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Roots Radio News

Roots Radio News

  • John Leventhal is one of the quiet achievers of American roots music going back more than 30 years. Early on as a guitar player in his native New York City, he connected with Jim Lauderdale and Shawn Colvin, co-writing and producing their debut albums. He met his wife Rosanne Cash as they worked on the pivotal album The Wheel. He’s produced some epic albums since then for William Bell, Sarah Jarosz, and others, winning numerous Grammy and Americana awards in the process. At last, he lent his guitar and studio skills to making the solo debut album Rumble Strip. Rosanne is there for some duo vocals, but otherwise it’s warm and tuneful instrumentals that foreground some of the lovely textures and grooves that have been behind so many albums we’ve loved.
  • History was on Béla Fleck’s mind as he released Rhapsody In Blue on Feb. 16, the 100th anniversary of its 1924 premiere. It's a multi-faceted, album-length celebration of the great work of American music - and its adaptability. The centerpiece is a 19-minute classical version by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra with Fleck playing Gershwin’s tricky piano part on banjo. But there are blues and bluegrass versions of the piece too. Because even at age 65, when he could be coasting on all he’s done, Fleck still looks for apparently the hardest thing he could possibly try at any given time.
  • Malcolm Holcombe, the brilliant and enigmatic songwriter whom Lucinda Williams called “an old soul and a modern-day blues poet” has died at 68 years old, after a battle with cancer and a late-life surge of creative fire. He passed away on Saturday near where he was raised in western North Carolina, but Holcombe jolted his way into the consciousness of many roots music lovers and practitioners during a spell in Nashville 25 years ago. In a music community characterized by polite songwriter rounds, Holcombe was unnervingly ferocious and feral - a mesmerizing performer and lyricist whose mix of gifts and demons invite worthy comparisons to Hank Williams and Townes VanZandt.
  • In the 1990s, Paul Burch was among the pioneer artists who brought legit country music and old-school Music City values to Lower Broadway’s honky tonks. In the years since, he’s been an admired songwriter and performer while branching into scoring and production. Now he puts on yet another hat as he joins Middle Tennessee State University’s Center For Popular Music (CPM) as the manager of its non-profit, in-house label Spring Fed Records.
  • Guitar slinger, songwriter and American original Jerry Reed made some of the funkiest records in country music in the 1970s, including the slinky, butt-shaking syncopation of “Amos Moses” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.” That’s part of what inspired bass player and DJ David Guy to assemble and organize an impressive cast of musicians and singers last week at 3rd & Lindsley for a tribute to Reed. Nashville photographer (and drummer) Sam Wiseman was on hand, and we’re excited to showcase his coverage of the night, while Craig reviews.
  • Todd Snider, possibly the greatest solo songwriting raconteur of the past quarter century, blends an eye for truth with a delight in the absurd. As East Nashville’s musical mayor and its hippie Hemingway, it’s impossible to imagine the character of 37206 without him. And now, after building a virtual ark for sanity during the pandemic with The Get Together online series, the most innovative album of his career (First Agnostic Church of Hope And Wonder), a live collection (Return Of The Storyteller), and an acclaimed release of the shelved 2007 album Crank It, We’re Doomed, Snider has revealed his latest concepts to the world.
  • Episode 275 of The String begins with an ode to the studio and stage musicians who come up with parts and make the singers and stars sound great, while being relegated to the sexist, ungenerous title of “sidemen.” I’ve always had my eyes and ears on them as a music fan, and as a journalist, I know they are often untapped wells of stories and insights. Recently, I got to thinking about a musician - a bass player - who’s been on more big sessions and done time with more impactful artists than most in roots/Americana music over the past 35 years. So I invited Byron House on to the program.
  • Beyond his skills as a guitarist and singer, Clay Ross is what I like to call a Musical Instigator. Since heading to his current base in New York 20 years ago from his home town of Charleston, SC, he’s conceived and organized three brilliant groups that bring a new global consciousness to American roots music. First it was Matuto with its infusion of Brazilian melodies and rhythms. Then with old college-era friends from South Carolina he launched Ranky Tanky, a Grammy-winning outfit that reimagines African-American Gullah music for a world stage. His latest project is the American Patchwork Quartet, with members from three continents and a completely original way of updating classic folk songs. We go deep on his background and his approach to making creative space for diverse people to truly collaborate.
  • Bluegrass fans who love to stay home in the winter aren’t left out in the cold, because of a bumper crop of excellent new albums. Mostly by women and younger artists, they tell a gratifying story about where today’s music is going, and we’ve been reveling in these neo-traditional sounds over on The Old Fashioned (Saturdays 9 am / Tuesdays 8 pm).
  • Thirty years ago, legendary R&B singer Delbert McClinton proved he was ahead of his time by launching his Sandy Beaches Cruise, a January festival at sea that featured his friends and associated artists from the bluesy side of Americana. Since then, the music cruise business has flourished across many genres. A company called Star Vista Live bought Sandy Beaches from Delbert a few years ago and now does the management while Delbert himself acts as host. I got a fortunate invitation to act as artist interviewer on this year’s cruise, and they let me report my own account of this luxurious but accessible experience. In this hour you’ll hear from Delbert himself, Mavericks lead singer Raul Malo, cruise lifer Marcia Ball, emerging artist Yates McKendree, singer Etta Britt, gospel great Anne McCrary, and more.