Wide Open Country with Matt Alpert

Jake Worthington is a country music singer from La Porte, Texas, and a finalist on season 6 of The Voice. Of all the country singers that have been on The Voice, Worthington stands out as one of the best. At just 17 years old, Worthington entered the competition. He quickly won over country fans nationwide […]

My guests today are the Band of Heathens, one of the best Americana bands of the last two decades. They formed here in Austin, Texas back in 2005 at Momo’s, a now defunct venue. At the time, songwriters Ed Jurdi, Gordi Quist and Colin Brooks all had separate shows at the club. They clicked, formed […]

My guests on the podcast today are Dale Watson and Ray Benson, two titans of Texas music. They dropped by the studio to talk about the fourth annual Ameripolitan Awards, which they will co-host on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas What’s Ameripolitan? A genre that includes the Western Swing, Honky-Tonk, Rockabilly […]

Rising artist Sam Riggs is our guest today. If I had one word to describe him, it’s ambitious. After just a few minutes of talking with Riggs, I got the sense that he is both incredibly driven and laser-focused on whatever he’s doing, be it music or flying his Cessna over the Guadalupe Mountains. That […]

Welcome back to the Wide Open Country Podcast. My guest today is Kathryn Legendre, one of my favorite up-and-comers here in the Austin. If you want a slice of what this city’s young country music scene is like, Legendre is a good place to start. Her tastes are rooted in traditional country and folk music, yet […]

Troy Cartwright is an up-and-coming Americana artist. He first caught our attention in 2015 when we heard him performing at clubs in Nashville. Although, he’s originally from Dallas, Texas. His latest release is Don’t Fade, a superb follow-up to his 2015 self-titled debut album. I chatted with Cartwright back in October shortly before his show with […]

Brennen Leigh is a country, bluegrass and folk singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. She performs as a solo artist with her musical partner Noel McKay, and is also one-quarter of the bluegrass group High Plains Jamboree. Originally from up north, Leigh has lived in Austin for several years. She is widely revered as an Americana artist, not […]

My guests today are The Derailers, one of the best honky-tonk bands of all time. Part Bakersfield Sound, part Mersey Beat, part Texas swagger. The Derailers make infectious classic country music that makes people and dance and feel happy. Formed in Austin in 1994, the group rose to prominence during the turn of the millennium, […]

The Statesboro Revue are a Texas-based rock and roll band who are heavily inspired by American roots music. Today we talked with Stewart and Garrett Mann, the brothers who are at the core of the group. Their most recent album, 2015’s Jukehouse Revival, is a collection harkens back to the 1970’s, a. la. Rolling Stones, Faces, with […]

My guest today is rising country singer Whitney Rose. She has one of the most beautiful voices in country and a unique countrypolitan. Rose has been drawn to singers Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Kitty Wells since she was a child. While her music is heavily inspired by those sounds and styles, it sounds and […]