Roots Music Rambler

Few musicians today stay as busy as Aaron Bibelhauser. Not only is he a prolific songwriter and one half of the twin brother-led bluegrass band called The Bibelhauser Brothers, but he hosts a notable bluegrass music radio show, collaborates with several other artists on albums and singles and leads a community jam session periodically in his home city of Louisville. The only mystery about Aaron is...

When Blake Lacy, Noah Freeman and Brett McCoy met and discovered each other’s musical tastes, they did what college students do: They started a band. A few iterations of an expanded friend circles later and the trio evolved to a six-person offering called Kindred Valley.  The band came on the Roots Music Rambler radar opening for Brit Taylor (Episode 16) at The Burl in Lexington, Ky., in February...

Dave Adkins has already had a fantastic career as a bluegrass artist. He was nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America in 2022, which was the second time he earned that nod. He’s also been nominated for awards like the International Bluegrass Association Emerging Artist of the Year and Inspirational Bluegrass Artist of the Year.  In 2...

George Ducas is back with a new album, but a decidedly elevated sound thanks to him luring legendary Bakersfield sound producer Pete Anderson back to the country studio. He sat in with Roots Music Rambler this week to talk to Frank and Falls about the new album, the day-to-day of being a Nashville songwriter and a lot more. Ducas even made a public promise to try and get Anderson to come on the sh...

The Ghost of Paul Revere announced its breakup in April of 2022 and fans of the Maine-based folk trio were heartbroken. The band said it had become more difficult to make records and tour while maintaining their friendship and the latter was more important. But 2024 brought about two rays of sunshine in the world of Ghost fans: The band has released a 10th anniversary, 180-gram vinyl reissue of it...

Brandon Good’s early days in music were in the Mennonite Church. Later, in a Celtic punk band. Nowadays, the Chicago-based singer-songwriter is expressing his love for harmonies and melodies through more country and folk, singer-songwriter type tunes while unifying several genres into an interesting blend of tunes. Good joined Frank and Falls on Roots Music Rambler this week to talk about his prev...

In March of this year, Kimmi Bitter came out of nowhere to land on top of the Alt Country music charts with her first full-length album Old School, a collection of songs that if you didn’t know better, you’d swear were from Patsy Cline and the Jordanaires. That record spent four weeks at No. 1 and vaulted Bitter into the conversations for Americana newcomer of the year. Bitter joined Roots Music R...

Larry and Cheryl Webster may not be big recording artists or the kind of musicians that sell-out arenas around the world, but they are as important to the music industry and community as anyone that has ever come out of Eastern Kentucky. Their network of contacts and influence put them in the role of linchpin for many mountain and bluegrass musicians through the now six decades the couple has been...

Aaron Perlut learned to play the guitar at age 47. That was just six years ago. Now, he’s the front man for Atomic Junction, which dropped its first full-length LP earlier this summer. The St. Louis-based band’s sound is not unlike many of its midwestern kin: A little country, a little punk, a little rock. And a lot interesting Perlut joined Frank and Falls on the latest episode of Roots Music Ram...

Believe it or not, Rhiannon Giddens isn’t the only black banjo player turning heads in Americana Music. Kaia Kater’s first album in six years is out and the likes of Rolling Stone, No Depression and more are giving it glowing marks.  She’s not just turning out a unique sound and a very different take on how the banjo plays into new music, but Kater is also chiming in on representation of people of...

When you think of music from New Jersey, you typically think of Bruce Springsteen. Or perhaps Bon Jovi. But most people don’t immediately see folk music come to mind. Jackson Pines may not be trying to change that, but they’re certainly doing their best to make New Jersey folk a more widely known and understood subset of the Garden State’s musical DNA. This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Franc...

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) are joined by country music singer and songwriter Rachel Brooke. Her new single is out and she is touring the U.S. this summer to drum up anticipation for an EP later this year and perhaps a new full album in 2025.  She sat in with Frank and Falls to share her journey from being a teenage punk band drummer...

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) visit with Texas-based country artist Bri Bagwell. She has strung together 12 No. 1 hits on the Texas Country Music Charts and is a nine-time winner of that organization’s Female Artist of the Year. She’s well on her way to becoming the next big thing in country music and she sat in with us for a chat. Bagw...

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) are joined by emerging Americana singer-songwriter Leon Majcen (pronounced MITE-zen). The Florida-based songwriter brings a mix of John Prine and Townes Van Zandt lyrics with a Jimmy Buffet, Gulf Coast vibe that is sure to appeal to a lot of music fans. Majcen came to our attention opening for Sundy Best in...

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) visit with singer-songwriter Jesse Lynn Madera whose new album “Speed of Sound” is out. She pulled together a list of heavy-hitter producers to make this new record including Dan Navarro of Lowen and Navarro fame, and Grammy winners Jim Scott and Ryan Hadlock. The early single from the album “Last Calls” fe...

Welcome to Episode 19 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. On this episode, we have a true Alt Country legend with us. Guitarist John Horton joins us on the show to talk about his career and impact on the music world. He became a member of the legendary band The Bottle Rockets in 2003. As if t...

Welcome to Episode 17 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. This week, folk music legend Si Kahn joins the program to celebrate his 80th birthday (April 23). He looks back on his over 50-year career of making music and talks about a new album coming out in September called “Labor Day.”  Kahn is...

Welcome to Episode 17 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. This week, New Jersey-based singer songwriter Renee Maskin joins the show to talk about her transition from progressive rock and punk to folk and Americana. She’s now on her third album, an imaginative gem called Shimmer, and has even...

Welcome to Episode 16 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. This week, Falls caught up with rising star Brit Taylor before a recent performance in support of her Kentucky Bluegrassed album. The Hindman, Ky., native actually took 2023’s Kentucky Blue, her second album comprised of a number of st...

Welcome to Episode 14 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. This week, the Patron Saint of the Dollar Store herself blesses us with her presence. S.G. Goodman joins the show to talk about her meteoric rise to prominence in the Americana music scene. The last 12-18 months have included her being...

Welcome to Episode 13 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. On this episode, Falls sits down with three members of the Louisville-based Digby, which is back with its first album in 17 years. The group, originally known as Hundred Acre Wood, scored a modest hit single in the early 2000s with “Hu...

Welcome to Episode 12 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) as we explore the real roots of the music we love. On this episode, we finally explore the topic that has been nagging at Falls (at least) for some time: Does Wilco suck? Needless to day, it’s an entertaining conversation that might end in a different place than you expect.  Also on th...

Welcome to Episode 11 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo, who Jason calls “Frank,” and Jason Falls, who goes by “Falls” most of the time, as we explore the real roots of the music we love. On this episode, we’re joined by singer-songwriter Sara Jean Stevens. The Illinois-based artist has put in years of grind, playing in other people’s bands and other people’s music. She e...

Welcome to Episode 10 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo, who Jason calls “Frank,” and Jason Falls, who goes by “Falls” most of the time, as we explore the real roots of the music we love. Ashley Best has one of the stories that just sets him up to write great country songs. The Cadiz, Ohio dairy farmer started playing music in his teens, then life got in the way. In his e...

Welcome to Episode 9 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo, who Jason calls “Frank,” and Jason Falls, who goes by “Falls” most of the time, as we explore the real roots of the music we love. This is a special episode we’ve been hinting at for a while. In November of 2023, Falls traveled to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on business. While there, he reached out to Oud solois...