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Susan Tedeschi grew up outside of Boston in a family of grocery store owners. Derek Trucks was raised in Jacksonville, Florida, listening to the Allman Brothers, his uncle Butch Trucks’ band. Worlds apart, Susan and Derek each honed their chops at local jams and pursued musical careers destined to collide. Susan attended the Berklee School of Music, toured with the Dead, and released eight solo albums. Derek played guitar in a later lineup of the Allman Brothers for fifteen years and released ten albums under his own name. Now married with two kids, the solo musicians joined forces in 2010 to form the Tedeschi Trucks Band. I spoke to them in 2017.

Alice Gerrard has been a musician, researcher, publisher, and advocate for old-time music for much of her life. She's best known for performing and recording bluegrass and country with West Virginian, Hazel Dickens. Alice produced Sprout Wings and Fly, a film about North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell. Her introduction to old-time music happened at Antioch College in the 1950s with husband Jeremy Foster and friends. The couple soon moved to the D.C.-Baltimore area for work and found a community of traditional musicians and their followers. Alice Gerrard recalled those days.

Christian Parish Takes the Gun, also known as Supaman, is an Apsáalooke rapper from Crow Agency, Montana. Supaman grew up in and out of foster care with alcoholic parents. He turned to hip-hop to escape from struggles he faced on the reservation. His music draws on a connection from urban style and words to cultural and spiritual life as a Native American. Supaman preserves his culture with his music and fancy dancing to express himself and uplift those around him.

Musaica Chamber Ensemble returns to Crescent Classical in advance of their 2024-2025 season, Hidden Treasures.

Leonard “Flaco” Jiménez is the most influential Texas-Mexican accordion player of his time. Flaco’s father Santiago Jiménez Sr. helped create the style called “conjunto” or “la música norteña,” from rancheras to polkas. Flaco Jiménez was born in 1939 in San Antonio and carried his father's sound forward. In addition to singing, Flaco became famous for his rhythmic drive, inventive solos and stage antics. From his 1950s teenage days playing local dances, Flaco emerged in the early ‘70s to record with Doug Sahm and Ry Cooder, and later Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos. I talked to the squeezebox king about his sound and his name.

Singer/guitarist Charley Crockett plays what he calls "Gulf and Western” music, a combination of blues, R&B, soul, country and more found along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Louisiana. It makes sense, since that's where he grew up, living with his mother in a trailer. Charley’s lived many lives, hitchhiking with his guitar from coast to coast, playing in subways and city streets in New York City, New Orleans and Paris; working farms in California, running into trouble with the law and later his health with open heart surgery. He's recorded several highly acclaimed albums and is known for his takes on classic country tunes as well as original songs. But for Charley, the blues is where it all began.

James Chambers took the name Jimmy Cliff to reference the heights he would climb as a musician, singer, and actor. Since Cliff’s birth during a hurricane in rural Jamaica, people believed he was special. Cliff’s dissatisfaction with country life led him to Kingston where he met Chinese-Jamaican record producer Leslie Kong, who helped launch his career with a 1962 hit, “Hurricane Hattie.” Cliff helped Jamaican music go global performing in the film The Harder They Come. Jimmy Cliff told me how his voice carried him out into the world.

The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of those enslaved in the Sea Islands of Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina. Because of the remoteness of the plantations, the Gullah Geechee were able to retain some of their African traditions, including the ring shout. It’s a ritual in which participants move counterclockwise in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands, in call and response fashion. The tradition is rooted in West African culture, mixed with elements of Christianity. The Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters from Darien, Georgia have preserved this ancestral heritage through performance and education since 1980. They joined us on stage at the New Orleans Jazz Museum where they started with a song you will probably recognize, that came from the Gullah Geechee culture.

Yvette Landry wears many hats: musician, songwriter, educator, author, and record producer. Hailing from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, Yvette grew up listening to music but wasn’t interested in playing music until later in life. After her dad was diagnosed with cancer, Yvette bought a bass for Cajun jam sessions with the Lafayette Rhythm Devils. She went on to join the female-led Cajun band Bonsoir, Catin, and now fronts the Yvette Landry Band. Though she’s performed internationally, Yvette has stayed close to home, teaching American Sign Language and songwriting at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

The late Aurelio Martínez grew up in the Garifuna village of Plaplaya on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. He was a percussionist, singer and guitarist who played in noted musical groups of Honduras and maintained connections to his Garifuna roots while living in the Bronx, NY. Aurelio was a native speaker of Garifuna and Spanish and a member of the Honduran Congress. We began our conversation talking about his first instrument.