>I've been following Kottke for years. Back in my guitar playin' days I had a 12 string and used to try to imitate what I could. Felt like I was playing wearing oven mitts.

My first Kottke exposure was through A Prairie Home Companion in the 80s, and my only musical talent is popping a CD into the tray and pressing play, so I can't fathom how someone can be as talented as these people we are talking about.

And here you keep putting new CDs on my wishlist. Neck and Neck by Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler is another one that is a great pairing.

>The fiddle player I'd like to hear in that dream scenario would be Mike Marshall. He was 17 or so the first time I heard him play and had just won the national Bluegrass fiddle championship.
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>Bela Fleck has an album of duets called Double Time which includes Darol Anger, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Grisman, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, Tony Rice and Ricky Skaggs.
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>There is also a Sony release called Uncommon Ritual that has Edgar Meyer (bass) Bela Fleck and Mike Marshall.