Episode 321: Atlanta native Kristina Murray moved to Nashville in 2014 with a fresh and original debut album and steely determination. The country singer and songwriter carved out a respected space at honky tonks like Santa's Pub and the American Legion. When hard work and critical acclaim for her two releases didn't launch her career to a new orbit, it felt like defeat. That, plus the pandemic, fueled some challenging times and emotions that inspired her new one, Little Blue, a lovely, lament-filled album on New West's Normaltown imprint. Murray is due for new waves of attention, and we talk about how hard that is to manifest in this edition of The String.

Episode 320: JD Clayton is one of the first emerging artists to release music in an era of new leadership at the historic Rounder Records in Nashville. He's an open-hearted guy who got the songwriting bug growing up in Fort Smith, AR and who then found his songs and his way on stage led to organic growth. His 2023 album Long Way From Home got him out on the road in a big way and led to some high profile opening shows. He produced his new album Blue Sky Sundays, a fresh and catchy take on country rock, with his brotherly band. He seems to embody the ethos of his feel-good song "High Hopes & Low Expectations."

Episode 319: This week's split episode looks at songwriting and musicianship from two very different points of view. Toronto's Jeremie Albino is a powerful roots rock singer/writer whose early love of blues and old rock and roll comes through in his self-effacing, easy grooving songs. A call from Dan Auerbach opened up new avenues for him through the production of his late 2024 album 'Our Time In The Sun'. Champion guitarist Tyler Grant writes his material more about stories from the history and geography of the American west, where he's been based for about 15 years. He's also set aside his twangy electric country rock for a return to the bluegrass music that brought him to national attention. His newest is a mix of instrumentals and songs but the title indicates the focal point: 'Flatpicker.'

Episode 318: Over a 15-year career that began in Boston's jazz and old-time scene, Nashville-based Miss Tess has distinguished herself with a hybrid blend of contemporary songwriting and vintage, swinging Americana. On her newest, the widely traveled artist taps a long love affair with Cajun country in Louisiana, yet it's her own blend rather than a traditional homage. Our conversation spans her upbringing in Maryland, her passion for early blues and jazz, her fascinating musical relationships and her annual immersion in the Blackpot festival in Lafayette, where she made the new Cher Rêve.

Episode 317: As the new year dawned, the first emerging artist that started buzzing on our radar was a California native living in Nashville with an emotional country-noir debut album called Silver Rounds. She was Olivia Wolf, and now months later, her album has proven its staying power, with critical acclaim and a long run on the Americana chart. She's no youngster, so our conversation dives into her background and her long, patient journey to fully committing herself as a songwriter/artist. That story includes coming of age at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and a tragic event in her life that inspired many of her best songs.

Episode 316: Sean McConnell was born to do this. His parents were working songwriters who helped him get started as a teen in Atlanta. He landed a long-term song publishing deal while still in school at MTSU and earned cuts by Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brett Young, and the TV show Nashville. Over 15 recordings - his latest is the lovely and agonizingly honest Skin - McConnell has become a beloved troubadour on the indie folk circuit and an honorary red dirt Texas poet through extensive touring there. Now he's grown as a producer working out of his unique studio in Nolensville. I made a trip down there to interview Sean in his cozy working habitat.

Episode 315: Adam Wright is one of the most thoughtful wordsmiths in the Nashville songwriting community, one who's seen all sides of the Music Row machine. Working for a dozen years with Carnival Music, he's carved a niche for himself, scoring a couple of Grammy Award nominations and landing cuts by Lee Ann Womack, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Brandy Clark and Bruce Robison, among others. When he sets aside time to write songs purely for himself as an artist, remarkable things happen, and now he's releasing an epic 18-song collection called Nature Of Necessity, a masterwork that could only have been realized in Music City.

Episode 314: The Devil Makes Three has been one of roots music's outstanding if quiet success stories of the past twenty years. Formed in Santa Cruz, CA in 2001, they got out ahead of the O Brother phenomenon and built a unique, crowd-pleasing sound through a renegade admixture of early blues, hard country, gospel and punk rock. In this hour, founding singer and songwriter Pete Bernhard reflects on a career that's surprised him and, after a season of personal loss, the cathartic process behind the rather dark and candid album Spirits, their tenth as a band.

Episoded 313: Sierra Hull brings a measure of small-town delight and innocence to roots and bluegrass that perfectly compliments her innate gifts and her formal schooling in high level music-making. The mandolinist, songwriter, singer, and band leader has emerged, since her youthful debut in 2008, as a star of her field and an inspiring figure in Americana. Her four IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year awards are part of the story. But so is her composing, her collaborating and her records. The first in five years - and her first independent release - is A Tip Toe High Wire, coming March 7. This episode complements a bio-oriented show in 2018, emphasizing Hull's recent work with Béla Fleck, Cory Wong and others, and of course the thought behind and production of her newest release.

See Craig's show notes at WMOT.org.

Episode 312: In one of the big surprise stories in roots music of the past six months, bluegrass star and IIIrd Tyme Out founder Russell Moore was named the newest member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, taking over the male vocal and guitar role held by Dan Tyminski for years. Moore is on the upcoming album Arcadia and set to go on extensive tours in 2025 and '26. It's a big move for this fan favorite. Moore got his start with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver in the 80s and then started his own band - IIIrd Tyme Out - in 1991. Since then he's been perhaps the most awarded male voice in bluegrass. This is the story of how he launched and managed his impressive and influential career.