June 29-July 4: Host Hubie King interviews and plays music with the founding members of Friends of Old Time Banjo; a D.C. group that started with a handful of beginners and has grown to almost 150 members.

Starting things off, Phil Nusbaum discusses the theme of loss and longing in bluegrass music on Gems of Bluegrass. Following that, we’ll explore the breadth of music offered on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country including segments from Dick Spottswood, Ray Davis and Mary Cliff.
Please note Special Programming will not air on June 22 to accommodate for the Open House.

Starting things off, we’ll preview the bands performing at our Open House on Sunday June 22nd. Following that, we’ll hear a The Gibson Brothers. They joined host Katy Daley in our studio recently for some conversation and bluegrass.

June 8-13: Williams & Clark Expedition visited our studio in Washington D.C. to chat with Host Katy Daley. The band discusses their new album, Brand New Set of Blues, and we hear recordings from their concert recent at Cherrydale United Methodist Church in Arlington, Virginia.

June 1-20: Host Bob Webster interviews members of the group Cedar Hill and plays some of their tunes.

May 25-June 6: Jimmy Gaudreau & Moondi Klein join host Lee Michael Demsey in the studio for some music and chatting.

May 18-30: The Lovell Sisters play music and chat with host, Echo Propp.

May 18-23: Trevor Whitney and Jen Hitt review some of the best performances at this year’s MerleFest with live tracks provided by FestivaLink.net.

May 11-16: Join host Sam Litzinger and Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place for another Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways, this time featuring folk singer Jean Ritchie. More information on the music played in this program is available from Smithsonian Folkways. Please note this program will air at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 11th, instead of the regularly scheduled 6 p.m.

Starting things off, Phil Nusbaum discusses some well-known bluegrass “characters” on Gems of Bluegrass. Following that, Katy Daley is joined by the recently retired guitar player from the Country Current, Wayne Taylor. To round out the hour we’ll hear Kathy Mattea talk in-depth about her career and her new album, Coal.

April 20-25: This week we’re joined by a new voice on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country, Trevor Whitney. Trevor and Jen Hitt will highlight the artists performing at MerleFest 2008.

April 13-18: Starting things off, Phil Nusbaum highlights the Blue Sky Boys on Gems of Bluegrass. Following that, Old time banjo player and NPR newscaster, Paul Brown, visited our studios recently along with guitar player John Schwab. They sat down with Hubie King to chat and play some tunes.

April 6-11: We hear from students and faculty in the bluegrass music program at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Associate Professor of Music and fiddler, Andy Carlson says the main thrust of their program is to, “expose as many students from as many walks of campus, here at Denison, to this great music, to this music that is the history of our country embodied in sound.”

April 6-11: The Wilders new album, Someone’s Gotta Pay, will be released on Free Dirt records on April 15th. On the album is the 5-part piece, “Sittin’ on a Jury”, inspired by mandolin player, Phil Wade’s recent experience as a Juror for a murder trial in Kansas City. Jen Hitt speaks with Phil Wade and Ike Shelton and discusses their modern murder ballad.

March 23 - April 2: Bob Webster talks with Lou Reid, Jen Hitt reviews the bluegrass featured at SXSW 2008, and we hear the Punch Brothers recent appearance on the NPR program, All Things Considered.