That Ain’t Bluegrass: NewTown, ‘Can’t Let Go’

Artist: NewTown
Song: “Can’t Let Go” (Originally by Lucinda Williams)
Album: Harlan Road

Where did you first hear this song?

Kati Penn Williams: I was looking for songs for the record and I just randomly went on Apple Music and put in Lucinda Williams, because she’s so awesome. I was trying to go through artists that I hadn’t really delved into in a little while. That song, it’s kind of funny, because I was on the treadmill, or something, and that song was the first one that came on. [Apple Music] is supposed to pick out songs it thinks you will like and I guess it nailed it, because I loved that song as soon as I heard it.

What do you think makes it a good bluegrass song?

I think the feel of it and the timing. And I mean of course, the story, too. You have to have good heartbreak in a bluegrass song. You know, love gone wrong — can’t let go! And just the beat, too. It’s different, it’s not your traditional bluegrass beat. It’s a little bit different in that way. To me, it still fits well in a bluegrass set.

What was your process of arranging it and putting it together?

I usually have an idea about how I hear a song going when I bring something to the rest of the guys, but then, of course, once I play it for them they always have their thoughts, too. We try to settle somewhere in the middle. I want to say on that song Hayes Griffin (guitar) had a pretty big influence on how we ended up doing that. He has a pretty big musical background; he’s very well-versed in all kinds of different music. I say between him and Travis Anderson (bass) — he does a lot of jazz and different kinds of things — they were really helpful on that particular song, as far as putting the beat together.

It’s kind of a tradition in bluegrass to take songs from outside the genre and interpret them through a bluegrass lens. Why do you think that is?

Well, there are only so many bluegrass songs out there. [Laughs] If you just constantly did all of the bluegrass songs, if everyone did that over and over all the time it would get pretty boring. For us, it’s not about necessarily trying to find a song that’s of a different genre and make it bluegrass, we just like songs that we like. It’s not that we necessarily hear a song and think, “How can we make this bluegrass?” We just think, “How would this song be best represented?” I think it can get kind of cheesy if you try to put everything to a bluegrass beat. We don’t try to do that. It doesn’t fit.

What is your favorite thing about performing this song live?

I’ve gotta say the beat again. It’s such a fun beat and it brings a lot of people up. People get out of their seats, they clap, it’s an easy song to clap along and dance along with. It’s not too fast — traditionally, a lot of bluegrass songs are really fast. It’s quicker and upbeat, but it’s not so fast that you can’t move along with it. This song tends to bring a lot more crowd interaction than some other songs do. That makes it enjoyable for me.

But you know that ain’t bluegrass, right?

[Laughs] Yeah. That’s fine! I wouldn’t say our goal when we get up every morning is to be the most bluegrass band that we can be. We just want to be the best band that we can be. No matter what you play or how bluegrass you think you are there are always going to be people out there who say, “That’s not bluegrass.” Even if you aren’t trying to be bluegrass there will be people saying, “Well that’s just bluegrass.” [Laughs] By most standards we’re considered a bluegrass band and like I said, we just want to make the best music we can. Whatever [umbrella] that falls under, that’s where it’s gonna fall.

We focus on the song, the music we enjoy, and music we think other people will enjoy as well. We’re not going to take a song and do it a certain way just to make it more bluegrass. That would be counterproductive, I think. If it happens to have a banjo, that’s good — but you know, there are songs that have banjo that aren’t really bluegrass, so… You can’t win! [Laughs]

John Prine: The Difficulty of Forgiveness

In the days following the release of The Tree of Forgiveness, John Prine — the 71-year-old master song crafter, storyteller, and lover of a good meatloaf — had the best sales week of his decades-long career. His first album of originals since 2005’s Fair and Square, it’s a rare bit of triumph for the good guys — and for an artist like Prine, who has shaped our current musical climate in ways that are often beyond measure. Because, despite being one of the primary influences on Americana’s best and brightest — from Jason Isbell to Margo Price and Deer Tick — Prine’s never banked those platinum albums. Though 1991’s The Missing Years eventually sold around a half-million copies some 20 years after his self-titled debut, records, like the rest of human life, then went online: People stopped buying, and started streaming.

“Just as I started selling records, records stopped selling. I hope it wasn’t my fault,” Prine says, chuckling from his living room at home in Nashville. “I’d be spoiled, if I sold a million records. I probably wouldn’t go on the road for 10 years. But I don’t ever want to sell so many records that I have to do shows in a stadium. Stadiums are for sporting events: They’re not to watch a guy with a guitar come out and tell his story.”

He’s right, though if there’s anyone who could capture a stadium full of people with just an acoustic guitar and his heart-shaking stories, it would be Prine. The Tree of Forgiveness, an exquisite record that finds Prine looking at love, death, and the passage of time with humor, lightness, and his own quirky sort of grace, isn’t a set of arena rock barnburners (obviously). Instead, it’s touching moments of humanity that stick to the bones and linger in the mind, letting the imagination wander in exactly the direction that Prine wants it to … which is everywhere. Take “Summer’s End,” a nostalgic track if there ever was one, though it’s not explicitly clear for what — for summer, for a relationship, for life itself. “I could sell John Prine Kleenex with a song like that,” he says, laughing.

But it’s hard to be too sad about the end of life or love in Prine’s world, particularly life, if what happens next is as fun as “When I Get to Heaven,” the album’s closer. With Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, and Brandi Carlile all chiming in on kazoo and vocals — all three appear across the Dave Cobb-produced LP — it details Prine’s perfect afterlife, where he can smoke again, post-cancer, hug his loved ones, and drink his signature cocktail, the Handsome Johnny, to his heart’s content. Like most of what Prine does, “When I Get to Heaven” is loaded with a potent combination of humor and vulnerability. Death is life’s biggest mystery, and Prine would rather solve that problem with lightness than exist in the dark, reality be damned. And Prine likes a good story as much as he likes (or doesn’t like) reality, anyway.

Prine’s own life story is a bit of rock ‘n’ roll lore: He grew up outside of Chicago in a mill town, and formed his songwriting voice after leaving the Army, writing between shifts as a mailman. But much of his signature finger-picking style and his artistic identity come from Kentucky, where his father hailed from, and which feeds the deep bluegrass presence within his songs.

Prine is equally important to Kentucky, too — and to Kentucky’s artists, like Kelsey Waldon, who will open select shows for him in the fall. “John Prine’s music is very special and significant to me,” says Waldon. “He brought together my country and bluegrass worlds, but with relevant and honest songwriting that I think would touch most any walk of life. As a Kentuckian, yes, of course his bluegrass roots make me proud. I have spent some time in Muhlenberg County, and I believe that’s where John learned to play, from his grandfather. That is the area where the great Merle Travis is from, and you can really hear a lot of Merle in John’s pickin’ style — that rhythmic thumb picking. The Everly Brothers and Bill Monroe are also from around the same area so, you know, it’s a lush environment for music. Something has always been in the water. I had heard in an interview that his daddy used to drill the kids that they were not only from Illinois, but also from Kentucky. So, I’d say the roots run deep.”

“I can never really lose those roots,” Prine says. “My family is a big part of my life. A lot of the older relatives are gone now, but I still have family in Kentucky, and I still go to my family reunions every year. Country and bluegrass have always been big influences on me and my music. I still listen to that music.”

Prine listens to a lot of Isbell and Shires, too, and Sturgill Simpson, a fellow Kentucky native with whom he shares a songwriting office — which has never actually been used for any songwriting. Prine stores a big pool table there and, besides, they can’t give it up. Producer/engineer Dave Ferguson uses the space next door, and he likes to smoke there, so Prine and Simpson hold on to it so a new tenant doesn’t put the kibosh on the stogies. “Friendship and cigarettes,” Prine says.

“I would love Sturgill if he was from New York City,” says Prine, “but he is from Kentucky, and I love that he respects and cherishes those roots as I do. He and I both come from the same long line of country-folk-bluegrass guitar-playing musicians. I learned to fingerpick by listening to Elizabeth Cotton and musicians in our tradition. We are all still playing and writing about stuff we know.”

One of the reasons that Prine’s songs are so impactful is how they balance what he knows and what he doesn’t — the mysteries of life, its frustrations, and unknowns. On The Tree of Forgiveness, recorded at RCA Studio A, he’s thinking a lot about forgiveness, itself, and what it means to be kind, something that resonates loud and clear in the Trump era. Prine didn’t write explicitly political songs on this record, but that simple act of forgiveness and kindness is political, in and of itself, in 2018 — a concept that other country and folk singers, like Kacey Musgraves and Courtney Marie Andrews, have also explored on their recent albums.

“Forgiveness, to me, it’s probably the most difficult thing to do,” Prine says. “And the most difficult person to forgive is yourself. A lot of people go through life not forgiving themselves for short-selling something, or paying enough attention to kids or parents, not looking after them when they get old. But the most difficult thing is to forgive yourself.”

Prine’s songs include so much permission to forgive ourselves for being imperfect, for acknowledging that we can love our weaknesses as much as our strengths, and for being content with our priorities, however skewed they may be. Some of Prine’s personal priorities are songs, a good meatloaf, and friends and family. His record label, Oh Boy, is a family affair, with his wife and manager Fiona running things with their son, Jody Whelan. When he’s not touring or playing with his grandkids, he’s writing with friends like Dan Auerbach, who appears on the record, and Pat McLaughlin, or seeing shows around town. He recently checked out the I’m With Her gig at the Station Inn in Nashville. “His support is incredibly meaningful,” says Sara Watkins, who could see he him bopping along from the stage.

“The longer I live in Nashville, I only co-write with friends,” says Prine. “Because, if you spend an afternoon together and you don’t write a song, at least you get to hang out.” For one of The Tree of Forgiveness‘s tracks — “Egg & Daughter Nite, Lincoln Nebraska, 1967 (Crazy Bone)” — Prine and McLaughlin were writing together on a Tuesday (“meatloaf day, that’s our carrot on a stick”) and Prine brought up a story about how he’d heard of farmers taking their daughters to town in order to pawn them off for marriage — which he’d heard jokingly referred to as “egg and daughter night.” Naturally, this gave Prine a good laugh. And an idea.

Prine didn’t think it was a real thing, though (according to Google, apparently, it is), but they wrote the song anyway. “We didn’t think it was about the truth and, when you aren’t writing about the truth,” he says, “the world is your oyster.”


Illustration by Zachary Johnson

WATCH: Tyler Childers, ‘Born Again’

Artist: Tyler Childers
Hometown: Lawrence Country, KY
Song: “Born Again”
Release Date: August 4, 2017
Label: Hickman Holler Records via Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “My buddy Byron let me borrow his recurve and gave me a crash course on shooting. He talked about hitting a deer in the ‘boiler room’ … the vitals. I liked the way that sounded and always wanted to use that in a song. So this is my redneck commentary on reincarnation.” — Tyler Childers


Photo credit: David McClister

3×3: Jeremy Pinnell on Eating Steak, Being Up, and Loving Kale

Artist: Jeremy Pinnell
Hometown: Elsmere KY
Latest Album: Ties of Blood and Affection
Personal nickname: I’d rather not say.

 

Tonight @jigandreel #knoxville #tennessee

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Best concert ever attended?

The Queers, Lexington, Kentucky, 1994

How many emails or text currently fill your inbox?

None. I mark everything as read. I don’t like having any icons on my phone.

How many pillows do you sleep with?

This question makes me uncomfortable.

 

#myboy #harlan

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How many pairs of shoes do you own?

3 or 4 … work, running, fishing, and lounging. Maybe two pairs for lounging? 

Which mountains are your favorite?

I’m partial to the Smokies because I spent time there as a kid, but there’s nothing like the Rockies.

Favorite vegetable?

Kale, bro!

 

#hayday

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Fate or free will?

Only a fool would take a hard stance on either.

Sweet or sour?

Steak

Sunrise or sunset?

I like being up before anyone. So really the time before sunrise.


Photo credit: Michael Wilson

Traveler: Louisville

Loo-a-vul, Lou-e-ville, Loo-a-ville, Looey-ville: Ask a local and you might get mixed responses on the correct pronunciation of its name, but anyway you spin it, the city boasts a lot more than their slugger. Louisville is proving itself as a destination, not just a stop along Highway 65. In addition to the unmistakably Kentucky traditions of bourbon and basketball, the town has a storied cultural history, a thriving food culture, and an evolving music scene. Derbies and juleps are great, but we did a deep dive of Louisville’s local spots.

Getting There

Smack dab in the middle of the eastern U.S., Louisville’s geography lends itself well to a quick weekend trip from various surrounding cities, like Nashville (two+ hours), Cincinnati (four hours), and St. Louis (four hours). Take the Bourbon Trail through Lexington to Louisville or, if you’re feeling ambitious, bike it. Louisville International Airport is 10 minutes from downtown.

Accommodations

Photo credit: Seelbach Hilton

If you like your accommodations with a side of cocktails and modern art, check out the 21C Hotel. If a hotel with an art museum isn’t in your budget, you should still stop by for cocktails and art browsing. For the lit nerds, F. Scott Fitzgerald hung around the Seelbach Hilton’s bar, meeting a gangster who inspired his socialite character, Jay Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby.

Eats

Photo credit: Rye on Market

UPS is headquartered in the town, so local chefs have extra speedy access to fresh ingredients overnighted, thus fostering a killer food scene. From restaurants which have endured the times — like Jack Fry’s — to new kids on the block — like Rye — Louisville’s food scene is rooted in Southern food with a finger on the contemporary foodie pulse. Chef Edward Lee’s 610 Magnolia is also a great choice for a fancy meal that’s worth it.

Drinks

Photo: Please & Thank You

Bourbon. And lots of it. Declared “America’s Official Native Spirit,” more than 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is distilled and aged in Kentucky. Downtown Louisville has a free Urban Bourbon Trail, which consists of bars which all serve at least 50 different kinds of bourbon. For the hops enthusiasts, Falls City Brewery is in the midst of reinventing itself and has been a Louisville staple for years. Apocalypse Brewing has quality brews made in an environmentally conscious process and a Yappy Hour for you and your pup.

For your coffee fix, Quill’s Coffee and Please & Thank You will fit the hip coffee bill of big cities. Head to the back of Please & Thank You to shop for records, while you sip their Thai iced coffee and eat “Louisville’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookie.” Wander over to Bardstown Road for local shops, food, and bars in one spot.

Cultural Sights

Photo credit: Muhammad Ali Center

Pay homage to the greatest of all time at the Muhammad Ali Center, a spot well worth the $12 price tag. It’s just as much about civil rights as it is his career, plus we could all take a cue from his motto, and the museum’s tagline: “Be great. Do great things.” It’s not open on Mondays and has spotty hours, so check before you go.

If you’re planning on geeking out on museums, consider getting “The Main Ticket,” which bundles admission to six downtown Louisville attractions, including the Frazier History MuseumKentucky Museum of Art and CraftKentucky Science Center, KentuckyShow!, Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, and the Muhammad Ali Center for 30 bucks.

On top of that, the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a great day hang and hosts all kinds of nerdy plant events, like wildflower walks and updates on the American Woodcocks’ nesting.

Photo credit: louisvillemegacavern.org

Louisville Mega Cavern boasts the world’s only underground zipline. Yep, that’s a thing, and they’ve got six of them which run year round.

Music

Louisville’s upped its festival game with Forecastle every July, and Bourbon And Beyond in September. If you’re looking for low-key, down-home Kentucky bluegrass, look no further than Barret Bar. For bluegrass with your bloody mary, check out the Monkey Wrench. Louisville’s quirky Zanzabar brings under the radar artists to their pinball arcade/venue combo, and has been open since the ’30s.


Lede photo credit: Scott Oves

Root 66: The Linemen’s Roadside Favorites

Names: Kevin Johnson and Jonathan Gregg (of the Linemen)
Hometowns: Van Buren, AR / New York, NY
Latest Project: The LinemenClose the Place Down

BBQ: 
KJ: Jones BBQ, Marianna, AR — More than a bit off the beaten path, serving BBQ like no other for over 100 years.
JG: Hard Eight, Stephenville, TX — In the middle of cowboy country … the exterior serving area is along the side of the building, with a long counter where a guy with a cleaver will cut you sausage by the yard, ribs, chicken, brisket, and two-inch-thick pork chops that they then dip in butter. Nuff said.

Roadhouse: 
KJ: The Sunset Grille, Annandale, VA — This has to be my choice, even though it closed in 2012. Beer in pitchers, bikers, and Bill Kirchen tearing it up. Cannot be topped.
JG: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, LA — A venue and boarding house all in one in this magical, sultry little outpost. That extra drink is never a problem when you're playing about 30 feet as the crow flies from where you're going to sleep.

Coffeehouse: 
KJ: Red Emma's, Baltimore, MD — The ultimate leftist coffee hang. Not recommended for Trump apologists.
JG: Heine Bros., Louisville, KY — Great joe and a good place to while away some hours, which also connects to Carmichael's, an excellent bookstore.

Dive Bar:
KJ: Mount Washington Tavern, Baltimore, MD — Open after the apocalypse. With mediocre pizza that tastes amazing when consumed at 1 am.
JG: Nick-a-Nees, Providence, RI — In a town with a storied history of dive bars, this place has the vibes and a very game audience to go with the fine music they present. Check out Mark Cutler when he plays there.

Record Store:
KJ: The True Vine, Baltimore, MD — The end of the line for vinyl geeks. If you recognize what they're spinning when you come in, you may be offered a job.
JG: Amoeba, Berkeley, CA — One of a dying breed, a veritable bazaar of waxings of all vintages. You could spend hours.

Gear Shop:
KJ: Appalachian Bluegrass, Frederick, MD — Was told by multiple "certified" repairmen over a 12-year period that my 1969 Martin D35 was beyond repair. These guys said, "It will be ready next Wednesday." And it was.
JG: Guitar Emporium, Louisville, KY — Good stuff at good prices, run by cool cats in a cool town.

 

Taco truck across the street from 2A in Manhattan. The best in the city. #masterofnone #tacotruck #treehouse2a

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Listening Room:
KJ: The Village Vanguard, NYC — Want to know exactly what it was like when Coltrane played there in 1962? It's still exactly the same. Drinks only.
JG: Tom Clark's Treehouse at 2A, NYC — TC's labor of love is one of the hippest scenes in Manhattan on Sunday nights. Great sound, great bands, wonderful host, and no cover.

House Concert:
KJ: Club 603, Baltimore — Have seen everyone from Vandaveer to the Bottle Rockets in this intimate, acoustically perfect safe haven for greatness.
JG: Boudin Dan's, Peace Dale, RI — Dan and his wife are incredibly gracious and dedicated to presenting music in the most agreeable way for both the artist and the audience. I wish there were hundreds more like them.

Highway Stretch:
KJ: I-40 from Memphis to Little Rock — Feel what is beyond the emptiness.
JG: Blue Ridge Parkway, NC — Breathtaking. Just don't drive a vehicle with a commercial logo on it or a kindly trooper will steer you to the next exit.

Car Game:
KJ: Make Jonathan like Hall & Oates deep tracks.
JG: Making Kevin laugh. Since I don't drive, I have to make myself useful somehow.

Day Off Activity:
KJ: Back Alley Dice in nearest back alley.
JG: Practicing. They don't call it "playing" for nothing.

Driving Album:
KJ: Freedy Johnston, Can You Fly?
JG: NRBQ, At Yankee Stadium — There is no mood that America's most underrated band can't improve, "any old time …"

7 Amazing Oral Histories from the Southern Foodways Alliance

If you're unfamiliar with the Southern Foodways Alliance, you're missing out on one of the most important contributors to culinary culture — Southern or otherwise — operating today. Housed at the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Southern Foodways "documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South." Through research, outreach, events, a fantastic podcast and print journal, and a number of other efforts, SFA has become the go-to authority on the South and its intimate connection to food. 

A primary component of SFA's work is producing oral histories — a series of in-depth, multimedia interview projects that offer glimpses into overlooked communities, tackle tough subjects like race and class, and shine a much-needed light onto some of the region's most storied culinary traditions. There's an entire online archive of oral histories worth poring over, but here are some of our favorites. 

Bluegrass & Birria

This oral history looks at the quickly growing Latino population in Kentucky, focusing on the growing trend of regional dishes popping up at Mexican restaurants. Interviews feature several Louisville-based restaurant owners, including the husband and wife owners of Con Huevos, which specializes in serving desayuno (Mexican breakfast), and the owner and chef of the Mayan Café, a purveyor of Yucateco cuisine.

Women Who Farm: Georgia

According to this oral dispatch from Georgia, "women are the fastest-growing group of farmers in the country." Dig into tales of farming with several badass Georgia-based female farmers, including a Jamaican transplant educating her Atlanta community about farming and a fifth-generation farmer tending land in the small town of Bluffton.

Carter Family Fold

The Carter Family is perhaps the most famous family in roots music, but they also established a culinary legacy at their small Virginia venue, the Carter Family Fold. Hear first-hand accounts from visitors, musicians, and family friends of the delicious cornbread and homemade cakes served at the famous Fold. 

Restaurants of Oxford's Past

Best known as either a college town or the home of William Faulkner, depending on who you talk to, Oxford, Mississippi, is also home to a vibrant restaurant scene. Learn about several historic Oxford restaurants — some still serving delicious food, others defunct — in this assortment of interviews.

Kentucky Bacon

Ah, bacon, pork fat supreme and public enemy number one of would-be vegetarians across the globe. Kentucky is home to some of the country's greatest bacon, and this series of interviews provides a glimpse into why the Bluegrass State should consider changing its name to Hog Heaven, as well as the challenges that have afflicted the industry in recent years.

Nashville's Nolensville Road

Nashville may be in the news for its influx of hip farm-to-table joints, but the real eats are along Nolensville Pike, a stretch of road south of town that boasts some of the best international cuisine around. Visit with restaurant community pillars from Ethiopia, Bhutan, UAE, and beyond in this oral history project.

Louisville Barroom Culture

Go on a virtual bar crawl and learn about the history of booze and bars in bourbon-soaked Kentucky in this set of interviews which features, among other storied establishments, the Seelbach Hilton Hotel which is famous for housing Al Capone during Prohibition and plying literary boozehound F. Scott Fitzgerald with its renowned cocktails.


Lede screenshot via Southern Foodways Alliance

STREAM: The Wooks, ‘Little Circles’

Artist: The Wooks
Hometown: Lexington, KY
Album: Little Circles
Release Date: September 23
Label: Gnar Vector

In Their Words:  "Bringing a song into the context of the band and allowing for something personal to take on so much more life because of the energies and influences of the other members is dynamic and something rarely experienced in daily life outside of music. Working the melodies and lyrics into songs, feeling the growth of relationships, and hearing the final product has been exciting and challenging, but most importantly very rewarding." — Arthur Hancock (banjo)

"For the most part, this record really feels reflective of our lives, as well as the music that has influenced us. Lyrically, the stories told are mostly real bits and pieces of our experiences, Kentucky, and the people and places here — whether that's worrying about a friend who might be living too hard, appreciating a beautiful day outside, talking yourself out of the blues, making time for the people you love amidst other demands, or chasing love. It's our real life and it's a real good one, and we have always wanted that to come through in our music. There's a sense of responsibility to those who came before us, those who have influenced us, and those who surround us right now to reflect a sense of place and time." — CJ Cain (guitar)


Cover art: John Lackey

Kelsey Waldon, ‘Dirty Old Town’

Kelsey Waldon has had a hands-on insight into classic country since she moved to Nashville, supplementing her formidable debut, The Gold Mine, with van tours and honky-tonk shows, as well as a different kind of education with a gig behind the bar. On her sophomore full-length, I've Got A Way, the Kentucky native further proves she does have a way — with introspective lyrics and a delivery that somehow turns heartbreak into a soundtrack fit for long drives in the country or a late night on the porch.

The album's opening track, "Dirty Old Town," is an early standout for its spry tempo and the way it expands upon the coal town commentary that made The Gold Mine such an ear-catching first release. From the very first riff, "Dirty Old Town" sets the tone for I've Got A Way by ushering in the record's heroine with a healthy dose of side-eye to small town life and a self-deprecating, endlessly relatable nod to the fact that you can know the flaws of a place — or a memory, relationship, or, hell, a grudge — without necessarily letting it go. Waldon has quickly established herself as one of Nashville's rising class of artists carrying the torch for no-frills classic country, and that's particularly evident in the instrumentation on this cut: Prominent pedal steel and swift finger-picking provide the optimum backdrop for Waldon's thick, sweet drawl. The song may stick to country's most recognizable characteristics, but it's a well-placed introduction to this record of foot-tapping highs and gut-wrenching lows.

Traveler: Your Guide to Unique Music Museums

When it comes to visiting music museums, there are the usual suspects: The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, the Grammy Museum, and the International Bluegrass Music Museum. While they are definitely fine institutions, there are also a number of lesser-known collections that are slightly off the beaten path but worth discovering.

Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center

Photo courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center

Though Pampa is a small town in the Texas Panhandle, far from the state’s music centers, it holds an important spot in American music history because it is the place that Woody Guthrie moved to as a teenager and where he got in his first guitar. In 1991, several community leaders created the Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center, which is located in the old Harris Drug Store where Guthrie worked as a youth. While not as fancy as Tulsa’s recently opened Woody Guthrie Center, Pampa’s museum — currently open by appointment only — has a homespun charm that reflects Guthrie’s common man values. On display are Guthrie-related newspaper articles, old photos, and even an over-sized version of his “This Guitar Kills Fascists” guitar. Michael Sinks, the Center’s director, says Nora Guthrie is working on an exhibit for them. They also promote Guthrie’s legacy through public song circles on Friday nights and an annual concert in October (to mark Woody’s passing) that cowboy balladeer Don Edwards is headlining this year.

Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center
320 S. Cuyler, Pampa, TX, 79065
Free admission; donations welcome
Open by appointment only. Call 806-664-0824 or email [email protected]

The Bluegrass Bus Museum

Photo courtesy of Danny Clark

After seeing Flatt & Scruggs perform on the Beverly Hillbillies, a young Don Clark became a lifelong bluegrass fan and dreamed about having a Martha White touring bus like Flatt & Scruggs had. After buying a bus like the duo’s, Clark filled it with his various bluegrass and country mementos and created the Bluegrass Bus Museum in the early 1990s. When you step inside the bus, you’ll be walking on vintage Grand Ole Opry carpeting. Clark’s eclectic array of Americana includes Lester Flatt’s old mailbox sign, antique Martha White mic stands, and a Bill Monroe’s stage suit. A centerpiece is the bus door that is covered with autographs from hundreds of musicians. After years of traveling all across America, the aging bus now only hits the road 5-10 times a year around the Nashville area, where Clark and his son Danny now reside. If you want to check out the museum, you can contact Danny through their website to arrange a visit. He is also keeping bluegrass history alive by posting on their YouTube channel a number of archival live performances that his father videotaped at festivals back in the day.

Bluegrass Bus Museum
To make an appointment, email [email protected] or phone 615-497-6731

Fur Peace Ranch

Photo credit: Scotty Hall

Why can you find a treasure trove of memorabilia for Haight-Ashbury’s golden age some 2,000 miles from San Francisco in southeastern Ohio’s rural countryside? Because this is where is Jorma Kaukonen (of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame) and his wife Vanessa have their Fur Peace Ranch. Their ranch is best known for its long-running guitar camp and popular concert series, but Jorma and Vanessa decided a few years ago to transform an old silo into a '60s-centric museum named the Psylodelic Gallery as a way to share the many items he saved — along with offering a personal look into that historic era. Kaukonen’s original Fillmore posters adorn the walls. The typewriter heard on his famous bootleg recording with Janis Joplin is on display, as are period outfits like the one his bandmate Jack Casady wore at Woodstock. The gallery also hosts temporary exhibits, with the most recent one presenting Jerry Garcia paintings. If that isn’t enough of a flashback for you, there’s a Brotherhood of Light-designed liquid light show to further enhance the '60s vibe.

Fur Peace Ranch
39495 St. Clair Rd., Pomeroy, Ohio 45769
1 pm – 5 pm, Wednesday-Friday and during concerts
Free admission; donations welcome

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park

Photo credit: John Fletcher

Way down along the Suwannee River is a natural place to find a memorial to the man who penned the famous lyric: “way down upon the Swanee River.” (He took spelling liberties to suit his melody.) Located about an hour west of Jacksonville, in White Springs, Florida, this museum salutes the Pennsylvania-born songwriter, who apparently never actually visited the Suwannee River. On view are eight original dioramas inspired by Foster’s songs, along with a number of 19th-century pianos, including the one that he played. It’s hard to miss another main attraction — the 97-tubular bell carillon tower that plays Foster’s music throughout the day. The park, which also serves as Florida's official folk culture center, hosts the annual Florida Folk Festival and the Stephen Foster Old-Time Music Weekend. Sadly, the replica paddle steamers no longer travel the river as they once did.

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center
11016 Lillian Saunders Drive / US HWY 41 North
White Springs, FL 32096
Park is open from 8 am to sunset
Museum and Tower are open 9 am – 5 pm daily
Admission Fee: $5 per vehicle. Limit 2-8 people per vehicle.
$4 Single Occupant Vehicle.
386-397-4331 / 386-397-4408 for tours

U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum

Photo courtesy of Paintsville Tourism Commission

While U.S. Route 23 stretches nearly 1,500 miles from Michigan to Florida, it is the 150 or so miles that runs through eastern Kentucky that has contributed so much to the music world that it has been officially named “The Country Music Highway.” Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, Ricky Skaggs, the Judds, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dwight Yoakam, and Chris Stapleton — who have all called this area home — are among those honored at the U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum in Paintsville, Kentucky. Each of the 13 inductees have their individual exhibit, displaying personal items, such as a couple of Loretta dresses, a vintage Skaggs guitar, and a pair of Stapleton’s boots. As Paintsville’s executive director of tourism, Jeremiah Parsons, notes, all of these performers haven’t been afraid to be different and create their own unique style. If you visit on a Thursday, stick around for their Front Porch Picking night; maybe some of the region’s musical magic will rub off on you.

US 23 Country Music Highway Museum‬
100 Stave Branch Road, Paintsville, KY 41256
9 am – 5 pm Monday-Saturday; 12:30 pm – 5 pm Sunday
Admission: $4
606-297-1469‬

The Big House

Photo courtesy of the Big House Museum

Mention “The Big House” in Macon, Georgia, and it means only one thing — the place where the Allman Brothers called home in the early ‘70s as they rose to stardom. In 2009, the old Grand Tudor mansion opened as the Allman Brothers Band Museum. Visiting it is like walking through the coolest music-themed house ever. Some rooms, like Duane’s Room and the “Casbah” Music Room, resemble how they looked when the band lived there. The Living Room and Old Dining Room, meanwhile, now present a wealth of Allman artifacts — Where else will you see Cher and Gregg Allman’s pool table? — and the walk-in closet is lined with posters and photos instead of clothes. The “Fillmore East Room,” where the group used to jam, is stocked quite appropriately with their old instruments. There’s even a room that salutes their roadies! Besides its central role in Allman Brothers history, the Big House also is where latter-day Allmans Warren Haynes and Allen Woody lived in 1994 when they put together their own band Gov’t Mule.

The Big House Museum
2321 Vineville Ave, Macon, GA 31204
11 am – 6 pm Thursday through Sunday
Admission: $10 adults, $4 children 3-10
478-741-5551


Lede photo courtesy of the Big House Museum