How bout some "blues"grass? 😄 The mandolin always has such a rootsy, back-porch vibe, and I've never understood why more people don't use it for blues music. My mandolin was staring at me from the corner this morning with that look like, "why haven't you played me, lately?" so I dusted it off and started fingerpicking some Robert Johnson "Love in Vain." I've never tried fingerpicking on the mandolin before, mainly because it's so small, it's in a high register, and the strings are so close toge

This is a solo fingerstyle blues performance from my Backporch Blues Bootcamp — a series built around playing complete, unaccompanied blues songs on guitar. If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a guitar and play a full blues piece by yourself — bassline, rhythm, and melody all happening at the same time — this is the exact style I teach. This song is one of 10 step-by-step lessons inside the Backporch Blues Bootcamp, where each tune goes deeper into: • Fingerstyle blues technique • Thumb-driven bass

This performance comes from my Backporch Blues Bootcamp, a series where I teach 10 complete, unaccompanied blues songs step-by-step — including this one. If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a guitar and play a full blues piece by yourself — no band, no backing track — then Backporch Blues Bootcamp is the series that will take you there! Inside the series, each song dives deeper into: • Thumb-driven basslines • Fingerstyle groove & feel • Melody chord integration • Playing real blues, solo 👉 Learn