorded, as well as how Daniel chose the musicians he wanted to include. We also, of course, talk about Mandolins and Beer, the rise of podcasting in general and so much more, including our shared love for CD liner notes!
You can buy Around the Clock on Bandcamp and listen on Spotify
Check out mandolinsandbeer.com for info on the podcast and more.
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- 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)
Releases (The Grass is New)
Other bits
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- Review us on Apple Podcasts
This week's episode is about a very special fundraiser I'm putting together.
I’m working with Bryan Sutton to raise funds to help people suffering the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. Bryan is from Asheville, NC, one of the cities hit hardest by the hurricane, so this cause is very close to his heart.
We’re putting together a one off episode of Bluegrass Jam Along where you, the podcast's listeners, get to interview Bryan! Here's how it works...
When you donate, you get to send me a question to ask Bryan in the episode, then I'll put as many questions as I can to Bryan over the course of the interview. What do you want to ask him?
(Don’t worry, you don’t have to have a question, you can just donate too!).
All proceeds will go to the IBMA Trust Fund to help those in need. All donations, big or small, are very welcome.
This is the link to donate (and ask your question). Please do share this with as many people as you can.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bluegrass-jam-along-helene-fundraiser
Thanks in advance!
Matt and Bryan
===
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:
- 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)
Releases (The Grass is New)
Other bits
Happy picking.
Matt
===
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:
- Review us on Apple Podcasts
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