Alabama Astronaut

Ex-preacher and musician Abe Partridge went on a journey to discover songs never recorded, but passed down for generations in Appalachia. He discovered the largest repository of undocumented music were in Pentecostal churches where preachers employed the controversial practice of handling snakes. But once getting over the customs of their unconventional worship, Partridge developed a true appreciation for the people, their beliefs, and their music. He’d eventually convince a snake-handling preacher/musician and his wife to record the songs of their faith.

In the podcast “Alabama Astronaut,” host Ferrill Gibbs relays Partridge’s odyssey through an often ridiculed subculture and his hunt for the folk art long hidden. It focuses less on the spectacle of handling snakes and drinking poison and more on how it informs their little-known musical expressions.