Someday, as the song says, the sun’s gonna shine on your backdoor. For us, an unexpected and most welcome ray of sunshine came when we got word that the band Watchhouse wanted to play a live session on WNCW and they went all in with a request for another, separate interview for this podcast. Having just minted their new handle, husband and wife Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz were only recently getting back into circulation with live shows, playing a fresh collection of songs to boot (from a serendipitous new album at that, as you will hear). Oh my yes, we said. A longtime favorite North Carolina band that wants to come to our place and play? And we don’t have to pay for this? Sign us up!

(L to R) Clint Mullican, Josh Oliver, Sean Rubin, Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz in WNCW’s Studio B. Photo: Brenda Craig

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz on the cover of their self-titled album Watchhouse — Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz on the cover of their self-titled album *Watchhouse*

Andrew and Emily talk about their new album and making music the most honest way they know how, the Venn diagram of Watchhouse music which overlaps with both The Stanley Brothers and Pantera, how they have yet to cross the event horizon that could pull them into Nashville, and much more. We spoke at their session recorded at WNCW which was engineered and recorded by Studio B engineer Sean Rubin, and included are excerpts from that performance which includes their bandmates Josh Oliver and Clint Mullican.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Better Way” by Watchhouse from Watchhouse, excerpt

“Better Way” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW, excerpt

“New Star” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW, excerpt

“Upside Down” by Watchhouse, live on WNCW

I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and might tell someone you know about it. You can follow the series on podcast platforms everywhere. And once you do that, could you take a minute and give us a top rating, and a review? In almost no time you will help make all of the topics and artists covered on this series 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 Sean Rubin for engineering our session and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, where our former intern Joshua Meng wrote and performed our theme songs. - Joe Kendrick

Artist stereotypes do not apply

How many times have parents cringed when their children fell in love with a musician? Let's be honest, the world has looked askance at artists of all stripes (with notable exceptions) for most of our history. Musicians tend to be thought of as people who may be great at their art but who are nonetheless pretty bad at life skills like paying bills, getting to work on time, and sticking with the missus.

Aaron turns all those stereotypes on their head; he is not only a fantastic songwriter and musician, but he also runs his own construction business and is a devoted family man living a stone's throw from where he grew up in the western NC mountains. He is as meticulous and intense about his guitar and ballads as he is about his green built homes and raising his two girls.

As you'll see in our pilot episode, Aaron does both life and art exceptionally well. The folks around him are a big part of that.