My guest this week is Ben Garnett, chatting about his superb new record 'Kite's Keep'.

The album features a core band of Ben, Brittany Haas and Ethan Jodziewicz, with guest appearances from Darol Anger, Paul Kowert and Chris Eldridge, who also produced the record.

We talk about Ben's background, initially in electric guitar, and the influence his cousin Andy Timmons had on him as a mentor, before Ben started exploring acoustic guitar and how that led to him moving to Nashville, with Chris Eldridge becoming his second big mentor.

We also talk about how the album came about and Ben's world building approach to making a guitar record.

'Kite's Keep' is a fascinating record and I loved this conversation.

You can pre-order and pre-save the album on various platforms.

For more info on Ben, including upcoming tour dates, check out bengarnett.net

Matt

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My guest this week is Alison Brown.

Alison was the first woman to win an IBMA award in an instrumental category, winning Banjo Player of the Year in 1991. She's also a sought after producer, with credits including Dale Ann Bradley, Peter Rowan, Missy Raines and Bobby Osborne and she spent three years as a member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station.

She joins me to talk about another long standing project, Compass records, the label she co-founded in the '90s with her husband Garry West.

We talk about Alison's background and how Compass grew from a sketch on the back of a napkin to being one of the most celebrated independent labels in roots music. We also discuss how the music industry has changed over the three decades Compass has been around and what that means, for the label and for artists.

We also pick out a few of Alison's favourite releases (and mine!) and chat about what's next for her, including presenting the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards with Steve Martin, who she has a new record with, due out in October.

Over the course of the episode there are excerpts from some of the albums we discuss. You'll hear (in order of appearance):

- 'Paint it Shut' - Phillps, Grier and Flinner

- 'Weetabix' - New Grange

- 'Longhair Bluegrass' - Robbie Fulks

- '5 Days Out 2 Days Back' - Alison Brown and Steve Martin, feat. Tim O'Brien

For more info and to buy Compass releases, visit the Compass Records website

Here's the episode of the podcast celebrating Phillips, Grier & Flinner

Happy picking,

Matt

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My guest this week is Ethan Setiawan.

Ethan's new album Enyclopedia Mandolinnica is a collection of duets and trios featuring some of Ethan's mandolin heroes and contemporaries, including Mike Marshall, Caternia Lichtenberg, Jacof Jolliff, Matt Flinner and more.

Recorded over the space of a year, the album showcases a wide range of styles and dynamics and sits comfortably alongside classic duet records like Into the Cauldron, Diary of a Fiddler and Not Too Far From the Tree.

We chat about how the project came about, what the recording process was like and how Ethan approaches the writing process. It's a fascinating record and we had an equally interesting conversation!

For more info and to buy the record, visit Ethan's website and BandCamp page

Happy picking.

Matt

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Hi everyone. This is a very short episode just to update you on a couple of bits and let you know about some changes coming to the Bluegrass Jam Along podcast over the coming weeks.

There's some really exciting content coming your way but the format will be changing a little (I explain why in the episode).

That's all, folks.

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

- 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:

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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

• Fretboard Summit
• Alison Brown Banjo Basecamp
• Bela Fleck banjo raffle

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Infamous Stringdusters website
• Michael Daves’ Bandcamp
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Scroll on Buddy

• Donate to the Mandolin Cafe

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

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My guest on this week's bitesize episode is Gabe Witcher. This extract comes from a longer conversation I had with Gabe in June 2023, directly after he'd played his final shows with Punch Brothers at Telluride.

Gabe talks about first meeting Chris Thile at a festival when they were kids; playing football together before they even got round to jamming; how they found the rest of the band that became Punch Brothers; their first shows together in New York City and how the emotion of playing the tunes they worked on back then hit him in those final Telluride shows.

Here's the full 2023 interview with Gabe if you want to hear the whole conversation.

Happy picking.

Matt

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My guest for this week's Bitesize episode is Jarrod Walker, best known to most of you as the mandolin player in Billy Strings' band.

This is a segment of a longer interview from 2022. In this section Jarrod talks about getting the gig with Billy, how it was both the most progressive and the most traditional gig he'd had, learning to play plugged in and experimenting with pedals.

The full interview (link below if you're interested) covers much more, including what Chris Thile taught him about learning fiddle tunes, how he almost ended up selling instruments for a living rather than playing them and going from landscaping one day during the pandemic to playing a live streamed gig at Red Rocks the next.

To connect with Jarrod and find out where you can catch a show, check out the links below:

Jarrod's Facebook

Jarrod's Instagram

Billy Strings' website

Here's the full interview with Jarrod.

Happy picking.

Matt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

• Joe Brent Adhyâropa Records interview
• JD Crowe and the New South reissue
• Tim Stafford JD Crowe interview episode
• Earl Scruggs Music Festival
• Sierra Hull Tiny Desk Concert

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Billy Strings & Bryan Sutton Live at the Legion
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist

Other bits

• Sign up for emails https://bluegrassjamalong.com/contact/
• The Grass is (mostly) New 2025 playlist
• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.