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As I say in the intro of Episode 217, the opportunity to speak with Richie Furay came over the transom and out of the blue. He’s lived in Colorado since the 70s and he’s been off and on the touring circuit in recent years. But where most of my conversations are ones I seek out, this one came to me, and it was a welcome surprise. Furay was an architect of country rock as the co-founder of both Buffalo Springfield and POCO, version 1.0, before the band mellowed into a soft rock staple.

Labor Day weekend brought the first-ever Earl Scruggs Music Festival at a big horse park in rural Polk County, NC. I attended and wrote about it at our news page. But before I left, I put together this episode inspired by the lineup that played there. To make its first impression, Scruggs Fest booked the top tiers of modern bluegrass, including the Nashville musketeers Bela Fleck, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas. Plus a lot of North Carolina talent, including Balsam Range, Town Mountain, Darin & Brooke Aldridge and Acoustic Syndicate. I’ve grown especially fond of the Piedmont married duo the Chatham Rabbits and it was exciting to hear they’ve released a superb new album, If You See Me Riding By. I led this week’s music with my favorite song from that project, a swift grassy song about horseback librarians back during the Great Depression. Also here, a couple of historic Earl Scruggs tracks, because he's the GOAT.

Early James pushed himself to find a singing voice and songwriting style all his own, and it certainly got the attention of Nashville's Dan Auerbach. The Birmingham, AL artist was invited into Dan's Easy Eye Sound studio to write and produce his debut album Singing For My Supper in 2020. That release was acclaimed by stymied by the pandemic. Not so the new one, Strange Time To Be Alive, with its surreal, suggestive language and fevered country noir soundscape.

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is leading today’s blues youth brigade out of his home base in Clarksdale, MS with incredible finesse and power for a 23-year-old. Carolyn Wonderland of Austin, TX is a proven veteran, already a member of the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame before her 50th birthday. Where Kingfish released his second Alligator album in 2021, Wonderland made her label debut last year. Both are singer/songwriter/player triple threats, but that’s about where the similarities end. And these companion conversations make for a rich hour of radio.

Friendly and funny, enthusiastic and energetic, Steve Poltz has released his tenth album Stardust & Satellites as he embarks on another year of intense touring. In a conversation at his home in East Nashville, Poltz speaks with Craig about his surprise embrace of Nashville co-writing, his wild experience writing one of the 90s big hits and the pot brownies that showed him the way to performing solo, which he does so well.

Episode one of The Old Fashioned leans hard into old time with several tracks that include fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves, a classic from Doc Watson off the new 101-song anthology of his career, a stunning ballad from Lee Ann Womack from last year’s IBMA Album of the Year and two tracks recorded live in Nashville by New Zealand born fiddler George Jackson.

Joshua Hedley planned only on being a fiddle-playing sideman. That he’s now one of the most talked-about and persuasive traditional country singers in roots music comes as quite a surprise - to him. But lucky for us. His voice, which projects canon-like from his new album Neon Blue, is grounded in the chesty resonance of Merle Haggard, with touches of Willie’s late arriving phrases and the smoky curls of George Jones. But in the end it sounds like nobody but Josh Hedley.

We open this week’s Old Fashioned talking about the spontaneity and resourcefulness of traditional roots musicians. Nobody’s waiting around for a record deal to make an album. Brittany Haas, the amazing fiddler renowned for her work in the band Hawktail, the Live From Here band, and the Dave Rawlings Machine, took inspiration from a jam she enjoyed and assembled friends for a new album so in-the-moment that it’s called Impromptu Sessions #1.

When folks like me advocate for more fine arts education and exposure in public schools, success stories like The Accidentals are part of the agenda. This ultra-creative, musically daring trio from Traverse City, MI was born when two teenage students volunteered for a string ensemble, met one another and became, as they put it, musical soulmates. That’s why Katie Larson and Sav Buist and I spend so much time in Episode 205 of The String talking about high school.

We put Episode 27 together just as we were all getting ready for AmericanaFest 2022 in Nashville, so we leaned into artists who were showcasing during the week. It happened to be a very strong year for traditional music, very much in line with our mission here at The Old Fashioned. So you’ll hear Nora Brown, Allison De Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky, Mike Compton, and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, all of whom showcased at the festival. Also, new music from the Watkins Family Hour with Willie Watson, a new single from Martha Spencer and a little history from Hot Rize.