Welcome to the June 2026 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.

News and announcements (Church Street News)

• Craft Recordings Boone Creek reissue (preorder)
  • CD
  • LP
  • Download
• Gabe Witcher's Gig Ledger Pro app
• 51st Annual Father's Day Bluegrass Festival
• Marcel Ardans' Winfield Documentary
• Fly in Festival
• Often Herd tour dates

Scroll on Buddy

• Punch Brothers play Star Wars

Other bits

• Full list of interviews
• Collings Guitars

Happy picking.

Matt

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:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guests on the podcast this week have an astonishing 24 Grammy awards between them and they represent two musical world I love - the first is bluegrass and string band music and the second is opera.

Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck join me to chat about their wonderful new collaboration The Fiddle and the Drum, a project which explores Renée's long-held love of American folk and Appalachian music. The album includes guest appearances from several musicians from in and around the string band world, including Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Aoife O'Donovan, Sierra Hull and Sarah Jarosz.

We chat about the role folk music played in Renée's upbringing, the similarities and differences between roots music and the classical world, how the record came together, why folk songs are so powerful and what it means to be an eclectic artist over the course of a long career (plus much more).

This was a wonderful conversation to get to be part of. Thanks to Renée and Béla for taking the time to chat and particular thanks to Collin Citron for helping make this happen.

You can find out more about the project and order copies of the record at reneefleming.com, along with info on live dates for The Fiddle and the Drum and the project Renée mentions, Music and the Mind

You'll find info on Béla at www.belafleck.com, including BEATrio and the collaborations with Toumani Diabaté, Zakir Hussain and Chick Corea mentioned in the episode.

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:

• Instagram
• Facebook

My guest this week is Tim O'Brien and he joins me to chat about 'The Tim O'Brien Songbook', a handpicked selection of 40 of his songs, complete with notation, chords, Nashville number charts and thoughts from Tim on singing and songwriting.

We talk about Tim's journey from being an instrumentalist, to a singer, then a songwriter, and some of the key points along the way, as well as how he set about choosing the songs for the book. He shares his thoughts on co-writing and why songs don't always need an introduction, plus some insights into his process and what he's learned over several decades as one of the best loved singers and songwriters in the acoustic world.

You can buy the songbook (along with many of Tim's recordings) via Tim's website, where you'll also find tour dates and links to his social channels.

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:

• Instagram
• Facebook