American Songcatcher

Today, I'm sharing a conversation I had with guitarist, writer, archivist, teacher and scholar Cameron Knowler, who has lovingly absorbed an archive's worth of early American guitar styles, and it shows. His self-illustrated book Guitars Have Feelings Too views flat picking as a continuation of the dance music that became bluegrass, not just virtuosic instrumental music. ⁠ ⁠ Cameron is a writer fo...

Today on the program, we're letting our friends at The Bluegrass Situation takeover our feed with a brand new series called "Finding Lucinda." Episode One: Introducing Finding Lucinda As we join the story, Ismay has been living and working on their family ranch for almost a decade – and they're looking for change. For several years the independent singer-songwriter has been playing in a Lucinda Wi...

Today on the program, we're sharing our most robust and entertaining episode since beginning five years ago, honoring the king of the five string banjo, Earl Scruggs. Featuring more than 25 different voices all touched by Earl, this part narrative, part field recording feature will give you a glimpse into the life of Earl Scruggs and his story that is completely unique, informed by those who knew...

Get your raffle ticket here! For just a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a person who plays music, whether they're professional, amateur or just getting started. Imagine what it would be like to lose the instrument that helps you understand your life, to make sense of the world. Now, imagine losing it and most of what you own during the most traumatic event of your life. Who is going to help y...

Today, I'm sharing a conversation I had with one of today's most eclectic roots musicians, Buffalo Nichols. Since his earliest infatuations with guitar, Carl, who goes by the name Buffalo Nichols has asked himself the same question: How can I bring the blues of the past into the future? A student of African traditions and its roots in the blues, as well as the black influence on "white" music in c...

Over the last 5 years, we have had the privilege of bringing you stories of Pioneering musicians such as Bill Monroe, Sam Cooke, Johnny Cash, Lead Belly, Dolly Parton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Pete Seeger, Jean Ritchie and so many more. However, a recently shift was forced upon the American Songcatcher program. Our distributor, Spotify for Podcasters/Creators, has taken down 1/4 of our episodes on a...

A few years back, we had the pleasure of partnering with Smithsonian Folkways for a special two part series on Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, who was born 99 years ago earlier this month. To honor his legacy, we combined these two pieces and re-releasing them today. We'll traverse Moe's early career, bankruptcy, and the tumultuous yet tantalizing 40 years of iconic recordings with pioneering...

Back in July of 2024, I had the pleasure of bringing the first LIVE American Songcatcher podcast experience to the historic Graham County Courthouse in Robbinsville, NC. This time, I can't edit out all of my stumbles. The multimedia presentation traverses Western North Carolina music history starting with the native Cherokee, first settlers and immigration, African American influence on Appalachia...

ReString Appalachia www.americansongcatcher.com/ReStringAppalachia ReString Appalachia is an initiative by American Songcatcher to get instruments that were lost due to Helene back in the hands of musicians throughout Appalachia. This effort is supported by over 125 roots musicians, including Bela Fleck, Rhiannon Giddens, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Infamous Stringdusters and many more, as well as...

Today on the program, we're proud to present the story behind the most widely recorded murder ballad in American history, the true St. Louis story of "Frankie and Johnny." Johnny's real name was Albert, and though the phrase "He was doin' her wrong" has been the constant refrain, the depiction of Frankie Baker has always been one of a vengeful murderess - rather than murder in self defense - and s...

Today, I'm sharing a conversation I had with Grammy-nominated folk singer, storyteller, humanitarian, author and multi-virtuoso-instrumentalist John McCutcheon. During his five-decade career, John has released 44 albums spanning an eclectic catalog of ballads, historical songs, children's songs, love songs, topical satire, fiddle and hammer dulcimer instrumentals, and even symphonic works. He is r...

Today on the program, we present the story behind the Father of Soul, Sam Cooke. Growing up in the church, Sam knew he wanted to be a singer by the time he was five years old. There was a magnetic and infectious quality to this young Gospel singer, and he knew he was destined for bigger things than singing sacred music. The risk he took in becoming a pop singer was massive, but it produced the fir...

Today on the program, we're proud to present the story behind the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills. One of the most influential and iconic bandleaders and musicians of the 1930's-1950's, Bob came from a humble life of a poor sharecropping family, and was deeply influenced by old time and breakdown fiddle through his Texas state champion family of fiddlers in his father and uncle. Bob also loved al...

Today, I'm sharing a conversation I had with GRAMMY-NOMINATED American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader Charlie Hunter. He first came on to the scene in the early 1990s, and simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, and melodies, on custom seven and eight-string guitars, as featured in trios and quintet projects, as well as Garage-A-Trois. Notably, Charlie is also a student of ragtime g...

Today, we proudly present something a little different on American Songcatcher. Instead of the usual documentary podcast-style piece, this is a compilation of field recordings I did in Buncombe and Madison Counties just outside of Asheville, NC. Considered the mecca of the long held traditions in ballad singing and old-time mountain music, this area is also home to the "Minstrel of the Appalachian...

Today on the program, we present the story of the father of North Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Mississippi Fred McDowell. From humble beginnings, Fred was inspired from the likes of Charley Patton, his neighbor Eli "Booster" Green and the sounds he gathered from guitarists in Memphis, Mississippi and the Delta, and defined the often overlooked nuances of the blues. Like many of the great Southe...

Today on our program, we present the story of one of the most iconic American Folk songs, born from the lineage of 16th century ballads brought by immigrants from the British Isles, "Shady Grove". Often used in both dance and courtship, the timeless melody was the backbone for countless ballads and folk songs that made their way into North America and took root in the Appalachian and Ozark Mountai...

Today on our program, we're delighted to release the first episode of Season 3, which will consist entirely of single stories. In this story, we dive into the life of renowned songwriter, riverboat pilot, folklorist, song collector, music historian, accomplished fiddler and banjoist, clog & shuffle dancer, storyteller and consummate entertainer John Hartford. One of the most brilliant yet lesser-k...

Today, we proudly present the sixth installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, where we're collaborating with artists around the country to share unique and lesser-known musical history. Our narrator today is Joe Makoviecki (mackavecky) who brings to the surface a near century-old lineage, the story of New Jersey's own first family of folk music, The Ridgeways, who settled in a territory deep in South...

Today, we proudly present the fifth installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, where we're collaborating with artists around the country to share unique and lesser-known musical history. Our narrator today is Dustin Dale Gaspard, a 9th generation cajun who comes from the deep, deep South, the Acadian region of Louisiana. Dustin shares the very unique history of the genre Swamp Pop, with detailed conte...

Today, we proudly present the fourth installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, where we're collaborating with artists around the country to share unique and lesser-known musical history. Our storyteller is cowboy & poet Andy Hedges , who hails from Lubbock, TX and is doing his part to keep the old cowboy song traditions alive. Andy takes us back to the late 1800's, in the vast Western plains to the f...

For our third installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, we present the following audio-rich piece - described as "sound painting" - brought to you by Muddy Boots Radio, a podcast that I only recently came into contact with by way of its creator, Tenali Hrenak. This particular episode honored a legend of radio from Grass Valley, CA - Mikail Graham. A composer, performer, producer, music promoter, advo...

Today, we proudly present the first installment of the LOCAL FOCAL series, where we're collaborating with artists to share musical stories from different locations throughout America - in celebration of the parts that make up the whole fabric of American music history. First up, we're bringing you the works of Derek Piotr , a folklorist and musician who's been deep in research about a particular f...

ANNOUNCEMENTS! 1. Season 3 NEEDS your financial support! Can you commit to $1 a month via Patreon ? - OR - Send a one-time donation through Venmo or PayPal 2. We're changing the format next season to SINGLE STORIES released every few weeks, so we can give each story full attention, and put out content more frequently. 3. CALLING ALL WRITERS! Do you love human stories? Love music history? Do you ha...

This is our season finale, part two of a special audio-documentary series on Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, in collaboration with Smithsonian Folkways. Part one walked us through Moe's childhood, teenage years, early career, the first two labels he created, bankruptcy, as well as the early years of Folkways Records. In part two, we traverse 40 years of iconic recordings with pioneering and l...