Did you know that almost three thousand years ago, before there were athletic competitions at the first Olympics, there were music competitions at Delphi in Greece, with contestants singing hymns to Apollo? Or that, in the late 19th century in America, John Philip Sousa protégé Bohumir Kryl's Bohemian Band was frequently seen on the Chautauqua circuit, and featured four husky timpanists in leather aprons hammering on anvils shooting sparks across the darkened stage? These early festivals set the stage for music festivals today, which are doing quite well overall, having recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and surpassing the level of success before the worldwide shutdown on the whole. In this episode, we trace the origins of music festivals like the Pythian Games to modern day festivals like the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, where Jimi Hendrix famously lit his guitar on fire, and small roots music festivals like the Albino Skunk Music Festival. We welcome music artists Shelby Means, Joel Timmons, Liam Purcell, Mac Leaphart and Ian George, as well as Albino Skunk staffers Peter Eisenbrown, Kristen Grissom and Thieme Hall, who give us their insights into festival culture, their best and worst moments on stage and at festivals, as well as the first music festivals they attended. Site of the Pythian Games in Greece (photo: greeka.com) Cover art for The Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at Monterey Songs heard in this episode:“Wild Thing” by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, from Live at Monterey“Calamity Jane” by Shelby Means Trio, performed live at the Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25“Soldier’s Heart” by Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25, excerptPeter Eisenbrown introduction of Fellow Pynins into Fellow Pynins performance at The Albino Skunk Music Festival, 10/03/25, excerptThank you for listening, and we hope you can spread awareness of this endeavor and help us reach more music fans just like yourself. Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. It makes a big impact on the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts. This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. - Joe Kendrick

It is interesting to compare and contrast the genres of rock and roll with old time and string band music. In some ways, string bands can be more raw and intense than rock bands. No bridges. Odd tunings. Dancing to exhaustion. Music made for intimate social gatherings versus music made for the wide world. The stereotypes of old time musicians being country bumpkins have not been entirely erased, however our guests in this episode are making music that reveals how deep and refreshing that wellspring of what was the first original music export of America can be in a new context. Taking the intricacy and edge of old time, string band music and marrying that with the punch and strut of indie rock, we arrive at a hybrid, a musical animal that sings a song seldom heard in the roots music world. As Justin Osborne pointed out, “It's just been so fun and really educational for me too, because I think coming from the indie rock world, I underestimated what it was going to require of me to be able to hang. And I just, it's one of those things you don't realize how much you don't know. But it's been really enjoyable lessons in humility for me and really fun to learn, and to continue to realize how much I don't know.” Justin, of the Austin-based indie rock band SUSTO may never sound the same again after teaming up with Appalachian acoustic troubadours Clint Robinson and Jackson Grimm of Holler Choir, and they are soon to return with Volume 2 from their project SUSTO Stringband. In this episode, we get to hear from Justin, Jackson and Clint about their rock and string band amalgamation, the importance of strong songwriting, the joys of live performance, the advantages of playing festival shows and more, with music from both SUSTO Stringband and Holler Choir along the way. SUSTO Stringband Songs heard in this episode:“Rooster” by SUSTO Stringband, from SUSTO Stringband Volume 1“Friends, Lovers, Ex-lovers: Whatever” by SUSTO Stringband, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/02/25, excerpt“Tell My Blues” by SUSTO Stringband, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/02/25, excerpt“Hamlet Blues” by Holler Choir, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/02/25Thank you for listening, and we hope you can spread awareness of this endeavor and help us reach more music fans just like yourself. Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. It makes a big impact on the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts. This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. - Joe Kendrick

Chalk this one up to making myself do something when I was not sure I had it in me. Have you accomplished something even though you were not feeling it that day? I bet you have. And I bet that you, too, benefited from having willed yourself into action. This episode is one of those examples for me. After a full day of interviewing artists and staff at the fall 2025 Albino Skunk Music Festival, I was ready for bed, but I gathered up just enough resolve to wait past midnight to interview The Ruen Brothers. It was the first interview I have conducted that late — the time stamp on the audio file of our conversation reads 1:37AM — but it was well worth it. I hope you agree upon hearing this episode. The Ruen Brothers perform at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 11/03/25Photo: Flash Thompson Songs heard in this episode:“Cabin on the Hill” by The Ruen Brothers, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25“Desert Showers” by The Ruen Brothers, from Awooo, excerpt“Bonfire” by The Ruen Brothers, from Awooo, excerpt“Unknown” by The Ruen Brothers, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25, excerpt“Secret Agent Man” by The Ruen Brothers, performed live at The Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25Thank you for listening, and we hope you can spread awareness of this endeavor and help us grow. Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. It makes a big impact on the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts. This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. - Joe Kendrick

Back in 2018, when this podcast was in its first year, I traveled to Burlington, NC, to interview the Charlotte by way of Elkin, NC band Time Sawyer. Since then, my path has intersected with Sam Tayloe and his band Time Sawyer many times, ranging from seeing them perform more shows and festivals, to emceeing for the Reevestock Festival in Sam’s hometown of Elkin. Time never stands still, even for (especially?) the band Time Sawyer. Reevestock took a final bow in 2024; the band changed out guitarists and said goodbye to their banjo player and founding member; the city of Elkin went forward with Sam’s help to expand the concept and footprint of Reevestock with this year’s inaugural Milltown Get Down festival. There was a lot of ground to cover since I last spoke with him, so I took a sojourn to Charlotte to catch up with Sam Tayloe at his home. We had an in-depth conversation about producing festivals, his passion for community and building bridges, the evolution of Time Sawyer, and more, including music from the band’s new live album. This episode stands out for all that and for the fact that it is hosted and produced by Molly Mattox, a student at Isothermal Community College in Spindale, NC. Molly took my class on media performance, which includes a podcast assignment. She chose this interview for her podcast, and did a great job. It is not easy to produce an episode of this podcast, even for me, but she grasped the concept, spirit, and tone of the series in — pardon the pun — no time. Photos by Daniel Coston Photography Songs heard in this episode:"Julie” by Time Sawyer, from Plumb Live at the Cock and Bull“The Boxer” by Time Sawyer, from Plumb Live at the Cock and Bull, excerpt“210 (It’s Over)” by Time Sawyer, from Plumb Live at the Cock and Bull, excerpt“Noah Got Nothing” by Time Sawyer, from Plumb Live at the Cock and Bull, excerpt“Oak and Pine” by Time Sawyer, from Plumb Live at the Cock and Bull We are glad you are here! Could you can help spread awareness of what we are doing? It is as easy as telling a friend and following this podcast on your platform of choice. You can find us on Apple here, Spotify here and YouTube here — hundreds more episodes await, filled with artists you may know by name, or musicians and bands that are ready to become your next favorites.You can follow us on social media: @southstories on Instagram, at Southern Songs and Stories on Facebook, and now on Substack here, where you can read the scripts of these podcasts, and get updates on what we are doing and planning in our quest to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. - Joe Kendrick

Regular listeners of this series will know that there is a certain festival that is near and dear to my heart, the Albino Skunk Music Festival. It is an event that insiders love passionately, and outsiders often puzzle over. What an unusual name! What an unlikely and often under-the-radar roster of artists! As I have said many times before in introducing the festival to a newcomer, I had long been a skeptic before setting foot on the property, at which point it took only minutes to realize that not only would I return to that festival; I would always return to it. As we enter the winter season, we are about as far away from festival season as one can get. But festivals are a year round endeavor -- practically all the spring and early summer festivals next year are already booked, and are rolling out their artist lineups in stages as they promote their events. Usually that means a headliner or a first volley of artists and bands announced in fall and winter, followed by one or two more updates which fill in the rest of the blanks. There is a ton of work going on right now for festivals happening next fall, and onwards to the following year. The teams that plan and staff these events never really have down periods. Even immediately after a festival ends, they go over what went right, what went wrong, what could be improved for next time, and then fill their calendar with meeting dates, dates when ticket prices go from early bird to full price, dates when they make marketing pushes, dates when they have to have new logos and merchandise, you name it. We will focus a lot on festivals here on Southern Songs and Stories over the coming months, beginning with this episode on the California band Wolf Jett. Soon, we will bring you a conversation from Time Sawyer front man and Milltown Get Down festival’s Sam Tayloe. Also in our cue is a band that I got to sit with at Milltown Get Down in Elkin, NC, which was one that I got to enjoy at both Albino Skunk Music Festival and the Earl Scruggs Music Festival beforehand -- western NC’s Holler Choir. Chris Jones of Wolf Jett performs at the Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25 Songs heard in this episode:“Straight Back To You” by Wolf Jett, from Letting Go“Nothin’ But Trouble” by Wolf Jett, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25, excerpt“Feel the Way I Feel” by Wolf Jett, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25, excerpt“Letting Go” by Wolf Jett, live at Albino Skunk Music Festival 10/03/25Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. It makes a big impact on the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts. This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed. - Joe Kendrick