Craig Havighurst

Justin Townes Earle, blazingly gifted and deeply troubled, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2020 at the age of 38, after a life beset by addiction. Six years later, two coincident projects expand on what we knew about the songwriter with a mix of compassion and regret. Sammy Brue, Earle’s much younger friend and protegé, has written a song cycle based on Justin’s private notebooks, shared by his widow. Rolling Stone journalist Jonathan Bernstein recently published the first definitive biography of Steve Earle’s son. Both join Craig in this hour of remembrance and appreciation.

Multi-instrumentalists and singers Emily Mann and Wila Frank became friends long ago as they grew up at fiddle camps and folk festivals on the west coast. Their first recording was a home-made affair that emerged ten years ago. And in the meantime, despite the pandemic, they’ve released an impressive four studio albums, building a catalog of moving, downtempo songs that stir and provoke reflection. And they moved to Nashville, where they’re valued members of the string band community. The newest LP, which we celebrate this week, is Mountains On The Moon. So if you love Watchhouse or Milk Carton Kids or Gil and Dave, check out the title track. Also this week, the Travelin’ McCourys have a bold new single sung and written by Alan Bartram, plus fresh sides from Thomm Jutz, and Larry Stephenson, and Ed Snodderly, who remembers Doc Watson in song.

Clay Street Unit, an eclectic roots band formed in 2021, blazed up the ladder of venues in their home town of Denver, CO before hitting the road. In just over two years, they’ve graduated to full-sized rock clubs, choice festival bookings and opening dates at Red Rocks. They recently swung through Nashville to play a sold-out Basement East and the Grand Ole Opry. On the go as they are, lead singer Sam Walker and mandolinist and co-songwriter Scottie Bolin stopped by WMOT to talk about their journey so far.

Welcome to The Old Fashioned, Catherine-Audrey Lachapelle and LéandreJoly-Pelletier, founder/leaders of the bluegrass and old-time band Veranda from Montreal, Quebec! I saw them on the showcase roster at Folk Alliance but had to bail due to weather before I got the chance to hear them. But their brand new, self-titled album made it easy to fall for them. Some stellar musicianship supports a nice variety of song styles and excellent singing en Francais. I went with the absolutely infectious “Sans Ardillon,” which some auto-translation tells me is full of fishing metaphors for relationships (the music video has them casting lines off a boat in a lovely lake). More to come. Also this week, a delicious new instrumental from Wyatt Ellis, a Tom Paxton song sung by Ashby Frank, some sweet new gospel from Eighteen Mile, and some tracks from Billy Strings to mark his fourth annual winter run at the Bridgestone Arena and the Ryman Auditorium. The history machine brings you Dave Evans and Melonie Cannon.

Since breaking out with his 1989 major-label album How Did You Find Me Here, North Carolina’s David Wilcox has been a consistently excellent practitioner of the new folk, fingerstyle guitar arts. The songwriter, known for his empathic writing and audience-embracing shows, is now 67 and still thinking deep thoughts about the world, compassion, art, and the arc of life. He stopped through Nashville last November to talk about maintaining a “visionary attitude” over time and his latest album The Way I Tell The Story.

Bryan Sutton emerged from his hometown of Asheville, NC in the late 90s as a magnificently musical and technically gifted bluegrass guitarist, reaching most people for the first time through his long tenure with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. He’s now a veteran of stage and studio with nine IBMA Guitar Player of the Year trophies, regarded by many as the finest all around flatpicker of our time. As he approached the 20th anniversary of his 2006 duet collection Not Too Far From the Tree: A Collection of Duets with Heroes and Friends, Sutton wanted to try a new series “built around peers and younger players rather than mentors.” We’ve played duets with Sierra Hull and an archival track with Doc Watson. This week, it’s an intense take on “Crazy Creek” with Nashville’s much-admired Jake Stargel. Also on the show, a new single from the Steep Canyon Rangers, our first listen to Boston’s duo Cold Chocolate, and a foot stomper from fiddler/dancer/singer Hillary Klug. Plus don’t miss the fireballing figerstyle guitar of Gwenifer Raymond.

For its 38th annual conference, Folk Alliance International returned to New Orleans, home of their largest-ever event (2020’s draw of 3,600 people) and the epicenter of one of the nation’s great regional roots music legacies. Besides a slate of Louisiana talent in blues, Cajun and zydeco, FAI was once again distinguished by diversity of style, genre, and nationality. Craig captured conversations with showcasing artists Joy Clark, Tyler Ramsey & Carl Broemel, Sparrow Smith, Maisy Owen, and Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light.

The Infamous Stringdusters are back with their first album of new material since 2022 and ready to celebrate their birthday. The quintet - with its roots in Nashville but its heart in Colorado’s progressive bluegrass legacy - formed 20 years ago, and on Feb. 13, they released a 20-song collection marking the occasion titled, aptly, 20/20. They won a Grammy Award and three IBMA Awards, but that doesn’t do their reputation or impact justice. Over these two decades, they’ve set the standard for musicianship, bandcraft, and songwriting in the newgrass/jamgrass world. And we’re glad to send the a shoutout with their single “Up From The Bottom” on the eve of their album release. I just interviewed three members of the band for another String appearance soon. Also this week, Tony Trischka lights up “Gentle On My Mind” for an upcoming sequel to Earl Jam, Frank Evans issues his first single from his upcoming debut solo record, Sparrow Smith brings her neo-Appalachian sound, and Mason Via sings a protest song on behalf of America’s wilderness areas

Nashville musicians comprise a brotherhood and sisterhood like no other, and on Sunday, hundreds of them and their loved ones gathered at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to remember and pay respect to pedal steel guitar player and music scholar Pete Finney, who died on Feb. 7 at 70 years old. They packed the 215 seats in the Ford Theater while at least another hundred people listened to music and memories over speakers in the Hall’s atrium.

Kristina Train is a singer and songwriter who should be on more people’s radar. Her remarkable resume was built in the jazz world (Blue Note Records and touring with Herbie Hancock), but the Savannah, GA native has always shown a seductive strain of country soul. That goes explicit on the powerful yet subtle 2025 album County Line. Craig speaks with Train about her critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s and her decade or so as a Nashvillian.