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PODCAST

Basic Folk

The Bluegrass Situation

Basic Folk features honest conversations with folk musicians hosted by Cindy Howes and Lizzie No. We approach interviews with warmth, humor and insightful questions. Since 2018, this podcast has dignified under the radar roots musicians by providing a platform that they might not otherwise have. You’ll hear interviews from Three-time Grammy-winning guitar gods like Molly Tuttle, Haitian American folk legends like Leyla McCalla and deep feelers like songwriter John Hiatt.Basic Folk is dedicated to

music music interviews

All Episodes

27:17

BF Presents: SongWriter with Maia Sharp + Cheryl Strayed

Basic Folk ·

2021/09/26

Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! One of my favorite and most insightful interviews on Basic Folk has to have been from Ben Arthur. Ben let the walls come down and allowed us to both dig into his psyche. It was a rare privilege to be able to strip feelings and actions down to their studs and really examine what's going on. I'd recommend checking out Ben's previous appearance on Basic Folk..

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59:32

Martin Sexton, ep. 136

Basic Folk ·

2021/09/23

Martin Sexton's career was built by his work as a street musician on the Boston scene in the 80's and early 90's. His audience knows him for being connector by making them a part of the magic he, the performer, creates onstage. On the street, he would use tricks like strategically placing himself in an area that would bottleneck a crowd and keep people around with delightful audience participation and soaring, imaginative vocal aerobics: imitating a flute or saxophone or singing into a

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71:39

Alisa Amador, ep. 135

Basic Folk ·

2021/09/16

Editor's note: Lizzie No interviews Alisa Amador on Basic Folk! We're so pumped for you to hear this conversation with Lizzie and Alisa. Be sure to got back and listen to Lizzie's previous guest host spots on the pod and subscribe, so you never miss Lizzie! Alisa Amador's EP Narratives is out on 9/17/2021It was such a treat to talk with Alisa Amador. I love the way that she talks about life and connecting with people. One thing about Alisa that stood out to me right away was that she

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59:41

Chris Thile, ep. 134

Basic Folk ·

2021/09/09

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donateChris Thile (Nickel Creek, The Punch Brothers) has been making music nonstop since he was 5 years old. His musical parents found him a mandolin, he started taking lessons and jamming at nearby Southern California pizza shops. He met Sara and Sean Watkins when he was 12 and started the band Nickel Creek. In the meantime Chris' parents moved the family from California to Murray, Kentucky and really started getting serious about

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70:29

Paula Fuga, ep. 133

Basic Folk ·

2021/09/02

Paula Fuga is a magic person. The Hawaiian singer/songwriter has lived through some of life's horrors. When she was young, her living situation was extremely unstable for several years. She lived with her mom, who suffered from addiction, on the beach around a pretty shady crowd of people. She accounts her survival to her dream of being a performer. That dream would manifest itself into visions Paula would experience. As a young person, she had no idea what the inside of a recording studio

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88:50

BF Presents: Songcraft with Ani Difranco

Basic Folk ·

2021/08/29

Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! I truly appreciate an interview where the hosts are basically scholars on their subject – aka they come so prepared it’s wild. Scott and Paul are industry professionals who are super knowledgeable about the songwriting craft, so they come at these interviews with a unique perspective. Also at the top of every episode, they do a current events and catch-up section that

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59:55

Becca Mancari, ep. 132

Basic Folk ·

2021/08/26

Becca Mancari does things her own way. Raised in New York and Virginia, Mancari found herself living a nomadic lifestyle in her teens and twenties. As she grew as a songwriter and performer she also found her footing as an outspoken queer woman. She re-negotiated her relationship to spirituality and gender and this transformation found its way into her music in powerful ways. Her 2020 album ‘the greatest part’ is a coming out album that invited listeners into a deeply personal journey. Musically the

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59:40

Andrew Marlin (Watchhouse), ep. 131

Basic Folk ·

2021/08/19

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donateTwo years into starting his band Mandolin Orange, Andrew Marlin and his partner Emily Franz were having second thoughts about their band name. Nine years later, they announced their new name: Watchhouse. It's easy to understand why it took so long: they were putting out records, gaining momentum and quickly establishing themselves with this funny meaningless band name: Andrew had an orange mandolin and he named the band as such

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59:49

Rachel Baiman, ep. 130

Basic Folk ·

2021/08/12

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donateOk, so yes I cried when I interviewed Rachel Baiman. Her writing is stirring and brutal and then when you read about the inspiration behind the songs on her new album Cycles, it's like automatic water works for me. From frank observations of her grandparent's loss of agency to women reckoning the heaviness and grief of motherhood, I am INTO the emotion of these songs. Rachel came to songwriting after she had spent her youth

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48:25

John Hiatt, ep. 129

Basic Folk ·

2021/08/05

Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donateJohn Hiatt's latest is a collab with bluegrass great Jerry Douglas, with Jerry as producer and his band as backup for Hiatt. John's digging into some serious past memories for these songs, which include a song about his older brother Michael. Michael died by suicide when John was only 9 and it's only until now where he's chosen to write about the experience in his music in the song “Light of the Burning Sun.” Jerry knew

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59:09

Kishi Bashi, ep. 128

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/29

Kaoru Ishibashi who is known as Kishi Bashi, is a violinist, guitarist, multi instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from WA state and VA. He got a really interesting start in music because he went to Cornell to study engineering, ended up flunking out, and kind of realizing his true path in music. He went to Berklee College of Music to study film scoring, started playing in bands, moved to NYC, and the rest is history. He has an incredible fluency in rock, pop, and experimental styles, that is

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80:06

BF Presents: Get Up in the Cool with Adam Hurt

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/25

Editor's note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! Get Up in the Cool is a sweet old-time/bluegrass podcast hosted by Cameron DeWhitt. What's amazing about this podcast is that Cameron has taken "the hang" at the jam and turned it into a podcast. The Jam happens *very* frequently in the old-time, bluegrass, celtic, roots, etc. worlds in the form of informal performances of music among friends and

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52:53

Alex Cuba, ep. 127

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/22

Alex Cuba grew up 50 minutes west of Havana immersed in the music of his town Artemisa. His father, the musician Valentin Puentes, is a household name in the country and prioritized Cuban music in the house growing up. When Alex was six years old, Valentin told his son not to sing, leading Alex to concentrate on his bass guitar playing. As a teenager, Alex rebelled and started soaking in the sounds of American music; blues, jazz, rock and funk. This has lead him to develop a unique style of Latin

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59:27

Mali Obomsawin of Lula Wiles, ep. 126

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/15

Mali Obomsawin is the mighty bassist/songwriter/singer from Lula Wiles, whose musical talents run tandem to her activist spirit. She really had no choice in the matter, seeing that her parents met through their advocacy for Abenaki and First Nations sovereignty battles. Mali's dad is a member of the Odanak Abenaki Nation and her mom at the time they met, was following and supporting tribal land claim initiatives. Along with Lula Wiles, her solo career (which is a bit of a new venture for Mali)

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45:40

Joe Pug, ep. 125

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/08

Joe Pug explains that the venn diagram of his fans and the people he'd like to have a beer with is almost exactly a single circle. The prolific troubadour has been organically gaining admirers one by one throughout his entire musical history. When he began, the Maryland songwriter would not only give away copies of his music, but he would send multiple copies to Joe Pug converts, so they could distribute among their friends. This and many other similar acts have earned him a loyal fanbase that

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59:46

Amythyst Kiah, ep. 124

Basic Folk ·

2021/07/01

Editor's note: we're pleased to welcome guest host Lizzie No to Basic Folk for her debut episode with Amythyst Kiah! Lizzie will be on the podcast interviewing folk musicians once a month. We're thrilled to bring her perspective and insight to our listeners. Enjoy! Amythyst Kiah is a star rising so quickly in the roots music universe that it is almost impossible to keep up with her. Raised in Johnson City, Tennessee, Amythyst taught herself guitar and banjo before studying the bluegrass

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59:16

Denison Witmer, ep. 123

Basic Folk ·

2021/06/24

Denison Witmer's music is gentle and kind, he's a skilled woodworker, an avid birdwatcher and until 2020 hadn't made a record for 7 years. Growing up in Lancaster, Denison was lucky enough to get some guitar lessons from Don Peris of The Innocence Mission, a well loved indie-folk band. This led to one of many lasting relationships in music as Don went on to produce some of Denison's early projects. He also counts Sufjan Stevens and Rosie Thomas among his friends and long-time

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56:14

Sunny War Track x Track, ep. 122

Basic Folk ·

2021/06/17

Sunny War goes through her new album Simple Syrup track by track on the pod! Talking to Sunny is an absolute trip: she has lived through incredible trauma and addiction, but approaches life with a sharp sense of humor. This is all coming through on the new record, which was recorded in her usual spot in Venice Beach with producer Harlan Steinberger. Sunny's deeply rooted in Los Angeles where she started a Downtown LA chapter of food not bombs, giving out a weekly lunch to homeless folks on skid

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55:41

Phil Moore of Bowerbirds, ep. 121

Basic Folk ·

2021/06/10

Bowerbirds have been off the radar musically since 2012's The Clearing. Lots has changed for the B-Birds, which now centers solely around Phil Moore since his bandmate and former partner Beth Tacular has left to concentrate on her own artwork. 2021 sees a new Bowerbirds album, becalmyounglovers, and a new version of Phil himself. He writes to his fans “It’s been 8 years since you’ve heard new Bowerbirds music and you and I have changed in ways that we couldn't have imagined back then.”

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49:32

Oliver Wood, ep. 120

Basic Folk ·

2021/06/03

Growing up, Oliver Wood thought he'd try the bass guitar, but after 6 months, he handed it to his younger brother Chris. That's right, *the* Chris Wood, virtuosic bassist of acclaimed Medeski Martin and Wood. Even at a young age, the brothers' styles were pretty clear. While Chris was getting intense about the bass, Oliver was meandering on the guitar and forging his own musical path. He ended up in Atlanta and eventually got a spot in Tinsley Ellis’ band, a very well respected blues

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