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Basic Folk — Music
Basic Folk

Basic Folk features honest conversations with folk musicians hosted by Cindy Howes and Lizzie No. We approach interviews with warmth, humor and insightful questions. Since 2018, this podcast has dignified under the radar roots musicians by providing a platform that they might not otherwise have. You’ll hear interviews from Three-time Grammy-winning guitar gods like Molly Tuttle, Haitian American folk legends like Leyla McCalla and deep feelers like songwriter John Hiatt.

Basic Folk is dedicated to showcasing the best in folk, bluegrass, acoustic and americana including Black, Brown and Queer folx who have been excluded, or felt like they did not belong, in the folk world. Cindy & Lizzie each bring a unique perspective to these honest conversations with folk musicians. We are equally dedicated to repainting the broad landscape of folk music as we are to tearing down the ivory towers of the music industry. What would Bruce Springsteen do if he ever got the keys to that mansion on the hill? Let's find out together on Basic Folk.

Basic is an official production of The Bluegrass Situation. Thanks for listening.

Welcome to Basic Folk.

Follow Basic Folk on social media: https://basicfolk.bio.link/

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Help produce Basic Folk by contributing: https://basicfolk.com/donate/

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Copyright: © All rights reserved.

Latest Episodes:

Suz Slezak, ep. 156 Mar 17, 2022

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Enter to win the Basic Folk/BGS Sweet Prize Pack: https://woobox.com/2mythq or http://basicfolk.com/news

Suz Slezak is one-half of the extremely talented and thoughtful band David Wax Museum. Suz, along with her husband David, has been touring and performing their Mexican-inspired, Americana folk act since 2009. Along the way, the two got married, had a couple of kids, and settled pretty finely into the pandemic with bi-weekly and then weekly live streams. All the while, Suz has been living with her bipolar disorder, which has impacted her life in incredibly unbelievable ways. She's also been pretty vocal, especially lately, about how she interacted with her brain health, mental health, and treatment for both of those elements, which includes her intense journey with medications. Her Instagram is filled with brutally honest posts about the difficulty of finding meds that continuously help her stabilize her brain.

On her new album, Our Wings May Be Featherless, Suz is addressing her life from the perspective of a person who is bi-polar, a mother, a touring musician, and a creative person. She digs into the power of acceptance, traumatic birth, and grief. In our conversation, we talk about what a special musician she is and how she's been able to cultivate and keep a childlike wonder alive through her playing. This conversation is heavily rooted in Suz's journey with her bipolar disorder and you'll learn a lot about her experience as she is very open. She addresses the choice to share her experiences publicly and how the sharing impacts her. About the album she says: “I hope you will also hear the way that a song, or any piece of art, can transform haunting pain into sounds and rhythm, allowing it to finally diffuse. I have needed to make this record for a long time. The relief I feel that it is finally emerging into this physical realm for you to enjoy is immense.” SUZ!

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Backstage Preview: Hang with Maya De Vitry Mar 12, 2022

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Maya De Vitry, who just appeared in our main feed (ep. 155), hangs with Cindy and Lizzie: talking about music, dogs and being a horse girl. Today we'll check out a preview of this fun and insightful hang with the former Stray Birds member.

Hear the entire Friend Hang with Maya: http://basicfolk.com/Backstage

Contribute and gain Backstage access: http://basicfolk.com/donate

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Maya De Vitry, ep. 155 Mar 10, 2022

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Maya De Vitry released her third solo record, Violet Light, earlier this year and I, for one, am happy that my fiancée has a new Maya record to play endlessly in our house. Lol j/k. I love Maya and this album is perfect. Maya’s originally from Lancaster, where she lived and met the members of her old band The Stray Birds. Since the dissolution of the Birds, she’s been incredibly prolific with all these solo albums, co-writes and the like. If you’re not familiar, this record is a great intro to the genius of one of the greatest musicians on the scene today. The vibes I’m getting on this record are John Prine, Patty Griffin and, of course, Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings. We. Are. Digging. IN!

I’m so happy Maya was up for going through this beauty of a record track by track! It’s a brilliant collection that subtly knocks you to the ground over the course of its eleven songs. Produced at home with her partner, the much in-demand bassist and producer, Ethan Jodziewicz (The Milk Carton Kids, Sierra Hull, Aoife O’Donovan, Darol Anger, Tony Trischka), Violet Light actually contains a ton of collaborations from Maya’s extensive musical community. This includes her own family; her siblings all collaborated for the very first time on tape for the song “Real Time, Real Tears,” about losing a favorite uncle. Yeah, you try not to cry during that one. Anywoo. It feels like a gift to be able to turn these songs over and over, contemplate their meaning, their creation and then be able to talk directly to the brains behind it all. I implore you to check out this whole episode and then go buy Maya’s new album, preferably on Bandcamp. Support an independent artist who’s music is meaningful and worth getting paid for. She’s a once in a lifetime artist.

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Joy Oladokun, ep. 154 Feb 24, 2022

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Editor's note: Lizzie No interviews Joy Oladokun on Basic Folk! Be sure to go back and listen to Lizzie's previous guest host spots on the pod and subscribe, so you never miss Lizzie!

The Arizona-born Joy Oladokun grew up listening to her dad’s extensive record collection and falling in love with the wide and wondrous world of rock and roll. You can hear these diverse sonic influences, from genesis to tracy chapman, in joy’s rootsy, contemporary pop-savvy 2021 album “in defense of my own happiness.” Of particular note are her superpowers for Melody and smart repetition, which have made her a force to be reckoned with ever since she made the leap from LA to Nashville to make a life as a musician.

Joy is not only a phenomenal songwriter, but she's also fearless and hilarious on social media. Believe it or not it was twitter that brought us together and catalyzed this interview. It was fascinating to hear her talk about how she uses her platform as a rising star in indie pop and folk to create the kind of world she wants to see. The way I see it, she uses emotional transparency as a tool for political change. She is healing in public and gently nudging others to heal as well. Her new single “keeping the light on'' is the perfect distillation of her radical softness.

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BF Presents: American Songcatcher Feb 20, 2022

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Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donate

Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! American Songcatcher with Nicholas Edward Williams, is an independent audio documentary-style podcast hosted by the folk musician and music history enthusiast.

Each episode has five stories: starting with one traditional song’s journey to America, followed by the stories of four musicians in American roots starting with legends of the past going all the way to current artists of the day.

You’ll hear the stories behind songs of immigrants from the British Isles and Europe who brought their tunes into the Appalachian mountains…To songs of the South: Gospel, Bluegrass, Ragtime, Blues, Old-Time, Country, and the Folk music derived from it all.

This podcast goes behind the curtain of legends, and shines a light on integral artists who have influenced generations: Bessie Smith, Ola Belle Reed, Blind Blake, Odetta and Dave Van Ronk. I am SHOCKED that Nicholas does not have a journalism background. His approach is warm, insightful and he has the true spirit of a detective uncovering the mysteries of these songs and musicians. It’s a wonderful listen!
In this Season 2, Episode 2 of American Songcatcher, Nicholas has the following lineup:
Traditional – “Lil’ Liza Jane” (:28)
Dock Boggs (11:22)
Snooks Eaglin (25:54)
Nina Simone (43:36)
Billy Strings (1:04:18)

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Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats, ep. 153 Feb 17, 2022

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Fruit Bats have been on the indie rock radar since the early 00's, so I'd say that calls for a double album compilation documenting their 20 years of music! However, the brains behind FBs and it's only regular member, Eric D. Johnson, is a man who tends to solely look forward. Thankfully for us, he rolled up his sleeves, dug into some old hard drives and sifted through two decades of MP3s, WAVs, AIFFs and the like that make up the band's brand new collection: Sometimes a Cloud Is Just a Cloud: Slow Growers, Sleeper Hits and Lost Songs (2001–2021). On Basic Folk, Eric talks about growing up constantly moving around and the impact on him then and now. He also gets into his time working at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. His time there allowed Eric to evolve and embrace his folk musicality as well as the punk side he was nurturing in Chicago's scene.

He also gets into reframing career aspirations after he saw a lot of his friends' careers, who came up in indie rock at the same time he did, reaching new heights that Fruit Bats just simply weren't. He was affordable many amazing opportunities before he was ready, recording Fruit Bats debut album with Tim from Califone and then getting signed to Sub Pop thanks to The Shins and Modest Mouse's advocacy. He talks about how he felt about those chances back then and how he reflects on them now. His time playing with The Shins allowed him to "climb into someone else’s work a little bit," which gave him perspective on his own. There was a time when Eric ditched the Fruit Bats name to record under his initials, EDJ, in what he calls “career stalling move,” but I pressed him to expand on the fact that it might have been a really necessary move for him personally. He's been recording and playing under Fruit Bats again since 2015, which he sees as a new era for Fruit Bats, which he gets into. I also brought up Bonny Light Horseman and the incredible vocal pairing of himself with Anaïs Mitchell, who he calls his "main singing partner" these days. Eric D. Johnson is the nicest guy in indie rock and I'm here for that!! Enjoy!

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Backstage Preview: Anais Mitchell XLR Feb 12, 2022

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Anaïs Mitchell, who just appeared in our main feed for a track by track (ep. 152), joins us Backstage for an Extended Lightning Round (XLR). Today we'll check out a preview of this fun light hearted Q&A with the genius behind the Tony award wining musical Hadestown, Bonny Light Horseman and her new self-titled album.
Hear the entire Extended Lightning Round with Anaïs: http://basicfolk.com/Backstage
Contribute and gain Backstage access: http://basicfolk.com/donate

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Anais Mitchell, ep. 152 Feb 10, 2022

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Anaïs Mitchell goes track by track through her new self titled release (out now!) and holy smokes what a volcano of an album! It’s been a decade since she last released an album’s worth of new material and since then, Mitchell’s been keeping very busy with the game-changing Tony Awards winning Broadway sensation, Hadestown. She started working on the folk opera in the early 00’s, she’s also recently been performing with Bonny Light Horseman (with Eric D. Johnson and Josh Kaufman) and is the mom of two young kids, so very busy!! It took a global pandemic to stop everything and allow her to concentrate on her own inner world. All of the songs on Anaïs Mitchell are truly biographical, which is not the norm for the Vermont songwriter. She was actually 9 months pregnant when the pandemic hit, and thanks to a tip from a Seattle friend, she packed up her family and left the city for her home state. She ended up spending lockdown in her grandparents house on her family’s Vermont compound. There, she unearthed some embarrassing teenage journals (which she promptly burned) and had the opportunity to reconnect with her younger self. Those perspectives and more were sown into this incredible new album. Let’s get into it!!

It was truly a gift to be able to dive deep with Anaïs and producer Josh Kaufman (who briefly joined us for this episode!). Hope you get into this album as deeply as I did. I look forward to many more inspired works of art from Anaïs! She is a treasure and I’m so glad she’s in our world. After you get into this episode, you can go way back to Basic Folk Episode 8 and listen to Anaïs’ first appearance on the pod. One of my favorite interviews ever!

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Erin Rae, ep. 151 Feb 03, 2022

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Help produce Basic Folk by contributing at basicfolk.com/donate

Editor's note: Lizzie No interviews Erin Rae on Basic Folk! Be sure to go back and listen to Lizzie's previous guest host spots on the pod and subscribe, so you never miss Lizzie!

Singer-songwriter Erin Rae grew up in Jackson, Tennessee, which might ring a bell for our listeners because Valerie June is from the same town. There must be something in the water in Jackson because both songwriters are majestically creative, playful, spiritually minded, and bring a sort of supernatural calm to their work.

Erin gave college a try before falling in love with the camaraderie of the singer songwriter scene in tennessee. She dropped out and answered the artist’s call. She released an album with her band erin rae and the meanwhiles before her solo debut “putting on airs” in 2018. Erin’s knack for dreamy, deeply personal songwriting and velvety vocal delivery mader her a fixture of the nashville songwriter scene. Her follow up LP “Lighten Up” expands on her classic sound, while also surfing on the groovy waves of laurel-canyon influenced pop.

I had a ball talking to Erin about the making of this gorgeous new record, about 21st century feminism, about meditation, about being weird, and about which clothes make her feel most powerfully herself.

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Aoife O'Donovan, ep. 150 Jan 27, 2022

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BASIC FOLK 150 EPISODES WOO!!! Ok ok ok... for our 150th episode, we are so pleased to welcome Aoife O'Donovan to the pod. Aoife's new album Age of Apathy is out now! This is her third solo record after years of performing with her bands I'm With Her (along with Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz), Crooked Still, Sometymes Why (Kristin Andreassen and Ruth Merenda) and The Wayfaring Strangers. She was born and raised in Newton, Mass and her dad, (radio host and music champion) Brian O’Donovan, moved to the US in 1980. Thanks to her music loving parents, she and her siblings grew up in the “Irish music party world” in Boston. Aoife spent summers in Ireland and is very closely associated with the music, culture and people there. The impact her heritage and the early environment of her life have had on her musicality cannot be understated.

The role that Aoife has played in the folk and roots world has grown significantly over the years. From her appearances on Prairie Home Companion and Chris Thile’s Live From Here program to her many appearances at Newport Folk Festival, she is a household name in many folk-oriented communities. On her latest album, she works with producer Joe Henry to insight a hypnotic groove throughout her beautifully written songs. There is so much to listen to and discover on this album. Aoife’s been living in Orlando, FL where her husband is the artistic director and conductor for a few symphonies there. She’s actually turned into the city’s number one advocate! She talks about this and entertains my cosmically woo woo questions about feminism, energy and alcohol. Thank you, Aoife!

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