Bluegrass Briefing - July 15th 2024

My guest this week is Fretboard Journal's Jason Verlinde.Jason shares the story of how Fretboard Journal started, back in 2005, and how it's grown from a print magazine to include a series of great podcasts and The Fretboard Summit events.We also chat about the current state of the acoustic instrument market and how the vintage market has changed over the past two decades, plus what people can expect from this year's Fretboard Summit, which kicks off in Chicago in just two days.Visit fretboardjournal.com for more info on the Fretboard Journal magazine and podcasts and fretboardsummit.org for info on the Fretboard Summit.Happy picking!MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

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, news of a brand new record by Daniel Patrick of the Mandolins and Beer podcast and a new flatpicking course from Grant Gordy on Peghead Nation.There's also new music from Stephen Mougin and Ned Luberecki, Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland, Sarah Jarosz, Any Leftwich, Aoife O'Donovan and Hawktail and Jerry Douglas!Don't forget, you'll find the new releases playlist here:The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistAlso....Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistFull list of interviewsPeghead NationUse the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any courseHappy picking.MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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 Rebecca Frazier. Rebecca was the first woman ever to appear on the cover of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and her band Hit & Run are the only band to win all three Rockygrass, Telluride, and SPBGMA Festival Band competitions.She joins me to chat about her new record Boarding Windows in Paradise. We talk about working with legendary producer and engineer Bill Wolf, recording with Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan and the band Love Canon and the decade gap between this and her last record.We touch on so many different aspects of combining music with life and how we change (or don't ) over time. We also talk about our shared love of Dolly Parton's record The Grass is Blue and the influence it had on Rebecca's new record.I loved this conversation and I hope you do too.For more info check out rebeccafrazier.com, where you'll find links to her tour dates, social channels and YouTube.Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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 Becky Buller.Becky is the winner of 10 IBMA awards, including the 2016 awards for Fiddler and Female Vocalist. She's the first woman in the history of IBMA to receive the Fiddle Player of the Year award and the first person ever to win in both vocal and instrumental categories. She joins me to talk about her fabulous album and song cycle 'Jubilee'.  We talk about the FreshGrass commission that sparked the piece, co-writing with Aoife O'Donovan, taking part in an historic all-female Newport line up (where she sang '9 to 5' with Dolly Parton) and recording 'Jubilee' in the studio...live...in just a day and a half!We also talk about the themes of anxiety, self-worth and depression that underpin 'Jubilee' and how the enforced shutdown brought on by Covid affected Becky's mental health. It's an open, honest and warm conversation that touches on so many things I suspect will resonate with a lot of people. It was a joy to get to have it.Visit beckybuller.com for more info and tour dates and follow Becky on Instagram and Facebook for regular updates.Happy picking!MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

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 newsInterview episodes by categoryNews and Announcements (Church Street News)IBMA announcementLessons With Marcel Molly Tuttle bookPeghead Nation Folk and Bluegrass Songs for FiddleDon’t forget the promo code below for a free month!Releases (The Grass is New)Billy Strings Leadfoot videoThe Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistScroll on BuddyGreen Mountain Bluegrass FestivalRebecca Frazier High Country Road Trip videoOther bitsSign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistFull list of interviewsPeghead NationUse the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any courseHappy picking.MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

This week's episode is a Food For Thought episode. If you're not familiar with them, they're a series of short episodes on a single idea, designed to get you thinking and (hopefully) deepening your understanding of a particular music related area.This week we've got a simple idea from Dolly Parton - "Find out who you are and do it on purpose."So many of us think we should decide what kind of musician (or person!) we want to be, then work to become that, but the reality is we've all got something within us that's authentically and uniquely 'us' and we should all be doing our best to lean into it. Not that it's wrong to learn from and be inspired by others, just that only they can be themselves (and we can only be ourselves!)I hope you find it useful! Back next week with another interview for you.Happy picking,MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

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)IBMA news & infoReleases (The Grass is New)The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistOther bitsSign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistFull list of interviewsPeghead NationUse the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any courseHappy picking.MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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 Alister Atkin of Atkin Guitars.I've been following Atkin's progress for a few years now and have been blown away by the quality of guitars they're producing. They combine some cutting edge techniques with a bespoke approach, to bring out the uniqueness of every guitar they make. As Alister puts it: 'We're all about getting the feel and the sound of the instrument, and the aura of a great instrument.'We talk about some of these processes, including baking wood, freezing guitar bodies and even 3D printing moulds, as well as how Alister got into guitar making in the first place. We also chat about Atkin's White Rice model, a tribute to the Martin D28 owned by Clarence White, then Tony Rice (hence the name!) and the new range of electric guitars they're making.You can find info and drool over their guitars at https://atkinguitars.com/ and follow the Atkin Guitars Instagram feed for updates.But what I'd really urge you to do is to find one and play it, which you can do by checking the list of Atkin Guitar dealers around the world.It was a fascinating chat - I hope you enjoy it.Happy picking,MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

Last week we lost Happy Traum, one of the shining lights of acoustic music for over half a century.It’s hard to fully grasp, in our online world where everything is right there whenever we need it, just what an enormous contribution Happy and the Homespun team made to helping people learn roots and acoustic music.I was lucky enough to get to chat to Happy a couple of times for the podcast, and he spoke about how strongly he felt that their role was to document, as well as teach. Watching the videos they put out with Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Norman Blake and Bill Monroe (and many more) it’s hard to think of a bigger contribution to documenting an era of music!To celebrate Happy's extraordinary influence, which will continue for many years through Homespun's legacy, I'm re-posting the chat I had with him for the podcast back in June of 2022. Countless people learned to play an instrument thanks to the books, tapes, videos, CDs, DVDs and downloads Homespun put out, with some of the leading names in roots music, including Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Bill Monroe, John Hartford, Sam Bush and many, many more.Happy shares the story of how Homespun was born, around a kitchen table, as well as memories of working with some of those iconic musicians, many of whom became friends along the way.Happy will be dearly missed by those who knew him, as well as by people like me, who didn't, but whose lives were enriched by his work.Thank you Happy!MattVisit Homespun's website to check out their extraordinary catalogue  Send a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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

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)IBMA award nomineesReleases (The Grass is New)David Grisman & the Rounder Album Band - Live at Grass ValleyThe Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistOther bitsSign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/The Grass is (mostly) New 2024 playlistFull list of interviewsPeghead NationUse the code ‘jamalong’ for a free month of any courseHappy picking.MattSend a message to Bluegrass Jam Along! (Don't forget to include your name so I know who you are!) Support the Show.===Thanks to Bryan Sutton for his wonderful theme tune to Bluegrass Jam Along (and to Justin Moses for playing the fiddle!)- 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