The String

Episode 186: Formed as a showcase for women in string band music in 2009, Della Mae has seen lineup changes but no drift in its mission to create a new bluegrass and neo-folk sound full of ideas and heart. This episode, founding member Kimber Ludiker and decade-long vocalist Celia Woodsmith tell the story of how the band worked together at a distance during 2020 and then came together in a cathart...

Episode 185: Tim Easton is one of the most interesting guys in the Americana troubadour game. He grew up split between Akron, OH and Tokyo, Japan. He busked all over Europe for years as he formed his identity as a performer and songwriter. His albums on New West in the early 2000s are classics of folk rock, and he's also powerful as a solo artist, as you can hear on the one-take direct-to-analog t...

Episode 184: AmericanaFest returned to the clubs and yards of Nashville with a slimmer but spirited 2021 edition. Those able to come found community, diversity and great performances. I caught up with five showcasing artists to check in on their new projects and their take on today's roots scene. Included: blues veteran Sue Foley, LA protest folk artist Chris Pierce, Colorado songwriter Emily Scot...

Episode 183: He's the most gifted and innovative banjo player of all time and one of the architects of an American string band jazz tradition that's influenced generations of bluegrass musicians. And now after two decades of varied explorations in classical, world and fusion music, Bela Fleck has circled back to the music that captivated him as a teenager. My Bluegrass Heart is an epic 19-track do...

Episode 182: To spotlight the 2021 AmericanaFest, returning after a year off, I reached out to two of the most interesting artists showcasing during the week. Sierra Ferrell is a rambling free spirit from West Virginia who found her way to Nashville and its new era honky tonk scene way off of Broadway. Rounder Records heard her arresting old-world voice and feel for songs and signed her to a deal,...

Episode 181: It's a jangle pop special with two bands of brothers who are back on record after two-decade breaks. The Delevantes, Bob and Mike, are pioneers of Americana, chart toppers when the format was born thanks to their Everly Brothers harmony and country twang. Their enchanting new album will be called A Thousand Turns. Also in the hour, also with a brother named Mike, Raleigh, NC band The...

Episode 180: When Maggie Rose held her album release party in late August for her third album Have A Seat, she filled one of the city's largest music halls with wildly enthusiastic fans, testimony to her 13 years of work and resilience and acclaim. She's a bold and emotive singer who has forged a unique fusion of roots, soul and pop, and her recording sessions at FAME Studio in Muscle Shoals picke...

Episode 179: He goes by "Ferg" and he's one of the most interesting and influential creative forces in Nashville, whether you've heard of him or not. David Ferguson grew up in town, connected as a teenager with the great producer Cowboy Jack Clement and learned the mystic arts of recording and producing records. He engineered Johnny Cash's iconic comeback albums with Rick Rubin. He's worked the bo...

Episode 178: East Nashville's J.P. Harris has been a train-hopper, a logger, a shepherd, a honky tonker and a historic home carpenter. Indeed he was getting up from this early morning interview to work on an old home. It's a mix that makes him the most interesting man in roots music. And now, he's turned his attention back to the music that first drew him into country, old-time fiddle and banjo ba...

Episode 177: This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jim Lauderdale's solo debut album Planet Of Love, but he was a veteran even then of the burgeoning alternative country music scenes in New York and Los Angeles. In his Nashville decades, he's been cherished as a leader and spokesperson for Americana music, a very successful hit songwriter, a collaborator with giants and an artist who just kicks...

Episode 176: Parker Millsap burst on to the folk and roots scene in 2014 out of Oklahoma with a voice beyond his years and a bold way with drawing characters from the American heartland. Raised in the Pentecostal church, he's a rare Americana singer comfortable with celebrating and critiquing the faith community that shaped his picture of humanity. On his newest Be Here Instead, Parker turns his l...

Episode 175: Tim O'Brien is one of several roots music icons who've circled back for a second visit to The String in recent weeks, and that's a great thing. His band Hot Rize dominated bluegrass in the 1980s and since the 90s he's been a dynamo of songwriting, ensemble playing, recording and collaborating. The latest project He Walked On finds Tim reflecting on the accelerated, unnerving world unf...

Episode 174: Amythyst Kiah grew up in East TN and discovered traditional folk music at college there. Drawn to its heritage and its sound, she launched her career as a solo singer of original and traditional songs on guitar and banjo. Her low-timbred voice reminded me in her growth years of Odetta. Frustrated with her trajectory, she nearly quit but was revived by the support of folk star Rhiannon...

Episode 173: It takes a bold woman to cover "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line," but Shannon McNally has been fearlessly facing down naysayers in the music business for 20 years. Nashville based after turns in LA, New Orleans and Mississippi, she's one of the most underrated roots singer songwriters in roots music, with a deep catalog and numerous distinguished collaborations to her name. Her lifel...

Episode 172: A sense of place pervades this split show featuring two of the most fascinating and accomplished voices in Americana music. Amy Helm is a veteran singer but a relatively new solo recording artist having released her third LP 'What The Flood Leaves Behind.' We talk about the aura and sound of her late father Levon Helm's Barn and how she keeps discovering new things there. Rachel Baima...

Episode 171: Founded by an irrepressible enthusiast in his very early twenties, Alligator Records grew into the most authoritative and wide-ranging label chronicling urban blues in the US. That man, Bruce Iglauer, owns and runs the label to this day, having released hundreds of albums on artists such as Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, Roy Buchanan, Lonnie Brooks, Edgar Winter, James Cotten, Curtis Sa...

Episode 170: They're both Nashville icons but they'd rarely worked together until now. John Hiatt is a songwriter's songwriter with a voice that's made him a roots music star. Jerry Douglas is the most in-demand dobro player in the world. Both are recipients of Americana Lifetime Achievement Awards. When the idea to record together was hatched, Jerry brought his ace band to RCA Studio B where he a...

Episode 169: He's known worldwide as a consummate virtuoso on the fiddle and the violin, but Mark O'Connor's first instrument was actually the guitar. After starting his music life with classical and flamenco style lessons, the Seattle teen branched into traditional fiddle and acoustic guitar. After making the groundbreaking Markology when he was 16, O'Connor realized he had bursitis in his elbow...

Episode 168: By the time 2020's pandemic shroud covered the land and stilled its musicians, Oklahoma songwriter Samantha Crain knew all too well about incapacitation. In 2017, touring behind her album You Had Me At Goodbye , she was involved in three car accidents in three months, leaving her hands nerve damaged and debilitated, threatening her career. So the brisk and bright tone of her new EP is...

Episode 167: I met Casey Driessen almost 20 years ago when he was new to Nashville, fresh off a music degree from Berklee in Boston and full of new ideas about bluegrass and American fiddling. He became a key sideman for folks like Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott. As a composer and arranger he made several solo albums and then refined a truly solo approach with looping pedals. He's become a cutting-...

Episode 166: Still waters run deep with Nashville's Mando Saenz. He's cool and contemplative in conversation, while songwriters tell you he's a fountain of ideas in the writing studio, where he spends most of his time. The Texas native got his start in Houston and early tours with Hayes Carll. Fate brought him to Nashville where he's written and recorded since the mid 2000s for the innovative Carn...

Episode 165: Growing up in the Pacific Northwest in the 1960s, Curtis Salgado fell down the rabbit hole of Deep South blues, jazz, soul and R&B and knew it would be his life's work. Now in his mid 60s, he looks back at a life full of happy accidents, earned admiration, survival and awards, including the BB King Entertainer of the Year prize. His new album on Alligator Records is Damage Control, a...

Singer-songwriter Garrison Starr grew up in Mississippi, made rock and roll out of Memphis and got signed in her late teens to a major label deal where her song "Superhero" took her to the charts and major tours. Heady success, except it was upset by the traumas and betrayals of being outed as gay in college and a conservative culture that exiled her. Now, with a dozen albums to her credit and a s...

Episode 163: It's been a year since the music industry slammed to a halt due to Covid-19. Performing artists had to adjust financially, logistically, emotionally and more. Now with a year's hindsight, The String sought out a sampling of roots musicians to hear how they coped. Many found unexpected gifts. Some started new businesses. Everybody learned a lot about themselves and their field. Feature...

Episode 162: From his breakout days as guitarist for Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen to his four-decade career as a bandleader, songwriter and recording artist, Bill Kirchen has been a badass hero of Americana music. His dextrous and dazzling Telecaster picking may get the most attention, but he's a clever and insightful songwriter who knows how to put on a memorable show. The String is...