Back in 2020 we shared the top 10 Americana internet radio shows and podcasts. Since then, podcasting has exploded into a phenomenon that is eating away at the listenership for traditional linear radio. But with internet and community radio fighting back there has never been so much choice of listening for whatever your particular pleasure.
Freight Train Boogie Podcasts
Active on and off since 2009 and hosted by Bill Frater this show features mainly new releases and independent artists, so there’s always the chance of picking up on someone new to listen to. He keeps the emphasis on music rather than chat, which is just fine. There are 96 shows back to 2019 available on most of the usual podcast platforms. It’s a show for the music rather than the host and I’ve found quite a few new artists through it. Shows are usually either side of an hour long.
Sounds Atlantic
Another podcast that focuses on less well-known artists, mostly from Canada’s Atlantic coast. This may sound too obscure for you to care, but host Ron Moores is a good interviewer and the music, which is all new to me, is interesting and covers a wide range of genres in and around folk and traditional music. This is a good Sunday morning listen. A relaxed presenting style and music which I often find myself rewinding to pay fuller attention to. The shows vary in length from around 40 minutes to 2 hours for some of his more in-depth interviews.
Hard Rain & Slow Trains: Bob Dylan & Fellow Travelers
A radio program featuring the music of Bob Dylan, his contemporaries, and his antecedents. Broadcast on KEPW Radio, this was originally weekly but has now become rather intermittent, with episode 200 promised for some time now. iTunes currently lists 168 episodes, and each one is full of Dylan facts, music and trivia. While the subjects can be quite niche at times, if you love Dylan or want to know more about him then this is the pod for you. KEPW seem to have trouble keeping their website active, but the show is on all the usual podcast platforms. Be warned that this can be a rabbit hole you disappear down for days at a time.
Freebird Radio
This station calls itself “all country rock.” Although their definition is broader than mine, it is usually a good listen, and has the advantage of being a decent high-quality stream. The hour that I’ve listened to while writing this featured Blackberry Smoke, James Taylor, and Dillard & Clark. They also played The Beatles’ ‘I’ve Seen That Face’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’, and they worked well in context. If you want a background station that will play you things you know and like, and things you hadn’t thought of, then here it is.
American Roots Radio
“Music that’s rooted in tradition from classic folk and roots music legends like Bob Dylan, John Prine, and Doc Watson, along with the best of the modern Americana movement.” This station covers everything from the better modern country to acoustic folk and most places in between. Commercial Free and with their own mobile app, there is only a listen live option, meaning if you missed your favourite you can’t rewind to it. As I’m writing this the last 3 acts played were Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, The Jayhawks and Mississippi John Hurt.
Americana Roundup
Americana Roundup is curated by country singer Ryan Humbert. It’s hosted on the Live365 network meaning buffering is less of a problem than on independently hosted stations. Merle Haggard, Lucinda Williams, Silverada, and Roy Rogers were the last segment. “The Americana Roundup is proud to be an official Americana Music Association Reporting Station.” I’ve been playing this station while working quite often recently and it’s a consistently good background, or foreground, sound.
Celtic Music Radio
One that slipped past us last time was Celtic Music Radio. On 95FM and DAB around Glasgow, this community broadcaster is available around the world online. Mike Ritchie’s Americana show is required listening, but beyond that Bob Leslie’s Transatlantic Conversations is another great show, last week featuring, The Byrds, Kristen Grainger & True North, Karine Polwart, Terence Blacker, Dylan, and Fairport Convention. Their catch-up service allows you to sample the shows you like anytime. This is another station that will lead you astray as one new great song often leads to another and before you know it hours have passed.
Folk On Foot
“Matthew Bannister walks with a leading folk artist in the landscape that has inspired their music, and they sing and play on location”. This has produced some inspired performances from artists like Angeline Morrison, Katherine Priddy, Jon Boden, Seth Lakeman and Maddy Prior. There are bonus episodes that focus more on the walking or interviews (Joe Boyd was a recent guest talking about his new book, reviewed here recently) and is about to hit 100 episodes. Deservedly heaped with praise and awards, even The Telegraph got it right. “The music is transcendent; the sense of place is transporting and if you need escape…it’s a restorative breathing space in sound.”
There are so many more stations and podcasts that it’s impossible to feature more than a selection. You can find our original suggestions from 2020 here. Many are now defunct, but Mountain Stage and Joe Pug’s excellent Working Songwriter podcast are both still active and remain recommended.
Our very own Keith Hargreaves has a show called Sounds from Beyond the Shed which broadcasts every Tuesday on CRMK and also available on Mixcloud. The latest show is here, and you can find every other episode there as well. Try it, you’ll like it.
Speaking of Mixcloud, which is a great place to find presenters with passion and knowledge we find another fine show, Andy Houghton’s Sonic Buffet. Andy’s view is that, “if it’s a good song it doesn’t matter who sings it.” Much like Freebird Radio he covers a wide base of things you not have connected to our little corner of the forest, but it’s all good…
We’ve tried to search out some stations and podcasts you may not have found, if we haven’t featured your favourite, drop a comment with a link.
Thank you so much for your very kind comments and for including Celtic Music Radio on such an esteemed list. We are very chuffed and really appreciate this accolade from a prestigious website that’s been a daily ‘must visit’ for me for many, many years. This is great.
Great article Tim. Of note for a recent launch is Black Deer Radio which is aimed squarely at all types of Americana. Follow the link to find out more
https://blackdeerlive.com/radio/