Basic Folk

Before becoming a fulltime performer/songwriter Dawn Landes worked as a sound engineer for many years. After studying for a bit at NYU she left school to pursue an internship at Phillip Glass' studio. Dawn tells me of the impact that Fast Folk had on her career and the role Suzanne Vega played in her life as Dawn’s mentor. We also get into the musical she is working on called "Row" about the very inspiring and fellow Kentuckian and rower, Tori Murden McClure, who aspired to row across the Atlantic Ocean.

American Songwriter Podcast Network

On Basic Folk this week I sit down with Mark Erelli, a singer-songwriter out of the New England area. Growing up Erelli did a little of everything: tennis, musicals, science, and then... he found rock music. This was all thanks to his high school science teacher who would play bootleg Grateful Dead tapes during exams. Once Erelli had discovered The Dead he said it was like all American music was waiting for him.

American Songwriter Podcast Network

Grenadian-Canadian clawhammer banjo player and songwriter, Kaia Kater, grew up in a folk family-- her grandpa is a luthier and her mother ran a number of the Canada’s major folk festivals while Kaia was growing up.

Kaia is a child of an immigrant from Grenada. We explore her inspirations and research for her latest album, Grenades (October 2018 Folkways/Acronym Records), which is a mediation on Grenada and her father’s immigrant experience.

American Songwriter Podcast Network

Nora Jane Struthers started in bluegrass, but has leaned towards Americana and rock and rock in the past decade after living in Nashville. She's also got an incredible life story that includes overcoming dyslexia, infertility and falling in love with her bandmate. She plays and records as Nora Jane Struthers and The Party Line.

Nora opens up about the pressure and weird power that comes with being a woman in the music industry, her struggles with infertility, and her off the chain vocabulary.

American Songwriter Podcast Network

Anna Tivel is my guest this week. Tivel is known for her character songs that portray the beauty and pain in everyday individuals. Born in a small farming town in Skagit Valley, Washington, Anna came to songwriting as a recent college grad waiting tables in downtown Portland. Her first song, she reports, was about "whales having fun." Since then she has quickly risen through the ranks of those who can turn a phrase being recognized as one of NPR’s “Songs We Love.” 

American Songwriter Podcast Network

In this week’s episode, I sit down (and basically LOL the entire time) with one-man-band Matt Lorenz of The Suitcase Junket. Originally from a small town in rural Vermont, Lorenz’s first instrument was a free, second- hand piano the family had gotten from a posting on a bulletin board. As his musical career continued so did his love of recycled instruments. Now he creates most of his instruments by hand using objects he finds in the trash. Yes, I said trash. Rough and honest, The Suitcase Junket’s sou

This week I talk with folk singer-songwriter Ana Egge. Dubbed the "Nina Simone of Folk Music" Ana and I sit down to discuss her early influences growing up on a commune in rural New Mexico, crafting her own guitar at the age of 15, and writing herself into understanding. I met Ana in Boston around 2005 through the Boston folk music scene. I have always been in awe of her musical talent and her not-as-much-talked about fashion sense. I can never thank her enough for introducing me to wearing a white belt.

Meet the host Cindy Howes! I love folk music and interviewing people. I have over 20 years experience in broadcasting and being super obsessed with music. This episode introduces myself and the intention of Basic Folk: "Conversations with authentic Americana, singer-songwriters and roots musicians that fly under the radar." The intention is to foster this special community (that is found in New England and beyond). I say "awesome" a lot and I mean it! Thanks for listening.