Roots Music Rambler

From a Cumberland Gap shed to Nashville, Oliver Sayani finds 9 Kinds of Blue

Some kids discover country music on the radio. Oliver Sayani got a memorable introduction from a bearded stranger in a poncho who played John Prine songs at a hometown festival, then seemingly vanished. It’s the kind of story that belongs in a song. Fortunately, Sayani has plenty of those, too.

The Cumberland Gap, Tenn., native joined Frank and Falls to talk about his debut solo album, 9 Kinds of Blue, due November 1, and a musical education that took in mountain music, heavy guitars and a whole lot of honky-tonk. A friend’s shed supplied an early drum kit. His dad’s George Jones collection helped supply the country foundation. The road eventually led through Louisville, Blind Feline and Nashville.

Sayani originally headed to Louisville for engineering school, then changed direction toward music. Church gigs, cover bands and recording work helped keep him playing. One Nashville opportunity arrived with a joke about being cheaper than Brent Mason. Getting into a room with seasoned session players helped him realize he had something to contribute beyond simply keeping up.

For 9 Kinds of Blue, he found a musical partner in producer Pat Lyons, whose work with Colter Wall made the connection especially fitting. They talk about letting pedal steel, harmonica and the songs themselves do the heavy lifting. Sayani also traces “Highway Signs” to the pull of home and “Mountain Ballad” to a time when music helped him find his footing.

Before the interview, Frank and Falls take a long, occasionally spirited detour through artificial intelligence, creative work and what happens when a useful tool starts replacing the people who make things. Their Pickin’ the Grinnin’ choices return things to human-made music: Frank recommends Minnesota’s Wild Horses and The In Between, while Falls brings back the live-wire country and bluegrass of The Bankshafts.

Find Sayani’s music, show information and album updates on his website, with more listening on Apple Music and YouTube and updates on Instagram.

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s merch, available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are available.

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

• Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon
• Oliver Sayani online and 9 Kinds of Blue updates
• Oliver Sayani on Apple Music
• Oliver Sayani on Instagram
• Oliver Sayani on YouTube
• Wild Horses online
• The Bankshafts online
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube
• Roots Music Rambler on Instagram
• Roots Music Rambler on TikTok
• Roots Music Rambler on Facebook

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

• Frank: Wild Horses — The In Between
• Falls: The Bankshafts

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon (https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler).

Theme Music: “Sheepskin & Beeswax” by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most album release parties are memorable enough without one of your musical heroes walking through the door. Randon Neeley’s October 7 celebration at Al’s Bar in Lexington came with exactly that surprise: Tyler Childers showed up. A few days later, Neeley was opening for him at the Pinnacle in Nashville. That seemed like a pretty good reason for us to move this conversation up the calendar.

The Owsley County, Kentucky, songwriter joins Roots Music Rambler to talk about Hungry Dogs, the record behind that remarkable week. The songs grew out of a restless stretch of his life: difficult relationships, losing his father and wanting to get home. Neeley describes the album’s common thread as a yearning to feel something and find where he belongs. He hopes people recognize their own experiences in it, too.

Getting those songs onto a record meant gathering a group of musicians connected through Eastern Kentucky University and building a fuller sound than his earlier work. Neeley talks about friends who cared about the songs, the value of a producer who keeps an ambitious artist grounded, and the drummer who arrived with three pages of notes when rehearsal time was scarce.

Then comes the week that changed the scale of things. Neeley explains what went through his head when he spotted Childers at the release party, how the invitation to the Pinnacle arrived, and the anxiety that gave way to an unexpected sense of peace before he stepped onstage. Going from that crowd back to his regular job on Tuesday was its own adjustment.

Falls first met Neeley while catching mutual friend (and friend of the show) Taylor Lansdale at the Burl. This time, he caught him between college and work. Frank couldn’t join the conversation, so there’s no Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment in this special episode. There is, however, a young songwriter with a new album, a good story and plenty of reasons to keep going.

Listen to Hungry Dogs and explore Randon Neeley’s catalog on Apple Music. The episode’s musical transition features “Let Down Town.”

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are available.

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

• Get the Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon
• Hungry Dogs on Apple Music
• Randon Neeley on Apple Music
• The Roots Music Rambler Store
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube
• Roots Music Rambler on Instagram
• Roots Music Rambler on TikTok
• Roots Music Rambler on Facebook

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community on Patreon.

Theme Music: “Sheepskin & Beeswax” by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Photography: Luke Francis (portrait); Dalton Combs (Randon performing at the Pinnacle).

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A good song can start just about anywhere. For Aaron Kelly, that includes a trip to Goodwill, a dog sniffing his pants and a biology final that needed something better than a boring PowerPoint. The Chicago-area songwriter joins Frank and Falls this week with stories that make a pretty convincing case for paying attention.

Kelly grew up where Chicago’s sprawl met the country, and he still keeps a foot in both worlds. His farm has goats and chickens, and until recently, a Jersey cow named Helen. Sending Helen to live with other cows turned out to require a little adjustment: she had spent her life around goats. It’s the kind of everyday detail Kelly notices, remembers and sometimes turns into music.

His influences include Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and John Prine. A Goodwill copy of Prine’s Fair & Square sent him deeper into the catalog, where the songs felt like they had always belonged in the American songbook. These days, he also plays Prine’s music with his side project, The Illegal Smiles.

Then there are the pants. Kelly donated a much-loved, patched pair, found them still hanging at Goodwill more than a year later and bought them back. His dog Banjo’s investigation of their new smells helped spark “Secret Science.” Frank and Falls have questions. Of course they do.

The conversation also gets into the lessons Kelly carried from Overman into leading his own band, the professor who encouraged his writing and the new record he’s working on. Songwriting still feels like therapy, and the excitement hasn’t worn off.

Before the interview, Frank and Falls trade favorite Prine songs. For Pickin’ the Grinnin’, Frank recommends Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co., while Falls points listeners toward Moonlight Mile and songwriter Jonathan Pennington.

Find Aaron’s music on Bandcamp, including Songs Still Sing, Letting the Animals Out and “I’ll Never Trust You (With My Heart Again),” and follow him on Instagram.

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are available.

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

• Get the Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon - https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler
• Aaron Kelly on Bandcamp - https://mynameisaaronkelly.bandcamp.com/
• Aaron Kelly on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aaron_nathaniel_kelly/
• Aaron Kelly on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/aaron.kelly.39948
• Songs Still Sing, including “Secret Science” and “Bluegrass Cats” - https://mynameisaaronkelly.bandcamp.com/album/songs-still-sing
• Letting the Animals Out, including “Talking USPS Blues” - https://mynameisaaronkelly.bandcamp.com/album/letting-the-animals-out
• “I’ll Never Trust You (With My Heart Again)” - https://mynameisaaronkelly.bandcamp.com/track/ill-never-trust-you-with-my-heart-again
• John Prine online - https://www.johnprine.com/
• The Roots Music Rambler Store - https://rootsmusicrambler.com/store
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@rootsmusicrambler

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

• Frank: Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. - https://magnoliajohnsonelectricco.bandcamp.com/album/magnolia-johnson-electric-co
• Falls: Moonlight Mile - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/moonlight-mile/15621726

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon (https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler).

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jack Browning doesn’t think country music needs a particular zip code. The British singer-songwriter grew up on his dad’s records, climbed the furniture to borrow a Johnny Cash CD, and eventually found that pedal steel and fiddle fit the stories he wanted to tell. The accent might surprise you. The songs make perfect sense.

Browning joined Frank and Falls this week to talk about his new album Painted Skies and the unlikely road that led to it. After touring in a rock band, he went back to construction work and enrolled in art school. Then the pandemic left him alone with a guitar and songs that needed a singer. There wasn’t a band to hide behind anymore.

That road eventually took him to Kentucky, where a painting commission and a show in Greenville led to friendships with the locals and a surprise visit from Benjamin Tod. Browning shares the story behind “Muhlenberg County Stars,” his love for John Prine, and what it means to be welcomed into a community thousands of miles from home.

The painting and music now feed each other. Browning painted his own album cover and talks about assembling a record the way he would a gallery show. He also recaps his first Americanafest, where Painted Skies arrived mid-festival. The timing was a happy accident, which prompts a little free media coaching from Falls.

Frank also recaps Evanston Folk Festival, including finally seeing longtime favorite Kathleen Edwards. For this week’s pickin’ the grinnin’ choices, Falls recommends Joe Jordan after catching his live show at The Burl. Frank chose One Acre West, the Americana duo whose self-titled debut captures the places behind the songs. There’s also some discussion of scones and a British accent Falls probably shouldn’t attempt again.

Find the picks online. Jack Browning’s music is on Spotify and Bandcamp, with CDs and vinyl available through his website. Find his paintings online, too, and follow him on Instagram and YouTube.

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links: 

• Get the Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon for early and ad-free episodes and more - https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler
• Jack Browning online - https://jackbrowning.co.uk/
• Jack Browning on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/4yIRocVw0myaMyZ0C8ZN20
• Jack Browning on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jackbrowningartistmusician/
• Jack Browning on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxft3RB4E0MJjtfVLAChS1A
• Jack Browning’s artwork - https://jackbrowningartist.com/
• Painted Skies on Bandcamp - https://jackbrowning.bandcamp.com/album/painted-skies
• Red Eye Radio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/7w9eyDlntac86IdO9adhAJ
• “Speak Your Mind (But Ride A Fast Horse)” - https://jackbrowning.bandcamp.com/track/speak-your-mind-but-ride-a-fast-horse-2
• “Muhlenberg County Stars” - https://jackbrowning.bandcamp.com/track/muhlenberg-county-stars-2
• “Factory Reset” - https://jackbrowning.bandcamp.com/track/factory-reset
• “Painted Skies” title track - https://jackbrowning.bandcamp.com/track/painted-skies
• Americanafest - https://americanamusic.org/americanafest/
• Evanston Folk Festival - https://www.evanstonfolkfestival.com/
• The Roots Music Rambler Store - https://rootsmusicrambler.com/store
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@rootsmusicrambler
• Roots Music Rambler on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rootsmusicrambler/
• Roots Music Rambler on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@rootsmusicrambleon
• Roots Music Rambler on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RootsMusicRambler

Notes and links:

• Get the Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon for early and ad-free episodes and more
• Jack Browning online
• Jack Browning on Spotify
• Jack Browning on Instagram
• Jack Browning on YouTube
• Jack Browning’s artwork
• Painted Skies on Bandcamp
• Red Eye Radio on Spotify
• “Speak Your Mind (But Ride A Fast Horse)”
• “Muhlenberg County Stars”
• “Factory Reset”
• “Painted Skies” title track
• Americanafest
• Evanston Folk Festival
• The Roots Music Rambler Store
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube
• Roots Music Rambler on Instagram
• Roots Music Rambler on TikTok
• Roots Music Rambler on Facebook

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

• Joe Jordan online
• One Acre West online

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access to episodes and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Falls first heard David LaMotte in a Birmingham bookstore café more than 20 years ago. He was working in college sports public relations, spending much of his life on the road, and “Northbound” sounded like somebody understood. The song, from LaMotte’s album Corners, has been a favorite ever since.

After promises to do so, Falls finally tracked LaMotte down to join Roots Music Rambler. He did so this week to talk about writing songs that leave room for the listener’s own life. That includes knowing when to start over, as he did with “Deadline,” and recognizing a song in an unexpected gift. A friend’s toy boat and rubber ducks became “S.S. Bathtub,” a children’s song that found plenty of grown-up fans. College students apparently need bath toys, too.

The conversation also heads to Uganda, where a visit with musician Chinobay turned into “Kirungi.” In just 10 days, the two wrote and recorded the song with Ugandan and Congolese musicians and made a video featuring children from a local arts center. LaMotte shared how that collaboration came together and his plans to reunite with the musicians for a full album in Nairobi.

There’s more to his work than records and stages. LaMotte talks about Senderos, the nonprofit he and his wife started on their honeymoon in Guatemala, and his book You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not. His case for making a difference starts with ordinary people working together. Sometimes changing the world means showing up for a Tuesday meeting.

Frank and Falls also have their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ choices for music recommendations this week. Frank chose Bebe Stockwell, whose soulful folk-pop caught her ear on SiriusXM’s North Americana. Falls recaps seeing past guest Trey Hedrick at The Basement in Nashville, where opener Clara Rae stopped him in his tracks. Her voice had him thinking of Janis Joplin.

Find the picks online. David LaMotte can be found on his website, Spotify, Facebook and YouTube. His Patreon community gets new songs, weekly music and regular online gatherings.

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

• Get the Roots Music Rambler Backstage Pass on Patreon for early and ad-free episodes and more
• David LaMotte online
• David LaMotte on Spotify
• David LaMotte on YouTube
• David LaMotte on Patreon
• “Northbound” on Spotify
• “Kirungi” with Chinobay on Spotify
• “Kirungi” official video
• “S.S. Bathtub” on Spotify
• The Esaze project with Chinobay
• Senderos Guatemala
• You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not
• “Why Heroes Don’t Change the World” TEDx talk
• “What Music Can Teach Us About Peacemaking” TEDx talk
• The Roots Music Rambler Store
• Roots Music Rambler on YouTube
• Roots Music Rambler on Instagram
• Roots Music Rambler on TikTok
• Roots Music Rambler on Facebook

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

• Bebe Stockwell online
• Clara Rae on Instagram

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access to episode and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon (https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler).

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

TICKET GIVEAWAY BONUS EPISODE

The ⁠North Springs Music Festival⁠ takes place in a hayfield in Whitleyville, Tenn., October 8-10. It's 10 acts on one stage each day for ⁠30 total sets from some of Roots Music Rambler's favorite artists⁠. Headliners Chris Knight, Taylor Hunnicutt and Silverada are the highlights, but Rambler fans will recognize a bunch of the remaining acts, making this a must-attend festival this fall.

Organizer Dustin Kennedy joined Falls for a short conversation about the festival, the lineup, what fans can expect. And then!!!! He offered up two weekend passes to one lucky Roots Music Rambler fan.

To enter to win the random drawing for the two weekend passes to this year's North Springs Music Festival, join our ⁠Patreon Backstage Pass community⁠. All new Backstage Pass members (the free, email subscription level ... no purchase necessary) will be entered to win. You must subscribe by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, September 25. The winner will be announced Saturday morning, September 26.

In addition to the headliners mentioned, fans will also see appearances by friends of the show Ben Chapman, Jason Eady, Bill Taylor & The Appalachian Heatherns, Hollerhead, and confirmed future guests/friends of the show Smilo & The Ghost, and Rye Davis. Others, who we'll pester until they become guests/friends of the show include Cole Chaney, Channing Wilson, Adam Hood, Addison Johnson, Parker Barrow, Tony Logue & The 184, Wes Shipp, Erin Viancourt, Low Water Bridge Band, Joe Stamm Band, Tyler James Kelly, Rob Leines, The Filthy Heathens, The Damn Shames, Mindy Miller, Low Gap, Gracie Yates & Brock Burton, Kevin Thomas, Kenny Feidler, Keagan Hatton, Jordan Lee King and Emily Hollingshed.

The pair of three-day passes is a $420 value. There is no purchase necessary to enter to win. Drawing will be done by Jason Falls using an online randomizer with each entry and chosen at random.

Who are you looking forward to seeing most if you win? Let us know in the comments.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ask Jason Eady to put a label on his music and he’ll take you to the back porch. If it works without electricity, it fits. The Mississippi-raised, Texas-based singer-songwriter has plenty of country in his catalog, but the blues and a laid-back Oklahoma groove are never far away.

Eady joined Frank and Falls this week to talk about that mix, his latest album Tulsa Turnaround and what makes the Tulsa Sound tick. The hosts first caught him at Crossroads Acoustic Fest in April, where his songs and the stories between them left both Frank and Falls wondering why they hadn’t been listening sooner.

For Tulsa Turnaround, Eady enlisted John Fullbright to produce and surrounded himself with Tulsa musicians who could give the songs the feel he was chasing. It’s less about showing off and more about leaving room for everybody else. The conversation runs from JJ Cale to the Gap Band, with a stop back in Mississippi for the guitar lessons that inspired “Mississippi Blues Man.”

There’s plenty of storytelling, too. Eady gets into the Hayes Carll road joke behind “Why I Left Atlanta,” how a show in Clarksdale grew into his Way Down in Mississippi weekend, and the perils of letting one funny song define a career. Which brings us to “The Matt Damon Song.” If you know it, you know we would ask about it.

Frank and Falls also recap Flood With Love in Kentucky before settling in for the conversation. They also have their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ choices for music recommendations this week. Frank chose the video for Hermanos Gutiérrez’s “Los Ojos Del Cóndor.” Falls pointed listeners toward singer-songwriter RJ Chesney.

Find the picks online and on YouTube. Jason Eady can be found on his website, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, with more of his writing on Substack.

Watch the Episode on YouTube 

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links: 

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access to episode and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon (https://patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler).

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you’ve heard much thunder around the bluegrass space of late, it’s likely due to the growing presence of Thunder & Rain. Erinn Peet Lukes’s new grass band has been around for more than 10 years. It has shape-shifted through a few different members, inner-circle romantic relationship issues and Lukes’s move from Denver to Nashville.

But now Lukes is settled in Music City and Thunder & Rain’s latest four-piece, all-female bluegrass roster is primed for the big time. Lutes (vocals and guitar) is joined by Amelia Ransom on fiddle, Laura Ray on banjo and the newest addition, Amanda Accari on upright bass.  

Lukes joined Frank and Falls this week to talk about the group’s evolution, world travel, engineered virality with strategic cover songs and more. Frank and Falls saw the band live at Crossroads Acoustic Fest in April and couldn’t stop talking about their on-stage energy and playing chops.

The group’s latest album Storybook Sessions is a beautiful blend of country and bluegrass influence. They’re probably best known for their bluegrass cover of Guns & Roses’s “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. Lutes says the group is anxious to get back in the studio to record another album with the full, four-person lineup soon.

Frank and Falls also have their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ choices for music recommendations this week. Frank chose the Aaron Kelly Band and Aaron Kelly, who is a John Prine-inspired singer-songwriter. Falls offered up a book this time after coming around on Wilco. He read Greg Kot’s history of Jeff Tweedy’s career, Wilco: Learning How To Die.

Find the picks on Spotify and Amazon. Thunder & Rain can be found online, on Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. Backstage Pass holders (members of our Patreon community) get episodes early and an ad-free feed. Join at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic Rambler t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links: 

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ picks:

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler for free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. For early access to episode and ad-free episodes, plus bonus content, outtakes and more, join the Backstage Pass community at Patreon.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another in our Backstage episode of Roots Music Rambler. These are short interviews Frank and Falls are able to grab backstage (or just somewhere in person rather than on our virtual, longer-form interview episodes) and catch up briefly.

This week, Falls caught up with his fellow Pikeville, Ky., product Brandon Scott Coleman, a multi-genre virtuoso guitarist who plays said instrument for the new Cincinnati-based folk rock band Barnweaver. They released their self-titled debut album this summer and it is fantastic.

Coleman told us the story of how the band started in a chance meeting between singer/guitarist Kyle Swensen and bass player Bennet Miller in a Kroger. When they brought Coleman and drummer Andrew Gillum in to be session players for what was to be an album for the duo, the chemistry clicked and they knew instantly this was a four-piece band instead.

The “guitar virtuoso” label isn’t just a hyperbole, either. Coleman regularly plays with Kentucky-based cellist Ben Sollee, has toured with Grammy-award winner Dan Pugach, plays in his own jazz fusion trio, and has worked as a producer, arranger, music publishing house editor and free-lance musician for many years. 

Two Pikeville boys talking on a podcast will inevitably bring up some inside-Pike County references, so prepare yourself for that. (Do you know how to pronounce “Marrowbone,” properly?) But you’ll enjoy getting to know Brandon and Barnweaver today. 

Barnweaver anchors their online presence on Bandcamp for now. You can also find them on Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 

Falls also pulls back the curtain to reveal that Roots Music Rambler is building a Patreon community for our biggest and best fans which will feature exclusive content. An ad-free show feed, outtakes, more frequent commentary from Frank and Falls (separately and together) on topics of the day, album reviews, articles and more. 

You will be able join the community for free to see what content is available in the exclusive feed, then upgrade to a paid subscription to access that content. We’ll be sure to make it cheap, but chock full of value. 

That’s coming soon, so keep your eyes open on our social channels, our website at rootsmusicrambler.com or just keep listening and we’ll update you when the Patreon community is ready to join! 

Enjoy getting to know Brandon Scott Coleman and Barnweaver in the meantime. 

Watch the Episode on YouTube

Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com, watch the full episode on YouTube, or download wherever you get your podcasts. 

Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links: 

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Copyright 2026 - Falls+Partners. All music on the program is licensed by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Roots Music Rambler is a member of the Americana Music Association.

PHOTO Credit - Cincy Groove

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

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Pardon the interruption on the podcast feed with a special announcement, but we think you're going to love this!

To start the celebration of Roots Music Rambler's 100th episode (coming soon), we're launching a Patreon community to give you all kinds of member benefits. More on that in a moment, though, because in order to encourage you to join the Patreon community (we're calling it getting a Backstage Pass to Roots Music Rambler), we're giving away a two-day pass ticket to the upcoming Evanston Folk Festival (Sept. 12-13 in Evanston, Ill.)

All you have to do to be entered to win is join our Backstage Pass community on Patreon at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler. You can join for free which essentially subscribes you to an email newsletter of new content from the show. (More on how to by-pass the payment thing below.)

Enter by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, September 4. All RMR Backstage Pass Patreon community members will then be put into a random draw software and one lucky winner will be chosen. We'll announce the winner on our social media channels and with another special announcement here in the feed on Monday, September 7.

The winner will receive one, 2-day pass (Saturday and Sunday) to the Evanston Folk Festival on Sept. 12-13 (the following weekend) at the Lakefront at Dawes Park in Evanston, Ill.

So, besides the entry to win this pass, why join our Patreon community? A few reasons:

Go to patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler and sign up for free. Or upgrade to the paid subscription for just $5 per month. But there is no purchase required to be entered to win the EFF Pass!

And spread the word. Tell your music-loving friends we've got lots more great content coming to them at patreon.com/rootsmusicrambler.

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

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