The String

Episode 192: Nashville-raised songwriter Aubrey Sellers returns to The String as half of the new duo Jackson & Sellers. She and Jade Jackson became Instagram friends after the 2019 AmericanaFest wher…

Episode 191: The Charleston, SC collective SUSTO has been a vehicle for the fertile mind of songwriter Justin Osborne since 2014. The music and his lyrics have both a grandeur and an intimacy, tackli…

Episode 190: Veteran songwriter Bruce Robison set the pace for the alt-country/Americana format in the 1990s and wrote hit songs for George Strait, the Dixie Chicks and others. Five years ago, he wid…

Episode 189: Phoebe Hunt established herself on a national stage playing for years with her former band the Bellville Outfit out of Austin. Since pursuing a solo career in New York and now Nashville,…

Episode 188: Doyle Lawson has been mingling the holy and the down home in his blistering traditional bluegrass over a career on the road stretching back just shy of 60 years. Now at 77 he's stepping …

Episode 187: John Sebastian is most famous as the founder of and songwriter for the Lovin' Spoonful, which produced a fresh crop of folk rock hits in the late 60s. But there's much more to his story.…

Episode 186: Formed as a showcase for women in string band music in 2009, Della Mae has seen lineup changes but no drift in its mission to create a new bluegrass and neo-folk sound full of ideas and …

Episode 185: Tim Easton is one of the most interesting guys in the Americana troubadour game. He grew up split between Akron, OH and Tokyo, Japan. He busked all over Europe for years as he formed his…

Episode 184: AmericanaFest returned to the clubs and yards of Nashville with a slimmer but spirited 2021 edition. Those able to come found community, diversity and great performances. I caught up wit…

Episode 183: He's the most gifted and innovative banjo player of all time and one of the architects of an American string band jazz tradition that's influenced generations of bluegrass musicians. And…

Episode 182: To spotlight the 2021 AmericanaFest, returning after a year off, I reached out to two of the most interesting artists showcasing during the week. Sierra Ferrell is a rambling free spirit…

Episode 181: It’s a jangle pop special with two bands of brothers who are back on record after two-decade breaks. The Delevantes, Bob and Mike, are pioneers of Americana, chart toppers when the forma…

Episode 180: When Maggie Rose held her album release party in late August for her third album Have A Seat, she filled one of the city's largest music halls with wildly enthusiastic fans, testimony to…

Episode 179: He goes by "Ferg" and he's one of the most interesting and influential creative forces in Nashville, whether you've heard of him or not. David Ferguson grew up in town, connected as a te…

Episode 178: East Nashville's J.P. Harris has been a train-hopper, a logger, a shepherd, a honky tonker and a historic home carpenter. Indeed he was getting up from this early morning interview to wo…

Episode 177: This year marks the 30th anniversary of Jim Lauderdale's solo debut album Planet Of Love, but he was a veteran even then of the burgeoning alternative country music scenes in New York an…

Episode 176: Parker Millsap burst on to the folk and roots scene in 2014 out of Oklahoma with a voice beyond his years and a bold way with drawing characters from the American heartland. Raised in th…

Episode 175: Tim O'Brien is one of several roots music icons who've circled back for a second visit to The String in recent weeks, and that's a great thing. His band Hot Rize dominated bluegrass in t…

Episode 174: Amythyst Kiah grew up in East TN and discovered traditional folk music at college there. Drawn to its heritage and its sound, she launched her career as a solo singer of original and tra…

Episode 173: It takes a bold woman to cover "Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line," but Shannon McNally has been fearlessly facing down naysayers in the music business for 20 years. Nashville based after…