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 Raudabaugh, and Shaun Richardson), and the challenges presented by releasing a project like this.

We also discuss how the piece has developed since it was first written and how she and the band incorporate it into their live shows, as well as what it was like going back into the studio to record live, filmed performances of the tracks.

It's a wonderful piece of music and, as always, it was a treat getting to chat with Sierra.

Find out more and order copies of The Movements at sierrahull.com

Check out Sierra's YouTube channel to watch live studio performances of The Movements

For more on FreshGrass you can hear Oli Chanoff talking about the FreshGrass commissions program and some of the wonderful music it's produced.

To hear my previous interviews with Sierra, check out these episodes:

• Sierra Hull - A Tiptoe High Wire (2025)
• Sierra Hull Interview (2023)
• Sierra Hull Returns (2024)

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 also shares his memories of first meeting Tony Rice and how he came to play with The Tony Rice Unit in the 1980s, including recording the albums Still Inside and Backwaters.

You can find out more about John and buy copies of his records at www.johnreischman.com

Backwaters is now available as a remastered vinyl and download through Craft Recordings

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 year stint with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, alongside Cody Kilby, who features on Aced as well as its predecessor The American Fiddler.

After a decade and a half with Ricky, Andy chose to step away from Kentucky Thunder to focus on music in the ministry. We talk about the role that plays in his life and the records he made during that period, as well as the project that eventually turned into The American Fiddler and how that then led to Aced.

For more on Andy, including details of how to buy any of the albums we discuss, head to andyleftwich.com

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 Phillips fundraiser
• North Carolina Guitar Celebration
• Craft Recordings Tony Rice reissue

Releases (The Grass is New)

• Punch Brothers - New Bike video
• Jarrod Walker - Nighthawk
• I'm With Her - Sing Me Alive

Scroll on Buddy

• Sierra Hull Movements videos
  • Movement 1
  • Movement 2

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 music.

While I was there I got to interview Michael Daves and Tony Trischka (links to their episodes also below), but I also took the opportunity to wander round, mic in hand like a roving reporter, and just chat to people.

In this episode you'll hear from John Wirtz about Sore Fingers' recent venue move and how they're settling into their new home, as well as from other members of the team, including some of the people who facilitate the camp's wonderful scratch band programme.

I also talked to some of the tutors, including Tony Trischka, who's taught at Sore Fingers a couple of times before, and Michael Daves and Stephen Mougin, who were both first timers.

I couldn't miss the opportunity to chat to some students too, including Sore Fingers veterans and first timers.

For more info on Sore Fingers, check out www.sorefingers.co.uk

Here's my earlier interview with John Wirtz

Here are the interviews I did at Sore Fingers with Michael Daves and Tony Trischka

This is the Stephen Mougin episode on band coaching

You can find out more about Paul Armer via his Instagram

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 of special guests, including Billy Strings, Bruce Molsky, Molly Tuttle, Del McCoury, Sierra Ferrell and Sister Sadie.

Tony tells the fascinating story of how Farayi Malek ended up adding vocals to one tune, after Alison Krauss had done the scratch vocal but wasn't well and couldn't record the final vocal.

As with volume 1 it's a great record, full of variety and superb performances.

You can hear more in my conversation with Tony about Earl Jam Volume 1

For more info on Tony and to buy both records, visit www.tonytrischka.com

Thanks to Sore Fingers bluegrass and old time camp for inviting me down to record this interview while Tony was there teaching banjo!

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 and Token premium guitar picks

- Sign up to get updates on new episodes

- Free fiddle tune chord sheets

- Here's a list of all the Bluegrass Jam Along interviews

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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.

Michael talks about meeting Jesse in 2019 - he was 90 or 91 at the time and still writing new tunes every day - and how that sparked the idea for the record. We also chat about Jesse's unique contribution to the history of bluegrass mandolin, how one of their biggest hits was written on the spot in response to an argument and why Jim and Jesse's vocal blend is every bit as important to their sound as Jesse's mandolin playing.

We also talk about Fables, Michael's recent release that pays tribute to a very different act...R.E.M.

This interview was recorded at Sore Fingers, the wonderful UK bluegrass camp that runs every Easter (and has for the past 30 years). Later this week I'll be bringing you an interview with Tony Trischka, also recorded at the camp, plus a special episode celebrating Sore Fingers.

You'll find Michael and Jacob's record on Bandcamp, where you'll also find Michael's R.E.M. tribute Fables

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 and Token premium guitar picks

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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 and beyond, plus a couple of unreleased tunes he recorded with Doc Watson and Tony Rice.

We chat about the original idea behind Not Too Far.... and how the new project differs; who Bryan chose to record with this time (including Billy Strings, Chris Eldridge, Sierra Hull, Trey Hensley, Joe Bonamassa and more); why he's choosing to release it as a series of tracks over several months, before putting the full album out, and how it feels to have gone from recording with his heroes to taking on the mentor role for the next generation of flatpickers.

You'll find all the tracks released so far on Spotify, Tidal and all other streaming platforms.

There's a great video for The Devil Went Down to Deep Gap on YouTube.

You can get bluegrass guitar lessons from Bryan Sutton on ArtistWorks (I can highly recommend them).

Oh, and Bryan wrote and recorded the cool theme tune you'll hear on this episode too!

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 and Token premium guitar picks

- 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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