It's 2024 recap time on Basic Folk! Cindy & Lizzie dive into a most special year-end reflection, featuring highlights from our honest conversations with folk musicians. We revisit THE top episode of the year, Anna Tivel & Jeffrey Martin 's insightful discussion on navigating artistic challenges and living a simple life. Cindy shares her favorite episode featuring her co-host Lizzie No talking about her career-defining album, Halfsies (our 250th episode!). In turn, Lizzie's favorite hones...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 290
Dave Simonett, lead singer and songwriter of the bluegrass-adjacent Trampled by Turtles, is a talented musician AND a great outdoorsman. From the small town of Mankato, Minnesota, to the vibrant music scenes of Duluth and Minneapolis, Simonett shares his upbringing in a musically-inclined, nature-loving family, shaped by the sounds of church hymns and classic rock. In our Basic Folk conversation, he opens up about his dual passions for music and the great outdoors, recounting his experiences wit...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 289
I (lizzie) first came across Becca Stevens via her collaboration with string group The Attica Quartet. Her new album, Maple to Paper, is really different from her previous releases. If you think you know everything that there is to know about Becca Stevens as a singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer, you are wrong. And you are going to be so amazed by this new record. It's completely stripped down, featuring just her guitar and her voice. During the pandemic, Stevens started getting inspired...
Nov 21, 2024•58 min•Ep. 288
Hot off the heels of Twisted Pines' latest release, Love Your Mind, Kathleen Parks is here to dig into her uncelebrated polka origins. Daughter of renowned trumpetist Eric Parks, the younger Parks grew up in New York's Hudson Valley in a very creative family (her mother was also a dancer and the one who made Kathleen practice all the time). She started young on the violin and was surrounded by her dad's polka music, as he was a member of The Jimmy Stir's Orchestra, which my dad – also a Polka-He...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 287
Friends and collaborators, Edie Carey & Sarah Sample teamed up in 2014 for their first album Til the Morning: Lullabies and Songs of Comfort . The pair both had babies and were wanting to do a project that centered around calming music for both children and adults. They were shocked at the album's reception by adults (aka non-babies) who listened after experiencing grief, trauma and huge loss. This type of music certainly had an important place in the world. Now, they have done it again, but...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 8 min
I woke up today and my wife told me the news. I went for a walk in the woods and found myself thinking about We Shall Overcome and singing it by myself surrounded by fallen leaves and pine trees. I put on Dawn Landes’ new album: The Liberated Woman’s Songbook, I thought about women of the past and how they found their strength. I started posting clips of women who appeared on Basic Folk this year. As I was listening, I wanted to put these voices together all in one spot because I found strength ...
Nov 06, 2024•17 min
We're starting with the end in our conversation with Kasey Anderson. On the pod, we've covered a lot of firsts; debut album, origin stories and the beginnings. Ever since I (lizzie) have known Kasey, his social media bio has been "gradually retiring songwriter." I'm always teasing him about "What does that mean? When are you going to retire?" Officially, this latest album, 'To the Places We Lived,' is Kasey's "last album." I want to put that in very heavy quotes because I hate to imagine a world...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 285
Editor’s note: For this episode, we invited our friend Mark Erelli to interview Chuck Prophet. The two are familiar with each other's work through songwriting together for Mark's latest album Lay Your Darkness Down (2023) . We're thrilled to welcome Mark back as guest host! Chuck Prophet has been a mainstay on the indie and Americana music scenes since the 1980s, before either designation was a common part of the rock ’n’ roll lexicon. Through his guitar work in the seminal psychedelic desert ro...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 284
Oh how I've longed to talk to Liv Greene . Every once in a while you come across a young artist that seems older and wiser than her 26 years. Liv's been giving me that impression since I met her in 2019 when she was at Club Passim waiting tables and breaking hearts on the stage at just 21 years. Ok enough about being young. Liv's been writing, studying music and going to music camps since she was 12. Arguably she's been studying music all her life with her Americana loving parents who were filli...
Oct 17, 2024•56 min•Ep. 283
The Oregon-bred indie folk music outfit Blind Pilot goes on a deep spiritual journey on their new album In the Shadow of the Holy Mountain (produced by Josh Kaufman). The music inspiration for frontman Israel Nebeker lay in his songwriting process. After struggling with writing for years (this is the first Blind Pilot album in 8 years), he set aside the songs he *had* been working (which will be included on a new solo record in 2025). Nebeker gave himself a month to write an album's worth of son...
Oct 10, 2024•56 min•Ep. 282
Amy Helm has had one of the most fascinating lives that any person can have. As you might have guessed from her famous last name, she comes from roots music royalty. Amy Helm is the daughter of Levon Helm, the beloved late drummer for the incredible groundbreaking Canadian American group The Band. She also continues to run and uphold the musical legacy of The Barn, a music venue and recording studio built by her dad and Garth Hudson and served as Levon Helm Studios. In her own career, she has cr...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 278
Looking back at her wildly successful and always adventurous career up to this point, it feels inevitable that Lisa Loeb was always going to be a songwriter and have a music career. But young Lisa probably could have done any creative job well. She grew up surrounded by music, yes, but she also had a passion for theater, and got her degree in comparative literature. It was her theater, voice acting and film side hustles that led Lisa to her first big break. Lisa’s friend Ethan Hawke shared her s...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 280
The names Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger have come up more often than not when talking to fiddlers on Basic Folk. The pair have single handedly mentored hundreds of our favorites in fiddle music at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Darol's online music school, music camps, festivals and more. Darol and Bruce joined us on the occasion of their newest folk music collab: their new album Lockdown Breakdown . Folk music has often been associate with nerdiness, so we get right into their nerdy roots w...
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 279
Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! Do you ever find yourself watching, reading, or listening to something truly amazing and wondering, “How did they do it?”. That's why we wanted to share an episode of American Masters: Creative Spark , the award-winning podcast from PBS. American Masters: Creative Spark shares the creative journeys of artists and legends across disciplines. Recently, host Joe Skinner...
Sep 17, 2024•39 min
Welcome to another edition of Folk Debate Club, our occasional debate series! To discuss Ambition vs Acceptance, we welcome our panel: music journalist Kim Ruehl , Basic Folk boss Cindy Howes , and yours truly Lizzie No . We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our special guests singer-songwriter Michaela Anne & producer Aaron Shafer-Haiss , also hosts of The Other 22 Hours podcast . In our lively conversation we work through thoughts and feelings about the definition of ambition: a ...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 278
In our episode with Wisconsin-born, New England based Jeffrey Foucault, we had a handful of questions for the singer-songwriter about his background: coffee, the midwest and Mark Twain wisdom. Then we talked about Billy Conway for more than an hour. Conway was Foucault's long-time partner in music, drummer and best friend who died from cancer in 2021. He was a rock and roll roots legend in Boston with his tenure in Morphine and Treat Her Right. He was like a holy man, known for his creative, cur...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 277
Throughout his music career, singer-songwriter Amos Lee has cultivated a large female fanbase and also owes a lot of his early start to Norah Jones (a female!). He's about to hit the road co-headlining with folk music and queer icons, The Indigo Girls. In our conversation, he talks about the atmosphere he's going for in concert and it's not a very bro-centered vibe. His latest album Transmissions further proves his case with a gorgeous sonic palette that includes country music, indie folk, folk ...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 276
Maya, Nina and Lyle de Vitry's life, beginning in Lancaster PA, has been music and family, music festivals with old-time music, songwriting and folk music. The de Vitry siblings (including sister Monica, currently teaching art in Western Mass) grew up amongst music and nature in their rural home and even had a family band called Old-Time Liberation Front . Many jams around the campfire, music lessons and encouragement from their parents lead all three siblings to careers surrounding indie folk m...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 275
Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! The Other 22 hours, hosted by singer/songwriter Michaela Ann and producer Aaron Shafer-Haisse, talks to fellow musicians about the helpful tools and routines the use to stay creative, inspired, and sane while navigating a career built on their art. The thing I like about this podcast is that these conversations are between m...
Aug 20, 2024•50 min
Sometimes it strikes me just how much power can emanate from a creative mind. Speaking with Denitia was one of those times. When the indie music artist comes across an unfamiliar musical concept, she goes “sponge mode” until she understands it. Then she seamlessly integrates it into her artistic vocabulary. This relentless curiosity and sense of play can be heard across Denitia’s catalog, from her early work as half of the New York indie R&B duo denitia & sene to her breakthrough country...
Aug 15, 2024•57 min•Ep. 274
Anna Tivel and Jeffrey Martin have both released new albums in the past year that have knocked us right over. Living Thing is the most recent Anna Tivel singer-songwriter record and Thank God We Left the Garden being the Jeffrey Martin new album. Of all the singer-songwriter interviews and musician conversations we've done over the course of the pod, these two kooks have been a popular pair on this Basic Folk podcast. Their singer-songwriter inspiration, musician life stories and music career de...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 273
The world of Austin's Matt the Electrician , aka Matt Sever, is quirky and sincere. Sever is known for his work ethic and vibrant presence in the Austin Texas music scene. Before music was full-time, Matt worked as an actual electrician in between folk music gigs and open mics. He found people were drawn to his skills in the trade, so he decided to make it part of his musical moniker. After self-releasing 11 studio albums and a couple of live sets, the name remains even though he has not been a ...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 272
Originally from Devon, the English singer-songwriter John Smith got his start playing bars and clubs in Liverpool, both with his own songs and as a side player for artists like Lianne La Havas, Lisa Hannigan and David Gray. Growing up with folk music and guitar music influences from Eric Clapton to Maria Callas to Nick Drake, John’s sensitivity as a player is one of the cornerstones of his music, especially when it comes to his live music. It's earned him a passionate fanbase ever since his firs...
Jul 25, 2024•55 min•Ep. 268
Editor's note: For this episode, we invited our friend Dawn Landes to interview Peggy Seeger. Dawn was the perfect choice to interview the feminist folk icon. She recently joined us on a special episode with Aoife O'Donovan to discuss their feminist-themed new albums. We're thrilled to welcome Dawn back as guest host! I can’t believe it took me 40 years to come across Peggy Seeger’s music. I’m a little mad about this honestly, and have been trying to make up for lost time by diving deep into her...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 270
Folk music singer Ana Egge's 13th album Sharing in the Spirit came out of the musician one song at a time. She didn't even think about moving onto a new song before the writing and production of each song was complete. Working with her friend and collaborator Lorenzo Wolff, the songwriting process and music production plan was to just work on a handful of songs. Their creative collaboration manifested an entire record's worth of indie folk, acoustic music and new folk music. The record includes ...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 269
Chris Smither has been Peter Mulvey 's mentor since back in 1993, when the young Mulvey opened for the already seasoned Smither. The blues and folk legend liked what he heard and enjoyed the similarities in creativity and quirks and he took that young man on the road with him. Their musical partnership has crossed paths and outlasted the digital age, the pandemic, parenthood and the indictment of a former president. Along the way each has worked to influence their best habits and life lessons on...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 267
If you're looking for recommendations for desserts, might I suggest asking folk music and comedy savant Steve Poltz ? This man loves gluten and carb-heavy deserts. He also loves collaborations, camaraderie, creativity and using humor in music. It all began for Poltz, or Poltzy as his friends call him, in his birthplace of Halifax Nova Scotia, making him an official Canadian. He spent his formative years in Palm Springs and Los Angeles where, due to his stutter, allergies and asthma, he learned t...
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 267
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 am awestruck with the charm and charisma of Texas Country Musician Bri Bagwell - most impressively demonstrated on her podcast Only Vans , where she talks to her friends in her van (actually she recently upgraded to an RV, but it still counts) about the music industry along with her dog, Whiskey. Bri is a force to be reckoned with from her rousingly fun live perfo...
Jun 25, 2024•30 min
Iowa folk music icon Greg Brown is living that retired life. After playing his farewell retirement concert in 2023, he's returned with a new book: Ring Around The Moon: A Songbook, which highlights a song selection personally picked by the songwriter himself, as well as family photos, personal anecdotes and self-penned drawings. The book features a foreword by Seth Avett (The Avett Brothers) who calls Brown's songs "plain spoken expression of the nearly inexpressible." In our conversation,...
Jun 20, 2024•44 min•Ep. 266
After banjo player Kaïa Kater attended Americana Fest in 2016, the music industry started telling her she was a part of the genre, which encompasses all kinds of roots music, acoustic music, folk music, singer-songwriter and alternative country music. She was singing about heavy themes like historical trauma, her cultural heritage (her father is from the Caribbean country of Grenada) and her music history. She confesses in our interview that she never felt comfortable in Americana, that she was ...
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 265
