Painting a Portrait of 23 Years With Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show

How long is the average lifespan for a band? That could be hard to pin down, but it is surely a lot shorter than the time we have witnessed Old Crow Medicine Show do their thing. Starting out as strict revivalists of old-time string band traditions, they did not even believe in writing original songs. To Ketch Secor’s thinking back at Old Crow’s inception, all the great songs had already been written, so any attempts to add to that canon would be futile. Fortunately for all of us, Ketch and the band changed their minds on that point, and almost immediately discovered how much impact they could have with originals (and one whale of a co-write). Like any group starting out, they had no way of knowing how far they would go or how much they would change in time. If you had told them that they were going to sell millions of records and win multiple Grammy awards back in 1999, they would likely have laughed. If you had pointed out that a future member of their group (Mason Via) had just been born, my bet is that they would have looked at you as if you had come from another planet. But all of this would come to pass.

Fast forward to spring 2022, when Old Crow Medicine Show returned to the place that a generation before had served, as Ketch said in our interview, a lily pad, a springboard for their success. There at MerleFest, I sat with Ketch in the library at Wilkes Community College ahead of their two shows that day — the first a surprise acoustic performance off stage on the festival grounds, the second their main stage performance hours later. A documentary crew was on hand filming our conversation, which covered a wide range of topics, including the current lineup of Old Crow Medicine Show, his time living off the land in Avery County, North Carolina when the band first formed, his recent fascination with music from Equatorial Africa and Texas border country, how he always wants to be, as he puts it, a mockingbird, and more. There is plenty of music from their latest album Paint This Town featured as well.

Old Crow Medicine Show plays a surprise acoustic set on the Wilkes Community College campus ahead of their main stage performance 05-30-22

Photo: Martin Anderson

Songs heard in this episode:

“DeFord Rides Again” by Old Crow Medicine Show from Paint This Town

“New Mississippi Flag” by Old Crow Medicine Show from Paint This Town, excerpt

“Used To Be A Mountain” by Old Crow Medicine Show from Paint This Town, excerpt

“Gloryland” by Old Crow Medicine Show from Paint This Town, excerpt

“Paint This Town” by Old Crow Medicine Show from Paint This Town

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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 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

Looking Back On The Year, Through The Decade & To The Roots Of Southern Songs And Stories

It is the end of the year and the end of the decade, which is the perfect opportunity to talk about the recent history of Southern Songs and Stories, and to give context to the show itself by going back to its beginnings in the year 2006.  

In 2006, the seeds for Southern Songs And Stories were planted with the concept for the talk feature What It Is on WNCW. The weekday round table of music journalists, artists and professionals debuted in 2007 and ran until 2012.

The stories uncovered on these podcasts just this year are too many to mention here, but how about tidbits like Mac Arnold working as a producer on Soul Train back in the day? Or that Marcus King’s grandfather Bill King was a member of the Country Gentlemen? Elizabeth Cook didn’t even want to be a musician although her family had a band when she was growing up. No, she wanted to be in business, so she majored in accounting and computer information systems. Luckily for us, she hated that job.

Joe Kendrick and Elizabeth Cook at MerleFest 2019

The Ruen Brothers perform at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in April 2019. Although they are from England, their music is inspired directly by Southern pioneers of rock, blues and country. Plus, they were too good to pass up when the opportunity arose to interview and feature them here. Here’s to breaking some more unwritten rules in 2020. Photo: John Gillespie

Southern Songs and Stories is produced in partnership with public radio station WNCW and the Osiris podcast network, and is available on podcast platforms everywhere. Would you help spread awareness of the artists featured here on Southern Songs and Stories, their music, and this series? Simply subscribe to the podcast and give it a good rating and a comment where you get your podcasts. For example, you can find us on Apple/iTunes here, on Stitcher here, and Spotify here. Our theme songs are by Joshua Meng, with a link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. Thanks for listening, and Happy New Year! - Joe Kendrick