The Wild South

Robert Earl Keen has been writing songs since the late 1970s, when he was an English major at Texas A&M University and has been performing them live for almost as long. We recently caught up with Keen to talk about his life, his songs, his upcoming tour with college buddy and fellow Texan Lyle Lovett, and training his new dog, Cormac.

Frontman for the Steep Canyon Rangers, Woody Platt, takes us back to the band's beginning, discusses the magic of Steve Martin, and why he still calls Brevard, North Carolina, home.In eighteen years, the Steep Canyon Rangers have gone from playing underground bars in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to selling out Carnegie Hall. Guitarist, singer, and frontman Woody Platt, who founded the bluegrass band along with college friend and Rangers banjo player Graham Sharp, sits down with us to discuss the band's evolution and an unexpected partnership with comedian (and banjonist) Steve Martin.In this episode, Platt, an avid fly fisherman, also takes us back to his home in Brevard, North Carolina, and explains how the town's natural setting and musical traditions have impacted his life.

“Bourbon will make you do funny things,” says chef Edward Lee. Growing up in Brooklyn to Korean immigrant parents, Lee’s move to Louisville, Kentucky might surprise some. But sixteen years and several successful restaurants, cookbooks, and television shows later, Lee has made his mark on Southern food. He joins us on the podcast to discuss his new book Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine, which guides us a on a tour around the country eating Lebanese kibbeh in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Vaca Frita in Miami, and slaw dogs in West Virginia. Also chef Lee remembers writer and television star Anthony Bourdain, tells us why he never orders shrimp, and recounts how he masterfully negotiated the purchase of an impressive vintage bourbon collection, including a bottle of Echo Springs from 1917.

Yes, the turnip greens at Taqueria del Sol are legendary (as are the tacos and margaritas), but there is more to this wildly popular Southern restaurant. We caught up with chef Eddie Hernandez and his business partner, Mike Klank, who together have been cooking up delicious Mexican food in Atlanta for more than three decades, to find out how this unlikely duo met, why they're so successful (hint: it's the food), and to dig into Eddie’s new cookbook, Turnip Greens & Tortillas. Plus, at the end of the episode, we switch gears and get a crash course in Southern style with Sid and Ann Mashburn on their three must-haves for every well-dressed man and woman.

Pulitzer-prize winning presidential biographer and Chattanooga native Jon Meacham has written books on the lives of Thomas Jefferson, George H. W. Bush, Andrew Jackson, and the relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. He joins us in this episode of the Whole Hog to discuss essential Southern reading, the historian’s responsibility, moving back to the South, and his new book, 'The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels'.

From Mother Maybelle to Loretta Lynn to Kacey Musgraves, women have been a leading force in Country music since the beginning. In her book, Women Walk the Line: How the Women in Country Music Changed Our Lives, author and music critic Holly Gleason spotlights the impact of twenty-seven legendary artists. Plus, we listen to lots of great songs.

Rick Bragg’s new memoir The Best Cook in the World, takes us back to Possum Trot, Alabama, but this time it’s all about the food. We talk to Rick about the dishes he grew up eating; his momma, Margaret; and the legacy of Southern blue-collar cooking. Ham and red-eye gravy over fresh diced tomatoes, anyone?

On the final episode of the Whole Hog's second season, host John Huey looks back at the year in Southern culture. Matt Hendrickson joins the show to talk about 2017's best music releases, Kim Severson weighs in on Southern food, and Square Books’ Richard Howorth discusses the year's must-read Southern books. For more coverage of the year in Southern food, music, books, and more, keep an eye on gardenandgun.com.

Garden & Gun's latest book, S Is for Southern, is an encyclopedia of Southern tradition and contemporary culture, and this episode of the Whole Hog is its crash course. Host John Huey is joined by editor in chief David DiBenedetto for a rundown of the new book, along with lively readings from some of its contributors. Hear Julia Reed's ode to Doe's Eat Place, a Greenville, Mississippi, institution. And listen in as Roy Blount, Jr. riffs on humidity, Kathleen Purvis retraces bourbon's roots, and Randall Kenan talks Charley Pride.

Jessica Lange is one of the most accomplished actresses of the past four decades, earning acclaim and industry-wide respect for iconic roles in films like Frances and Tootsie, and on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire. But Lange is a talent behind the camera, too. Her photography is featured in the latest issue of Garden & Gun, in which Lange joins author and G&G contributor Julia Reed on a road trip through the Mississippi Delta. Go beyond the feature in the latest episode of the Whole Hog, where host John Huey is joined by Lange and Reed to talk about the trip.