Going Solo, With Soul: Travis Book

It was one of the first cold days of the fall in the western NC mountains when I trekked up from Spindale to Brevard to talk with Travis Book ahead of his show in town that night. Spindale is perhaps 60 miles away, where I work at WNCW, and with special shortcut directions from a trusted source who travels that route regularly, I figured it would take about an hour to get there. Only that travel time forecast was wildly optimistic, compounded by the fact that I wound up with most of the directions but did not have the last bit, which I figured I would somehow intuit, but could not. So instead of taking about an hour and a half, which was more like normal, I had to stop, then call Travis and ask for directions, and was pushing up against his practice time once I rolled in to his driveway a good two hours after leaving work.

After a quick hello, we sat at Travis’ kitchen table and dove into conversation. The hectic and anxious lead-up to this could have derailed other interviews, but Travis took it in stride, and I seemed to be able to focus some of that nervous energy into a free flowing series of questions and commentary that became the foundation for this episode, which includes music from his solo debut album Love and Other Strange Emotions.

Travis Book plays upright bass along with Jon Stickley on guitar at his Travis Book Happy Hour show at 185 King St. in Brevard NC 11-28-23

Songs heard in this episode:

“A Little Too Much” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions

“Leavin’” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions, excerpt

“The Truth Is Out There” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Emotions

Thank you for visiting us and giving this podcast a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to everyone at 185 King Street for their hospitality. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs.

Southern Songs and Stories is currently ranked #14 in Southern podcasts here on feedspot.com, and recently moved up to a top 2.5% globally ranked podcast by Listen Notes, which makes us smile.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

An Update, and Two Quick Takes With Tony Trischka and Travis Book

Here at Southern Songs and Stories, there is never a shortage of stories to draw from a seemingly bottomless well of music artists; we only scratch the surface of what we would love for you to hear on this series. But even with that, we have a parallel problem, a good problem if you will, of having a whole lot of material on hand waiting to make it into a podcast episode. I have been anticipating, waiting for the right time to publish episodes featuring a number of artists going back to fall 2023 (and I have to admit that the urge to scratch that itch is strong), and with this mini, hybrid episode, a little bit of that pressure will be released.

Beginning with our most recent interview first, we bring you an excerpt of the conversation with Tony Trischka, recorded in mid-January 2024, following his performance at the Remembering Earl concert to benefit the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, NC. Previewing his forthcoming full episode, Tony tells us here about how the public perception of the banjo has improved over the decades since he began playing the instrument, as well as his unique approach to playing it, and other players who push the envelope that he admires.

Tony Trischka’s new album Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs is one of the most innovative yet unlikely tribute albums in bluegrass music: it began with Tony receiving recordings of Earl Scruggs jamming at his Nashville home in scores of sessions which saw friends John Hartford and a slew of other greats picking and experimenting with traditional and original songs alike. Note for note, Tony meticulously recreated Earl’s banjo work on songs from these jam sessions and, with a full band, brought them to life in an impactful, new context.

Tony Trischka (photo: John Cohen)

After hearing some of Tony Trischka’s conversation, we preview our episode on Travis Book as he tells us about stepping out on his own for a decidedly rock and soul vibe on his first solo album, Love and Other Strange Emotions. And beyond that, we cannot wait to bring you interviews going back to IBMA week, with another legendary artist and banjo player Peter Wernick as well as both Stephen Mougin and Ben Wright, known first as musicians with the Sam Bush Band and Henhouse Prowlers, respectively, but also for their partnership in Dark Shadow Recording. Speaking of that music label, a band on their roster named Stillhouse Junkies played at last fall’s Albino Skunk Music Festival, where we had the chance to hear from all of its members in a lively late night conversation.

Travis Book looks to stage right in Infamous Stringdusters’ set at Carolina In The Fall in 2016

Songs heard in this episode:

“Brown’s Ferry Blues” by Tony Trischka, with Billy Strings, from Earl Jam: A Tribute To Earl Scruggs

“The Truth Is Out There” by Travis Book, from Love and Other Strange Emotions

Thank you for visiting us and giving us a listen! This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW, and to Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed out theme songs. Thanks also to the staff at the Earl Scruggs Center and for their team that put together their Remembering Earl event for all their help in making our interview with Tony Trischka possible.

This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

The Humble Genius Of Earl Scruggs

For his 99th birth anniversary, WNCW honored the late great Earl Scruggs by sharing portions of interviews with artists who knew him, broadcasting stories ranging from brief encounters in young adulthood, like Sierra Hull’s memories of Earl, on to years of friendship and collaboration with guests like John McEuen and Pete Wernick (note: Sierra Hull will also be our featured guest in her upcoming episode). These conversations were rich and deep, and helped me understand Earl Scruggs as the man in ways that were at turns surprising, but always inspiring. I asked everyone here essentially the same two questions: tell us your favorite memories or stories about Earl, and talk about his impact as an artist and how that legacy continues since he has been gone. It all adds up to three and a half hours of audio (!), and it should be no surprise that there is a ton of gold to be mined in all those conversations; here is a synopsis, a sampling of everyone’s thoughts, insights and memories. This episode hones in on the stories that reveal Earl Scruggs as a humble genius, a quiet and kind man who was in so many ways the same farm boy and mill worker from the foothills of western North Carolina even after living in a mansion in the heart of Nashville. Plus, there is plenty of talk about the genius and enduring legacy of Earl Scruggs, whose namesake lives on in the form of not only his vast catalog of recordings, his songwriting and revolutionary playing style, but also in the Earl Scruggs Center in his home county, housed in the county courthouse built in 1907 in downtown Shelby NC, as well as the Earl Scruggs Music Festival, which began in 2022 and continues on Labor Day weekend in 2023 in nearby Tryon NC. 

Earl Scruggs

In this episode we welcome Kristin Scott Benson, Travis Book, Alison Brown, Sam Bush, Jeff Hanna, Vince Herman, John McEuen, Jim Mills, Earl’s nephew J.T. Scruggs, Pete Wernick, and even my dad, who gives us a glimpse of what a Scruggs family gathering was like in the 1950s.

Songs heard in this episode:

“Earl’s Breakdown” by Flatt & Scruggs

“You Are My Flower” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, from Will the Circle Be Unbroken, excerpt

“Hot Corn Cold Corn” by Flatt and Scruggs, from Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall, excerpt

“Some Of Shelley’s Blues” by The Earl Scruggs Revue, excerpt

“Foggy Mountain Breakdown” by Flatt & Scruggs

Thanks for stopping by! Would you share this episode with someone too? It takes just a click to follow us on your podcast platform of choice, and then it will only take a minute to give it a good rating, and on platforms with the option, a review. Great ratings and reviews will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more likely to be found by more people just like you.

Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of 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 public radio 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