The WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour Podcast

KYLE DILLINGHAM, of Oklahoma City, started playing the violin when he was nine. While still in high school, Dillingham was featured twice on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and had performed with legends Roy Clark and Hank Thompson. Dillingham has taken his music to 37 countries earning him the title of “Oklahoma’s Musical Ambassador” and wrapped up his 2019 Silk Road and The Fiddle Sister State Tour through China marking his 13th trip there. He also made his Grand Ole Opry debut in July.

FAST TRACK is new bluegrass super group following the recent announcement of the retirement of long time Cardinal Tradition band leader, David Parmley. The five members of Fast Track are not only all highly decorated in awards from the IBMA and SPBGMA organizations, but are also veteran players on the Grand Ole Opry stage, across the United States, up through Canada, and throughout Europe. Between all of the gentlemen, they have performed with, recorded on and participated in countless projects with bluegrass and country music royalty throughout their most impressive careers. The Fast Track members are: Dale Perry (banjo, bass vocals), Steve Day (fiddle, vocals), Ron Spears (bass, vocals), Jesse Brock (mandolin, vocals), and Duane Sparks (guitar, vocals). The band’s debut EP is set to be released after the first of the year. Their WoodSongs performance will be their first official show as an ensemble.

WoodSongs Kids: Kentucky Just Us is a family bluegrass band from Greensburg, Kentucky.

RIDERS IN THE SKY have been keepers of the flame passed on by the Sons of the Pioneers, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, reviving and revitalizing the genre for over thirty years. And while remaining true to the integrity of Western music, they have themselves become modern-day icons by branding the genre with their own legendary wacky humor and way-out Western wit, and all along encouraging buckaroos and buckarettes to live life "The Cowboy Way!" Riders In The Sky are stars of the stage, screen, the Grand Ol' Opry, National Public Radio, XM Satellite Radio, Saturday morning TV, and are the only exclusively Western artist to have won a Grammy Award. They truly are "America's Favorite Cowboys!

WoodSongs Kid: Phoebe White is an award winning 8-year-old singer from London, Kentucky.

JOE MULLINS & THE RADIO RAMBLERS are at the top of their game. Celebrating their 10th year as a professional touring band, JMRR won the coveted “Entertainer of the Year” Award at the 30th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards; this is the band’s first win – and first nomination – in this category. In addition, JMRR won "Collaborative Recording of the Year" for "The Guitar Song" with special guest, Del McCoury. They have been seen by thousands of fans across the continent through performances at a vast array of venues including the National Folk Festival, Bluegrass Underground, Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman, and regular guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Their latest is release is 'For The Record' on Billy Blue Records.

GUMBO, GRITS & GRAVY is a ‘gathering’ featuring three brilliant musicians with culturally and musically diverse backgrounds. The new musical roots collaboration are mystic violinist Anne Harris, Creole torchbearer Marcella Simien, and renaissance blueman Guy Davis. As the name implies, Gumbo, Grits & Gravy is grounded in the roots of a hearty, home-cooked meal, the foundation of family and tradition, which is more often guided by maternal inspirations. Through this understanding, it is a celebration of a musical and cultural diversity that this trio hopes to document and spread to the world in 2019 and beyond.

WoodSongs Kids: Skyline Drive is youth bluegrass band from Kentucky.

ROB ICKES AND TREY HENSLEY are a powerhouse acoustic duo that has electrified the acoustic music scene. Rob is a 15-time IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Dobro Player of the Year and Trey a Tennessee-born guitar prodigy who made his Grand Ole Opry debut at the age of 11. White-hot picking and stone country vocals are still the driving force of the duo, but now with added grit and a nod to the rootsier side of Americana. Their new Compass Records album is ‘World Full of Blues’.

LARRY CAMPBELL & TERESA WILLIAMS have been called “The First Couple of Americana” (Mojo). Multi-instrumentalist-singer-songwriter Larry Campbell and singer-guitarist Teresa Williams’ acclaimed eponymous 2015 debut, released after seven years of playing in Levon Helm’s band – and frequent guesting with Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Phil Lesh, Little Feat, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassady, brought to the stage the crackling creative energy of a decades-long offstage union. A whirlwind of touring and promo followed, and when the dust cleared, the duo was ready to do it all again on ‘Contraband Love’, their new album on Red House Records and a riskier slice of Americana.

WoodSongs Kid: Duncan Stiit is a fifteen-year-old award-winning dobro player from Knoxville, Tennessee.

CHARLIE HUNTER AND LUCY WOODWARD are known for excelling in different genres, yet the two veteran musicians have been running in similar circles before pairing up for touring in 2018. With a career spanning 26 years and almost 20 albums, virtuoso guitarist Charlie Hunter has worked with the likes of Norah Jones, Mos Def, John Mayer, and D’Angelo. He is widely considered the authority on the seven and eight - string guitar. Lucy Woodward made her major label debut in 2003. She has since recorded/toured with Rod Stewart, Snarky Puppy, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Pink Martini, Chaka Khan and Carole King releasing 3 more albums along the way. ‘Music!Music!Music!’ marks the recorded debut of the musical partnership and an exhilarating blast of blues, soul and funk.

GINA CHAVEZ is a 12-time Austin Music Award winner, including 2019 Best Female Vocals. Her bilingual, pan-Latin sound explore the true meaning of “Americana" as she and her five-piece band take audiences on a high-energy journey through Latin America and beyond. Gina tours internationally as a cultural ambassador with the U.S. State Dept, and runs Niñas Arriba, a college scholarship fund for young women in gang-dominated El Salvador. Her NPR Tiny Desk concert has more than 890,000 views and her national TV debut is now airing on PBS stations nationwide..

MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY is one of the most revered and accomplished singer songwriters of his generation. Considered as “America’s Cowboy” because of his work to preserve the music and lifestyle of the west, he is also a prolific artist. From his his songs WILDFIRE and GERONIMO’S CADILLAC, CAROLINIA IN THE PINES and more his music has crossed all boundries from pop to rock, bluegrass to folk and more.

MIHOKO GOTO is one of the leading accordionists in Japan, whose unique sound and performing style is highly praised both at home and abroad. Mihoko started playing the piano at the age of five, and at age ten, she took up the accordion. She is an artist with inclination towards classical and east European and Roma music. At the same time, she adheres to and cherishes her own identity, which brings her affection and appreciation towards Japanese music. Audience will be intrigued by Mihoko’s presentation of accordion music – a new genre of collaboration of Japanese and European music on a traditional European instrument.

WoodSongs Kids: Alexander and William Auer are accomplished violists from Lexington, Kentucky who are twin brothers.

DARIN & BROOKE ALDRIDGE combine rich harmonies with impeccable musicianship to create the unmistakable sound that has made them one of the hottest young acts in acoustic music. Darin spent 6 years as a member of the acclaimed County Gentleman and is a highly sought-after multi-instrumentalist. Brooke has been lauded for having one of the most powerful voices in music of any genre is the reigning IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year. The North Carolina duo will be performing songs from ’Inner Journey’, their debut album on Rounder Records.

STEPHANIE URBINA JONES is well-known for celebrating her Hispanic heritage through her music, which can be described as Latin-rooted Americana, or “Texicana country folk-rock.” Jones' latest studio album, ‘Tularosa’, is an inspired marriage of country classics and mariachi rhythms named for the place where it was recorded. Tularosa honors Urbina Jones’ musical icons — a string of legends from Dolly, Patsy, Willie, and Merle to Johnny and June — and the Mexican heritage that feeds her sound and soul. She will be performing on WoodSongs with her band Honky Tonk Mariachi.

WoodSongs Kid: Jenna Quinones is a fourteen-year-old ukulele player and singer from Lexington, Kentucky.

THE FOLK LEGACY TRIO are George Grove and Rick Dougherty formerly with the Kingston Trio and Jerry Siggins, former lead singer of The Diamonds. These three men have been involved with the music of the great Folk Era since it's very beginning sharing stages stages with the best known names with musical icons like Peter Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, The Limeliters, The New Christy Minstrels, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Mamas & The Papas, John Sebastian, Josh White Jr, Glenn Yarbrough, Pete Seeger and more. It is a journey through the Great American Folksong Booky with their signature dynamic harmonies enriching some of the most beloved songs ever written.

CHANCE MCCOY is a Grammy Award winning Indie Folk musician from West Virginia. A virtuoso fiddler, guitarist, and banjo player, McCoy is best known as a member of GRAMMY-winning Americana powerhouse Old Crow Medicine Show, but ‘Wander Wide,’ his debut solo album, reveals a remarkable depth and versatility far beyond anything we’ve heard from him yet. Captivating in its cross of the traditional and the progressive, the record shows little regard for the conventional boundaries of genre and decade, blending old-school bluegrass melodies with modern rock and roll arrangements and rich, atmospheric production.

WoodSongs Kids: Marlee Hart and Hudson MacReady hail from Knoxville, Tennessee and perfom blues and roots music as a duo..

THE KINGSTON TRIO began with Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane and Dave Guard in 1955… Home base: San Francisco. The three founded what turned out to be the most influential music band to emerge from the 1950s, only to be outdone by The Beatles. With talent and tenacity, they rose to become the undisputed kings of an acoustic musical genre that exploded onto the American scene, and still exists today. Celebrating the group’s more than 60 years of entertaining audiences, all three current members, Mike Marvin, Tim Gorelangton and Don Marovich have intrinsic links to and experience with the original group.

ALLIE COLLEEN is no stranger to the music industry. A Belmont University graduate from Owasso, Oklahoma with a style that is truly her own, Allie has a passion for singing and songwriting since a young age has garnered her a reputation of being a notable songwriter with an iconic-sounding voice. Her impeccably strong voice with hints of timeless tradition falls between classic country and the emerging country sound. Her recent debut single, “Work In Progress” defines the life that’s shaped her with personal lyrics and transparency in both the vocals and delivery.

WoodSongs Kids: The Byrne Brothers are a traditional Irish Music Band and Irish Dancers from Donegal, Ireland.

From it's humble origins in Hawaii to becoming a worldwide phenomenon, the ukulele is having a global revival thanks to artists like Jake Shimabukuro, Emi Sunshine and more. It was a favorite instrument of George Harrison and Eddie Vedder called it "an activist instrument." On this WoodSongs, we'll be exploring the many styles, sounds and stories of the uke with musicians from across the country.

EMISUNSHINE has been attracting national attention since she was nine years old with appearances on “The Today Show,” NBC’s “Little Big Shots,” “Pickler & Ben,” the Grand Ole Opry and elsewhere. Rolling Stone named 15-year-old EmiSunshine among “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know,” but she is more than country. With music described as “old-timey,” the East Tennessee native adds her own unique contemporary blend of roots music that is equal parts Americana, Bluegrass, Gospel, Blues and Jazz.

VICTOR & PENNY deliver swing-infused folk-jazz in the band’s signature high-energy style with joy, humor, and soaring musical improvisation. This corset-tight group brings a modern Kansas City voice to their original tunes and prohibition era jazz with sterling musicianship.

DIANA CHITTESTER’S live performance is brought to life by her signature percussive, multi-part acoustic ukulele and guitar playing. This Cleveland, Ohio storyteller uniquely developed style is accentuated by her alternating between picking and strumming, all while pounding out bass lines and drum beats.