I'm pleased to announce the availability of this previously private treasure trove of Jethro instruction. I was contacted recently by Jim Nikora and asked if I would be willing to host these lessons. Of course I would! Here they are, with this introduction from Jim:

From Jim Nikora: Over the years, I have been incredibly fortunate to study with great mentors in several fields, including music, shoe making, and business. Almost all have taught me as much or more about life than about their skills and have left their indelible mark on me, artistically, professionally and personally. Certainly, Jethro was one of those great mentors. Several years ago, I lent the tapes of my lessons with Jethro to Mike Stangeland. I thought he might copy them and learn from them but he asked me if he could make them available to all mandolin players via the Internet. We both thought it was a great idea and, thanks to him, it became a reality and thanks to Rob Coleman for hosting it.

A couple years ago I asked Mike O'Connell of Chicago, a great player in his own right and a 1980 student of Jethro, if he would consider making his tapes available. He thought it was a great idea and I offered to edit and digitize them. Thanks, Mike for sharing these incredible tapes. Once again, Rob has generously offered to host them and make them available for download. When they were made, Jethro had more teaching experience and Mike had a better sense of what and how much to record than I did. These are amazing!