Basic Folk

Acclaimed bluegrass musician Missy Raines is also a very cool and funny lady originally from West Virginia, not far from the Maryland border and the city of Cumberland. First of all, I had questions for her about why people from West Virginia are SO into their state. She gets into that and also the influence of the rich tapestry of bluegrass music she found there as well as the scene in nearby Was...

Bob Hillman had a real thing going on in the early 2000's. He had made waves in New York City rubbing shoulders with some of the finest songwriters of the era at places like the open mic, Fast Folk and The Living Room, the singer-songwriter was creatively fulfilled, but not gaining the momentum in order to experience strategic growth in folk music. After opening for a long list of dates for Su...

Joe Pug will not engage in the Left-Brained Vs Right-Brained debate. His artistry and pragmatic business sense have lived in actual parallel through his music career. His songwriting and creativity are fueled by passion and result in dramatic and exciting songs, as on his new album Sketch of a Promised Departure . He also has stayed ahead of the curve and created an ecosystem where self-reliance,...

Singer songwriter Hannah Connolly, originally from Eau Claire, WI (same as Justin Vernon and the Bon Iver crew!) has just released her second solo album, Shadowboxing . Written to reflect musical and life transitions, it was recorded in beautiful Idyllwild, CA, just outside of her new hometown of Los Angeles. While in the mountain town, Hannah reconnected with nature through hiking and found joy i...

Bestie Lizzie No has just released their career-defining new record Halfsies and we are 100% here for it on our 250th episode!! lizzie, who co-hosts Basic Folk, put her entire being, identity and creativity into this project. There's a lot going on with their main character, the avatar Miss Freedomland, and we're getting to the bottom of it in our conversation. Our hero's journey begin...

Dinty Child , founding member of Session Americana, the beloved Boston roots music collective, who've accidentally been a band for twenty years, has just released his second solo album, Letting the Lions In. The new songs feature co-writing on all tracks between Dinty and Boston area songwriters like Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst and Dave Godowsky. A self-proclaimed slow-writer, the majority of...

Tyrone Cotton , a decades-long mainstay of the Louisville, KY music scene just released his 2023 debut album, "Man Like Me." A quick listen to these songs reveals an artist who has spent decades steeped in roots music. Lizzie No spoke with Tyrone and Ray Rizzo, one of the album’s producers, about Tyrone’s journey as an artist and the making of ‘Man Like Me.’ Tyrone grew up listening to his...

Canada's Talia Schlanger is best known for her work in broadcasting; guest-hosting Q with Tom Power on CBC and Alec Baldwin's "Here's the Thing" podcast, as well as taking over for David Dye on NPR Music's World Cafe in Philadelphia. Before all that, Talia was an actor and singer in many theater productions including Mamma Mia, Queen's We Will Rock You and Green Day&#39...

Dive into the enchanting world of Elise Leavy , a musician hailing from the picturesque Monterey, California through her latest album A Little Longer . Elise's artistic journey is steeped in the influence of her magical surroundings and a childhood filled with music, thanks to her mom's painting and stepdad's musical talents. Growing up with a deep appreciation for nature and a belief...

Sarah Jarosz is what happens when young women are taken seriously. A huge part of the mandolinist’s story is that she had supportive male mentors and that has added to her confidence. We all know the age old story of “Young woman shows promise, gets exploited by the patriarchy and it affects her work.” We need to hear stories like this. Starting in her hometown of Wimberley, Texas, just 45 minutes...

Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, known as Viv & Riley, dive deep into the nuances of old-time music, folk influences, and the process behind their album, Imaginary People . The duo, who ​met ​at ​a ​music ​camp ​in ​Port ​Townsend, ​Washington, trace their roots from Riley's disciplined musical practice to Viv's intuitive approach. The two found inspiration from growing up in the Seattl...

Rachael Kilgour unravels the layers of her late father on the album, "My Father Loved Me." Recorded in the cold of Toronto and produced by Rose Cousins (who also joins us for this conversation), this album carries the essence of Canadian roots and is a profound exploration of family heritage through the lens of an ordinary, hard working and humble man who died in 2017. The Duluth-born Rach...

The cover of Darrell Scott's latest album, Old Cane Back Rocker, immediately sets the tone for your listening experience. The inclusion of the names of the Darrell Scott String Band (Bryn Davies, Matt Flinner and Shad Cobb) lets you know right off the bat that this recording is a band effort. The photo on the album cover gives a visual of Scotts' family roots in rural Kentucky. His cousin...

Let's get folking special! We're closing out 2023 with an exclusive live recording from folk mothership Club Passim , the historic folk venue located in Cambridge, MA, celebrating the bi-annual festival campfire . and its remarkable 25th anniversary. It started as a way for the club to book a slow holiday weekend and now 25 years later, campfire. is still held every Memorial Day and Labor...

Songwriter Maya de Vitry and bassist Ethan Jodziewicz come to their partnership with an understanding for their chosen lifestyle and a creative playfulness that enhances their connection. While Maya's roots are firmly planted in folk music, Ethan brings classical music and improvisation to the table. They've been collaborating together since Maya's post-Stray Birds solo career, which l...

Thirty years ago, Rosanne Cash experienced an all-encompassing transformation. She had just left Nashville, her major label record deal and her marriage. She was living in New York and found herself falling in love with her producer, the guitarist John Leventhal. Her previous album Interiors had set the stage for the new Rosanne. With her landmark album, The Wheel , Cash and Leventhal came togethe...

Long before the world fell in love with the music of Iron & Wine, and even before he knew that he wanted a career in music, Sam Beam knew that he loved making things. His parents, who didn’t necessarily understand their artsy kid but wanted to support him, kept Sam well-supplied in drawing paper and art supplies so that his imagination could run free. Sam knew that he was different from other...

After two decades in The Infamous Stringdusters , the Grammy-award winning neo bluegrass band, Travis Book releases his rock americana debut: Love and Other Strange Emotions . That's not to say that Book, who thrives on collaboration, got here on his own. The Colorado musician (now residing in Western North Carolina), was raised by parents who went out their way to ensure that young Travis res...

Former trumpet player and anxious adventurer Caroline Cotter had been constantly on the move performing hundreds of live shows since 2015. At the dawn of the pandemic she had a full album in the can and ready to go. When the world shut down, so did she. She set her songs to the side and didn't pick up her guitar for a long while. She left her city of Portland, Maine and headed even more north...

Jobi Riccio has only begun to scratch the surface of what they have to offer on their debut album Whiplash . The songwriting is centered around self-discovery and mourning past lives laid alongside super smart country and pop melodies. Our hero grew up an outdoor kid amongst the woods of Red Rocks Parks and Amphitheatre in Colorado. A strong bluegrass community encircled her playing from a very yo...

Curiosity, luck and drive are three words that revolve around singer-songwriter Billy Keane . He was born with all three traits and they are the hallmark of his music, especially his new album Oh, These Days . The seven song cycle was written during the pandemic and right after some very big life changes: he got divorced, quit alcohol and split with his band The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow. He approac...

Bluegrass hero and former weird kid Alice Gerrard strongly believes that traditional music is connected to everyday life. She has said: “When you listen to traditional music you have such a sense of this connectedness of this person’s life. It comes out of the earth.” She was first exposed to folk music while attending Antioch College. Jeremy Foster (her boyfriend at the time, who would become her...

This week we have a Basic Folk hero returning to the pod! Tre Burt is back today, going track by track through his new album, ‘Traffic Fiction.’ I am a longtime fan of Tre’s music, and this new release on Oh Boy Records is my favorite of his records so far. It combines what fans have come to love about Tre’s writing and unmistakable vocal performances with a new infusion of soul and Motown-inspire...

Antje Duvekot confronts trauma with a newfound wisdom and fierceness on her new record, My New Wild West , her best in her 20 plus year career produced by her friend Mark Erelli. To put it plainly, Antje, who moved to America from Germany at age 13, had a really rough time as a teenager. She was transplanted to a totally new universe with a new language she barely understood with unsupportive and...

Your Career vs Your Soul: a debate feat. The Milk Carton Kids (Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan), music journalist and Why Write Host, Kim Ruehl , Isa Burke (Lula Wiles, Aoife O’Donovan), musician and Basic Folk guest host lizzie no and yours truly, Cindy Howes, boss of Basic Folk. It's Folk Debate Club, our occasional crossover series with fellow folk-pod Why We Write ! I’d like to think that...