American Songcatcher

I’m so pleased to have my first guest on the podcast, the incredibly gifted multi-instrumentalist, teacher, musicologist and songster Mr. Andy Cohen. You may remember Andy from a mention in Episode 2 of American Songcatcher, as he was the mentor of my mentor, Joan Crane. Once a lead boy soaking in the shadow of Reverend Gary Davis, Andy’s been playing music for 72 years. He’s a virtuoso finger-style guitarist and pianist who has been described as “a walking, talking folk-blues-roots music

Season 1, Episode 3 // They Call The Rising Sun Featured in this Episode: Traditional - "Rising Sun Blues" or "House of the Rising Sun" (1:37) Bessie Smith - "Tain't Nobody's Business" (16:46) The Carter Family - "Wildwood Flower" (40:30) Townes Van Zandt - "Pancho and Lefty" (1:04:17) Blind Boy Paxton - "Nobody Cares For Me" (01:22:42) Teaser: Was there ever a “house of the rising sun” in New Orleans or elsewhere, or was it a myth brought from the UK? Raised by her sisters in deep poverty, a

Season 1, Episode 2 // I Could Root That Mountain Down Featured in this Episode: Traditional | Bascom Lamar Lunsford - “I wish I was a Mole in the ground" (:27) Mississippi John Hurt - “Spike Driver Blues” (13:50) Reverend Gary Davis - "Slow Drag” (28:23) Norman Blake - "Church Street Blues” (42:26) Willie Watson - "James Alley Blues” (56:08) Teaser: A North Carolina mountain banjo player dubbed the "Minstrel of the Appalachians" helps create America’s first folk festivals and preserves history as

Season 1, Episode 1 // If She Heard My Guineas Clink Featured in this Episode: Traditional - "Peggy O" (:28) Jimmie Rodgers - "Waiting For a Train" (8:01) Elizabeth Cotten - "Shake Sugaree" (15:23) Dave Van Ronk - "Green, Green Rocky Road" (25:40) Gillian Welch - "Everything is Free" (35:26) Teaser: A traditional Scottish song survives over 300 years, traveling thousands of miles before filtering through the Appalachian Mountains and becoming a folk "pass along" tune. “The Singing Brakeman” comes

Tracing the roots of American music from its cultured past to artists playing it forward, join folk musician Nicholas Edward Williams in the audio documentary-style podcast series, American Songcatcher. Each episode uncovers the lesser-known journey behind one traditional song, followed byfour stories of musicians in American roots music, up to someone carrying tradition today. From European and British isles immigrants who brought their music to Appalachia, to songs of the South: Gospel, Ragtime,