Bluegrass Unlimited's Podcast

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.

This week we feature clawgrass banjo player Mark Johnson who was one of this year's inductees to the American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame. Mark talks to us about his clawgrass style of banjo, his relationship with Tony Rice and the Rice Brothers, winning the Steve Martin Banjo Prize and his work with Emory Lester.

This week we are featuring Heather Berry Mabe and Tony Mabe. We'll talk with them about how they got started in bluegrass, the various bands they have worked with, their work with Junior Sisk and their recent recording and performing with Red Camel Collective. You will also get to hear a few cuts from their upcoming album.

This week we feature guitar and mandolin player Mickey Abraham. Mickey has recently released a wonderful new album with Kathryn Belle Long titledVoices: A Folk Opera. We talk with Mickey about his career in music and the making and release of this new album, plus his work as a guitar and mandolin instructor.

This week we feature banjo player Frank Evans. We talk with Frank about his new album titled Fit For A Dog. Frank toured for years with the Slocan Ramblers and is now out on the road as a member of Bronwyn Keith-Hynes' band.

This week we feature Michael Daves and talk with him about his growing up in bluegrass music, performing with Chris Thile, working with Tony Trischka and his new album with Jacob Jollif that plays tribute to Jim and Jesse. We also talk to Michael about his ArtistWorks vocals course.

This week we feature Billy Cardine and Mary Lucey and talk with them about their new band Tanasi and the album that they recently released. We will explore both Mary and Billy's backgrounds in music and then talk about the new album and play a couple of cuts from the record.

This week we feature bluegrass banjo legend Tony Trischka and talk with him about his two Earl Jam projects and tour. Tony tells us the story about how the two Earl Jam projects came together and we will talk about his love and respect for Earl's banjo playing and his relationship with Earl Scruggs over the years. We'll also talk about his teaching banjo on ArtistWorks.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Chris Stuart. Chris has written many songs that were recorded by various well-known bluegrass artists, then he stepped away from writing bluegrass songs for a while, but has now come back to it. We talk with Chris about his bluegrass journey and his song writing.

This week we feature guitar player Jack Lawrence and talk with him about his early years in bluegrass, the many years he spent performing with Doc Watson and what he will be teaching to flatpicking guitar players in August 2026 at the Monroe Mandolin Camp.

This week we feature fiddle player, songwriter and singer Sara Watkins, famously of Nickel Creek and now performing with I'm With Her. We talk with Sara about the Nickel Creek days and what I'm With Her has going on this year, including the recent release or their live album.

This week we are featuring Ralph Stanley II. We talk with Ralph about his life growing up in bluegrass as the son of a bluegrass legend and we will talk about this year's upcoming Dr. Ralph Stanley Hills of Home Bluegrass Festival held at the Stanley homeplace over Memorial Day Weekend. We'll also talk about the Stanley Brothers recent induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This week we feature bass and guitar player Randy Barnes and talk with him about the many bluegrass bands that he has performed with over the years and his new solo recording on Mountain Fever Records.

This week we feature guitar player, singer and songwriter Paige Anderson. We'll talk about her early work with her family band and subsequent work with her siblings in a band called The Fearless Kin. We then talk with Paige about her most recent work with the band Two Runner and you will get to hear several of Paige's original songs that she recorded with Two Runner.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Robert Bowlin. Robert has performed with many bluegrass and country artists over the years and has the distinction of being Bill Monroe's last fiddle player. We talk with Robert about his career in bluegrass, his newest projects and his schedule for the summer of 2026.

This week we feature Canadian mandolin player Andrew Collins. We talk with Andrew about his background in music leading up to a discussion about the Andrew Collins Trio's newest project titled Retro. You'll also hear a couple of tracks from that album.

This week we feature guitar player and singer David Parmley. We talk with David about his induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame last fall, along with his Bluegrass Cardinals bandmates. He will also tell us about the history of that band and we will follow his career up through the release of his newest music.

This week we feature guitar player Jordan Tice and talk with him about his career in bluegrass starting with the release of his first solo album when he was still a teenager. We'll talk about his other solo album releases over the years, his work with Hawktail and we will discuss some of the other collaborations that he has had with artists like Andrew Marlin.

This week we feature fiddle player Samantha Snyder Berry and talk with her about her life in bluegrass starting out as a young fiddler with her family's band and then moving on to play with folks like Darin and Brooke Aldridge. We'll also talk about her teaching fiddle, teaching mathematics and writing and self-publishing a novel.

This week we feature guitar player Jeff Autry. Jeff has a fairly new single out and will have a new album out in the near future. We talk with Jeff about that project as well as dive back into his long bluegrass career.

This week we feature singer, songwriter, and banjo and guitar player Tabitha Agnew Benedict of The Foreign Landers and talk with her about her unique bluegrass story and the band's newest project Made To Wonder. You will also hear a couple of tracks from that album.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and guitar player Shannon Slaughter and talk with him about his career in bluegrass music, including the various bands who he has performed with, his work as a school teacher, his newest recording, his songwriting and recently making the move to Mountain Fever Records.

This week we feature California-based mandolin player Jesse Appelman. We will talk about how he got interested in playing bluegrass mandolin, the many prominent California musicians who he has performed with, his ideas about teaching students how to play the mandolin and we'll also talk about his new CD.

This week we feature fiddler, singer and songwriter Tammy Rogers of The SteelDrivers. We will talk about her career in bluegrass, her songwriting, The SteelDrivers recent Grammy nomination and the band celebrating their 20 year anniversary last year.

This week we feature banjo player Barry Abernathy of the Appalachian Road Show. We'll talk with Barry about his early days in bluegrass performing with Doyle Lawson and Mountain Heart and then we will talk about Appalachian Road Show's newest recording and you will hear a cut from that album.

This week we feature Rebekah Speer and talk with her about her life in bluegrass, her work as an audio engineer, graphic designer, songwriter and recording artist. We'll also talk about her newest single and you will get to listen to that single towards the end of the podcast.

This week we feature mandolin player Wayne Benson and talk with him about his long career in bluegrass music, the recent recorded collaborations with his wife Kristin Scott Benson and his YouTube channel for mandolin players. You'll also hear a some music from Wayne and Kristin.

This week we feature banjo player Russ Carson. We'll talk about his early years in bluegrass in his home state of Pennsylvania, his work with Audie Blaylock and his becoming the banjo player for Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. We'll also talk about his new CD and you'll hear a few cuts from the recordings.

This week we feature Nick Hornbuckle, the banjo player with John Reischman and the Jaybirds. In addition to talking with Nick about his career in bluegrass to date—which includes how he had to go from playing Scruggs three-finger style banjo to producing the same sound using only two fingers, due to a physical issue—we will also talk with Nick about the Jaybirds newest recording.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lane of Blue Highway. We'll talk with Shawn about how he got his start in bluegrass, the bands he performed with early in his career, his work with Blue Highway over the past 30 years and performing with his talented sons Grayson and Garrett.

This week we feature fiddler Jimmy Mattingly and talk with him about his career playing in fiddle contests as a young fiddler, performing in bluegrass band such as Spectrum, the Osbourne Brothers and the Grascals and working with country music acts such as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and others. We will also talk about him being the fiddle instructor at the Bluegrass Unlimited Workshop Weekend in February 2026 in Owensboro, Kentucky.

This week we feature Jaelee Roberts, the lead singer and guitar player for Sister Sadie. We talk with Jaelee about growing up in a prominent bluegrass family, performing with an award-winning band, recording her solo albums and performing on the Grand Ole Opry. You will also hear a couple of songs from Jaelee's newest solo album.

This week we feature mandolin master Don Stiernberg. A protégé of the great Jethro Burns, Don is known for both his bluegrass and jazz chops on the mandolin and guitar. In this podcast I'll talk with Don about his years learning from and performing with Jethro Burns and the connections that Jethro had with music legends like Hank Williams, Sr., Chet Adkins, Bill Monroe and Red Rector. We'll also talk about Don's work with Special Consensus over the years.

This week we feature Avril Smith, the guitar player with Della Mae, and talk with her about her career in music, her teaching at Bryan Sutton's guitar camp, Della Mae's newest recording and what 2026 has in store for the band.

This week we feature banjo player Jeremy Stephens. After we discuss how he got his start in bluegrass music, the various bands that Jeremy has performed with over the years and the groups he is with currently, we will talk about his deep interest in Don Reno's banjo style and his study of Reno's life story.

This week we feature Dobro player Fred Travers of the Seldom Scene. We'll talk about how Fred became interested in playing the Dobro, his interest in Mike Auldridge's approach to the Dobro and how he got the chance to take lessons with Mike. We'll also talk about the early bands he performed with and then how he eventually got the opportunity to take the Dobro spot in the Seldom Scene after Mike left the band about 30 years ago.

This week we feature mandolin player and fiddler Andy Leftwich and talk with him about his early days playing fiddle contests, joining Valerie Smith at age 15 and then Ricky Skaggs' band at age 19. He spent about 12 years playing with Skaggs and has since moved on and recently recorded a couple of new albums. His album The American Fiddler came out in 2022 and his new yet to be titled album will come out early in 2026. We talk with Andy about all of that and more.

This week we feature mandolin player Ashby Frank and talk with him about his work with the many different bluegrass bands that he has performed with over the years, both in his native North Carolina and in Nashville. We will also talk about his songwriting and his new solo recording. Additionally, you will get a chance to hear a couple of tunes from that recording.

This week we feature mandolin player Harry Clark. Harry performs and records with one of the hottest bands in bluegrass music today, East Nash Grass. We talk with Harry about his early years in Arkansas and follow his bluegrass career up to the present day.

This week we feature fiddle player Deanie Richardson. Deanie has a long history in bluegrass music and fiddling and is a founding member of the award winning bluegrass band Sister Sadie. We talk with her about her early years playing fiddle contests, her work with the New Coon Creek Girls and various country artists, and the new projects she has been involved with recently.

This week we feature fiddler Christian Ward. As many bluegrass fans know, Christian joined both the Del McCoury band and the Travelin' McCourys after Jason Carter left those bands. We talk with Christian about his early bluegrass years in California, his songwriting and joining with the McCourys.

This week we feature Dobro player Andy Hall of the Infamous Stringdusters. We talk with Andy about his growing up as a rock and metal guitar player and then transitioning into playing the Dobro during his college years at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, his move to Nashville shortly after college and the bands he performed and recorded with there before becoming a founding member of the Infamous Stringdusters 20 years ago.

This week we feature guitar player Zeb Snyder. Zeb started out his career performing with his family band and is now the guitar player for the Appalachian Road Show. He also has recently released a new solo album. I'll talk with Zeb about his career in bluegrass, his studio work, the lessons he teaches, bands he performs with and the new recording.

This week we feature mandolin player Casey Campbell. Casey grew up in bluegrass music, literally taking his first steps in Bill Monroe's dressing room at the Grand Ole Opry. He has performed with many bluegrass bands in Nashville over the years. We caught up with Casey at the ROMP festival where he was performing with Vickie Vaughn. We'll talk with Casey about growing up in a musical family, his influences on mandolin and his mandolin duo album.

This week we feature banjo and guitar player Jason Burleson and talk with him about his career in bluegrass, his thirty years with Blue Highway and a new single that he and his wife have recently released that will lead to his first solo album. You'll also hear that single on the podcast.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist and singer Sandy Rothman. Sandy has a long history in bluegrass music in California, but also performed with Bill Monroe and spent time performing with bands in Ohio. Back in the mid-1980's Sandy was in a band called the The Bay Ramblers and has just released a two-CD set of the band's music in order to honor the memory of the band's singer and guitar player Alan Senauke who passed away last year. We will talk with Sandy about the CDs and play a few cuts during the show. If you are interested in ordering the CD-set, contact Sandy at: rothmansandy@gmail.com

This week we feature guitar player and singer Randy Waller. Randy is the son of the legendary Charlie Waller of the Country Gentlemen. After his father passed, Randy kept the band going and a new recording of one of their live shows in Holland from 2006 has just been released. We talk with Randy about growing up with the Country Gentlemen, his career in music and the new recording.

This week we feature sixteen year old mandolin player Wyatt Ellis. Wyatt has gained the attention of the bluegrass and mandolin worlds and he did so starting at a very young age. He is now is touring with his own band and working on a new album. Several singles from that project have been released and you will have the chance to hear three of those singles here on this podcast.

This week we feature bass player Ronnie Simpkins. Ronnie has had a long career in bluegrass starting with his family's band and moving on to bands like the Bluegrass Cardinals, the Virginia Squires, the Tony Rice Unit and now he has been a member of the Seldom Scene for 30 years.

This week we feature banjo player Carolyne Van Lierop Boone. Carolyne is the banjo player with Amanda Cook's band. Amanda is on the cover of our August 2025 issue and so we thought it would be a good to time talk with Carolyne about her background in bluegrass, working with Amanda Cook and banjo pickin'.

This week we feature mandolin and guitar player Caleb Klauder. Caleb has a diverse musical background that includes bluegrass, old-time, Cajun and classic country music. His band, the Foghorn String Band, was featured in Bluegrass Unlimited in March of 2023 and he and his wife Reeb Willms have put together a new bluegrass band and we'll talk about all of that.

This week we feature fiddler Jeremy Garrett. Jeremy is a member of the Infamous Stringdusters and now has a new solo album out. We'll talk to Jeremy about his bluegrass career, his twenty years with the Stringdusters, his songwriting and the new album. You will also hear a few cuts from the album.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Bryan McDowell. Bryan tore up the contest circuit on fiddle, guitar and mandolin about fifteen years ago and then went on to play with Claire Lynch and recorded a duo record with Mark Schatz. He has also spent time performing with Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Missy Raines and many others. He now has a new album out under his own name and you will hear some of those cuts during the podcast.

This week we feature guitar player, singer and songwriter Danielle Yother. Danielle is a very talented flatpicking guitar player who came to the attention of the flatpicking world about ten years ago at a very young age. Now she is performing with the band The Wilder Flower and they have a new album out. We talk with Danielle about the band, her guitar picking and her songwriting. We'll also play some cuts from the new recording.

This week we are featuring guitar and mandolin player, and singer, James Kee. Originally from the Chattanooga area of Tennessee, James now lives in Nashville and performs and records with East Nash Grass. We talk with James about his early bands, his move to Nashville, his work with East Nash Grass and the band's new record due out in August 2025.

This week we feature guitar and banjo player Ron Block. Ron is best known for his guitar and banjo work with Alison Krauss and Union Station, but he got his start growing up in southern California, later attending South Plains College and then performing with the Weary Hearts and Lynn Morris Band before joining Alison Krauss. We talk with Ron about his years with Alison and his work with his newest band Southern Legacy.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and guitar player Tony Kamel. Tony is best known for his work with the band Wood & Wire. He now has a solo album out and is doing some solo touring this year. We'll talk with Tony about how he got his start in bluegrass all the way up to the recording of the new record.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz. Sarah started her career in bluegrass at a young age and has continued to grow her career both as a solo artist and with the band I'm With Her. We talk to Sarah about her early years in bluegrass up through her current solo and band projects.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Phil Rosenthal. Phil is best known in bluegrass for his time spent as a member of the Seldom Scene in the 1980s. He has continued to perform and record music since that time and has a new recording with his son that has been recently released.

This week we feature fiddle player and singer Andrea Zonn. Andrea has spent time on the road with many top acts in both country and bluegrass music, including Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett and, for the last twenty-three years, James Taylor. She currently has a new recording out with John Cowan. We'll talk about that album and you'll also hear a cut from the recording.

This week we feature guitar player and singer Clay Hess. Clay first came to national prominence in bluegrass playing guitar with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He later toured with Mark Newton, Sierra Hull, Mountain Heart and his own Clay Hess Band, among others. He is now the newest member of the Seldom Scene and has released a few singles from an upcoming solo album. This week we talk about Clay's entire bluegrass journey, including his first few months with the Seldom Scene.

This week we feature singer, songwriter and guitar player Mason Via. We'll talk about his growing up learning bluegrass music and songwriting from his father, songwriter and bluegrass musician David Via. We will also talk about his time with the Old Crow Medicine Show and his new self-titled album. You'll also hear a few cuts from that album.

This week we feature guitar player Lucas White. Lucas has had a very interesting career in bluegrass starting from the time he was a teenager in Texas. We'll talk about his relationship with Tony Rice, working with the Zac Brown band while he was still a teenager, his work in Washington, D.C. advocating for musicians and recording engineers and his current band, Off The Rails.

This week we feature banjo player Chris Pandolfi of the Infamous Stringdusters and talk with him about his career in bluegrass and various other aspects of bluegrass music, practicing, performing and banjo playing.

This week we feature bass player, singer and songwriter Reed Jones. Reed played in Audie Blaylock's band, Redline, prior to Audie's untimely passing. He recently teamed up with a special group of musicians who were friends and bandmates of Audie's to record a tribute single titled "Ran Out of Road." We talk with Reed about the song and his work with Audie Blaylock.

This week we feature fiddler Michael Cleveland. Michael and Jason Carter have a new album out. We talk with Michael about how he got his start in bluegrass music, the various bands that he has performed with, forming his own band, and the new recording.

This week we feature guitar player and singer Ginger Boatwright. Ginger performed with Red, White and Bluegrass starting in the late 1960s and then worked with Doug Dillard from 1981 until Doug's passing 33 years later.

This week we feature mandolin player Jeremy Chapman. Jeremy played with his family band for years and now he and his brothers run one of the most successful acoustic music stores in the country. He also has a new mandolin instructional book out that is really well done and is reviewed in the April 2025 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine.

This week we feature mandolin player Dick Staber. Dick has recently written a very interesting memoir about his life in bluegrass music and after reading it, we got in touch with Dick and asked about conducting a podcast interview. Dick notably play with Del McCoury from 1968 to 1975 and also performed with Don Stover, Bob Paisley, Leon Morris, Bill Clifton and many others.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Greg Luck. Greg has performed with many of the top bands in bluegrass, including Lost & Found, the Lynn Morris Band, Bluegrass Cardinals, J.D. Crowe and the New South, IIIrd Time Out and Sideline. He also is a recording engineer who has worked with a number of the well-known bands in bluegrass.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Gerald Jones. Every year in March we provide the Workshop and Camp listings for the year and Gerald has just taking over running Camp Bluegrass in Levelland, Texas. Camp Bluegrass is one of the oldest bluegrass music camps in the country and Gerald will be leading that camp this year and into the future. We talk with Gerald about his career playing bluegrass in Texas and what he has in store for Camp Bluegrass 2025.

This week we feature mandolin player, fiddler, singer and producer Don Rigsby. Don has performed with many of the top bands in bluegrass over the years and is currently a member of our cover story band for March 2025, Southern Legacy. We talk with Don about all of the various bands he has been involved with over the years, his work with Southern Legacy and his new solo projects that are coming out in 2025.

This week we feature fiddler Casey Driessen and talk with him about his bluegrass journey including his years at the Berklee College of Music as a student, the bands he performed with after graduating from Berklee, his work as the director of Berklee's Masters program in Spain and the interesting projects that he has been involved with since returning from the job in Spain. That all leads up to talking to Casey about his fiddle camp.

This week we feature guitarist, singer and bandleader Danny Paisley. Paisley started out in bluegrass 50 years ago as a teenager performing with his father Bob Paisley and continues that legacy today. Known for his distinctive bluegrass voice, Danny has won the award for IBMA's male vocalist of the year four times, including last year in 2024.

This week we feature guitar player and singer Russell Moore. Russell performed with Southern Connection before joining Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver in mid-1980s, then in 1991 he became a founding member of IIIrd Tyme Out and has been with that band since. But now, as most bluegrass fans know, Russell has joined Alison Krauss and Union Station. We talk with Russell about his bluegrass career and the move to Union Station.

This week we feature mandolin master John Reischman. John performed with a number of prominent west coast bands, including the Tony Rice Unit, before starting his own band John Reischman and the Jaybirds. We'll talk with John about all of various groups he has performed with, his solo projects and what lies ahead for his band.

This week we feature flatpicking guitar player Larry Keel. We talk with him about bands he performed with during his early years leading to the formation of his own band the Larry Keel Experience. We'll also talk about the many people who performed with him over the years, including such legends as Curtis Burch, Tony Rice and Vassar Clements. Additionally, we talk about the work he is doing on stage and in the studio this year with John Stickley.

This week we feature fiddler Tim Crouch. Tim has a long history in bluegrass music dating back to the days as a teenager playing with his Uncle Dub Crouch - who was a legend in bluegrass music in Missouri and was a friend and mentor to our cover story artist this month John Hartford. Tim also spent time with Jim & Jesse, The Whites and Mike Snyder.

This week we fearture Kody Norris of the Kody Norris Show. We will talk with Kody about his bluegrass journey to date and focus on some of the bands latest recordings, including hearing a couple of songs from his last two recorded projects.

This week we feature mandolin player Jacob Jolliff and talk to him about his early years in Oregon, his attending the Berklee College of Music, the various bands he has performed with, including Joy Kills Sorrow and Yonder Mountain String Band, and then we talk about him starting his own band. We'll also talk about his band's last two solo albums and his upcoming album with Michael Daves.

This week we feature fiddler Maddie Denton. Maddie performs with both East Nash Grass and the Dan Tyminski Band and she will be the fiddle instructor at our Bluegrass Unlimited Workshop Weekend during the weekend of February 7th to the 9th, 2025 in Owensboro, Kentucky. We'll talk with Maddie growing up as a contest fiddler, her work with her current bands and her approach to teaching the fiddle.

This week we feature fiddler with Johnny Warren. As most listeners will know, Johnny is the son of bluegrass fiddle legend Paul Warren who spent years performing with Flatt & Scruggs and then toured with Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass after Flatt and Scruggs parted ways. Johnny is the fiddle player for the Earls of Leicester. We talk with Johnny about his father and about playing his father's role as the fiddler in the Earls of Leicester.

This week we feature fiddler Fred Carpenter. Fred has had a long career in bluegrass music and with selling and repairing fiddles at his shop in Nashville. He also has a new album out titled One More Thing that includes an impressive group of special guests. We'll talk with Fred about his years of playing fiddle in bluegrass and country music, his fiddle shop and the new recording.

This week we feature songwriter, singer, record producer, fiddler, and guitar player Shawn Camp. Lester Flatt is on the cover of our December 2024 issue and Shawn plays Lester Flatt's role in the Earls of Leicester. We'll talk with Shawn about working with the Earls of Leicester and his career as a songwriter and performer.

This week we feature mandolin player Andy Statman. Andy has been involved in bluegrass music and mandolin playing that extends to jazz and klezmer music since the 1960s. We'll talk with Andy about his long career and then discuss his newest recording, titled Bluegrass Tracks. You will also hear a couple of cuts from the new recording.

This week we feature singer, songwriter, fiddler and band leader Becky Buller. We talk with Becky about her career in bluegrass leading up to starting her own band, her decade of working as a bandleader, her songwriting and the story behind her latest recording project, titled Jubilee. You'll also hear the title song from Jubilee as well as a song from Becky's Christmas album.

This week we feature guitar player Mark Cosgrove. Mark is a national flatpicking guitar champion who has toured with musicians like Jerry Douglas and Liz Meyer and, most recently, he spent 12 years on the road with David Bromberg and has performed and recorded with many others, including his own band called Good Medicine. Mark has also produced a number of solo albums over the years and is recognized as one of the heroes of flatpicking guitar.

This week we fearure singer Jen Larson and talk with her work as the manager of the archives at the Grand Ole Opry and her approach to teaching vocal lessons. She will be one of the vocal instructors at Bluegrass Unlimited's workshop weekend in February 2025, which will be hosted by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

This week we feature multi-instrumentalist Tim May. Tim spent fifteen years performing with the band Crucial Smith and has also toured with Patty Loveless, John Cowan, Eddie Rabbit, Rodney Dillard, Kathy Mattea and many others. Tim is also a popular instructor at music workshops and camps and has produced a number of instructional books and videos.

This week we feature fiddler Kenny Kosek. Kenny has played for many great bands over the years, including Country Cooking and Breakfast Special back in the early 1970s, and also has produced instructional books and videos that are popular amongst bluegrass fiddlers. He now has a new album out titled Twisted Sage. We'll talk about the new album and also play a cut off of the record.

This week we feature banjo player Gena Britt. We speak with Gena about her many years in bluegrass music. We talk about how she got started, the many bands that she has performed with over the years and her current job with Sister Sadie.

This week we feature fiddler Steve Thomas and talk with him about his years playing bluegrass with legends such as Jim & Jesse, The Osborne Brothers and The Whites, plus his work with a number of country music stars. We will also talk about his current job with the new all-star bluegrass band Southern Legacy and his own band Steve Thomas & The Time Machine.