Ron Olesko's Folk Music Notebook

Singer-songwriter Paul Kaplan joins host Ron Olesko to discuss the re-issue of his album "King of Hearts"

Host Ron Olesko sits down with singer-songwriter Emily Scott Robinson (www.emilyscottrobinson.com) to discuss her new album _"Appalachia"_, her third album with Oh Boy Records and her fifth since beginning her career a decade ago.

Host Ron Olesko chats with Gina Coleman about her latest project, a tribute album to the"Uncrowned Queen of the Blues", Ida Cox. One of the few female blues artists of the 1920s who wrote their own songs, Ida Cox was overshadowed by her contemporaries such as Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie. Gina is about to release the first tribute album to this important artist. Gina is the founder of the Misty Bl...

Ron Olesko visits with award-winning Boston singer/songwriter Terry Kitchen. Terry pares songwriting to its most essential - a voice, a guitar, a story, a glimmer of hope. Whether in concert or on record, Kitchen brings his songs to life with gentle wisdom, a sharp eye for detail, and unexpected humor. His latest album We All Dream is an intimate portrait of who we are at this critical moment, and...

Host Ron Olesko welcomes the Canadian trio The Pairs to the show to share songs from their new album. “Together on a Rock” is the fourth album from London, Ontario-based folk trio, The Pairs. Known for their three-part harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, the group has been steadily building a name for themselves across North America’s folk scene. Over the past seven years, they've released a full...

Host Ron Olesko sits down with Judy Kass to discuss and share songs from her latest album "New Skin". New York based singer-songwriter, Judy Kass draws in her audience with soulful vocals, no-nonsense lyrical storytelling and genre-bending exploration of guitar and piano. Her original music blends generous amounts of folk, jazz and blues with songs covering the full gamut of mood and experience. H...

With 14 albums in Steve’s catalog, film credits from Disney and MGM Studios, and live performances in every state, most of Europe and even Japan; Steve is equally at home in the campfire circles of the Kerrville Folk Festival or the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center. His newly released CD is a “bucket-list compilation” contains a dozen of Steve’s best songs, some written with his talented co-...

Kemp Harris defies categorization. He is a singer and songwriter, a master weaver of American musical styles, an actor, activist, author, and story teller. He is also an award-winning educator who taught young public school students for more than 40 years. Kemp visits with host Ron Olesko to discuss and share tracks from his new album "The America Chronicles".

New Jersey singer-songwriter Carol Crittenden (www.carolcrittenden.com) joins host Ron Olesko to share songs from her long-awaited second full album,"Glimmer". After her debut album, En Route, was released in 2011, Carol announced that she was pregnant with her first (and only) child. She has since been balancing career goals and family life. Carol recorded and toured as lead singer of Four Celtic...

The Twangtown Paramours (www.twangtownparamours.com) visit with Ron Olesko to discuss and share tracks from their new album "The Wind Will Change Again". The Twangtown Paramours are an award-winning husband and wife Soulful Folk duo from Nashville. They are three time Kerrville finalists and and winners of Texas’s Wildflower Contest. Recently, other artists have started to record their songs. Lead...

Jim Bowers discusses his book "The Man in the Gold Lame Suit", a biography of Phi Ochs. Host: Ron Olesko

Host Ron Olesko sits down with Neale Eckstein to discuss and sample tracks from Neale's new album "Never Too Late". Neale Eckstein has been chasing music his entire life. He started playing guitar with two friends in his basement  when the Peter, Paul and Mary album came out.  By the time he was in college, he was playing in rock cover bands, but still revered the singer/songwriter genre. He wore...

Host Ron Olesko visits with Heather Pierson (www.heatherpierson.com) to discuss and share songs from her new album "Back to the Light".Heather Pierson is a singer/songwriter, pianist, songleader, and performer with a passion for cultivating joy, both onstage and off. Her live performances feature her ease at the piano and her bell-tone voice that Americana Highways says ‘sounds like timeless wind...

Jennifer Roe, Executive Director of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) sits down with Ron Olesko to discuss the role of FAI in growing and perpetuating the folk community. Plans for the 2025 International conference as well as future conference locations are discussed, along with the challenges facing the folk music world in 2024.

Folksinger Rik Paleri (www.rikpalieri.com) joins host Ron Olesko for a discussion about Rik's latest album "Hands of Time", featuring 10 original songs and one traditional song, a project that developed from Rik's exploration of the roots of country music.

Host Ron Olesko welcomes singer-songwriter Teni Rane(www.tenirane.com) to TRADITIONS to talk about her new album. Inspired by the stories of everyday life, Teni Rane is a folk-country singer-songwriter with a vintage vocal edge and a knack for capturing ordinary scenes in a way that is at once specific and widely relatable. Comfortable in everything from overalls to full-body sequins, Rane isn’t a...

Founder and lead singer of the band Misty Blues, Gina Coleman (www.mistybluesband.com), visits with host Ron Olesko to discuss the groups new album "I'm Too Old For Games: A Live Tribute to Odetta". The album is the second installment in the live Odetta tribute recordings the band has captured. In a perfect bit of timing it doubles as a celebration of Odetta's recent induction both the Blues Hall...

Howard Fields, drummer for the Harry Chapin Band, visits with Ron Olesko to discuss his years working with Chapin and the reunited band and their new concerts with the Chapin Family - Tom and Steve Chapin, the Chapin Sisters and Jen Chapin.

Stella Prince visits with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from her latest EP "Dear Future Me". “No one sings like Stella Prince,” says Grammy-winning producer and steel guitarist Steve Fishell (Dolly Parton, John Prine, Mavis Staples). “I was transported the first time I heard her and I bet you will be too.” Self-produced, Stella recorded a handful of songs for her Dear Future Me EP live at...

Phil Odgers, a London-based singer and acoustic guitarist with the band The Men They Couldn't Hang visits with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from his new album "Far Rockaway: The Songs of Phil Ochs", recorded with John Kettle(Merry Hell).The album presents 11 songs which particularly resonated with Phil Odgers on one level or another. It’s a mixture of politically themed and some of Och’s...

Magpie, Terry Leonine and Greg Artzner, visit with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from their new album "Endless River". The album release celebrated their 50th anniversary as a performing duo. Since 1973, Terry and Greg have brought their unique sound and remarkable versatility to audiences everywhere, featuring traditional and vintage Americana to contemporary and stirring original composi...

Jillian Matundan visits with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from her debut full-length album "Singing to the Moon". Jillian is an award-winning, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter. Her music and style are a blend of her favorite acoustic, rock, indie, and folk influences and inspirations. She continues to win audiences with her deft and percussive guitar style, soothing vocals, and a...

Singer-songwriter Christine Lavin visits with host Ron Olesko to discuss "The Seasons Project", a compilation of 80 songs and 63 artists celebrating the seasons of the year and more.

Host Ron Olesko visits with South African born singer-songwriter Sharon Katz who will share songs from the new album "For You" by Sharon Katz and the Peace Train. Take everything you love about South African rhythms and choirs; mix in some Cuban magic; add a dose of Philly jazz; tackle issues of love, loss, and adversity; and you get the latest album from global activists Sharon Katz & The Peace T...

Buffalo born and bred singer-songwriter Davey O. (www.daveyo.com) visits with host Ron Olesko to share songs from his new EP "Some Days". Davey O. has been described by Buffalo News critic Jeff Miers as having "a journalist’s eye for detail and poet’s ear for the well-turned observation". Embarking on a twenty year journey that has resulted in a collection of justly-earned, highly introspective so...