This podcast is a special podcast that we are adding this week because the legendary bluegrass fiddler Byron Berline passed away a couple of weeks ago. After Byron’s passing a radio host from Kansas, Orin Friesen sent us an interview that he conducted with Byron at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 1981. In this podcast you will hear Byron talk about his pre-1981 life in bluegrass music.
This week’s podcast features longtime bluegrass writer, educator, performer, and recording artist Jack Tottle. Today we talk with Jack about his early life in bluegrass, his work founding the bluegrass music program at ETSU and some of the things that keep him busy these days, including the new CD release that features material he and Tim Stafford recorded in the late 1980s.
This week we are talking with Frank Solivan of Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen. Today we talk with Frank about his time spent in the Navy as a member of the Navy bluegrass band Country Current, what kept him busy during the pandemic, and what we can look forward to from the band in the near future.
This week’s podcast features Tina Adair of Sister Sadie. In our July 2020 issue we included a group of articles about college bluegrass music programs. For the past 18 years Tina has worked at Belmont University in Nashville in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. We will talk with Tina about her work at Belmont, and about her brand new self-titled solo album. You will also get to hear a couple of cuts from that album.
This week we are talking with Steve Swan about the bass because June is our annual instrument issue month and although just about every bluegrass band has a bass, the bass is an instrument that doesn’t get as much attention as the other instruments in the band. We felt like that instrument deserves a little more attention and we know that Steve Swan is a guy who can answer any and all questions related to the bass. If you want to know more about the standup bass, this is the podcast for you.
This week’s podcast features Tom Nechville of Nechville Musical Products. Nechville is known for their innovative banjo designs and today we talk with Tom about some of his ideas about banjo construction and design, the products Nechville offers, the different models of banjos that are in their catalog, and their new operation in Sisters, Oregon.
This week we talk with multi-instrumentalist David McLaughlin. David is best known as the mandolin player for the Johnson Mountain Boys and as such was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in the fall of 2020. Today we talk with David about his role in Christopher Henry’s Monroe Style Improvisation Course, about his musically rich upbringing in the Washington, D.C. area, about his relationship with Bill Monroe, and much more.
This week’s podcast features Christopher Henry, son of the talented musicians and instructors Red and Murphy Henry and brother to bluegrass banjo player and teacher Casey Henry. Christopher has performed with his family, has fronted his own band and has been a member of Peter Rowan’s bluegrass band for the past six or seven years. Today we are talking with Christopher about his online Monroe Style Improvisation course that was featured in the June 2021 issue of Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine.
Our podcast interview this week features Doctor Howard Marshall, Professor Emeritus from the University of Missouri. Doctor Marshall is an expert on Missouri style fiddling having written two very in-depth books about the subject. Fiddler Mike Hartgrove, who was featured in our May issue, learned from some of Missouri’s master fiddlers. In speaking with Howard Marshall, we learn more about Missouri fiddle styles. You will also get to hear old recordings from six of the fiddlers we discuss.
Our podcast interview this week features bluegrass bass master Mike Bub. Mike has performed with a long list of bluegrass bands, including The Weary Hearts, The Del McCoury Band, The Sidemen, Tim O’Brien, The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet, and many more. Today we talk with Mike about his home-away-from-home at the Station Inn and he shares many stories about his life on the road and in the studio with the above mentioned bands.
Our podcast interview this week features banjo player Marc Pruett. Marc has had a long career in bluegrass music having played for Jimmy Martin in the 1970s, the Marc Pruett band in the 1980s, Ricky Skaggs in the 1990s, and Balsam Range for the past fourteen years. Marc recently published a book about his life growing up in the North Carolina Mountains and career in bluegrass titled “Rascally Mountain Boy.” Marc his here today to answer questions about this wonderful new book.
Our podcast interview this week features Joe Mullins, a well known banjo player and radio broadcaster from the southwestern area of Ohio. Today we talk with Joe about his involvement in the Industrial Strength Bluegrass project that was featured in our April 2021 issue and we catch up with the latest from Joe’s band the Radio Ramblers. You will also listen to a couple of cuts from the Industrial Strength Bluegrass recording.
