The String

This week's episode of The String (#63) is about a sense of place and how we stand up for the places we cherish. Nashville has thrived as the epicenter of country music songwriting in part because of its own strong sense of place. It was a mid South crossroads city that welcomed art and music from the 19th century on. It became a pioneer in radio in the 20s and 30s by reflecting and broadcasting local values and sounds. Then in the mid 1950s, music business innovators and instigators began to cluster together on the parallel streets of 16th and 17th avenues, transforming a residential neighborhood into Music Row. Compact and convivial, Music Row was like a village, where music makers and business people worked and mingled and loitered with intent. A culture evolved over the decades that still hangs on today. And yet, people are concerned. A city that used to change slowly is transforming and growing, too fast for many. Commercial interests and cultural passions are clashing. And at the vortex of that conflict is Music Row.

We're spending this hour of radio on Music Row, 1028 16th Ave. to be precise, a little bar called Bobby's Idle Hour. And our featured guest is a wonderful veteran songwriter who hangs out here, named John Scott Sherrill.

Erin Rae came of age in Nashville and dropped out of college to get serious about music. She is a pure product of Music City's richly rewarding community, veteran of open mics and local venues. Her first album Soon Enough turned a lot of heads. Now her follow up, the moody and gorgeous but emotionally candid Putting On Airs, is earning national acclaim. She's one of East Nashville's new stars, and we talk about Cafe Coco, her all-woman songwriting posse and singing alongside Margo Price at the Ryman. Also in the hour, a progress report on the remarkable National Museum of African American Music, on target to open in December of 2019. 

Erin Rae came of age in Nashville and dropped out of college to get serious about music. She is a pure product of Music City's richly rewarding community, veteran of open mics and local venues. Her first album Soon Enough turned a lot of heads. Now her follow up, the moody and gorgeous but emotionally candid Putting On Airs, is earning national acclaim. She's one of East Nashville's new stars, and we talk about Cafe Coco, her all-woman songwriting posse and singing alongside Margo Price at the Ryman. Also in the hour, a progress report on the remarkable National Museum of African American Music, on target to open in December of 2019.

Episode 61: Craig H. and sometime producer companion Gina Frary Bacon sit down with iconic Nashville Cat Wayne Moss. Raised in Charleston WV, Moss was obsessed with music and recording and made his way to Music City in 1959. He put his guitar to work with The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. And his web of relationships - Buzz Cason, Charlie McCoy, Norbert Putnam, Mac Gayden and others - put him at the center of the recording scene. He played famous licks and solos for Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels and others. He formed the bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry for an extra dash of creative freedom. He built his studio Cinderella Sound in 1961 and it's still in business, the oldest surviving indie studio in the region. Moss talked about his extensive career and his new anthology CD called Collaborations With My Guitar Heroes. 

Episode 61: Craig H. and sometime producer companion Gina Frary Bacon sit down with iconic Nashville Cat Wayne Moss. Raised in Charleston WV, Moss was obsessed with music and recording and made his way to Music City in 1959. He put his guitar to work with The Casuals, Nashville's first rock and roll band. And his web of relationships - Buzz Cason, Charlie McCoy, Norbert Putnam, Mac Gayden and others - put him at the center of the recording scene. He played famous licks and solos for Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels and others. He formed the bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry for an extra dash of creative freedom. He built his studio Cinderella Sound in 1961 and it's still in business, the oldest surviving indie studio in the region. Moss talked about his extensive career and his new anthology CD called Collaborations With My Guitar Heroes.

Her recording career began in 2011 with an alt-country album whose title asked: Have You Met Lera Lynn? We hope you've met her by now because in the seven years since, the Athens GA-turned-Nashville TN songwriter has emerged as a fascinating and dynamic artist with a grasp of sound and production along with her mesmerizing voice. Her newest record finds her co-writing and collaborating. Plays Well With Others is a set of co-written duets with some important indie artists, including Peter Bradley Adams, Nicole Atkins, JD McPherson and the album’s producer and record label boss John Paul White. We listen to the record in detail and burrow into what the songs say about Lera Lynn's vision and journey so far. 

Her recording career began in 2011 with an alt-country album whose title asked: Have You Met Lera Lynn? We hope you've met her by now because in the seven years since, the Athens GA-turned-Nashville TN songwriter has emerged as a fascinating and dynamic artist with a grasp of sound and production along with her mesmerizing voice. Her newest record finds her co-writing and collaborating. Plays Well With Others is a set of co-written duets with some important indie artists, including Peter Bradley Adams, Nicole Atkins, JD McPherson and the album's producer and record label boss John Paul White. We listen to the record in detail and burrow into what the songs say about Lera Lynn's vision and journey so far.

In Episode 59 of The String we dive deep into the Austin/Nashville dynamic captured in the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum special exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring 70s. Our feature interview is with Michael Martin Murphey. Best known to many for his crossover hit “Wildfire” from the summer of ‘75, Murphey’s had a wide ranging career. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett among others. And he’s earned abundant recognition for his decades as a champion and revivalist in the field of cowboy songs and western music.

But before all that, Murphey was a key player in the Austin TX phenomenon, residing there as a full time musician from 1968 to 1974. He was a regular at the Armadillo World Headquarters, the iconic venue at the heart of the live scene, where a diverse audience heard a diverse array of roots music, from hard country to traditional blues. Murphey, along with Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker (about whom he wrote the era-defining song “Cosmic Cowboy”) and others forged a country-rock hybrid that became the foundation for the progressive folk music field we now call Americana.

Also, a visit with exhibit co-curator Peter Cooper. 

In Episode 59 of The String we dive deep into the Austin/Nashville dynamic captured in the new Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum special exhibit Outlaws & Armadillos: Country's Roaring 70s. Our feature interview is with Michael Martin Murphey. Best known to many for his crossover hit "Wildfire" from the summer of '75, Murphey's had a wide ranging career. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett among others. And he's earned abundant recognition for his decades as a champion and revivalist in the field of cowboy songs and western music.

But before all that, Murphey was a key player in the Austin TX phenomenon, residing there as a full time musician from 1968 to 1974. He was a regular at the Armadillo World Headquarters, the iconic venue at the heart of the live scene, where a diverse audience heard a diverse array of roots music, from hard country to traditional blues. Murphey, along with Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker (about whom he wrote the era-defining song "Cosmic Cowboy") and others forged a country-rock hybrid that became the foundation for the progressive folk music field we now call Americana.

Also, a visit with exhibit co-curator Peter Cooper.

The Travelin' McCourys began as a side project - an outlet for Del McCourys sons and their bandmates to pursue experiments and collaborations. Over the past eight years, they've developed a repertoire and an identity all their own, and with the addition of full time guitarist Cody Kilby, a personnel they at last called official. So now they've released their debut self-titled album and launched a limitless future, for now very much in parallel to the iconic Del McCoury Band, arguably the most influential bluegrass outfit of the past 20 years. In this special edition of The String, taped before a live audience at Nashville's City Winery, Craig talks with Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), Rob McCoury (banjo) and Jason Carter (fiddle) about the past and future of their wide-open view of bluegrass. 

Also, guest producers Matt Follett and Brady Watson report on the Grand Ole Opry's most recent venture to New York City.