What connects you to the year 1946? Think of the time immediately following World War II, and perhaps black and white images of men in fedoras and women in long dresses come to mind. Maybe you have parents or grandparents who were born around that time, or maybe you know someone who lived then and has past on. It is an era that now seems quite distant for most of us, a kind of abstraction that can be read about but which remains present only in its dusty tomes and mono records. But like all eras of our past, the time when bluegrass music was born remains with us in tangible, even impactful ways. In 1946, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys recorded their first songs with new members Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and a new genre of music was born. Born that same year in New York City was Pete Wernick, who came to know all of the Blue Grass Boys as well as most if not all of the other first-generation stars, and played with many of them eventually as well. He remains one of the few people today who embodies a direct link to this era, making it leap from the pages of history across the decades and get us tapping our feet to bluegrass music that is still being born.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Waiting For Daylight” by Pete Wernick & Flexigrass, from What The

“Powwow the Indian Boy” by Hot Rize, from Hot Rize, excerpt

“Untold Stories” by Hot Rize, from Untold Stories, excerpt

“Spring Break” by Pete Wernick, from On A Roll

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! 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 on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at IBMA for their role in making this episode possible, and you can listen to more episodes on this series on artists interviewed at previous IBMA conferences, like Sierra Hull, Bela Fleck, Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright (Sam Bush Band and Henhouse Prowlers respectively), and C.J. Lewandowski (Po’ Ramblin’ Boys), to name a few. 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.

Southern Songs and Stories is currently ranked #13 in Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and moved up to a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

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

For his 99th birth anniversary, WNCW honored the late great Earl Scruggs by sharing portions of interviews with artists who knew him, broadcasting stories ranging from brief encounters in young adulthood, like Sierra Hull’s memories of Earl, on to years of friendship and collaboration with guests like John McEuen and Pete Wernick (note: Sierra Hull will also be our featured guest in her upcoming episode). These conversations were rich and deep, and helped me understand Earl Scruggs as the man in ways that were at turns surprising, but always inspiring. I asked everyone here essentially the same two questions: tell us your favorite memories or stories about Earl, and talk about his impact as an artist and how that legacy continues since he has been gone. It all adds up to three and a half hours of audio (!), and it should be no surprise that there is a ton of gold to be mined in all those conversations; here is a synopsis, a sampling of everyone’s thoughts, insights and memories. This episode hones in on the stories that reveal Earl Scruggs as a humble genius, a quiet and kind man who was in so many ways the same farm boy and mill worker from the foothills of western North Carolina even after living in a mansion in the heart of Nashville. Plus, there is plenty of talk about the genius and enduring legacy of Earl Scruggs, whose namesake lives on in the form of not only his vast catalog of recordings, his songwriting and revolutionary playing style, but also in the Earl Scruggs Center in his home county, housed in the county courthouse built in 1907 in downtown Shelby NC, as well as the Earl Scruggs Music Festival, which began in 2022 and continues on Labor Day weekend in 2023 in nearby Tryon NC.

In this episode we welcome Kristin Scott Benson, Travis Book, Alison Brown, Sam Bush, Jeff Hanna, Vince Herman, John McEuen, Jim Mills, Earl’s nephew J.T. Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and even my dad, who gives us a glimpse of what a Scruggs family gathering was like in the 1950s.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Earl’s Breakdown” by Flatt & Scruggs

“You Are My Flower” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, from Will the Circle Be Unbroken, excerpt

“Hot Corn Cold Corn” by Flatt and Scruggs, from Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall, excerpt

“Some Of Shelley’s Blues” by The Earl Scruggs Revue, excerpt

“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” by Flatt & Scruggs

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Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of 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

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.

Teaching the Art of the Bluegrass Jam: Pete Wernick

The Humble Genius Of Earl Scruggs

Artist stereotypes do not apply