Of Wishing Wells and the Unattainable Woman With Lindsay Lou

In the music business, the words “influence” and “inspiration” get thrown around a lot. Artist Y is “influenced” by artists A, B and C, or “inspired” by their love of genres D and E, often with no elaboration of what that really might mean. Influence and inspiration are often overused to the point of meaninglessness in these contexts, or perhaps misunderstood as something akin to emulation. It is an easy shortcut for folks reading or hearing those words to insert the phrase “sounds like” into the sentence when given no more substantial footing than those hackneyed terms. But in spending time with Lindsay Lou and hearing her perspective on bluegrass as a primary influence, this opened up another way to approach this, which was to think of “influence” and “inspiration” as something akin to a key opening a door, of being a catalyst for change and growth.

The musical world heard in Lindsay Lou’s fourth album Queen Of Time begins at a door which she unlocked over the years since first experiencing bluegrass jams as a kid. On this record, it is a world which welcomes bluegrass legends like Jerry Douglas, who makes a guest appearance, as well as first-call songwriter Jon Weisberger, plus maverick superstar Billy Strings. It is full of electric guitar and drums, adding synthesizers, organ and even djembe into the mix. Its lyrics and melodies flow from both a psychedelic experience with the sacred feminine, as well as her enduring bond with her extraordinary grandmother. It is a world where self-discovery incorporates but also supersedes tradition; it is a world where bluegrass is both there and is not there, all at once. 

Lindsay Lou performs at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival 08/31/24

photo: Cora Wagoner)

Songs heard in this episode:

“Queen Of Time” by Lindsay Lou, from Queen Of Time

“I Can Help” by Lindsay Lou, from Queen Of Time, excerpt

“Nothing’s Working” by Lindsay Lou, from Queen Of Time, excerpt

“On Your Side (Starman)” by Lindsay Lou, from Queen Of Time

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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 the Earl Scruggs Music Festival for helping to make this interview possible, and to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs — you can link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Family Ties and Roots Music Foundations: Jonathan Wilson and Bella White

For Jonathan Wilson and Bella White, family figures prominently not only in their lives behind the scenes, but also in the musical paths both chose early on. It should come as no surprise that as a boy in rural North Carolina, celebrated producer and artist Jonathan Wilson played in a family band of sorts (he would fill in for various band members in his father’s band at their practices), or that rising star Bella White’s father played in old time and bluegrass bands in Calgary, Canada when she was growing up. What may seem much more novel is that the common thread between their two experiences, separated by decades of time and thousands of miles, is also roots music like country and bluegrass. 

For Bella White, roots music like bluegrass is easily identifiable in her sound; for Jonathan Wilson that foundation is not nearly as obvious. But as you will hear in our conversations, their love of music began with their shared background in acoustic roots music in places far beyond the limelight of Nashville or Los Angeles, where their paths eventually led. Bella White brought on Jonathan Wilson to produce her second and latest album Among Other Things, while Jonathan’s latest album Eat The Worm takes off into decidedly psychedelic territory. 

I caught up with Bella White after her debut performance at MerleFest last spring, which followed her debut on the Grand Ole Opry, while Jonathan Wilson spoke with me recently by video call from his studio in Topanga Canyon, California. This episode features music from both artists as well as their conversations which touch on everything from Jonathan’s wife using AI in creating his latest music videos to Bella White’s intentional honesty and vulnerability in her songwriting, and much more. 

Songs heard in this episode:

“The Way I Oughta Go” by Bella White, from Among Other Things

“Charlie Parker” by Jonathan Wilson, from Eat the Worm, excerpt

“Break My Heart” by Bella White, from Among Other Things, excerpt

“The Village Is Dead” by Jonathan Wilson, from Eat the Worm, excerpt

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 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. A big thank you to Ayappa Biddanda at Concord, Jonathan Wilson’s manager Peter Sasala and father Al Wilson for their help in setting up interviews for this episode.

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

Psychedelia in the Carolinas Then and Now With The Get Right Band and Ken Friedman

To be honest, I had never considered The Get Right Band to be psychedelic, and before hearing their album iTopia, had thought of them more as a kind of power pop group. But when I started diving in, one of the first things that jumped out was their own description of themselves as a “psychedelic indie rock power trio”, which was a kind of “a-ha” moment, because I was also listening to the new compilation Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s and thinking of how to include it in an episode here. Although Psychedelic States and iTopia were separated by more than a fifty year span, and by their overall sound -- with The Get Right Band producing a far more crisp, bright and layered collection than what the scores of bands in the Psychedelic States compilation made -- the through line was undeniable: all of these songs are from North and South Carolina artists who are tagged as “psychedelic”.  These were simultaneous discoveries that were just begging to be put side by side. First, we have a current band that proclaims to be psychedelic which I had not thought of in that context (iTopia certainly is), and second, we have a massive, three disc compilation of first generation psychedelic bands that were all but forgotten -- with the overall feeling of discovering an extinct species in our backyard, only to find that there is a ‘Psychedelisaurus’ alive and well in the same area. 

The Get Right Band

Starting with the dawn of psychedelia in the mid 1960s, there has been a veritable rabbit hole of trippy music coming from both of the Carolinas, which Ken Friedman helped document in the new three volume set Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s. Carrying the mantle of mind bending music in 2023 is Asheville NC trio The Get Right Band, who have released the concept album iTopia, their sixth and most ambitious collection. In this episode, you will hear from The Get Right Band’s front man Silas Durocher and radio veteran and record hound Ken Friedman about the history of psychedelic music in the Carolinas, how the Psychedelic States compilation came into being against some pretty tall odds, and about The Get Right Band’s new album, its concept and creation, and musical excerpts from both collections.

Bands from Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s

Songs heard in this episode:

The Electric Prunes “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night”, excerpt

“iTopia” by The Get Right Band, from iTopia

“If I Had It” by The Wyld, from Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s, excerpt

“Black Holes of Negativity part 3 (saying no)” by The Get Right Band, from iTopia, excerpt

“I Guess That’s Why” by Teen-Beets, from Psychedelic States: The Carolinas in the 60s, excerpt

“Hell Yes, Refresh” by The Get Right Band, from iTopia

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.

Want to hear more about North Carolina’s often overlooked musical legacy? In this episode Ken Friedman mentioned that Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple were among the kids who picked up on the vibe of local acts like Teen-Beets -- Stamey and Holsapple would form The dB’s, who were hugely influential and popular in the New Wave era.  My hunch is that you would probably enjoy our previous episode titled We Thought You Wanted To Know, Too: Peter Holsapple and The dB’s 

Also, there is much more conversation with Silas Durocher and Ken Friedman that did not make it into this episode. So if you’re wanting to hear those in full, please let me know, and you can find me on social media and by email at southernsongsandstories.com.

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