Simply Folk Interviews: Recent Episodes
Wisconsin Public Radio
Simply Folk has aired over one hundred interviews and studio performances from both long-time and up-and-coming folk musicians. We're happy to create this separate website and podcast of these recordings.
It’s going to be eclectic this week, in all of the best ways! Tune into your local WPR Music station for an evening full of listener requests, or stream the […]
This week we examine rarer live tracks along with new release highlights, festival previews and songs from Steve in honor of hazy skies. Tune into your local WPR Music station […]
This week we dive more deeply into artists we’ve discovered in the past year! Tune into your local WPR Music station or stream the goodness at simplyfolk.org.
This week we discover a host of artists new to our airwaves along with fresh releases from some of our favorite folk performers! Tune into your local WPR Music station […]
Special focus: Stan Rogers, for whom we had five separate requests! Tune into your local WPR Music station for an evening of listener-selected favorites, or stream the goodness at simplyfolk.org.
We continue with a late-summer theme, adding songs for October and more new arrivals from the Simply Folk mailbag. Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music station […]
This week we share songs for the end of summer and beginning of fall, along with plenty of new releases. Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music […]
Síle, Jeff & Steve join forces for an eclectic evening of folk favorites, hot-off-the-press discoveries and a ticket giveaway! Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music station […]
You’re on deck! Join us for four hours of listener-selected, late summer favorites. Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music station or stream the goodness at simplyfolk.org.
The first signs of fall are in the air, but summer is still with us. Join us for songs for the changing season, a ticket giveaway and more! Tune in […]
Join Síle tonight for four hours of the best in folk music artistry courtesy of the Simply Folk mailbag! Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music station […]
Síle and Steve bring you a double-header of late summer folk hits along with treasures from the archives. Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local WPR Music station or […]
This week we celebrate some of our favorite new folk artists from the past several years, spinning listener-suggested tracks, rarely-played live versions and more. Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on […]
What better way to spend a rainy evening than putting your feet up and enjoying the August request show on Simply Folk! Tune in from 5-9 p.m. on your local […]
Join Jeff Durkee this week for an eclectic evening of the best in new and traditional folk, plus a debut of a Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Concert from Sugar Maple […]
Join us for a full evening of listener-selected favorites, including new music from Thea Gilmore, Ruston Kelly and Wisconsin duo Host of Sparrows. Librarian and longtime volunteer Kathy Miner makes […]
This week Jeff Durkee brings you new songs from Them Coulee Boys, Jesse Welles and a release from Dervish featuring vocals by the Indigo Girls. Also on deck: an hour […]
Shake off (or embrace!) the icicles with fresh music from Austin Bashan and Nora Brown, along with classics from Steeleye Span and an Inuktitut language cover of Led Zeppelin. Steve […]
The requests are rolling in! Tune in for an eclectic and meaningful mix of listener-selected favorites from Jean Redpath, Nanci Griffith, Mark Erelli and more. We’ll include songs for Armistice […]
We’ll have double the fun tonight as Síle begins the evening with two hours of music for November, Samhain & more; Steve Gotcher takes over at 7pm with a playlist […]
Join Steve Gotcher for an evening full of the best in traditional and contemporary folk, including songs for autumn and a gorgeous piece from Ngoni lutenist Bassekou Kouyate.
Join Síle, Jeff & Steve for a trifecta of folk goodness as we celebrate the Fall Membership Drive with a nod to the original multi-host format pioneered by Tom Martin-Erickson […]
Summer clings to the heat even as autumn tugs at the leaves. This week we immerse ourselves in an evening of songs for this golden moment between the seasons, along […]
Join us for Simply Folk’s inaugural four hour request show! We have an evening full of excellent listener submissions ranging from longstanding favorites to brand new releases.
Tune in this Sunday for some exciting news from Simply Folk! Also: This month we celebrate Cornish culture in Wisconsin and beyond, along with weekly ticket giveaways to the 30th […]
Summer’s not over yet! Join Síle for summer songs & new releases from the Simply Folk mailbag.
Summer’s End and New Releases This week Jeff Durkee brings you songs for the end of the summer, including odes to late garden vegetables. Also, previews of new songs from […]
We have a host of summer releases and concerts to look at, and we’ll highlight some of our favorite string bands!
This week Síle brings you a summer treasure trove of new releases, including rare live versions of songs near and dear to Simply Folk listeners’ hearts.
Tonight we share new releases from the August mailbag along with a preview of artists appearing at the Porcupine Mountains Music Festival including Jackie Venson, Kat Wright and The Way […]
This Sunday is Lake Superior Day! We’ll share songs in honor of the Great Lakes, along with plenty of new releases and some music for summer.
The requests are rolling in! Tune in for an eclectic mix of listener-selected folk favorites from Woodie Guthrie, Jim Post and more!
Join Steve Gotcher for an evening full of the best in traditional and contemporary folk, including blues from Sonny Boy Wilson and some thoughtful reflections on Independence Day.
This week Jeff Durkee brings you an eclectic mix of the best in folk & Americana, with new music from Lynn Miles, Don Flemons and Chris Smither (see NPR’s latest […]
This week we share songs for Father’s Day and the beginning of summer; we’ll also have a ticket giveaway to see Lyle Lovett in Wausau!
The requests are rolling in! Tune in for an eclectic mix of listener-selected folk favorites from the Andrea Von Kampen, Finest Kind, Old Crow Medicine Show, Stan Rogers and more!
Join us for musical tributes–both solemn and spirited–to those who have served, loved ones fondly missed and faraway friends, times and places.
This month’s request show is packed full of listener favorites! Join in for an eclectic mix of your selections for Mother’s Day, May and more.
Join in for an evening of sweet songs and tunes to celebrate Bealtaine, May Day and the blossoming spring!
This week Jeff Durkee brings you an eclectic mix of the best in folk & Americana, with new music from Ocie Elliot & Katie Powderly, favorites from Greg Brown and more.
This week we share songs and tunes in honor of the first flowers of April and, in the 7 o’clock hour, an interview with Wisconsin’s own Krause Family Band.
The birds are returning, a few bees have appeared and Easter baskets are being filled! Join us for a musical celebration of early spring!
The spring mailbag is bursting at the seams! Tune in this week for fresh folk acquisitions along with some songs for (almost) spring.
Join in for an evening of listener-selected favorites including rare tracks from Celtic balladeers Dick Gaughan and Andy Irvine.
It’s a Simply Folk New Year celebration! Join your wonderful community of listeners for an evening of singalong favorites. Click for lyrics!
We close out the Simply Folk year with gratitude for the season and its bounty, both culinary and musical.
This Week Jeff Durkee brings you an eclectic mix of new and traditional folk, including new releases by Mipso, Noah Kahn and Wisconsin native Katie Dahl. In the third hour: a preview of the 2024 Best Folk Albums Grammy nominees.
Raye Zaragoza named her 2020 album, "Woman in Color," because she saw it as "a coloring book, and every song was a like a little bit of me coloring in my story, of my past and my present and my future." "Being a woman of color in America and someone of mixed race, I’ve always felt like identity is something that weighs on me very heavily and something that I really wanted to write about in this record," she said.
Science and spirituality have often been portrayed as opposites or enemies, but for singer-songwriter Peter Mayer, they are intimately connected. His music has been described as spiritual or mystical, but, he said in a recent interview, "If I would think of myself as a mystic, I would also think of myself as a mystic who is very respectful and interested in science."
When so often the latest thing is considered the greatest thing, Eilen Jewell prefers her music with the word "early" in front of it.
"Music is magical." That’s the way singer-songwriter Kari Arnett described the process of creating her latest album, "When the Dust Settles."
For the band Lula Wiles, folk music isn't just about passing on the music, but also passing on the possibility to other women.
For Noel Paul Stookey, one-third of the iconic 1960s folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, music still plays an essential role in today's society.
Bluegrass, like so many genres of music, is a mix of styles: old-timey string band music, with a little bit of blues and jazz from down South, some English and Scottish influences from the Appalachian Mountains, and a pinch of gospel music as well. The members of Nashville quartet the Barefoot Movement share how they came upon their version of bluegrass music.
“Where would we be without music?!” That was a question that musician Johnsmith recently pondered during an interview for WPR’s Simply Folk. “Sometimes you’re driving down the road and Simply Folk comes on or some song comes on and you didn’t even think that some issue was up in your heart or like you were stuck about something ... and all of a sudden you got a tear in your eye or you’re really laughing. You’re really thinking about some little thing and it just kind of opens you up.”
Lil Rev and Larry Penn talked with "Simply Folk" host Stephanie Elkins back in September 2013 when they shared a performance of their classic, "I'm a Little Cookie."
We Banjo 3 is a four-piece string band from Galway, Ireland, that plays a blend of music they call "Celtgrass." This recording is from an in-studio interview the group did on "Simply Folk" on May 5, 2016.