Episode Twenty Two

Tre. Charles is a North Carolina-based musician. Growing up along the East Coast from city to city, he was exposed to a myriad of different cultures, and it is from these experiences that he has cultivated a sound of his own which pays homage to his nomadic upbringing. With hints of avant-garde R&B, modern/indie rock, and ambient soul, Charles’ honest & thought provoking music has the ability to make every performance feel like a transformative experience. Tre. has acquired many cosigners along his artistic journey, one of which being the world renowned guitar company D’Angelico Guitars, who he is now endorsed by as an official artist.

He has also been nominated for the Best R&B artist for the Carolina Music Awards and winner of the Virginia’s Favorite Award at the Richmond International Film Festival, as well as dubbed the future of music at the 2022 NXNE music festival in Toronto. His lead single Stressin. music video amassed 200k+ YouTube streams and gathered major buzz, as well as his debut EP Currently., from publications such as NPR, INDY Week, Wearesoul, Iggy Mag, Metal Mag, Wonderland magazine, Notion magazine, Rated R&B and many more.

Discussed: art as ecosystem, growing with those around you, genre-crossing and defying creative expectations, accessibility in the art world, and the desire for expression in the South.

Episode Twenty One

KB Brookins is a Black, queer, and trans writer, cultural worker, and artist from Texas. Their work is featured in Poets.org, HuffPost, Poetry Magazine, Teen Vogue, RichesArt Gallery, American Poetry Review, Oxford American, Electric Literature, Okayplayer, and many other places. Their chapbook How To Identify Yourself with a Wound won the Saguaro Poetry Prize and was named an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book in Literature. KB’s debut full-length poetry collection Freedom House has been recommended by Vogue, Autostraddle, Ms. Magazine, and others.

Currently, KB is a National Endowment of the Arts fellow; MFA candidate at The University of Texas at Austin; Poet-in-Residence at Civil Rights Corps; and at work on their debut installation art project Freedom House: An Exhibition. They have earned fellowships from PEN America, Lambda Literary, and The Watering Hole among others. KB’s poem “Good Grief” won the Academy of American Poets 2022 Treehouse Climate Action Poem Prize. Their debut memoir Pretty (Alfred A. Knopf) releases in 2024.

Discussed: disaster and climate, the role of Texas in the modern South, mythology, the radical power of reimagining, Afrofuturism, the art of lurking, and finding hope in the most difficult of times.

Episode Twenty

From his early days drumming in The Comas, John has grown into a consummate veteran of the North Carolina scene. Between stints as co-songwriter and bandleader in North Elementary, he’s carved out a prolific visual arts portfolio, and regularly shows in galleries around the Triangle. As one of three founders of the collective label, Potluck Foundation, he helps shepherd a far reaching community of musicians who consistently turn out quality releases.

If that wasn’t enough to keep one person busy, he’s also recently taken a swan dive into improvisational electronic music as one half of Tacoma Park. Yet, like some kind of time warping wizard, John regularly manages to turn out releases as Jphono1 both solo and with his pals. It is in these two modes that John Harrison explores his sonic space. At once as a solo astronaut galloping on horseback through some stellar landscape, and also as the leader of a crew of heady pirates sailing dusty vinyl seas.

Discussed: the difference between being open and being vulnerable, the lore of the loblolly pine, how to navigate working in community, redefining labels, and passing down what was passed on to you.

Episode Nineteen

Two-time Grammy® Award Winners, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are an eclectic folk festival on their own terms. They have entertained the Queen of Thailand, been keynote singers for the AFL-CIO, performed at hundreds of folk festivals, appeared on the "Today Show" and on National Public Radio.

Their superb harmonies are backed by instrumental virtuosity on the guitar, five-string banjo, ukulele, mandolin, cello-banjo, and many other instruments. Their eclectic repertoire includes classic country to western swing, Django style jazz to old-time stringband and bluegrass, contemporary folk and original gems. While their versatility defies a brief description, perhaps “well rounded Americana” does it best.

In their 40 years performing together, the Washington Area Music Association has recognized Cathy & Marcy with over 60 WAMMY Awards for folk, bluegrass and children’s music. They have performed with Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, Tom Paxton, Patsy Montana, Riders in the Sky and a wide range of musical luminaries. As curators, performers and hosts, Cathy & Marcy have MC’d festivals, curated concert series and collaborated with a wide variety of musicians.

Cathy & Marcy have toured worldwide from Japan to New Zealand, Vancouver to New York and everywhere in between. Shows include the The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (OH), Smithsonian Institution, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. American Voices Abroad chose Cathy & Marcy with fiddler Barbara Lamb to perform in China, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu in 2013 for the U.S. Department of State.

Discussed: finding your footing in folk music, breaking down stereotypes through creative practice, how the arts inform our culture, the role of the activist, and passing the baton into the future.

Episode Eighteen

Hubble Salgado is a musician who makes solo music under the name Fresh Air 4. Based in Nashville, Tennessee he creates his folky electronic music in the comforts of his living quarters on his humble analog setup. He finds inspiration from his family, friends, city, and the nature surrounding Nashville.

Discussed: the spirituality of the everyday, the color green, making odd art, finding inspiration in the natural world, paying attention, and the art—and joy—of being just a regular guy.

Episode Seventeen

Musician Matt Southern was born in Jackson, Michigan and relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010. He soon began releasing solo records under the name Magpie Feast. In 2013 Magpie Feast became a full band and a staple of the local live music scene. They released several albums until they disbanded in 2017. Since then Matt began releasing records as a solo artist and with his band Matt Southern & Lost Gold. Through these various projects he has always remained productive, releasing 23 records (LPs and EPs) and various singles and one off projects.

Discussed: side projects, musical roots, viewing yourself as a conduit, leaning into community, discovering new voices, and connecting all the dots.

Episode Sixteen

The Violet Exploit is a 5-person Indie Alternative-Rock band that started in January of 2022. The band is local to Southern Pines, North Carolina and together they bring eclectic tastes and timeless yet timely sensibilities to their original music.

Discussed: the importance of local gathering spots, maintaining authenticity, small-town arts communities, the changing of places over time, choosing home— and choosing to stay.

Episode Fifteen

Jesse Barber is a documentary photographer based in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. His work focuses on the culture of rural communities and the influence of traditional values, such as those related to labor and religion. Raised in the rural South, Barber has an understanding of the nuanced perspective in small communities, and he seeks to expand our understanding of how religion, labor and history intersect with the land today. His work has been published in outlets such as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and has won countless awards. A graduate student of Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University, Jesse also works with SouthArts on documentary, fieldwork, and ethnographic projects.

Discussed: Appalachian culture and history, what to do with the foothills, countering stereotypes of the rural, self-reflection through art, and the inherent resistance of owning who you are.

Episode Fourteen

Ida Floreak is a painter living in New Orleans, LA. Her work deals with ecological anxieties paired with reverence for the natural world. She explores what it means to be human in a time of ecological disaster, where to find hope and our place in the recovery, as well as the universal human trait of worship. Drawing from a classical tradition with influences in the Italian Renaissance and medieval reliquaries, Ida examines the importance of acknowledging a world and systems greater than oneself, and finding the sacred in the smallest artifacts of nature.

Discussed: ecological collapse, paying attention, opening your mind through the power of art, the myth and magic of New Orleans, and finding reverence in the natural world.

Episode Thirteen

Jackson Chambers, often referred to as “The Bard”, is an up-and-coming queer folk musician; originally hailing from the Mobile-Tensaw delta, they're currently based out of Auburn, in part due to their anthropology degree requirements.

Raised in the hot morning dew of southern Alabama yard sales and the powered-sugar dusted walls of their family’s bakery, The Bard makes music to satisfy an eclectic mind. Starting in high-school as the frontman for what was “effectively a shitty Green Day/Misfits cover band”, the Bard is a completely self-taught musician. Despite no formal training, the Bard has wasted no time in exercising their artistic muscles. Fans of lo-fi outsider musicians and folk-punk-revivalists will appreciate their carefully-crafted lyrics and occasional off-key yelps, while the old-time fogeys (and fogeys-at-heart) will enjoy their library of Americana standards.

While a country-goth by trade, the Bard is hard-pressed to stick to a genre for long, incorporating a diverse menagerie of weird instruments and deep-cut tributes. Their high and lonesome tone, alongside their frantic, flamenco-punk guitar playing make them an instant favorite for many new fans. Their newest EP, “the patron saint of something” is available on streaming services everywhere, and they can often be found busking on weekends in downtown Auburn, digging through dusty thrift stores, or on the airwaves of WEGL 91.1 FM, Auburn’s student-run radio station. Overall, they're very glad to make your acquaintance, and hope to see you again soon, ya hear?

Discussed: folklore history, mutual reciprocity, community building in the arts, traditions of folk & americana in music, and learning to truly live in a place.

Episode Twelve

As we reflect back on the last eleven (!) episodes of the podcast, Vic thought it would be fun to reverse the roles and interview me (Spencer). Then, of course, the Moore County attacks happened, and it wouldn’t have felt right to me not to discuss the situation, which still continues to unfold. We begin today’s episode with a reflection on what happened and how we got here, before the tables flip on me to discuss the past, present, and future of Good Folk. This is a conversation about my own journey into this work, one that is also intimately connected to my own biases, healing, and unlearning. It’s about finding meaning in what you do, even when some days it’s the last thing you feel like showing up for. It’s about loneliness and community, and feeling as though you are the only possible one in the world who thinks like this, who hurts like this, who loves like this. Of course, that’s never the case, but it’s almost impossible to understand that in the moment.

If anything, I hope this newsletter reminds you of that. We are all just hands reaching out through the darkness for another to grasp.

Discussed: the Moore County substation attacks, community support, the joy and difficulty of life in rural spaces, and the past and future of Good Folk.

Episode Eleven

Established in the Shenandoah Valley, Palmyra’s set explores the fusion of traditional folk string instruments, three part harmonies and foot percussion.

The trio captures the collective spirit of three Virginia natives, Teddy (he/him), Manoa (he/him), and Sasha (they/them), often described as a distant cousin of the progressive folk band, Punch Brothers, mixed with elements of Oliver Wood or the Avett Brothers. Palmyra’s songs are intimate and contemplative, with arrangements that allow them to create the illusion of a full, larger-than-three ensemble. The trio's sound is a nod to Appalachia and Midwestern Americana, apparent through their stirring craftsmanship and dedication to a folk-driven, innovative experience throughout each live performance.

In 2022, Palmyra made their Newport Folk Festival debut, were named the FloydFest 2022 On The Rise Winner, and performed over 150 tour dates on acclaimed stages up and down the east coast, including a support tour with national headlining act, Illiterate Light. Currently, they are gearing up for a new round of shows in the new year and settling into their new home base of Richmond, Virginia.

Discussed: finding common language through music, drawing inspiration from your roots, meeting yourself where you are, taking the leap to pursue art, and trusting in the good folks of the road.

Episode Ten

723 is a genre bending music collective from the North Carolina piedmont. The group was founded by “Space Sam” Gabriel Alvarez (the groups multi-instrumentalist producer) Tramaine Bowman (poet and guitarist) and former theater kid and vocalist Maxx Alvarez. The collective came to fruition after inducting the brotherly duo Brandon and Brian Finch, the group’s bassist and drummer respectively. With the band complete, the group had found new direction and set out to record their debut project “BRIGHT LIGHTS” a nearly year long effort that would prove to be ambitious for the budding musicians.

Recorded on a shoe string budget and led in creative direction by the group’s in house producer and lead guitarist Sam, it’s a considerable step into new territory for the band. It features textures and sound scapes of all kinds. From the mangled and fuzzed out psychedelia of “WILLOW CREEK”, or the vulnerable and hauntingly cathartic cello movements of “LYFE” or the danceable funky rhythms and trombone featured on Latin inspired song “EYES” the project is truly genre defying, it’s tracks perfectly incapsulating the spirit of 723.

Today the band is back in the kitchen recording their sophomore EP and debut project for the group’s star vocalist and songwriter prodigy Maxx. 

Discussed: starting a band rooted in collectivity, the importance of collaboration across difference, friendship in creative practice, finding passion, and believing in what you offer to the world.

Episode Nine

Liz Maker is a full time landscaper and part-time florist living in coastal North Carolina. Liz started their floral business After The Bloom in the fall of 2020 after receiving much community support to help fund their top surgery.

This success sparked a desire to help other members of the gender-expansive community on their gender journey. Through After The Bloom, Liz has bought binders, helped pay tuition, and most recently ran a gender-affirming surgery campaign which involved a GoFundMe and community-wide raffle. Liz is transgender non-binary, but feels most connected to the word genderqueer. Liz uses they/them pronouns, Colgate toothpaste and a Nissan Frontier.

Discussed: the agriculture industry, queer representation, dried flowers to fund top surgery, creating safe community spaces, and learning to bloom into the person you needed when you were younger.

Episode Eight

Sol Ramirez is a 19-year-old artist, activist, musician, and puppeteer. Throughout his young career, he has worked with Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins, the Hillsborough Arts Council and Orange County Arts Commission, and is the creator and director of 1, 2, 3 Puppetry, a puppet theatre company based in Chapel Hill, NC. He currently is attending school at the University of Connecticut where he is majoring in the Puppet Arts BFA program.

Discussed: the historical and modern field of puppetry, using your art as a form of activism, starting your own production company as a student, and why good art requires good community.

Episode Seven

Skylar Simmons is an artist and zine creator from Clinton, North Carolina. Throughout high school and summers home from college, she created various public works for the city, ranging from murals and sculptures to a painted community piano. Skylar attended the North Carolina Governor’s School for art, which greatly influenced her interest in interdisciplinary collaboration. She recently graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts with a BFA in Painting and Printmaking and a minor in Art History.

Skylar moved to the Southern Pines area in January of 2021 with her partner, musician Sean Diesfeld and their dog, Freckles. Although she is trained as a fine arts painter, it has been the music community in the area that truly inspires her and helped guide her into graphic design and the launch of her art account, @PAPR.text on Instagram. There, she continues to help artists explore mediums, collaborate with others, and tackle DIY projects they may have thought were out of reach. Accessible art is highly important to Skylar, and has always been a part of why and how she creates.

In August, Skylar released S!Ck, a monthly zine project to promote the music and arts scene of the Southern Pines and Aberdeen area. S!Ck prides itself on accessible, creative, and thoughtful designs that bring people together to form stronger bonds within the community and grow the arts that define the culture of the Sandhills area.

Discussed: zine making, building creative community, what defines a good artist, the power of DIY, and how to tell the stories of the places important to you.

Episode Six

Axel graduated with his bachelors in English and Secondary Education from UNC Greensboro in 2021, and is currently at UNCG earning his masters in English and Women's and Gender Studies. He currently works in rural North Carolina, and has worked with all high school grades and academic levels in the past 2 years. He is an advisor of the LGBTQ+ club on his high school campus, and advocates for the creation of diversity and inclusion within a community that may not be so accepting of such ideas.

Much of Axel's current work involves teaching the relearning of emotional wellbeing to teens, both through literature and through general discussion. His classroom is full to the brim of colorful posters that advocate for women in STEM, feeling your feelings, and the fine arts, promoting careers and hobbies many rural students might not have known of. Axel recognizes the positives and negatives that come with being LGBTQ+ in a rural and conservative setting, and aims to get more teens to simply consider other opinions. He also has a cat.

Discussed: the education system, working as a queer educator in rural spaces, teacher shortages, finding work-life balance, and leaning into difficulty.

Episode Five

Trash Tape Records is a youth-run worldwide DIY record label founded in March of 2020 and, until recently, run primarily out of the triangle area of North Carolina. Nathan and Evren going to college, in Chicago and Asheville respectively, will lead to the label being run from multiple different places. Trash Tape strives to support young and unknown artists by distributing and promoting their music, as well as doing physical releases of some projects in the form of cassette tapes.

Discussed: pursuing big ideas, finding your community, how the internet is changing the creative landscape, and debunking the myth of the solo artist.

Episode Four

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Nia J moved to NC at a young age and has been living there ever since. She attended UNC Charlotte, where she began making music with a producer and friend— Ike Byers. Together, the pair have collaborated to release several singles and a debut EP comprised of 7 songs, “Rabbit Hole.”

Singer-songwriter, Nia J's melodic music infuses sultry vocals and rich harmonies into contemporary R&B— producing a unique and introspective sound.

She aspires to use both her pain and joy to create music that helps others.

Discussed: making it as a musician, returning to your roots, finding home in different places, learning how to trust your voice in artistry, and making beauty out of the chaos.

Episode Three

Dacia Green is a multimedia artist, performer, Floridian, and child of the African diaspora. As a graduate from Williams College with an Honors B.A. in Women's, Gender, and Sexualities Studies and Africana Studies, Dacia relies heavily on the audio-visual form to repair and disrupt the intricate intersections of identity. At Williams, Dacia published an audio-visual zine entitled Our Home Will Be Underwater By 2040.

Discussed: coastal climate change, art and activism, the unique role of Florida in our understanding of the South, land stewardship, documentation, and the belief that people are good.