Southern Songs and Stories is a documentary series about the music of the South and the artists who make it. We showcase their performances and discover the stories behind their songs with a look at their lives on stage, in the studio and at home as well as the family, friends, fans and music professionals around them.
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“My mom went to Juilliard, graduated from Juilliard. She taught us all of our instruments. We performed very high-level classical music, but we never felt a connection with the audience. And that's what we really yearned for.” — Dan Fedoryka You might not guess that the Fedoryka brothers, the core of the four-piece band Scythian , would have started their musical journey in such a formal setting,…
One of the greatest things about roots music in general, and bluegrass specifically, is that it continually brings in new generations of players to the fold. These young artists cut their teeth on the classics of the genre and then, very often, branch out into new directions, pushing the boundaries of the form, and inventing new styles while reinvigorating the overall framework of the music they…
Ask anyone who has has been there, is getting there, or maybe just realizing that it is around the bend, and they will tell you: getting older is not for the faint of heart. Not counting all the challenges with getting physically older, there are the many curveballs that life throws our way with work, family, and friendships, not to mention just maintaining mental balance in a world full of…
The George Hatcher Band 08/16/81 at Main Street Music Hall, Morganton NC P.B. Scott’s documentary Central Piedmont Community College online collection of WTVI archives Rick Bowles episode on WTVI’s After Dark , recorded at O’Neills, date unknown
Charlotte has been on my mind a lot lately. Recently, I profiled the Queen City’s Emanuel Wynter in the episode “Violin’s Architect of Joyous Sound: Emanuel Wynter”, which followed a recent episode on Charlotte artist Sam Tayloe of the band Time Sawyer titled “New Stages for Time Sawyer and Their Hometown Festival”. Around the time I interviewed Emanuel Wynter, I was in Charlotte on two occasions…
Acclaimed Alabama songwriter Abe Partridge and podcaster Ferrill Gibbs return to the podcast world with their new series titled Alabama Astronaut Radio Transmission , continuing their earlier work in the podcast series Alabama Astronaut to chronicle the religious practice of snake handling in the American South, and to document the movement’s unique and largely unknown songs and often raucous…
When you think of the violin, or in country and roots music circles its kissing cousin the fiddle, what comes to mind? The Suzuki method, or Antonio Vivaldi perhaps? Maybe a song like “Ashokan Farewell” or “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”? But have you heard of Stuff Smith, Regina Carter, Papa John Creach, or Stéphane Grappelli? Charlotte artist Emanuel Wynter certainly has, and having grown up…
Many times the way and artist finds their way onto this podcast is from their publicist or someone else on their team reaching out to me, or vice versa. Sometimes I might bump into an artist at a show or festival and hit them up for an impromptu interview then and there, but that is rare. Rarer still is the scenario where I came in contact with western Kentucky artist Kelsey Waldon , which was…
Did you know that almost three thousand years ago, before there were athletic competitions at the first Olympics, there were music competitions at Delphi in Greece, with contestants singing hymns to Apollo? Or that, in the late 19th century in America, John Philip Sousa protégé Bohumir Kryl's Bohemian Band was frequently seen on the Chautauqua circuit, and featured four husky timpanists in leather…
It is interesting to compare and contrast the genres of rock and roll with old time and string band music. In some ways, string bands can be more raw and intense than rock bands. No bridges. Odd tunings. Dancing to exhaustion. Music made for intimate social gatherings versus music made for the wide world. The stereotypes of old time musicians being country bumpkins have not been entirely erased,…
