The boundary-breaking bluegrass outfit Front Country is this week’s guest. They are among the most fiercely intelligent, straight-up wacky, and genuinely warm-hearted people playing music on the road today. The Show On Road host Z. Lupetin was initially only going to talk to a few band members for this episode, but this time the entire band got cozy and gathered around the mic for a cool and casual conversation.
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Song – “If Something Breaks”
This week Zach talks to Chicago-based troubadour Robbie Fulks. They talk about how he’s made his own brand of sharp-tongued country music for over three decades, and how he considers Hank Williams the Shakespeare of American Music. They also discuss how he’s become more fearless and less embarrassed to confront heartbreak and the darkness always lurking in America as he’s grown older.
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Song: Alabama At Night
Zach talks to Texas Swamp Blues legend Tony Joe White. Sadly, Tony Joe passed away suddenly on October 25. Host Z. Lupetin was fortunate to speak with him at a hotel diner in Hollywood back in September about his storied career as a songwriter, guitarist, and touring musician.
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Song – “Bad Mouthin” (Courtesy of Yep Roc Records)
The Shook Twins are a psychedelic folk rock band out of Portland, Oregon, fronted by the effervescent twin sisters Laurie and Caitlin Shook. Zach talks to Laurie and Katelyn about their origins as renegade loop artists in Idaho, their process as songwriters, and how loneliness cannot exist when you have a twin sister.
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Song – “Try As I Might Do”
The Wild Reeds are a harmony-rich folk rock group with three female lead singers based in LA. Zach talks to them about their songwriting sisterhood, how you’re supposed to act when you hear your own song being played at a Whole Foods parking lot in El Paso, and the rules of writing brutally honest breakup songs in the #MeToo era.
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December 8 Holiday Show in LA! If you happen to find your way to LA around the Holidays, don’t miss their annual Holiday spectacular at the Bootleg Theater on December 8. Tix on sale here.
Song – “New Ways To Die”
The Bluegrass Situation, a multifaceted media company co-founded by actor and banjo player Ed Helms, is pleased to announce the addition of three new roots music-themed programs to its BGS Podcast Network this fall.
The Shift List, hosted by Chris Jacobs, is a weekly conversation with the world’s top chefs about the music that fills their kitchens, restaurants and recipes. The series features chefs from Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London, including Noma alums Rosio Sanchez (Hija de Sanchez) and Christian Puglisi (Baest, Ralae); Matt Orlando (Amass); Jessica Largey (Simone, Manresa); and Naved Nasir and Shamil Thakrar (chef and founder of Dishoom). Listen to a teaser here. The first two episodes will be released on September 17.
The Show on the Road, produced and hosted by Dustbowl Revival frontman Zach Lupetin, is a conversation with fellow artists about a modern musician’s life (as the name implies) on the road, while taking a few conversational tangents in between. Guests include Mandolin Orange, Shook Twins, Lindsay Lou, and more. The series premieres this October.
The Breakdown brings together BGS contributor Emma John and The Lonely Heartstring Band’s Patrick M’Gonigle for the ultimate deep dive into bluegrass back catalog. Through six episodes, they peel back the layers of a genre that’s not just hard-driving and high lonesome, but also bizarre, compelling, and full of completely mad stories. The limited-run series premieres this fall.
Other BGS podcasts include The BGS Radio Hour, The String hosted by Craig Havighurst, and the Hangin’ & Sangin’ archive. Subscribe and download at The Bluegrass Situation or wherever you get your Podcasts.
