Craig Havighurst

History was on Béla Fleck’s mind as he released Rhapsody In Blue on Feb. 16, the 100th anniversary of its 1924 premiere. It's a multi-faceted, album-length celebration of the great work of American music - and its adaptability. The centerpiece is a 19-minute classical version by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with Fleck playing Gershwin’s tricky piano part on banjo. But there are blues and bluegrass versions of the piece too. Because even at age 65, when he could be coasting on all he’s done, Fleck still looks for apparently the hardest thing he could possibly try at any given time.

Malcolm Holcombe, the brilliant and enigmatic songwriter whom Lucinda Williams called “an old soul and a modern-day blues poet” has died at 68 years old, after a battle with cancer and a late-life surge of creative fire. He passed away on Saturday near where he was raised in western North Carolina, but Holcombe jolted his way into the consciousness of many roots music lovers and practitioners during a spell in Nashville 25 years ago. In a music community characterized by polite songwriter rounds, Holcombe was unnervingly ferocious and feral - a mesmerizing performer and lyricist whose mix of gifts and demons invite worthy comparisons to Hank Williams and Townes VanZandt.

In the 1990s, Paul Burch was among the pioneer artists who brought legit country music and old-school Music City values to Lower Broadway’s honky tonks. In the years since, he’s been an admired songwriter and performer while branching into scoring and production. Now he puts on yet another hat as he joins Middle Tennessee State University’s Center For Popular Music (CPM) as the manager of its non-profit, in-house label Spring Fed Records.

A few years ago I was talking to banjo player Kyle Tuttle at IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh and he was telling me about his vision for what I recall as some kind of world/rock/bluegrass fusion and I suggested calling it the “Monroehavishnu Orchestra” and that made him laugh. His new solo album Labor of Lust isn’t exactly John McLaughlin’s Inner Mounting Flame, but it’s an adventuresome bluegrass album spiked with enlightening ingredients and masterful picking. Kyle had a tremendous 2023 touring with Molly Tuttle’s Golden Highway (and landing another bluegrass album Grammy Award). He starts 2024 with his own statement, and we’re here for it. Also this week, new songs from Tray Wellington, Darren Nicholson and Daniel Ullom and a show debut from Chattanooga’s Randy Steele. Archival tape rolls with Lynn Morris, the Mississippi Sheiks, and the iconic Old and In The Way.

Guitar slinger, songwriter and American original Jerry Reed made some of the funkiest records in country music in the 1970s, including the slinky, butt-shaking syncopation of “Amos Moses” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.” That’s part of what inspired bass player and DJ David Guy to assemble and organize an impressive cast of musicians and singers last week at 3rd & Lindsley for a tribute to Reed. Nashville photographer (and drummer) Sam Wiseman was on hand, and we’re excited to showcase his coverage of the night, while Craig reviews.

Todd Snider, possibly the greatest solo songwriting raconteur of the past quarter century, blends an eye for truth with a delight in the absurd. As East Nashville’s musical mayor and its hippie Hemingway, it’s impossible to imagine the character of 37206 without him. And now, after building a virtual ark for sanity during the pandemic with The Get Together online series, the most innovative album of his career (First Agnostic Church of Hope And Wonder), a live collection (Return Of The Storyteller), and an acclaimed release of the shelved 2007 album Crank It, We’re Doomed, Snider has revealed his latest concepts to the world.

I’m not about to start a “song of the week” designation for this show, but if I did, hypothetically, just this once, I’d give the blue ribbon to the new single “What’ll I Do With The Baby-O,” a traditional tune associated with Jean Ritchie and often considered a children’s song. Well the artist here, Jesse Smathers of Floyd, VA, doesn’t kid around in this fiery, ferocious bluegrass version. We hear Hunter Berry on fiddle and Corbin Hayslett on banjo absolutely burning. Jesse comes from an old musical family from North Carolina and has worked with James King and, since 2015, the Lonesome River Band. But his solo work can be found on his solo, self-titled debut album, made in the year following the pandemic. We’ll keep our ears on this IBMA Momentum Award winner. Also this week, a block devoted to Black History Month with Rhiannon Giddens and other former Carolina Chocolate Drops. Becky Buller and her label Dark Shadow let us premiere her new single "Jubilee" featuring Aoife O'Donovan. Darin and Brooke Aldridge offer a killer new version of “The Price I Pay,” while the Price Sisters mark their new release Between The Lines.

Episode 275 of The String begins with an ode to the studio and stage musicians who come up with parts and make the singers and stars sound great, while being relegated to the sexist, ungenerous title of “sidemen.” I’ve always had my eyes and ears on them as a music fan, and as a journalist, I know they are often untapped wells of stories and insights. Recently, I got to thinking about a musician - a bass player - who’s been on more big sessions and done time with more impactful artists than most in roots/Americana music over the past 35 years. So I invited Byron House on to the program.

It’s a week of album premieres, one long awaited and one kind of a surprise. The latter comes from Brit Taylor, the wonderful and versatile singer from Kentucky who reminds us of a modern day Patty Loveless. She’s so versatile that she took her Kentucky Blue album of 2023 and rearranged some of its songs – and added some new ones – to give us Kentucky Bluegrassed, a magical acoustic collection, and we’ve got the title track. But I buried the lead. Ten-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and beloved industry veteran Missy Raines has released Highlander, her first traditional, banjo-driven album as a band leader. Her band Allegheny, which has been touring since last year, includes Ben Garnett on guitar, Eli Gilbert on banjo, Ellie Hakanson on fiddle, and Tristan Scroggins on mandolin. It’s a treat to play the opening cut “Listen To The Lonesome Wind.” Also this week, new stuff from Larry Stephenson and the Skaggs and Rice kind of duo Shawn Lane and Richard Bennett. Historic tracks come from Peter Rowan and Red Smiley.

Beyond his skills as a guitarist and singer, Clay Ross is what I like to call a Musical Instigator. Since heading to his current base in New York 20 years ago from his home town of Charleston, SC, he’s conceived and organized three brilliant groups that bring a new global consciousness to American roots music. First it was Matuto with its infusion of Brazilian melodies and rhythms. Then with old college-era friends from South Carolina he launched Ranky Tanky, a Grammy-winning outfit that reimagines African-American Gullah music for a world stage. His latest project is the American Patchwork Quartet, with members from three continents and a completely original way of updating classic folk songs. We go deep on his background and his approach to making creative space for diverse people to truly collaborate.