Folk artist Abe Partridge, spurred by the Covid lockdowns, pursued Signs Following songs for six long years. 

These songs (which mention the handling of serpents and consumption of deadly poisons) have been performed for decades by the "serpent handlers" of the Appalachians.

At a music festival in Kentucky, Abe Partridge – along with podcasting buddy Ferrill Gibbs – attempted to document these songs live, using a professional recording engineer. (Ryan Engelberger, Chase Park Transduction. Athens, GA.)

The service opened with Sister Dootsie Rose. Then, a five-member band – led by co-pastors Andrew and Taylor Hamblin – took the stage. 

This serpent-handling group of veteran musicians performed decades-old songs before an audience of more than 200 festival goers.

What began as an effort to record undocumented music became something ... more. A public act of worship, captured pristinely by a group of professionals, gave the secular audience a small glimpse of a faith as devout as they come.

To hear how it began, check out Alabama Astronaut – the original podcast following Abe into the world of the serpent-handlers.

Abe, invited by an unnamed church group, ascends Fonde Mountain in Kentucky to search for snakes used for church services.

Overlooking his old home in Middlesboro from those high places there is an epiphany: The prophesy Cody Coots gave him the first day they met, finally came to pass. 

"God told me to tell you, you're gonna find the answers you're searching for..."

Abe – from the road, in Wisconsin – gives an update about concluding the first season of A.A.R.T. and where things go from here.

Also, a Summerford contacts the show, updating Abe and Ferrill about what happened to her grandfather. Now, Abe and Ferrill pledge to resolve the cliffhanger remaining at the end of Alabama Astronaut.

Abe recounts three precious objects he found along his way, while touring the American South.

These were needles in haystacks, but treasures in Abe's life: An old Methodist hymnal, a VHS tape, and an extremely rare record.

They cost him $3.

In today's Transmission, Abe argues art is not just something a discerning eye beholds, but can usher a transformation in one's very life.

To see the Son House video referenced today, go to the Masters of the Country Blues on YouTube...

Abe continues his search for hidden artists in the hills of Appalachia.

Today, in the same stretch of mountains his beloved friends Jimmy and Pam Morrow lived, he locates a kind man with a house filled to the top with "outsider" art.

This artist (named Ralph Vaughn) informs Abe God ordained his search, and that is who provided the inevitable meeting.  

Abe spends the day recording Ralph, until he sings Abe a song about a "going in the Mulberry tree ..."

Cassy Coots sent Abe Partridge a viral video of a woman singing and playing in an empty church house. The song was called "King Jesus."

How she played and sang, Abe just had to meet her – and, if she would allow, he'd attempt to record her, too.

It was Dootsie Rose, a singer and songwriter from McKee, Kentucky.

Abe has made a vinyl record of the magical day he spent with Ms. Dootsie. The album releases at Bro. Abe's Sunday Service, at the Laurel Cove Music Festival.

This Transmission features the sweetest moments the session with Dootsie Rose.

Special thanks to Jeb Kicker, Brent Busby, and all the Alabama Astronauts who made this week's episode particularly beautiful, to us.

Abe plays Chiefs on Broadway (Nashville) and encounters a rising songwriter named Jake Worthington. They trade songs back and forth.

Abe sees "the classic country style" in him –  Abe draws connections from the roots of country to the here and now, as he sees it.

At David Childer's house – recording a new Satan You're A Liars record – Abe breaks down why an upcoming show at the Laurel Cove Music Festival is a series of firsts: The Free Pentecostal House of Prayer are to play for a secular audience, and record an album in the process.

Mentions today: Jake Worthington's Big Time Lonesome.

Laurel Cove Music Festival (Bro. Abe's Sunday Service): Facebook Page

Abe and Ferrill are glad you are listening along!

New to the mountains, Abe falls in love with Appalachia. 

In the college dorm one night, he hears another student picking a banjo. Abe purchases an $80 Korean banjo (complete with an Earl Scruggs instructional cassette) to begin the daunting task of learning how to play.

With a few basics down, Abe begins a search for "his people" – musicians who play in jam circles. As he tells it, these circles are far better than live shows. 

In live shows, the audience's desires are paramount. But in bluegrass circles, so far away from the mainstream, the musicians play for each other, soloing to impress their friends with new, innovative licks, progressions and tempos. And – Abe is absolutely welcome, and feels at home.

Today's Transmission: Abe details how he first got into field recordings, old gospel and bluegrass music. Caught with a punk rock cassette at a Fundamental Baptist college he attended, this administration decided it would be best if Abe did not return. 

So ... he didn't.

At his final Bible college stop, Abe finally "bought in." He eventually became a preacher. But even in his senior year, he found a loophole in what was acceptable to the administration. Gospel songs were available on the Smithsonian Folkways catalogue – and they had real heart. 

Today's episode features "The Camel Song" by songwriter Steve Judice. Also, an accordion presentation by son of Abe Partridge, Evan.

Abe Partridge promised "A Document" back in 2020 – when he first sat down with buddy Ferrill Gibbs to document the beginning of his quest.

Today, we are closer than ever to a completed work. Abe's compilation of singers and instrumentalists belting out the songs of Mark 16 will soon be available to the world.

Abe's "Document" aims to be the most sonically representative work of the serpent-handling faith ever presented.

Today, Abe describes exactly why this is special, and how it has never been done; also why it is (at least as far as Abe is concerned) sacred music. He shares intimate field recorder footage of a time spent with the people of this Faith, and the solid relationships that instantly followed.

Today's advertiser: follow for dates and tickets The Sunday Songwriter Series @ the Spirit Room, Mansfield, OH (and on Instagram)