American Songcatcher

Today on the program, I'm pleased to bring you a very special episode through American Songcatcher, sharing a wonderful podcast called Basic Folk in our feed. Now some of you may already be aware of these in-depth, honest interviews with host Cindy Howes, but I feel like the rest of you should get on board!

Sure, there are many conversational podcasts out there, but Basic Folk sets itself apart with honest and complex conversations about the human experience witnessed from an artistic angle. Cindy's questions are not only well-researched and carefully crafted, but the artists featured are among the most revered in the American roots music scene today, some of which have been covered or will be covered by this podcast, including Amethyst Kiah, Oliver Wood, Tom Rush, Alison Russell and several others.

One of Cindy and I's favorite musicians, Chris Thile, stopped by Basic Folk several months back, and it seemed apropos to share their conversation since he was covered in Episode 1 of Season 2. Be sure to subscribe to Basic Folk wherever you get your podcasts!

We'll be back with Episode 5 in two weeks!

BF Links:

Spotify

Apple Music

Official Site

Instagram

Facebook

About Basic Folk:

Basic Folk is a podcast with honest conversations between musicians and Cindy Howes, a well-versed public radio host and music curator, and guest host Lizzie No, a talented singer/songwriter. Basic Folk approaches interviews with warmth, humor and insightful questions. This podcast fosters the folk community and showcases a genre that is often misunderstood. Basic Folk features complex conversations about the human experience witnessed from an artistic angle. Our definition of "folk" is extremely broad, so you'll hear interviews from Amythyst Kiah, Tom Rush, The Lumineers and many more.

Basic Folk is dedicated to showcasing the best in folk and roots musicians including BIPOC musicians who have been excluded, or felt like they did not belong, in the folk world. Both Cindy and Lizzie bring unique perspectives to our honest conversations and are dedicated to changing the landscape and the gatekeepers of the folk music community.

Featured in this Episode:

Jean Ritchie (:28)

Ola Belle Reed (17:48)

Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard (35:41)

Alison Krauss (55:54)

Teaser:

Her family is considered one of the wealthiest in the ballad tradition, preserving hundreds of songs from their lineage to Scotland in their home of Kentucky, and is single-handedly responsible for bringing the Appalachian dulcimer to prominence in America. Born in the mountains of North Carolina, she paved the way for both bluegrass music and old-time with her brother through their pioneering work at music parks, on the radio, and during the folk revival. They’re considered the first women to front a bluegrass band, and in their wake are generations of women thanks to their contributions. A child prodigy, she was signed to Rounder Records at 14 and now is one of the most decorated bluegrass and female musicians of all time, still turning heads today with her many collaborations.

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"Shine A Light" | Pretty Good For a Girl: Women in Bluegrass by Murphy Hicks Henry

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Source Credits:

Jean Ritchie: KET | Library of Congress | NPR

Ola Belle Reed: Blue Ridge Heritage | Arts.gov | NC Pedia | SML

Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard: NY Times | Folkstreams | Official | BG Hall of Fame | Pinecone | Birthplace of Country Music

Alison Krauss: NPR | Britannica | Grammy |  NY Times

Season 2, Episode 3 // God's Golden Shore

Featured in this Episode:

Traditional - "Man of Constant Sorrow" (:28)

Ma Rainey (13:08)

Bill Monroe (31:40)

Patsy Cline (51:29)

Bruce Molsky (1:08:17)

Teaser:

Thought to be rooted in the early hymns brought to America, this old-time folk song has reveled in the spotlight more than once in the roots music community, especially after being featured in the 2000 film "O' Brother Where Art Thou." A defining voice of the 1920's and 1930's, this female artist wrote the book on fashion, songwriting, and entrepreneurship while harnessing the soul of the blues in some of the earliest recordings of the genre. Dubbed the Father and creator of Bluegrass music, this mandolin aficionado learned how to weave the blues with old-time with piercing tenor mountain harmonies and blistering fast tempos. A life taken too soon, this woman's voice epitomized country music for nearly a decade, and inspired generations of singers in her wake, even until today. A scholar, teacher and virtuosic fiddle and banjo player, he's a quintessential "musician's musician" and is widely considered among the premier ambassadors of America's old-time mountain music.

⁠Listen to my new traditional record: FOLK SONGS FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE

Performances:

"Man of Constant Sorrow" - Traditional (10:14)

"Prove It On Me Blues" - Ma Rainey (28:26)

"In the Pines" - Traditional (47:50)

"Walkin' After Midnight" 1:06:20

"Red Rocking Chair" | 1:20:48

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"Shine A Light" | Cultural Equity

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Support Independent Programming | Join the Patreon or send a one-time donation through Venmo or PayPal Source Credits:

Traditional: Black Deer Festival | American Songwriter

Ma Rainey: Women's HIstory | National Museum AAH | Black Past

Bill Monroe: Folkways | Britannica | Alan Cackett | Bluegrass HOF

Patsy Cline: Grunge | Biography | Britannica

Bruce Molsky: Official | WBUR | Banjo News

It's a pleasure to bring you the second half of this special short series Side A // Side B, bringing some depth to the songs from my recently released traditional record "Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake". Today, we're flipping the record over, and diving in to the history behind Side B.

Side B Tracklist:

Goin' Down This Road Feelin' Bad (Traditional)

Saint James Infirmary (Traditional)

Midnight Special (Traditional)

Barbry Allen (Traditional)

Mississippi River Blues (Jimmie Rodgers)

Peggy-O (Traditional)

Pay Day (Mississippi John Hurt)

Vinyl Orders:

Email A[email protected]

OR

Order through Bandcamp

Listen on:

Spotify

Apple Music/iTunes

Amazon

Soundcloud

Bandcamp

This episode was produced, edited, recorded and distributed by Nicholas Edward Williams.

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Praise for Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake:

"I've got to say, I can genuinely appreciate another young folkie taking traditional tunes and truly making them their own. Nicholas' voice sounds natural, unaffected, and without any trite attempts at emulation; rather, it seems wholly a product of his surroundings, with small nods to the phrasing and inflection that are the signatures of traditional American music. This is to say nothing of the sparse-yet-deliberate production of the songs themselves, with nothing sitting too far out front, nothing lost in the shadows, as if the listener found themselves in an empty country church with Williams simply playing to the steeple above." - JP Harris

As always, it's Williams' gentle laid back soothing vocals that win you over." - FOLK RADIO UK

"The guitar playing and vocal performance are fantastic, and I love the sparse production. I think people are gonna love this, it's a great record." - Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers)

"This record of well-known and well-loved folk songs is easy to like. With tasteful guitar arrangements and a voice that draws you right in, Nicholas has created recordings that roll along like a mountain stream." - David Holt (PBS TV/Radio Host, Four-Time Grammy Winner and Banjoist for Doc Watson)

Since releasing the podcast, I've had a lot of people ask if the renditions at the end of each segment will be released, or streamable. Well I'm happy to say that over the last six months, I've been hard at work on a traditional record called Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake, that is now available on all platforms, as well as limited edition vinyl. Several of these rearranged songs are traditionals, and some are from artists covered in the first season of this program. This is the first of a special two-part short series called Side A / Side B, where you can get a little scope into the history behind each of the tracks, followed by the recordings themselves, some of which are stripped, and several of which feature accompaniment in clarinet, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, harmonies, lap steel, jug sounds, harmonica and stomp box.

Side A Tracklist:

Shake Sugaree (Elizabeth Cotten)

East Virginia Blues (Traditional)

Wish I Was A Mole (Traditional)

Green Rocky Road (Dave Van Ronk/Bob Kaufman)

Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes (The Carter Family)

Railroad Bill (Traditional)

Cotton Mill Girls (Traditional)

Vinyl Orders:

Email A[email protected]

OR

Order through Bandcamp

Listen on:

Spotify

Apple Music/iTunes

Amazon

Soundcloud

Bandcamp

This episode was produced, edited, recorded and distributed by Nicholas Edward Williams.

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Praise for Folk Songs For Old Times' Sake:

"I've got to say, I can genuinely appreciate another young folkie taking traditional tunes and truly making them their own. Nicholas' voice sounds natural, unaffected, and without any trite attempts at emulation; rather, it seems wholly a product of his surroundings, with small nods to the phrasing and inflection that are the signatures of traditional American music. This is to say nothing of the sparse-yet-deliberate production of the songs themselves, with nothing sitting too far out front, nothing lost in the shadows, as if the listener found themselves in an empty country church with Williams simply playing to the steeple above." - JP Harris

As always, it's Williams' gentle laid back soothing vocals that win you over." - FOLK RADIO UK

"The guitar playing and vocal performance are fantastic, and I love the sparse production. I think people are gonna love this, it's a great record." - Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers)

"This record of well-known and well-loved folk songs is easy to like. With tasteful guitar arrangements and a voice that draws you right in, Nicholas has created recordings that roll along like a mountain stream." - David Holt (PBS TV/Radio Host, Four-Time Grammy Winner and Banjoist for Doc Watson)

Season 2, Episode 2 // Oh Little Liza

Featured in this Episode:

Traditional - "Lil' Liza Jane" (:28)

Dock Boggs (11:22)

Snooks Eaglin (25:54)

Nina Simone (43:36)

Billy Strings (1:04:18)

Teaser:

Today, this song is a standard in New Orleans brass bands as well as old-time music, but its earliest iterations started as a sea shanty. His three finger-style banjo picking was directly inspired by early African American string bands, and his early recordings helped standardize nearly a dozen old-time songs from the Cumberland mountain range. Blind at age one, he's one of the most versatile and inspirational guitarists in blues music, and one of the least known, unless you're from New Orleans. A renowned civil rights activist, arranger, singer, songwriter and pianist who covered a broad range of genres including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop. At just 29 years old, this multi-instrumentalist has taken the traditional and progressive bluegrass world in the palm of his hand, and he's only getting started.

Listen to my new traditional record: FOLK SONGS FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE

Performances:

"Little Liza Jane" - Traditional (9:25)

"Wild Bill Jones" - Traditional (23:04)

"Saint James Infirmary" - Traditional (39:42)

"Sinnerman" - Traditional (1:02:01)

"Walk on Boy" - Doc Watson (1:13:07)

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"Shine A Light" | Music Maker Relief Foundation

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Source Credits:

Traditional: Cultural Equity | Jazz Fandom

Dock Boggs: Dock Boggs - "Life in Music" | Encyclopedia.com

Snooks Eaglin': Nola.com | Blues access | All About Blues

Nina Simone: Official Site | History Collection | Black past

Billy Strings: Rolling Stone | Acoustic Guitar | Official

Season 2, Episode 1 // Ain't Gonna Study War No More

Featured in this Episode:

Traditional - “Down by The Riverside” (00:27)

Mance Lipscomb (10:28)

Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (23:31)

Emmylou Harris (45:17)

Chris Thile (57:27)

Teaser:

After the civil war, songs such as these were created and sung from Alabama to Ohio for a perilous journey through the Underground Railroad, where the enslaved were in pursuit of their freedom. He wasn’t a bluesman as much as a songster, known for his incredibly broad catalogue of songs and his front porch philosophizing. The student of Woody Guthrie, the father of Bob Dylan, the son who ran away to become a cowboy, and America’s purveyor of folk music at 90 years old today. She’s one of the most influential female singers of the 20th century, not just in country music but folk, pop and bluegrass, and is considered an American icon Widely considered the greatest mandolin player alive today, and perhaps to ever live, his acclaim reaches far and wide through several Grammy-winning projects and over 30 albums, despite only being 40 years old.

Performances by the Host:

“Down By The Riverside” - Traditional (8:16)

“Take Me Back Babe” - Traditional (21:29)

“Roving Gambler” - Traditional (42:37)

“Angels Rejoiced Last Night” - The Louvin Brothers (55:08)

“Bury Me Beneath the Willow” - Traditional (1:13:03)

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"Shine A Light" | Arhoolie Foundation

Follow American Songcatcher | Instagram

Support Independent Programming | Join the Patreon or send a one-time donation through Venmo or PayPal

For the final collaboration of the "Sitting In" miniseries, I'm excited to share a fantastic multi-instrumentalist, fluent in clawhammer banjo and slide blues guitar, named Cristina Vane. Born in Italy, and living many places overseas before arriving in America at 18 years old, Cristina accumulated a wealth of culture and a diverse range of songs before discovering her love for pre-war blues and the likes of the pioneers Skip James, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson and Rory Block who have all shaped her guitar technique and song catalogue. She worked at the famous McCabe's Guitar Shop in LA, and studied finger-style guitar under her mentor Pete Steinberg before exploring country blues picking and old folk guitar styles on her own in the years that followed. She has said, "I'm essentially a rock kid who is obsessed with old music."⁠

⁠Cristina just released her debut full length record on April 2nd, titled "Nowhere Sounds Lovely", and American Songwriter premiered one track titled "Badlands" adding: "Like a young Bonnie Raitt, Vane sings from both her voice and her supple, bluesy guitar playing almost simultaneously–her sound as earthen as the South Dakota landscape…"⁠

Cristina shares a story of how she got into American Folk and Blues music outside America, and her quest to music preservation. Enjoy!

Links:

Cristina's Official Site

Stream Music

Buy Music

Follow Cristina on Social Media:

Instagram

Facebook

Today on the program will be my sixth guest for the "Sitting In" mini-series, Jody Carroll. Jody is a performer and songwriter who effortlessly creates bold interpretations of old Blues and American Folk music, and makes them his own improvisational musical journeys. He's a finger-style and slide guitar master, and a soulful singer blending flavors of Blues, Folk, Mountain music, Jazz and Rock all together into a true power- packed gumbo.

Raised on Willie Nelson and AM Country Radio in the late 60's, he's toured with or shared the stage with legends such as Buddy Guy, Honey Boy Edwards, R.L Burnside, Johnny Winter, John Mayhall, George Thorogood, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeski, Robert Cray, Canned Heat, Robert Earl Keen, and Sonny Landreth just to name a few. No Depression magazine says "If there is one artist who embodies roots music to it's fullest, it has to be Jody Carroll"

Jody was forever changed when he heard a collection of recordings from the Newport Folk Festival, between 1963-1965. This is a short story of his journey to and from there, enjoy.

Links:

Jody's Official Site

Buy His Music

Follow Jody on Social Media:

Instagram

Facebook

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The fifth edition of the “Sitting In” miniseries features a new project by international touring Irish musician Dylan Walshe. Steeped in the traditions of folk, Irish, Blues, Singer-songwriter and roots music, Dylan has received wide acclaim from all over, including Dave King of Flogging Molly who has said that “The future of songwriting is safe in the hands of this man.”

This episode features Dylan’s new music podcast, The Stirring Foot, and the first 20 minutes of a conversation he had with none other than Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, who Dylan first met at Tennessee’s Muddy Roots Music Festival back in 2015. If you’re not familiar with the legendary Ramblin’ Jack, you should be. Now 90 years old, he’s been described as the "son of Woody Guthrie & the father of Bob Dylan". They talked about trips to Ireland, Europe & the UK, The Clancy Brothers, Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Odetta, The Grateful Dead, Margaret Barry, Ewan MacColl, and Woody Guthrie. You can hear the entire show through the tags below, or by searching for “The Stirring Foot” wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy!

Follow on Instagram

@dylanwalshe

@AmericanSongcatcher

Links:

The Stirring Foot

Dylan’s Official Site

Ramblin Jack Elliott’s Official Site

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