Bluegrass Jam Along
by Matt Hutchinson
"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
Episodes
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Bluegrass Briefing - November 2026
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...
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Bitesize - Marcel Ardans on Billy Strings' Guitar Style
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...
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Chris Thile - The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers
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…
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Matt Combs - Fifty Years of Clown School
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...
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Kristy Cox - Turning Heartbreak into Hope Through Songwriting
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…
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Bertolf - From The Netherlands to Nashville (and Back Again)
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...
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Julian Lage on World's Fair, Playing Solo and the Art of Interpretation
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…
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Bluegrass Briefing - September 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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 Sean Sullivan interview Lindsay Lou’s Bluegrass Women interview Julian Lage Australian tour dates…
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Sean Sullivan - Capturing More Than Just Music
My guest this week is 5 time Grammy award winning engineer, mixer and producer Sean Sullivan. Sean has worked with dozens of artists, including Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, The Steeldrivers, The Del McCoury Band, Michael Cleveland, Andrew Marlin, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and Mighty...
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Lindsay Lou - Bluegrass Women
My guest this week is Lindsay Lou. I chatted with Lindsay a while back, about her record Queen of Time. This time we're talking about her brand new record Bluegrass Women. Lindsay reveals how the project came about and why she wanted to make a record celebrating the contributions of women to...
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Bluegrass Briefing - August 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. News and announcements - church street news Bluegrass Album Band reissue Blue Waters Bluegrass Dawg at 80...
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Repost: Brittany Haas on joining Punch Brothers
To celebrate Punch Brothers' new record, The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers, I'm reposting a fascinating conversation I had with Brittany Haas after she joined the band. This is the first Punch album with Brittany in the line-up so I thought it would be fun to listen back and hear how she...
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Jerry Douglas - Celebrating Boone Creek
My guest this week is Jerry Douglas and we're celebrating the reissue of Boone Creek's first album. Boone Creek has a fascinating story behind it, which we covered in last week's interview with Scott Billington, who put together the reissue for Craft Recordings. In this episode I chat with Jerry...
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Scott Billington - Reissuing Classic Bluegrass Albums for Craft Recordings
My guest this week is Scott Billington. Scott is a Grammy winning record producer, an author, a record company exec and a musician. But what we're chatting about in this episode is a fascinating story about a pivotal string band album and it's journey to being reissued with extra tracks that went...
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Bluegrass Briefing - July 2026
Welcome to the Bluegrass Briefing for July 2026, your monthly look at what’s going on in the world of bluegrass and beyond. Here are the links to stuff mentioned in this episode. News and Announcements (Church Street News) McCoury & Douglas Family Pickin Party Béla Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart tour...
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Bitesize - Tristan Scroggins on Authenticity and Identity in Bluegrass
This week's Bitesize episode comes from a fascinating conversation I had with Tristan Scroggins in 2021. In this section Tristan reflects on what it means to come to bluegrass as an 'outsider' and how culture and connection aren't just about geographical borders. Growing up in New Mexico, despite...
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Missy Raines on The Seldom Scene Act Two
My guest this week is Missy Raines and we're talking about one of her all time favourite records - The Seldom Scene's Act Two We talk about how Missy grew up listening to The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene, thanks to her parents' love of bluegrass, and how the band played a formative role...
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Bluegrass Briefing - June 2026
Welcome to the June 2026 Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. News and announcements (Church Street News) Craft Recordings Boone Creek reissue (preorder) CD LP Download...
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Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck - The Fiddle and the Drum
My guests on the podcast this week have an astonishing 24 Grammy awards between them and they represent two musical world I love - the first is bluegrass and string band music and the second is opera. Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck join me to chat about their wonderful new collaboration The Fiddle...
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The Tim O'Brien Songbook
My guest this week is Tim O'Brien and he joins me to chat about 'The Tim O'Brien Songbook', a handpicked selection of 40 of his songs, complete with notation, chords, Nashville number charts and thoughts from Tim on singing and songwriting. We talk about Tim's journey from being an…
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Sierra Hull - The Movements
My guest this week is Sierra Hull and we're chatting about her instrumental project The Movements. We talk about how the piece came about, as the result of a FreshGrass Concerto commission, how she approached writing the piece, with and for her current band (Avery Merritt, Erik Coveney, Mark...
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John Reischman on The Salish Sea and Playing in The Tony Rice Unit
My guest this week is John Reischman and we're talking about his fantastic record The Salish Sea, recorded with his band The Jaybirds. We chat about the band's long history together and the journey behind this record, including the Freshgrass Concerto Commission that led to the title track. John...
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Andy Leftwich - Aced
My guest on the podcast this week is fiddle player Andy Leftwich and we're chatting about his new album Aced. Andy talks about his love for instrumental music, including how hearing Mark O'Connor's The New Nashville Cats as a child inspired him. He also talks about contest fiddling and his 15…
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Bluegrass Briefing - May 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. Podcast news Recent interview episodes Apple Spotify News and Announcements (Church Street News) Todd…
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Sore Fingers 2026 Special
In early April I got the chance to go and hang out at SoreFingers, the UK bluegrass and old time camp, for a night. I'd recently interviewed John Wirtz about Sore Fingers' 30 year history for the podcast (link below) and he invited me along to meet the staff and tutors, hang out and watch some...
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Tony Trischka - Earl Jam 2
Tony Trischka returns to Bluegrass Jam Along to talk about his new record Earl Jam 2, the follow up to the first volume of a fascinating project that began when Tony was sent a thumb drive of recordings of Earl Scruggs and John Hartford jamming together at home. Volume 2 also has a great line up…
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Michael Daves - Celebrating Jim & Jesse with Jacob Jolliff
My guest this week is Michael Daves and we're chatting about the superb new record he has out with Jacob Jolliff, We Like Jim & Jesse! The record, released on Michael's own label Wild Geranium Records, celebrates the music of first generation bluegrass legends, brothers Jim and Jesse McReynolds....
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Bryan Sutton - From Roots to Branches
My guest on this episode is Bryan Sutton. We're talking about Bryan's new project From Roots to Branches, the follow up to his 2006 album Not Too Far From the Tree, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The new album features a series of duets with musicians from the wold of bluegrass...
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Tony Rice's Best Loved Albums
In this bonus episode we're celebrating Tony Rice's best loved albums....as voted for by you! I put out a poll over my social channels as well as some popular Facebook groups and subreddits and collated all the responses. The rules were simple - just pick one album each for these 3 categories: 1....
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Thomm Jutz - Ring-a-Bellin and Musical Alchemy
My guest this week is Thomm Jutz. We're talking about Thomm's fascinating new project Ring-a-Bellin', an 18 track album and, for those wanting to dive even deeper into the process behind this new release, a beautiful, hardback Ring-A-Bellin’ companion book, which includes the stories and...
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Alex Graf - Tony Rice's Manzanita Changed My Life
My guest this week is Alex Graf and we're talking all things Manzanita. Alex made the shift from a more jazz based background to flatpicking a few years ago and Tony Rice's Manzanita became one of the absolute cornerstone records for him on that journey. We talk about why it became so important,...
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Bluegrass Briefing - April 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. Podcast news Brad Kolodner interview Bill Nowlin interview Releases (The Grass is New) Del McCoury Band with...
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Bill Nowlin - 50 Years of Rounder Records, the 'Hobby That Got Out of Control'
My guest this week is Bill Nowlin, co-founder of Rounder Records. Bill joins me to talk about Rounder's extraordinary 50 year legacy as one of the most important, influential and best loved independent labels in American roots music. We chat about how Rounder started, after Bill was randomly...
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Brad Kolodner on Community, Connection and Clawhammer Banjo
My guest on the podcast this week is Brad Kolodner. Brad is a fantastic clawhammer banjo player. As well as his solo records - 'Chimney Swifts' and the recent album of solo gourd banjo tunes 'Old Growth' - Brad also plays with the band Charm City Junction, as a duet with fiddler George Jackson…
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Celebrating 30 Years of Sore Fingers Music Camps with John Wirtz
My guest this week is John Wirtz. John, along with his partner Moira, runs Sore Fingers, a UK bluegrass and old time music camp that celebrates it's 30th anniversary this year. John joins me to chat about how the camp started up and how it's grown over the years to play a major role in the UK and...
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Bluegrass Briefing - March 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. Ted Olson interview Doc Watson 100th Birthday Celebration - part 1 - part 2 News and announcements - church...
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Celebrating the Legacy of Rich-R-Tone/Folk Star with Ted Olson
My guest this week is Ted Olson, professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University. Ted joins me to celebrate the Rich-R-Tone record label and it's offshoot Folk Star. Rich-R-Tone was founded in 1946 by James Hobart Stanton who, in Ted's words, "was probably single-handedly the...
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Bitesize - Sara Watkins on I'm With Her's Grammy Winning 'Wild and Clear and Blue'
My guest on this week's Bitesize episode is Sara Watkins, who joins me to talk about I'm With Her's Grammy winning album 'Wild and Clear and Blue'. It's an album I really love (and a conversation I loved too) and I wanted to put something out to celebrate not only the Grammy win, but also the...
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Bluegrass Briefing - February 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. News and announcements - church street news Chris Thile’s Acousticamp Tony Trischka’s New York Banjo Night...
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Dave Sinko on How 'The David Grisman Quintet' Changed His Life
My guest this week is sound engineer Dave Sinko, who returns to chat about The David Grisman Quintet. We've talked about that record a lot on the podcast, but this is less about the story behind the album and more about how it influenced Dave and informed the way he approaches recording. In his...
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Tony Trischka on New York in the 1970s and the Roots of New Acoustic Music
My guest this week is Tony Trischka, who returns to chat about the New York bluegrass scene in the early 1970s. New York and the surrounding area played a huge role in the development of bluegrass and in the genesis of what would become known as New Acoustic music. Tony talks about the early days...
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Kristina R. Gaddy - Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo
My guest this week is Kristina R. Gaddy, who returns to chat about her new book, a collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, called Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo. The book picks up on the research Kristina did for her previous book Well of…
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Bluegrass Briefing - January 2026
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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 Highlights from the first 500 episodes Inspiration for Musicians episode News and announcements -...
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Highlights from the First 500 Episodes - Alison Krauss, Wyatt Rice, Bryan Sutton, Gabe Witcher, Brittany Haas, Chris Eldridge, Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins and Mike Marshall
If you were listening last week, you'll know that my interview with Trey Hensley about Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall was the 500th episode of Bluegrass Jam Along. To celebrate I thought I'd put together an episode with a few of my highlights and favourite moments from those first 500. You'll...
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Trey Hensley Celebrates Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall
Welcome to the 500th episode of Bluegrass Jam Along! My guest this week is Trey Hensley, who joins me to celebrate the very first record he bought - Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall. This historic album was a pivotal moment for bluegrass and also served as a personal intro to the music for many...
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Bitesize - Happy 80th Birthday Bluegrass!
This week's Bitesize episode celebrates one of the most important dates in bluegrass music - December 8th. The main reason this date is so important is that it marks the first time Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe at The Opry, on December 8th 1945, leading many people to describe it as 'the birth…
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Bluegrass Briefing - December 2025
Welcome to this month’s Bluegrass Briefing, a 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. News and announcements - church street news European Bluegrass Summit registration Alison Krauss & Union...
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David Grier on The White Brothers Live in Sweden and Artistry in Music
My guest this week is David Grier, who joins me to celebrate the classic album 'The White Brothers - Live in Sweden' (recently remastered and reissued in an expanded form as 'The New Kentucky Colonels - Live in Sweden'). We talk about what makes this recording special, including the fact it was...
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Musicality For Modern Humans with Craig Havighurst
In an age where pop culture dominates the airwaves, understanding the rich variety of music beyond the mainstream becomes increasingly important. In this week's episode, journalist and broadcaster Craig Havighurst joins me to talk about his new book "Musicality for Modern Humans," his journey of...
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Eddie Barbash - The Art of Fiddle Tunes on Saxophone
My guest this week is Eddie Barbash. We chat about his unique journey as a saxophonist who has embraced the world of fiddle tunes. He shares insights into the challenges and joys of transitioning from jazz to fiddle music, the intricacies of improvisation, and the importance of social…
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About this show
"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
Hosted by
Matt Hutchinson
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