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Keith Barnacastle • Publisher
Our Staff
Richelle Putnam • Executive Editor/Writer
Richelle Putnam holds a BS in Marketing Management and an MA in Creative Writing. She is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist, two-time MAC Literary Arts Fellow, and Mississippi Humanities Speaker. Her fiction, poetry, essays, and articles have been published in many print and online literary journals and magazines. Among her six published books are a 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards Silver Medalist and a 2017 Foreword Indies Book Awards Bronze Medal winner. Visit her website at www.richelleputnam.com.
Rebekah Speer • Creative Director
Rebekah Speer has nearly twenty years in the music industry in Nashville, TN. She creates a unique “look” for every issue of The Bluegrass Standard, and enjoys learning about each artist. In addition to her creative work with The Bluegrass Standard, Rebekah also provides graphic design and technical support to a variety of clients. www.rebekahspeer.com
Susan Woelkers • Marketing
Susan traveled with a mixed ensemble at Trevecca Nazarene college as PR for the college. From there she moved on to working at Sony Music Nashville for 17 years in several compacities then transitioning on to the Nashville Songwritrers Association International (NSAI) where she was Sponsorship Director. The next step of her musical journey was to open her own business where she secured sponsorships for various events or companies in which the IBMA/World of Bluegrass was one of her clients.
Susan Marquez • Journalist
Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.
Mississippi Chris Sharp • Reviewer
Singer/Songwriter/Blogger and SilverWolf recording artist, Mississippi Chris Sharp hails from remote Kemper County, near his hometown of Meridian. An original/founding cast member of the award-winning, long running radio show, The Sucarnochee Revue, as featured on Alabama and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Chris performs with his daughter, Piper. Chris’s songs have been covered by The Del McCoury Band, The Henhouse Prowlers, and others. mississippichrissharp.blog
Brent Davis • Contributor
Brent Davis produced documentaries, interview shows, and many other projects during a 40 year career in public media. He’s also the author of the bluegrass novel Raising Kane. Davis lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Kara Martinez Bachman • Journalist
Kara Martinez Bachman is a nonfiction author, book and magazine editor, and freelance writer. A former staff entertainment reporter, columnist and community news editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, her music and culture reporting has also appeared on a freelance basis in dozens of regional, national and international publications.
Candace Nelson • Journalist
Candace Nelson is a marketing professional living in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the author of the book “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” In her free time, Nelson travels and blogs about Appalachian food culture at CandaceLately.com. Find her on Twitter at @Candace07 or email CandaceRNelson@gmail.com.
Jason Young • Journalist
A Philadelphia native and seasoned musician, has dedicated over forty years to music. Starting as a guitar prodigy at eight, he expanded his talents to audio engineering and mastering various instruments, including drums, piano, mandolin, banjo, dobro, and bass. Alongside his brother, he formed The Young Brothers band, and his career highlights include co-writing a song with Kid Rock for Rebel Soul.
Photo is by Mark J Smith
BECCA STEVENS
by Jason Young
Becca Stevens, a two-time Grammy nominee, solo artist, Broadway actress, and former David Crosby’s Lighthouse Band member, calls her latest album, Maple to Paper, raw and honest.
“In the past, I had a little veil of secrecy around what I was saying-- not to say that I haven’t been honest in the past,” explains Stevens, who says the album revolves around moving through the grief stages. Stevens, who lost her mother, singer/ actress Carolyn Dorf, in 2022, remembers, “I absolutely felt I was taking a risk. I thought it would be a little too much emotionally for people.”
Working on the album while grieving, Stevens recalls, “I literally had a futon on the floor next to my writing space that encouraged me to be a part of the grief while I worked. It was necessary so that I could sit down for an hour and work and then lie down and cry.”
The song “You Should Have Been There for Me” is about struggling with the loss of her mother. “It was definitely the apex of the anger stage of my grief,” adding, “The anger was protecting me from the heavier feelings.”
Stevens worked with long-time collaborator, producer and mixing engineer Nic Hard (Snarky Puppy, Huntertones).
“[Nic] and I went back and forth a lot in the beginning, trying to figure out what the approach would be for the recording process before diving in completely.”
Stevens initially had doubts about recording from home.
“I decided early on that I was not only going to keep it simple in its production but also record at home by myself.
“I was almost apologetic when I sent a live take to Nic. I was shocked when he got back to me, and he was like, ‘No, no, no, this is the way we have to do it!’”
Stevens’s experience of caring for a newborn and raising her two-year-old daughter inspired her to write “Pain to be Apart.”
“It’s about me wanting to be in the moment with my daughter,” explains Stevens, who says balancing motherhood with her work sometimes leaves her feeling guilty.
Stevens says her husband, violinist/ composer Nathan Schram, was there to help. “[The album] would not have been possible without my husband dropping everything that he was doing to be with the girls.”
In addition to recording an album and shooting videos for the songs “Shoulda Been There for Me,” “I’m Not Her,” and “Now Feels Bigger than the Past,” Stevens jumped at the chance to star in the 2024 Tony Award-winning Broadway play Illinois.
“I was literally rocking my newborn in a chair when I got a call from my friend composer/pianist, Timo Andres. He said, ‘There is this crazy opportunity, and I know you are on maternity leave, and I keep thinking you would be perfect for it!”
“It couldn’t be more perfect timing because the exact window that I needed to be available was the window that I had cleared my schedule,” adding, “I’m such a huge Sufjan Stevens fan! In fact, his album Carrie and Lowell was a big inspiration to me spiritually on Maple to Paper.”
For Stevens, whose multi-layered style fuses jazz, classical and world music, the album is a return to her musical upbringing. “My dad is a bluegrass musician as well as a classical singer and composer. Growing up we listened to a lot of folk and bluegrass along with Frank Zappa” [laughs]
Stevens says she still thinks of her friend and writing partner, the late David Crosby.
“I felt him with me a lot. From the moment I met him he was always so supportive of my songwriting voice. He was such a fun person to write with because it was all heart, ears, creative mind and no rules or nothing theoretical. Stevens says that they experimented with tunings and chord shapes. “When I was writing these songs, I could sort of hear him in my mind saying, ‘Cool chord shape, Bec.’”
Stevens points out Crosby’s influence, “[Maple to Paper] as you can see, leans more in that folk direction.”
When asked why she chose not to use more instruments on Maple to Paper, “Deep in my gut, I knew for this specific project, the best way to serve the whole experience was to strip back all the layers and show the bare bones of the songs. My tendency is to overcomplicate things!”
Cordas world Music Festival
by Susan Marquez
Imagine listening to musicians from around the world while sitting in a garden, a cave, a natural pool, or even a volcanic crater. Now imagine those unique venues are located in an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. In a magical place nearly centered between Portugal, Morocco and Newfoundland, Canada, the Azores’ mild climate and beautiful scenery make them ideal spots for a “boutique” music festival.
Terry Costa created the Cordas World Music Festival in 2016 as an annual music event celebrating stringed instruments and those who play them worldwide.
Costa, who was born in Canada, was raised on Pico Island in the Azores, Portugal, from ages two to fourteen. Involved in the arts from a young age, Costa has served as artistic director of AQT Vancouver and UNI Theatre and is the founder of the Gastown performance art gallery Spaces, the Looking Forward, Looking Back Festival, and the Vancouver Portuguese Heritage Month Festival.
“Arts were always part of my upbringing,” he says. “From going to music school starting at age four, singing in the church choir, and doing theatre with the nuns as a child. I used to record my own radio show on cassette when I was nine. I can say that the arts were always in me.” Costa went to college to study theatre and dance. While he started acting, he always had a hand in directing and producing. After a twenty-year career in North America, Costa moved back to the Azores, where his producing side took over. “I began creating the projects I most missed and that were not available on the islands, like a film festival, an arts festival, and a music festival.”
In 2002, Costa founded Mirateca Arts in Vancouver to produce artistic events. “When I decided to move to my family home on Pico Island in 2012, I founded MiratecaArts, a slight change in the name but with the same objectives to enhance individual, team, and organizational productivity in the art world.” Through MiratecaArts, Costa produces, promotes, and presents artists, shows, and events encompassing all artistic disciplines. It started with the Azores Fringe Festival as a showcase for all arts and artists and the accompanying online platform for middle-Atlantic artists to register. That was followed by the Montanha Pico Festival, founded to celebrate the mountain culture through art, and in 2016, the Cordas World Music Festival.
“Cordas World Music Festival was born of a need to create something that upholds traditional values and teachings while showing the islanders the world,” says Costa. “String musical instruments were always a part of the culture. I thought, why not develop that into an
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international festival where locals can not only see themselves but also participate while having musicians from around the world visiting with their unique string instruments and sharing their cultures? It has become a truly educational feast of sounds.”
The first Cordas World Music Festival was held in October 2016 and has been held yearly since.
“We are now planning the tenth edition to happen in 2025. We wish to create a ‘volcano’ of music and string instruments for all to enjoy. We have had artists from over twenty countries already participate in the festival. Mind you, we are a special, boutique, unique festival. During the week, we get about 2000 people to visit the programming.”
Venues include natural spots on the island, such as a garden, a cave, a volcanic crater,
natural pools, and a dragon-tree sanctuary. “We also utilize the Center Square stage, the Museum auditorium, and the youngest contemporary auditorium of the region, in the town of Madalena, where the epicenter of the festival occurs.”
To put it into perspective, one of the signature events happens at the top of the highest mountain in Portugal. “It takes on average three hours scaling to get there, relax a bit, see a show, and then crawl back down to civilization,” explains Costa. “Of course, this is a very special event. It’s basically a time investment of a full day. We usually take fifty people on the journey, but last year, only twelve made it to the concert, as all the others gave up mountain climbing and came back down to safe terrain.”
The Cordas World Music Festival has already garnered various international awards, including Top 10 Best New Festival (Iberian Festival Awards 2017) and Global Top
10 Fest (Transglobal World Music Chart Festival Awards 2018). But the best award is always the audience who ventures to meet the unknown. “Year after year, we try to provide those moments by presenting artists and instruments not familiar to those who live on the islands.”
An add-on to the event is the newly formed Academia Cordas Academy, which was launched at the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City. “That conference was a week to develop connections, make new discoveries, and experience inspirational moments,” says Costa. “It also gave us the opportunity to announce a new program for the Cordas, which fits into the objectives of the Folk world, the Academia Cordas Academy.”
By creating this new program, MiratecaArts intends to welcome more artists during the Cordas World Music Festival. “Some artists visit the festival without being part of the lineup. With the Academy we want to encourage this to happen more and more, but by providing structures so visiting artists can gain more knowledge and experience working with local and international artists who regularly travel around the world.” Therefore, Academia Cordas Academy will include a conference program, workshops, the opportunity for jam sessions, the creation of a unique show, and visits to emblematic places on the island with photo and video sessions, thus developing promotional materials for each participating artist.
Whether you speak Portuguese or not, this short documentary film offers a good idea of what the Cordas World Music Festival is all about.
Down Hill Strugglers
by Karen Martinez Bachman
As an old-time string band, The Down Hill Strugglers have been heavily influenced by old field recordings of the 1920s and 1930s, music with which most people can connect. The struggles of that era – and the strife of today – inspire this trio to keep that old-time sound going.
“We’re very familiar with the canon of old-time string music,” explained The Down Hill Strugglers multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Eli Smith. “We’ve listened to a lot of old 78s, and we’ve listened to a lot of old field recordings.”
Their first record in seven years—“Old Juniper”—is the most recent example of how the trio puts its stamp on the music of “rural America.” This includes not only sounds from Appalachia but also from the deep South and the western regions of the U.S.
“Everyone has their struggles. We do, too,” Smith confessed. “Everyone identifies with hardship. There’re several break-up songs, several heartache songs…”
There are also tracks that stray into more complex stuff, such as the last one, “Let the Rich Go Bust.” Smith described it as a “social commentary song.”
Sound-wise, the record is mostly old-time, but Smith added, “A couple of other songs on the record are more like blues.”
“Our goal with this album was to make an interesting record that had some deep roots to it,” he said.
Despite the music reflecting rural America, these are big-city musicians. While bandmate Walker Shepard lives in Wisconsin, Smith and the third member of the trio—Jackson Lynch—both live and work in Brooklyn, NY.
“Jackson and I work at the Jalopy Theater here in New York,” Smith said. In addition to his work at that theater and its music school – where he teaches banjo – Jalopy is the record label that released “Old Juniper.” He also coordinates the Brooklyn Folk Festival, which just had its 16th year of bringing an array of folk acts to the big city.
Initially formed in 2008 as the Dust Busters, the group changed its lineup and name in 2021 when they became The Down Hill Strugglers. Since then, they’ve toured across the U.S. and abroad, and band highlights include their music being included on the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis.
Smith said the late John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers, who was a mentor and inspiration to the trio, had a big influence on the band.
Smith has long loved making music. He started learning at age eight, but the passion really took hold of him when he was a teenager.
“I heard Mississippi John Hurt…Woody Guthrie …” Not long after, he discovered the New Lost City Ramblers. When he eventually met John Cohen, he realized “we were
really on the same page.”
With a rich past and vibrant future for The Down Hill Strugglers, where does Smith see the band headed?
“I just hope we’ll keep playing and touring,” he said. It sounds as if “Old Juniper” gave the Strugglers a shot in the arm, and it appears Smith wants to keep riding that wave. “It brought us a lot of energy making this record.”
“Our goal is to stay creative as a band,” he added, “and keep on working on our sound.”
Hillbilly Thomists
by Karen Martinez Bachman
As one of the more unique acts in the world of acoustic roots music, the Hillbilly Thomists use music infused with faith to relay their deeply held beliefs.
The band is composed of friars of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The proceeds from their tours and record sales benefit the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., where the members first met and began making music
The “Thomist” part of their group’s name refers to followers of the Catholic saint and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomist thinking includes the belief that “the invisible grace of God can be at work in visible things.”
“This for us is not music for Mass,” explained band member Father Justin Bolger, O.P. They have, however, recorded music for Mass with other friars; this includes albums of Dominican chant, polyphony and hymnody.
Most of what the Hillbilly Thomists do on most of their recorded music, however, is a more accessible way of reaching people. Fr. Justin described it as “old-timey country,”
with some of it even “bordering on rock ‘n’ roll.”
“A lot of families like the music,” he added. “I think it fills a nice place in Catholic life where it isn’t praise music or liturgical chant but is more for hanging out. It’s more for the BBQ…for driving around…”
There’s a deeper aspect to it as well.
“We’ve heard stories of people being touched by the music toward the end of life,” Fr. Justin explained. Death shows up often in the lyrics, as could be expected of a music centered on things of the spirit. “A lot of the songs we write touch on that theme.”
He said the Hillbilly Thomists “sing in a joyful way” but do not shy away from – and in fact, embrace – examinations of suffering.
The group has released several albums. Their first – 2017’s eponymously-titled The Hillbilly Thomists – reached #3 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart. This year, they released their fourth album, Marigold.
“The album is about all kinds of stuff…some of our characters are inspired by Flannery O’Connor,” Fr. Justin said of the Southern Gothic-style novelist and short story writer. That literary genre is often filled with depictions of colorful but troubled characters hailing from the Deep South. “Her stories are dark, but sometimes they show how grace can really interrupt…some of our songs kind of correspond with her worldview.”
One example is a song from the new record called “Justify You.” Fr. Justin said it is about “rundown characters in a bar and the wisdom they have in their suffering.”
Another track echoes a Biblical story. “If the story of the Prodigal Son happened in the American South, this is what we think it would sound like,” Fr. Justin said.
The song the album is named after – “Marigold” – is about the Virgin Mary. “I’m not aware of a bluegrass, folk or country song, really, that’s about Our Lady,” he said. “The marigold [flower] is associated with her. It is kind of a song about patience, especially in suffering.”
Having just wrapped up a summer tour, the Hillbilly Thomists have settled down a bit until their availability opens up again. Most of the music is made when the group members are free for extra projects; that usually means summertime.
“We also have full-time, or more than full-time, ministries,” Fr. Justin said. For instance, his main job is serving as a Catholic Chaplain at Brown University.
Over the next year, they’ll be working on recording and releasing a Christmas record.
“It’s just carols…there are so many beautiful ones,” Fr. Justin said. Despite using instruments such as banjo and mandolin, he added it’s “not so much bluegrass…it’s a little bit more plaintive, a little bit more contemplative.” In advance of that full record coming in the next year, they recorded a single for this Christmas season: a Hillbilly Thomists version of “Silent Night.”
While Fr. Justin said music can definitely be “cathartic,” its purpose for these men goes well beyond just rousing the emotions.
“Music can raise the heart and mind to noble things,” Fr. Justin said, adding that “beauty has an arresting quality to it. When you can couple some good music with some lyrical depth…that’s a good package.”
The music has been embraced not only by the Catholic faithful but by others outside the fold. That’s a pretty good sign that the messages of the Hillbilly Thomists are reaching people.
“We get invites from protestant pastors and chaplains. Most priests are not asked to preach to protestant congregations,” he said, explaining that the music is an entry point to ministering to different groups.
To Fr. Justin, this is a real plus. He described – in the simplest terms possible – how music is a great way of sharing.
“This music is another way to the heart,” he said.
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Andy Hall
by Brent Davis
For Andy Hall, it’s all about the sustain.
The sustaining property of his instrument--the dobro--is its defining characteristic.
“It’s more like an electric guitar, like a lead instrument in a lot of ways,” he says. “You can milk the notes. It makes sense sonically to me because the electric guitar has that same type of sustain.”
Hall’s band, The Infamous Stringdusters (he’s a charter member), has sustained a reputation for 20 years as an energetic, innovative ensemble that blends bluegrass credibility and metal show savvy. It continues to pack arenas and large halls with enthusiastic fans.
“Even after all this time, we still love being together and playing music together,” Hall says. “So we’re going to put the pedal to the metal and just give it a good push in our 20th year.”
In addition to extensive touring and nine albums with the band, Hall also tours and records solo and with other artists. Let the Steel Sing is a spirited album-length collaboration with sacred steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier. In 2020, he recorded 12 Bluegrass Classics for Resophonic Guitar, a solo pandemic project. His latest album, Squareneck Soul, allowed him to collaborate with bluegrass virtuosos such as Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, and Wes Corbett.
That’s a lot of bluegrass for an upstate
New York kid who came to the music pretty late.
“Growing up, I was into very heavy music and kind of angsty teenage boy stuff,” Hall explains. “But I was extremely interested in playing guitar, and literally the first day I got a guitar, I was playing it hours a day. It was very much a release for me and an escape.”
Hall got a little exposure to country and bluegrass on visits to his father’s family in Nashville.
“And then one day, I just got curious enough that I asked for a Bill Monroe box set of CDs, and it just blew my mind instantly. And it had that rustic old recorded sound which made it even kind of more mysterious to me somehow. I had always listened to pristine recordings of modern music. And here you had this old, kind of scratchy sound of these guys just shredding. And to me, it didn’t sound that different from heavy metal. It sounded like acoustic heavy metal. It was exciting.”
Hall attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His infatuation with the burgeoning roots music scene there and his enthusiasm for the guitar led to a bad case of tendonitis in his hand.
“The only thing I could really play was lap-style slide guitar that didn’t aggravate it,” he recalls. “Using the bar and the slide was very easy for my left hand, which had been injured from overuse. And all these things kind of came together to get me just super fired-up to play dobro.”
Hall’s bluegrass apprenticeship included stints with bands in Boston and Nashville. The Infamous Stringdusters came together after an impromptu jam. Hall says that as soon as band members listened to a recording of that session, they realized they had a unique sound.
“Chris Pandolfi (banjo) and I didn’t even start as bluegrass musicians. We had all these different influences, but we had really put in the work in the bluegrass foundations. And that combination at the time I felt was unique. There were other jammy bluegrass bands, but they hadn’t really done the bluegrass thing. Or there were bluegrass bands who played traditional bluegrass but had never listened to Grateful Dead or Phish or anything like that. I mean, there was the New Grass Revival. They certainly had that. But at the time, we were the only band doing that, as far as I can tell.”
Today, the band consists of Hall, Pandolfi, Andy Falco (guitar), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle) and Travis Book (double bass).
The band’s approach is part of their “secret sauce, “ leading to them playing arenas and
Photo by Ty Helbach
large venues when other bluegrass bands are playing at smaller clubs and festivals.
“We designed our live show to be able to hit hard like in a rock club,” Hall explains. “And that has to do with the sound and how we plug in. There’s a whole craft in trying to get acoustic instruments to sound good through a rock PA and be loud. That helps get your music across to a wider range of people. For most people--unless they grew up in folk music clubs and listening rooms--their first show was usually an arena show or something. And that’s the type of experience we were going for.” Hall says a 2011 tour opening for the Yonder Mountain String Band helped them figure out their live sound.
Hall says that musical collaborations continue to sustain him, whether it’s with a marquee band beginning its 20th year or with great artists on a solo project.
“That’s one of the great joys of playing music. I like learning. And one of the best ways to learn is to get with another musician who is really good at what they do and interact with them musically. That’s good for the brain and good for the soul.”
By
Photo
Casey Martin
Photo By gr8ful4u2
CUTTER & CASH and The Kentucky Bluegrass
by Susan Marquez
From his home in Marion, Kentucky, Cutter Singleton feels blessed to be a part of something that’s just so special. At 17 years old, he is a member of a rising bluegrass band that has performed at the Grand Ole Opry and has a new album in the works produced by “Miss Country Soul” and Grand Ole Opry legend Jeannie Seely.
While he’s not from a particularly musical family, Cutter and his brother, Cash, have been exposed to traditional bluegrass all their lives. That’s probably inevitable, living in Kentucky. However, there are some deep musical roots on both sides of their family. “My grandfather on my mom’s side played the dobro – he was mostly a porch picker,” says Cutter. “My great grandfather, on my dad’s side, played in a country and Western band in the 1950s and 1960s, performing mainly at local service station parking lots and dance halls.”
Cutter recalls riding in the car with his mom and dad when he was only four years old and hearing “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” on the radio. “It stopped me dead in my tracks. I call it a bluegrass intervention. I told my mother I wanted a banjo for Christmas.”
His mom took him seriously, and Cutter not only got his banjo but he took lessons from Jack Martin in Paducah. Kentucky. “Jack played bass for Bill and also James Monroe, and then dobro for Lester Flatt,” says Cutter. Jack sent him to take more lessons from the world-famous fivestring banjo picker Haskel McCormick in Nashville. “When Earl Scruggs had a bad car accident in 1955, Haskel, who was just 17 years old at the time, played banjo with Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys,” says Cutter. “He made a lot of connections during that time, including some that would land him a studio session on a Johnny Cash album, a banjo position for Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass
in 1971, and then another banjo position touring with Marty Robbins in 1975.”
A few years after Cutter began playing seriously, his younger brother, Cash, joined him. “He saw that I was getting a lot of attention,” laughs Cutter. “But he also has a real love for the music.” Cutter plays guitar and sings in the band, while Cash plays mandolin and sings high tenor. “He’s truly my best friend, and he shares my passion for this.” The boys started working as a group with Brennan Cruce, a bass player who happens to live across the Road. “He’s like a big brother to us,” says Cutter.
Rounding out the band is banjo picker Logan Lobdell, who was recommended to the boys by Rhonda Vincent. “He’s from Vero Beach, Florida, and he has been a godsend to us.” Siblings Noah and Lily Goebel recently left the band for other pursuits, steering away from bluegrass music, and Cutter says he sends them both the very best wishes. “I am so fond of the great memories and friendship we will always share.”
Playing in an in-demand bluegrass band while still in high school can be challenging, but Cutter says his school system has supported their music career. “They have helped us so much.” When they first started as a group seven years ago, they played 25 shows in a year. “The teachers have worked with us so we can make up our lessons when we return.” This year, they will perform on more than 80 dates.
Now that Cutter has graduated high school, he is pursuing the bluegrass entertainment business as his full-time career. “We continue to get support from people like Rhonda Vincent, Bill Anderson, and Jeannie Seely, who have become good friends.”
A dream came true for the boys when they made their first Grand Ole Opry appearance with Jeannie Seely on April 06, 2024. “Jeannie has played the Opry over 5,000 times, but she made our first time so special. And it was so moving to learn that two charter buses full of people from our hometown of Marion, Kentucky, showed up in Nashville to see us perform at the Grand Ole Opry. It was the thrill of a lifetime and something I’ll never take for granted.”
There’s no doubt that Cutter is an old soul. “I like music from different genres, including bluegrass, country, western swing, rockabilly, and even 60s rock and pop! I believe having a wide range of listening helps to keep our sound new and different but with touches of familiar sounds that pay respect to our heroes that have come before us. One of my favorite songs is Neil Sedaka’s ‘Laughter in the Rain.’”
Cutter is a collector of country and bluegrass memorabilia, and he is proud of his Rex Allen Nudie’s Rodeo Tailor’s suit made in 1959, a Porter Wagoner Wagonmaster’s suit worn by Don Warden, and a pair of Little Jimmy Dickens’ rhinestone stage pants. “I even have one of Lester Flatt’s red string ties, the license plate from his bus, and a Shure S-55 microphone that he and Earl left behind at a theater in 1957. I love collecting these pieces because of the hard work, sweat, and determination that those artists put into their passion for entertainment and music, and these items of memorabilia are the survivors that carry those stories that our heroes can no longer tell.”
With a nod toward traditional bluegrass groups, the band always dresses to impress. “Even from an early age, I realized how much that meant. It shows we care enough about our audiences to want to present ourselves the best way we can. When you dress ‘show biz,’ it tells people they are there for a show, and through our stage wear and what it represents, I am very honored by the way we carry ourselves.”
Cutter is quick to say they are not tribute artists. “We play some traditional bluegrass tunes but do it in our own Cutter and Cash style.” Their first single was “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.” “That song was suggested to us by Jeannie Seely. She envisioned it as a high-tempo, upbeat version, and I thought it would never work, but when we went home and did it the first time, it clicked.”
When their new album is released, it will feature ten tracks. “We have three Grand Ole Opry members on the album, and two are big bluegrass stars,” says Cutter. “And one is in the Country Music Hall of Fame,” he adds, looking back and seeing how many people have been so kind to them. “I hope that through our success, we can pay it forward in the future, the same way so many have done for us.”
KATE MACLEOD
by Susan Marquez
The best songwriting often reflects personal change. For neo-traditional Americana songwriter/singer/musician Kate Macleod, recent life changes have infused her career and creative work with new themes.
Originally from the Washington, DC, area, MacLeod has lived in Utah for many years. Recently, however, she’s been brought back to her “eastern roots” with a return to the region. She now lives part-time in Utah and part-time in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, where she cares for an elderly parent.
“I’m enjoying the way the West Virginia landscape and culture is affecting my songwriting and my playing, where there are countless musicians to learn from,” MacLeod explained. “I’ve been a caregiver for many years in my life, have raised three children, and I’m very family oriented. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with Mom and helping her remain in her home for as long as she can.”
This process might show up in her work in a very specific way.
“I have written a few songs based on some family history, and one based on a story that Mom tells frequently, resulting in a song called ‘Bread on the Morning Train.’ Maybe I’ll record that soon,” she said.
Now, she performs and records as Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap, a band she formed at her new base in Harper’s Ferry.
“I’d say the band’s inception is due to how good things can come from doing good deeds,” she explained. “To make it possible for me to be with Mom as much as I needed, I also needed to find work in her area. So, I began booking concerts and asked these wonderful musicians to join me.”
She said that in addition to being “wonderful musicians,” the guys she gigs with now are “artistic deep thinkers” and that “everything they are comes through in the music.”
Speaking of what makes up the core of a musician, MacLeod shared a peek at how she came to know herself and her inspirations. She was well aware of what drives her at an early age. As a vocalist, guitarist, fiddler, pianist and mountain dulcimer player, the performance bug bit her hard and hasn’t let go.
“I knew I wanted to play the violin at as young an age as five or so,” she recalled. “I don’t know where that ‘lightbulb’ inspiration came from, but I suspect I inherited it from a long line of musicians who were professionals from where my families came from in Europe.”
She confessed that she tried to do other things for a living instead of becoming a professional musician but was reluctant. “And I raised a family, and at times, didn’t take myself seriously. But the more I work in music, the more I want to continue. For me, working in the music business has been a very slow crescendo.”
That crescendo has certain high points. Musicians such as Laurie Lewis and Mollie O’Brien sing her songs regularly. She’s toured the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.
Her music has been used in documentaries aired on PBS stations, including “My Canyonlands: Kent Frost,” “We Sagebrush Folks,” and “Zion Canyon Song Cycle.”
She dropped a single this fall. “Never Looked So Good to Me Before” features MacLeod with her vocals, guitar and piano and bandmates Paul Hammerton (vocals and guitar), John Bryant (vocals and bass), and Matthew Metz (vocals, mandolin). It was recorded at Cabin Studios in Leesburg, Virginia with engineer Dustin DeLage. The cover art for the single features a watercolor painted by MacLeod.
Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap has been busy this past fall, touring across the East, Midwest and Northwest America. For this month, however, she’s in break mode.
“I normally take time off in December and January for recording time,” she said. “I plan to be working on recording more music with Mind the Gap, and I have a large collection of songs I’ve written on white water river trips to record, from annual river trips with a commercial river running company.”
As part of her volunteer and community efforts, she said, “I’m organizing a holiday song ‘sing-in’ fundraising event for my church meeting, the Salt Lake Society of Friends/ Quakers, on Sunday, December 15,” she said.
“I always spend Christmas with my children,” she added. “We meet in Salt Lake City from wherever we live.”
With life happening in two different parts of the country, MacLeod makes time for family in both regions. Hopefully, these rich experiences of connecting will continue to inspire her songwriting.
by Susan Marquez
Although she is not a musician, Louise Price grew up listening to the music of Charlie Poole. “My father loved Charlie Poole’s music,” she says. A native of Spray, North Carolina, Charlie Poole was an old-time banjo player who was the leader of the North Carolina Ramblers, a string band that recorded popular hillbilly songs between 1925 and 1930. Considered a pioneer of bluegrass, country, and folk music, Poole has a strong legacy in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and beyond.
Louise is the president of Piedmont Folk Legacies, a non-profit organization whose mission, according to its website, “is to promote and preserve the musical and cultural legacy of the Piedmont region and to celebrate its influence on the development of American vernacular music, as exemplified by Charlie Poole.” Louise and Marianne Aiken founded the Charlie Poole Music Festival in 1996.
She may have majored in art in college, but through her encounters with people in traditional music, like Wayne Henderson and the late Helen White (founder of Junior Appalachian Musicians—), Louise began to realize the importance of passing down the unique music history of her region to children growing up in the area.
The idea really hit home with Louise when a contest component was added to the Charlie Poole Music Festival. “The first ten years of the festival, it was music only. In the 11th year, we added the contest, and that brought kids to the festival. “It was really impactful.”
Based loosely on that idea and the already-successful JAM program, Louise founded
the Piedmont Instrument Classes for Kids, known locally as P.I.C.K., in 2019. The afterschool program provides lessons in stringed instruments, including banjo, fiddle, and guitar, for students in grades three through five. The non-profit organization is made possible by a community effort to empower students by teaching them the region’s musical heritage and playing the instruments that helped to form a music culture that still thrives today. Supporters include the Rockingham County Education Foundation, Rockingham County Arts Council, Reidsville Area Foundation, and private companies in the area.
“I donate 100 percent of my time, as do the community supporters and parents who work so hard each week to make sure their children have access to this terrific program,” says Louise. “All of the instruments are donated, and we provide instruments to put into the hands of kids from families who may not be able to afford them. We even have autistic kids in the program, and it is exciting to see how well they are doing. It’s the power of music in action.”
Now in its sixth year, the program has had a few bumps in the road, which has changed the program’s course a bit. “We started the program in one elementary school as an afterschool program,” says Louise. “When Covid hit, we had to back up a truck to the school and load up all the instruments.” Arrangements were made to get instruments in the hands of students and to provide instruction via Zoom for an entire year. “We survived that,” laughs Louise. “And it led us to improve the program.”
The Zoom experience helped instructors realize that when teaching a class of 25 kids and one kid is playing, the other 24 get bored quickly. “We went to individual lessons, and that solved the problem. Zoom also provided us with a broader reach.”
When it was time to get back to doing live lessons, Louise’s church offered space every Monday and Tuesday from 3:30 to 8 pm. “We have kids taking 30-minute lessons in banjo, fiddle, and guitar.” That’s 27 kids every evening, two days a week.
The program has many talented local musicians who work with the students, including Bob Kogut (who we reported on in our September issue). He is passionate about young musicians and does adjustments and set-ups for the program.
The legendary Charlie Poole influenced musicians like John Mellencamp, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan and jam bands such as Hot Tuna and The Grateful Dead. Louise hopes that Poole’s legend lives on in the students participating in the P.I.C.K. program well into the future. “We want to keep his legacy alive through their music and storytelling.”
Using traditional music to positively impact the lives of the children of Rockingham County has been Louise’s biggest motivation, and she says she believes she is seeing musicians being born. “It’s a joy for me. We had 46 kids in the program last year and are continuing to grow. We do all we can to enhance our students’ learning experience and continue our rich cultural traditions for generations to come.”
Magnolia Street Band
by Susan Marquez
When a group of friends in Highland Park, New Jersey started an informal music project together, they had no idea they’d go from a living room-picking situation to touring and playing major festivals. That’s exactly what happened with Magnolia Street String Band, named after the street where their first practice space was located – in a house on the corner of Magnolia Street and Fourth Street. “Magnolia Street sounded better than Fourth Street, so we went with it,” laughs the band’s frontwoman, Sheila Shukla.
Sheila and her sister grew up listening to music in their parents’ home in Branchburg, NJ, but it wasn’t until she attended the University of North Carolina in Greensboro that she discovered bluegrass. “I had learned piano and choral singing as a kid and picked up the guitar and folk/rock singing in college.”
A trip to a street festival was a pivotal musical moment for Sheila. “I heard a bluegrass band, and it hit me the right way. I loved the four-piece acoustic sound. Soon, I discovered Alison Krauss, and it all came together for me. When I returned to New Jersey, I eventually found my way into playing in folk and bluegrass groups.”
Sheila and Matthew Backes started Magnolia Street String Band in 2013. The band picked up the late Paul Prestopino at a festival. “He showed up on stage and began playing mandolin. Then he asked us if he could join our band,” says Sheila. Paul had a world of experience playing with legendary groups like Peter Paul and Mary, John Denver, and the Chad Mitchell Trio. Bobby Baxmeyer and Ron Greenstein were connected by mutual friends and joined soon after.
As the band developed its own sound, it started performing for audiences in 2014, and the response fueled it to keep playing. Its music tapped traditional bluegrass as well as covers of contemporary tunes, paying homage to the “grassicana” sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The band, led by Matt at the time, recorded an album, Wrong Side of the Rain, in 2019, produced by Backes and Bob Harris in Bob’s studio in Bridgewater, NJ. “It was unfortunate timing for us. We were planning a tour, and then the pandemic hit, so we just enjoyed the album at home,” says Sheila.
As the world recovered from the pandemic, Matt took a health leave due to Parkinson’s disease, and Sheila emerged as the band’s leader. As a music and movement teacher for children under six, she realized how music can change the energy of a classroom. “I do a lot of creative improvisation in my classroom, and I thought I should make an album for kids. I called Bob and told him the plan, and he suggested a children’s bluegrass album.” Sheila says she “knocked it out” with the album By the Light of the Moon, released on October 4 – National Children’s Music Day. The album was created with children in mind, but the excellent instrumentation will also appeal to bluegrass fans of all ages. Produced by Bob Harris, Sheila Shukla, and Gary Oleyar (who played with Loggins and Messina), By the Light of the Moon transports listeners to a magical place through forests, gardens, and into the sky. Bob, who has played with Vassar Clements for decades and
been part of more than a thousand records in his career, played guitar on the album.
Sheila wrote all but two songs on the album. “My sister, Rita Shukla, wrote and sang “Morning Waltz” and contributed to the harmonies on several songs. She also collaborated with me on the creative direction of this album,” Sheila says. Sheila’s three children, Surya (14), Sonia (12), and Dhruv (7), lent their vocals to the album. Matt Backes makes an appearance in “Oh Susanna,” and Nick Conte sings harmonies. “I wrote the songs on the album to be educational for children – it includes life lessons, as well as fun, whimsy, creativity, and calm and peace.” One of the singles, “Slow Down Rabbit,” was co-written with Sheila’s daughter. “That song is definitely for me,” she laughs. “I need a reminder sometimes to slow down and enjoy each moment.”
Realizing that she is unique as a South Asian woman in the world of bluegrass, Sheila says she has found her voice through the inspiration she has gained from artists including Mollie Tuttle, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch. “I have been playing with and hoping to collaborate with other South Asian bluegrass artists in the future.”
Sheila hopes families will listen to By the Light of the Moon together. “I would love for families to have fun with this album together and want to listen to it over and over again.”
Where in the world is …that food from?
by Candace Nelson
The birthplaces of various foods often reflect the unique cultural, geographical and historical influences of a region, giving rise to iconic dishes that become synonymous with their origins.
From Chicago’s deep-dish pizza to Japan’s ramen, each dish tells a story of local ingredients, evolving culinary techniques, and the community’s tastes and needs.
Over time, these foods can transcend their original contexts, gaining popularity worldwide, yet they remain deeply rooted in their place of origin, carrying with them a sense of authenticity and identity that connects people to a particular place and time.
Many foods that we have come to know and love originated right in the Appalachian region of the United States:
1. Pepperoni Rolls
Birthplace: Fairmont, West Virginia
Italian immigrant baker Giuseppe “Joseph” Argiro created a soft roll stuffed with pepperoni in the 1920s as a portable lunch for coal miners.
2. Hot Brown
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky
An open-faced sandwich consisting of turkey, bacon, tomatoes, and Mornay sauce, all baked until the bread is crisp and the sauce is bubbly. The Hot Brown was created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville in the 1920s by Chef Fred K. Schmidt. It has since become a signature dish of Kentucky and a popular Appalachian delicacy.
3. Moon Pie
Birthplace: Chattanooga, Tennessee
The Chattanooga Bakery created the Moon Pie, a marshmallow-filled, chocolate-covered sandwich, in 1917. It became a popular treat among coal miners and remains an iconic snack.
4. Goetta
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
Goetta is a breakfast staple in Cincinnati. It is a German-American dish made from ground meat (usually pork and beef), steel-cut oats, and spices. It reflects the city’s German heritage and its location on the fringes of Appalachia.
5. Benedictine Spread
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky
Jennie Carter Benedict invented a cucumber and cream cheese spread in the early 20th century. It became a popular sandwich filling in Louisville and is still enjoyed today, particularly at Kentucky Derby parties.
6. Pimento Cheese
Birthplace: Frankfort, Kentucky (Popularized in the South)
A spread made with cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos. While it’s widely known as a Southern dish, its roots can be traced to the Benedictine recipe from Louisville, Kentucky, and it became especially popular in the surrounding Appalachian regions.
7. Lane Cake
Birthplace: Clayton, Alabama (while not strictly Appalachia, it’s often associated with Appalachian cuisine)
The Lane Cake, a bourbon-laced layer cake with a fruit-and-nut filling, was created by Emma Rylander Lane in Clayton, Alabama, in 1898. It’s been popular throughout the Appalachian South, especially in Kentucky.
8. Spiedie
Birthplace: Binghamton, New York
Spiedies are marinated meat (usually lamb, chicken, or pork), skewered and grilled, then served on Italian bread. This dish is a regional specialty of Binghamton and the surrounding areas in New York’s Southern Tier, on the northern edge of Appalachia.
9. Smith Island Cake
Birthplace: Smith Island, Maryland
A multi-layered cake with frosting between each layer, typically made with yellow cake and chocolate icing. This dessert is a regional specialty of Smith Island, which, while technically Chesapeake Bay, shares cultural ties with parts of Appalachia.
10. Country Captain
Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia (influences extend into Appalachian Georgia)
A curry-flavored chicken stew with tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers, typically served over rice. Although its origins are debated, Savannah claims it, and it has made its way into the Appalachian regions of Georgia.
11. Jell-O Salad
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah (popularized in Appalachia)
While Jell-O salad originated outside of Appalachia, it became a staple in Appalachian and Southern homes, particularly in West Virginia and Tennessee, where it often includes fruits, nuts, and whipped cream.
12. Chess Pie
Birthplace: Virginia (General Region, debated)
A simple pie made with butter, sugar, eggs, and cornmeal. While the exact city of origin is unclear, it’s closely associated with Appalachian, Virginia and Kentucky.
13. Liver Mush
Birthplace: Shelby, North Carolina
A dish made from pork liver, head parts, and cornmeal, formed into a loaf and fried. Liver mush is a regional specialty of Shelby, North Carolina, and surrounding areas in the Appalachian foothills.
14.
Kentucky Burgoo
Birthplace: Owensboro, Kentucky
A thick stew made from a variety of meats (often including wild game), vegetables, and spices. It was traditionally cooked over an open flame for several hours, a practice that continues at community events in Owensboro.
These dishes reflect the culinary diversity and history of the Appalachian region and its cities, showcasing the deep roots of local traditions and the influence of various immigrant groups. These dishes highlight the rich culinary heritage of Appalachia, showcasing how the region’s diverse history and local ingredients have given rise to unique and enduring foods.
