Basic Folk Backstage

Originally from Devon, the English singer-songwriter John Smith got his start playing bars and clubs in Liverpool, both with his own songs and as a side player for artists like Lianne La Havas, Lisa Hannigan and David Gray. Growing up with folk music and guitar music influences from Eric Clapton to Maria Callas to Nick Drake, John’s sensitivity as a player is one of the cornerstones of his music, especially when it comes to his live music. It's earned him a passionate fanbase ever since his first EP release in 2009. I (lizzie) got to witness the connection he shares with audiences on a recent month-long tour around the UK. Everywhere we went, audience members had stories of how important John’s songs were to them, and guitar nerds flocked to have a look at his pedal board.

Beyond his musicianship, John’s music is imbued with an earnestness that invites listeners to look around and feel gratitude: for nature (especially the vistas of rural England), for the wisdom that memory can provide, and for the people close to us. John’s latest album, ‘The Living Kind,’ is a meditation on how delicate love and life can be, but also how enduring. It also showcases the creative partnership between Smith and his longtime friend and roots music industry icon Joe Henry. One of the album’s highlights is “Milestones,” in which John reflects on how parenthood has changed his perspective on the artist’s life.



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Editor's note: For this episode, we invited our friend Dawn Landes to interview Peggy Seeger. Dawn was the perfect choice to interview the feminist folk icon. She recently joined us on a special episode with Aoife O'Donovan to discuss their feminist-themed new albums. We're thrilled to welcome Dawn back as guest host!

I can’t believe it took me 40 years to come across Peggy Seeger’s music. I’m a little mad about this honestly, and have been trying to make up for lost time by diving deep into her songs and her story. I’ve been a fan of her older brother, Pete Seeger since I was a kid but didn’t realize the depth of talent and reach in the Seeger family …they are truly Folk Royalty! Peggy Seeger is the daughter of a celebrated modernist composer and a musicologist who grew up with people like Alan Lomax and Elizabeth Cotton hanging out in her family home. At 89 years old she’s released 24 solo recordings and been a part of over a hundred more. She’s built her career on wit, incredible musicianship and unflappable activism.

On this episode of Basic Folk, I am honored to talk with Peggy Seeger about her beginnings in feminism, her decades-long partnership with Scottish singer Ewan MacColl, the creation of the BBC Radio Ballads, the importance of hope and her dream tattoos! She even sang us a song from memory that I doubt she had sung in many years. Peggy is a repository of traditional songs and continues to tour and play music with her family as she’s done throughout her whole life. Although she claims that she doesn’t write anthems, Seeger’s songs have become synonymous with women’s rights and environmental activism. Coming from a woman who once sang her defense in a courtroom, we should all take Peggy’s advice…“Something wrong? Make a song!”

--- Dawn Landes



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Folk music singer Ana Egge's 13th album Sharing in the Spirit came out of the musician one song at a time. She didn't even think about moving onto a new song before the writing and production of each song was complete. Working with her friend and collaborator Lorenzo Wolf, the songwriting process and music production plan was to just work on a handful of songs. Their creative collaboration manifested an entire record's worth of indie folk, acoustic music and new folk music. The record includes eight originals and two covers: one by the Biloxi songwriter Ted Hawkins and one by Irish musician Sinead O'Connor.

Ana gives a huge songwriting credit to her dreams, which started getting more and more intense when she began her sobriety journey four years ago. Since then, she's recorded her dreams, especially those with music segments and full songs, on her voice memos app. We go through the new album track by track, addressing themes in the songs like not sleeping through the revolution, the importance of telling the truth, feelings on mortality and how are we gonna feel when Bob Dylan dies. Also: Ana was the VERY first guest on Basic Folk! I can't go back and listen to myself four years ago, but I encourage you to check it out and then dive into her great new album.

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Chris Smither has been Peter Mulvey's mentor since back in 1993, when the young Mulvey opened for the already seasoned Smither. The blues and folk legend liked what he heard and enjoyed the similarities in creativity and quirks and he took that young man on the road with him. Their musical partnership has crossed paths and outlasted the digital age, the pandemic, parenthood and the indictment of a former president. Along the way each has worked to influence their best habits and life lessons on the other and as far as mentor-mentee relationships go, this one is for the history books. Also there are nods to David 'Goody' Goodrich, Jeffrey Foucault, Kris Delmhorst and the woman behind it all: Carol Young (aka Smither's long-time manager, aka his wife).

In this rare joint interview, we address the important questions: like why do they delight in calling each other by their last names? Smither shares that he was first called by his last name in Paris when he was in school. They debate who has the better hometown: Milwaukee or New Orleans. Actually it's not so much a debate as a reflection on New Orleans music, since that is clearly the better spot to grow up a musician. Mulvey reflects on their musical differences citing some of his main inspirations to be Kendrick Lamar and Ani DiFranco versus Smither's affinity for Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. We break down how each feels about fatherhood and try to get Smither to spill his secret to longevity. Spoiler alert: it's not from remaining still. Chris Smither's 20th album All About the Bones is out now. Peter Mulvey's latest is the acoustic retrospective More Notes From Elsewhere.

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If you're looking for recommendations for desserts, might I suggest asking folk music and comedy savant Steve Poltz? This man loves gluten and carb-heavy deserts. He also loves collaborations, camaraderie, creativity and using humor in music. It all began for Poltz, or Poltzy as his friends call him, in his birthplace of Halifax Nova Scotia, making him an official Canadian. He spent his formative years in Palm Springs and Los Angeles where, due to his stutter, allergies and asthma, he learned to talk fast to get himself out of trouble. His sense of humor was cultivated in part by his funny parents as well as radio and television. He was particularly taken with The Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In and the novelty songs he heard on Dr. Demento's radio program, which solidified his own aspirations for being silly as hell in his own writing. Along the way, he picked up the guitar at six years old and it's been by his side ever since.

After he moved to San Diego to attend college in the 80s, he formed the cow-punk band The Rugburns with Robert Driscoll. The band, who Steve has described as "really slow speed metal," developed a cult following across the US in the early 90s. It was at that time, Poltz met Jewel, who was a struggling musician in the San Diego scene. The two dated (they remain friends to this day) and ended up co-writing one of the biggest songs of the 90s with "You Were Meant for Me." After a brush with a major label (thanks to all the Jewel stuff), he remained an independent artist who developed a reputation for a singular live performance experience. In 2014, he actually had a stroke on-stage, which temporarily caused him to lose his vision, the ability to read and also gave him a new outlook on life. Also: post-stroke, he found a late-in-life obsession with The Grateful Dead. In 2016, he and his wife, Sharon, moved to Nashville, where he discovered that he actually does like the Nashville co-writing thing. He's written songs with people like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings. His friend Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers) produced his most recent record, Stardust and Satellites. Here's to Steve Poltz!

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Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! I am awestruck with the charm and charisma of Texas Country Musician Bri Bagwell - most impressively demonstrated on her podcast Only Vans, where she talks to her friends in her van (actually she recently upgraded to an RV, but it still counts) about the music industry along with her dog, Whiskey.

Bri is a force to be reckoned with from her rousingly fun live performances to trailblazing recordings garnering her twelve #1 singles on Texas Country Radio and counting. The Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network recently welcome Only Vans to the fam and I wanted to share this super helpful episode where Bri talks to Mitch Ballard (BMI’s Executive Director of Creative in Texas). They discuss what BMI is and why it’s important, along with the constantly evolving nature of the music business and what BMI is doing to keep up and help artists.

Listen > Subscribe > Support! and share with a musician you love! This one's got some great tips and info!

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