Martin Anderson
Music Director & HostEschewing his mother’s taste for easy listening music early on, Martin Anderson was raised on his dad’s love for jazz, his brother’s Beatles/classic rock LP’s, and the bluegrass and Top 40 radio of the D.C. area. He began volunteering for the University of Delaware’s WXDR/WVUD eclectic overnight and morning mixes in 1989. Upon graduating with an American History degree, he moved to Eugene, Oregon, he spent the 90’s working in natural foods, environmental causes, and above all, public radio. He hosted various folk, world, Triple-A, and other shows at KLCC, and started a “Miles of Bluegrass” show at KRVM.
After two years working underwriting sales and various music and public affairs programs at KHSU in Arcata, CA, Martin joined WNCW in 2001 as your weekday morning host. He loves interviewing the many talented musicians who come to Studio B, stretching out with the many styles ‘NCW embraces, and reflecting listener requests, events of the day, and our beautiful Southern Appalachian landscape. As Music Director, he books our live sessions, and keeps in touch with the record labels and promoters that send us new music. When not at the station, he enjoys gardening, hiking, traveling, history, and raising his daughter on good music and more.
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Befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music, Mike Compton is a Grammy and IBMA Award-winning mandolinist, composer, singer, arranger and teacher. His mastery of Monroe’s genre-bending style has been featured on recordings with a wide range of performers — from rock stars Sting, Gregg Allman and Elvis Costello – to more traditional bluegrass and old-time music artists such as John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, David Grisman, Norman Blake, Doc Watson and Peter Rowan. Laura Boosinger began her banjo career at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, under the tutelage of renowned musician David Holt. She is a student and teacher of Appalachian Music and Studies playing with the Luke Smathers Band, David Holt and the Lightning Bolts and the Midnight Plowboys. She has collaborated with musicians across the spectrum – from George Shuffler, guitarist and bass player for the Stanley Brothers, to Josh Goforth, one of her early students who has made a well-deserved name for himself in the world of Bluegrass. Mike and Laura have a new album under the name “The Knackered Ramblers”, and are performing at the new Burke Arts Council’s venue in Morganton on Saturday 20th. -
Peak of the WeekLake Street Dive singer Rachael Price and guitarist/songwriter Vilray Bolles have their 3rd collaboration out, and this time it’s an out-of-time vision of their beloved New York City, inspired by Vilray’s recent fascination with classic musicals. Recorded at Sear Sound in New York City, West of Broadway features saxophonist Steve Wilson (Chick Corea’s Origin sextet) and drummer John Riley (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie). Comedian and late-night TV host Stephen Colbert, a longtime fan, also appears on the album version of “Off Broadway.” “There’s so much imagery in the lyrics,” says Price. “I think a fun way to listen to the record would be to go for a walk and let the songs play out like a little movie in your mind.” -
Recorded live at New York City’s Power Station with longtime collaborator Dom Monks, the album captures the energy of Big Thief’s communal sessions. Over three winter weeks, the band — joined by friends and fellow musicians including Alena Spanger, Caleb Michel, Hannah Cohen, Jon Nellen, Joshua Crumbly, June McDoom, Laraaji, Mikel Patrick Avery, and Mikey Buishas — created together in long improvisatory stretches, tracking simultaneously and leaving minimal overdubs. "[‘Words'] is one of the best songs in Big Thief’s oeuvre, catchy and memorable from first play, and it would have been brilliant even in an unplugged setting. But Mr. Monks’s studio tweaking elevates it further, injecting an extra dose of dreaminess into Ms. Lenker’s tale of searching for meaning through language.” -
In 1925, the small town of Mountain City, tucked into the northeast corner of Tennessee in Johnson County, hosted what turned out to be an iconic fiddler’s convention. As producer John McCutcheon writes, “Seems like everyone was there: Fiddlin’ John Carson, Uncle Am Stuart, Clarence Ashley, GB Grayson, the Hill Billies, the Fiddlin’ Powers Family, and more. The photograph taken that day makes it look like the Woodstock of early country music.” McCutcheon and others wanted to commemorate the centennial anniversary of this event with this new collection, which features Stuart Duncan, Tim O’Brien, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bruce Molsky, and Mountain City native Kody Norris. -
The eldest son of Muddy Waters is back with another album steeped in the electric Chicago blues tradition he was literally raised on. The three-time Blues Music Awards nominee released his first album in 2008. -
Otis Gibbs is a songwriter, storyteller, painter, photographer, and planter of 7,176 trees. He once wrestled a bear and lost. He’s been called “the best unknown songwriter in music today,” but if you ask him, he’ll just say he’s a folksinger. The Trust Of Crows, his tenth studio album, was recorded at the iconic Columbia Studio A in Nashville, where Bob Dylan made Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. It’s been closed to the public for decades, but Otis was given permission to record there. “Gibbs has been likened to everyone from Guthrie to Springsteen – but his is the rare voice that stands on its own.” (Esquire) -
“Eight and a half years separated Total Freedom and its predecessor, Voyageur, so the five years between albums for Kathleen Edwards now feels like the blink of an eye. For her new one, Billionaire, the Ottawa musician teamed up with producers Jason Isbell and Gena Johnson for 10 tracks of chugging rock and razor-sharp songwriting.” -Pitchfork -
September 12th sees the release of Shawn Camp’s The Ghost of Sis Draper, which features 10 songs co-written by Camp and the late Guy Clark, as well as one solo Clark composition. All of the songs are centered around their famous character, immortalized in the song you may already be familiar with (we featured one of the variations of the title track for “New Tunes at 2” last week). We’re looking forward to seeing Shawn at the Earl Scruggs Music Festival coming up this weekend, both with his Earls of Leicester (he sings Lester Flatt’s part) and with another of Clark’s frequent collaborators, Verlon Thompson. -
Over 50 years! That’s how long Ray Benson and his band Asleep at the Wheel have been together in Texas, continuously finding that balance between preserving the original magic of Western swing while freshening it up with each new album and personnel change. As a result, they remain the most important force in keeping the sound of Western swing alive. They’re celebrating with an extra-big emphasis on their love for the Lone Star State here, with help from folks like Billy Strings and (fellow Texan) Lyle Lovett. -
Peak of the WeekHayes crafts songs that allow us to take a good look at ourselves – the good, the bad, and even the absurd – through his character narratives and sage perspectives. On his tenth album (release date August 8th on Thirty Tigers), Carll turns the mirror back on himself for the most deeply introspective, reflective work he has created to date. "Like John Prine, Carll has a clever, concise style of communicating serious concepts, frequently through dark humor, displaying world-weary truths underneath wry lyrics." (American Songwriter).
