Sep 12, 2024

Episode 294: Formed in Dallas in 1992, Old 97’s became one of the seminal bands of the alternative country movement, alongside Whiskeytown, Son Volt, the Bottle Rockets and BR549. At its heart was the longtime friendship of bass player Murry Hammond and guitarist/songwriter Rhett Miller. Remarkably, across 13 albums...

Sep 4, 2024

Episode 293: The conversation about Black influence on and presence in country music has been intense and restorative over the past decade, and nobody has a more authoritative or informed take on the subject than writer and scholar Alice Randall. She became the first Black woman to launch a career as a...

Aug 20, 2024

Episode 292: When singer Madeleine Peyroux released her breakout album Careless Love in 2004, her voice and phrasing, with echoes of Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell, had more verve than the newly famous Norah Jones and more blues than Diana Krall. Her story was more remarkable than either. She’d basically run away...

Aug 17, 2024

Episode 291: Thirty years into her late-blooming music career, Kim Richey feels like Americana music’s favorite aunt. She’s hip, youthful, incredibly kind and brimming with ideas and good words, many of which make it into fresh songs. She’s been co-writing a good bit lately, with the likes of Don Henry,...

Jul 30, 2024

Episode 290: In a bit over a decade in Nashville, Kyshona has become a figure respected for her wisdom and valued as a songwriter/artist. Her 2020 album Listen, released just before the Covid shutdown, captured the zeitgeist of that troubled and strangely inspiring year, in part because a key part of the artist’s...