From Beethoven to Emily Dickinson and Earl Scruggs: The Musical Archaeology of Tony Trischka

It is natural that a second generation bluegrass banjo player would have soaked up as much of Earl Scruggs’ style on the five string as possible when starting out; it is just as natural that they would push outside of those boundaries of the territory staked out by their pioneering forebears. In Tony Trischka’s case, part of this instinct to turn bluegrass on its head early on in his career involved doing things like adding saxophone to an instrumental version of “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”, which began with a cacophonous drum solo. Now, we find the habitual trailblazer discovering and reinterpreting never before heard jams from none other than Earl Scruggs himself. It is a bit of a full circle moment, although that is not to say that Tony Trischka ever left the traditional bluegrass fold, either. He is and always was a banjo renaissance man, respected by fans of the roots music avant-garde and the three finger roll alike.

In the past couple of years in his now nearly sixty year career, Tony Trischka has been excitedly traveling down an even deeper Earl Scruggs rabbit hole than even he could ever have imagined. Already at work on another book of re-transcriptions of Earl Scruggs' music, which had previously been transcribed by guitar players, a friend named Bob Piekel sent Tony over 200 home recordings of Earl made by John Hartford, which included other greats like Tony Rice, Mac Wiseman and Del McCoury playing for fun over many years in the 1980s and 1990s. These tapes revealed a side of Earl’s playing, both in style and repertoire, that no one outside of those small circles of musicians ever heard, including multiple versions of songs like "Gentle on My Mind" and "Here Comes the Bride"; Earl playing blues licks on “Cripple Creek”; syncopations that he used only in those private settings. Brimming with inspiration, Tony Trischka crafted an album based on the John Hartford tapes, bringing in players like Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle, Michael Cleveland, Billy Strings and Mark Schatz, to record his new collection titled Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs. 

Tony Trischka plays banjo alongside Darol Anger on fiddle

Just after Earl Scruggs’ 100th birth anniversary, and just ahead of his own 75th trip around the sun, I sat with Tony Trischka at the Earl Scruggs Center following his performance at the Remembering Earl concert, which included the Travelin’ McCourys and Jerry Douglas. This episode contains the bulk of that conversation, which was also partially excerpted in our earlier episode titled “An Update, and Two Quick Takes With Tony Trischka and Travis Book”, which includes a portion of Tony’s interview that does not appear here.

Songs heard in this episode:

“John Henry Medley: John Henry/Bonaparte’s Retreat/Twists and Turns” by Tony Trischka, from Territory

“Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” by Tony Trischka, from Heartlands, excerpt

“Quite Early Morning” by Pete Seeger, from Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, excerpt

“Dooley” by Tony Trischka, featuring Molly Tuttle and Sam Bush”, from Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs

Thank you so much for visiting! We are grateful that you took time to listen, and hope you can help us by spreading awareness of what we are doing. It is as easy as telling a friend and following this podcast on your platform of choice. From there it takes just a moment to give us a top rating and a review. It makes a great difference because the more top reviews and ratings we get, the more visible we become to everyone on those platforms, which means that more people just like you find musical kinship with artists like Tony Trishcka, and legends like Earl Scruggs and Pete Seeger. I would love to hear your comments about that sort of thing and all things Southern Songs and Stories -- you can drop me a line at southernsongsandstories@gmail.com, and I will be glad to reply. Speaking of Earl Scruggs, check out our episode titled The Humble Genius of Earl Scruggs, which is chock full of interviews with bluegrass artists sharing their memories of Earl and how he impacted their lives.

This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here.

Thanks to Mary Beth Martin and Zach Dressel at the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina for all their help in setting up my interview with Tony Trischka, 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

Revisiting a North Carolina Massacre: Shelton Laurel, Part One

There is a decidedly darker mood in the United States than ever in our lifetimes, it seems. In just one example poll recently, one in five Americans agreed that violence is necessary to get the country back on track. With that in mind, it seems like a good time to remember what happened the last time the country acted on this, when we fought the Civil War. Between 1861 and 1865, at least 1,030,000 people were killed, including about 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease—and 50,000 civilians. No major battles were fought in the North Carolina mountains, although there was one particularly dark Appalachian chapter of the bloody nationwide saga, the Shelton Laurel Massacre, which took place in Madison County NC.

Here, we revisit the first of a two-part series that originally published in 2021. The original article, with much more back story, is on our page here, and you can find these and 150 other episodes of Southern Songs and Stories on your podcast app of choice.

Historical marker in Madison County, NC

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.

Going Solo, With Soul: Travis Book

It was one of the first cold days of the fall in the western NC mountains when I trekked up from Spindale to Brevard to talk with Travis Book ahead of his show in town that night. Spindale is perhaps 60 miles away, where I work at WNCW, and with special shortcut directions from a trusted source who travels that route regularly, I figured it would take about an hour to get there. Only that travel time forecast was wildly optimistic, compounded by the fact that I wound up with most of the directions but did not have the last bit, which I figured I would somehow intuit, but could not. So instead of taking about an hour and a half, which was more like normal, I had to stop, then call Travis and ask for directions, and was pushing up against his practice time once I rolled in to his driveway a good two hours after leaving work.

After a quick hello, we sat at Travis’ kitchen table and dove into conversation. The hectic and anxious lead-up to this could have derailed other interviews, but Travis took it in stride, and I seemed to be able to focus some of that nervous energy into a free flowing series of questions and commentary that became the foundation for this episode, which includes music from his solo debut album Love and Other Strange Emotions.

Travis Book plays upright bass along with Jon Stickley on guitar at his Travis Book Happy Hour show at 185 King St. in Brevard NC 11-28-23

Songs heard in this episode:

“A Little Too Much” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions

“Leavin’” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions, excerpt

“The Truth Is Out There” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Emotions

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at 185 King Street for their hospitality. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories is currently ranked #14 in Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and recently moved up to a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Teaching the Art of the Bluegrass Jam: Pete Wernick

What connects you to the year 1946? Think of the time immediately following World War II, and perhaps black and white images of men in fedoras and women in long dresses come to mind. Maybe you have parents or grandparents who were born around that time, or maybe you know someone who lived then and has past on. It is an era that now seems quite distant for most of us, a kind of abstraction that can be read about but which remains present only in its dusty tomes and mono records. But like all eras of our past, the time when bluegrass music was born remains with us in tangible, even impactful ways. In 1946, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys recorded their first songs with new members Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and a new genre of music was born. Born that same year in New York City was Pete Wernick, who came to know all of the Blue Grass Boys as well as most if not all of the other first-generation stars, and played with many of them eventually as well. He remains one of the few people today who embodies a direct link to this era, making it leap from the pages of history across the decades and get us tapping our feet to bluegrass music that is still being born.

Pete Wernick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Waiting For Daylight” by Pete Wernick & Flexigrass, from What The

“Powwow the Indian Boy” by Hot Rize, from Hot Rize, excerpt

“Untold Stories” by Hot Rize, from Untold Stories, excerpt

“Spring Break” by Pete Wernick, from On A Roll

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at IBMA for their role in making this episode possible, and you can listen to more episodes on this series on artists interviewed at previous IBMA conferences, like Sierra Hull, Bela Fleck, Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright (Sam Bush Band and Henhouse Prowlers respectively), and C.J. Lewandowski (Po’ Ramblin’ Boys), to name a few. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories is currently ranked #13 in Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and moved up to a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Blurring Lines and Packing a Punch With Stillhouse Junkies

Here at Southern Songs and Stories, we take some liberties from time to time with what we put forward as songs and stories that fall under the umbrella of the American South. After all, we have featured a band from England (The Ruen Brothers), an artist from Idaho (Eilen Jewell), and several artists out of the sui generis state of Texas (Shinyribs, Joshua Ray Walker, The Deer), for starters. Add to that list the second group from Colorado profiled here (Yonder Mountain String Band being the first), as we bring Durango trio Stillhouse Junkies to the series.

Although all these artists are not from or living in the South (Texas notwithstanding), they all share a musical heritage that has direct connections to the region and its outsized music culture. Stillhouse Junkies is right in line here, with their members playing a style of music taking directly from forms so closely associated with the South, namely bluegrass, blues and country. With that in mind, and knowing that Southern hospitality is a hallmark of the region, we welcome Alissa Wolf, Fred Kozak and Cody Tinnin with open arms to this episode, which features conversation touching on topics ranging from uncommon trio configuration to how that trio format can sound as full as it does on record and at their live performance at the Albino Skunk Music Festival, where we spoke after their set. The band points out the advantages of being from a relatively small city in Colorado and hints at future collaborations, as well as giving us insight into life on the road, and we feature excerpts of music from their Albino Skunk set, which includes new songs that are slated for release later in 2024.

Stillhouse Junkies perform at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, SC 10/06/23

Photo: John Gillespie Photography

Songs heard in this episode:

“Up River” by Stillhouse Junkies, from Albino Skunk Music Festival

“Colorado Bound” by Stillhouse Junkies at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23, excerpt

“Johnny Mac” by Stillhouse Junkies at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23

“Whiskey Prison” by Stillhouse Junkies at Albino Skunk Festival 10-06-23

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at the Albino Skunk Music Festival; many of the great people at Albino Skunk made this episode possible, and you can listen to more episodes on this series on artists who played there, like Shinyribs, Darrell Scott, Miko Marks and Eilen Jewell. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories is currently ranked #13 in Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and moved up to a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Diversifying and Exporting Bluegrass With Dark Shadow Recording’s Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright

It was day five of the IBMAs and I had been up until four that morning, but Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright might have even seen the sun come up that day after they hosted yet another late night music showcase. Technically their showcases shut down around two or three in the morning, but there was always the chance that artists such as Sierra Ferrell might show up and want to jam after folks like myself called it a night, like she did a couple nights before. Such was the atmosphere in Raleigh, NC for the marathon annual fall event — business conference by day, with shows and jam sessions all night. You can probably hear it in our voices that we lacked sleep, but our level of excitement about all of what we had seen and heard remained undiminished.

Stephen Mougin is probably best known for playing guitar in the Sam Bush Band (he is also a producer, engineer, music instructor and band coach), while Ben Wright is the banjo player and a founding member of Henhouse Prowlers (as well as the nonprofit organization Bluegrass Ambassadors); they are also partners in the music label, Dark Shadow Recording. Our conversation touches on the business of bluegrass as well as its culture and history, their insights on the future of the genre, and their work to spread awareness of that music worldwide. Included in this episode is music from the Henhouse Prowlers’ latest album Lead and Iron as well as Stephen Mougin’s solo album Ordinary Soul.

Henhouse Prowlers with producer Stephen Mougin at Dark Shadow Recording studio. (L-R: Jon Goldfine, Jake Howard, Chris Dollar, Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright.) Photo by Madison Thorn. 

Songs heard in this episode:

“Lead and Iron” by Henhouse Prowlers, from Lead and Iron

“New Beginnings” by Stephen Mougin, from Ordinary Soul, excerpt

“It’s Not What You Think” by Sam Bush, from Storyman

Thank you for visiting us and giving us a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs. Thanks also to the staff of IBMA for their help in making our interview possible.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

An Update, and Two Quick Takes With Tony Trischka and Travis Book

Here at Southern Songs and Stories, there is never a shortage of stories to draw from a seemingly bottomless well of music artists; we only scratch the surface of what we would love for you to hear on this series. But even with that, we have a parallel problem, a good problem if you will, of having a whole lot of material on hand waiting to make it into a podcast episode. I have been anticipating, waiting for the right time to publish episodes featuring a number of artists going back to fall 2023 (and I have to admit that the urge to scratch that itch is strong), and with this mini, hybrid episode, a little bit of that pressure will be released.

Beginning with our most recent interview first, we bring you an excerpt of the conversation with Tony Trischka, recorded in mid-January 2024, following his performance at the Remembering Earl concert to benefit the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC. Previewing his forthcoming full episode, Tony tells us here about how the public perception of the banjo has improved over the decades since he began playing the instrument, as well as his unique approach to playing it, and other players who push the envelope that he admires.

Tony Trischka’s new album Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs is one of the most innovative yet unlikely tribute albums in bluegrass music: it began with Tony receiving recordings of Earl Scruggs jamming at his Nashville home in scores of sessions which saw friends John Hartford and a slew of other greats picking and experimenting with traditional and original songs alike. Note for note, Tony meticulously recreated Earl’s banjo work on songs from these jam sessions and, with a full band, brought them to life in an impactful, new context.

Tony Trischka (photo: John Cohen)

After hearing some of Tony Trischka’s conversation, we preview our episode on Travis Book as he tells us about stepping out on his own for a decidedly rock and soul vibe on his first solo album, Love and Other Strange Emotions. And beyond that, we cannot wait to bring you interviews going back to IBMA week, with another legendary artist and banjo player Peter Wernick as well as both Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright, known first as musicians with the Sam Bush Band and Henhouse Prowlers, respectively, but also for their partnership in Dark Shadow Recording. Speaking of that music label, a band on their roster named Stillhouse Junkies played at last fall’s Albino Skunk Music Festival, where we had the chance to hear from all of its members in a lively late night conversation.

Travis Book looks to stage right in Infamous Stringdusters’ set at Carolina In The Fall in 2016

Songs heard in this episode:

“Brown’s Ferry Blues” by Tony Trischka, with Billy Strings, from Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs

“The Truth Is Out There” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions

Thank you for visiting us and giving us a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs. Thanks also to the staff at the Earl Scruggs Center and for their team that put together their Remembering Earl event for all their help in making our interview with Tony Trischka possible.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Gravy: King Biscuit Time

Delta blues found its voice and audience on the airwaves of KFFA’s King Biscuit Time, a daily broadcast out of Helena, Arkansas. Bluesmen like Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Lockwood Jr., who would go on to become legends, interspersed their own songs with advertising jingles. King Biscuit Time, which launched in 1941, gave unprecedented exposure to African American musicians while selling everyday grocery staples like flour and cornmeal. And it’s still on the air. Reporter-producer Betsy Shepherd travels to Helena to tell the story for Gravy.

Today, we’re sharing a special episode from Gravy, produced by our friends over at Southern Foodways Alliance and distributed by APT Podcast Studios. Gravy showcases a South that is constantly evolving, using food as a means to dig into lesser-known corners of the region, to complicate stereotypes, to document new dynamics, and to give voice to the unsung folk who grow, cook, and serve our daily meals.

Listen to more episodes of Gravy and follow the podcast here.

Finally, A Country That Welcomes Her: Rissi Palmer

Imagine getting your dream job and immediately being scrutinized for your appearance; being asked to wear a wig that was nothing like your natural hair; being quizzed on obscure bits of the history of your field; being asked whether you took the job as a stepping stone to another one. Imagine getting lots of hate mail about the fact that you look different than everyone else with that job. What about being stopped by security when they did not believe that you were really supposed to be in front of people at your own event? Would you stay in that job? I would not. And neither did Rissi Palmer, at least for a time. Fortunately, she came back in a few years, and she has a remarkable tale to tell, which is reflected in her latest album, Revival.

Palmer tells us about that comeback, which began in earnest with the 2020 debut of her Apple Music series Color Me Country Radio With Rissi Palmer; the love she has for her adopted hometown of Durham, NC; hints of what is to come in her next album, and much more in this episode which features excerpts of her music both live and on album.

Rissi Palmer performs at Earl Scruggs Music Festival 09-03-23 (photo: Joe Kendrick)

Songs heard in this episode:

“Seeds” by Rissi Palmer, from Revival

“I’m Still Here” by Rissi Palmer feat. Miko Marks, excerpt

“Summerville” by Rissi Palmer, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 05-12-23

“Speak On It” by Rissi Palmer, from Revival

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Is Making A Year-End Top 10 List Relevant Anymore?

It is that time of year when the pundits and hoi polloi alike sharpen their pencils to whittle down the previous twelve months’ worth of music into crisp, definitive lists of favorites. The intensity of this navel-gazing exercise varies widely, but the imperative remains the same: one must make a top 10 and publish it, preferably with a lot of pomp and fuss.

For someone like myself, a public radio program director, music blogger and podcaster, it is part of my job, so misgivings notwithstanding, you are going to see my top 10 albums of 2023 here. It is a good list. Maybe not what you would pick, but a solid group of great albums which are deservedly celebrated by music aficionados and casual fans alike. But what the list contains is not my focus here; what the list itself represents, and its context are what gives me most pause. There is an accelerating irony at play here, where every favorites list adds to the declining returns of their overall impact, where these tidy summations of a year’s worth of music are a tool that answers the problem of having too much good music for any one person to take in by nailing it all down into a format that presumes we could actually listen to it all.

The amount of music produced now is astounding: there are something like 11,000 songs released daily. For music lovers, that has to be a great thing, right? Well, yes and no. There are a lot of great songs in that 11,000, sure. But even if it were humanly possible to listen to all of them, who would spend all their time that way? And with this much music at our fingertips, how does that affect our listening, and how we value songs and albums? Music is a medium that is more like wallpaper then ever, with each song and album blurring into the background of our near constant consumption of curated playlists and social media reels. There never really was a time when we shared the same well of music to draw from, but our exposure to music was at least far more uniform — back in the day, you might not have cared for Prince, but you could likely hum one of his tunes. Today, you know who Taylor Swift is, but you can avoid her melodies easily enough because there is so much more to choose from on so many more platforms than there were when Prince’s music was inescapable.

We are all more like the blind men from the parable about the elephant than ever before, feeling around the massive musical beast and concluding that what we found in each part of what we explored was its sum total. Every top ten list, every year-end favorites collection springs from this myopia and lands with what is supposed to be a sharply focused picture of at least a large swath of the musical world. This is no great revelation, granted, but the fact that you already knew this on some level does not help you come to terms with a yearly landslide of lists, each of which invariably, probably immediately make you realize just how much you missed. Each of which serves to show you just how few experiences in common you have with your fellow music lovers with every unfamiliar name you read, with every pick that did not make it onto your own list.

That is the heart of it all — those common experiences with music. In our quest to boil down the year’s offerings into a favorites list, we are all abstracting a big chunk of what it means to be alive, and implicitly, hoping that others affirm that experience as well. With much less common ground but far more ground we could cover, we find ourselves sending out our messages in a bottle only to then find the shore piled with bottles containing messages that reflect a world we never knew. In an exercise that works to make sense of the musical universe, to connect with fellow music lovers, and hopefully receive some affirmation of our lived experience, we are more and more looking at a jigsaw puzzle that is impossible to solve, but are still trying to solve it the same way that we did when it had about a million fewer pieces.

This may seem cynical or pessimistic, but truly, I do believe that making a favorites list is still a worthy endeavor. Many of these lists with their unfamiliar artists are a great way to discover compelling new music. I hope you may find something here that inspires you to discover what made me feel most alive in 2023. Would that I could have fallen in love with many more that might have made it onto this list, but then again, that is a good problem to have.

1. Pony Bradshaw – North Georgia Rounder

2. Mapache – Swinging Stars

3. Mighty Poplar – Mighty Poplar

4. Viv & Riley – Imaginary People

5. Wednesday – Rat Saw God

6. Nick Shoulders – All Bad

7. Miss Grit – Follow The Cyborg

8. Get Right Band – iTopia

9. Bella White – Among Other Things

10. Justin & the Cosmics – Cool Dead

This is not the first time I have written about year-end favorites and the phenomenon of choosing them. Here is an article I wrote in December of 2010, with a focus on the psychology and rationales of list making. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

During my preparation for a conversation with NPR's Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton about the year in music, and in sorting through all the hundreds of fantastic records in contention, I thought about the whole process of year-end lists and the personalities of those who make them.

There's the erudite list, with artists you've never heard of. The makers of these lists are the holier/obscurer-than-thou stereotype. Anything celebrated by people outside their niche, especially including their past favorite artists that went on to become popular outside those circles, may be pointed out for ridicule.

The inverse of the erudite list is the reverse psychology list, wherein an uber-hipster picks a massive hit or hits in posturing that they are truly self-actualized. "You've got Horse Feathers as number one?! Obviously you just won't admit to the genius of Jack Johnson."

There's the dilettante list, with flavors of the month and ubiquitous hits. The makers of these lists often go by name recognition and may make them after consulting with their hip friends first, and may or may not have actually listened to the albums in question.

Closely related to the dilettante list is the idolater's list, with records from all-time favorite artists. These lists will gladly inhale any bathtub farts, tout covers records as far better than the originals, and if necessary, sift down to collaborations and guest appearances.

The stepchild of the idolater's list is the campaigner's list. This is created by an artist's band mates, girlfriends, relatives and friends in an effort to gain attention that they never got in the form of actual airplay. It often involves alliances with other artists and bands to vote for each others demos and EPs as many times as humanly possible. The aural results of these year-end favorites can resemble a pot luck dinner with everyone bringing, say, casseroles or desserts.

In the same vein of the campaigner's list but from a smaller segment of the music business is the you-scratch-my-back list. Writers, publicists and broadcasters are the usual authors of these paeans to the hands that fed them, with the (usually) conscious decision to keep their supply chain of clientele, favors and access well-greased. 

There's the bonus list and the short list, with either more than 10 albums in a top-10 album format, or fewer than 10 (because this year's crop wasn't up to snuff, ya know).

Don't forget Pazz and Jop lists, weighting the picks. In this list, you divvy up 100 points amongst the ten albums according to how good they were.

Also there is the agonized list, with untold numbers of drafts leading up to a year-end favorites list that has been second, third, and fourth guessed.

A cousin of the agonized list is the desperation list, which is often a last-minute exercise in navel gazing that can lead to picking Wolf People when you really liked Wolf & Cub instead but got confused, or dismissing Black Angels because Black Mountain is already a lock and you just can't have too much of the same sounding bands in your list. 

There's the atheist or nihilist list, which will be a protest vote of no favorites or something like all reissues from the time period when the list maker still felt alive.

Does anyone make a bottom 10 list? That's what I would like to see.

Cross Fading All Over the Place With Nora Jane Struthers and Joe Overton

 It is easy to think of musical genres as enduring, definitive territories that are discovered as much as they are created. But even continents drift, and when you dig deep into the careers of artists who are said to be from musical land X,Y or Z, you find that they often do not stay in one place for long, and are likely to be pushing their home territories in new directions. Nora Jane Struthers and Joe Overton are such artists, having come from the land of old-time and all things grass, but who are now several steps removed from being thought of as residents of only those two domains.

Despite bearing a title that might seem to point back to the old world, Nora Jane Struthers’ latest collection Back To Cast Iron finds the Nashville-based artist striding confidently into more electric, rock and roll type territory. In this episode, she addresses this evolution in her sound; she describes having gone from telling other women’s stories to telling her own; husband and bandmate Joe Overton talks about his love of rock bands like Wednesday and Slow Pulp; we hear how both Nora and Joe balance work and life now that they have two children, and much more. Recorded in October 2023 at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, SC, this episode also features music from their set.

Nora Jane Struthers

Nora Jane Struthers with Joe Overton (right, on pedal steel guitar) and band at their Albino Skunk Music Festival performance 10/06/23

Songs heard in this episode:

“Grass” by Nora Jane Struthers, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23

“Barn Dance” by Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line, from Carnival, excerpt

“Bottom of the Glass” by Vivian Leva, from Time Is Everything, excerpt

“Imaginary People” by Viv & Riley, from Imaginary People, excerpt

“Cornbread and Butterbeans” by Carolina Chocolate Drops, from Genuine Negro Jig, excerpt

“Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad” by Rhiannon Giddens, from You’re The One, excerpt

“Can’t Wait To Get Back on the Road” by Nora Jane Struthers, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23, excerpt

“I Can Hear The Birds” by Nora Jane Struthers, performed live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at the Albino Skunk Music Festival; many of the great people at Albino Skunk made this episode possible, and you can listen to more episodes on this series on artists who played there, like Shinyribs, Darrell Scott, Miko Marks and Eilen Jewell. We also have an interview with the band Stillhouse Junkies from last fall’s Albino Skunk Fest coming up, as well as conversations with Pete Wernick among others from this fall’s IBMA conference, and Travis Book of the band Infamous Stringdusters, who has a new solo record out.. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories was recently ranked in the top 20 Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and remains a top 5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

The Broadside: What It Takes To Make Music in Prison

At Southern Songs and Stories, we have become fans of the WUNC - North Carolina Public Radio podcast The Broadside, and here we collaborate to give you a special presentation of one their recent episodes. The Broadside explores news, history, and pop culture stories rooted in the American South. Plus, the show was recently named “New & Noteworthy” by NPR! 

In today’s episode of The Broadside, co-host and producer Charlie Shelton-Ormond looks at the influential, exploitative and evolving world of music in Southern prisons. You’ll hear from a historian and incarcerated musicians, one of which is rapper Deon Thomas. As a person incarcerated in the state of Virginia, Deon doesn’t have access to a recording studio. Instead, he’s part of a small group of artists who record songs through phone calls and distribute them through a prison-only digital music service. It's a modern twist on a long and complicated tradition.

Legacy Media, Legacy Artists and Bluegrass’ Big Pivot With No Depression’s Stacy Chandler at IBMA

When was the last time you picked up a book or a magazine instead of going to your smart phone or computer to read about music? I admit that, like so many of us these days, my first instinct is to scroll through social media or look at websites. The rise of digital media along with the ubiquity of smart phones has been nothing short of dramatic; the subsequent decline of print and other physical media is also impossible to ignore. Roots music journal No Depression, like so many others, went out of print in the midst of that sea change, although it continued online. Eventually it would reemerge, however, with new ownership and a new format as a quarterly publication, while offering a website covering music news as well as articles, columns and reviews. In an era where the expense of printing a magazine is more and more impossible to recoup, No Depression has managed to do just that. It remains as one of only a handful of music publications, and that is remarkable by itself. This is just part of our story here, though, as we welcome Assistant Editor and nodepression.com director Stacy Chandler to this episode of Southern Songs and Stories.

Stacy spoke with me at the end of September, 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina during the International Bluegrass Music Association’s yearly event. Comprised of a wide ranging music industry conference as well as a music festival, the IBMAs, as it is often called, feature music panels geared towards music artists and professionals, showcase events where attendees can get introduced to new artists, and even Tai Chi classes courtesy of Jim Lauderdale. I was not up at 8 a.m. to take Jim’s classes, but I did take in as much as I could in the whirlwind week of all things bluegrass, including this conversation with Stacy Chandler as well as bluegrass legend Pete Wernick, and both Steve Mougin and Ben Wright, who will be featured in upcoming episodes here.

Stacy Chandler of No Depression interviewed at the IBMA conference 09-30-23

In this episode, we touch on the history of No Depression as well as some of the artists and articles in its current issue, plus we share takeaways from this year’s IBMAs while we examine the bigger picture of bluegrass music in 2023. It is a far ranging conversation which focuses on one of the biggest weeks of the year for the genre, the ways bluegrass has changed over the decades, as well as the parallel story of print journalism in the age of smart phones.

Songs heard in this episode:

“No Depression In Heaven” by The Carter Family

“Thirsty” by Mipso, from Book Of Fools, excerpt

“Slipknot > Casey Jones” by The Waybacks & Friends, from One Way Or Another, excerpt

“Listen To The Radio” by Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle, from More Than A Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at the International Bluegrass Music Association for making this episode possible, and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Peering Into Darkness While Dancing In the Light with Kev Russell of Shinyribs

Shinyribs is an Austin Texas band that began in 2007 as a side project for Kevin Russell, who also goes by Kev, and was then still committed to The Gourds, the band he had co-founded fifteen years earlier. A few years later, The Gourds released their last album, and Kev sauntered over to Shinyribs full time. Known for his showmanship on stage and for a big band approach to both the concept and performances of his music, and drawing from a smorgasbord of funky roots-rock, big band swing, Tex-Mex, screaming soul and burlesque blues, while pumping out infectious rhythms and topping it all with hooky harmony, Shinyribs is a party waiting to happen. At least that is what it sounds like on first listen, and looks like at first glance.

Shinyribs is a shindig, and a large one at that, but it is also a vehicle for Kev’s unique brand of poetry, which can point to deeper, darker issues at times, especially on his latest album Transit Damage. I spoke with Kev in early October 2023 on a crisp, clear autumn afternoon in the rolling foothills of the Upstate of South Carolina countryside before Shinyribs’ performance as a headliner at The Albino Skunk Music Festival, where we talked about the secret sauce that went into his new album, about making good records in the studio and being equally good live, how starting Shinyribs felt like a hail mary to him at first, plus we discuss James Brown and an Albino Skunk Fest memory which parallels one of The Godfather of Soul’s signature parts of his shows. There is a lot more, including live music from Shinyribs’ performance from that night, all simply waiting for you to press play.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Simply Belong To You” by Shinyribs, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23

“Song of Lime Juice and Despair” by Shinyribs, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23, excerpt

“Dark Cloud” by Shinyribs, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23, excerpt

“Poor People’s Store” by Shinyribs, recorded live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23, excerpt

“If Love Is Earned” by Shinyribs, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10-06-23

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at the Albino Skunk Music Festival as well as John Gillespie for sharing some of his great photos of the Shinyribs show — many of the great people at Albino Skunk made this episode possible, and you can listen to more episodes on this series on artists who played there, like Miko Marks, Darrell Scott, and Eilen Jewell. We also have interviews with Nora Jane Struthers and the band Stillhouse Junkies from this fall’s Skunkfest coming up, as well as conversations with Pete Wernick among others from this fall’s IBMA conference. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories was recently ranked in the top 20 Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, which is worth a look.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Science Fiction Themes in Music on What It Is with Jeff Eason, Fred Mills and Carol Rifkin

Credit Halloween coming up for this.

You probably know that this podcast has a direct tie to public radio station WNCW — it is produced in studio there where I am program director — but its origin can be traced all the way back to the 2006 Podcaster Con in Chapel Hill, NC, where I witnessed an event reflecting and directing the medium at its inception point, and gathered ideas for my own eventual foray into long form audio. The idea that first came to life was the music talk show What It Is, which aired weekday mornings on WNCW beginning in September 2007 and running until April 2012. Starting with music writers/editors Jeff Eason and Fred Mills, we added writer, musician and WNCW old-time music host Carol Rifkin to the music roundtable before bringing in many more voices over the series’ nearly five year run. In 2009 I began my first blog site for What It Is and started podcasting in earnest — you can reference those archives here.

On What It Is, we had wide latitude and an almost infinite supply of material to work with — after all, most everyone on the show (and especially the late Jeff Eason, Fred Mills and Carol Rifkin) was a music nerd of the highest order, and could talk about their love of it for hours if you let them. One of the themes we explored more than once was science fiction themes in music, first in May 2009 and then again that July. Carol Rifkin was along for the first conversation, which was longer than when Jeff, Fred and I revisited the topic that summer.

Almost fifteen years later, I am digging around for ideas to round out my Halloween themed radio show, and thought back to my days producing What It Is, wondering if we made any episodes touching on the holiday. While we did not make an explicitly Halloween-centered episode, we got a good bit of the way there with these conversations which will give you plenty of ideas for a space-age playlist as we travel back in time for this special holiday podcast of Southern Songs and Stories.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Forbidden Planet” film score opening theme, by Bebe and Louis Barron

“Creature With The Atom Brain” by Roky Erikson, excerpt

“Rock Steady” by Aretha Franklin, excerpt

“The X Files” by Mark Snow

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW.

Southern Songs and Stories was recently ranked in the top 20 Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, which is worth a look.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Family Ties and Roots Music Foundations: Jonathan Wilson and Bella White

For Jonathan Wilson and Bella White, family figures prominently not only in their lives behind the scenes, but also in the musical paths both chose early on. It should come as no surprise that as a boy in rural North Carolina, celebrated producer and artist Jonathan Wilson played in a family band of sorts (he would fill in for various band members in his father’s band at their practices), or that rising star Bella White’s father played in old time and bluegrass bands in Calgary, Canada when she was growing up. What may seem much more novel is that the common thread between their two experiences, separated by decades of time and thousands of miles, is also roots music like country and bluegrass. 

For Bella White, roots music like bluegrass is easily identifiable in her sound; for Jonathan Wilson that foundation is not nearly as obvious. But as you will hear in our conversations, their love of music began with their shared background in acoustic roots music in places far beyond the limelight of Nashville or Los Angeles, where their paths eventually led. Bella White brought on Jonathan Wilson to produce her second and latest album Among Other Things, while Jonathan’s latest album Eat The Worm takes off into decidedly psychedelic territory. 

I caught up with Bella White after her debut performance at MerleFest last spring, which followed her debut on the Grand Ole Opry, while Jonathan Wilson spoke with me recently by video call from his studio in Topanga Canyon, California. This episode features music from both artists as well as their conversations which touch on everything from Jonathan’s wife using AI in creating his latest music videos to Bella White’s intentional honesty and vulnerability in her songwriting, and much more. 

Songs heard in this episode:

“The Way I Oughta Go” by Bella White, from Among Other Things

“Charlie Parker” by Jonathan Wilson, from Eat the Worm, excerpt

“Break My Heart” by Bella White, from Among Other Things, excerpt

“The Village Is Dead” by Jonathan Wilson, from Eat the Worm, excerpt

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes 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. A big thank you to Ayappa Biddanda at Concord, Jonathan Wilson’s manager Peter Sasala and father Al Wilson for their help in setting up interviews for this episode.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Questions From the Hat at The Earl Scruggs Music Festival With Michael Daves, David Lamotte, Josh Carter and Dean Jenks

Over the four days of the 2023 Earl Scruggs Music Festival, held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center over Labor Day weekend, I was alternately emceeing performances, working with WNCW staff, taking in as much music as possible and talking with artists when I had the chance.

Here, I spoke with Michael Daves, the renowned guitarist who has played with folks like Chris Thile, Steve Martin, Aoife O'Donovan, Rosanne Cash and Tony Trischka, in addition to his own recordings; songwriter, author and speaker David Lamotte, who performed with the Fine Tuned showcase; Josh Carter of the old-time renaissance band Pretty Little Goat as well as Dean Jenks, who played extensively with Earl Scruggs’ brother Horace. Each pulled questions from a hat, which resulted in animated conversations that found myself and each artist wandering into a kind of zone of roots music serendipity each time they would dig out one of the twenty questions.

Photo credits: Cora Wagoner (Michael Daves, David Lamotte); Eli Johnson (Pretty Little Goat); Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Flint Hill Special” by Flatt & Scruggs

“If I Should Wander Back Tonight” by Chris Thile and Michael Daves, from Sleep With One Eye Open, excerpt

“Heavy Traffic Ahead” by Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys, excerpt

“Rock Salt & Nails” by J.D. Crowe and the New South, excerpt

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes 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. A big thank you to everyone at the The Earl Scruggs Music Festival, The Earl Scruggs Center, Tryon International Equestrian Center and WNCW for their roles in making this episode possible.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Playing Through Pain With Cristina Vane

Sometimes people have a determination and intensity that is not obvious at first. In our conversation after her performance last August at the Reeves Theater in Elkin, NC, Cristina Vane said, “I'm not gonna wait for something, some miracle to happen, right? So I have to get out there and like, just do it. Nike sign style, you know, just do it. And so that's what I I've always done is just get in my car and do it.” She said it without reference to her show, an intense enough environment on a good night, let alone a night where she stood atop a very recent gash on her foot. In Cristina’s case, the cut would have to take a back seat to this tour and this night’s performance, and be relegated to remain there for a half hour more while we spoke. Intensity, indeed.

Hers was not the only example of an artist playing through pain there at the Reevestock Music Festival.  Saturday’s headliner was Darrell Scott’s Electric Trio, and just days ahead of their performance, drummer Jeff Sipe had undergone hand surgery; he played with a large bandage nonetheless. Both bands put on fantastic shows as it turned out, with the backdrop of injury only adding charge to the atmosphere. Cristina played her set mostly standing, but did sit while playing some of her songs, which included music from her second and latest album, Make Myself Me Again. She played plenty of new music as well, which is coming sometime in the future on album number three. Afterwards, we enjoyed a lively conversation touching on everything from the apparent irony of how she fell in love with American blues music at a pub in England; how growing up in Europe affected her perceptions of both her American and Guatemalan identity before coming to live in the U.S. and then falling in love with the American West; how she has rewritten her own priorities while still staying true to her purpose in life; her obsession with Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson, and much more.

Cristina Vane poses for a photo before her performance at the Reeves Theater in Elkin, NC 08-04-23

Thank you so much for dropping by and giving this podcast a listen. This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes 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. And big thanks to everyone at the Reevestock Music Festival for having me emcee the event, which gave me this opportunity. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

What's It Worth To Sing This Song: Ed Snodderly

Ed Snodderly is a renaissance man -- he is a prolific songwriter with a who’s who of artists performing his compositions; his lyrics to the song "The Diamond Stream" are featured in Nashville’s Country Music Hall Of Fame; he is half of the duo The Brother Boys with musical partner Eugene Wolf going back to their inception in the late 1980s, and this year he gave us his tenth solo album, Chimney Smoke. Ed also teaches songwriting at East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music program; we bring in commentary from one of many notable program graduates, Amythyst Kiah, to this episode as well.

We talk about the title song specifically, as well as what makes this collection, as Ed Snodderly’s press release says, a “quintessential Southern album”. In our conversation via video call, we also take on the meaning of Americana, what artists get from studying music from previous decades and centuries, how he sees the live music business in the age of COVID-19, and much more, including music from Ed’s new album.

Ed Snodderly

Songs heard in this episode:

“Chimney Smoke” by Ed Snodderly, from Chimney Smoke

“Just Like You River” by Ed Snodderly, from Chimney Smoke, excerpt

“Better Just Ride The Mule” by Ed Snodderly, from Chimney Smoke, excerpt

“Crow’s Fever” by Ed Snodderly, from Chimney Smoke

We appreciate it so much when you tell someone about this series, and it is easy to follow us on your podcast platform of choice, where it will only take a minute to give us a good rating, and where it is an option, a review. When you do that, it makes this series go up in the rankings, which means that more people just like you will find it, and more people will get turned on to the artists and endeavors we profile. This series is a part of the 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

Going Home to Where Dreams Come True: Miko Marks

As Carl Sandburg said in his poem “Washington Monument by Night”, "Nothing happens unless first we dream." In the case of Miko Marks, her music career took off only after she had a literal dream, where she reunited with her old producer in a jam session. Prior to that, her dream of making it as a country music artist had long laid fallow, having been put to rest for more than a decade. Even without the backdrop of dashed hopes, dropping out and eventually, sweet redemption, Miko Marks’ story is a remarkable one. Her music is central to this resurgence, with three strong albums to her credit in the past two years, including her 2022 country soul collection Feel Like Going Home. That album especially set in motion a wave of accolades and media coverage, and set the stage for her to tour all over the US, including an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, and Merlefest, where she also sang with Little Feat, whom she had toured with as well.  

I caught up with Miko Marks recently at her return engagement at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in May 2023. We spoke before her set, and talked about the connections between country music, gospel and soul, her unique comeback story, and what changes in the music business she believes would help artists like herself, who have historically been on the outside looking in.

Miko Marks performing at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, SC 05/12/23

Songs heard in this episode:

“One More Night” by Miko Marks, performed live at Albino Skunk Music Festival, 05/12/23

“Hard Times“ by Miko Mark, performed live at Albino Skunk, 05/12/23

“Long Journey Home” by Miko Marks, live at the Albino Skunk Festival, 05/12/23, excerpt

“Feel Like Going Home” by Miko Marks, live at Albino Skunk Fest 05/12/23

Thank you so much for dropping by and giving this episode a listen. Was this the first podcast from an artist performing at the Albino Skunk Music Festival that you have heard on this series? I bet you would enjoy recent episodes on Eilen Jewell and Jake Xerxes Fussell, who also performed at the festival last spring. This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes 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. And big thanks to everyone at the Albino Skunk Music Festival for their incredible hospitality. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick