Americana Podcast

It's time to break out the party hats and pop the champagne because the Americana Podcast is celebrating its 4th anniversary! For the past four years, this podcast has been a leading voice in the Americana music scene, sharing interviews, stories, and music from some of the genre's most talented artists. And in our tireless efforts to promote and celebrate the diverse range of sounds and styles, we’ve made plenty of memories and laughter along the way. We’ve strived to provide insights into the creative process, the challenges of the music industry, and share the rich history and culture that inspires Americana music. In order to celebrate this fun little birthday of ours, I’m very pleased to invite you to a live panel recording we did at the Arcadia Live in Kerrville Texas!

Moderated by Tamara Saviano, Americana Podcast welcomes Robert Earl Keen, Bruce Robison, Richard Skanse, Jamie Lin Wilson, Dr. Ian Peddie, and Clara Rose to talk about the history and future of Americana music. With special live recordings by Terry Allen!

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We have a very special guest in this episode. Today, we're diving into the rich tapestry of the extraordinary songwriter, Gretchen Peters. Growing up next to the legendary Greenwich Village folk scene, before moving to Colorado where she cut her teeth as a performer, and finally settling in Nashville at the height of the traditional country to pop country split in the 90’s and early aughts. Peters’ story is something that music journalists and authors could only dream of living. And during all this time, she has etched her name into the annals of American music history with her poignant lyrics and haunting melodies.

In the early '90s, Peters released her debut album, 'The Secret of Life,' which quickly garnered attention for its lyrical depth and Peters' distinctive, emotive voice. Throughout her illustrious career, Peters has penned songs that resonate with a raw, emotional honesty and capture complexities of the human condition. Her songs have been cut by the likes of Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood, and has been a longstanding advocate for musician’s rights in an increasingly complicated industry that looks more and more like a battleground everyday.

Having recently retired from touring, it’s time to take stock of Gretchen Peters' immeasurable impact on music. Her dedication to storytelling has earned her a place among the most revered songwriters of our time. So join us today as we speak with Gretchen Peters about her serendipitous career, women’s music in country and Americana, and whether or not there really is a difference between being a songwriter and being a performer.

It’s a new year Americana Podcast listeners! And with a new year, means new discussions on what makes Americana... well Americana. When we look at this genre, we talk a lot its history and its future. And over time we’ve been able to piece together this ongoing timeline and certain elements that are key to its existence. Base influences in songwriting, certain instrumentation, and geography. If you’ve been a long-time listener, you know that many of our previous guests have attributed a great deal of their musical identity to where they learned music from.

This of course is a holdover from the new world mentality in the west, where many genres developed due to particularly regional and social integrations over extended periods of time. When looking at Americana we are specifically looking at the European folk trad to bluegrass, blues to rock, and then rock and bluegrass to country as we know it today. That’s a lot of words to basically say the place that you identify as home, has as significant of an effect on your musical education as who’s albums you choose to listen to growing up.

And Kentucky aside, some of the artists that know that best are from Texas and Oklahoma.

There’s a lot of opinions on the state of Red Dirt Music and Texas Country. Developing as sub genres in the late 80’s to early 00’s, this very regional brand of music came up in response to commercial country. And I’m not talking Florida Georgia Line commercial, I’m talking Tim McGraw commercial. Whom we love.

There’s a lot of ups and downs and opinions in the overall conversation but the general one is that Red Dirt and Texas Country became a space for outsiders beyond the Nashville standard. Piggybacking off of the outlaw movement and the historical legacies of artists, particularly Texas native Willie Nelson, these scenes were able to flourish in their respective regions and began to go a bit beyond. They were in a position to challenge the value of industry effect in radio versus organic growth in listenership. They developed loyal followings, local radio play.... The works. But due to a long series of unfortunate commercial circumstances, the scenes have presently been relegated very much south of the red river.

And I could go on about this, but fortunately on this episode you can hear it straight from the quarter horse’s mouth.

Americana Podcast speaks with the artists who possibly have the most pertinent opinions on the state of Red Dirt and Texas Country and their weight in the views of Americana music. On this episode we have musical and actual giant Ray Benson from Asleep at The Wheel. Defender of the Dance Hall Randy Rogers, Okie not from Muskogee Jason Boland of Jason Boland and the stragglers, young blood William Beckmann, whip smart Wade Bowan, and philanthropist at heart Josh Abbott. Saddle up and enjoy the show.

Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin but raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, Paul Thorn has had quite the roundabout career. Son of a Pentecostal preacher, Thorn wasn't allowed to indulge in music outside of the church, but honed his skills early on within its walls. Thorn worked as everything from a professional boxer to a furniture manufacturer before being discovered by famed manager Miles Copeland. In 1997, Thorn released his first record Hammer and Nail and has been on the road ever since.

Paul Thorn's stage career began opening for Sting, and since then he has played with other greats including but not limited to, Mark Knoplfer, Jeff Beck, Richard Thompson, and John Prine. in September 2021, Thorn released his latest album Never Too Late to Call.

On this episode of Americana Podcast, Thorn discusses getting sober, his upbringing, Elvis, writing and more.

There are four types of discourse in language- descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative. And it seems that all four of those are readily present in any niche interest group on the internet these days. Anything from the way a machine works (descriptive), the exact timeline of Tolkien's world building (narrative), someone breaking down the latest universe development in a comic-book based film (expository), and argumentative which that one goes without example. If you need one, go to twitter.

On the note of argumentative, some may disagree with this next statement, but the difference between good discourse and bad discourse depends on the presence of resources. Resources establish credibility in ones' opinion and or points. They inform subsequent works, and if you're bibliography and research nerd, they are excellent road maps to other sources of information that you can sink your teeth into. Really exciting stuff, I know. But, when those resources aren't made readily available, that's where discourse breaks down. Without them, there's a few formal problems, like credibility and the questioning of objectivity. Mainly, the problem- is without resources how were you able to effectively formulate your contribution to the discussion at hand, and why should others participate with you.

One of the key ways we talk about music with musicians, is by asking about their influences. Influences tell us so much about who we're speaking with and how they developed.They give us a way to describe an artist's sound. Influences tell the story of formative discovery. They give us a timeline of the kinds of music that shaped an artist in different eras. Influences allow us to argue what was ultimately important in flows of time and culture. See where I'm going with this? Musical influences are just one part, but a big one in terms of musical resources.

Artists don't owe us that information. We know that. "What are your influences?" Is a boring question and its asked in pretty much every interview. They can keep their secrets, but its nice when that door is open.

Which brings us to this episode's guests- The Boxmasters. The Boxmasters is made up of Bill Bob Thornton and JD Andrews. Thornton and Andrews in 2007 when Thornton brought in Andrews as a sound engineer for his 2007 record "Beautiful Door". The two found that the had similar approaches and views of music and started playing together somewhat regularly. After some time, the two began recording and eventually created their band "The Boxmasters" the name comes from southern slang referring to a hotshot with echoes of Porter Wagoners "The Wagonmasters" which Thornton had previously played in for a time. Since 2007, the group has toured extensively with the likes of Willie Nelson and Ray Price, taking a break between 2010-2015 where they reconvened to make the record "Somewhere Down the Road". The released their latest album "Help Im Alive" in April of 2022 (when this interview was recorded).

The Boxmasters do not shy away from their influences and what the build their sound on. Pulling from groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stone, Mott and the Hoople- the duo works to echo the sounds the personally loved from the 60's and 70's- whilst also giving it a somewhat more southern edge with original lyrics.. all topped off with classic Bakersfield like production. And neither Andrews or Thornton will shy away from telling you as such.