Search results for

Ken Pomeroy, who turned 23 days after this interview, is a fresh voice not just from the Oklahoma lineage of great roots songwriting and musicianship, but also from a new generation of Native American voices in popular music. She talks about her Cherokee heritage and the stewardship that comes with it, plus her emotional bond to music in this introspective hour. You’ll also hear incisive and often sad songs from her acclaimed national debut Cruel Joke, out this spring on Rounder Records.

East Nash Grass, born at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in East Nashville, is one of the primary reasons we created The Old Fashioned three and a half years ago. We’ve seen them through two album releases now, including their third LP, All God’s Children, now out from Mountain Fever Records. They’ve made some subtle shifts since Last Chance To Win came out in 2023. Jeff Partin replaced Jeff Picker on bass, and dobro master Gaven Largent, while playing on the new one, is now more of a sometime member. But the core remains: James Kee on guitar, Cory Walker on banjo, and Maddie Denton on fiddle. We fire up Show #170 with two songs – the title track and the Harry Clark-led road song “Hill Country Highway.” Keep it between the ditches, friends. The other new album release this week worth your notice is Joseph Decosimo’s Fiery Gizzard, a mesmerizing collection of deftly enhanced banjo instrumentals. Also here, new songs from Danny Burns, Conrad Fisher, the Tennessee Bluegrass Band, and Becky Buller.

Meredith Moon isn’t new to folk music or to America, but she’ll be meeting a lot of American fans for the first time through her debut on Compass Records, From Here To The Sea, which arrived during AmericanaFest, where she showcased and played at our String Band Throwdown. Here, however, we build up to that release with her take on “Soldier’s Joy” from her prior album Constellations of 2022. Moon, an Ontario native, started her musical life in punk and grunge but turned to performing and recording folk music 10 years ago, building her name in the Toronto scene and developing into a lovely singer and banjo player. “Banjo’s sort of where I can put my energy and half lose my mind on stage, and it’s really fun,” she told me at Americanafest. But guitar and piano are my home instruments.” Also bringing the old tunes, Tony Trischka offers “Little Liza Jane.” Nicholas Edward Williams of Chattanooga makes his first appearance on the show.

Amy Alvey is a fiddle instigator. She tours and performs of course, but she also teaches in person and on-line, and she organizes old-time jams, including our annual Old Fashioned String Band Throwdown pre-party, pictured here. (We'll be back at Dee's by the way on Tues., Sept. 9 by the way so make plans to join us from 4:30 on.) Anyway, Amy extends her mission to share American fiddling with the people this week in a special episode. She made a list of the tunes that she teaches as core old-time repertoire and then found great examples of those tunes spanning present day recordings and old archival tracks. From "Fire On The Mountain" to "Lonesome Road Blues" to "Reuben's Train," this show will build your own experience with this great body of work, as well as the many regional and individual fiddle styles there are out there.

Vickie Vaughn keeps stepping up her game across the board. She’s been a charming and sincere member of the Nashville bluegrass community for years, lending her bass playing and harmony vocals to a range of artists as a side player and some premium bands as well, including High Fidelity and Della Mae. In 2023, she was named IBMA Bass Player of the Year and then she repeated a year later. This year she’s been rolling out new music as a featured artist, on her way to releasing an album on Mountain Home Music this November. We’ve spun her twist on Bruce Robison’s “Leavin’” and now she shines on the emotional ballad “Mama Took Her Ring Off Yesterday.” We knew she could really sing; now we really get to hear it. Also this week, a square dance number from Lonesome River Band, a new one from Jaelee Roberts, and a swinging instrumental from Andy Leftwich.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Eli West works with a quiet designer's mind in the Pacific northwest, and everything we hear from him has a rare depth and gravity. He's an avid collaborator who attracts greatness, having worked with Bill Frisell, John Reischman, Dori Freeman and others. I was taken with his album Tapered Point Of Stone in 2021, where West's musicianship blended organically with great east coast musicians Christian Sedelmyer (fiddle) and Andrew Marlin (mandolin). So it was exciting to see West release his new Shape Of A Sway album arrive in July. We've selected the gracefully swinging "Ever Lovin' Need To Know" for this week's roundup of new music. But we open by celebrating the first single in ages from our beloved old-time quartet The Onlies, followed by a sentimental new song from Hall of Famer Larry Sparks. The novelties continue with Kentucky's Carla Gover, fiddle wizard Darol Anger, and trad torchbearer Junior Sisk.

Adam Esrick), hot Telecaster country picker Tyler-James Kelly, and veteran country rocker Sonia Leigh.

Blue Highway is going strong more than thirty years into their award-winning bluegrass journey. Their most recent album was last year’s Lonesome State Of Mind, but they’ve been busy this year with new singles, including this week’s Shawn Lane-penned “Muddy Shoes.” I also noticed a new side from the band New Found Road (a highway song as it happens) written by Thomas Cassell and Blue Highway co-founder Tim Stafford. Another timely connection arrived with the single “Honey Babe Blues” by Blue Highway banjo player Jason Burleson. So I put them all together in a set and rounded out the new music with a song from East Tennessee’s Beth Snapp, a friend and frequent collaborator with the BH boys. Other new music comes from Appalachian Road Show, with a truly thrilling song “Won’t Be Long” featuring Victor Furtado on clawhammer banjo and a show-opening collab between Tony Trischka and The Steeldrivers. Finally, check out the old Opry-style Tennessee string band picking from Sumner County old-time band The Luggnutts, who claim descendants of the early WSM band the Possum Hunters.

Rachael Price became an American fixture as the dynamic and flawless lead singer of roots/pop phenomenon Lake Street Dive. Long before she and the Dive were headlining Madison Square Garden, she was a Hendersonville, TN native pursuing a career in classic jazz, after her girlhood idol Ella Fitzgerald. This is the story of how a music school friend - guitarist, singer, and songwriter Vilray - helped her build a parallel life pursuing her first musical love. They have incredible chemistry on and off stage, as you’ll hear in this fascinating interview.

This week, Finally Friday will feature Tennessee Twister, the multi-instrumental duo of Linda McRae and Amelia White, world class bluegrass artist Becky Buller, and multi-faceted rocker Griffin Winton.