My Backstage Pass

Join Billy Hubbard and his wife Sarah on this part 2 special episode with Singer Songwriter John Smith Presley, a man who has presented DNA and other convincing evidence to prove he is the son of Elvis Presley, and his attorney friend/band mate Tony Petty. John was born in 1961 and adopted and raised by an uncle and aunt of Elvis, Ira Dee and Etta Smith. John is the subject of a film about his lif...

Michelle Malone joins hosts Billy and Sarah Hubbard for a fun conversation about her 16th studio album, Southern Comfort !  The record features a collective of all star special guests including Buddy Miller, Randal Bramblett, Will Kimbroug, Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, Rick Richards and Joey Huffman of the Georgia Satellites, and features five songs co-written with legendary songwriter Dean...

Paul Kelly is one of the leading artists making music in Australia and given his remarkable legacy —  consisting of some 29 albums and a career that extends back nearly four decades — he rightfully deserves his place on that pantheon. His new album, Fever Longing Still , marks his first new collection in six years, not counting the various compilations and collections that have helped to reinforce...

Rachael Sage sometimes seems like a force of nature. A distinctive and expressive artist, she could also be considered as one of the individuals at the forefront of the women's movement, having founded her own record label, MPress , being named a six-time Independent Music Award winner, as well as a John Lennon Contest Grand Prize winner. She’s shared stages with an eclectic array of other ar...

Note from My Backstage Pass producer and host Billy Hubbard - After hearing the sad news of the passing of our legendary producer/engineer friend Jim Gaines on November 9th 2024, I wanted to re-release this episode of our conversation from May 2023 in Jim's honor. In a recording career spanning some fifty years, bridging a range in time and style that reaches from the early days at Memphis’s...

It’s little wonder why Grammy Award winning guitarist, vocalist, producer, and band leader Warren Haynes has been hailed by every major publication worldwide. As a solo artist, member of the Allman Brothers Band and leader of the group Gov’t Mule , his accomplishments have been stirring the senses of audiences for better than 40 years. His new solo album, Million Voices Whisper ,  is already ranke...

Grayson Capps is an intuitive songwriter, but on his latest album — his seventh to date — he backtracks to his earliest influences with an affecting set of covers that he became enamored with early on. Titled Heartbreak, Misery & Death , the album finds the Alabama based artist culling classic tracks from the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doc Watson, and Randy Newman while appl...

Reckless Kelly boasts an indomitable career all their own. Led by brothers Willy (vocals/guitar) and Cody Braun (vocals/fiddle/mandolin/harmonica), they’re often referred to as an “alternative country-rock” outfit, but in truth they’re much more than that broad description otherwise implies. The group first formed in Stanley, Idaho in February 1996 and then moved to Austin, Texas, where they quick...

Cody Braun is one of the guiding lights in Reckless Kelly , a band long known as one of the beacons of Austin’s much fabled music scene. Along with his brother Willy, he’s played an essential role in the 17 studio albums the band’s released over the course of the past 30 years, all in addition to being an astute producer and multi-instrumentalist as well. It’s little surprise then that the band’s...

Join hosts Billy and Sarah Hubbard for a fun late night hangout with Billy Droze and his manager Donna Sue Roberts for a conversation filled with laughter! Born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1986, the 10th of 12 children, Billy Droze grew up in Alabama knowing that music was his life as far back as he can remember. “It’s as if I was inserted with a computer chip that made my life revolve around music...

There’s an old saying, “Like father, like son.” Nevertheless, being the child of a famous parent can be a double edged sword. Certain doors may be opened but the expectations can run very high. That would especially seem the case when it comes to Ralph Stanley II and his famous father, a bluegrass pioneer. Nevertheless, the younger Stanley has proven that he’s well capable of carrying on his dad’s...

By any description, Randall Bramblett can claim a varied career. Aside from the fact that he’s released no fewer than 15 solo albums, as a solo artist, he’s also been a much in-demand session player, having worked with Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Robbie Robertson, Elvin Bishop, Steve Winwood, Widespread Panic, and any number of others. That’s hardly surprising considering the fact that he’s a mult...

The milestone tenth studio album from folk-blues luminary Ruthie Foster, Mileage finds the singer-songwriter reflecting on a life that’s been full of professional triumphs, courtesy of a musical journey that took a self-described “little Black girl with a guitar” from singing at churches in rural Texas to chalking up multiple Grammy nominations.  With this album in particular, Ruthie shares a coll...

Rich Ulloa has always been passionate about music. That was evident early on when he established one of the most important independent record stores in the nation with Miami's Yesterday and Today Records. That led to the founding of Y&T Records , which gave birth to the Mavericks , Mary Karlzen and other seminal Florida artists that got their start courtesy of the label. In recent years,...

Wyatt Ellis shares his backstory and music from his debut album Happy Valley . Born not far from the Great Smoky Mountains, Wyatt Ellis' first recollection of hearing the mandolin was Bobby Osborne’s iconic solo on the Osborne Brothers’ bluegrass classic “Rocky Top.” Hearing the Tennessee bluegrass anthem echo throughout the early years of his childhood is what led Wyatt to set his sights on...

(Hear part 2 at this link https://www.buzzsprout.com/1300885/episodes/16246491 ) Join Billy Hubbard and his wife Sarah on this special episode with Author/Screenwriter Rich Carlburg and Singer Songwriter John Smith Presley, a man who has presented DNA and other convincing evidence to prove he is the son of Elvis Presley. John was born in 1961 and adopted and raised by an uncle and aunt of Elvis, I...

Charlie Overbey, once labeled the “Punk Rock Spy In The House Of Honky Tonk" by none other than Lemmy of Motorhead, has redefined the outlaw ethos of Americana music. That’s never been more evident than with the release of his new album, aptly titled In Good Company . A revisit to decades of writing and recording sessions from studios around the world, it is, in effect, the perfect summation...

Simply stated, Steep Canyon Rangers rank among the upper echelon of today’s most prominent bluegrass bands. They’ve extended their musical template far beyond any confined parameters and into the realms of mass appeal, courtesy of songs that resonate with immediate accessibility and all the elements needed  to ensure populist appeal. The band's new album, Live at Greenfield Lake, is a perfect...

Grammy nominated artist Steve Forbert, best known for the classic "Romeo's Tune," is a true American musical treasure, a fact underscored by his newest album Daylight Savings Time , to be released on September 20, 2024 via Blue Rose Music. Like all his recordings of new songs, it's saturated with what renowned rock journalist Robert Christgau discerned as his "omnivorously...

Although many people still think of him as the “And Oates” in the extraordinarily successful Hall & Oates, one of the best-selling duos of all time, John Oates stands on his own as a prolific singer, songwriter, producer, and solo artist. Not only was he responsible for writing or co-writing any number of the pair’s major hits — “Sara Smile,” “She’s Gone,” “Out of Touch,” “You Make My Dreams,”...

The GRAMMY ® Award-winning Americana quintet—Andy Falco [guitar], Chris Pandolfi [banjo], Andy Hall [dobro], Jeremy Garrett [fiddle], and Travis Book [double bass]—have musical influences that truly run the gamut, but their common denominator is certainly bluegrass -- the sound that has in essence defined the course of their career. The Infamous Stringdusters stand out as the rare group who can te...

Jon Langford was originally the drummer for the punk band The Mekons when it formed at the University of Leeds in 1977, but he later took up the guitar as other band members left. Since the mid-1980s he has been one of the leaders in incorporating folk and country music into punk rock. He has released a number of solo recordings as well as recordings with other bands outside of The Mekons, most no...

Passion and persistence are key traits when it comes to finding success in today’s music realms. The band that goes by the name Uncle Lucius took that fact to heart after going on hiatus in 2018 and regrouping five years later. “We started getting this thing rolling in late 2005,” lead singer and songwriter Kevin Galloway tells Lee and Billy . “We put out our first album in 2006 and we had a great...

There are some who still think of multi-instrumentalist John McEuen as the lively multi-instrumentalist who helped found the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the mid ‘60s and then remained at the band’s helm for some 50 years. Nevertheless, after parting ways with the group in 2017 due to various personal and professional disagreements, he’s managed to carve out a vigorous and varied solo career — one wh...

Three time Blues Foundation Traditional Female Artist award winner, Sue Foley’s new album ' One Guitar Woman ' is a heartfelt tribute to the female pioneers of the guitar - including Memphis Minnie, Lydia Mendoza, Maybelle Carter, Ida Presti, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The album showcases the dexterity of Foley’s acoustic nylon string guitar skills as she expands on her blues playing int...