Looking Back On The Year, Through The Decade & To The Roots Of Southern Songs And Stories

It is the end of the year and the end of the decade, which is the perfect opportunity to talk about the recent history of Southern Songs and Stories, and to give context to the show itself by going back to its beginnings in the year 2006.  

In 2006, the seeds for Southern Songs And Stories were planted with the concept for the talk feature What It Is on WNCW. The weekday round table of music journalists, artists and professionals debuted in 2007 and ran until 2012.

The stories uncovered on these podcasts just this year are too many to mention here, but how about tidbits like Mac Arnold working as a producer on Soul Train back in the day? Or that Marcus King’s grandfather Bill King was a member of the Country Gentlemen? Elizabeth Cook didn’t even want to be a musician although her family had a band when she was growing up. No, she wanted to be in business, so she majored in accounting and computer information systems. Luckily for us, she hated that job.

Joe Kendrick and Elizabeth Cook at MerleFest 2019

The Ruen Brothers perform at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in April 2019. Although they are from England, their music is inspired directly by Southern pioneers of rock, blues and country. Plus, they were too good to pass up when the opportunity arose to interview and feature them here. Here’s to breaking some more unwritten rules in 2020. Photo: John Gillespie

Southern Songs and Stories is produced in partnership with public radio station WNCW and the Osiris podcast network, and is available on podcast platforms everywhere. Would you help spread awareness of the artists featured here on Southern Songs and Stories, their music, and this series? Simply subscribe to the podcast and give it a good rating and a comment where you get your podcasts. For example, you can find us on Apple/iTunes here, on Stitcher here, and Spotify here. Our theme songs are by Joshua Meng, with a link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. Thanks for listening, and Happy New Year! - Joe Kendrick

Getting Ruened With Henry And Rupert Stansall Of The Ruen Brothers

It all began with the desire to give a platform to all the great off-the-cuff conversations about music heard in the hallways at WNCW. A dozen years ago, as then morning music host, I started the feature What It Is, with journalists, artists and other music professionals taking on a wide array of topics ranging from album and concert reviews to debates on overrated icons, and everything in between. My love of producing multimedia projects rooted in music conversation continued with other independent projects that followed What It Is, and now that comes full circle, with Southern Songs and Stories becoming a part of the WNCW lineup, while remaining a proud member of the Osiris podcast network and Bluegrass Planet Radio. 

The Ruen Brothers perform at the Albino Skunk Music Festival. Photo: John Gillespie

This episode takes a detour from the very South-centric array of artists and history heard previously on the series with a show on The Ruen Brothers, from England. Their music is inspired by a lot of pioneering Southern artists, however: The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Muddy Waters and Johnny Cash, among others, are all acknowledged as being key to their sound. 

I caught up with Henry and Rupert at the spring Albino Skunk Music Festival in Greer, SC. They talk about similarities between the rural area where they grew up and the rolling hill country of Upstate South Carolina, how people often forget that rock and blues greats from the mid 20th century had an air of danger about them, and how the Americana scene is booming in England; woven into these conversations are many live songs from their performance. - Joe Kendrick