Back in 2017, I envisioned Southern Songs and Stories as a video documentary series, and pitched our pilot episode on Aaron Burdett to public television. Following Aaron’s episode, I profiled Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, and made another go with video when I attended my first Albino Skunk Music Festival that spring, and sat with the Jon Stickley Trio.

The video documentary series dream did not materialize, however, and I pivoted to audio. Even though the video of the Jon Stickley Trio did not see the light of day, the audio did, and it launched this podcast series in October 2017. With the current chapter of Southern Songs and Stories soon coming to a close, I thought that it would be perfect to end where we began, and sit with Jon Stickley at the Albino Skunk farm in the rolling countryside of Greer, SC to deliver this conversation where we touch on his Trio as well as a new collaboration with Larry Keel, his Chords For Callum charity, and teaching the guitar. I will get my first guitar lesson from Jon on this very podcast, so that should be worth a listen just by itself!

It has been a marvelous nine year run. Let’s go out with a twang.

Jon Stickley Trio: (L to R) Lyndsay Pruett, Jon Stickley, Hunter Deacon

If you can make it as a professional musician in Austin, that is saying something. And if you can make it in Nashville, New Orleans, and also New York, that is saying something in all caps. Seth Walker has made it in all of the above locales. Making it as a professional musician in all of those iconic music scenes is not only impressive, but it also requires playing a variety of styles that sync with each city’s musical tastes. With his 12th album, Why the Worry, Seth Walker shows off what he has learned (and unlearned) from all of those years gigging and recording with a who’s who of roots music luminaries.

In recent years, he has called western North Carolina home, which is not terribly far from his childhood home in a Quaker commune, a couple hundred miles to the east in Burlington. That is where his music journey began, and is the place which serves as the backdrop to his forthcoming novella, about a young girl on a tobacco farm. I imagine Seth Walker may even make some paintings to go along with that story, as he is also an accomplished visual artist.

Seth is as laid back as he is intriguing, and we enjoyed a relaxed conversation at his home in Fairview, NC, nestled in the Appalachian mountains. Joining us was WNCW intern Elena Dickson, who hosted our recent episode on fellow western NC artist Sally Anne Morgan. We spoke about Seth’s musical past and present, ranging from his love of jump blues to how an inspired take of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” set the wheels in motion for his latest album, to how Hurricane Helene very nearly left it in a ditch. All that and more, including music from Why the Worry, awaits you in this podcast.

Seth Walker poses with his Waterloo acoustic guitar

Songs heard in this episode:

“Why the Worry” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry

“Magnolia” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry, excerpt

“Take Me to the River” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry, excerpt

“Strollin’ With Bones” by T-Bone Walker, excerpt

“Up on the Mountain” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry

Thank you for dropping by! We hope 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.

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. 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.

Thanks to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This episode features WNCW intern Elena Dickson, who co-produced the episode, and took part in Seth’s interview.

- Joe Kendrick

If you can make it as a professional musician in Austin, that is saying something. And if you can make it in Nashville, New Orleans, and also New York, that is saying something in all caps. Seth Walker has made it in all of the above locales. Making it as a professional musician in all of those iconic music scenes is not only impressive, but it also requires playing a variety of styles that sync with each city’s musical tastes. With his 12th album, Why the Worry, Seth Walker shows off what he has learned (and unlearned) from all of those years gigging and recording with a who’s who of roots music luminaries.

In recent years, he has called western North Carolina home, which is not terribly far from his childhood home in a Quaker commune, a couple hundred miles to the east in Burlington. That is where his music journey began, and is the place which serves as the backdrop to his forthcoming novella, about a young girl on a tobacco farm. I imagine Seth Walker may even make some paintings to go along with that story, as he is also an accomplished visual artist.

Seth is as laid back as he is intriguing, and we enjoyed a relaxed conversation at his home in Fairview, NC, nestled in the Appalachian mountains. Joining us was WNCW intern Elena Dickson, who hosted our recent episode on fellow western NC artist Sally Anne Morgan. We spoke about Seth’s musical past and present, ranging from his love of jump blues to how an inspired take of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” set the wheels in motion for his latest album, to how Hurricane Helene very nearly left it in a ditch. All that and more, including music from Why the Worry, awaits you in this podcast.

Seth Walker

Songs heard in this episode:

“Why the Worry” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry

“Magnolia” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry, excerpt

“Take Me to the River” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry, excerpt

“Strollin’ With Bones” by T-Bone Walker, excerpt

“Up on the Mountain” by Seth Walker, from Why the Worry

Thank you for dropping by! We hope 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.

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. 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.

Thanks to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs. This episode features WNCW intern Elena Dickson, who co-produced the episode, and took part in Seth’s interview.

- Joe Kendrick