Bluegrass Unlimited Podcast with Jim Rooney

This week we feature Fred Bartenstein and talk with him about his many contributions to bluegrass music over the years starting in the 1960s with his work with Carlton Haney's music festivals and events and the Muleskinner News.  Our September 2026 issue focuses on bluegrass in New England and when Fred was in college at Harvard, starting in 1969, he was the co-founder of the first bluegrass music association in Boston.  So, we'll also talk to Fred about his Boston years.

This week we feature musician, writer, producer and performer Jim Rooney and talk with him about the early days of bluegrass in New England.  Our September 2026 issue features the history of bluegrass in New England and Jim was involved in the bluegrass music scene in Boston starting in the 1950s and was a motive force in helping to popularize bluegrass and folk music in that area or the country.  

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Austin Scelzo. We talk with Austin about his bluegrass story and the bands he currently performs with.  We will also talk about the instructional content on his YouTube channel, his work with the Wernick Method and the work he is doing to help promote bluegrass in Connecticut.    

This week we feature guitar player Tony Watt.  Our September 2026 issue features bluegrass in New England.   Tony is currently the president of the Boston Bluegrass Union and teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.  We talk with Tony about everything that is currently happening in the Boston bluegrass scene.

This week we feature mandolin master Matt Flinner and talk with him about his bluegrass journey from the early days with the Pee Wee Pickers in Utah up to the various bands he performs with today.  We will also talk about his online mandolin classes.    

This week we feature Kenny Feinstein of the band Water Tower and talk with him about his new solo project titled Lonesome LA Cowboy.  We will also talk about how Water Tower got their start by busking at highway off ramps in Los Angeles and how that launched the band's success.  Kenny also has a new book out that teaches bands how to promote themselves.  We'll talk about the book as well.   

This week we feature Santa Cruz Guitar Company owner Richard Hoover and talk with him about reaching the 50th anniversary of building Santa Cruz guitars.  We will talk about how Richard became interested in building guitars, the early days of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company and what he has planned for the company moving forward into the future.

This week we feature flatpicking guitar master Russ Barenberg and talk with him about his long career performing and recording with the acoustic guitar.  We will follow his career from his early days in Pennsylvania, then moving to his days in New York and Boston and then his making the move to Nashville.  We'll talk about some of the bands that Russ performed with along the way, including Country Cooking, Fiddle Fever and the trio with Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer.  We'll also talk about the solo projects that he has released over the years, and more.

This week we feature mandolin player and builder David Harvey.  Dave has recently retired from working at Gibson and we take a look back at his career as both a performer and instrument builder.  Dave talks about his father, mandolinist Dorsey Harvey, and about performing with artist like Red Allen, Larry Sparks, Claire Lynch, Larry Cordle, the Moody Blues and more. 

This week we feature fiddler Craig Duncan.  We talk with Craig about his many instructional books and his recordings covering a variety of genres of fiddle music.  We will also talk about the performance work that he does in Nashville, his approach to teaching fiddle and some of the now famous fiddle students that he has taught over the years.