The Andy Kershaw Podcast

The Jaywalkers sound as though they come from Knob Lick, Kentucky. In fact this talented bluegrass trio comes from Frodsham, just off the M56. You’ll want to put their kitchen session through loudspeakers next time you have a barbecue. In fact, play the whole podcast, which zooms around from Memphis to Mali and from Jamaica to Hebden Bridge.

If the New Orleans demigod Professor Longhair had played guitar instead of piano and his voice had sounded like a cross between Lyle Lovett and Lowell George, he would have been a dead ringer for Greg Brice, my kitchen session guest in this podcast. This is the free-for-all version featuring the usual mix of Americana, Africana and all-round kicks in the earhole.

This is the free-for-all version featuring the most thronged kitchen yet. We’re thrilled to have Martin Stephenson and five other members of Newcastle's Jumpin' Hot Club Revue, led by Shipcote who founded it forty years ago. So many kinds of music you love, played live, with the famous Kershaw record collection to fill in the rest.

Prepare to be impressed by singer-guitarist Gus Glynn who gives us a stunning kitchen session. This is the free-for-all version, featuring everything from Little Milton to Sierra Leone ska.

Thanks for waiting! I’m back with a stunning show, featuring the Liverpudlian maestro of the weirdly-tuned guitar, James Rigby.  This is the free-for-all version, including my tribute to Garth Hudson, and some lovable sounds from Los Angeles to Lake Victoria by way of Louisiana.  

This is the free-for-all version, featuring Robyn Hitchcock in Kershaw’s kitchen, tributes to Rise Kagona and Kris Kristofferson… and a game of ‘one song to the tune of another.’

This is the free-for-all version, featuring Martin Carthy in Kershaw’s kitchen, plus lots of songs and a joke about Joni Mitchell.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter Bob Collum, with Mags Layton (violin) and Martin Cutmore (bass), in Kershaw’s kitchen, plus lots of songs that aren’t by Taylor Swift.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring Rik Lord, the most talented guitarist ever to be discovered busking outside a Todmorden supermarket, plus a crafted collection of magnificent music for you to fall in love with.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring a kitchen session with Leeds rockers The Burner Band. We’ve got boogie, country, Africana, Americana, folk, soul and gospel. Warning: this podcast is addictive.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring folk music royalty Eliza Carthy and Jon Boden, playing songs from their new album of wassailing wonderments and telling stories. Plus lots of tracks I hope you’ve never heard before but will love for ever more.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring my brand-new kitchen session with Martin Stephenson (plus one Daintee) and some of the greatest cover-versions you’ll ever hear. The Rolling Stones sing the Temptations, while the Persuasions sing the Impressions. You are invited to marvel at the segues.

This is the free-for-all version, featuring part one of my tribute to my friend Brendan Croker, who died last month. I’m sharing a session I recorded in 1998 with Brendan and his fellow Notting Hillbilly Steve Phillips.

This is the free-for-all, sixty-minute version in which I dig out a rare Richard Thompson recording that will blow your socks off, and ask whether anyone ever played Springsteen better than Bruce (I have a candidate for your consideration). Lots more to entice and delight, but just wait until you hear…

This is the free-for-all, sixty-minute version. Among other jewels, you’ll hear part of my 1990 session recording with The Jolly Boys from Port Antonio, Jamaica – and I’m hoping you’ll want more. Founded in 1945, this mento combo may be the longest-lasting little band in the world - only the line-up has changed!  Go to www.andykershaw.co.uk , chip in a few quid and become a patron to hear the full...

Come with us from the Dark End of the Street to the Bright Side of the Road, by way of Kenya and Kentucky, the Congo and the Caribbean. This show features some of the crown jewels of the Kershaw vinyl collection that’s just out of storage and now stashed on brand-new shelves (thank you crowd-funders). And there are obituary tributes to Tshala Muana and Gordon Lightfoot.  Visit https://andykershaw....

One of the most exciting projects of the past year has been a song-celebration of notable North-east women. I’m thrilled to give you a kitchen session featuring Annie Ball with Katie Tertell, Bronwen Davies-Jones and Bronwen’s dad Gareth. With admirable economy ‘Howay The Lasses’ is the name of the group, the album and one of their songs. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk  for play-lists and to get...

Featuring a session I recorded in New Orleans in April 1988 with the truck-driving North Carolina country bluesman Moses Roscoe. There are tributes to Jeff Beck and Dave Crosby. And thanks to you I’ve got new shelves for all my vinyl, so I’m digging into it again.

In memoriam tributes to Wilko Johnson and Rab Noakes, plus a treat from the Kershaw Archive – the sessions I recorded with Ted Hawkins after I turned up unannounced on his doorstep in Inglewood, California in April 1986. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk  for play-lists and to get in touch, make a donation or become a sponsor.

Tributes to Jerry Lee Lewis and Loretta Lynn, a vintage kitchen session with swamp blues supremo Lazy Lester, songs from Iran to Zimbabwe and from Lincolnshire to Colombia, plus some great truck-driving tunes. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk   for play-lists and to get in touch, make a donation or become a sponsor.

We’re thrilled to bring you an exclusive kitchen session with Loudon Wainwright III. Currently touring the UK and Ireland, Loudon made a detour to Todmorden to give us half a dozen songs, including a couple that you won’t find on record. There are lots more treats, including a bluegrass version of a U2 anthem and a rare live recording of a classic banger by King Curtis. Visit https://andykershaw.c...

Have you ever wondered what a late-great Cuban singer would sound like backed by a late-great Senegalese kora player? You are about to find out. Here’s a classic Kershaw home recording from 1996, featuring the Queen of Campesina, Celina González, and Dakar legend Soriba Kouyaté, together for the first and only time in my garden. Plus everything else you’ve come to expect and a few things you weren...

Here’s a brand new session, just recorded in my kitchen - old time Appalachian music from fiddler and singer-songwriter Hannah Read with banjo player Michael Starkey. Plus everything else you’ve come to expect and a few things you weren’t expecting at all. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk for play-lists and to get in touch, make a donation or become a sponsor.

Here’s another of my archive kitchen sessions, this one from Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, recorded in 1991. The rest is just the usual wall-to-wall brilliance. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk for play-lists and to get in touch, make a donation or become a sponsor.  

Three Cajun legends turn my kitchen into a Louisiana hayride. A vintage session from guitarist D.L.Menard with accordionist Eddie Lejeune and fiddler Ken Smith, recorded during their first UK tour in April 1990. Plus the usual A to Z of delights, from Dr Alimantado to Warren Zevon. Visit https://andykershaw.co.uk for play-lists and to get in touch, make a donation or become a sponsor.