An Amalgamation Of Lineage and Style With Zoe & Cloyd

They call it “Klezgrass”. Taking equal parts bluegrass and klezmer, husband and wife duo Zoe & Cloyd use fusion as their north star to guide their musical direction on their latest collection Songs Of Our Grandfathers. John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Weinstein’s fifth album draws from songs associated with John’s grandfather Jim Shumate, the fiddle player known for his time with Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs, and Natalya’s grandfather David Weinstein, a professional klezmer musician.

In this episode, John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Weinstein talk about the concept of their new collection, the importance of harmony to their sound and more, plus we welcome WNCW’s jazz host Roland Dierauf, as we dive into the world of old-time, bluegrass and klezmer music, featuring new music from Zoe & Cloyd, and sampling a famous jazz fusion record along the way as well.

John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Weinstein (photo By Sarah Johnston Photography)

An Amalgamation Of Lineage and Style With Zoe & Cloyd

Joe Kendrick/Osiris Media/WNCW

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Songs heard in this episode:

“Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn” by Zoe & Cloyd, from Songs From Our Grandfathers

“On the Corner” by Miles Davis, from On the Corner, excerpt

“Up and At ‘Em” by Zoe & Cloyd, from Songs Of Our Grandfathers, excerpt

“We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart” by Zoe & Cloyd, from Songs Of Our Grandfathers

Thank you for visiting, and are even more grateful whenever you share this with someone. Please follow us on your podcast platform of choice, and then it will only take a minute to give it a good rating and, where it is an option, a review. Great ratings, and reviews especially, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng who wrote and performed our theme songs. Thanks also to our guests, and we encourage you to check out their work.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. — Joe Kendrick

Sierra Hull, Natalya Weinstein, Becky Buller, Claire Lynch, and Della Mae: What Does It Take To Be A Leading Lady?

Sierra Hull won her fourth award for Mandolin Player Of The Year at the IBMA conference in fall of 2022, a feat that would not have been within her grasp in the not-too-distant past. Now, women like Sierra Hull, Natalya Weinstein of Zoe & Cloyd and the group Della Mae can and do receive the recognition that women before them, like Becky Buller and Claire Lynch, worked so hard to put within their reach. We welcome all these artists to this episode where we tackle the question of what it takes to be a leading lady in bluegrass. Their answers reveal an array of challenges but also a number of positives about being a woman in a scene that has come a long way just in the past decade.

This episode has two parts: first, we hear from Sierra Hull about everything from coming up with a mentor like Alison Krauss to becoming a mentor herself, to how she is never satisfied as a musician and how that has made her push her boundaries, and what she has in store for a very busy year. Then, we hear from our other guests about the question of overcoming hurdles and finding their place in the spotlight.

Sierra Hull at the convention center in Raleigh NC during the IBMAs in October 2022

Sierra Hull, Natalya Weinstein, Becky Buller, Claire Lynch & Della Mae: Leading Ladies of Bluegrass

Joe Kendrick/Osiris Media/WNCW

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Songs heard in this episode:

“The Last Minute” by Sierra Hull, from 25 Trips

“Poison” by Sierra Hull, from 25 Trips, excerpt

“Bulgar Sigansky” by Zoe & Cloyd, from Songs Of Our Grandfathers, excerpt

“Didn’t Die” by Becky Buller, from ‘Tween Earth and Sky, excerpt

“The Day That Lester Died” by Claire Lynch, from Crowd Favorites, excerpt

“Peg Monster” by Della Mae, from Headlight

Thanks for listening to this episode, and I hope you might tell someone you know about the series. You can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, you name it. And once you do that, it really helps when you give it a good rating and a review. Top ratings and reviews help greatly to make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it.   - Joe Kendrick

Women In Music: What They Face And Overcome

Making it in music is tough. It can be the most wonderful experience you could hope for, but surviving, let alone flourishing, is an elusive bulls-eye for musicians and music professionals everywhere. This theme comes up in every episode here on Southern Songs and Stories, in some way or another. Artists of all kinds are self employed and are walking a hard road to travel, especially financially. But not all artists are walking that same hard road -- some are walking one even steeper, and more dangerous. And when you are talking about making it in music, it becomes clear pretty quickly that being a woman puts you on a journey lined with pitfalls and roadblocks. In this episode of Southern Songs and Stories, we map out what that road can be like, as we hear from Amanda Anne Platt of the Honeycutters, Natalya Weinstein of Zoe & Cloyd, Hannah Kaminer, Alexa Rose and Ygerne Moonie, telling us about their experiences, both good and bad, as we question what makes music so male dominated in the first place, what preconceptions do to hold women back, talk about some of their musical heroines, and much more.

(L to R) Natalya Weinstein, Amanda Anne Platt, and Hannah Kaminer on set at IAMAVL for the video which serves as the starting point for our podcast episode.

Women In Music: What They Face And Overcome

Joe Kendrick

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Thanks for visiting Southern Songs and Stories, and thanks to the Women Of Music Action Network for their Breaking The Bowl article, which was my source for the facts about and recent history of how much country radio is ignoring women artists. I also referenced a New York Times article from January 2018 about gender diversity in the music industry to get a lot of the statistics mentioned in this episode. Thanks to our supporters on Patreon. Thanks to both the Osiris Podcast Network and to Bluegrass Planet Radio for carrying the show, and to everyone at I Am Asheville for producing the video which got the ball rolling for this episode. I encourage you to spread the word about this podcast and the great musicians we profiled, and consider helping us by subscribing and commenting on our show, and by becoming a patron. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it.  

Women In Music: The IAMAVL Video

Why does it seem to be harder for women to make music? What are they dealing with and what hurdles do they overcome in making their art? I sat with Amanda Anne Platt, Natalya Weinstein and Hannah Kaminer at IAMAVL recently to get their perspectives on these kinds of questions.

I will take the audio from this and bring in more voices to continue the conversations we started here. Stay tuned for that podcast later this month!