Song of the Year honors went to Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness’ recording of “$20 Bill (for George Floyd) by the late singer-songwriter Tom Prasada-Rao. In accepting the award, Navarro (a singer-songwriter and voice actor perhaps best known for co-writing the hit song “We Belong”) noted that more than 100 artists recorded a version of Prasada-Rao’s song in 2020 “but because of the impact and the challenges of the pandemic, it never really had a proper release and we decided we would do something about that.“ Dedicating the award to Prasado-Rao, who died last year, Navarro said: “This is not just the song of the year; it’s the song of the century and the song of a lifetime.”

Here’s a link to view a video of Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness performing “$20 Bill (for George Floyd)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeHdq817B7Y

Susan Werner’s Halfway to Houston was named Album of the Year. A prolific and versatile singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano and is known for her sassy wit and classy Midwest charm, Werner was unable to be in Montreal to accept the award and sent a short video, while fellow singer-songwriter Dar Williams picked up the award on her behalf.

In addition to these FAI member-voted awards – which were open to recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 – a number of special awards and honors were presented.

The People’s Voice Award recognizing an artist who embraces social and political commentary in his/her songs was presented to Gina Chavez, an Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter who has helped to amplify the voices of the marginalized.

The River Roads Festival received The Clearwater Award, honoring a festival that — like its Pete Seeger-founded namesake –- exhibits sound leadership in environmental stewardship and sustainable event production. A one-day event presented by Dar Williams and held in Easthampton, Massachusetts for the past two years, the next River Roads Festival is set for July 5 at Heuser Park in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Williams said that she was “so excited” to accept the award. She noted that, like Seeger was, she is a resident of New York’s Hudson Valley and recalled being on Conan O’Brien’s late-night TV talk show with him in 1998. Said Williams: “Music is an incredible force … The culture around the music can be a powerful vehicle for justice.”

The Rising tide Award, which is bestowed on an emerging artist/act of an age, went to OKAN, a female-led, Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo.

Spirit of Folk Awards recognizing people and organizations actively engaged in the promotion and preservation of folk music were presented to Annie Capps, Innu Nikamu festival, Tom Power, and Alice Randall. Capps is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter and a longtime leader with Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), who has served as both its board president and conference director. Innu Nikamu is a Quebec-based festival of Indigenous music and culture that has taken place for more than 30 years. Power, best known as the host of CBC Radio One’s Q program, is also a musician who performs and records with The Dardanelles, a Canadian folk band. Randall is a hit-making country music songwriter who has been a trailblazer in folk and country music. She’s also a college lecturer and the author of My Black Country, which she describes as both a memoir and a history.

“I owe my sanity to folk music,” said Randall in accepting the award. “In My Black Country, I tell the story of climbing out of the hell of being raped by holding on to the sound of John Prine singing “Angel From Montgomery.” Prine’s label, Oh Boy! Records, also released a collection of songs entitled My Black Country. Randall noted that her book “is about the Black folk, including Black folk musicians, who made country country.”

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls (whose eponymous debut album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording 35 years ago), the late Black Appalachian musician Lesley Riddle, and the global roots magazine Songlines. During the awards show, singer-songwriters Rose Cousins and Mary Bragg performed “Galileo,” one of the Indigo Girls’ hit songs, in tribute to the duo, while Black indigenous Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor performed “Red River Blues” in tribute to Riddle.

Accepting the Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Riddle, who died in 1980 at age 75, Randall referred to him as a founder of country music and a practitioner of folk who collected and taught the Carter Family a lot of songs. “Tonight, Folk Alliance corrects an almost 100 year-old wrong” by recognizing him.

“We need folk music now more than ever,” said the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers in a pre-recorded video. “This Folk Alliance is a group that honors diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for all. Folk music is the music of truth telling. Amy [Ray] and I are, especially in this time, particularly honored to accept this award.” Echoing her sentiments, Ray urged folks to “Please stand up with us and make your voices heard in these times … Day by day, song by song, we can make this world a better place.”

Accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Songlines, James Anderson-Hanney, its publisher, said: “I think we’re the last world music magazine on the planet.” The UK-based, glossy bimonthly that comes with CD is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.Leading Quebecois folk ensemble Le Vent Du Nord, a 2023 Songlines award recipient, performed in honor of the magazine.

Five Inducted Into Folk Radio Hall of Fame

Eight years ago, Folk Alliance International established a Folk Radio Hall of Fame in order to recognize folk DJs and music directors for the vital role that they play by sharing the music with their listeners. Wanda Fischer, Longtime host of The Hudson River Sampler on WAMC Radio in Albany, New York and herself an inductee in the Hall of Fame, recognized this year’s inductees, while a video featuring visuals and information about them was also screened. The 2025 inductees include Taylor Caffery, Matthew Finch, Archie Fisher, MarySue Twohy, and Chuck Wentworth.

Taylor Caffery, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been the host Hootenanny Power of WRKF Public Radio in Baton Rouge, LA since it began airing in 1981. He’s also been recognized with WRKF’s Founder’s Award (2022) and with the Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award during the 2024 Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) Conference.

Matthew Finch, who left our world unexpectedly in July 2024, was a beloved figure in New Mexico’s music scene, who devoted more than 20 years to KUNM in Albuquerque as its music director, and as a tireless advocate for local musicians. Through the programs Ear to the Ground and Studio 55, he created platforms for regional artists to share their music, showcasing live performances and celebrating the diversity of the state’s music community.

Archie Fisher hosted BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Traveling Folk program for 27 years – promoting artists and musicians of the folksong revival throughout the British Isles. A talented artist in his own right, he also hosted studio sessions and interviews with such notable American and Canadian artists as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. Queen Elizabeth II presented him with a MBE in 2006 for his services to music.

MarySue Twohy is a program director at SiriusXM, who currently manages The Village, its folk channel, among others. She conducts artist interviews and produces a wide array of radio programs. Formerly an artist herself, she moved into broadcasting by hosting a two-hour program 20 years ago and quickly rose to PD. She also served on the FAI board of directors for seven years and continues to serve on national music committees, and to participate in conference panels and as a songwriting contest judge.

Chuck Wentworth, who passed away last year, was a revered figure on the New England music scene – best known for his long-standing contributions as both a radio show host and a festival producer. He began hosting a folk radio show on WRIU-FM, the college radio station at the University of Rhode Island, while he was a student and Traditions aired for 38 years. He also served as the station’s folk and roots music director and expanded its folk programming from one show to five nights a week. Wentworth was also the founder and producer of the Rhythm & Roots Festival, a three-day music and dance festival in Rhode Island.

[Here’s a link to view the International Folk Music Awards Show, which also was livestreamed via YouTube and was available for viewing via Folk Alley and NPR Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVE29BZ6fBg

The International Folk Music Awards was just one part, albeit an important one, of the 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference that extended from February 19-23 and drew nearly 2,500 attendees. In addition to more than 2,700 showcases featuring more than 700 acts (including 183 juried official showcases plus many more showcases extending into the early morning hours), the conference included a keynote conversation with Allison Russell and Ann Powers [see below], Black American Music and International Indigenous Music Summits, a one-day legal summit, 45 panel discussions and workshops, a number of affinity and peer group sessions, six film screenings and discussions, lobby jams, meetings of FAI’s regional affiliates, a town hall meeting on P2 Visas – Working Through Parity at the Canada/US Border, a popular Meet the Folk DJs session, morning yoga, an exhibit hall, agent-presenter speed networking sessions, and lots of other networking opportunities.

Artist & Activist Allison Russell Engages in Keynote Conversation with Music Journalist Anne Powers

Allison Russell — a widely acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and activist –- returned to her hometown to engage in an hour-long keynote conversation with Anne Powers, a critic and correspondent for NPR Music. A soulful, Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian, Russell is the recipient of more than a dozen awards. These include a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Music Performance for Eve Was Black,” a single off of her sophomore solo recording, Returner released in September 2023), Juno Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year (for her solo debut, Outside Child – 2022) and Music Video of the Year (for “Demons,” 2024), six UK Americana Music Awards, four Canadian Folk Music Awards, and two Americana Music Honors & Awards. In 2022, Folk Alliance International members voted Russell’s solo debut as Album of the Year and her as Artist of the Year. Outside Child was also named Contemporary album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of the emotion-laden album featuring 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.”

Russell has previously spoken of the abuse and trauma that she faced in her youth and the major role that music has played in helping her to overcome it .In her conversation with Powers, she recalled how, at age 15, while unhoused, she slept in the pews at a church just a few blocks from Le Sheraton Centre.

Asked about her latest album, 2023’s The Returner, she noted how she had been a challenged, broken yet brave girl. “”We come from long, broken lines of survivors. We’re all miracles. We’re all returners. We are all overcoming things.”

Much of her on-stage conversation with Powers focused on her recent portrayal of Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s award-winning Broadway musical, Hadestown. Russell noted that it was her first professional acting role and that she had not acted since performing in a Shakespearean play while in high school.

Sharing her reflections on Hadestown just days after she concluded her 50-week run as Persephone and in keeping with the “Illuminate” theme of the conference, she said: Persephone is Hades’ only source of light, of illumination in the underworld. She was the light in his life.”

Playing a mythic goddess in this time took on new connotations, she acknowledged, citing “the current fear-mongering administration in Washington” and “the bigotry and bias that can really harm communities.”

Referring to herself as “a geriatric millennial,” Russell said: “When I came up 24 years ago, there weren’t too many others who looked liked me.” Acknowledging that “our [folk] community is growing more diverse,” she spoke of being a curator during the 2021 Newport Folk Festival tasked with featuring Black and Black & queer women and their allies in the center of a 90-minute set focused on roots and revolution. ”What could be more beautiful than to be conscious, to be mindful [woke],” said Russell, noting that she’s “a queer woman who somehow married a white man with a guitar.”

Prior to embarking on her solo career, Russell was a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl.

[Here’s a link to view a video recording of the keynote conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ne2-baY8g.]

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

Based in Bryson City, North Carolina, Frank and Allie Lee are a harmony-driven old-time and folk music duo who perform traditional and trad-style songs and tunes from the rural south — featuring banjos, guitars, fiddle and harmonica, along with their harmony vocals. An old time aesthetic permeates their music, while blues, bluegrass and spiritual songs also are part of their repertoire and recordings. The Lees also are part of the noted stringband The Freight Hoppers, host a bi-annual old time music retreat called Banjo-Fiddle Frolic in the Great Smoky Mountains near their home, and have led banjo workshops throughout the U.S. and abroad. Treat A Stranger Right, the duo’s new album, was officially released on Feb. 7.

Here’s a link to view an official video for Frank and Allie Lee’s rendition of “Lost John”: https://www.mountainwaterfilms.com/post/lost-john-music-video-by-frank-and-allie-lee

The Haden Triplets (Petra, Rachel and Tanya) come from a musically inclined family. The daughters of the late Charlie Haden, a noted jazz double-bassist, they were born in New York and raised in Los Angeles but also spent time during their childhoods visiting him in Springfield, Missouri.

Although they’ve shown a penchant for Americana roots music on their recordings as a trio, between them, the sisters also have played with such jazz and rock artists as Beck, The Decemberists, Bill Frissell (the acclaimed guitarists who graces three tracks on Family Songbook), Foo Fighters, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Mike Watt, and Weezer. The Haden Triplets also portrayed The Fates on Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell’s folk-opera album Hadestown.

Here’s a link to a lyric video for The Haden Triplets rendition of “Wayfaring Stranger”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgyLsizqnx4.

The February 2020 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 13,600 airplays reported on 491 playlists submitted by 125 different DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

The monthly top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of February 2020

1. Treat a Stranger Right by Frank and Allie Lee (77)
1. The Family Songbook by The Haden Triplets (77)
3. The Far Si: The Si Kahn Funny Song Sing-Along Songbook by Matt Watroba (72)
4. Alicia Viani by Alicia Viani (63)
5. Next Time We Meet by Terry Kitchen (62)
6. Good Good Man by Vance Gilbert (59)
7. Treasures in My Chest by Andrew McKnight (56)
8. Lacher Prise by Michael Doucet (49)
9. Hello Stranger by Eliza Meyer (48)
10. Recollections/Revolutions by Windborne (47)
10. Making Life Sweet by The Early Risers (47)
12. Collection 2008-2018 by Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus (46)
13. Old Tin by Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones (43)
14. Circadian by Letitia Vansant (42)
15. Embracing the Journey by Kathleen Healy (41)
15. Lp5 by John Moreland (41)
17. Daytime Highs and Overnight Lows by Eric Brace and Last Train Home (40)
17. The Storyteller’s Suitcase by Ellis Paul (40)
19. Love and Fire by Annette Wasilik (37)
20. Rearrange My Heart by Che Apalache (36)
20. Legacy by Michael Johnathon (36)
22. The Kingston Trio by The Kingston Trio (34)
22. Bad Wife by Grant Peeples (34)
24. The Light We Bring by Trout Steak Revival (33)
25. Slow Steady Heart by Claudia Schmidt (32)
26. No Holds Barred by The Flyin’ A’s (31)
27. Songs of Our Native Daughters by Our Native Daughters (28)
28. All Mine by Sarah Morris (27)
28. Heartland Again by Tim Grimm (27)
28. Bravado by Rose Cousins (27)
28. Stony Run by Ken and Brad Kolodner (27)
28. Straight to Marrow by Clint Alphin (27)
33. Visions by Alice Howe (26)
33. Oklahoma by Keb’ Mo (26)
33. String Tides by Mark Grobner (26)
36. Let Love Go On by Mark Dvorak (25)
36. Chasing the Sun by Bobtown (25)
38. Wildwood by Katie Dahl (24)
38. Sky Tonight by Anne Marie Menta (24)
40. Coyote by Catherine Maclellan (23)
41. Rise and Fly by The Barefoot Movement (22)
41. Assiniboine and the Red by The Small Glories (22)
41. Tall Fiddler by Michael Cleveland (22)
44. Medicine for Living by Alexa Rose (21)
44. Eddy and the Abstract Truth by Eddy Lawrence (21)
46. Winter Stories by Judy Collins and Jonas Fjeld (20)
46. In This Town You’re Owned by Robert Vincent (20)
48. Honest by Ordinary Elephant (19)
48. From Liberty Street by Mapache (19)
48. Best of the Rest by Si Kahn (19)
48. Lines and Spaces by Heather Pierson (19)
52. Bones and Gravity by Lizanne Knott (18)
53. Fair Play to You All by Tommy Sands (17)
53. Going to the Well by Linda McRae (17)
53. Bright Lights, Long Drives, First Words by Nora Jane Struthers (17)
53. Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne by Amy Speace (17)
57. The Hard Stuff by Susan Gibson (16)
57. We’ll Never Know Unless We Try by Darling West (16)
57. Today Again by Fred Arcoleo (16)
57. If I Catch My Dream Song of Hope for a Better World by Bett Padgett
(16)
61. When They Fall by Annie and Rod Capps (15)
61. Wonderful Fairytale by Bill Jones (15)
61. Heroes and Sparrows by Kevin Brown (15)
61. Modern Old-Time Sounds for the Bluegrass and Folksong Jamboree by The Lonesome Ace Stringband (15)
61. Home by Billy Strings (15)
61. Bitter Ballads and Cynical Prayers by Chris Moyse (15)
67. Up Against the Sky by Dave Gunning (14)
67. The Moon Is an Ashtray by Miss Tess (14)
67. Just Words by Lynne Hanson (14)
67. Early Bright by Seamus Egan (14)
67. Mortal Flames by John Dennis (14)

Top Songs of February 2020

(Here’s a link to listen to Detroit. Michigan-based singer-songwriter and folk DJ Matt Watroba’s rendition of “You Can’t Say @#$% on the Air” by Si Kahn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DVDT9T73Q&list=OLAK5uy_nfTXUgurZGh98auNIcjeJVNgkQ3n_avTw&index=2&t=0s)

1. “You Can’t Say @#$% on the Air” by Matt Watroba (26)
2. “Wildwood Flower” by The Haden Triplets (17)
2. “Pie & Whiskey” by Vance Gilbert (17)
4. “Party on the Roof” by Terry Kitchen (14)
4. “You Can’t Put My Fire Out” by Letitia Vansant (14)
4. “Two to Tango” by Kathleen Healy (14)
7. “Good Man” by Alicia Viani (12)
7. “Legacy” by Michael Johnathon (12)
7. “Another Great Day Above Ground” by Vance Gilbert (12)
10. “Scotch and Soda” by The Kingston Trio (11)
11. “When My Fever Breaks” by John Moreland (10)
11. “Unsustainable” by Grant Peeples (10)
11. “Lazy Farmer” by Frank and Allie Lee (10)
11. “Lonesome for You” by Alicia Viani (10)
11. “You Can Walk Up There” by Darryl Purpose (10)
11. “Who Will You Love” by The Haden Triplets (10)
11. “Arrows in the Dark” by Trout Steak Revival (10)
11. “Norwegian Wood” by Terry Kitchen (10)
11. “Hello Stranger” by Eliza Meyer (10)
11. “Tom Dooley” by The Kingston Trio (10)
21. “Wayfaring Stranger” by The Haden Triplets (9)
21. “Walt’s Waltz” by Matt Watroba (9)
21. “You Are My Flower” by Frank and Allie Lee (9)
21. “The Agreement” by Rose Cousins (9)
21. “Bless Your Heart” by Clint Alphin (9)
21. “Lamplight” by Alicia Viani (9)
21. “Walking on a Mardi Gras Day” by Michael Doucet (9)
21. “The Sailor and the Soldier” by Frank and Allie Lee (9)
21. “This Changes Everything” by The Early Risers (9)
21. “Harder Dreams” by John Moreland (9)
21. “Water, Water” by Michael Doucet (9)
21. “The Dreamer” by Che Apalache (9)

Top Artists of February 2020

1. The Kingston Trio (81)
2. The Haden Triplets (77)
2. Frank and Allie Lee (77)
4. Matt Watroba (72)
5. Terry Kitchen (65)
5. David Olney (65)
7. Alicia Viani (63)
8. Vance Gilbert (59)
9. Andrew McKnight (57)
10. Windborne (54)
11. Ellis Paul (51)
12. Michael Doucet (49)
13. Eliza Meyer (48)
13. Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus (48)
15. The Early Risers (47)
16. Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones (45)
17. Letitia Vansant (42)
17. Tim Grimm (42)
19. Kathleen Healy (41)
19. John Moreland (41)
21. Eric Brace and Last Train Home (40)
22. Annette Wasilik (38)
22. Michael Johnathon (38)
24. Trout Steak Revival (37)
25. Ladysmith Black Mambazo (36)
25. Che Apalache (36)
25. Claudia Schmidt (36)
28. Si Kahn (35)
29. John McCutcheon (34)
29. Grant Peeples (34)
29. Bob Dylan (34)
32. The Flyin’ A’s (32)
33. Willie Nelson (31)
34. Rose Cousins (30)
34. John Prine (30)
34. Mark Dvorak (30)
37. Our Native Daughters (29)
37. The Wailin’ Jennys (29)
39. Ken and Brad Kolodner (28)
39. Keb’ Mo (28)
39. Nanci Griffith (28)
39. Susan Werner (28)

The self-titled 1975 release by J.D. Crowe and the New South (featuring future stars Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas) helped to revitalize bluegrass and inspired such current stars as Rounder’s own Alison Krauss, who collaborated with Led Zeppelin front-man Robert Plant on the album Raising Sand, which was RIAA certified platinum in early 2008 and won five Grammy awards including Album and Record of the Year in 2009. Rounder also has been in the forefront of the preservation and re-release of historic recordings by the likes of Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and Mississippi John Hurt, as well as a number of anthologies from the Library of Congress and the Alan Lomax Collection.

Rounder’s creative and marketing functions will continue to be based in Boston and its owners and founders Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton Levy will remain active with the company in a creative and advisory capacities. Its senior management also will remain in place, according to a news release issued earlier this week by the Concord Music Group, one of the world’s largest independent record and music publishing companies. Its labels include Concord Records, Concord Jazz, Fantasy, Stax, Milestone, Riverside, Specialty, Telarc, Peak, Heads Up and Prestige, among others. Through a partnership with Starbucks Entertainment, Concord Music Group also launched the Hear Music label in 2007.

“The combination of Concord and Rounder makes so much sense on a creative, strategic and cultural level, asserts Glen Barros, president and CEO of the Concord Music Group. “With the addition of Rounder, Concord is gaining a magnificent catalog of recordings, the opportunity to work with more of the world’s most amazing artists, and a company filled with some great people. Plus, Rounder’s uncompromising commitment to authenticity and intense independent spirit is perfectly in line with everything that Concord is about.”

Leighton Levy, of Rounder, concurs, and adds: “For us, it’s always been about the music. We have long been aware of Concord’s commitment to great catalogue labels within a vibrant and contemporary independent context, and feel the Concord Records Group provides not only a great home for our music and artists, but also a stronger and more secure position going forward.”

Adds John Virant, president of Rounder: “We’ve always been the little label that could, and our new affiliation with Concord – another fiercely independent organization that shares our core values — ensures that we can remain true to our central calling: discovering and nurturing quality musical talent.”

We understand that you grew up in Scotts County, Virginia — home of the famous Carter Family. So what was that like? Did the folks in Scott County revere the Carters or did they take them for granted?

I think it’s probably a bit of both. People in Scott County don’t so much revere the Carters, but they are extremely proud of them. I like to joke and say that it’s county law that as soon as you tell someone you’re from Scott County, that you follow it with “That’s where the Carter Family is from.”

Are there music-making enzymes in the water there?

Heh. . . maybe. There certainly are a lot of great musicians who hail either from Scott County or from neighboring counties. Doc Boggs, The Carters, Ralph and Carter Stanley, etc. And of course all the other wonderful musicians and songwriters who aren’t as famous as the aforementioned guys.

If you had to describe your music in three words — what would those words be?

Lyric-driven Acoustic Songs?
Or. . .
(Always) Filed Under Folk

How did you get into touring in Europe? Many artists dream of doing that . . . what’s your secret?

My secret is luck. Actually, I’ve always heard that luck is the confluence of opportunity and preparedness. My opportunity came when the legendary BBC 2 radio personality, Bob Harris, heard one of my songs on a compilation disc. He started playing it a lot on his shows and so we sent him the full-length record. Not long after, we started getting calls from people who wanted us to come over and do some shows, so we went. Since then we’ve toured in Europe a bunch. In Ireland, the UK, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland. Once the opportunity came, the rest was just being ready and willing to go and work hard at making it happen.

On your second CD, Revelation, you use quite a number of different instruments including trumpet, trombone, Wurlitzer piano and glockenspiel. Do dyed-in-the-wool country and Americana fans gasp when they hear those instruments on your recording?

Some of them probably do. My take on it is that no tradition can survive without someone from within that tradition being willing to push the boundaries of the tradition and try new things. It might turn some as you say “dyed-in-the-wool” fans off, but for the most part I think it turns a lot of people who would normally scoff at the very idea of country and Americana onto the music, and a lot of the fans who loved Dogwood Winter (a much more “traditionally instrumented” recording) seem to like Revelation even more.

You mean the Cursing Kerouac series. If people are finding inspiration in them, then that’s great! It’s an idea that my good friend Nels Andrews and I had late one night after a long day on the road. Basically, the idea was to give our fans a chance to sort of get to know us “off-stage.” We’re just trying to have fun with it, and grow our audience as well as those of our “hobo” friends.

Like many of us, Kathy Sands-Boehmer wears many hats. An editor by profession, she also operates Harbortown Music and books artists for the Me and Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts. In her spare time, Kathy can be found at local music haunts all over New England. This and many previous Q & A interviews with performing artists are archived at www.meandthee.org/blogtxp/. This one, several previous Q &As, and future ones also will be archived here on AcousticMusicScene.com.