Auyon Mukharji, of the Massachusetts spacey-folk band Darlingside, grew up in Kansas with first generation immigrant parents. Nature, music and sports all played a big role in his formative years. He ended up studying biology at Williams College, where he met his future bandmates in Darlingside. He joined an a capella group with members of the band and that allowed the guys to formulate their freaky harmony connection that is so well on display in the band's recordings and shows. Auyon talks about finally connecting with singing through songwriting, overcoming chronic pain in his 20's and how friendship and humor play an important role in the band.

Rhythm plays a big role in the new album Fish Pond Fish and in our conversation, Auyon explains that intentionality. As per usual, nature shows up a lot in the songwriting, which is split evenly among the members of the band. He says “It’s like you’re searching through three-fourths of foreign consciousness. Bringing you to a place you couldn’t imagine. You move beyond yourself.” He goes on to talk about what it's like to be so close to other people’s consciousness in that kind of intense environment. Enjoy Auyon! He is a first class gem.

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donate

The one and only Chris Smither! Influenced by Mississippi John Hurt and Lightnin' Hopkins, Smither's guitar playing is centered around the beat and around the groove. He mics his feet during concerts and loves being able to sound like several different instruments as his heroes did. Smither says “Groove is the essence of engagement.” He's lived an extraordinary life that started off moving around due to his linguistic parents' careers. He ended up in New Orleans for the bulk of his childhood, with a short stint in Paris, that allowed him to become fluent in French (among other languages). Something notable about Smither: as a songwriter, he has the hardest time with the lyrics, which is strange as the son of language professors. He talks about the impact of their work in his own songs. 

We also get some great stories from Smither: like showing up at Eric von Schmidt's house in Florida that eventually led him to moving to Cambridge, MA. Once he arrived, he started hanging around incredible musicians. A young musician named Bonnie Raitt in particular took to his song "Love You Like a Man," and recorded it. Nearly 40 years later, it's still a staple of her live sets. We get to hear about the kind of career that Chris had envisioned for himself and why his alcoholism held him back for over a decade. Smither also talks about his relationship with his father, particularly through his song "Father's Day." He re-recorded that and 8 other of his older songs for his latest album More from The Levee, which also includes one brand new song, "What I Do." Chris Smither is a treasure! Enjoy!

The music of Kevin Morby has colorful textural layers much like the human who creates it. On his newest album, Sundowner, Morby is embracing a mellow, yet dramatic sound that runs parallel to his current surroundings of his hometown, Kansas City. He moved back to a house he purchased in 2015 recently and has been working on music relentlessly since then, which is what produced the songs on the new record. He recorded the album in Texas with Brad Cook in order to capture the essence of the midwest. After living and making music on both coasts, he wanted to create something that was entirely landlocked. On Basic Folk, we talk about the process of writing and creating this new album. Morby also talks about his experience with panic attacks as a young man and his current relationship with fear and anxiety. He talks about the death of musician Jamie Ewing, who was his best friend. Jamie died of an overdose 12 years ago, but has had a huge impact on shaping Kevin's life.

Morby also talks about how his partner, Katie Crutchfield, who is known as Waxahatchee. This is the first record that Katie's been in Kevin's life for the entire creation of an album. It's interesting to hear the effect they both have on the other's music! I also got him to talk about his painting, which you can find at KevinMorbyArtsnFarts on Instagram. Kevin's a friendly, insightful and sensitive person, which is reflected in everything he creates. I am grateful he found time for the interview! This is a good one!!!

Around age 10, Lizzie No was getting tired of the violin. The Princeton-born No picked the harp after seeing it being wheeled into an elevator on 'Diff’rent Strokes.' It was the weirdest instrument that she could have imagined. While attending Stanford, she took on a job as a research assistant where she could listen to music for hours at a time while at work. Over time, she started to realize that she was far more interested in the music that she was listening to than the research that was being conducted. Music kept calling and gnawing at her to a degree where she finally allowed herself to give music a chance. As a songwriter, she works to evoke writers with important messages, particularly Bob Dylan, who became a true north after she learned a whole set of his songs on the harp and became in awe of the writing and morality tales in his political songs.

Lizzie shares her experience of being a Black folk singer in that she thought if she were to play country and folk that she would be taking someone else's music as her own. She didn't yet know that folk and country came from African musical forms that came to America because of slavery. She felt like she was fighting her way into something that she didn't have a right to. Once she started getting to know the Black artists that are in folk right now, she realized that she did belong and began to learn the history. Lizzie is whip-smart and her perspective on this topic could unsurprisingly fill an entire podcast episode on it's own. AND we talk about EGO and narcissism, which encompasses her latest album Vanity. Her insight on the different sides of the ego is fascinating. Literally could talk to Lizzie No everyday. 10/10! Please enjoy!

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donate

Lori McKenna is on Basic Folk talking about her new album The Balladeer. Lori's been a huge part of the New England folk circuit for over two decades and for the last ten years has been a much in-demand songwriting in Nashville thanks to Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Mary Gauthier. Lori grew up (and still lives) in Stoughton, Mass (where the Ikea is!) and she talks about her complicated relationship with her hometown and discovering how her home life are the secret ingredient to her incredible writing. Lori's a great storyteller and we get a lot of stories about her brothers and sister, her dad, her husband, her kids and of course, Mandy Moore.

Lori talks about developing her confidence in songwriting. She didn't leave the house with her music until she was in her late twenties, even though she had been writing since she was a young teen. She talks about the first song she wrote and played for her brother about a rodeo. It was the late 70's and she had never been exposed to rodeos and still has no idea where that came from. I did the math to even make sure she couldn't have absorbed it from any Garth Brooks' rodeo songs. From there, Lori just wrote to express herself. The new album is filled with personal songs as well as one character song, which happens to be the title track. Lori McKenna is a songwriting giant who has been hugely historical in my life, so it was an absolute honor to have her on the podcast.

Stella Schindler is one half of the DC area Americana band Kentucky Avenue, who's been (safely) working on their sophomore album throughout the pandemic. Stella, an English teacher at an all-girls Catholic School, has led a transient path throughout her life, but music was always constant. She lived in a number of different places growing up; not living anywhere for more than two years and it wasn't until she started teaching that she remained in one place (DC). Because of all the moving around, she initially felt pretty shy about singing in front of her family. She tells a story about how her mom was surprised when she first heard her perform publicly. Despite that, she is actually really connected to her family, particularly with her name. She's the fourth Stella in a row and talked about that connection and what it was like growing up having the name "Stella."

Stella speaks beautifully about the freedom and delight she felt what she first sang out loud. She is a joyful performer who makes the most eye contact I've ever seen from someone on stage. She is also a devoted Catholic, who loves folk and country, but does enjoy that separation of Church and State when it comes to music during the Mass. Her dad is a theologian and philosopher who encouraged Stella to follow her passions. He told her when she was thinking about college “You can study anything but with one condition, provided that it is not useful.” She followed his advice and majored in Art History at Notre Dame. After college, she found herself in Omaha, Nebraska, moving there on a whim and working at a record store. This is where she had a chance encounter with Bob Dylan! This was also right before she relocated to DC to start a teaching job. Stella is an amazing person and I love listening to her talk and love hearing her sing. Enjoy! Also enjoy the thunderstorm rolling on in the background of this interview. Lookout for Kentucky Avenue's new album, Ballad of the Past, this fall.

Samantha Crain had a hell of a time in the summer of 2017. She had just released her album You Had Me at Goodbye earlier in the year and was ready to roll out for a busy schedule of touring the new music. By the end of the summer, she was laid up after experiencing three car accidents, where she was hit all three times. A combination of those crashes and life-long tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome led to her hands literally not working. She was not able to play guitar or tour. A major depression and a very dark time set in from being homebound and not able to play guitar or write songs. Through physical and emotional therapy, she slowly started to heal. She also took this time to document some past trauma by recording herself talking on a tape player. This led to a lot of self-reflection and shedding of old life-long anxieties. When she was well enough, she began to write songs based on what she had been documenting and processing. This resulted in her new album, A Small Death.

We talked about the new album as well as Samantha's very interesting life. A member of the Choctaw First Nation, she values using her native language to modernize the indigenous experience for herself and other young native people. We talk about her dad, a Southern Baptist Evangelical Preacher, who would perform music as well as feats of strength at religious tent revivals. She also shared a little about her experience as a weight lifter. Samantha Crain is one of a kind! I wish her the best in her healing journey and with the new album.