Bluegrass Unlimited Podcast with Sara Watkins

This week we feature Billy Cardine and Mary Lucey and talk with them about their new band Tanasi and the album that they recently released.  We will explore both Mary and Billy's backgrounds in music and then talk about the new album and play a couple of cuts from the record.

This week we feature bluegrass banjo legend Tony Trischka and talk with him about his two Earl Jam projects and tour.  Tony tells us the story about how the two Earl Jam projects came together and we will talk about his love and respect for Earl's banjo playing and his relationship with Earl Scruggs over the years.  We'll also talk about his teaching banjo on ArtistWorks. 

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Chris Stuart.  Chris has written many songs that were recorded by various well-known bluegrass artists, then he stepped away from writing bluegrass songs for a while, but has now come back to it.  We talk with Chris about his bluegrass journey and his song writing.  

This week we feature guitar player Jack Lawrence and talk with him about his early years in bluegrass, the many years he spent performing with Doc Watson and what he will be teaching to flatpicking guitar players in August 2026 at the Monroe Mandolin Camp.

This week we feature fiddle player, songwriter and singer Sara Watkins, famously of Nickel Creek and now performing with I'm With Her.  We talk with Sara about the Nickel Creek days and what I'm With Her has going on this year, including the recent release or their live album. 

This week we are featuring Ralph Stanley II.  We talk with Ralph about his life growing up in bluegrass as the son of a bluegrass legend and we will talk about this year's upcoming Dr. Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival held at the Stanley homeplace over Memorial Day Weekend.  We'll also talk about the Stanley Brothers recent induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This week we feature bass and guitar player Randy Barnes and talk with him about the many bluegrass bands that he has performed with over the years and his new solo recording on Mountain Fever Records.

This week we feature guitar player, singer and songwriter Paige Anderson.  We'll talk about her early work with her family band and subsequent work with her siblings in a band called The Fearless Kin.  We then talk with Paige about her most recent work with the band Two Runner and you will get to hear several of Paige's original songs that she recorded with Two Runner.     

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Robert Bowlin.  Robert has performed with many bluegrass and country artists over the years and has the distinction of being Bill Monroe's last fiddle player.  We talk with Robert about his career in bluegrass, his newest projects and his schedule for the summer of 2026.

This week we feature Canadian mandolin player Andrew Collins.  We talk with Andrew about his background in music leading up to a discussion about the Andrew Collins Trio's newest project titled Retro.  You'll also hear a couple of tracks from that album.