Southern Songs and Stories

The Moonlit Glow of Maggie Rose

Maggie Rose is a class act. Have you ever met someone who has incredible presence? Someone who can walk in a room and cause everyone to take a pause and notice them, even

The Happy Warriors of Fiery Folk: Scythian

“My mom went to Juilliard, graduated from Juilliard. She taught us all of our instruments. We performed very high-level classical music, but we never felt a connection wi

Bluegrass That Is Traditional and Transcendent All at Once: Ettore Buzzini

One of the greatest things about roots music in general, and bluegrass specifically, is that it continually brings in new generations of players to the fold. These young

Be Comfortable With Yourself and Live Loud: Tift Merritt

Ask anyone who has has been there, is getting there, or maybe just realizing that it is around the bend, and they will tell you: getting older is not for the faint of hea

Bringing After Dark and Charlotte’s Music Past Back to Light, Part Two

The George Hatcher Band 08/16/81 at Main Street Music Hall, Morganton NC P.B. Scott’s documentary Central Piedmont Community College online collection of WTVI archives

Bringing After Dark and Charlotte’s Music Past Back to Light, Part One

Charlotte has been on my mind a lot lately. Recently, I profiled the Queen City’s Emanuel Wynter in the episode “Violin’s Architect of Joyous Sound: Emanuel Wynter”, whic

Introducing the Alabama Astronaut Podcast with Abe Partridge and Ferrill Gibbs

Acclaimed Alabama songwriter Abe Partridge and podcaster Ferrill Gibbs return to the podcast world with their new series titled Alabama Astronaut Radio Transmission, cont

Violin’s Architect of Joyous Sound: Emanuel Wynter

When you think of the violin, or in country and roots music circles its kissing cousin the fiddle, what comes to mind? The Suzuki method, or Antonio Vivaldi perhaps? Mayb

Country That Contains Multitudes: Kelsey Waldon

Many times the way and artist finds their way onto this podcast is from their publicist or someone else on their team reaching out to me, or vice versa. Sometimes I might

Are You Experienced? Taking Stock of Music Festival Culture and History From Ancient Greece to Albino Skunk

Did you know that almost three thousand years ago, before there were athletic competitions at the first Olympics, there were music competitions at Delphi in Greece, with

Rock and Roots Collide To Make a Joyful Noise: SUSTO Stringband and Holler Choir

It is interesting to compare and contrast the genres of rock and roll with old time and string band music. In some ways, string bands can be more raw and intense than roc

A Long Winter’s Night with The Ruen Brothers

Chalk this one up to making myself do something when I was not sure I had it in me. Have you accomplished something even though you were not feeling it that day? I bet yo

New Stages for Time Sawyer and Their Hometown Festival

Back in 2018, when this podcast was in its first year, I traveled to Burlington, NC, to interview the Charlotte by way of Elkin, NC band Time Sawyer. Since then, my path

Discovering a New Setting for the Third Place With Wolf Jett

Regular listeners of this series will know that there is a certain festival that is near and dear to my heart, the Albino Skunk Music Festival. It is an event that inside

When the Party Meets Poetry: Ryan Bingham

Ryan Bingham never knew until he was an adult that his path would take him into music full time, much less that he would become an international star, nor did he dream of

Six Decades of Legacy and Love for an Ever Evolving Sound With Sam Bush

The fountain of youth could very well be located in a mandolin, or a fiddle. At least for Sam Bush, playing the mandolin, along with the occasional fiddle, seems to give

Pay Attention, Stop Listening To Yourself: The Wood Brothers

Easing up, letting things come to you, and practicing being present is a recurring theme in recent episodes of this series, and that mindset is on full display once again

The Greatest Thing Is To Wake Up and Have a New Song To Sing: Jeff Tweedy

Welcome to the latest episode of the series Southern Songs and Stories, which recently made it into the top 10 best Americana podcasts on this list. Yay! It reminds me to

Feeling Like the Same Person on Stage and Off: The Jeff Tweedy Bonus Episode

In mid May, 2025, I spoke with Jeff Tweedy ahead of his show with Wilco in Charlotte, NC, and have been waiting for his forthcoming solo album to publish his interview he

Not Jazz, nor Funk, nor Brass Band: Exploring the Living Edges of New Orleans Music With Andrew Duhon

Is there such a thing as coincidence? Recently I read an essay by Henrik Karllson, in his Substack page Escaping Flatland, titled “Almost Anything You Give Sustained Atte