My guests this week are Carolyn Kendrick and Tristan Scroggins and we're talking about a fascinating project that looks at the role of women in bluegrass through the lens of a historic newsletter created by Murphy Henry in the 1990s.

The newsletters have been digitised and made available in an archive that captures candid conversations, accomplishments, and challenges of women
in bluegrass.

Tristan and Carolyn have also produced a wonderful 8-part documentary podcast called 'Don’t Call Me Darlin’.' The podcast revisits the bluegrass matriarchs who were interviewed in Murphy Henry’s original newsletter from 1994 - 2003,
as well as talking to contemporaries from the community like Sierra Hull, Bronwyn, Brittany Haas, and more.

It was a fascinating (and fun) conversation that covered gender roles in bluegrass but also much more, including what bluegrass really is, who it's for and what it means to feel like an insider vs an outsider in the scene.

You can check out the podcast on Spotify and Apple (or wherever you get your podcasts) and find out more at womeninbluegrass.org

Support the show

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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 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

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Here's your Bluegrass Briefing for November, our monthly 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.

Pod news

• Chris Thile interview

News and announcements - Church Street News

• Peghead Nation Norman Blake course
• Craft Recordings Tony Rice reissues (Including Acoustics)
• IBMA Award winners

Releases - The Grass is New

• Bela Fleck Live Heart

Other bits

• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

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
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- Review us on Apple Podcasts

This week's episode features a segment of a conversation I had a while back with Marcel Ardans of the Lessons With Marcel YouTube channel.

Marcel has spent hundreds of hours transcribing guitar breaks from some of our favourite pickers, so I thought it would be fun to find out what he learned in the process.

This particular segment is about Billy Strings. We chat about Billy's lead and rhythm style, including the obvious Doc Watson influence, but also what else Billy brings and how he blends bluegrass, country, jam band and rock influences into a style that is very much his own.

The full episode also included Marcel discussing Tony Rice, Molly Tuttle and (one of Marcels' personal favourites) Trey Hensley. You'll find the full episode here.

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 Chris Thile and he joins me to chat about The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers.

We talk about how the album came together and why, after 20 years as a band, it's only now they've got round to making a fully instrumental record. Chris also tells me how Brittany Haas joining the band and their first project together, Energy Curfew Music Hour, sowed the seeds for the album and why not having vocals on it left space for instrumental voices to shine.

Chris also talks candidly about why he didn't feel like writing lyrics right now was the right thing and how the tunes on this record grew out of musical nuggets, with each then being explored by the band and shaped in whatever way that particular idea needed.

We also explore the overarching narrative of the record, how that came together and the band's approach to reimagining the traditional tunes on the album, treating them as though they were new material and giving them the same level of exploration and development as the original tunes.

It was a fascinating insight into creativity, artistic process and how one of my favourite bands goes about making a record. I thoroughly loved this conversation.

You can buy The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers (and some cool related merch) via Punch Brothers' online store.

For info and updates, follow Chris Thile and Punch Brothers on Instagram.

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 fiddler, string arranger, composer and session musician Matt Combs.

After decades working in the service of other people's music, including a stint in the Opry house band, Matt has just put out his first solo record 'Fifty Years of Clown School.'

We chat about why now felt like the time to put out his own record, as well as the reasons why he shelved a previous project he'd already recorded, and what he learned in decades of playing and arranging for other people. We also talk about how the tunes for this project grew out of his daily, meditative slow practice sessions, how John Hartford helped him understand his own creativity and why Beethoven's Ninth Symphony became a model for what he was trying to achieve on this album.

It was a thoughtful, wide ranging and fascinating conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

For info and updates on Matt follow him on Instagram. You can buy Fifty Years of Clown School on Bandcamp and learn more at mattcombs.com

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 singer-songwriter Kristy Cox and we're chatting about her brand new album 'Winds of Change', due out on October 9th.

Kristy explains why this record is her rawest and most personal yet and how, through her long term collaboration with producer Jerry Salley, plus her co-writers on the album, she created a journey that took heartbreak and turned it into hope.

We also chat about her background growing up listening to bluegrass and country in Australia, before moving to Nashville when she was offered a record deal. Kristy is also now on the board of the IBMA and is passionate about connecting the international bluegrass communities around the world and 'putting the I in IBMA'.

This was a great conversation. You can find out more about Kristy at kristycox.com - follow Kristy on Instagram for regular news and updates.

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 Bertolf Lentink, better know as simply Bertolf.

Bertolf grew up listening to bluegrass at home in the Netherlands with his parents and learned to play guitar with his father. Then he discovered other bands, including the Beatles and Radiohead, and began writing songs of his own. After several albums in a pop/rock, singer-songwriter vein, he was drawn back to his initial love of bluegrass and decided he wanted to make a bluegrass record.

Bluefinger was recorded in Nashville with string band legends including Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan, and featured a selection of Bertolf's existing songs, alongside some newly written instrumentals. When Bertolf returned to the Netherlands and began touring the music with a local band, he decided he wanted to follow it up with Bluefinger 2, this time featuring all new songs and his touring band.

We chat about how Bertolf came to love bluegrass, what music was playing in his house as he grew up and what ultimately drew him back to the music after building a successful career. He talks about the conversation that planted the seed of an idea for Bluefinger, how the record came together and how it felt coming back to the music he loved as a child.

This was a fascinating conversation and I'd urge you to go and check out both records, as well as Bertolf's other work.

You'll find more info at https://bertolf.nl and you can follow Bertolf on Instagram for more regular updates.

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 Julian Lage and we're talking about his extraordinary solo guitar album 'World's Fair'.

Julian will be known to many of you as a jazz player but is also widely known in the bluegrass and string band world through his wonderful duet records with Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar. In fact, Julian's first recording was an acoustic duet with David Grisman as part of the 'Dawg Duos' album.

Julian talks about the challenges and opportunities of playing solo, how he approached making this particular record, why he threw away his first attempt and what he learned about his own playing from making 'World's Fair'.

We also discuss the role acoustic music has played in his career, why being able to interpret song and tunes is so important and how playing music socially in New York with singer songwriters gave him the seed for what turned into 'World's Fair'.

This was a fascinating conversation about a superb album, but also about some of the deeper questions about what it means to make music, both alone and with others.

You can buy the 10th anniversary vinyl and CD reissues of 'World's Fair' and the accompanying songbook via Julian's store.

Follow Julian on Instagram for regular updates and news.

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