Roots Music Rambler

Francesca Folinazzo & Jason Falls
Roots Music Rambler

Where there are people, there is music. In our celebration of melodies and lyrics, harmonies and riffs, we typically focus on the songs or the people who wrote them. We often overlook the where. Join Francesca and Falls for Roots Music Rambler, a podcast exploration of the where as much as the who or what. We’ll interview emerging and established artists, fans and others in Americana, Outlaw Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Roots, Soul, World and beyond. But we will always get to the stories of where they’re from and how that impacted the music we know and love. It’s more than just their influences. It’s their families. Communities. Cultures. This show is a fun combination of music, travel, history and more. We dig into the stories from artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, fans and beyond, that don’t just expose their musical influences, but their life influences.  Music follows the path of human movement. We trace the steps to bring better understanding to what we hear today and why we love it. Join us for the exploration of the real roots of music on Roots Music Rambler.

  1. Cait Justice Debut Reveals a Fresh Voice from Appalachia

    APR 4

    Cait Justice Debut Reveals a Fresh Voice from Appalachia

    The mountains of Appalachia have produced some of the most memorable music in recent memory. From Dwight Yoakam to Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson to Tyler Childers, plus up-and-comers like Brit Taylor and Leah Blevins, there’s beautiful tunes in “them-thar hills.” Cait Justice’s debut album Angel Teeth from sonaBlast Records offers a new entry in the fresh voices from Eastern Kentucky. The 20-something college student from Pikeville, Ky., now resides in Louisville. Within weeks of hitting town, she played a few open-mic and listening rooms, was recommended to sonaBlast’s Gill Holland, and found herself recording a debut album in Louisville’s famed La La Land Studios.  Justice sat in with Frank and Falls on the latest episode of Roots Music Rambler to talk about her sudden insertion into the Louisville and Americana music scene, her background in music, and what it’s like to be at the beginning of what promises to be a meteoric rise to music relevance.  Frank and Falls also talk about the impact their respective mothers had on their interest in music and offer up their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ picks for the week. Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com or wherever you get your podcasts.  Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links:  Cait Justice on sonaBlast Records website Cait Justice on Spotify Cait Justice on Instagram The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Mumford & Son’s ZZ Ward And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 10m
  2. MAR 21

    The Mallett Brothers Band is back with Higher Up in the Hills

    Folk rockers The Mallett Brothers are back with a new album on April 4 called “Higher up in the Hills.” Luke and Will Mallett joined us on Roots Music Rambler this week to talk about the album, the first couple of singles from it, 15-years of making it in independent music without leaving their home state of Maine and more.  The brothers who front the band are actually from folk music royalty. Their father, David Mallett, is a well-known folk singer who wrote “The Garden Song” popluarized by Pete Seeger, John Denver and others. We talked about growing up around their famous dad, his impact on their music, and collaborations with him over the years. The Mallett Brothers also share the story behind another fun collaboration – with legendary keyboardist Chuck Leavell on his PBS series “America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell.”  Falls also kicks off the episode with perhaps the most impassioned rant he’s ever embarked upon, pleading with people to stop complaining about cross-genre artists and the hate toward specific sub-genres of music. It’s worth the listen. Frank and Falls also share their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ picks for the week. Download the episode and subscribe at rootsmusicrambler.com or wherever you get your podcasts.  Also be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links:  Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show The Mallett Brothers online The Mallett Brothers on Spotify The Garden Song (written by David Mallett) by John Denver on The Muppett Show American Forests with Chuck Leavell on PBS Bourbon & Beyond lineup Sara Jean Stevens new EP Lovesick on Spotify The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Caleb Caudle Whiskeytown Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 11m
  3. MAR 7

    Flatpicker Tyler Grant talks about his journey, new songs, album

    There’s nothing we love more on Roots Music Rambler than digging into the stories behind songs, albums and artists, especially when geography and place have an impact there. That’s why this episode stands out as one of our favorites as Tyler Grant joined us to talk about his new album, his journey through bands and solo work and more. No one digs into a story as well as Grant does and you’ll note that right away as we talked about his latest single and upcoming album, Flatpicker, which is due out in March. And the album title is certainly appropriate. Grant is a National Flatpicking Champion and internationally recognized guitar virtuoso. He was also the lead singer and songwriting engine behind the band Grant Farm. It was such a pleasure to have him join us. He even became the first RMR guest to admit to committing a crime. (Ha! Listen to learn more.) We also learned more about his path through many musical genres to become a bluegrass and folk star. Falls shares his birthday experience meeting and seeing Joy Oladokun (his favorite). Frank and Falls also share their normal pickin’ the grinnin’ picks for you to listen to, and talk about the advent of AI generated music? Yep. It’s out there. Be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links:  Tyler Grant Online Tyler Grant on Spotify The Goat Canyon Trestle Video SUNO AI - The AI music generator we mentioned Joy Oladokun on Spotify The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Gabe Lee Kashush Culpepper And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 17m
  4. FEB 21

    Have Music Festivals Jumped the Shark?

    It’s no secret that the Roots Music Rambler team loves a good music festival. But as we’ve discussed before, there are perhaps too many of them and the costs continue to skyrocket for fans. It just so happens that there exists an entire podcast and YouTube show dedicated to music festivals and its host, Nate Riggs, is a friend of the program. This week on Roots Music Rambler, Frank and Falls dig in with Riggs to talk about the state of music festivals across the U.S. The conversation includes everything from the costs to the lineups to the experiences and more. Falls also shares news that his children want him to take them to Bonnaroo and he and Frank talk about the under-the-radar festivals worth attending. The hosts also talk about A Complete Unknown, the new Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. Be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links:  The Music Festivals Podcast online The Music Festivals Podcast on YouTube The Music Festivals Podcast on Spotify A Complete Unknown The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Kathleen Edwards Waylon Wyatt And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 9m
  5. JAN 31

    Shepherd Hits 2025 with a new single, plans for lots of new music

    There are few artists out there who fit the Americana music label by decidedly not fitting in any single box better than Jeff Shepherd. The northern Indiana native has been called rock, blues, outlaw country and punk. His music harkens back to 70s rock but has enough country influences to draw comparisons to southern rock and outlaw country artists, alike. Shepherd, which he now goes by as a single-named moniker, joined us on Roots Music Rambler to talk about his new single, “Settle Down,” and his plans for more new music in 2025. We talked about his time working in the steel mills, the struggles of an independent musician and his newest venture into fatherhood. His son was born a little over a year ago and the lifestyle change has been interesting, he says. Plus, Frank checks in on Falls who was weathering a snow storm during the recording and the duo talk about one getting to meet a couple of emerging artists at a recent show. And as always, they share their Pickin’ the Grinnin picks for new music for you to explore this week. Be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links:  Shepherd Online Shepherd on Spotify The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Meg McRee Lucero Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 1m
  6. JAN 3

    Roots Music Rambler’s Top 10 Songs & Albums from 2024

    Well, 2024 is in the books and what a year we saw in Americana and Roots Music. From Sierra Ferrell’s explosion to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter and crazy collaborations to new music from artists like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Secret Sisters, Marcus King and Dwight Yoakam, the year was one for the books. Since this was the first full calendar year Roots Music Rambler existed (we debuted in September of 2023), we thought we would start an annual tradition of recapping the year with our top songs, albums and artists, plus do a little where-are-they-now rundown of previous show guests to keep everyone thinking about and talking about the music we all love. In this episode Frank and Falls run down their top 10 songs and albums of 2024, proclaim their top artist, group and newcomer of the year, and call out a couple of artists worthy of praise for innovating in the genre in 2024. But, to be clear, our philosophy on Roots Music Rambler is tied to a belief that music is not a competition. Rankings and bests are simply fodder for conversation and discovery. These lists are just our individual opinions. We want to hear yours as well. So comment on our social media posts about the rankings and share your favorites for 2024 or what you’re excited about for 2025.  Be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links: (Songs played are representative of our lists, but not necessarily our top songs!) Without You by Ella Salter and the Sunday Sinners on Spotify Hero by Marcus King on Spotify Paperweight by The Secret Sisters on Spotify Dollar Bill Bar by Sierra Ferrell on Spotify Texas Hold ‘em by Beyonce’ on Spotify Gild the Lily by Billy Strings on Spotify Sierra Ferrell - Our unanimous Artist of the Year - online The Kimmi Bitter episode of Roots Music Rambler  The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum; Audio production by Resonate Recordings. Copyright 2025 - Falls+Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 23m
  7. 12/20/2024

    Inside the Stories and Experience of Singer-Songwriter Margo Cilker

    It’s not often Rolling Stone compares a singer-songwriter to John Prine. But they did just that when they heard “Steelhead Trout” by Margo Cilker. The Oregon-based artist’s first two albums have turned her into an emerging star in the Americana music scene.  Pohorylle, her debut, was so good, the UK Americana Music Association nominated it for Album of the Year alongside Brandi Carlile, Robert Plant & Allison Kraus and Charley Crockett. She went on tour with Drive-By Truckers and Hayes Carll. Her sophomore album, Valley of Heart’s Delight, is better. Not just by our estimation, but every music publication that’s reviewed it says so. The songs are deeper, more introspective, and perhaps more universal.  Cilker joined us for a chat from her Snake River Valley ranch recently to talk about songwriting, her success, and what the future holds for her music. She and Francesca connected at a performance over the summer and had a conversation about the song and fish that brought about the Prine comparisons. Needless to say, we had a fun conversation. Falls also talks about his new favorite TikTok account (@rockabuyrecords) and its protagonist (Dean) who is Falls’s new hero. Falls also shares his first take on Dwight Yoakam’s new album Brighter Days. Be sure to help spread the love of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links: Rock-a-Buy Records on TikTok Rolling Stones article on Valley of Heart’s Delight Margo Cilker online Margo Cilker on Spotify Pohorylle (album) on Spotify Valley of Heart’s Delight on Spotify Forrest Vantuyl (Margo’s husband) online Forrest Vantuyl on Spotify Brighter Days by Dwight Yoakam on Spotify ”Keep on the Sunny Side” cover by Dwight Yoakam The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations The Cleverlys on Spotify Corner Boy on Spotify And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 12m
  8. 12/06/2024

    Celebrating Bluegrass, Harmony and Family with the Bibelhauser Brothers

    Few musicians today stay as busy as Aaron Bibelhauser. Not only is he a prolific songwriter and one half of the twin brother-led bluegrass band called The Bibelhauser Brothers, but he hosts a notable bluegrass music radio show, collaborates with several other artists on albums and singles and leads a community jam session periodically in his home city of Louisville. The only mystery about Aaron is when does he sleep? Aaron and his twin Adam, who splits vocals with his brother, plays bass, contributes to the writing and production of songs, and naturally offers beautiful blood harmony to the group, joined Roots Music Rambler this week to talk about the group’s new singles, a potential new album, collaborations and more. We discussed their journey to be musicians, and their history with a previous band called Relic as well. While Adam has a day job and is a full-time dad, Aaron is busy writing, performing and producing. He’s penned songs for Del McCoury, Michael Cleveland, and the Louisville Shakespeare Festival, and produced a tribute album for Mickey Clark. He’s also the host of Bluegrass Evolution, a Sunday night bluegrass radio program on WFPK (91.9 FM) in Louisville.  Also on the show, Frank and Falls discuss Grammy snubs and take a listen to Stephen Wilson Jr.’s astonishing new cover of Ben E. King’s standard “Stand By Me,” which lit up the Live at the Print Shop video concert series recently.  Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available.  Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler. Notes and links: Stephen Wilson’s “Stand By Me” on Live at the Print Shop 2025 Grammy Nomination List Bibelhauser Brothers online Bibelhauser Brothers on Spotify “Walking on Water” (New Single) on Spotify “Sleep a Thousand Years” (featuring Dale Ann Bradley) on Spotify Bibelhauser Brothers Live (album) on Spotify Close Harmony (album) on Spotify Lovin’ and Leavin’: A Bluegrass Tribute to Mickey Clark (album) on Spotify The Roots Music Rambler Store Roots Music Rambler on Instagram Roots Music Rambler on TikTok  Roots Music Rambler on Facebook Jason Falls on Instagram Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations Old 97s on Spotify Lucero on Spotify And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts. Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 23m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Where there are people, there is music. In our celebration of melodies and lyrics, harmonies and riffs, we typically focus on the songs or the people who wrote them. We often overlook the where. Join Francesca and Falls for Roots Music Rambler, a podcast exploration of the where as much as the who or what. We’ll interview emerging and established artists, fans and others in Americana, Outlaw Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Roots, Soul, World and beyond. But we will always get to the stories of where they’re from and how that impacted the music we know and love. It’s more than just their influences. It’s their families. Communities. Cultures. This show is a fun combination of music, travel, history and more. We dig into the stories from artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, fans and beyond, that don’t just expose their musical influences, but their life influences.  Music follows the path of human movement. We trace the steps to bring better understanding to what we hear today and why we love it. Join us for the exploration of the real roots of music on Roots Music Rambler.

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