Arts and Entertainment

On a Grammy Awards when some popular genres of music represented themselves with swords and blood, the smashing of folding chairs, and a literal on-stage dumpster fire (and when classical and jazz seemed to not exist), country and roots music offered the world some moving examples of obligation, homage and collaboration. Between Joni Mitchell’s triumphant, first-ever Grammy performance and a Luke Combs/Tracy Chapman duet that stirred hearts on social media, this year’s ceremony, from a Los Angeles arena named for imaginary money, made the simplest songs look like the source of lasting value.

Nashville's Rod Picott is a veteran troubadour, with 12 studio releases to his credit and a trail of great reviews, though not the recognition his steady hand and persistence deserve. We do know that he’s playing the hallowed stage of 3rd & Lindsley on Finally Friday where he’ll be celebrating release day for his new album Starlight Tour, produced with East Nashville guru Nielson Hubbard. Also on this Friday’s bill are 1970s throwback country-rock band Gwen Levey & The Breakdown, vocally gifted English trio The Wandering Hearts. While you make plans to join us, here’s a catch-up conversation I had early this week with Rod Picott.

In just five years, including the pandemic shut-down, Nashville native Gabe Lee has grown from an unknown “hometown kid,” as one of his titles proclaims, to a debut last year on the Grand Ole Opry. Working independently with boutique Torrez Music Group, Lee has released four albums, earning the admiration of critics and a grassroots fan base that’s adding up to something special and sustainable. The most recent opus is Drink The River, which Lee took in a more acoustic and nuanced direction than his prior release, and which might be emerging as his career record.

While there’s no way to measure it, no Americana album debut of last year had more visibility, impact or critical acclaim than Whiplash by Nashville-based, Colorado-raised Jobi Riccio. Jobi’s name was everywhere for months before the record’s release. She played a jam-packed preview show to release her breakout single “For Me It’s You” at Nashville’s Basement in January of last year, eight months before her album date. And when the album did arrive, it received huge acclaim and landed on numerous year-end lists, including ours at WMOT. Craig Havighurst speaks with the artist in an audio feature.

The winter weather has been tumultuous across the country, including in Nashville, where we plunged to single digits for days before a warm snap that brought a week of rain. But believe me, none of our team had any foresight about this when they booked the talent for this week’s Finally Friday, where we’ll open with a singer named Sunshine and close with an acoustic roots trio named for stormy weather.

The recently revitalized Nashville Blues and Roots Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting the blues, is sending three winning artists from its recent battle of the bands to Memphis next week for the International Blues Challenge. They’ll meet and in some cases compete with blues artists from across the planet in the world’s biggest gathering of blues fanatics and professionals. Nashville’s youngest delegate/winner is 16-year-old harmonica playing Kiersi Joli.

Rosanne Cash says she’s a forward-looking artist and thinker, not prone to looking back. But when she regained control over the master recording of her 1993 album The Wheel, it prompted an idea. She’s launched the new label Rumble Strip Records with John Leventhal, the producer and guitarist she fell in love with while working on it with him. Cash, one of the most fascinating and sophisticated roots musicians and a founding figure of the Americana movement, calls The Wheel a “watershed” for her in many ways beyond her new life with Leventhal. She’d moved to New York where she’s lived ever since. And she branched away from the country mainstream. The re-issue of The Wheel, now out for the first time on vinyl, prompted a riveting conversation. Also in the hour, Colorado-reared newcomer Jobi Riccio.

From the golden era Grand Ole Opry to epic concerts of my Nashville years - Levon Helm’s Ramble and Down From The Mountain come to mind - the Ryman Auditorium is the place for multi-artist country music extravaganzas. We can add to those historic events Saturday night’s celebration of Earl Scruggs on the occasion of his 100th birthday. On the very stage where the banjo legend helped usher the bluegrass sound into existence, this three-hour tribute showcased foundational music played by many of the greatest living practitioners of the genre, including a whole bunch of banjo players.

Last fall’s Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium opened with Rounder Records artist Logan Ledger singing “Come Monday” in honor of Jimmy Buffett, who had died of cancer a few weeks before, on Sept. 1. A decade ago, I wonder if the Americana community would have embraced Buffett - he of the “Margaritaville” lifestyle and a reported billionaire - as one of its own. But the good-time, maritime songwriter/star started his career writing country songs in Music City and pursued many crossovers and associations in Nashville and roots music circles over his 50-year career.One such collaborator known fondly to our scene is Will Kimbrough, a long-time “honorary” member of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band and a co-writer on a raft of Buffett albums going back almost 20 years.

Amy Alvey and I were delighted to bring our listeners another year of The Old Fashioned in 2023, because bluegrass and old-time music need more platforms on radio and in the music business in general. And because it was such a brilliant and surprising year for traditional acoustic Americana. Here are ten albums, in no particular order, that we regarded as special, even indispensable, collections from some of our most interesting artists.