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Luther Dickinson, founding brother of the North Mississippi Allstars reflects on the band's 25 years evolution and two important albums. Up And Rolling contained the story of the band in words and photographs. The new Set Sail finds the venerable hill country band in new sonic terrain with some special guests.

We’ve been eagerly waiting for the release of Hurricane Clarice, the second album by the duo of Allison DeGroot (banjo) and Tatiana Hargreaves (fiddle), so we were pleased to drop their version of “Each Season Changes You,” a song from the catalog of the Osborne Brothers that gets a truly unique treatment here. Also in the show, rising star fiddler Laura Orshaw of the Po’ Ramblin Boys sings Hazel Dickens’s feminist anthem “Ramblin’ Woman,” which just had to happen. We offer up a pair of Cajun numbers and throwback favorites from JD Crowe, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, O Brother Where Art Thou? and Peter Rowan.

In Episode 204 of The String, Craig sits down with bluegrass patriarch and Hall of Famer Del McCoury, backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. With his warm voice and always twinkling humor, Del talks about joining Bill Monroe's band in 1963, finding national renown after 50 years old, and the pandemic-inspired song scouting on his new record Almost Proud.

New discoveries abound in this week’s Old Fashioned. Nashville mandolin man and hat-maker Scott Simontacchi slipped us the most recent album by his friend and collaborator David Long, whose project called Public Record: Songs and Stories sounds like a true 1950s throwback with its vintage recording gear and timeless songwriting. David’s played with Mike Compton and Karl Shiflett among others and he’s got a true swing. Also emerging is Eli West, a guitarist and song-singer from Seattle. His “Johnny Wombat” here features fiddler Christian Sedelmyer and mandolinist Andrew Marlin. Full Cord Bluegrass was new to us out of Grand Haven, MI, but not new to the ROMP festival, where they won 2021’s band contest. Jake Xerxes Fussell is garnering buzz out of Durham, NC for his folkloric song interpretation, and this one’s a special reading of “Handsome Molly” called “Breast of Glass.” Also in the hour, new hits from Molly Tuttle and Del McCoury, plus Tex Mex from Belen Escobedo and hearty a cappella gospel from the Fairfield Four.

Our opening theme this week tips our hat to the western swing side of fiddle music with a 1940s track called “My Life’s Been A Pleasure,” while our official first song is Sturgill Simpson’s bluegrass take on his song “Life Ain’t Fair And The World Is Mean.” We hope you personally feel more like the former than the latter, but then bluegrass is famous for taking the tragic and making it sound downright pleasant. Also in this hour of happy, we hear back-to-back tracks form the perfectly paired Honey Dewdrops, the husband and wife duo from Virginia, an old favorite plus “Heart Wants” from the brand new, guitar-forward album Light Behind Light. Multi-instrumentalist Andy Leftwich plays fiddle and mandolin on his new single “Kimper County.” The wonderfully named Swamperella updates the world’s first Cajun hit. And our throwback artists include Flatt & Scruggs and Michael Cleveland.

When Jim Miller died in March, it was mostly reported as a sudden tragedy affecting his beloved Americana/country band Western Centuries. But friend of trad music Devon Leger pointed out in a lovely tribute that Miller had an extensive resume in old-time and bluegrass as well. So in TOF #16, we devote a set to rare sides featuring Jim as guitarist and singer. His voice on “Little Satchel” with Louisiana’s Dirk Powell is fantastic, as is Ginny Hawker’s mournful “The Back Of Your Hand,” with Jim on harmony. We kick off with Peter Rowan covering Woody Guthrie from his fine new album. And we treat you and ourselves to heart-rending historic bluegrass from Keith Whitley.

Around WMOT we’ve started thinking about an important 50th anniversary that you may not have considered yet. 1972 saw the release of Will The Circle Be Unbroken, the epic 3-LP set of collaborative classic country and bluegrass made by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a cast of Nashville greats, including Earl Scruggs and Mother Maybelle Carter. We’ll be visiting that album as part of WMOT’s coverage of this important landmark, because it was a galvanizing event that brought traditional roots music back in vogue and set the template for the Americana movement. That’s how we continue to get great new music every week, including this show’s singles from Asheville band Unspoken Tradition, Volume Five and Tina Adair. We also hear old time from Sophie Mae Wellington and Amy’s band Tune Hash. Plus the Punch Brothers’ take on the old Jimmie Rodgers number “Any Old Time.” Take the time to listen. You’ll love it.

It’s the old lesson from economics - that something scarce becomes more valuable. And after September, Robert Earl Keen shows will be fewer and farther between. The iconic songwriter and alt-country showman told his fans in January that this year’s ongoing I’m Comin’ Home Tour will be his last. One of those sold-out shows will soon take place in Nashville, July 9, at the Ryman Auditorium.

We’ve proudly featured the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys recently as an exemplar of the old bluegrass ways playing out by young artists on a modern stage, but they’re not the only band sporting flamboyant vintage stage wear and a close-knit, hard-boned bluegrass sound. And that’s why we kick show #10 off with the new single from the Kody Norris Show out of East Tennessee.

When we think about the youth brigade in bluegrass and traditional music, we have to think about hyper-talented and hyper-enthusiastic Mason Via who recently moved from rural North Carolina to Nashville, where he became the newest and youngest member of Old Crow Medicine Show. Mason’s been the subject of much buzz for years in folkie circles and in episode #11 you can hear his single “Gettin’ Gone,” which he says is connected to the vibe of Jack Kerouac. Also very new is “How It Ends” from the album Narrow Line by the Halifax, Nova Scotia duo of Lisa Maria and Amy Lou Keeler. We’re way into their haunting and personal spin on old-time. From the classic past you’ll hear John Hartford and Reno & Smiley. And we kick it all off with Theo and Brenna bluegrass-ifying a girl group classic from the 60s.