Ron Olesko's Folk Music Notebook

Singer-songwriter Paul Kaplan joins host Ron Olesko to discuss the re-issue of his album "King of Hearts"

Host Ron Olesko sits down with singer-songwriter Emily Scott Robinson (www.emilyscottrobinson.com) to discuss her new album _"Appalachia"_, her third album with Oh Boy Records and her fifth since beginning her career a decade ago.

Host Ron Olesko chats with Gina Coleman about her latest project, a tribute album to the"Uncrowned Queen of the Blues", Ida Cox. One of the few female blues artists of the 1920s who wrote their own songs, Ida Cox was overshadowed by her contemporaries such as Ma Rainey and Memphis Minnie. Gina is about to release the first tribute album to this important artist. Gina is the founder of the Misty Blues band, a group that recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. As well as leading the band as a vocalist and songwriter herself, Gina is a blues historian and also a podcast host. www.ginacolemanmusic.com

Ron Olesko visits with award-winning Boston singer/songwriter Terry Kitchen. Terry pares songwriting to its most essential - a voice, a guitar, a story, a glimmer of hope. Whether in concert or on record, Kitchen brings his songs to life with gentle wisdom, a sharp eye for detail, and unexpected humor. His latest album We All Dream is an intimate portrait of who we are at this critical moment, and why we all need each other. As the title song says, we may be tired and beaten up, but we keep trying, and we change the world when we all dream.

Host Ron Olesko welcomes the Canadian trio The Pairs to the show to share songs from their new album. “Together on a Rock” is the fourth album from London, Ontario-based folk trio, The Pairs. Known for their three-part harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, the group has been steadily building a name for themselves across North America’s folk scene. Over the past seven years, they've released a full-length album and two EPs, exploring different production styles and collaborations. With this latest release, they return to their folk roots with a mostly acoustic, intimate sound that puts their vocals front and center.

Host Ron Olesko sits down with Judy Kass to discuss and share songs from her latest album "New Skin". New York based singer-songwriter, Judy Kass draws in her audience with soulful vocals, no-nonsense lyrical storytelling and genre-bending exploration of guitar and piano. Her original music blends generous amounts of folk, jazz and blues with songs covering the full gamut of mood and experience. Her latest solo album release, "New Skin," is an eclectic mix of songs that speak to various aspects of navigating life during unprecedented times -- from reframing involuntary detours and moving through painful changes to poignant observations on the state of our fragmented world. "New Skin" features co-writes with renowned artists Sloan Wainwright, Glen Roethel, Dan Berggren, Jon Shain and Kellie Lin Knott.

With 14 albums in Steve’s catalog, film credits from Disney and MGM Studios, and live performances in every state, most of Europe and even Japan; Steve is equally at home in the campfire circles of the Kerrville Folk Festival or the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center. His newly released CD is a “bucket-list compilation” contains a dozen of Steve’s best songs, some written with his talented co-writers. A dream team of seasoned session players have brought the songs to life with a new level of musicality, perfectly showcasing Steve’s expressive voice.

Kemp Harris defies categorization. He is a singer and songwriter, a master weaver of American musical styles, an actor, activist, author, and story teller. He is also an award-winning educator who taught young public school students for more than 40 years. Kemp visits with host Ron Olesko to discuss and share tracks from his new album "The America Chronicles".

New Jersey singer-songwriter Carol Crittenden (www.carolcrittenden.com) joins host Ron Olesko to share songs from her long-awaited second full album,"Glimmer". After her debut album, En Route, was released in 2011, Carol announced that she was pregnant with her first (and only) child. She has since been balancing career goals and family life. Carol recorded and toured as lead singer of Four Celtic Voices with a No. 1 CD on the BillboardWorld Music Chart. She honed her songwriting at Dar Williams songwriting retreats. This last decade has brought about changes, growth, deep sorrow, and pure joy. Glimmer is a tribute to the idea that there are glimmers of light all around us, even in the darkest times.

The Twangtown Paramours (www.twangtownparamours.com) visit with Ron Olesko to discuss and share tracks from their new album "The Wind Will Change Again". The Twangtown Paramours are an award-winning husband and wife Soulful Folk duo from Nashville. They are three time Kerrville finalists and and winners of Texas’s Wildflower Contest. Recently, other artists have started to record their songs. Lead singer, MaryBeth Zamer used to sing background vocals for Eva Cassidy. Writer, producer, and guitar player, Mike Lewis is the author of a #1 platinum selling hit in Korea and sometimes plays upright bass for Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Jim Bowers discusses his book "The Man in the Gold Lame Suit", a biography of Phi Ochs. Host: Ron Olesko

Host Ron Olesko sits down with Neale Eckstein to discuss and sample tracks from Neale's new album "Never Too Late". Neale Eckstein has been chasing music his entire life. He started playing guitar with two friends in his basement when the Peter, Paul and Mary album came out. By the time he was in college, he was playing in rock cover bands, but still revered the singer/songwriter genre. He wore out vinyl by Tom Rush, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor. (In the “pinch me, how did this happen?”, he became good friends with both Noel Paul Stookey and Tom Rush). Neale became a pediatric dentist, but never lost his love for the singer-songwriter genre. With his wife Laurie, they hosted the Fox Run Concerts series in their home for over 20 years. His interest in recording, photography and video led to a professional recording studio setup in his basement. Neale has produced many albums for others in his Fox Run Studio. Realizing he was about to celebrate his 75th birthday and had never released a solo album, he asked his good friends in his writing group Fox Run Five if they would help him get it done they gladly agreed. It’s Never Too Late.

Host Ron Olesko visits with Heather Pierson (www.heatherpierson.com) to discuss and share songs from her new album "Back to the Light".Heather Pierson is a singer/songwriter, pianist, songleader, and performer with a passion for cultivating joy, both onstage and off. Her live performances feature her ease at the piano and her bell-tone voice that Americana Highways says ‘sounds like timeless wind moving slowly through the trees.’ Heather’s latest album, Back To The Light, was recorded ’live on the floor’ in Portland, ME with her trio—bassist Shawn Nadeau and drummer Craig Bryan—and pulsates throughout with the grooves of New Orleans, the beauty of Appalachia, and Sunday-go-to-meeting celebration.

Jennifer Roe, Executive Director of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org) sits down with Ron Olesko to discuss the role of FAI in growing and perpetuating the folk community. Plans for the 2025 International conference as well as future conference locations are discussed, along with the challenges facing the folk music world in 2024.

Folksinger Rik Paleri (www.rikpalieri.com) joins host Ron Olesko for a discussion about Rik's latest album "Hands of Time", featuring 10 original songs and one traditional song, a project that developed from Rik's exploration of the roots of country music.

Host Ron Olesko welcomes singer-songwriter Teni Rane(www.tenirane.com) to TRADITIONS to talk about her new album. Inspired by the stories of everyday life, Teni Rane is a folk-country singer-songwriter with a vintage vocal edge and a knack for capturing ordinary scenes in a way that is at once specific and widely relatable. Comfortable in everything from overalls to full-body sequins, Rane isn’t afraid to explore musical territory and synthesizes vocal and sonic influences into her own brand of country-infused, Americana-folk-pop with a jazzy vocal lean that feels simultaneously familiar and brand new. 2024 sees her offer her first full length album to the world. Releasing in early August, listeners will find familiar a few of the tunes that were leading singles for the album in 2023, including the title track, “Goldenrod.” Taking shape at a time in Rane’s life when everything seemed to be up for re-negotiation, the arc of the album focuses on what it means to allow change to influence a life without eradicating the individual. Inspired by the shoulder season “as the summer fades into fall,” each track has a reflective bent that calls attention to the lessons, both cruel and kind, that are learned simply by looking around.

Founder and lead singer of the band Misty Blues, Gina Coleman (www.mistybluesband.com), visits with host Ron Olesko to discuss the groups new album "I'm Too Old For Games: A Live Tribute to Odetta". The album is the second installment in the live Odetta tribute recordings the band has captured. In a perfect bit of timing it doubles as a celebration of Odetta's recent induction both the Blues Hall of Fame and The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame!

Howard Fields, drummer for the Harry Chapin Band, visits with Ron Olesko to discuss his years working with Chapin and the reunited band and their new concerts with the Chapin Family - Tom and Steve Chapin, the Chapin Sisters and Jen Chapin.

Stella Prince visits with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from her latest EP "Dear Future Me". “No one sings like Stella Prince,” says Grammy-winning producer and steel guitarist Steve Fishell (Dolly Parton, John Prine, Mavis Staples). “I was transported the first time I heard her and I bet you will be too.” Self-produced, Stella recorded a handful of songs for her Dear Future Me EP live at the legendary Sound Stage Studios where she worked with Fishell. Described by Nashville Scene as the artist “carrying the banner for a new generation of folk musicians”, Stella’s goal is to bring folk music to a new generation, describing her sound as “Gen Z Folk”. She recently made history as the youngest performer at this year’s Tin Pan South.

Phil Dodgers, a London-based singer and acoustic guitarist with the band The Men They Couldn't Hang visits with Ron Olesko to discuss and share songs from his new album "Far Rockaway: The Songs of Phil Ochs", recorded with John Kettle(Merry Hell).The album presents 11 songs which particularly resonated with Phil Dodgers on one level or another. It’s a mixture of politically themed and some of Och’s more personal or introspective songs - ones that Phil Ochs,perhaps, less widely known for. Originally aired on WFDU-FM and www.FolkMusicNotebook.com on April 14, 2024