Sam Bush

12/20/22 • 60 min

Episode 231: Sam Bush was the first guest on The String way back in September of 2016, because he's a hero of mine and an exemplar of the Americana ideal, traditional American music with a contemporary outlook. He returns to talk about one of his heroes, the late great John Hartford. They were friends, picking buddies and sometime tour mates. And while there are many sides to Hartford, Sam wanted to celebrate his remarkable songwriting, which he does on the new album Radio John.

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Courtney Marie Andrews plus Peter Cooper

Episode 230: With an instantly recognizable voice and uncommon skill for balancing melancholy with radiance, Courtney Marie Andrews has released a string of four acclaimed album since her 2016 breakout Honest Life. She's a Tucson, AZ native who hit the road on her own at the tender age of 16 and gave her life over to writing and sharing her soul with others. Her newest follows the arc of a new love affair, from ambivalent beginnings to a rapturous consummation in the final song. Its airy, sculpted sound matches the journey and assures the Nashville-based artist of another round of attention and respect. Also this hour, some archival tape with Nashville music journalist and songwriter/artist Peter Cooper, who died last week at age 52.

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Special Edition: Americana and Jazz

To kick off the new year during my three week book leave, here's a special edition of The String in which I read my own in-depth analysis of how two great and sweeping genres - jazz and Americana - can have such different audiences and narratives in contemporary life despite their common origins in the blues. Reviewed are two releases - the 10th anniversary vinyl edition of Esperanza Spalding's Grammy Award-winning Radio Music Society and sax player JD Allen's new and provocatively titled Americana, Vol. 2. I've been thinking about this issue for years and at last the right circumstances came together to say something very important to me. If you relate, please write me at [email protected].