Biscuits & Jam

George Motz is a self-proclaimed Burger Scholar, as well as an author, filmmaker, and TV host who’s been called the “foremost authority on hamburgers” by The New York Times. George grew up on Long Island, but he has deep family ties to South Carolina on his mother’s side. He spent a lot of time in the Lowcountry as a kid, soaking up the food and culture, which helped shape his lifelong passion for...

Miranda Lambert has Texas roots that run deep - she grew up in Lindale, just east of Dallas - but Tennessee has become her home. In this episode, Sid interviews the country legend during a Southern Living cover shoot at her farm just outside of Nashville. It’s been a big year for Lambert, who co-produced Ella Langley’s blockbuster album, Dandelion, and co-wrote the epic single that’s swept the cou...

Lanie Gardner was born and raised in Burnsville, North Carolina, in a family where music was a big part of life. Her grandfather, JD, was a musician, as was her Dad, and Lanie borrowed from both of them for a sound that blends the storytelling of country music with the grit of classic rock and the energy of pop. Lanie first caught the world’s attention with her cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” w...

Mae Estes was born and raised in Hope, Arkansas, and she got her start on stage singing the national anthem at rodeos as a kid. After becoming the first person in her family to get a college degree, she moved to Nashville and, with a good bit of ingenuity on social media, she started to make a name for herself. In 2022, her single “Thinkin’ ‘Bout Cheatin’” got some attention, and in 2024 Mae was i...

Hector Garate is the owner and pitmaster behind the acclaimed Charleston, South Carolina, restaurant Palmira Barbecue. Born in Puerto Rico, he grew up with a deep love for his culture and his family’s cooking. During his teenage years, he moved with them to North Carolina and New York before settling in the Lowcountry. In 2024, after years of experimenting with different barbecue styles, he opened...

Karen Fairchild was born to Southern parents in Gary, Indiana, but whether she was living in the Midwest or the South, that Southern influence was always there. She eventually made her way to Birmingham, Alabama, where she attended Samford University and met her future bandmate, Kimberly Schlapman, through the school’s choir program. In the late ’90s, she was reunited with Schlapman in Nashville a...

 Dolly Parton was last on the show back in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and we talked on the phone about her Christmas traditions, her childhood in East Tennessee, and her incredible work getting millions of kids to read through the Imagination Library. This time I got to sit down with her in person at her studio outside of Nashville, and she hasn’t slowed down one bit. She told me all...

Lauren Alaina was born in Rossville, Georgia, where she discovered her love of music at a very early age. In 2011, she was introduced to millions of viewers on American Idol, where she finished as the runner-up. Later that year, she released her debut album, Wildflower, which helped establish her as one of country music’s brightest young stars. Plenty more success has followed, along with high-pro...

Maggie Rose was born and raised in Potomac, Maryland, where she grew up eating blue crabs, attending Catholic school, and singing solos in front of her church’s congregation. A self-described black sheep of the family, she headed to Clemson University in South Carolina before leaving school early to move to Nashville for a career in music. But it was her family’s support that gave her the courage...

 Duane Betts is the son of legendary Allman Brothers Band cofounder Dickey Betts, and he's even named after another of the band's founding members, Duane Allman, whose life was cut tragically short. Rather than relying on his family name, Duane has earned his own reputation through years of touring, collaborating, and developing a sound that's distinctly his own. In addition to leading his ow...

Ashley Cooke grew up in a family that moved around a lot, from Wisconsin to California to Florida. But wherever she lived, music was always a constant, and she developed a passion for songwriting at an early age. She eventually ended up in Nashville for college, where she got to know both the city and the music industry up close. After a string of successful singles and signing with Big Loud Recor...

Cedric the Entertainer first rose to national fame as one of The Original Kings of Comedy before starring in films like Barbershop and the hit sitcom The Neighborhood, which he also produced. Anthony Anderson is best known for his Emmy-nominated role on Black-ish, along with films including Hustle & Flow and The Departed. The two met through acting more than 30 years ago and have remained close fr...

Willow Avalon was born and raised in a part of rural Georgia that she says “felt like the Wild West.” She got her start performing in the Baptist church choir, where she played piano and got her first guitar. Later, she joined her father, the acclaimed musician Jim White, onstage in dive bars. After dropping out of high school, she moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles to New York. She even lived in h...

Clint Black spent years honing his craft in Texas clubs and honky-tonks before breaking through with his landmark 1989 album, Killin' Time, which became one of the biggest debut country albums ever. Over the course of a career spanning nearly four decades, Clint has sold more than 20 million records and earned countless awards and honors. These days, Clint is as active and creative as ever, writin...

Steve Earle is a Grammy-winning songwriter, performer, author, actor, activist, and storyteller whose career has been defined by honesty, grit, and fearless songwriting. Born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, Steve spent most of his childhood in South Texas around San Antonio. After a move to Nashville and years of writing songs for other artists, he released his breakthrough album, Guitar Town, in 1986....

Chef Shuai Wang was the runner-up on the 22nd season of Bravo’s Top Chef and is the force behind two standout restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina—Jackrabbit Filly and King BBQ—where he brings together the flavors of his childhood in Beijing and the spirit of the South in some pretty unforgettable ways. He grew up just a short walk from Tiananmen Square, in a tiny home with no electricity or...

Daniel Gerard Breland, better known simply as BRELAND, grew up as the son of ordained ministers in a household deeply rooted in music and faith. As a student at the prestigious Peddie School and then at Georgetown University, he began exploring a wide range of musical genres including country, hip-hop, and R&B. He gained widespread attention in 2019 with the viral hit “My Truck,” and continued to...

 Carla Hall is a chef, restaurateur, author, and television host you may recognize from Bravo’s Top Chef, ABC’s Emmy Award-winning daytime show The Chew, or her many appearances on Food Network. These days, Carla is channeling her creativity into all kinds of new projects, including Bumblebirds, a Southern-inspired fried chicken restaurant in Washington, D.C. Carla is also preparing for the debut...

Evan LeRoy and his partners at LeRoy and Lewis are making what they call “New School Barbecue,” blending traditional smoking techniques with inventive dishes and locally sourced ingredients. The good news is that Evan isn’t keeping all his barbecue secrets to himself—he’s sharing them in a new book called New School Barbecue: Recipes for Next-Level Smoking and Grilling. Not only is it full of grea...

Ben Rector grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a place he says has its own brand of Southern. He first picked up guitar after watching counselors play at summer camp, but it was a praise and worship class in high school, led by a teacher who encouraged students to really run with their talent, that set him on his path. After studying at the University of Arkansas, Ben built a career on his own terms, goin...

Fred Minnick is one of the most knowledgeable people in America when it comes to whiskey. Born and raised in the small town of Jones, Oklahoma, he developed an early interest in shooting, fishing, and messing around in the great outdoors. Inspired by his grandfather’s military service, he enlisted in the National Guard while attending Oklahoma State University, eventually serving as an Army photoj...

Amy Grant first joined Biscuits & Jam back in 2021, shortly after undergoing open-heart surgery. Not long after that conversation, she was in a serious bike accident that led to a long and challenging recovery. Through it all, she’s maintained a remarkably positive outlook, saying she doesn’t “take a day for granted.” Her recovery brought her back to songwriting, which she describes as a kind of t...

Heather McMahan was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, in a close-knit family that loved to laugh and had a real sense of adventure. Her dad came from a long line of Delta employees and was also a pilot who loved to fly, often taking the family on spontaneous weekend trips to places like Hilton Head. That same spirit led Heather to Ole Miss without ever visiting the campus, where she majored in...

Kathryn Stockett’s The Help captivated millions of readers and brought national attention to the complex relationships between Black housekeepers and their White employers during the Civil Rights era in Mississippi. It also became an Academy Award winning film just two years later, with Kathryn’s friend Octavia Spencer winning for Best Supporting Actress. Now, 17 years later, she’s back with her l...

Susan Tedeschi may have been born and raised in Boston, but she’s forged a deep and lasting connection to Southern culture. She grew up on blues, gospel, and soul music before eventually embarking on a career that brought all those influences together, making her one of the most exciting voices in modern rock and roll. She’s also spent more than 25 years in Jacksonville, Florida, where she and her...