Back to bluegrass! Sometimes I miss hard-driving, 3-chord bluegrass, as I feature lots of variants on BPBG. So this week, I’ve made sure there’s an abundance of fast banjo picking, great singing and dextrous instrumental work. This comes from the likes of David Grisman, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, high fidelity, and Thomas porter. Dolly Parton, with her fine bunch of bluegrass pickers gets to sing a couple of classics, Hot Rize do a great gospel song, and Tony Ellis picks some fine banjo. Real bluegrass here.

Back Porch Bluegrass - 19-08-2025

Host Paul Trenwith is a founder member of the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, playing banjo and occasionally singing harmony parts. From the mid-70's to the mid-90's, Paul and his fiddle-playing wife Colleen played as mostly gospel music, bluegrass-style, with a group of friends, and often featuring songs that Paul had written. He has become something of a musical 'jack-of-all-trades', playing banjo, dobro, pedal steel and rhythm guitar. He also plays double bass in the Hamilton-based Irish band.
Paul has always been an enthusiastic advocate for and promoter of bluegrass music, and the show includes tracks from the classic bands, the traditional stylists and contemporary groups as well as some 'roots' bluegrass and new-grass. NZ and Australian bluegrass gets an airing, and every show includes some of his personal favourites.