Tag: Craig Havighurst

The String – Music City Postcard: Asheville, NC

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Episode 121 of The String is a field trip to Asheville, NC, which Rolling Stone last year touted as one of the best music scenes in the country.


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Those of us who visit Western North Carolina regularly already knew that fact, and this week’s show surveys the talent and the institutions making the region important in roots music and beyond. Features: Amanda Anne Platt of the Honeycutters, Echo Mountain Studio, WNCW radio, Crossroads Music, Sarah Siskind, Morgan Geer and more.

Photo credit: @CarShowShooter on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

The String – Leftover Salmon

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt met in 1985 on Vince’s first night in Boulder, CO and formed a lifelong musical bond. With banjo player Mark Vann they merged two bands into one and became Leftover Salmon at the dawn of 1990.

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In the 30 years since, they’ve earned the respect and partnership of the highest levels of the bluegrass and acoustic worlds while playing music that’s as adventuresome as it is laid back. Herman and Emmitt marked the anniversary with a duo acoustic tour. The String’s host Craig Havighurst caught up with the pair at Nashville’s City Winery for a wide ranging talk about their years together.

The String – Hawktail

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Four virtuoso string band musicians well known for their work with other bands are taking instrumental acoustic music to new heights in the band Hawktail.

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They are fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice and mandolinist Dominick Leslie. And they recently landed on the Grand Ole Opry on release weekend of their second album Formations. Also, the delightful and clever throwback country duo of Noel McKay and Brennan Leigh. They’ve moved from Austin to Nashville and put out a masterful album of timeless songwriting.

The String – Marcus Finnie and Mabel Pleasure

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

The String sits down with a musical family that’s come from Memphis to Nashville and contributed to a brighter Music City.

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Marcus Finnie is one of Nashville’s most admired drummers, with a background spanning gospel, roots, pop and jazz. Mabel Pleasure is a lifelong Hammond organ player who rocks Sunday morning church services and the occasional R&B gig. And she’s also Marcus’s Mom. Marcus has a new album as leader of his jazz band. Mabel is about to make her lifelong recording/singing debut on album. And we talk about much more besides.

The String – Beth Nielsen Chapman

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Often when songwriters talk process, we hear the same few nuggets about craft on repeat. Not Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Beth Nielsen Chapman, though. She has a deeply considered take on the art form and the personal work and qualities of mindfulness that truly unlock creative potential.

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Chapman’s workshops and lectures are in high demand and coming in 2020 she launches The Song School, a podcast that will include her wisdom and critiques of real songs in real time. Here, she invites host Craig Havighurst into her home studio to talk about her success as an artist and writer for others (Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker, Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, and many more) and how she keeps the flame lit.

The String – Michael Doucet

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Fiddler, singer/songwriter, bandleader, and folk music scholar Michael Doucet is synonymous with Beausoleil, the neo-traditional Louisiana band he co-founded forty-plus years ago.

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Still, Doucet relishes collaborations. His upcoming album with a new band, L’acher Prise, is a real Americana hybrid. The Compass Records release is Cajun at its core, but full of ideas from four other musicians a generation younger than he is. We talk about his legendary career in roots music, dedicated to rediscovery and reclaiming of a marginalized culture that made Louisiana the special place that it is. Also on this episode, the legacy and music of Warren Storm with musician, author, and record producer Yvette Landry.

The String – John Hiatt

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

To start the new year, a full-hour with one of the certified icons of roots/Americana music and Nashville songwriting, John Hiatt.

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We cover a lot of ground, from getting launched out of Indianapolis in 1970 through a long, frustrating recording career and a breakthrough in the mid 1980s to his stature today as a Nashville leader. His long-time label New West Records has just released a limited edition 15-LP box set covering his most recent 11 albums. It’s a heavyweight tribute to a soulful master of the art.

The String – The McCrary Sisters

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

The McCrary Sisters — Alfreda, Ann, Deborah, and Regina — grew up in Nashville in the home of legendary preacher and singer Reverend Sam McCrary, a key member of the Fairfield Four and a major figure in gospel music.

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They’ve sung, together and apart, on stages and in studios around the world. And they’ve become beloved anchors of roots music communities in Music City. After working with producer/artist Buddy Miller, they answered popular demand to form their own quartet, and after several albums through the 2010s, the McCrarys delivered their first Christmas album. It became a leaping off point for a joyful conversation about four remarkable lives in music.

The String – Allison Moorer

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Allison Moorer emerged around the year 2000 as one of the most profound and beautiful voices in true country music.

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As she grew in stature and acclaim, it emerged that she’s suffered an extraordinary loss as a 14-year-old when her troubled, alcoholic father murdered her mother and then took his own life. The time emerged for Moorer to grapple with the trauma in public, and she worked in prose and song. This fall, she released a book and song-cycle album, both called “Blood”. We talk about the parents she lost and the sister (the artist Shelby Lynne) who helped her move forward.

The String – Michaela Anne and Ickes / Hensley

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Michaela Anne went to New York City to study jazz vocals and emerged a full on convert to country music. She built a career in Brooklyn then moved to Nashville to see it through. She’s recently released her fourth album and a label debut with Yep Roc.

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There’s a serenity in her voice and a sensitivity in her lyrics. She talks about her background and the courage it takes, as one of her songs says, by her “own design.” Also in the hour, the game changing country-grass duo of Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley.

Notes and full versions of these edited interviews can be found at WMOT.org.