Bluegrass Jam Along

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 Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (you can hear our conversation about that here). Crucially though, this volume doesn't just present a series of tunes as research pieces, it includes both banjo transcriptions and standard music notation, so people can play the music and give it a place in the current repertoire.
We talk about why so little music was collected from black people in the Americas (fewer than 10 songs before 1861 were collected in the United States that we definitely know are from Black musicians); why these tunes were collected and how; how the way they were collected (and who did the collecting) shaped what was gathered and much more.
As always, it was fascinating talking to Kristina.
You can find out more about Go Back and Fetch It (and buy the book) via the University of North Carolina Press.
For more on Kristina and updates on her research, follow her on Instagram and Substack

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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- Review us on Apple Podcasts

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 - church street news 

Dawg at 80 on Nugs
Billy Strings Tiny Desk Concert
NPR Tiny Desk Contest
Old Settler’s Music Festival

Releases (The Grass is New)

Sam Grisman Project
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
Michael Daves EP

Scroll on Buddy

Is Bluegrass Too Fast?

Other bits

Full list of interviews
Collings Guitars

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:
Instagram
Facebook
- Review us on Apple Podcasts

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 hear from:
Alison Krauss, on two different car journeys with Tony Rice
Wyatt Rice, on recording Church Street Blues
Bryan Sutton, on the journey all musicians go on
Gabe Witcher, on leaving Punch Brothers
Brittny Haas, on joining Punch Brothers
Chris Eldridge, on Bela Fleck's Drive album
Bryan Sutton (again), on Doc Watson and his influence
Sarah Jarosz, on her album Blue Heron Suite
Sara Watkins, on I'm With Her's Wild and Clear and Blue
 and Mike Marshall, on playing with Tony Rice and what he learned from other musicians
This journey has been a lot of fun and I can't wait to get stuck into the interviews I already have lined up for the next set of episodes.
Thanks to all my guests and to all of you who've listened over the past four and a half years.
If you want to hear a bit more about my journey with the podcast, check out this interview I did with Daniel Patrick from the Mandolins and Beer podcast.
Finally, if you know anyone who you think would like this episode, please share it with them!
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:
Instagram
Facebook
- Review us on Apple Podcasts

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 fans.

We chat about why Flatt & Scruggs' performance at Carnegie Hall, on December, 1962 was groundbreaking, the initial skepticism from the press, the audience's enthusiastic reception and some of the famous (and soon to be famous) face in the crowd on the night.

We also talk about the pivotal role Lousie Scruggs had, not just in getting this performance recorded, but in putting Flatt and Scruggs (and bluegrass music) in front of a new, younger audience.

This one was a real treat!
For more info on Trey check out www.treyhensley.com
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If you're a Flatt and Scruggs fan and missed the Earl Scruggs 100th birthday episodes I put together last year (including Trey as a guest!) you'll find them here:
Earl Scruggs 100th Birthday Tribute:
Part 1 - Tony Trischka, Kristin Scott Benson and Alan Munde
Part 2 - Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown and Tim O'Brien
Part 3 - Trey Hensley, Kyle Tuttle (Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway) & Willow Osborne
Jim Mills on Earl Scruggs and pre-War Gibson banjos
Jerry Douglas celebrates Earl Scruggs' 100th Birthday

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:
Instagram
Facebook
- Review us on Apple Podcasts

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 of bluegrass'. That makes 2025 the 80th anniversary of bluegrass!
Fast forward to December 8th 1962 and we have another Flatt and Scruggs milestone - their performance at New York's Carnegie Hall, which was released the year after as Flatt and Scruggs Live at Carnegie Hall, a record that went on to become a firm favourite of bluegrass fans the world over.
To celebrate that record, I'll be joined by Trey Hensley in the next episode of the podcast...which is also Bluegrass Jam Along's 500th episode! 
If you missed the Earl Scruggs 100th birthday episodes I put together last year, you'll find them here:
Jerry Douglas celebrates Earl Scruggs' 100th Birthday
Earl Scruggs 100th Birthday Tribute:
Part 1 - Tony Trischka, Kristin Scott Benson and Alan Munde
Part 2 - Jerry Douglas, Alison Brown and Tim O'Brien
Jim Mills on Earl Scruggs and pre-War Gibson banjos
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:
Instagram
Facebook
- Review us on Apple Podcasts