Art shares some of his fine field recordings with Athens musicians Doc and Lucy Barnes. Though their focus was primarily on gospel music, they would occasionally venture into the secular world for frolic, blues, and children's songs including 2 songs from

This episode comes to us from Arts living room in Athens, GA with fiddle player Tricia Spencer and her accompaniment Howard Rains. Inspired by her grandfather, Tricia has been playing old-time fiddle since age 9 and now tours as one of the premier interpr

Art shares some of his favorite collections from the collection Mountain Blues 1927-1938 from JSP Records. This collection of 12-bar blues, laments, and ballads chronicles some of the best mountain music inspired by African-American tradition in the early

Art traces the lineage of the American folk song I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground. Perhaps most famously recorded by the great Bascam Lamar Lunsford in 1928 for Brunswick Records, this song has been recorded hundreds of times with hundreds of derivations

Backroads and Banjos takes a visit to Mississippi to discover the life and music of Tommy Johnson. Although often overshadowed by another bluesman with the same last name, Tommys music influenced a whole generation of bluesmen including Robert Johnson, Ho

Art celebrates the life of Lawrence McKiver, the longtime lead songster for the McIntosh County Shouters, a Georgia group representing the last community in America to perform the traditional ring shout — a centuries-old black form of ecstatic worship t

Art celebrates the life of Lawrence McKiver, the longtime lead songster for the McIntosh County Shouters, a Georgia group representing the last community in America to perform the traditional ring shout — a centuries-old black form of ecstatic worship t

Art welcomes Atlanta music legend Beverly Guitar Watkins into the studio to play some tunes and chat about an amazing career playing blues, r&b, and pop music. Born at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Watkins career started in 1959 when she was recruited by Pia

Art takes a look at the lost volume of the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. Perhaps the most influential and certainly the most revered collection of early old-timey and country music from the 1920s and 1930s, the original 1952 release of the

Art takes a look at the lost volume of the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music. Perhaps the most influential and certainly the most revered collection of early old-timey and country music from the 1920s and 1930s, the original 1952 release of the