Welcome to a new year and a new issue of Mel Bay's Mandolin Sessions! In this issue, Dix Bruce gives us a sneak peek at some music from his upcoming Mel Bay book "Getting Into Bluegrass Mandolin."

Steve Kaufman also shares a great tune, "Green Fields of America," from his upcoming Mel Bay book, "Kaufman's Favorite Fifty Traditional American Fiddle Tunes for the Mandolin."

Joe Mendel interviews California luthier Michael Lewis who makes beautiful and distinctive mandolins. Check out the pictures.

Jazz guru Ted Eschliman gives us a great tune and more insights into the inner workings of jazz.

Part 3 of "My Soapbox" concludes my article about pick direction.

This little waltz is great tune to use all downstrokes on and it gives a good look at different chord arpeggios used in a melodic context. - Steve Smith

Please check out our writers websites and let us know how we are doing.

     -Joe Carr