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In January, the newly energized Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to cultivating blues careers and spreading its history through public schools, held its first-ever local competition to nominate contestant artists at the 2024 International Blues Challenge in Memphis. And in a nice Music City surprise, the NBRA’s delegate in the band category, Piper & The Hard Times, went to Memphis during the coldest week of the year, put on several sizzling sets, and came away with the grand prize. In this hour of The String, we meet Al "Piper" Green and his bandmate/guitarist Steve Eagon to talk about their game changing win. Up first, Gulf Coast blues and R&B icon Marcia Ball talks about fifty years of rocking roadhouses and the occasional blues cruise.

Becky Buller, Darrin & Brooke Aldridge and CMAT

It’s been 30 years since three music business renegades created a radio chart for an emerging alt-country, roots music wave they called Americana. Now that it’s a mature format and movement, we’re seeing books emerge on the history of this idea. Poets And Dreamers: My Life In Americana Music is Tamara Saviano’s contribution, a warm and affectionate, people-driven story about a community and a big bold commitment to art over commerce. As publicist/tour manager for Kris Kristofferson and biographer of Guy Clark, she’s had an insider’s view, and it comes out in this fun romp of a read. She’s also my old friend, so this is a cozy and fascinating talk.

Ellen Angelico has emerged in the past few years as a go-to stringed instrument musician in the Americana and indie sectors of Nashville. Raised in Chicago, she was gigging in her teens, attended Berklee College of Music and came to Music City in 2010 with a full-time indie rock band gig. As she grew into more of a freelance life, Ellen carved out a niche and earned a ton of admiration earning an Americana Instrumentalist of the Year nomination in 2020. Her recent credits include shows and sessions with Cam, Adeem the Artist, Kyshona, Brandy Clark, Mickey Guyton and more. In this endearing hour, Ellen talks about getting established in Nashville, her high-visibility former job with Fanny’s House of Music in East Nashville and a card game about bro country lyrics that has to be heard to be believed.

Featuring Sophie Gault, Jared Petteys & The Headliners & Nick Taylor

Maggie Rose returns to the String for a full hour this time, because her new album No One Gets Out Alive marks yet another leap for this magnificent singer and songwriter from Nashville. As we heard back in Episode 180, the Maryland native was scouted by major labels while still in college, leading to a country deal in the early 2010s. She fell through the cracks in that restrictive format but regrouped as a fully indie artist working as a business team with her husband. She’s built a following by working the road and a series of albums that split the difference between soul, country, pop, and rock and roll. And as the host of her own podcast, she’s also a great conversationalist.

Featuring Jack McKeon, Elliot Blaufuss & Jubal Lee Young

In this special edition of The String, an audio postcard from Athens GA, a city of about 125,000 people just east of Atlanta that for forty years has been punching above its weight as a music city. As a teenager in the mid 1980s, I loved the B-52s and I about worshiped REM, and ever since, I’ve wondered what kind of place could produce those wildly different, highly progressive bands. My curiosity only grew as Athens continued to be a hotbed of art-forward rock and roll and creative roots music over the next forty years. So I came to listen and ask questions. We meet label owners George Fontaine Sr. and Jr., leading producer David Barbe, 40 Watt talent booker Velena Vego, artists Spencer Thomas and Hunter Pinkston, and more.

Laurie Lewis is an icon of bluegrass, especially the scene on the West coast where she’s made her base since launching her career in the 1970s as co-founder of the Good Ol’ Persons with Kathy Kallick. As singer, songwriter, fiddler and bandleader, she’s been a beacon of integrity and forward progress, winning two IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards and numerous others for a variety of collaborations. Artists like Molly Tuttle and AJ Lee have held her up as a mentor. So it’s awesome to feature music from her newest album Trees, made with Patrick Sauber on banjo, Brandon Godman on fiddle, Andrew Marlin on mandolin and Hasee Ciaccio on bass. New singles arrive this week from Andy Leftwich, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and the Lonesome River Band. And Amy Alvey phones in on the eve of her launch for a European tour.

A talent booker and bluegrass/country guru friend of mine in North Carolina told me four or five years ago that I ought to keep my eyes and ears on a precocious teenager from his state named Mason Via. I love his last name, which means ‘by way of’ and he’s certainly made his way since the buzz began growing about him. He just wrapped about three years of touring with Old Crow Medicine Show. He’s been a successful songwriter, co-writing “Down Home Dispensary” with Molly Tuttle and “Brown Paper Bag” for Del McCoury. Now he’s really making himself known as a solo artist, and we’ve an acoustic version of “Hey Don’t Go,” which he’s released in twangy band form, now played often on WMOT. It feels good to offer this folky edition with Oliver Craven on fiddle. Also this week, Tim O’Brien is the latest to tease the upcoming Tom Paxton bluegrass tribute album. We have singles from emerging bluegrass talents Shannon Slaughter and Andrew Crawford. And Dallas/Ft. Worth band Hillbilly Fever impressed us with a swinging “Make Me A Pallet.”