The Mystery of "Chest Fever" by The Band

It might seem like an unusual choice for a show named Southern Songs and Stories to focus on a group with all of its members being from Canada save for one American. But the roots of The Band go back to a roster of musicians from Arkansas, which included their drummer who hailed from the tiny town of Marvell, Levon Helm. The story of how all the Southerners in Levon’s first band Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks evolved into The Band is a story in itself, and is summarized in this episode.

Beyond the Arkansas connection, The Band’s music was firmly rooted in forms that originated in the South, like blues and country. In a parallel with The British Invasion, The Band held up a mirror to the spirit of music of artists who preceded them from another place, reinvigorating those traditions through their own success.

In this episode, we welcome Armando Bellmas of the music newsletter Eclectico and public radio WNCW, and Rob Turner, a fellow Osiris Media colleague who co-hosts Inside Out with Turner and Seth, both of whom dig deep into The Band and their song “Chest Fever”, an enigmatic song that will come into at least a little bit better focus once your hear their takes on it here on Southern Songs and Stories.

Pictured above (L to R): album artwork for The Band’s album Music From Big Pink, Rob Turner, Armando Bellmas, Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“The Genetic Method” by The Band, Live at Academy of Music 12-31-70, from Rock Of Ages, excerpt

“Da Doo Ron Ron” by The Crystals, excerpt

“Pretty Persuasion” by R.E.M. from Reckoning, excerpt

“Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again” by Bob Dylan, from Blonde On Blonde, excerpt

“The Genetic Method”>”Chest Fever” by The Band, Live at Academy of Music 12-31-70, from Rock Of Ages, excerpt

“Chest Fever” by The Band from Music From Big Pink, excerpt

This is the second Southern Songs and Stories episode focusing on a song, with the first being Wagon Wheel: Anatomy of a Hit. Thanks to our guests Armando and Rob, and even though we did not get to the bottom of all the mystery surrounding this song, we had a great time shedding light on its riddles.

Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoyed this episode. What did you think? You can contact us on our social media via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook (all linked in the banner here) and you can also drop a line by emailing southernsongsandstories@gmail.com. Please take a moment and follow the series on the podcast platforms you are using; it will help even more when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. I’m your host and producer Joe Kendrick, and this is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it.

Favorite Outtakes of 2021: Corrie Askew

Every episode of Southern Songs and Stories finds its way onto public radio WNCW, albeit in a condensed form. Corrie Askew produces a radio version of each show to fit within the eight minutes that it reaches FM listeners on alternating Tuesday mornings (Down the Road on the Blue Ridge Music Trails and American Songcatcher air on the other Tuesdays). Because there is so much material that cannot fit into either version of the show, many great moments have to be left behind. Corrie Askew, who also produces and hosts WNCW’s bluegrass and old-time show Mountain Mornings 6-7AM Sunday through Friday, proposed that it would be a great idea to feature some of her favorite moments of the series from last year which never made it onto the podcast or WNCW. In this special episode, Corrie goes to unheard portions of interviews with Amanda Anne Platt, Amythyst Kiah, Dom Flemons and Esther Rose for this mini-retrospective of 2021.

Thank you for visiting, and we hope you enjoy this series! Feel free to give us feedback on our social media via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and you can also drop a comment below this article. Please do follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it greatly helps when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here . You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio at here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing this special episode, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Three Song Set with Kim Ware and Scott Newell

There may never be an episode of Southern Songs and Stories featuring music as far flung as this one, and at the same time there may never be an episode with a storyline that is so unexpectedly close knit. It started out by bringing together two artists I knew but who did not know each other, and who have differing styles of music. Then came a serendipitous revelation that set the stage for a great conversation, and concluded with another surprise when both artists picked a mutual favorite song to talk about in this Three Song Set, one from Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, whom you probably know better as George Michael.

Welcome to our Three Song Set with Kim Ware and Scott Newell, where Kim picks one of Scott’s songs, Scott picks one of Kim’s, and they both pick a mutual favorite of another artist to talk about. I have known of Kim’s work for far longer than I have known her -- we were in some of the same musical circles when we lived in Wilmington, North Carolina in the 1990s -- but it was only in recent years when she moved from Atlanta back to where she grew up in nearby Kings Mountain, North Carolina that I made a connection. Back in Wilmington, Kim was a drummer in bands like Tex Svengali, she also ran the record label Eskimo Kiss, and she remained in the background for years before picking up a guitar in 2006 and starting her own singing and songwriting journey as the Good Graces. Like Kim, Scott Newell chose a different instrument early on, as he played trumpet before picking up the guitar as his mainstay. While he lives just two counties over in Charlotte, Scott had never crossed paths with Kim until now. But their paths were always intertwined, because as they got to know each other before we recorded this episode, Scott and Kim found out that on Kim’s father’s side of her family, and Scott’s mother’s side of his family have ancestors who were brother and sister.

Songs heard in this episode:

“So What” by Miles Davis from Kind of Blue, excerpt

“Scam Likely” by Scott Newell from Psycho Electric, excerpt

“Mar Vista Point” by Kim Ware and the Good Graces from Prose and Consciousness, excerpt

“Praying For Time” by George Michael from Listen Without Prejudice, excerpt

Thank you for visiting, and we hope you enjoy your stay! There are more Three Song Sets in the works, and we would like to know what you think of the concept. You can contact us on our social media via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and you can also drop a comment below this article. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it greatly helps when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here . You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio at here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Three Song Set with Alexa Rose and Joseph Terrell

It is always heartwarming to witness the spirit of generosity that is central to so many music artists. When you come across musicians who are not only kind but also are incredibly talented and well spoken, magic can happen. All of these things came together when Alexa Rose and Joseph Terrell came to WNCW’s Studio B in early November, 2021, where they played a live session and then stayed for extra innings to record a conversation for this episode. Their generous spirit was on display once again when they played an impromptu cover of the Doc and Rosa Lee Watson classic “Your Long Journey”.

Alexa Rose and Joseph Terrell play a live session for WNCW in Spindale, NC 11/3/21. Photo: Brenda Craig

This episode is the first of a series called The Three Song Set, which brings two artists together to talk about songs each other wrote, and then pick a mutual favorite song and give us their thoughts on that song as well. Alexa Rose moved from the Allegheny Mountains of her native Virginia to western North Carolina when she went to college, and has remained in The Old North State ever since. Her new release Headwaters follows her 2019 album Medicine For Living, and finds Rose bridging her earlier love for pop and alternative with her rootsier, Americana sound that earned praise from the likes of No Depression, Rolling Stone and NPR, to name just a few. Joining Alexa in the studio is guitarist and vocalist Joseph Terrell, of the Chapel Hill NC quartet Mipso. This is the second time Joseph has been on the show, the first being a couple of years ago when we profiled Mipso on their episode The Unlikely Story of a Band With A Lot To Like.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Clearwater Park” by Alexa Rose, from Headwaters, excerpt

“Never Knew You Were Gone” by Mipso, from Mipso, excerpt

“Pale Golden Flowers” by Alexa Rose from Headwaters, excerpt

“Your Long Journey” by Alexa Rose and Joseph Terrell, live on WNCW

Thank you for visiting, and we hope you enjoy this episode. There are more Three Song Sets in the works, and please let us know what you think of the concept. You can contact us on our social media via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and you can also drop a comment below this article. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it greatly helps when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here . You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio at here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, and to WNCW’s audio engineer Sean Rubin for recording this session. And thanks to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

A Brief History of Southern Culture on the Skids

There are few people working in the music business today that can say that they have worked in several of its eras. Rick Miller, Mary Huff and Dave Hartman are three who can, having started out in a time when radio airplay was the first step in becoming known outside of their home town of Chapel Hill, NC. Back then, in the mid to late 1980s, getting your music in the hands of your fans meant you would make cassettes, 45s or LPs. At first you would make them via the DIY route, sending those out to small regional record labels and select radio stations, usually radio stations in towns where you had some foothold by having played shows there and already being on that music scene’s radar. Once your band got airplay on radio (typically college radio), you would leverage that along with your successful shows to get picked up by an indie label, and keep going from there. Essentially, this is how Southern Culture on the Skids began. Many others did not make it past this era, but they did.

Fast forward to the early 1990s, and the CD era had firmly taken root. The success of bands like R.E.M., Pixies and Nirvana spurred the major labels into a buying frenzy for all things alternative, and acts from college towns and locales that were formerly an afterthought at best (hello, Flaming Lips) were being courted like they never imagined just a short time earlier. By mid-decade, Geffen came calling and scooped up SCOTS, too.

The major label ride did not last all that long (most were equally short), but Rick, Mary, Dave and the occasional fourth member of Southern Culture on the Skids leveraged that momentum into the next era, continuing to tour constantly and make records for a core audience that remained intact once the internet changed everything for the business. And now that streaming has become the music industry’s MO, our trio remains, as happy to make music as they ever were. If they exist, it would be interesting to see the statistics of how many artists have pulled off this particular hat trick. My bet is that there is a only tiny fraction who have done so.

Southern Culture on the Skids perform in Spindale, NC 09-11-21

I go way back with Southern Culture on the Skids, from when I was in college at UNC-Chapel Hill and they were still working day jobs in town, and gigging clubs by night. The first time I got to interview them, however, was September 2021, when they played a drive-in show produced by WNCW where they talked with me after sound check. They tell much of their history and some hilarious stories in this episode, where we bring in Ed Bumgardner to the conversation as well. Ed is the producer and bass player for an ambitious new benefit album called Be Good To Yourself, a double disc of North Carolina artists including Rick and Mary on one of its tracks. All that, and of course, plenty of their music awaits. Enjoy!

Songs heard in this episode:

“Tuna Fish Everyday” by Southern Culture on the Skids from Dig This: Ditch Diggin’ Vol. 2

“Cicada Rock” by Southern Culture on the Skids from Doublewide and Live, excerpt

“40 Miles To Vegas” by Southern Culture on the Skids, from Plastic Seat Sweat, excerpt

“Thunderbird” by Rick Miller, Mary Huff, Gino Grandinetti, Tim Gordon, Brad Wilcox, and Steve Stoeckel from Be Good To Yourself, excerpt

“Camel Walk” by Southern Culture on the Skids from Dirt Track Date, excerpt

“Billy’s Board” by Southern Culture on the Skids, from At Home With Southern Culture on the Skids

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the podcast. I also hope you might tell someone about Southern Songs and Stories in person or on social media. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it helps greatly when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Don't Call It Utopia: Imagining A World Made Better For Music

The concept of utopia is as old as civilization itself, but we are not getting there any faster than we ever were. Every attempt has failed, sooner or later. The writing has been on the wall for utopia since the beginning, it seems -- we lasted only a hot minute in the Garden Of Eden before messing that one up, for example. So let us not try for utopia here, but at least try to envision something that is a step above where we are. Let us make a map of the future that is not unrealistically devoid of potholes, but shows at least a bit smoother of a ride for all of us on our musical journey. 

While attending the Albino Skunk Music Festival in October 2021, I had this in mind. And so I went about asking people one question. Or rather, a choice between two questions: given the chance to improve one aspect of your musical journey, or the chance to get rid of one thing that stands in its way, what would that be? I asked artists who played at the festival as well as festival goers the same question, and got a lot of great answers. No two answers were the same, and all of them got me thinking about how we might make our lives in music a little richer, or a little less difficult. From the practical to the whimsical to the ideal, it’s all here in this episode. And along the way, you will hear some of the latest music from artists who spoke with me, including Aaron Burdett, LIzzie No, The Contenders, Riley Downing, The Two Tracks and The Pink Stones.

Lizzie No plays harp during her set at The Albino Skunk Music Festival on October 2, 2021

Songs heard in this episode:

“Rockefeller” by Aaron Burdett, from Dream Rich, Dirt Poor

“Deep Breath” by Riley Downing, from Start It Over, excerpt

“Love Me Hardly” by The Pink Stones, from Introducing…The Pink Stones, excerpt

“Finer Weather” by The Contenders, from Laughing With The Reckless, excerpt

“Deep Well Song” by Lizzie No, from Vanity, excerpt

“Beautiful” by The Two Tracks, from Cheers To Solitude

Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here . Thanks to Glynn Zeigler and everyone at the Albino Skunk Music Festival for their abundant hospitality,  and thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW. I’m your host and producer Joe Kendrick thanking you for listening, and I hope you can spread awareness of this endeavor by telling a friend in person or on social media. Giving Southern Songs and Stories a follow, a top rating and a good review will go far in helping us to continue this project and to aid the artists we cover in their musical endeavors, too!   

The Challenge of a Life Beyond Outlaw Country: Jeremy Pinnell

Have you ever thought about what motivated George Mallory, the early 20th century mountaineer? He was either the first or almost the first person to climb Mount Everest (he died up there, so we do not know), and is the person to answer to the question of why he wanted to do it with the famous reply, “Because it’s there”. Mallory is a real life example of a personality type shared with popular characters like The Mandalorian and Sherlock Holmes, both of whom despise being idle, and who regularly take on what may seem like impossible tasks. The answer to the question of the root of their motivation partly lies in the personality of our guest in this episode, Jeremy Pinnell. Like Mallory, Holmes and The Mandalorian, Pinnell needs a suitable challenge to get up out of bed every morning. Whether that is practicing mixed martial arts, being a husband and father or carving out a career in the unforgiving landscape of the modern music industry, he seems to find himself most comfortable in settings filled with high degrees of difficulty. Find out about his life story and his remarkable third album in this episode of Southern Songs and Stories.

Jeremy Pinnell

Songs heard in this episode:

“Fightin’ Man” by Jeremy Pinnell, from Goodby L.A., excerpt

“Joey” by Jeremy Pinnell, excerpt

“Want To Do Something” by Jeremy Pinnell, from Goodbye L.A., excerpt

“Cryin’” by Jeremy Pinnell, from Goodbye L.A., excerpt

“Goodbye L.A.” by Jeremy Pinnell, from Goodbye L.A

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy this podcast. I also hope you might tell someone about Southern Songs and Stories directly or on social media. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it helps more than you may realize when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists that make it.

Happy In Disguise: Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters

Procrastination is often the yin to the yang of creativity, a kind of stumbling block that can at times derail the work of making art. Artists can procrastinate just like you and I do when it comes to getting on with whatever hard things are in front of us, which is kind of comforting. Knowing that Jim Lauderdale, for example, has often finished writing songs while in a recording session should give all of us some room to forgive ourselves for not studying for that final exam or for not doing our taxes until the last minute.

Writing songs is seldom easy. But for Amanda Anne Platt, writing songs seems free of anxiety. In fact, keeping a journal and writing songs is her way of processing life. Whereas we might take a walk or talk to a friend to decompress after long hours of doing the hard things, Amanda would likely take those hard things and put them into melodies, melodies which we can in turn crank up on the ride home to loosen up from our static filled day.

Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters perform at Albino Skunk Music Festival on May 14, 2021. Photo: John Gillespie

Amanda Anne Platt has appeared on Southern Songs and Stories as a guest in a roundtable of women artists from western NC in 2018 as well as a video documentary version of the show back in 2015, when her band was newly signed to their first record deal with Organic Records, which she still calls home. It was a time when she had called western North Carolina home for less than a decade, having moved from her native New York to Asheville, North Carolina to start her musical career. I spoke with Amanda once again at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, South Carolina when she and the Honeycutters performed in the late spring of 2021. Included here is our conversation as well as excerpts from the new collection titled Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea as well as a live performance from Skunk Fest.

Songs heard in this episode:

“New York” by Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters from The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, excerpt

“Open Up Your Door” by Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters, live at Albino Skunk 05-14-21

“St. Sebastian” by Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters from The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, excerpt

“The Devil” by Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters from The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

We hope you enjoy the podcast, and also hope you might tell someone about it either in person or on social media. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere, where it helps greatly when you give us a top rating and even more so with a good review, because the show’s visibility to everyone using those platforms depends largely on followers, ratings and reviews. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

If Hatred Builds It Up, Surely Love Will Break It Down: Shay Martin Lovette

Shay Martin Lovette lives on Goshen Creek in Boone, in one of the most picturesque regions of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The place every artist calls home has a great bearing on their work, but in Shay’s case, that effect seems more profound than most. As he told me, “The creek flows under the porch behind my home and hearing the constant sound of moving water when writing is something that I’ve grown accustomed to. My music video for the tune, “Never Felt So New” was filmed on Goshen Creek on and around the Mountains to Sea Trail. If you’re not familiar, this is North Carolina’s longest trail and it runs from Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge at the Outer Banks. I’ve hiked/backpacked about 400 miles of the 1175 mile trail and hope to eventually get to hiking the rest of this trail segment by segment. I guess you could say that I’m in for the long haul. The same can be said about my songwriting as I remain dedicated to the craft and recently went back into the studio to record a few new songs.”

Shay Martin Lovette in studio at WNCW 05/05/21

Shay’s new album Scatter & Gather is the result of countless hours of meditation and contemplation hiking on the many nearby trails and sitting by Goshen Creek. It is an album that in part answers the question of where the metaphorical Appalachia really is. As he said in our interview, Shay feels most present when playing music, and his hope is for that feeling to transfer into his songs, songs which speak to the beauty and miracle of life without ignoring the pain that comes with it.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Sourwood Honey Rag” by Shay Martin Lovette from Scatter & Gather

“For Rose Marie” by Shay Martin Lovette from Scatter & Gather, excerpt

“Parkway Bound” by Shay Martin Lovette, live in Studio B on WNCW

“Never Felt So New” by Shay Martin Lovette from Scatter & Gather

I hope you enjoy the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. And once you do that, could you help by giving us a top rating, and a review? In just moments, you will help make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Speaking All Things Bluegrass With Unspoken Tradition

It is a joy talking with guests on this podcast, but I have to say that my interview with these gentlemen was especially rewarding. They are some of the most genuine, forthright and dedicated artists you will ever meet, and this holds for whenever they are in a studio, on stage or simply talking with anyone who wants to take a few minutes of their time. They put all of themselves into what they do, and it shows.

This is the second of three episodes to originate from one of my all-time favorite festivals, The Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, South Carolina. The podcast on Sierra Ferrell preceded this one and still to come is our episode on Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters, who also played at the Skunk Farm in May 2021. Here, I spoke with brothers Audie and Zane McGinnis, Ty Gilpin, Tim Gardner and Sav Sankaran of Unspoken Tradition just ahead of their performance, and we had a lively and far ranging conversation about their musical philosophies, how they got their start in bluegrass (and in the case of fiddle player Tim Gardner, old time music), what silver linings they discovered from not getting to tour due to COVID-19, and much more. And as always, there is music, from a sampling of their live performance at Skunk to excerpts of several of their newest songs which will be part of their forthcoming album, their fourth since their 2013 debut.

(l to r) Zane McGinnis, Ty Gilpin, Sav Sankaran, Audie McGinnis and Tim Gardner of Unspoken Tradition perform at Albino Skunk Music Festival on May 14, 2021

Songs heard in this episode:

“Monroe’s Hornpipe” by Unspoken Tradition, live at Albino Skunk Festival 05-14-21

“California” by Unspoken Tradition, excerpt

“Irons In the Fire” by Unspoken Tradition, excerpt

“At the Bottom Again” by Unspoken Tradition

I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. And once you do that, could you help by giving us a top rating, and a review? In just moments, you will help make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. I’m your host and producer Joe Kendrick, and this is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists that make it.    

What's In A Name? Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz Begin Their New Chapter As Watchhouse

Someday, as the song says, the sun’s gonna shine on your backdoor. For us, an unexpected and most welcome ray of sunshine came when we got word that the band Watchhouse wanted to play a live session on WNCW and they went all in with a request for another, separate interview for this podcast. Having just minted their new handle, husband and wife Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz were only recently getting back into circulation with live shows, playing a fresh collection of songs to boot (from a serendipitous new album at that, as you will hear). Oh my yes, we said. A longtime favorite North Carolina band that wants to come to our place and play? And we don’t have to pay for this? Sign us up!

(L to R) Clint Mullican, Josh Oliver, Sean Rubin, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz in WNCW’s Studio B. Photo: Brenda Craig

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz on the cover of their self-titled album Watchhouse

Andrew and Emily talk about their new album and making music the most honest way they know how, the Venn diagram of Watchhouse music which overlaps with both The Stanley Brothers and Pantera, how they have yet to cross the event horizon that could pull them into Nashville, and much more. We spoke at their session recorded at WNCW which was engineered and recorded by Studio B engineer Sean Rubin, and included are excerpts from that performance which includes their bandmates Josh Oliver and Clint Mullican.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Better Way” by Watchhouse from Watchhouse, excerpt

“Better Way” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW, excerpt

“New Star” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW, excerpt

“Upside Down” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW

I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. And once you do that, could you take a minute and give us a top rating, and a review? In almost no time you will help make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Sean Rubin for engineering our session and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where our former intern Joshua Meng wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

The Country Heart and Jazz Mind of Sierra Ferrell

Meeting Sierra Ferrell was nothing like I expected. The scene was somewhere backstage at the Albino Skunk Music Festival this spring, and in her orbit were several new faces, one of whom was holding an elderly Boston Terrier. As I would soon find out, it was Jeremiah Jenkins whose main gig is booking Red Wing Roots Music Festival in Virginia who was holding onto the pup named, appropriately enough, Boston. However, it was not his dog. Sierra Ferrell had brought Boston, but Boston was not her dog either. She was just taking care of him for a friend by bringing him to South Carolina where the air would be better for his allergies, and holding him a lot — or in this case, getting someone like Jeremiah to do the holding. Before long many people came to know Boston, and a charming, eccentric story within the larger charming eccentricities of the festival itself was born. It seemed that almost as many people knew of Boston as there were those who got to experience the magnetic set of western swing, golden era country and fiery originals from Sierra and her band.

After her performance, she stayed through the next day to catch more of the music, which was when we took time to talk. Here, she tells us about her long awaited album debut on Rounder, titled (you guessed it) Long Time Coming, her musical upbringing and early, more rocking tastes, her new band, how the forests of her native West Virginia can be heard in her songs, and more. Many songs that Sierra Ferrell and her band played at the festival are here as well, which include several from her new collection. The music and conversation are lively and free-spirited, and hint at greater things to come in a moment when Sierra is already emerging as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist to be celebrated.

Sierra Ferrell with Boston in the green room at Albino Skunk Music Festival 05-15-21

Boston, the elderly, blind and allergic Boston Terrier who practically stole the show

Songs heard in this episode:

“Lonesome Woman Blues” by Sierra Ferrell live at Albino Skunk Festival 05/14/21

“I’d Do It Again” by Sierra Ferrell, live at Albino Skunk Festival 05/14/21, excerpt

“T For Texas” by Sierra Ferrell, live at Albino Skunk Festival 05/14/21, excerpt

“Whispering Waltz” by Sierra Ferrell, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 05/14/21, excerpt

“Why’d Ya Do It” by Sierra Ferrell, live at Albino Skunk Festival 05/14/21, excerpt

“In Dreams” by Sierra Ferrell, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 05/14/21

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. And once you do that, could you take a minute and give us a top rating, and a review? In almost no time you will help make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Mark Johnson for supplying the live audio from Albino Skunk, and to Zig and everyone there for being so generous and accommodating. Thanks also to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where our former intern Joshua Meng wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

It’s Always Roots Music 12 O’Clock With Jerry Douglas

Jerry Douglas was effusive and ebullient all afternoon. He and his band approached their soundcheck session with a mixture of patience, focus and glee; it was the warmup for their first performance in front of a live audience in over a year. After sitting out the pandemic for all that time, the main hurdle to their exercise in knocking the rust off seemed to be finding what gear was in which bin, serving only to slightly delay them in getting things back into fifth gear. Jerry’s energy and enthusiasm continued afterwards, when he spoke about everything from his latest album project with John Hiatt to his analogy of the cyclical nature of musical tastes, which gave us the title to this episode.

The Jerry Douglas Band performs at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre in Asheville, NC 06-03-21

Joe Kendrick and Jerry Douglas on stage at Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain, NC 08-25-18

Songs heard in this episode:

“From Ankara to Izmir” by The Jerry Douglas Band, performed live 06-03-21 at Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, Asheville, NC

“All The Lilacs In Ohio” by John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band, from Leftover Feelings, excerpt

“Touch and Go” by Sean Jones from No Need For Words, excerpt

Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. Currently Southern Songs and Stories is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts, which is great! But for this endeavor to be self-supporting, we ask that you follow the series and then give us a top rating and a review on your platform of choice. It is all free, and doing this will make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Sean Rubin for recording and mixing The Jerry Douglas Band’s live performance of “From Ankara to Izmir”, and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

The Shelton Laurel Massacre, Part Two: Could History Repeat Itself?

In the conclusion of this two podcast series, you get to hear some surprising facts about the Shelton Laurel Massacre and related events, which by themselves are still surprising to many people just considering the events of those tragedies. Even once you get past the shocking nature of the executions, there are lots of ironies and unexpected twists to the story. The whole region was a hotbed of conflict that at least on paper did not seem to make sense. Perhaps these pieces can only fit together once you begin by acknowledging that wars never make much sense, especially to the people fighting them. Maybe the only logical answer to the insanity that was the Civil War in Southern Appalachia was to go off the rails county by county, mountain valley by mountain top, town by countryside and kinfolk by kinfolk. The events in Shelton Laurel in 1863 were the Civil War in microcosm, with the two sides not hundreds or thousands of miles away in distance, experience and world view, but with those fighting each other living in the same place, with the same bloodlines, the same heritage.

Cover art to the historical novel And the Crows Took Their Eyes by Vicki Lane

Asheville Citizen-Times article on the Shelton Laurel Massacre from 1981

This episode features details on the Massacre itself as well as another big surprise that Vicki Lane, Sheila Kay Adams and Taylor Barnhill revealed in their interview, plus a theory on how the seeds of this terrible event were sown. Also featured is music about the Civil War and songs that were widely popular in that era.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Republican Spirit/Mississippi Sawyer” played by Jim Taylor, from The Civil War Collection (excerpt)

“The Secesh (Shiloh)” by John Hartford, from the compilation Songs of the Civil War (excerpt)

“Shy Ann” by Byard Ray from A Twentieth Century Bard (excerpt)

“Battle Cry Of Freedom” by Bryan Sutton from Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War

Thanks for visiting! You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. After that, it helps greatly when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make all of the topics and artists covered on this series more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Carol Rifkin for pointing me to much of the music here, to Sean Rubin for converting tapes of the show Over Home to digital format, and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

The Shelton Laurel Massacre, Part One: The Past That Would Not Die

There are stories where the characters and events are so extraordinary and gripping that one can miss their overall meaning. It can be easy to take stories like the one you are about to hear at face value, and leave their larger context unrealized. But even the most casual reading of the events and people of Madison County, North Carolina from 1863 should raise a lot of red flags about our own worst tendencies. Even a pulp fiction version of the Shelton Laurel Massacre would lend plenty of insight into the all too often dark heart of humanity. But pull the lens back and consider these events, their beginnings and repercussions in the arc of history and you might come to an even more chilling conclusion. What caused neighbors and kinfolk to terrorize and murder one another in the Appalachian mountains all those generations ago, what larger forces that worked to bring out the cruelty and violence this chapter of history reveals, and what hatred and divisions that earned the place the moniker “Bloody Madison” are not only in history books; they are with us today. It would be nice to think that because America went through its Civil War and Shelton Laurel had its Massacre that it cannot happen again. But once you get sight of the forest beyond all its trees in this bit of history, you might wonder.

Historical marker in Madison County, NC

Looking southeast from Vicki Lane’s home

This is the first of two episodes in which you will hear much about the Shelton Laurel Massacre as well as some other events during the Civil War in the region. Both sides of this conflict had heroes and villains in their ranks, with many larger than life characters involved.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Bonaparte’s Retreat” by Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith & His Dixieliners

“Beautiful Dreamer” by Hesperus from A Civil War Scrapbook

“8th of January/Cumberland Gap/8th Day of January” by Sheila Kay Adams, from All The Other Fine Things

Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here . You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Carol Rifkin for pointing me to much of the music here, to Sean Rubin for converting tapes of the show Over Home to digital format, and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Taylor Barnhill and Vicki Lane at Vicki’s home near Marshall, NC 06-04-21

The Ambivalence and Embrace of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning with Olivia Ellen Lloyd

Like the prophets of biblical times, music artists have often found it hard to gain acceptance in the places they came from. There is a heartbreaking scene in the documentary Every Night’s A Saturday Night: The Bobby Keys Story where the sax player famous for his time in The Rolling Stones sits outside his former high school, unable to bring himself to go to his old classmates’ reunion decades after leaving his small town of Slaton, Texas. Another example is my home town’s native son, Don Gibson, who left Shelby, North Carolina being thought of as pretty much a nobody that dropped out of school in the second grade before he went on to become a successful artist and one of the most celebrated song writers in country music history.

Olivia Ellen Lloyd could be the exception that proves this rule: she left her homeplace (which is even smaller than both Shelby and Slaton) and went on to make her first album while residing in Brooklyn, New York, however this success is celebrated rather than ignored back home in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. This experience, along with the loss of family and friends and her own struggle to come of age in a world where optimism is hard to come by provides the backdrop for her country and Americana based album Loose Cannon.

Olivia Ellen Lloyd

In this episode you will hear Olivia talk about her intriguing backstory and how she finds herself thriving in a much different place than where she grew up while she still embraces her homeplace, how she has a knack for bringing our worst impulses to life in a song, and much more, including music from her album Loose Cannon.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy this episode and will tell someone you know about it. You can follow this series on most every platform where you can find podcasts. And once you do, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“High & Lonesome” by Olivia Ellen Lloyd from Loose Cannon

“Sorrow” by Olivia Ellen Lloyd from Loose Cannon, excerpt

“Emily” by Olivia Ellen Lloyd from Loose Cannon, excerpt

“The West” by Olivia Ellen Lloyd, from Loose Cannon

Tough Times Encapsulated in the Beauty of Her Song: Esther Rose

Esther Rose might surprise you. She certainly gave me a start at the very beginning of our conversation when I found out that she was not living in New Orleans anymore, after having called the Crescent CIty home for the past decade. It turns out that she had followed her muse to the high desert of Taos, New Mexico, a place that she had thought about moving to for years. That is not the only thing that you might find curious about her — other eye-openers include her list of influences which were three artists I had yet to hear about. For someone like me whose bread is buttered by research and preparation, twists like these do not happen very often, let alone more than once in the same interview. So prepare for a revelation with Esther Rose, whose music itself comprises the most pleasant of those surprises. With her third album How Many Times, she reveals themes of heartbreak, loss and renewal housed in a collection of ten songs that are rooted in country and early rock and roll (The Everly Brothers comes to mind), brought to life by a crack band of young players and tied together with a voice so crystalline as to make you almost wish you could have your heart broken that way, too.

Esther Rose

You can see the full interview with Esther on video, which is linked on my YouTube here. I hope you enjoy this episode, and might talk to someone you know to let them know about this podcast. You can subscribe to the series on most every platform where you can find podcasts. And once you subscribe, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Sean Rubin for engineering our interview and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it.  - Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Without You” by Esther Rose from How Many Times

“Good Time” by Esther Rose performed live

“How Many Times” by Esther Rose performed live

Getting Back To the Basics of a Great Song With Tyler Ramsey

There is a complexity to Tyler Ramsey’s music, and a corresponding simplicity. It makes for an intriguing yin and yang, with an abundance of lyrical and instrumental components matched with his lucid fingerpicking style guitar playing. These stylistic poles are not opposites in Tyler’s musical world, rather they become complimentary, and over his career he has managed to use both to his advantage. From his early solo work to his decade in the group Band Of Horses and back to being solo, he has navigated a path that shows how such seemingly diametrically opposed modes can be harnessed and used to create something unique. Currently we find Tyler Ramsey leaning more in the direction of simplicity, with his stripped-down covers EP Found A Picture Of You. Or is it really all that straightforward? Even with this streamlined approach to songs by artists like Pretenders and The Innocence Mission, the layers are still there and the intricacy remains.

Tyler Ramsey performs in WNCW’s Studio B 11-23-20

In this episode, Tyler tells us about the virtues of simplicity in life and in songwriting, about being an unlikely rock and roll hero, how country blues is foundational to his approach, and he plays us some of his latest music, including an as yet untitled new song from a live session on WNCW late last November.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you might talk to someone you know, and let them know about this podcast. You can subscribe to the series on most every platform where you can find podcasts. And once you subscribe, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Sean Rubin for engineering my session with Tyler Ramsey, and Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW. Thanks also to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. I’m your host and producer Joe Kendrick, and this is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Hard Work, History and Hope in Small Town Southern Appalachia: Pony Bradshaw

Somehow, I missed out on James “Pony” Bradshaw’s major label debut, Sudden Opera, a well received record that was really his second album following his self-released debut. I almost missed out on his next album, the newly minted disc Calico Jim. Skimming over the songs to get an initial impression did not stop me in my tracks, which is a qualifier that is as necessary as it is so often ill suited to recognize great music in a world such as mine, where there is always too much worthwhile music to take in and not enough time to sort it all out. So, yes, Pony Bradshaw is probably not going to jump up and grab you on first listen. Just as driving through the rolling hills of Appalachia will not give you a real sense of their beauty and their corresponding, equally defining flaws, giving a cursory listen to Calico Jim will likely leave you with only a fuzzy memory or where you really were. But stop a while, stay for an extended listen, and it becomes clear that Pony Bradshaw has given us an incredible collection of songs, one that draws these mountains and their people into sharp focus.

Album art for Pony Bradshaw’s album Calico Jim

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you might talk to someone you know, and let them know about this podcast. You can subscribe to the series on most every platform where you can find podcasts. And once you subscribe, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed this show’s theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

The Sonic and Existential Transformation of Amythyst Kiah

When people talk about artists like Aretha Franklin, St. Vincent, Paul Brady and Sam Cooke, they tend to talk about these artists’ best known work, their music that came after their formative years. For Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke, her Columbia Records sides and his time in The Soul Stirrers tend to get glossed over. For the casual fan, who remembers that St. Vincent got her start in The Polyphonic Spree, or that Paul Brady once was known as a Celtic artist? In the years to come, look for a similar phenomenon with Amythyst Kiah.

This is not to minimize the work she has already released, which includes two fine records of songs ranging from covers of classics like “Grinnin’ In Your Face” to her own originals like “Fake Plastic Trees”, and of course her award-winning stint in the roots music supergroup Our Native Daughters. Those are all well worth celebrating, but in the long run they just might be considered the prologue to a much larger story. Five or ten years from now, most people that hear the name Amythyst Kiah may likely think of her forthcoming album Wary + Strange as the launching point of her career.

Amythyst Kiah performs at the No Contact Concert Series 08/22/20

Thanks to Amythyst Kiah for sharing her time with us, and for being on the show. Thanks to you for dropping by, and I hope you might reach out to someone you know who is a fan of Amythyst Kiah or Our Native Daughters, or who might be, and let them know about this podcast. You can subscribe to the series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Pandora, NPR One -- most every platform where you can find podcasts. And once you subscribe, it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Spreading awareness by giving this series a top rating, and even more so with a review, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Darlin’ Corey” by Amythyst Kiah from Dig, excerpt

“Trouble So Hard” by Amythyst Kiah from Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest Of Glass, excerpt

“Black Myself” by Amythyst Kiah from Wary + Strange