Acoustic Music Talk with Brad Apple

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk, Brad interviews musician, singer, songwriter, Anna Brinker. Anna was born in Illinois, but moved around often as a kid until her family found roots in Arkansas in 2002. She has loved singing since she was a little girl and vividly remembers her parents smiling and singing Bobby McGee in the living room while her daddy played guitar. She sang in church with her momma and had lots of car jam sessions with her, listening to John Denver and The Eagles on 8-Track. Her first guitar was a pawn shop Abilene, gifted to her by her daddy with a set of strings in 2007. Her biggest influences include: Bill Scranton, Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, John Denver, Carly Pearce, Pistol Annies, Johnny Cash, Ashley McBryde, Merle Haggard, Tammy Cochran, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, SHeDaisy, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Sr. & The Dixie Chicks. She is a 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021 Arkansas Country Music Award Nominee. She won Duo of the Year with Adam Cunningham at the 2020 ACMA's for their duet "Thinkin Bout You" and is nominated for 2021 Album of the Year for her album "Rain and Whiskey", released in January of 2020. Her goals are to continue to dive deeper in to songwriting, to hone her craft, to do more travelling gigs and to release an acoustic work tape album/EP in 2021. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk, Brad Apple talks with amazing acoustic bassist, Missy Raines. GRAMMY® nominated Missy Raines was named 2020 International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year, for the 9th time, more than any other bass player in the history of the organization. Missy Raines has proven herself without doubt as an iconic bluegrass instrumentalist. But with her newest release, Royal Traveller, Raines has stepped into the spotlight as a songwriter for the first time. The album digs deep into Raines' family life and her upbringing in West Virginia. Featuring previous and current members of her live band, as well as cameos from other bluegrass greats such as Stuart Duncan and Tim O'Brien, the album is a gorgeous look into the perspective, history, and musical influences of one of Nashville’s most beloved musicians, Missy Raines. Royal Traveller was nominated for a GRAMMY® for “Best Bluegrass Album” and is Raines' third album for Compass Records. It’s the first produced by Compass' owner and founder, and renowned banjo player Alison Brown. "I went into this project with Alison with the mindset that I wanted to stretch myself and see what I could do. I think we achieved what I was looking for, which is something further reaching and bigger than what I would have accomplished on my own," says Raines. In 1998, Raines became the first woman to win IBMA's Bass Player of the Year award and she went on to win the title repeatedly for the next several years. Royal Traveller highlights this particular piece of Raines' history with the stand out track “Swept Away”, which features the 5 first women to win IBMA instrumentalist awards, Raines, Brown, Sierra Hull, Becky Buller, and Molly Tuttle. “Swept Away” was named 2018 IBMA Recorded Event of the Year. Missy’s version of the iconic Flatt & Scruggs “Darlin Pal(s) of Mine” (from Royal Traveller), was named 2019 Instrumental Recording of the Year by the IBMA. The tune features Alison Brown on banjo, Todd Phillips on bass and Mike Bub on bass. In 2020, Missy shared IBMA’s Song of the Year award along with co-writers, Becky Buller and Alison Brown for “Chicago Barn Dance”, a song written specifically for the Chicago-based band, Special Concensus, and their latest album of the same name. With her new album, Raines tells her story with a vulnerability and bold honesty that rings clear, spoken through beautiful arrangements and well chosen musical collaborations. With nods to many of the varied and challenging chapters of her life, the songs speak volumes of Raines tenacity and musicianship, and her ability to rise to bluegrass fame despite the various confinements of the times. The listener is presented with a striking window into the up and down ride of a very royal traveller, the one and only Missy Raines. www.acousticmusictalk.net https://www.missyraines.com/ https://www.facebook.com/missyrainesmusic https://www.instagram.com/missyraines https://twitter.com/thenewhip https://www.youtube.com/missyrainesmusic --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

In this episode, Brad talks with Greg Cahill of the band Special Consensus. Greg plays the banjo and has been at the helm of Special C for 46 years as of 2021. Chicago born and bred, Greg Cahill has been playing bluegrass banjo since the early 1970s. He co-founded The Special Consensus in Chicago in 1975 and has continued to tour nationally and internationally with the band ever since. In 1984, he created the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program to introduce students of all ages to bluegrass music. He has appeared on all 20 of The Special Consensus recordings, on numerous recordings by other artists and on many national television and radio commercial jingles. Greg has also released three recordings: Lone Star (1980, with guests Jethro Burns and Byron Berline); Blue Skies (1992, with Chicago mandolinist Don Stiernberg); and Night Skies (1998, with Don Stiernberg and guests Sam Bush, Glen Duncan and Tom Boyd). He has also recorded and toured European countries with the ChowDogs (Greg and Slavek Hanzlik, Dallas Wayne and Ollie O’Shea). Greg has released four banjo instructional DVDs and three banjo tablature books and he teaches banjo at festival workshops and music camps nationally and internationally. He is a banjo instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and has been an adjunct faculty member of the music department (teaching banjo) at Columbia College in Chicago. He served on the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Board of Directors from 1998-2010 (Board Chair/President 2006-2010), became a Kentucky Colonel in 2010 and was awarded the prestigious IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2011. Greg was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Nashville-based Foundation for Bluegrass Music in 2007, elected President of the organization in 2011 and rotated off that board in 2012. The 2012 Compass Records band recording Scratch Gravel Road was GRAMMY-nominated for Best Bluegrass Album; the 2014 Compass Records band release Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute To John Denver received two IBMA awards; the 2016 Compass Records band recording Long I Ride received an IBMA award and the 2018 Compass Records recording Rivers And Roads received two IBMA awards (one for Album of the Year) and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Greg served on the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter Board of Directors as a Governor 2018-2020 and he was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) Hall of Greats in Nashville, TN in 2020. Greg appears on the 2020 Special C Compass Records release Chicago Barn Dance, the 20th band recording that received the 2020 IBMA Song of the Year Award. www.acousticmusictalk.net --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk we talk to bass player extraordinaire, Ronnie Simpkins. Ronnie has been on the bluegrass trail playing bass with some of the best in the business including the Bluegrass Cardinals, Virginia Squires, The Tony Rice Unit, and currently works with the Seldom Scene. Ronnie talks about his career in bluegrass music, bands, basses, and much more! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

In this episode, Brad talks with flatpicking guitar legend, Dan Crary. Dan is one of the early innovators of flatpicking acoustic guitar and has influenced generations of flatpickers since. As a child Dan was impressed by a local Kansas guitar player, Don Sullivan and that twangy, stringy sound stayed with him. He also cites hearing Hank Snow take leads on acoustic guitar as an influence. When going to school in Kentucky, he joined the Bluegrass Alliance and Lonnie Pearce insisted that Dan needed to learn to take lead guitar breaks on some of the fiddle tunes they were doing. So he did, and the rest is history. Dan also shares a stories about a couple of his favorite guitarists, Doc Watson and Sabicas, and remembers the flatpick guitar legend, Tony Rice. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

This week we interview Jeff Midkiff, a mandolinist, clarinetist, and composer from Roanoke, Virginia. Jeff first probably came to the attention of the masses when he played the mandolin with the Lonesome River Band. He recorded two albums with the LRB, "I Guess Heartaches Are In Style This Year," and their self-titled Rebel Records debut. Jeff stayed with the Lonesome River Band for their first few years, then left to pursue a career as a clarinet player. The last many years, he has been a music educator, teaching for Roanoke City Schools. Jeff has also composed a lot in the last several years, including concertos for the mandolin which has taken him to the stages of Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center among many others. Jeff talks about his multi-faceted career with host, Brad Apple. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brad-apple/support

You would be hard pressed to find a bass guitarist that has pushed the boundaries of the instrument further than Michael Manring. Michael is one of the premiere bassists of our time and recently talked by phone with Brad Apple about his career. He talks about what it was like to take lessons from Jaco Pastorius, recording for the Windham Hill record label, his current recording, basses, and much more!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

This week we continue our conversation with mandolin guru, Jimmy Gaudreau. Jimmy talks about moving back to D.C., joining J.D. Crowe & The New South, the difference in singing with Glenn Lawson and Keith Whitley, forming Spectrum with Glenn Lawson, Bela Fleck and Mark Schatz, to joining the Tony Rice Unit and the bands beyond his years with Tony Rice. Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

On this week's episode, we talk with mandolin master, Jimmy Gaudreau. Jimmy talks with Brad about how he entered into the music world and took up the mandolin, and how he developed his signature style. Jimmy also talks about getting hired by the Country Gentlemen and what it was like to work with Charlie Waller, and advice given to him by John Duffey.From there Jimmy talks about forming 2nd Generation with Eddie Adcock and his own band with Keith Whitley, Carl Jackson, and Bill Rawlings.Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

Today, we visit with Butch Robins, one of the premiere banjo players in Bluegrass music. Butch did 2 different stints with Bill Monroe in the Bluegrass Boys besides his own fine solo projects. Butch reflects on his history in music, shares memories of Bill Monroe, and much more!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

He's been with The Seldom Scene for almost 25 years now and is one of the finest dobro players in bluegrass music today. Fred Travers recently talked with Brad Apple about his music career, what sparked his interest in the dobro, stories and reflections about being a member of the Seldom Scene; taking lessons from Mike Auldridge, and what it was like working for a time with John Duffey.Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

Becky Buller and her band have definitely been making a name for themselves in recent years. Becky is a wonderful musician, singer, and songwriter. Her songs have been covered by a number of great artists, besides the original songs she has recorded with her own band.Becky sit down and talked by phone to Brad Apple recently about her career. Subjects covered include her latest singles and videos, instruments, songwriting, and much more. The Becky Buller Band is scheduled to make their Grand Ole Opry debut towards the end of May, depending on how things look with the COVID 19 pandemic at that time.Becky also performs a solo version of her single, The Barber's Fiddle. Visit Becky on the web at www.beckybuller.comSupport the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

Russ Carson is one of the finest pickers in Bluegrass music today. Russ plays banjo with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder and is a former member of Audie Blaylock and Redline. Russ sat down recently and talked with host, Brad Apple about his music career, life on the road with Kentucky Thunder, his youtube channel, 81Crowe, videography, banjos, and much, much more!Like many musicians currently, Russ talks about how the pandemic has affected touring and performing and what he's doing with his extra time.Oh, and Russ talks about his love for coffee! Be sure and listen to this great episode!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

For years Sammy Shelor has been one of the very best banjo players in the business. He was named the IBMA banjo player of the year in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2012. He also was awarded the Steve Martin Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass Award in 2011.Sammy joined the Lonesome River Band in 1990, and in 1992, they won the IBMA album of the year award for Carrying The Tradition. After the last original member, Tim Austin, left the band in 1995, Shelor and Ronnie Bowman carried forward as the leaders of the band. When Bowman left, Shelor became the leader of the Lonesome River Band, and continues to deliver top notch excellence in their performances and recordings.Sammy recently joined host Brad Apple by phone to talk about his career. In this episode we learn about Sammy's beginnings, first bands including the Virginia Squires, playing a stint with a touring country band, and his eventual leading of the Lonesome River Band. Sammy also talks about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of touring musicians.Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

Mark Newton is certainly no stranger to the world of Bluegrass Music. He's been in such bands as The Heights of Grass, Knoxville Grass, and the Virginia Squires, before leading his own Mark Newton Band. Mark's involvement in The Knoxville Grass' record, Painted Lady, is perhaps one of the early examples of what would become known as contemporay bluegrass, followed by the great records made with the Virginia Squires along with Rickie and Ronnie Simpkins, and Sammy Shelor.Mark also won the IBMA recorded event of the year award for his project, Follow Me Back To The Fold; A Tribute To The Women In Bluegrass.Mark talks to Brad Apple about his musical journey from childhood, to becoming a professional touring musician, the work invovled, and the struggles encountered along the way.Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk: You've probaby heard him before even if you don't realize it. Herb Pedersen has been in many great bands, sang and played on hundreds of other artists' records, performed on stages and concert halls across the country, and been a solo artist himself. He was a founding member of the California country band, The Desert Rose Band, and still performs regularly as a duet with partner, Chris Hillman. He's recorded with other artists such as Dan Fogelberg, Gordon Lightfoot, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Rivers, and many more. You might have heard his television soundtrack work on such shows as The Dukes of Hazzard or The Rockford Files. Often in the background in a supporting role, we bring Herb into the limelight he so well deserves and talk about his multi-faceted career! A must hear podcast! Keep up with Herb at his official website: www.herbpedersen.com Also remember to check out our website for blog posts, and more! www.acousticmusictalk.com If you'd like to contribute to us at Acoustic Music Talk, go to www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk We appreciate it!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk, we're delighted to interview Russ Tanner of the Skillet Lickers. If that name sounds familiar, it's because the Skillet Lickers have been around as a band for a long time. Russ' great grandfather, Gid Tanner, along with Riley Puckett, Clayton McMichen, Lowe Stokes, and others made up the original Skillet Lickers and recorded for Columbia Records and others back in the 1920s and 1930s. Russ talks about his great grandfather,Gid Tanner, grandfather, Gordon Tanner, other members of past and present Skillet Lickers, the music scene in Georgia, the early days of country music, and much more. Russ plays the fiddle in the current lineup of the Skillet Lickers, who still perform today. If you like what we're doing and would like to support us, you can donate at www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk Be sure and visit our website also for blog posts and much more! https://www.acousticmusictalk.comSupport the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

In Part Two of our interview with guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Richard Bennett, we discuss recording, Richard's choice of microphones, his preference of gathering musicians in the studio to record live together, his guitars, and much more!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk, we interview Richard Bennett, of Flashback Bluegrass Band. Richard discusses how he started out in the music business, continual playing in his early days, how he came to join J.D. Crowe & the New South, things he learned from J.D. Crowe, and much more! (Part One of Two).Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

In this episode of Acoustic Music Talk, we interview Bluegrass guitarist, singer and bandleader, David Peterson from Nashville, TN. David is well known on the bluegrass trail, and is perhaps one of the foremost in keeping the traditional sounds alive and well. His band, David Peterson & 1946 captures the sound, zeal, and excitement of the first generation bluegrass bands.David talks about his being captivated by the sounds of Bluegrass, his move to Nashville, acoustic guitars, recording live to analog tape, and much more!Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)

On this episode of Acoustic Music Talk we talk to bass player extraordinaire, Ronnie Simpkins of the Seldom Scene. Ronnie has been on the bluegrass trail playing bass with some of the best in the business including the Virginia Squires, The Tony Rice Unit, and currently The Seldom Scene. We talk about his history in music, his basses, recording, and much more.Support the show (http://www.paypal.me/acousticmusictalk)