The String

Episode 262: There's no better forum to survey what's happening at the cutting edge of roots music than AmericanaFest, and 2023's huge edition was no exception. In what's become an annual tradition, I survey three acts who are making waves in three different genre spaces in the Americana universe. Summer Dean quit her teaching job around her 40th birthday to hit the road as a honky tonk singer and songwriter and earned the support of Bruce Robison's Next Waltz Records. Caleb Elliott became ensconced with Muscle Shoals label Single Lock Records as a session cello player before breaking cover as a songwriter. They liked his stuff so much they've released two albums with him. And Allison DeGroot and Tatiana Hargreaves define the cutting edge in today's old-time scene.

Episode 261: She's the hit Nashville songwriter who never moved to Nashville, staying instead in her hometown near Boston. She's the power mom who wrote timeless country award winners like "Girl Crush" and "Humble and Kind" while raising five kids. Now she reflects on her own story more than ever before on her new album 1988. It's the fourth in a row she's made with producer Dave Cobb and a testament to the fact that while McKenna's won three Grammy Awards, she's the same humble and kind woman who got cajoled into playing at her first open mic back in the early 1990s.

Episode 260: Darrell Scott emerged in the late 1990s as one of Nashville's most complete folk/roots artists. He had the butter of James Taylor and the grease of Lowell George in his voice. He could pick numerous instruments like a practiced master. And his songs were stunning from the get go, including his widely-recorded "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" and his crowd favorite "Great Day To Be Alive" on his debut project. Now, Scott lives mostly on a farm two hours from Nashville tending the land and playing 60-80 dates a year. Recently he issued Old Cane Back Rocker, his first studio album since 2016 and his most bluegrass leaning project ever. I road tripped to Darrell's farm to record this week's atmospheric conversation.

Episode 259: When East Nashville emerged as a nationally important music scene in the early 2000s, Amelia White was one of the reasons. Like so many others, she'd migrated from elsewhere (Boston and Seattle) to find a nurturing community full of collaborators and enablers, including her longtime recording partner and guitar player Dave Coleman. She was included on a seminal anthology of East Nashville songs. And she set up a rhythm of writing, recording and touring domestically and increasingly overseas. Now she's heading back to showcase at AmericanaFest 2023 and getting set to release an album this winter produced by Americana great Kim Richey. Amelia dropped by the studio for a friendly conversation that surveys her journey, through music from across her career.

Episode 258: For a band that released its independent debut album in 2017, the Teskey Brothers have come a long way. From our perspective here in Nashville, that would be 9,700 miles, the distance to their home town of Warrandyte, New South Wales, Australia. Raised on classic soul and R&B music, Sam and Josh Teskey started making music together as kids and became staples of the Melbourne music scene. They didn't have huge aspirations, but when their first record knocked out people close to home, they took their classic Stax/Muscle Shoals sound to the world and the world replied. This year they've toured Europe for five months and played major sold out venues, including the Ryman Auditorium behind their current album the Winding Way. Guitarist, songwriter, singer and recording engineer Sam Teskey tells me about their journey.

Episode 257: When you live in Nashville and chase the essence of country music, you find it's very much alive at residency shows like New Monday at the Station Inn. That's where master musicians Val Storey, Larry Cordle and Carl Jackson play a range of original and classic songs that connect country to bluegrass. It's magic, especially because of Val Storey's remarkable voice. She's the best country singer most people have never heard of. And after decades of singing for and with others, she has an album of her own, produced by star bluegrass songwriter Larry Cordle. Val and Larry sit down together to reflect on a long friendship and why some voices need an extra push.

Episode 256: Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, titans of Nashville music, first recorded together in 1989 and have been friends even longer than that. Gill is of course a Country Music Hall of Famer, while Franklin is in a different Hall of Fame - for the pedal steel guitar. Over the years in the studio and on stage, they've made the most of the euphoric blend of the voice, guitar, and steel, which is where Gill says he locates the very heart of country music. Ten years ago they made Bakersfield, honoring the songs of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Now they've teamed up for Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys, a set that covers the great singer's phases from old-school honky tonk to luxurious countrypolitan. I visited Vince's home studio for a wide-ranging conversation.

Episode 255: Ed Snodderly is more than just an exceptional singer-songwriter. He's a culture maker and culture keeper for the rich roots music region of East Tennessee. Raised near Knoxville, he launched into music in the mid 70s as an artist and as co-founder of the iconic Down Home listening room in Johnson City, TN. His band the Brother Boys made an impact and his songs have been covered and even enshrined at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Now he's released arguably his best album, a tapestry of impressions of modern Appalachia with scintillating music called Chimney Smoke. Also in the hour, getting to know Miles Miller, the longtime drummer for Sturgill Simpson who's broken cover as a songwriter himself with the album Solid Gold.

Episode 254: Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist have built a remarkable creative partnership over the past 17 years, ever since their fates collided at an Austin bar called Momo's. Songwriter residencies blurred into a proto band, and before long they were killing it in Texas and beyond as The Band of Heathens. It's been a consistent, resilient group, releasing impressive albums and playing soul satisfying country flavored rock and roll with excellent songwriting and singing. The most recent album Simple Things proved their staying power nationwide with a run of six weeks at No. 1 on the Americana airplay chart. Ed and Gordy join Craig from their homes in Austin and Asheville for a talk about origins, evolution and longevity.

Episode 253: Brennen Leigh moved decisively beyond the pandemic and the end of a long partnership to release three remarkable albums in less than three years. They tell a story of a traditional country artist with a strong point of view and a keen eye for character and humor. Prairie Love Letter was inspired by growing up in rural Minnesota where she developed a love for picking and singing. The western swing project Obsessed With The West taps a friendship she made with Asleep At The Wheel during her years in Austin. Her latest is old school Nashville country with Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet. Craig and Brennen talk about it all.