Alabama Arts Radio: Recent Episodes
Council on the Arts
The Alabama Arts Radio Series introduces listeners to exceptional artists and other special people who make the arts happen in Alabama.
Each week, members of the Council staff visit with Alabama’s musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, and other special individuals who contribute to the state’s rich artistic traditions. This special radio series is affiliated with National Public Radio, Public Radio International, the Associated Press and the Alabama Broadcasters Association.
In this episode, Jacqueline Viskup and Ren Carroll learn about the history of the Freedom Quilting Bee in conversations with Kim Kelley, volunteer directorand board members Lonnie Brown, Jr., Patty Irby, Taylor Irby, and Sheila Smith, all of whom grew up in Alberta, the Wilcox County community where the FQB is located.
In this episode, Annemarie Anderson talks with Caitlin Lollar, director of the Folk School at Camp McDowell. They discuss the history of the folk school, what people can expect when they attend classes there, and upcoming classes for the year.
In this episode, Rosemary Johnson talks with Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis of the Wideman-Davis Dance Company about their work with the community to create performances based on everyday black life in Montgomery, using archival photographs to spark the process.
In this episode Rosemary Johnson of the Alabama Dance Council talks with Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis of Wideman-Davis Dance about their approaches to developing a dance piece in collaboration with a community, referencing Migratuse Ataraxia, which they presented in collaboration with the community of Harpersville, Alabama and Klein Arts and Culture.
In this episode, Rosemary Johnson, executive director of the Alabama Dance Council, talks with Lindsay Viatorri of Helen Simeneau Danse. As one of the largest gatherings of dancers and dance enthusiasts in the Southeast, the Alabama Dance Festival features master classes with world-renowned teachers, audition opportunities, teacher training, networking, performances by regional dance groups, and a guest company. Each year, the Alabama Dance Festival boasts a weekend full of performances. Participants and public alike enjoy work presented in a range of styles and traditions by schools, studios, companies, and choreographers.
In this episode, Annemarie Anderson talks with Jennifer McCohnell, an artist who talks about the traditional arts practiced in her family and how they influence her work and artistic choices. She reflects on how learning from traditional masters gives a depth of understanding of the tradition and her role in its practice.
In this episode, Amy Jenkins visits St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama to learn more about the Ave Maria Grotto and Brother Joseph Zoettl, the monk who created the miniature buildings that replicate religious and secular sites. She talks with Abbot Marcus Voss, Roger Steele, and Renée Welsh to get perspectives on the significance of the Grotto and what it means to visitors.
In this episode, Deb Boykin visits with Debbie Bond, a blues singer, guitarist and historian and a co-founder of the Alabama Blues Project. Debbie talks about the artists she’s worked with and documented, describes her songwriting process, and explains a bit about Alabama Blues History. She also talks about her CD, Blues Without Borders.
In this episode, Annemarie Anderson talks with Kerry Dunaway, Director of the Clarke County Historical Museum about their upcoming event Pioneer Days. Traditional storyteller Debra Robinson and Winky Hicks, banjo player and luthier talk about their traditions and give a preview of their performances.
In this episode, Jacqueline Viskup talks with Caroline Reddick-Lawson, director, and Mariah Reilly and Chason Marvin, leads in Ashes and Ink, the current production of Nora’s Playhouse. Reilly and Marvin perform an excerpt from the play and all three discuss the process of working with playwright Martha Pichey to develop the show.
In this episode Anne Kimzey talks with Ashley M. Jones, poet laureate for the State of Alabama and recipient of a fellowship in poetry from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Ms. Jones describes the deep feeling she has for her home state of Alabama and how she came to appreciate her identity as an Alabamian after moving to Miami to attend graduate school.
In this episode Jacqueline Viskup talks with Melissa Lofton, director of the Arts in Medicine program and Kate Leonard, music therapist at Huntsville Hospital. Melissa and Kate explain how the arts enable patients to tap into their creativity as part of the healing process and serve as an outlet for staff to renew their energies, especially with the challenges created by COVID.
In this episode, Anne Kimzey talks with Jennifer Horne, poet laureate of Alabama from 2017-2021. They discuss the challenges of being poet laureate through the pandemic, Horne’s works in progress, and her efforts to make poetry accessible and meaningful outside the academic community.
In this episode, Bryan Murphy, curator at Pope’s Tavern Museum; Nadine Mairesse, exhibit designer, and Valerie Goodwin, artist and architect, join Jacqueline Viskup to talk about the exhibit Slavery in the Shoals. They discuss the piece Valerie was commissioned to create and how it helps to define and illuminate the exhibit space.
In this episode, Jacqueline Viskup visits with Amy McDonald and J. Patrick McDonald of the Southern Dance and Performing Arts Company. They discuss their partnership with the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement to bring theater and dance to Talladega County schools and communities.
In this episode Anne Kimzey talks with basket maker Gwen Chafin and her apprentice Brenda Powell. Gwen describes learning from her father, who was a skilled white oak basket maker. Brenda tells how she and Gwen met and the two explain how they have come to work with a variety of materials beyond white oak.
In this episode, Anne Kimzey visits the Desert Island Supply Company, a Birmingham literary non-profit, to talk with co-founder and programming director Elizabeth Hughey. In addition to discussing the work of DISCO, they talk about Elizabeth's own writing. She received a 2022 Literary Arts Fellowship in Poetry from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
In this episode, Anne Kimzey talks with Don Noble, editor of Alabama Noir,a collection of short stories set in Alabama, by Alabama writers. Dr. Noble discusses the process of selecting writers and editing the collection. He reads one of the stories, “The Men in the Woods” by Daniel Wallace.
In this episode, musician and researcher Russell Gulley talks with legendary guitarist Travis Wammack. Travis, who started playing in Memphis as a child billed as "Little Travis Wammack," recalls the time he borrowed Carl Perkins's guitar, which was almost too big for him. He also talks about his songwriting and how both Little Richard and Tom Jones were eager to cut his song "Greenwood, Mississippi." Travis explains some of his technical innovations including the use of a "borrowed" drive-in speaker on his hit instrumental "Scratchy."
In this episode, Deb Boykin talks with Stanley Smith, recipient of the 2022 Alabama Folk Heritage Award. Stanley is a Sacred Harp singer, composer, and singing school teacher from Ozark, Alabama. He talks about his early experiences with Sacred Harp singing, his friendship with National Heritage Award recipient Dewey Williams, and the importance of Sacred Harp music to the community.
In this episode, Euri Carr and Jacqueline Viskup talk with Mary Settle Cooney, who recently retired as executive director of the Tennessee Valley Art Association. Mary Settle, who is the 2022 recipient of the Johnnie Dee Riley Little Lifetime Achievement Award, reflects on her career and the projects she and the TVAA have undertaken and talks about the importance of engaging the community in the work of an arts organization.
In this episode, Darshan: Visions of India, a series of exhibitions and events at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art is the focus Anne Kimzey's conversation with Cristi Britton, executive director of the Tennessee Valley Art Association, Jonathan Cain, curator, and Amita Bhakta, artist. Exhibitions included Moments of Radiance: Art by Amita Bhakta, the Darshan Invitational Art Show, which featured work from 20 Indian American artists, an exhibition of the work of Geeta Dave, and an installation replicating a rural dwelling in Gurjrat, the most western part of India.
In this episode, Euri Carr talks with Kimberly Copeland, Alabama Reading Initiative Coach for the Montgomery Public Schools. They discuss ways that Ms. Copeland incorporates the arts in her efforts to help students achieve literacy. Ms. Copeland also talks about her new podcast What the Fonics!?, which can be heard at:
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In this episode, Anne Kimzey talks with author and folklorist Burgin Mathews about his forthcoming book on Birmingham jazz and his current research on Alabama fiddler and fiddle maker Earnest Mostella. Mathews is a recipient of both a Literary Arts Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and a Cauthen Fellowship from the Alabama Folklife Association.
In this episode, musician, songwriter and music historian Russell Gulley talks with his life-long friend, singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis. Both men grew up in Fort Payne, Alabama and worked with the musicians at Muscle Shoals Sound during the 1970's. In addition to discussing Pettis's career, they recall the influence of older musicians they encountered, including former Nashville session player and Fort Payne native Don Phillips and Swamper Jimmy Johnson.
In this episode, Jacqueline Viskup talks with Kristy Meanor, artistic director of the Wetumpka Depot Players and Doug Seagrest, journalist and novelist. Kristy and Doug discuss their collaboration to bring Doug's novel A Storm Came Up to the stage as a two-act play. This civil rights era story made its debut in late February, 2022, with the Wetumpka Depot Players.
In this episode, Anne Kimzey talks with Sherry Burkhalter, a master quilter in the Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. Sherry describes learning to sew from her mother, who was an accomplished seamstress and then later applying those skills to quilting. As a quilting teacher and owner of a shop specializing in fabric and other quilting needs, Sherry knows that quilting combines creativity and tradition. She talks about ways in which quilting can connect generations in a number of ways.
In this episode, Jacqueline Viskup talks with Sam Wooten about his role as artistic director at The Cloverdale Playhouse. Sam explains the process by which plays are selected for a season and talks about the long-standing importance of community theater in Montgomery. He explains the need for participation by the city's diverse communities and his plans to bring members of those communities to the table at The Cloverdale Playhouse.
In this episode, Joey Brackner visits Willing Hill, a community in Lowndes County, to talk with some of the people behind the Sew Their Names project. The project grew out of an effort to identify and commemorate the enslaved parishioners who occupied the slave gallery of a historic church originally pastored and attended by slaveholders. It expanded beyond those individuals to allow community members to add the names of their enslaved ancestors to the final product, a quilt bearing all their names. The church building is currently owned and used by an African-American congregation who partnered with a descendant of the original minister on this project.
In this episode, Anne and Joey discuss some of the traditional artists Joey has known and worked with during his career as a folklorist in his home state of Alabama. He also talks about his forthcoming book about traditional potter Jerry Brown, who received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In this episode, Anne Kimzey talks with Joey Brackner, who retired as Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture in December of 2021. Joey reflects on more than three decades of his work identifying, documenting, and presenting Alabama folk traditions
in this episode, Amy Jenkins talks with Joseph Brennan and Glen Robertson of Mobile, who discuss their collaboration on a series of films for the Mobile Museum of Arts.
In this episode, Amy Jenkins talks with Lucy Gafford, Ben Kaiser, and Vanessa Quintana about "The Fantastical Forest," an installation at the Mobile Museum of Arts.
This episode continues Joey Brackner's conversation with David Amram, musician, composer, and by his own description, holder of "a Master's Degree in Hangoutology." Trained as a classical musician, Amram developed his chops as a jazz player by hanging out and working with the likes of Thelonious and Dizzy Gillespie. He talks about these artists and others he's played with, including Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman, and Odetta as well as reminiscing about his friend, author Jack Kerouac.
David Amram is known for his work as a classical conductor and composer. He is an accomplished jazz musician. His film work includes scores for The Manchurian Candidate and Splendor in the Grass, among others. In this episode, he and Joey Brackner talk about his affinity for understanding and playing in various musical genres. Amram also recalls taking part in a 1971 Birmingham project that still resonates with him.
In this episode, Amy Jenkins talks with Paul Barrett, incoming president of the Alabama Visual Arts Network. The discuss CARE packages, a network project and talk about AVAN's mission.
In this episode, Amy Jenkins talks with Joi West, a photographer who received a 2021 Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Joi talks about their creative process and the exploration of identity and relationships in their work.
In this episode, Rosemary Johnson of the Alabama Dance Council talks with George Staib, artistic director of Staib Dance. They discuss Staib's approach to dance and the larger community, which will be reflected in the work Staib Dance will bring to the Alabama Dance Festival in January.
In this episode, Chris Boyd Taylor, 2021 Visual Arts Fellowship recipient, talks with Amy Jenkins about his work, including a project that involves stadia around the Southeast.
In this episode, Diana Green, Arts in Education program manager, talks with Meg Jones, recipient of an Arts Educator Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Meg talks about her her approach to teaching and the importance of knowing her students as individuals. She also recounts what it means to her to have received the Fellowship and how it is enabling her to advance her own education.
In this episode, Arts in Education Program Manager Diana Green talks with Soojin Park of Auburn High School, who represented Alabama in the National Finals of Poetry Out Loud on May 27, 2021. Soojin talks about her participation in Poetry Out Loud, a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in which high school students throughout the state compete in reciting poetry.
In this episode, Foster Dickson, recipient of a 2021 Literary Arts fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, talks with Anne Kimzey about his previous books and the on-line project he embarked on during his fellowship year.
Jason Sylestine was born in East Texas. His mother was Coushatta, while his father was a member of the Alabama tribe. In this episode, Jason talks with Joey Brackner about his tribal culture and how moving to Alabama, the tribe's original homeland, has connected him more deeply with his history and culture.
Filmmaker Tommy Wier's lifelong interest in Alabama's Native American tribes inspired his film Another River to Cross - The Alabama Indian. In this episode, Joey Brackner talks with Tommy about his film and how the influence of Alabama tribes is deeply ingrained in the state's landscape and history.
In this episode, Joey Brackner interviews author, playwright, and Mobile native Mary Palmer about Mobile's Boyington Oak. She recounts the legend that inspired her book, The Boyington Oak: A Grave Injustice and talks about events inspired by the legend, including a play, and tours of Mobile locations related to the story. The episode also features, the song "Boyington's Oak," written and performed by Mike Turner.
Fiber artist Aaron Head talks with Deb Boykin about his work with natural dyes and hand stitching. Aaron describes his approach to developing a dye garden, his experiences with working with materials found in nature, and the studio he has opened in his home town of Greensboro, Alabama.
Reed Watson, drummer and label manager at Single Lock Records in Florence, Alabama, discusses his experiences as a musician and the label's philosophy. They seek to be a platform for Southeastern musicians whose work, to quote their website "doesn’t fit neatly into a specific category. Our goal is to gather and release an interesting and accurate collection of the best of Southern American music." He also talks about a collaboration between Single Lock and the Muscle Shoals Music Association to assist artists in financial need due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Carole King, co-author of Alabama Quilts: Wilderness-WWII 1682-1950, talks with Joey Brackner about the years-long research she and co-author, the late Mary Elizabeth Johnson Huff, conducted for the book. Their work included quilt search days around the state as well as academic research.
Andrew Henley, deputy director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, talks with Deb Boykin about his experiences as an arts educator and administrator. He also highlights Council's efforts to support the arts and artists in Alabama.
In this episode recorded shortly before Al Head retired in 2018, he and Joey Brackner talked about Al's 33 years as Executive Director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts and his work in the arts at the regional and national levels.
Joey Brackner and Al Head continue their discussion about Al's 33-year career at the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
When this episode was recorded in 2017, Jake Landers was about to receive the Alabama Folk Heritage Award for his outstanding career in bluegrass music. He talked with Deb Boykin about songwriting, working with Bill Monroe as a Bluegrass Boy, and this thoughts about various covers of his most famous song, "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine."
In 2019, Deb Boykin visited Huntsville to talk with Angela Walker, Founder and Director of the Huntsville Community Drumline. They discussed the importance of the Drumline to its participants and the success of some Drumline graduates who received college band scholarships.
In this episode from 2019, Anne Kimzey talks with luthier and musician Jason Burns, discussing how he learned his craft and his participation in the 2019 Folklife Apprenticeship program at the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
In this episode from 2018, Deb Boykin and Kiran Singh Sirah, President of the International Storytelling Center, discuss the power of storytelling and the role it can play in building social empathy and intercultural understanding.
In this program recorded in 2019, Joey Brackner talks with Brian Rushing of the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development and Matt Gage of the Office of Archeological Research at the University of Alabama about their partnership in developing the Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail, a heritage-based tourism project that provides interpretive signage at 15 significant mound sites around the state..
In this episode from 2016, Deb Boykin talks with Al Head, then ASCA Executive Director and Nick Spitzer, host and producer of American Routes, heard on Saturday nights on Troy Public Radio. They discuss working together in Louisiana when Al, as Executive Director of the Louisiana State Council on the Arts, hired Nick as the agency’s folklorist. Other topics include the growth of public folklore in the Southeast and the rich musical traditions found in the region.
First broadcast in 2013, this episode features Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviewing Alan and Karen Jabbour about their book Decoration Day in the Mountains: Traditions of Cemetery Decorations in the Southern Appalachians, published in 2010.
In this episode from 2017, poet Jacqueline Trimble talks with Jeanie Thompson about her poetry and reads from her book American Happiness.
In this episode, Deb Boykin and the late Donnie Fritts continue their conversation, discussing what was then an upcoming album called June, dedicated to his friend, the late Arthur Alexander, who recorded one of the first hits to come out of Muscle Shoals, You Better Mover On. Fritts also shares his thoughts on songwriting and tells how he got the nickname "The Alabama Leaning Man." June was Donnie Fritts's final album, released by Single Lock Records not long before he died in 2019.
In 2017, Deb Boykin talked with Muscle Shoals singer, songwriter, and actor Donnie Fritts. He talked about his early years as drummer with Hollis Dixon and the Keynotes, playing fraternity houses around the Southeast, his 2015 album Oh My Goodness. He also recalled his time in Kris Kristofferson's band, which led to his appearing in movies directed by Sam Peckinpah.
In this episode from 2015, Deb Boykin talks with the members of Iron Horse, a bluegrass band from Rogersville. While they excel as performers of traditional bluegrass, they also cover songs by Black Sabbath, Nirvana, and Elton John. They talk about their beginnings as musicians and how they approach recording non-bluegrass songs in a bluegrass style. You can hear more of their work at their site ironhorsebluegrass.com
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This episode from 2019 features Kay Jacoby interviewing Mary Holland and Glennie Brock about their efforts to restore the Lincoln Theater in Bessemer. The project was inspired by actor Andre Holland (Moonlight, 42, The Knick, Selma) whose plans for the theater include space for classes in the arts a performing space, and a place for the community to gather.
Joey Brackner and Alabama Public Television producer Heather Daniels Whitson talk about the Legacy Moments series. These one-minute pieces highlight notable Alabamians, interesting places in the state, and historic events. They were created during Alabama's Bicentennial and are still available for viewing on the Alabama Public Television website at http://www.alabamalegacy.org/.
In this episode which first aired in 2015, Joey Brackner interviews folklorist Bill Ferris. Ferris, who retired in 2018 had a ground breaking career as a researcher, film maker, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and director of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Anne Kimzey interviews Elias Katsaros, painter of Byzantine icons about his training and his work.
This episode features thoughts on songs and songwriting from Alabamians Braxton Schuffert, who played and wrote with Hank Williams, bluegrass performer Claire Lynch, Mike Cooley, co-founder of the Drive-By Truckers, and others.
Arts educator Nancy Muse talks with Diana Green about the importance of arts instruction in schools.
This episode includes music from the Salt and Pepper Music Series, a collaboration between the Alabama Folklife Association and the University of North Alabama. The series presents musicians from African-American musical traditions and white performers who come from similar, parallel traditions. Travis Wammack, member of the Hill Country Blues Hall of Fame and Little Jimmy Reed, contemporary bluesman from South Alabama are feature. Deb Boykin interviews both performer along with Shoals singer-songwriter Maxwell Russell and music historian Dick Cooper
In this episode from 2017, storyteller Delores Hydock talks with Yvette Jones-Smedley about her beginnings as a storyteller doing research on Alabama's Sand Mountain. She describes how she develops her perfomances and talks about the importance of storytelling in society.
In this episode, Debbie Delmore, youngest daughter of Alton Delmore of the Delmore Brothers, talks with Deb Boykin about her father's music and her memories of growing up around performers such as Vestal Goodman, Deford Bailey, and others. The Delmore Brothers harmonies and distinctive guitar styles influenced later musicians including Doc Watson.
In this episode. Deb Boykin interviews 2015 Alabama Governor's Arts Award recipient Rick Hall about his book The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame and about various aspects of Hall's career as a record producer and found of FAME recording studios.
Recipient of the 2009 Distinguished Artist Award, Beth Nielsen Chapman is interviewed by Arts Council Executive Director Al Head about her life as a popular singer/songwriter and as an educator. They also discuss Chapman's inspirations and her unique process of songwriting. Ms Chapman began her career in Montgomery and went on to write for a diverse group of artists including Willie Nelson, Roberta Flack, Neil Diamond, Bette Midler, Waylon Jennings and Faith Hill.
In this episode, songwriter, musician, and performer Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery talks with Community Arts Program manager Deb Boykin. Mr. Montgomery shares his memories of growing up in a musical family, recalling that he learned to write songs because his mother challenged him to emulate one of his older brothers. Like a number of musicians in the area, he got his start at the studio founded by Tom Stafford, Billy Sherrril, and Rick Hall. He wrote dozens of songs for George Jones, who became a close friend.
Jamorris Rivers, choreographer and artistic director of the Arova Comtemporary Ballet in Birmingham, who also teaches ballet, modern dance techniques, and jazz at the University of Alabama, talks with Yvette Jones-Smedley about his career as a dancer and educator,
Valerie White, director of Talladega's Heritage Hall museum talks with Deb Boykin about the Quilt Stories exhibition. One of Alabama's Bicentennial projects, this 2017 project included a quilt exhibit and a series of program about quilting in Alabama.
Deb Boykin talks with Heather Daniels Whitson and other volunteet leaders of Girls Rock Birmingham. This summer activity for girls 9 - 16 affords girls the opportunty to learn to play an instrument, write songs, and play with other campers in one of four bands in a week-long day camp setting. Girls also learn about cooperation and working together as well as some history about women in rock and roll.
In this episode from May, 2017 Barbara Edwards talks with Laurie Chapman and Justin Maddox who are part of a group undertaking the renovation of the historic Elba Theater which opened in 1935.. They describe the huge role the theater played in the community life in Elba prior to its closure in the mid 20th century and their desire to bring the building back for use of Elba's citizens now and in the future.
This week David Hood, bass player and original member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, talks with Community Arts Program manager Deb Boykin. He recalls his early years as a musician and his work as a session player at FAME. Hood also describes the recording process at the Muscle Shoal Sounds Studio and talks about what it was like to work with the wide range of musicians who recorded there.
This week Anne Kimzey interviews Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum, about the 9th annual Alabama Book Festival to be held Saturday, April 19th in Montgomery’s Old Alabama Town. Jeanie will give a preview of the more than 50 authors appearing at the Book Festival plus special features such as the poetry tent and children’s area, as well as outreach activities for students and teachers.
This program is a rebroadcast, originally aired in 2008. Fiddler William “Gene” Ivey of Ider died march 16th of 2014. He was a good friend to the State Arts Council, a master fiddler and instrument maker who was devoted to teaching his music to young people and keeping the old-time stringband music of Sand Mountain alive for future generations. In this program Folklorist Anne Kimzey talks to Mr. Ivey and his apprentice Joseph Coleman about playing music and making handcrafted fiddles at Ivey’s workshop in Ider.
Jimmy Johnson, one of the original Swampers, talks with Deborah Boykin about his work in Muscle Shoals music. He recalls the early days of the recording industry in the Shoals, describes the Swampers’s approach to recording and talks about working with artists ranging from Percy Sledge to Aretha Franklin, to Paul Simon.
This program is a repeat of a 2012 show with fromer ASCA intern Summer Upchurch interviewing Individual Fellowship Recipient Jess Marie Walker about her life as an artist and an educator. Inspired by nature, music, and the art of public installation pieces, Jess Marie's background varies as much as her interests. Her work is highly collaborative and has been brought to fruition by HoWaYaDa, an artist collective, and by Pretty Much Collective. Her pieces range from a large-scale collaborative and interactive musical piece (where artists play kettles, rocks, and whatever is on-hand) to a smaller-scale collaborative piece celebrating the beauty of line-drawing and mountains. Her experiments with sound, form, and public exposure have been hosted in museums in Birmingham, Minneapolis, Long Island, Brooklyn, and Fairhope, among others. She currently lives in Montevallo with her youngest son.
Former Community Arts Program manager Deb Boykin interviews Darren Butler, director of Time Out for Theater. This program, developed by the Tennessee Valley Art Association, introduces elementary students in area schools to live theater through performances at the Ritz, an art deco movie house that has been converted to a performance venue. In the second half of the program, TVAA director Mary Settle Cooney discusses the organization’s commitment to bringing theater to the Shoals area.
Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews banjo champion Weston Stewart. Weston, an Alabama native from Anderson, Alabama, holds 14 state titles on banjo, as well as the 2011 National Bluegrass Banjo Title. In 2013, he was the Tennessee state champion on both banjo and dobro. Stewart is a master artist with the State Arts Council’s Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program and is passing on his musical knowledge to students in North Alabama.
Former Community Arts program manager Deb Boykin interviews Xan Morrow, chairman of the committee for the Red Door Theatre for the Tourism Council of Bullock County and Midge Putnam, executive director of the Tourism Council of Bullock County. The Red Door Theatre, housed in a former Episcopal church, presented Conecuh People, its initial production, in 2004. Morrow and Putnam discuss the theatre’s emergence as a regional tourism destination and a showcase for plays about the South.
Yvette Jones-Smedley interviews storyteller Joseph D. Trimble. Joseph, a 2013 recipient of a Theatre Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, recounts a short tale of many from his repertory about Anansi the Spider, and shares tips to budding storytellers.
This program is a rebroadcast of Alabama shapenote (Sacred Heart) music and its history.
This program is a rebroadcast of the 1991 Radiovisions program produced by Russell Gulley and the Big Wills Arts Council. The program features the songs of J. R. "Pap" Baxter and an extended interview by Al Malone, Baxter's nephew, about the life and time of this well-known Southern Gospel singer/songwriter and publisher.
This week Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews Burgin Mathews and Frank “Doc” Adams about their book titled Doc: The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man. Mathews is a writer and teacher at Spain Park High School in Hoover and Adams is a jazz musician, educator and the director of music at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in Birmingham. The two discuss their collaboration on the book that covers the life and career of Adams, including his education with John T. “Fess” Whatley and his experience playing with jazz legends Sun Ra and Duke Ellington.
This week on Alabama Arts Radio Kevin Nutt, Folklife archivist for the Alabama Department of Archives and History, interviews Birmingham native Andrew Nelson, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland at College Park, about an historic collection of glass plate negatives housed at the Birmingham Library. This photographic collection was produced by the Shackelfords, an African American family from the Covin community near Fayette in western Alabama in the early 20th century. The Shackelfords offered photographic services to railway travelers as well as their neighbors. Through Nelson’s research a close friendship developed with one of the family’s relatives, Annie Shackelford, also from the Covin Community. Together they produced a traveling exhibit of curated photographs called, “Both Sides of the Lens: Photographs by the Shackelford Family (1900-1935). In this interview Nelson tells the story of his meeting with Annie Shackelford. Also discussed is the Shackelford’s history as photographers and the cultural importance of the collection to Alabama history.