Craig Havighurst

Folk rocker John R. Miller can be dry and understated, but get beneath the surface and you’ll find an artist keen to write music that helps people be better people. Inspired by John Prine and others, the Nashville based West Virginian has earned widespread acclaim and released three albums for the prestigious Rounder Records, the latest being the sweeping and fiery The Great Unknowning. He spoke with Craig at his Madison home studio.

A bunch of experienced Kentucky-based bluegrass musicians who happened to be good friends (and vice versa) started getting together to jam on Thursdays during the Covid pause. So when they decided to put together a formal band, the name Throwdown Thursday came to mind. Newly signed to Mountain Fever Records, the group includes Kati Penn-Jenkins on fiddle and vocals, Justin Jenkins on banjo, Evan Maynard on mandolin and vocals, Ronald Mosley on guitar, Kyle Perkins on bass, and Austin Maynard on harmony vocals. We’re digging the much-loved and covered Shawn Camp and Billy Burnett song, “My Love Will Not Change,” a good showcase for Kati’s voice and fiddling. That arrives late in the show, but on the way, a block of music chosen by Amy (who hosts solo this week) features artists playing at the Mt. Airy, NC fiddle convention and contest. She was excited to see a new album out from the folk duo Mama’s Broke. And she brings New Orleans band The Clover Valley Boys to the Old Fashioned for the first time.

Last fall at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival I saw an early performance by a new trio made up of some of western North Carolina’s outstanding traditional musicians: Billy Cardine on dobro and slide instruments, Anya Hinkle on vocals and guitar, and Mary Lucey on vocals, upright bass, and clawhammer banjo. And at that moment I began to pine for an album we could play on The Old Fashioned. Well, it’s here, the self-titled debut of TANASI, pronounced TAH-nuh-see (even if I get that wrong in the broadcast), billed as a “worldgrass trio channeling global folk traditions through the drive, textures, and close harmonies of an Appalachian string band.” We’ve played a song or two before, but to celebrate the album’s May 8 release we spin “Sweetest Breeze.” Also this week, the title cut from the Steep Canyon Rangers’ new album, a new single featuring Billy Strings from Full Cord, a first-time artist here in North Carolina’s Redbud, and good ole good ‘uns from Jimmy Martin and Cliff Waldron.

Country Hall of Famer Don Williams enjoyed some of his most successful and productive years in the late 70s and early 80s, and now his son Tim Williams has unearthed some never-heard master recordings from that era. He and Don’s longtime producer Garth Fundis have enhanced and enriched those performances with contemporary tracks to make the new album Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes. They spoke with Craig Havighurst at Williams’s favorite studio about this special release.

Andy Leftwich was a Tennessee string picking prodigy who crushed it at fiddle competitions and was working by his late teens. Then, before he turned twenty, he was offered a job (on stage no less) by legend Ricky Skaggs. For 15 years with Kentucky Thunder, he built a reputation as one of the most complete and technically gifted musicians in bluegrass, sharing in numerous IBMA and Grammy Awards. Now, after a few years of being independent, he’s fired up his solo career with two enthralling instrumental albums.

Nashville band Greenwood Rye has made some changes, adding fiddler Ruth Shumway for example, and moving their residency from the late Jane’s Hideaway (we miss it terribly!) to the downtown hotel venue called the Countrypolitan. Guitarist and singer Shawn Spencer started the group just as the pandemic eased up, and the band has been a staple on the local scene ever since with its stacked harmonies, tight instrumentation and creative mix of originals and covers (Taylor Swift night was always popular). We’ve played songs from their debut album Hideaway in the past, but this week, they bring a wacky and hard-driving new single, co-written by Spencer and Mason Via. Vince Herman and Vickie Vaughn also lend their voices to this literal barn burner of a song. Also this week, we’ve got the first single from the first-ever instrumental Punch Brothers album, a teaser from the Susto Stringband’s Vol. 2 album, and a brilliant new take on “East Virginia Blues” by the duo of Jed Clark and Nathan Beaumont.

Since arriving years ago from his hometown of Toronto, Frank Evans has put a stamp on Nashville’s storied bluegrass scene like few others in such a short time. Deft and original on both Scruggs-style bluegrass and old-time clawhammer playing, he’s been a versatile and in-demand sideman. Now he’s getting set to release his first solo album as a leader, full of original instrumentals and creatively unearthed songs from the deep catalog of roots music.

The 2023 concerts where Billy Strings celebrated Doc Watson at 100 were historic for many reasons, but one tangible outcome was a young guy named Asher Brinson coming away determined to take his music to the next level. He’s a 16-year-old, left-handed guitar picker, as well as a singer and songwriter, and he shines on his debut album Midnight Hurricane. He’s earned the admiration of the bluegrass community, drawing on the talents of Cory Walker, Jason Carter, Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, and David Grier. Lindsay Lou joins in on the title cut “Midnight Hurricane.” And Brinson, a native of the North Carolina coast, knows hurricanes. He’s one to watch and we’re proud to welcome him to the Old Fashioned. Also this week, Jaelee Roberts has a clever new single, Ed Snodderly debuts a new album, and Concord teases a very welcome vinyl re-issue of the legendary Boone Creek debut from 1977.

The table was set on Thursday for this Fall’s 25th annual Americana Honors and Awards with nominations across the awards’ five categories. Those looking for patterns or breakout acts won’t find them, with recognition being widely spread.

We love it when great things happen to good people, especially when the story is a total surprise, and that’s what’s been going on with Alabama-raised singer and songwriter Kashus Culpepper. He’d never been on a stage or played the guitar before 2020, but a confluence of free time, an encouraging group of friends, and a timely instrument helped Kashus find his voice and his calling. He’s been celebrated by the media and stars like Elton John, and his debut album Act 1 has surprised many with its depth and power.