Craig Havighurst

Episode 292 of The String begins, as any introduction to Madeleine Peyroux should, with the story of Careless Love. Released in 2004, it became the pivotal album of her international career. Its fresh and beguiling blend of jazz, early blues, and country influences fell between the industry’s proverbial cracks, yet the album became a hit in a dozen countries, selling more than a half million copies (hard to do in the new digital age) for its roots-centered label Rounder Records. Peyroux’s voice and phrasing, with echoes of Billie Holiday and Joni Mitchell, had more verve than the newly famous Norah Jones and more blues than Diana Krall. Her story was more remarkable than either.

“I never wrote a song to entertain anyone. Not once,” said Alice Randall in an outtake from Episode 292 of The String. In the broadcast, she says something similar: “I wanted to create, and I think to some degree I did, necessary songs, because I believe (country music is) hard music for people going through hard times. And I believe it makes a plan. It helps us figure out how to do better.”

In the 2014 song “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive,” singer and songwriter Rhett Miller lets himself get “self referential” to address the heady highs and sobering lows of playing rock and roll across a lifetime. His vehicle: Old 97’s, a band formed in Dallas in 1992 named for a folk song but known for its incendiary, rave-up country-tinged music and clever, relatable songwriting. Miller sings about the infinite hotel hallways and dodgy green rooms, the lapses of judgment, the booze, the search for love, and the “mysterious drive” that’s kept this quartet together for more than thirty years.

Nashville Speedway helped the Music City Grand Prix escape the disruptive construction of the new Titans Stadium

Not every community has a hearty pirate in its midst, so if you’re lucky enough to have one, remember to appreciate him, because one day the pirate could be gone, and you’ll realize how much you lost. The East Nashville music scene lost its pirate on Aug. 31, when Tom Mason passed away in his home town of Minneapolis after a battle with cancer at the age of 65.

Fans of real-deal Nashville should know Hall of Fame songwriter Tom Douglas. From the early 1990s through today, he’s been part of Music Row’s smart set. He’s co-author of landmark songs with layers of meaning, from Chris Janson’s sneakily feminist “Drunk Girl” to the Miranda Lambert masterpiece “The House That Built Me.” In conversation with Stephanie Lambring, I learn that we have another reason to be grateful to the 71-year-old Atlanta native. Douglas convinced Lambring, one of the best writers to emerge in the past five years, to get back in the game after a period of disillusionment and retreat.

WMOT | By Craig Havighurst Published September 14, 2024 at 9:48 AM CDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

As soon as WMOT’s Roots Radio format was up and running eight years ago, the station leaned hard into Americanafest. This longstanding event brings together our music and our people in our home market of Music City, so how could we not? Our well-connected program director Jessie Scott began booking long days of live sets by some of the top shelf artists in the field. In 2017, we were in a variety of venues, including the famous temporary tent at 6th & Peabody. In 2018, we became partners with NPR Music and World Cafe, setting up at The Local on West End with such illustrious stars as Richard Thompson, Alejandro Escovedo, and Amy Helm. We became, if we may say so, an Americanafest institution.

This week’s String is an expanded, modified show transcript.

Sierra Ferrell accepts the Artist Of The Year Award at the 2024 Americana Honors And Awards