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The Dead Tongues: It Doesn’t Have to Be I first heard one of Ryan Gustafson’s songs at the Phil Cook & Spirit Family Reunion Newport Aftershow in 2016, one of the most joyful musical experiences of my life. Ryan was playing in The Guitarheels, and played “Graveyard Fields,” one of the songs he’d written under the moniker The Dead Tongues. While playing with Hiss Golden Messenger on the Heart Like a Levee tour, Ryan released Unsung Passage, a truly beautiful record.  This year, he released Dust, and I cannot recommend the album enough. The songs have so much space in them. They are both rich and spare, lyrically, and the band that Ryan assembled is loose and creative.  We got to chat with Ryan ahead of his set at Newport Folk Festival on Friday, July 22. If you’re there, be at The Dead Tongues! And if you’re not, make sure you give Dust spin.  interview by Ken Templetonphoto by Charlie Boss

The Kentucky Gentlemen: Love Language It was such a pleasure to talk with Brandon and Derek Campbell, also known as The Kentucky Gentlemen. The twin brothers moved to Nashville in 2013 and started writing songs. Years of hard work are paying off, as they release their EP The Kentucky Gentlemen, Vol. 1. They’ve had videos featured on CMT and have been featured in showcases sponsored by The Black Opry, an organization dedicated to changing the fact that Black people have been overlooked in country music, as artists and as fans.  The Black Opry Revue set at Newport Folk Festival on Saturday, July 23 is sure to be a highlight of the weekend. We spoke with the Campbell brothers ahead of their appearance at Newport and we can’t wait to see them live!Photo Credit: Laura Moll

Sarah McCombie describes herself and her husband, Austin, as “old souls.” They like old things, old people, and old songs. It’s no surprise then, that many of the songs on their new album, If You See Me Riding By, feel timeless.  This record has kept me good company this spring, and it’s exciting that as of June 3, it’s out in the world for everyone to hear.  We had a wonderful chat a couple of months back as Sarah and Austin braved the New Jersey Turnpike on a spring tour. Take a listen and check out the new record! Interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian Carroll

For episode 5 we catch up with Maya de Vitry. Maya recently released a brand new record titled "Violet Light". Its a beautifully collaborative collection of songs recorded during the pandemic. Two things that usually wouldn't be in the same sentence but Maya was able to find a way to craft a wonderful record around that sentiment.Check it out and get "Violet Light" today.https://www.mayadevitry.com/Interview by Brian CarrollEdited by Brian Carrollphoto by Laura Partain

Aoife O’Donovan: Show Me The Heart on Your Sleeve Aoife O’Donovan’s new record Age Of Apathy came out on January 21, and it is sure to be one of the great records of 2022. I have already spun these songs so many times that they’ve become good neighbors in this new year. One of the things I love about this record is the songs shift as they need to–Aoife isn’t afraid to follow the emotional quality of her songs into territories that break some patterns and find new ground. It’s the type of experience that, when the last song, “Passengers,” ends, you can’t wait to hear the first song, “Sister Starling,” again. This record bears repeated listening extremely well, no skips.  It was such a pleasure to talk with Aoife for the podcast. We had a small schedule mix-up that she was incredibly gracious about, and she dug right into all the songs in a deep and thoughtful way. Give it a listen and go get Age of Apathy! Interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian CarrollPhoto Credit: Omar Cruz

I first met Prateek as so many folkish roots songwriters will tend to meet, at the Lizard Lounge Open Mic. I was judging and Prateek was performing/learning the ropes helping with running sound. His excitement and desire to be a part of something bigger than himself, a community, was palpable and he wore that genuine eagerness on his sleeve.Flash forward 6 or so years and he has become one of the mainstays in the Boston and Cambridge/Somerville songwriter community. Get nods from the BMAs and New England Music Awards and playing all over town and beyond.It was great to catch up with Prateek to talk about music, community and his path from open mic all star to releasing a host of projects under his name and his hopes for the future.https://www.prateeksongs.com/Interview by Brian CarrollEdited by Brian Carroll

You could go an entire lifetime and never come across another artist like John Mailander. His musical voice resting on the precipice where beauty meets power. His even temperament balancing the sheer virtuosity that lays beneath his finger tips, riddled with character, grace and soul. The robust palette that he paints his sonic landscapes with is vast. Deep and pulling shades of blues and greys mingling with brilliant gold and saffron, covering the full breadth of emotion and vibe in even a single given tune or arrangement.  What I’ve found most intriguing and enviable about John and his music over the nearly decade I have known him and his songs in some capacity is his seamless ability to allow other artists around him to shine. His ability to slide gracefully between supporting role and band leader is inspired. Even more so, his genuine desire for those moments to happen is a beautiful testament to his being and light as both a performer and human. His music is less about the destination and the experience of getting there. Both in the creation and unity between the musicians creating the music and allowing the listener to take away their own nugget from the experience. Its a beautiful and special experience to be able to participate in. It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with John to talk about his latest project which is named “John Mailander’s Forecast” and the new record under that moniker called “Look Closer”.  https://www.johnmailander.com/Photo by Michelle Stone

Scott Hirsch: Love is Long As we head into a very tenuous 2022, maybe it will help you to know about a great album that was released in 2021!  Scott Hirsch’s Windless Day is a fantastic record for stepping outside yourself a little bit. As Scott talks about in this episode of the Red Line Roots podcast, he thinks deeply about the songs on his records in relationship to each other, to create a coherent experience. In an era of singles and streaming, Scott prefers to think about how the album will be on vinyl–not as a vinyl snob, but as a creative expression of how to invite listeners in, how to take them someplace over the course of sides A and B. I loved getting to chat with Scott about Windless Day and his creative process. I hope you enjoy the conversation and get a chance to spin this album as we kiss 2021 goodbye!Interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian Carroll

Joe Troop: Making Mistakes When Joe Troop talks about cancel culture, he isn’t talking about the right wing folks who don’t want any books in school about gay people or racism. He’s talking about the people more committed to saying the right words about issues than they are about taking the right actions. It’s complicated--I know he’d be the first to say that what you say matters, and we should be accountable for what we say and do. And, at the same time, there can be this version of equity work that is much more about posturing than it is about changing things.  I have seen other white people do this in spaces for racial equity--trying to prove that they’re the best white ally through their mastery of language. But, as we discuss in this episode of the podcast, real work for justice is about your proximity to the people most impacted.  Joe Troop does not claim to be an activist himself--his work is to support the folks doing the day-in-day-out work that requires you to be in one place for a long time (kinda hard to do as a musician). On his amazing new record, Borrowed Time, Joe spins stories of our country and world that critique injustice and point to new visions of community. At the heart of it all, there is immense joy. We hope you enjoy this conversation on the Red Line Roots podcast!Interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian Carroll

This has to be one of my favorite conversations that I have been lucky enough to have as part of this podcast. Alisa Amador is an amazing musician and shares so much insight into her work on this episode. Red Line Roots was founded as part of the Boston music community, and Alisa has quickly become one of the most important voices in the Boston roots/folk scene. She’s been in music her whole life, playing in her parents’ band, Sol y Canto, since she was a kid. Alisa released her latest EP, Narratives, in September, and it is one of my favorite records of this year. It has such a range, and I can listen to it all day long. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Alisa and make sure you get all the information about her work and where she’s playing at her website.  Interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian Carroll

Listening to Adia Victoria’s latest record, A Southern Gothic, is mesmerizing. It is my favorite album of the year. It is poetic and gritty, ethereal and earthy all at once. Of course, if one thinks deeply about the blues, as Adia does, you know that paradox is all around. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, life and death, are all cousins. It is the tension in these spaces where art, beauty, and freedom thrive. The first couple of times I got to chat with Adia (for her albums Baby Blues and Silences), I still lived in the north. But now I live in Durham, NC, and I hear the songs differently. I’m still sorting that out and one of the things helping me sort it out is Adia’s amazing podcast, Call and Response. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Adia, and then you immediately spin A Southern Gothic and go listen to all the episodes of Call and Response (and especially the one with Kiese Laymon).Interview by Ken Templeton

Oliver Wood: Always Smilin’ My first concert of 2021 was in June, seeing The Wood Brothers and Ryan Montbleau at an outdoor show at Shakori Hills. Right after that, I got to chat with Oliver Wood about his wonderful solo record, Always Smilin’. I love this record because it captures what I love most about Oliver’s musicianship: his generous, collaborative spirit. When you see Oliver in concert, he often comments on the role of the audience in creating a space for music to happen: the energy, the attentiveness, the response to musicians all contribute to the music itself. It was fun to talk with Oliver about how he opened up to more collaboration and connection during the pandemic, when many of us experienced isolation. One of the things that sticks with me from this chat is the idea of playfulness and how important it is for creativity. I hope you enjoy this latest episode of the podcast with Oliver Wood!Interview by Ken Templetonphoto credit Joshua Black Wilkins

It is truly amazing when an artist can use the same tools for decades and continue to create vibrant, urgent, singular work. If there’s any musician that I know who fits this description, it’s Charlie Parr. He gets miles out of a few different guitars and his voice. On his new album, Last of the The Better Days Ahead, he took a new approach to songwriting, focusing on the lyrics before he picked up a guitar. The result is a record that really slows you down, helps you listen, and brings the worlds and stories that Charlie creates into focus.  It was such a pleasure to talk with Charlie for the podcast. Please forgive some of the background noise on my end. I was traveling this summer when we talked, and I could only get phone service outside. So you might hear a leaf blower and some birds in the background.  Enjoy the conversation and check out Charlie’s new record and tour dates at his website. Podcast interview by Ken TempletonEdited by Brian Carroll

Hearing Yasmin Williams’s compositions is immediately transfixing--and then you see her play, and it’s like you’re seeing someone invent how to play guitar. Yasmin’s most recent record, Urban Driftwood, is a masterpiece. It evokes a wide range of emotions and mirrors experiences that are somber, joyful, angry, and hopeful. We had the great pleasure of chatting with Yasmin for the RLR podcast. In this reflective conversation, Yasmin takes stock of where she is now, after a year in which she put out Urban Driftwood and is now bringing it out in the world. She talks about processing protests for racial justice through her music and how she moves from unconscious playing to conscious crafting. We hope you enjoy this podcast episode and thanks to Yasmin for taking time!By Ken Templeton

You ever hear that David Foster Wallace graduation speech, “This is Water?” It follows from that joke where two fish are swimming along and one says something like, “The water’s great today,” and the other swims a little further and then halts and says, “Wait. What the hell is water?” And then Foster Wallace implores the graduates to be attentive to the metaphorical water they swim in. This is water, he repeats to himself, reminding himself that standing in line at the grocery store is, in fact, life. We can all take for granted the things around us, but if there is anyone I have ever met who embodies this idea of attentiveness and curiosity, it is Ben Cosgrove.  On his new record, The Trouble with Wilderness, Ben engages with the spaces that people have designed in and around our wild world. Gardens, highways, sidewalks--these spaces all seem so defined and established, but they are really quite precarious. Ben creates really compelling and engaging compositions to process his reflections on these spaces, and my favorite tracks on this album feature a felted piano--a sound that is transfixing and new.    I had the great pleasure of chatting with Ben for our podcast and hope you will listen, share, and check out Ben’s incredible new record! Photo credit: Max García Conover

Allison Russell has written a beautiful album. “Outside Child,” was largely written while on tour with Native Daughters--Allison’s collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Amythyst Kiah--and it is a record at once about the abuse that Russell experienced at the hands of her adopted father and about the resilience and fortitude to name trauma, to face truth, and to reclaim oneself.  In this podcast episode, Allison explores her role in stopping intergenerational trauma, both personally and as a musician. She reflects on the power of community and the importance of both accountability and empathy.  We feel so lucky to have had this conversation and hope you will share it and listen to Allison’s record. It is out everywhere May 21. Interview by Ken Templetonediting by Brian Carroll

Episode 17 sees Brian in conversation with Christian Sedelmyer. This episode was recorded nearly a year ago, but is just seeing the light of day now. We talk Christian's 2020 release "Ravine Palace", community and more.2019’s listing, for me personally, was heavy on the instrumental albums and 2020 was no different in providing some heavy hitters in the “records without words” realm (or very few words). Sedelmyer could be described in much the same way, a heavy hitter performing with everyone from Jerry Douglas to Molly Tuttle. Christian only further displays his stunning ability to emote place and feeling within his gorgeous arrangements here on RP. A testament to one of the best players of our current generation of roots musicians.https://www.christiansedelmyermusic.com/

Well, it has certainly been a while since our last episode dropped, but Ken is back with a very special discussion with Cary Morin.The last concert I saw out in the world before this pandemic closed venues was Cary Morin at North Star Church of the Arts. I had a prior commitment, so I was running a bit late and I slid into the back pew. Cary was playing an entrancing instrumental melody, with a wide-brimmed hat pulled down low, shadows over his face. It was what music is supposed to do: after a harried day, I was taken out of my world, and given the gift of sounds and silence, of rhythm and solace, and I could take a good, deep breath. It was so enjoyable to get to talk with Cary about his latest record, Dockside Saints. The record is amazing: some of the best musicians in Louisiana back Cary, and they explore all the heights and subtleties of blues, cajun, folk, and country music, while making a sound all their own. In the conversation, it is amazing to hear Cary talk about some of the origins of these songs, like “Valley of the Chiefs,” which comes from a story Cary’s great-grandmother told him. It is also great to get insight from him on some of the ways he thinks about using streaming services to attract new listeners, and his thoughts on bringing songs to other musicians and making space for their contributions.  Hope you enjoy the episode!  

I think the only kind of conversations Kamara Thomas has are wide-ranging. She is a musician, artist, activist, and community builder, and she brings all of those roles to our conversation for this edition of the Red Line Roots podcast. Kamara released Folklore: Live at Cassilhaus in September. It’s a really striking collection of songs. The sound is both rich and spare and these are the types of songs that shift and breathe with you the more times you listen. But that’s not all Kamara’s up to.  Later this week, she will bring the Country Soul Songbook Summit to the world. Country Soul Songbook was the first event during the pandemic that I watched on a stream. It was switched to a virtual event one or two days before its date and I can honestly say that witnessing the joy and possibility of those folks that day gave me a lot of hope. Kamara has been curating iterations of CSSB for years, as we talk about in the podcast. But the Summit takes this work even further: Kamara, in partnership with Heather Cook and Kym Register, has brought together a diverse group of artists to reimagine what a vibrant, and just, arts community could look like. 

It’s hard to think of a band that has come out of New England recently that has shapeshifted and evolved more than Twisted Pine. The group has seen some personnel changes recently but, from its founding, seemed dedicated to pursuing new sonic territory, pulling more and more listeners in with each note.The group releases their latest record, “Right Now” on August 14 and it is a phenomenal piece of art. The instrumentation is nothing short of virtuosic...but not the sort of virtuosity that you have to pretend to enjoy!It was really fun to get to chat with Dan, Ahn, Chris, and Kathleen over zoom about a month ago. And it’s been just as much fun to spin “Right Now.” I’m so excited for you all to hear it. I hope you enjoy this edition of the Red Line Roots podcast!  Photo Credit: Joanna Chattman