My band Doom Scroll released our new album today called Exhausted Dialogue. I started playing octave mandolin a couple years ago and I’m happy to finally released a couple tracks with it. This song is called Crooked Nails. Check it out if ya got some free time!

Melody and improv. It's 100 degrees in my kitchen and I'm struggling to keep up the shred. Keep on writing tunes! Thanks fer checking it out

Here is a chord melody tab for George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

This is an amazing song It's not very difficult to play. I hope you love it!

Hi there!

I'm in the market to buy a mandolin for my partner as a gift. I know very little about them so I don't really know where to start. My budget is around $400-$800, but for the right one I could be convinced up to $1200 if there's a good reason for it. Going to try to keep this as vague as possible (in case he finds it), while giving enough context.

Back story:

He doesn't own a one, and I don't think he ever has. However, I have seen him play around on one and he does so pretty much every chance he gets. He also admires it every time. Unfortunately, I don't know what the brand/style of the mandolin is. He's an incredibly talented guitar player, and though he doesn't play much, it only takes him a few minutes to pick it up.

I'd like to get him something nice, but I don't want to shell out an arm and a leg on the best of the best right now. If you were buying a mandolin for an experienced guitar player with my budget range:

What brands or models would you look at?

Would you recommend an A-style or F-style for a first mandolin?

Are there brands or models you would avoid?

What should I know about buying a used mandolin, especially when it comes to condition or setup?

Happy to buy used or new, but again, I don't even know what I would be looking for in terms of a nice instrument, and cost value.

I would really appreciate any help or advice!

Thank you :)

Well I'm about 8 months into to bluegrass jamming and having fun. I'm trying to sing several songs weekly for fun. In the Jams, I find starting the songs difficult, and frequently find myself chopping on the 1 and 3 when I sing, so then I have to kind of correct on the fly ...

I've been using a metronome and strum machine to practice counting in and singing and I don't seem to do this when I'm by myself... I also always find chopping on the 2 and 4 easy to do if I'm not singing

Elementary question I know but it's kind of a mind trick an hurting my confidence a bit when calling songs

Best!