The 19th century Swedish philosopher and poet Henri Frederic Amiel wrote one of the most eloquent observations about music, saying “Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven.” If Amiel is right, and I have a feeling he is, then pairing Andrea Zonn and John Cowan in a setting where they can sing some of their favorite songs both old and new, is bound to take you at least a good part of the way to heaven. With their debut collaboration, the album Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons, the Nashville legends make the harmony part sound effortless, and with a cast of all stars behind them, have set their sights skyward.

John Cowan and Andrea Zonn already had a harmonious relationship and had worked together in the decades leading up to now, but it was a quirk of having some more studio time together during the pandemic that set the stage for their first full length collaboration as band leaders. Here, Andrea and John detail that story behind their collaboration, as well as stories of their heroes like Leon Russell and Bill Monroe, and contemporaries like Tom Britt,  their perspective on their own musical legacies, tales of their time in the shangri-la of western North Carolina’s musical past, Green Acres Music Hall, and more, including music excerpts of songs from their new album.

Andrea Zonn and John Cowan performing live

Songs heard in this episode:

“Face Of Appalachia“ by The HercuLeons, from Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons

“Straight Up” by The HercuLeons, from Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons, excerpt

“Resurrection Road” by The HercuLeons, from Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons, excerpt

“Barbed Wire Boys” by The HercuLeons, from Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons, excerpt

“Long Way From Home” by The HercuLeons, from Andrea Zonn & John Cowan Are The HercuLeons

Noteworthy but not mentioned in our interview is John Cowan’s recent book Hold To A Dream: A Newgrass Odyssey, which features a foreword by HercuLeons’ producer Wendy Waldman, and is built on a series of John’s interviews with heroes like Kris Kristofferson, Rodney Crowell and Loretta Lynn as well as contemporaries like John Carter Cash.

Thanks for being here! We hope you can help spread awareness of what we are doing. It is as easy as telling a friend and following this podcast on your platform of choice. You can find us on Apple here, Spotify here and YouTube here — hundreds more episodes await, filled with artists you may know by name, or musicians and bands that are ready to become your next favorites.

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 Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on 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