Alabama Arts Podcast, Mark Driscoll, Director of Historic Sites for the Alabama Historical Commission

Joey Brackner, director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, interviews Mark Driscoll, director of Historic Sites for the Alabama Historical Commission, about the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery Alabama.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Brant Beene General Manager of The Historic Alabama Theatre

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Brant Beene the General Manager of The Historic Alabama Theatre and Development Director for the Lyric Theatre for Birmingham Landmarks, Inc.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Singer-songwriter, Maxwell Russell

Singer-songwriter Maxwell Russell talks with Deborah Boykin about his career, his writing, and his efforts to promote other songwriters. A well-known North Alabama performer, Russell sponsors a songwriters’ showcase each week  at a Sheffield restaurant.  His son Kirk, also a musician, writer and vocalist, also appears to talk about his band, Abstract Theory.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, The Thomas Sister Singers from Alexander City

This program is a rebroadcast of a 2006 show of Steve Grauberger interviewing the Thomas Sister Singers from Alexander City, Phyllis, Margie and Bernice. Both Margie and Bernice have since passed but at the time Margie and Bernice Thomas had been singing gospel music for over 60 years in and around Alexander City, performing on radio and TV as early as the 1950s with three other of their sisters all known collectively as the Thomas Sister Singers.   Included in the program are songs sung by Margie and Bernice Thomas, and Margie's daughter Phyllis, recorded at their home in 2005. Watch a video clip of the Thomas Sisters singing "Not Made With Hands", click here.
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Alabama Arts Podcast, Alabama Folk Pottery author Joey Brackner

This program is a rebroadcast of Anne Kimzey interviewing Joey Brackner Director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture about his book, Alabama Folk Pottery, released in 2006 by the University of Alabama Press. Brackner discusses various aspects detailed in the publication.   You can hear a podcast of the 2006 symposium on southern pottery held at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
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Alabama Arts Podcast, David Norwood, general manager of WAWL radio in Moulton

This week, David Norwood, general manager of WAWL radio in Moulton, discusses Downtown Live!  This four-week series brought performers from the surrounding area to Moulton’s courthouse square for Friday evening concerts.  Community Arts program manager Deborah Boykin talks with Norwood and the Thompsons, a Lawrence County duo who also perform one of their original songs. (more)
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Alabama State Poetry Out Loud Winners

Arts in Education Program Manager Diana Green interviews the 2012 Winners of Alabama’s Poetry Out Loud Program. First place in Original poetry recitation went to Doris-Anne Darbouze from Auburn High School. Bonnie Chen, also from Auburn High School, received an Honorable Mention for her original poetry recitation. The Poetry Out Loud State Championship was awarded to Peggy Payne from Mooresville, Alabama. Peggy traveled to Washington DC to compete nationally with 52 other state champions, a Washington DC champion, and a champion from the Virgin Islands. Poetry Out Loud is a National Poetry Recitation Contest supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. The State Finals for the program are held in partnership with the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where students perform on the Festival Stage in Montgomery. (more)

Alabama Arts Podcast, Patti Hendrix Lovoy executive director of VSA Alabama

Deputy Director, Barbara Edwards, interviews Patti Hendrix Lovoy, the Council’s 2011 Arts Administration Fellowship recipient.   The Council makes available each year a $5,000 Arts Administration Fellowship award.  This award is given to an arts administrator to improve his/her skills and ability to better serve his/her organization and the community.  Patti is the executive director of VSA Alabama.  In the interview, Patti talks about the impact of the professional opportunities afford her though the Arts Administration Fellowship award. (more)

Alabama Arts Podcast, Eldon Bryson musician and instrument maker from Mobile

Community Arts Program manager Deb Boykin interviews Eldon Bryson, a musician and instrument maker from Mobile.  Bryson, now 82, recalls his childhood in South Carolina, where he and his older brother often sang with Bill Monroe in the early days of bluegrass music. He recounts how a luthier  there taught him to repair old fiddles and shares some of his knowledge about fiddle-making.   He plays an original fiddle tune which he often performs when he and his band play each weekend at a Mississippi restaurant. (more)

Alabama Arts Podcast, Mary Ann Pettway, director of the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective

Community Arts program manager, Deb Boykin talks with Mary Ann Pettway, director of the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective. Ms. Pettway discusses the rich quilting tradition in her community and her experiences in learning from her elders and teaching a new generation through ASCA’s Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. Also a fine singer, Ms. Pettway is joined by Mary Lee Bendolph and Nancy Pettway to sing traditional gospel songs from Gee’s Bend. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio, Andrew Grace

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews University of Alabama film maker Andrew Grace about his new film, "Eating Alabama." (more)

Folklife Author Jack Solomon

Steve Grauberger interviews, Alabama folklore scholar, teacher and writer Jack Solomon at his home in Tallassee, Alabama. He discusses various books he produced with his late wife Olivia and talks about his life with her and his long career as a teacher and college professor. Their books include Cracklin Bread and Asfidity, Zickary Zan, Ghosts and Goosebumps, Sweet Bunch of Daisies, and Honey in the Rock.

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Alabama Arts Radio, Joe Dan Boy Author of "Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp"

This program is a repeat of a 2003 interview by Joey Brackner with Joe Dan Boyd about his book on Judge Jackson, the Ozark, Alabama man who published the "Colored Sacred Harp" tunebook in the 1930's. Included in the show are historic musical examples of African American songsters.

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Alabama Arts Radio, Playwright Barry Bradford

This week, Yvette Jones-Smedley interviews  Alabama native Barry Bradford, a Southern playwright who writes often about small towns, racial conflict and the vanishing South. Bradford discusses how he was commissioned to write The Face in The Courthouse Window, a theatrical work produced annually in Carrolton, Alabama detailing the legendary story of Henry Wells whose face was indelibly etched in the Pickens County courthouse window. Bradford is known for his fearless portrayal of delicate subjects - like slavery and racism - and for his ability to bring to light the unique struggles of the human condition. Currently residing in Hammond, LA, he is a graduate of the University of Alabama and has been writing plays for over nineteen years. Some of Barry's  works include Rugs, Chairs, Tables; Conquistadors;  Was; and Hit and Miss.  In 2003 his play Dead Towns of Alabama was work-shopped at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and scenes from it were read as part of ASF's Festival of New Plays. Since that time he has won the Southern Playwrights Competition three times (2005, 2009, and 2011). (more)

Alabama Arts Radio, Poet Abraham Smith

This week Anne Kimzey interviews poet Abraham Smith of Tuscaloosa, recipient of a 2012 Literary Arts Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  A 2004 graduate of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama, Smith is an instructor of English at the University and the assistant editor at Slash Pine Press. During the program he reads a few of his poems and talks about the influences of his rural Wisconsin childhood on his writing.  He will be giving public readings of his poetry on April 21st at the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery and April 27th at the Alabama Writers Symposium in Monroeville. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Tommy Moorehead and Sarah Wright

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Heritage Hall Museum director Tommy Moorehead and guest curator Sarah Wright about the exhibit "Our Quilted Past."  The exhibit explores the quilt art of Leola Heard and daughter Elizabeth Heard Bean who used the cloth from feed sacks to make beautiful quilts in the mid-20th Century.

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Jeanie Thompson, poet and director of the Alabama Writers' Forum

 Anne Kimzey interviews Jeanie Thompson, poet and director of the Alabama Writers' Forum and recipient of a 2012 Literary Arts Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  Thompson, who is completing a book length persona poem sequence on the adult life of Helen Keller, reads poems from this latest work and discusses her research and the creative process involved in revealing the depth and passion of the famous Alabama author and activist. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Actress Greta Lambert

Yvette Jones-Smedley Performing Arts Program Manager interviews Greta Lambert, nationally recognized actor of stage and screen and recipient of the ASCA Fellowship award in Theatre.  Ms. Lambert, a native of Alabama and noted leading lady frequenty seen on stage at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival reflects on characters she has portrayed from far off places including Cleopatra of the Nile to Lady Macbeth from the highlands of Scotland to the “fair and tender lady” Ivy Rowe from the Appalachian mounts.  Greta shares her love of theatre and reveals her passion for the one of the six Aristotelian Elements of Drama, language, along with all the distinctive dialects involved in the performance of her craft.(more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Artists Russell Everett and Brad Morton

This is repeat of a 2004 program of Georgine Clarke interviewing artists Russell Everett and Brad Morton about their backgrounds and art works..(more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Choreographer and Educator Gary Moore

Yvette Jones-Smedley interviews award winning choreographer and educator Gary Moore.  Moore, former Artistic Director of the Montgomery Ballet is currently the Director of Dance at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, AL.   Gary holds, among others, a Master of Education degree in Dance Anthropology and Performance from Lesley University, Cambridge , MA, is an ASCA Fellowship recipient and was recently chosen as an Unsung Hero in Education by the ING,Co for an original ballet, "Ever After'ING" celebrating the work of American graphic artist Maxfield Parrish performed  Montgomery Museum of Fine Art.(more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Kern Jackson, Director of the African American Studies program and an Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Alabama

Kern Jackson, Director of the African American Studies program and an Assistant Professor of English at the University of South Alabama, talks with folklorist Deborah Boykin about Mardi Gras in Mobile and its related traditions. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, "Tommie" Tonea Stewart

Performing Arts Program Manager Yvette Jones-Smedley talks with actress, director and educator Dr. "Tommie" Tonea Stewart about the recent national and local recognitions she has received for her lifelong service in Theatre.   Stewart, presently serving as Dean of the Visual and Performing Arts Department of Alabama State University has appeared in several feature films, such as "A Time to Kill" and "Mississippi Burning," as well as the television series, "In the Heat of the Night."  The widely recognized actress shares childhood memories of her formative years as a budding performing artist as well as success stories of the many she has impacted through her craft. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Jacqueline Crenshaw Lockhart

Performing Arts Program Manager Yvette Jones-Smedley interviews Jacqueline Crenshaw Lockhart.  Mrs Lockhart, founder and director of the J. Lockhart Performing Arts Institute is also Director of Dance and Adjunct Professor of Dance Jazz/Dance History/Pedagogy at Birmingham Southern College.   In this interview she talks about  her experience as a Fellowship recipient in Dance from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and shares  how the award impacted here career as a dancer a choreography and a teaching artist.   Ms. Lockhart serves on the board of the Alabama Dance Council and has received numerous accolades, awards, and proclamations for her contributions to the community and tireless work in the arts.  (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Sulynn Creswell, director of Black Belt Treasures

Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews Sulynn Creswell, director of Black Belt Treasures in Camden, Alabama.  Creswell discusses the efforts of Black Belt Treasures to showcase and promote the arts of the Black Belt Region.  (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, The Secret Sisters, Laura and Lydia Rodgers

The Secret Sisters, Laura and Lydia Rodgers, have, in the past year and a half, secured a record deal, released an album produced by noted producer T-Bone Burnett, toured much of the United States, Europe, and Australia, and opened for Paul Simon. Folklorist Deborah Boykin talked with the sisters before a November appearance at Decatur's Princess Theater. They discussed their early influences, the audition that led them into the music business, their recent songwriting efforts, and their touring and performing experiences.  (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Linda Vice, director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office

The Southwest Alabama Culinary Trail is the topic of this week’s program as Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, travels to Thomasville to interview Linda Vice, director of the Southwest Alabama Tourism and Film Office.   Ms. Vice takes listeners on a county-by-county tour highlighting the traditional cuisine and hospitality offered along the trail, which includes everything from Conecuh and Monroe sausages to the Black Bottom Pie served at Gaines Ridge Supper Club in Camden. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Jessica Lacher-Feldman

The importance of community cookbooks as cultural documents is the subject of this week’s program on Alabama Arts Radio.  Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews Jessica Lacher-Feldman, curator of rare books and special collections at the University of Alabama’s Hoole Library.  Lacher-Feldman discusses a number of cookbooks, recipes, and illustrations included in their Alabama Collection and the Lupton African American Cookbook Collection. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Augusto Soledade

Augusto Soledade, artistic director of Brazz Dance Theatre talks about his life, philosophy and choreographic process with arts in education program manager, Diana Green. Brazz Dance Theatre kicks off the second weekend of events as part of the Alabama Dance Festival 2012, with a brand new work, Cordel.  This new work blends the styles and social implications of the Argentine Tango with American Hip-hop culture. Mr. Soledade's intent is to bring a discussion on marginalization and social tensions around the globe, using the literary tradition of Cordel (popular Brazilian folk poetry) as inspirations for the creation of this abstract contemporary dance, to be presented on Friday, January 27, at Samford University's Wright Fine Arts Center. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Folkstreams Tom Davenport

This program is a rebroadcast of Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviewing Tom Davenport an independent filmmaker and founding director of Folkstreams.net.  During the program Davenport discusses how Folkstreams preserves and gives new life to documentary films about American folklore and roots cultures by streaming them on the internet.  He talks about several important Alabama films featured on the website, as well as his own work making folklore documentaries and dramatic adaptations of Grimm’s fairy tales. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Homespun Songs of the Christmas Season

For this program we want to thank Bobby Horton for graciously allowing us to play selections from his personally arranged and performed Homespun Songs of the Christmas Season CD for our Christmas Day radio program. We at the Alabama State Council on the Arts want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year.

A seasoned performer, Horton is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and music historian. He has performed with the musical- comedy trio Three On a String, throughout the United States and Canada for 35 plus years.  He has also produced and performed music scores for thirteen PBS films by Ken Burns including “The Civil War”, and “Baseball,” two films for The A&E network, and sixteen films for The National Park Service.  His series of recordings of authentic period music has been acclaimed by historical organization and publications through America and Europe.

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Ronald K. Brown, artistic director of Evidence, A Dance Company

Arts in Education program manager Diana Green talks with Ronald K. Brown, artistic director of Evidence, A Dance Company before his performance at the Samford University Wright Center during the 2012 Alabama Dance Festival. The interview is a sneak preview into the process of this well-known choreographer from Brooklyn, New York. His work is a seamless fusion of traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word. It provides a unique view of human struggles, tragedies, and triumphs. Brown uses movement as a way to reinforce the importance of community in African American culture and to acquaint audiences with the beauty of traditional African forms and rhythms. The depth of human experience that has become the inspiration for his work is evident as he speaks about why he creates. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Betty Moon Sampson

This program is a rebroadcast of Steve Grauberger interviewing Betty Moon Sampson, bluegrass musician and  Master Artist in the Arts Council's Folk Arts Apprentice Program. Betty tells stories about various aspects of her life growing up in Holly Pond, Alabama and learning to play and sing music with her father, banjo maker and musician Arlin Moon. She talks about her family band Dixie Bluegrass and shares examples of her music (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, "Gandy Dance Caller" John Henry Mealing

This program is a rebroadcast of folklore researcher and history professor Jim Brown of Samford University narrating an interview with "Gandy Dance Caller" John Henry Mealing (1908-2007) who was a National Heritage Recipient. The ASCA show is edited from the original Samford University WVSU Radio Production done the 1980s.

For more on Gandy Dancers.
Gandy Dancers film on folkstreams.net

Click here for Gandy Presentation by Maggie Holtzberg.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Jim HilgartnerJim Hilgartner

This week Anne Kimzey, literary arts program manager with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, talks with Jim Hilgartner of Montgomery as he reads and discusses selections from his current works of short fiction. Hilgartner received a Literary Arts Fellowship Award from the State Arts Council in 2011. He serves on the English faculty of Huntingdon College where he also directs the Staton Center for Learning Enrichment.. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Archivist Cheylon Woods

Kevin Nutt interviews Archivist Cheylon Woods who is currently working at the Alabama Department of Archives and History on a fellowship from the HistoryMakers foundation. Cheylon discusses The HistoryMakers organization and how it seeks to further the presence of African-Americans in the archiving field. Woods talks about her current projects at Archives and History and discusses her upbringing, family and education and how these influenced her life and career choice. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Alabama State Gospel Singing Convention Program 222

This rebroadcast is the second of two programs that Steve Grauberger interviews participants of the 2004 Alabama State Gospel Singing Convention about convention history, song writing and publishing, piano playing, and singing schools.  Music examples are also included. This and the previous program is to help promote the 81st Annual Convention held November 11th & 12th, 2011 at the Cottondale United Methodist Church Cottondale, Al (Tuscaloosa County), Friday night: 6:30p.m. – 8:30p.m.  to Saturday: 10:00a.m. – 3:00p.m. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Mary Allison Haynie Executive Director of the Alabama Folklife Association

Mary Allison Haynie Executive Director of the Alabama Folklife Association (AFA) discusses various events that the AFA has presented throughout the year promoting this Year of Alabama Music. Such as, the tribute to the traditional fiddling of the Stripling family, the Sacred Harp Singing School held at Tannehill State Park,  and the free upcoming event In Harmony: Gospel Quartet Tradition, Teaching, and Training to be held November 5th starting 1 PM at Discovery Alabama Event Center,  4500 Alabama Adventure Parkway;  Bessemer, Alabama. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Alabama State Gospel Singing Convention Program 1

This rebroadcast is the first of two programs of Steve Grauberger interviewing participants of the 2004 Alabama State Gospel Singing Convention about convention history, song writing and publishing, and singing schools.  Music examples are also included. This program is to help promote the 81st Annual Convention held November 11th & 12th, 2011 at the Cottondale United Methodist Church Cottondale, Al (Tuscaloosa County), Friday night: 6:30p.m. – 8:30p.m.  to Saturday: 10:00a.m. – 3:00p.m. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Robert Clem and Auguster Maul

To help promote the Alabama Folklife Association event  In Harmony: The Gospel Quartet Music Tradition of Jefferson County on Nov 5th 2011, this radio program is a rebroadcast with Joey Brackner interviewing film maker Robert Clem about his project the Gospel Highway.  In the second half of the program Joey interviews Auguster Maul, lead singer for the Delta Aires Quartet. (more)

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Chris Holmes

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Alabama Public Television (APT)  producer Chris Holmes about his new film "Sucarnochee: A Revue of Alabama Music."  The film profiles several Alabama musicians who participated in a special concert this year at the University of West Alabama in Livingston as part of the Sucarnochee Revue series.  The film will premiere October 24th at 9pm on APT. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Birmingham Sunlights

  This program is a repeat of Steve Grauberger interviewing James Alex Taylor and Barry Taylor, two of the six  members of the gospel a cappella group the Birmingham Sunlights. In 2009 the Birmingham Sunlights received a National Heritage Fellowship for master folk and traditional artists in a ceremony in Washington D. C. from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  In this interview James and Barry Taylor describe the history of their group, its members and the travels they have experienced singing and representing Alabama in Africa, France, Italy and the United States. Musical examples of their singing are presented as well. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Mary Foshee and Charla Cochran

Arts in Education program manager Diana Green interviews Mary Foshee and Charla Cochran from the Children’s Dance Foundation, in Homewood, Alabama. The Children’s Dance Foundation offers classes in dance, drumming and dramatics for all ages, and tours performances and workshops to schools and community organizations. More detailed information about their programs and their contribution to arts education in our state is included in this interview. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, John O'Neal

Alabama State Arts Council Director Al Head interviews John O'Neal, actor, playwright, founder and now retired artistic director of Junebug Productions based in New Orleans. As a civil rights activist beginning in the early 1960s he co-founded the Free Southern Theater.  He is probably best know for his widely toured character Junebug Jabbo Jones, a mythic figure who symbolizes the wisdom of common people.  O’Neal has written eighteen plays, a musical comedy,  poetry and several essays.  He is a winner of a Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World award (2005), the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (2010) and the United States Artists Award. He was in Alabama demonstrating elements of the Story Circle Project to Arts leaders here.  The Story Circle concept allows individuals to share intimate stories about themselves to help bridge understanding between races. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Outdoor Sculpture Project at Auburn University Montgomery

Georgine Clarke discusses the Outdoor Sculpture Project at Auburn University Montgomery with project director Sue Jensen and participating artist Jamey Grimes. Jensen explains how the three artists were selected and describes their various approaches to sculpture. Grimes talks about the nature of his work,  especially as it relates to his study of the environment. He also talks about teaching in the Prison Arts in Education program operated from Auburn University. (more)

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Dr Robert Halli

This program is a 2004 rebroadcast of Joey Brackner interviewing University of Alabama professor Robert Halli about his book, An Alabama Songbook: Ballads, Folksongs, and Spirituals.  The book is based upon the research of Byron Arnold who collected folk songs throughout Alabama during the late 1940s.  Actual field recordings made by Byron Arnold are featured during the program.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Kim Mitchell

In this program Georgine Clarke interviews Kim Mitchell, Interim Director of the Carnegie Visual Arts Center in Decatur, Alabama. The discussion includes the exhibition schedule and description of classes for children. The Center has sponsored public art icons painted by artists and located throughout the community for the past three years. The images have included butterflies and dragon flies as well as roosters. Kim explains the popularity of this program and also discusses how the roosters have been done in conjunction with the Moulton Chicken and Egg Festival.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Joyce Cauthen, recently retired director of the Alabama Folkife Association

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Joyce Cauthen, recently retired as the director of the Alabama Folkife Association.  In this conversation Joyce discusses her many years as director of the AFA and how she developed the organization and the folklife research she accomplished over three decades as director. She also describes her work with the Birmingham Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance and her performance group, Red Mountain.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Poetry Out Loud National Champion, Youssef Biaz

In this program Diana Green, Arts in Education Program Manager interviews the 2011 Poetry Out Loud National Champion, Youssef Biaz from Auburn High School, along with his English teacher and mentor, Davis Thompson and Youssef's father and sister. more
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast,, Tommy Moorehead

Georgine Clarke interviews Tommy Moorehead, director and artist-in-residence at Jemison-Carnegie Heritage Hall in Talladega. He discusses the museum's educational programming for both adults and children as well as the exhibition schedule. The conversation includes discussion of his artwork and his background as an artist and artist-in-residence throughout Alabama. He describes the development of a new museum of the Creek Indian in Talladega as well as activities of the Sarah Carlisle Towery art colony in Alex City.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast,, Dr. Virginia Gilbert, Poet

This week Anne Kimzey, literary arts program manager with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews poet Dr. Virginia Gilbert of Madison about her work and her time serving in the Peace Corps in Korea. Gilbert received a Literary Arts Fellowship award from the State Arts Council in 2010 and has recently retired from the English faculty of Alabama A M University.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Ike Zimmerman

In June of 2011 a group of relatives came together in Alabama to commemorate a common bond, the late Isaiah "Ike" Zimmerman, an Alabama native originally from Grady. After making his home in Beauregard, Mississippi in the 1930s, he became a mentor to bluesman guitarist Robert Johnson. An accomplished blues guitarist and performer himself, Ike Zimmerman and his wife Ruth took Johnson into their home for over a year where Ike generously taught Johnson, then known as R.L., what he knew about the blues.  In this program Grey Brennan, Marketing Manager at the Alabama Department of Travel and Tourism and Steve Grauberger of ASCA interview two daughters of Ike Zimmerman, Loretha Z. Smith and Nelly Ruth Brown with their sons James Smith and Oscar Brown, to try and find more information about this interesting Alabamian and his relationship to Robert Johnson.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Poet Jake Adam York

Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. interviews Jake Adam York, featured poet at the 6th Annual Alabama Book Festival. Thompson talks with York about his “open project” of poems memorializing murdered civil rights workers, inspired when he visited the newly installed Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery. more

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Drive By Truckers', Patterson Hood

Folklorist Deborah Boykin interviews musician Patterson Hood about the Drive-By Truckers' (DBT) upcoming appearance at the W.C. Handy Festival sponsored by the Alabama Folklife Association.  A native of Florence, Hood talks about the influence of the area on his songwriting and discusses growing up as a second generation musician in Muscle Shoals. He describes the evolution of the DBT and his long partnership with fellow Trucker Mike Cooley and gives his thoughts on the future of music in the Shoals. more

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Artist Ben Ward

Program Manager Geogine Clarke interviews Visual Artist and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) professor of foundation studies Benjamin Ward.  In this radio interview Ward details various aspects of the SCAD academic program and gives insight into his early influences and his contemporary approach to teaching foundation studies. Ward's current professional work and past exhibits are also discussed.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, AL State Poetry Out Loud Winners Peggy Payne and Youssef Biaz

Donna Russell, executive director of the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education, interviews two high school student winners of our Poetry Out Loud Program. Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Students select poems from an anthology provided at poetryoutloud.org. Alabama adds to this program an opportunity for students to write original poems and to recite them at the State competition.  Peggy Payne was the Original Poetry Recitation winner for 2011. Youssef Biaz became Alabama’s State Champion in 2011 for the second year in a row and traveled to Washington D.C. to compete in the national competition. Both students recite poetry during this interview.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Cigar Box Instrument Bill Jehle

Folklorist Deborah Boykin interviews musician and author Bill Jehle  about his interest in cigarbox guitars. Jehle, who plays the guitars he makes from cigar boxes and a variety of found objects, is the author of One Man's Trash: A History of the Cigarbox Guitar and curator of his own Cigar Box Musuem. One of his guitars is part of the exhibit Music Makers: A Celebration for the Year of Alabama Music on display in the Alabama Artists Gallery in the RSA Tower in Montgomery.


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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Guitar Maker James Burkett and Cigar-Box Guitar Maker Warren Shirley

To highlight this Year of Alabama Music, the Alabama Artist Gallery features an exhibit called, Music Makers: A Celebration for the Year of Alabama Music (pdf of exhibit program). Included in the exhibit are various musical instruments made by Alabamians. Two craftsmen featured in this program are James Burkett, a guitar maker from Dothan andWarren Shirley a cigar-box guitarmaker from Davenport. Both describe the process of making their instruments.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Self-Taught Artist Robena Perry

To highlight this Year of Alabama Music, the Alabama Artist Gallery featured the exhibit, Music Makers: A Celebration for the Year of Alabama Music (pdf of exhibit program)..In this radio program, Visual Arts Program Manager and Gallery Director Georgine Clarke interviews self-taught artist Robena Perry.  Perry has contributed her unusual sculpture "The World's Smallest Band" made of over a hundred Barbie, Ken, G. I. Joe, and other similar dolls that serves as a centerpiece for the exhibit.  Robena talks about her ideas behind the making of "The World's Smallest Band" and other smaller vignettes that she calls rooms.

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Flute Maker and Musician Michael Graham Allen

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews musician and flute maker Michael Graham Allen of Walker County.  Allen constructs wooden flutes inspired by American Indian designs.  He also decorates the instruments based on historic Indian pottery designs.  Photos of his flutes as well as his music CDs can be found at:coyoteoldman.com.

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Award Winning Poet, Sonia Sanchez

This week Jeanie Thompson interviews poet, playwright, educator and activist Sonia Sanchez.  Sanchez talks about her belief in the power of poetry to help people survive their circumstances, including alienation and incarceration. She also speaks about her early life in Alabama, her father Wilson L. Driver, a 1980 Inductee in the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and her formative experiences with the Black Arts Movement and the development of Black Studies programs around the country.

Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Brent Warren of the Newgrass Troubadours

Deborah Boykin, folklorist with the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, interviews Brent Warren of The Newgrass Troubadours. This Birmingham band performs bluegrass standards as well as their own arrangements of songs by artists rarely covered by bluegrass bands, such as Jimi Hendrix. Warren, who is also president of the Alabama Bluegrass Music Association, talks about the band's musical influences and their experiences performing at festivals around the region. He also discusses learning to play with other musicians in jam sessions at festivals and encourages up and coming pickers to seek out these opportunities when they can. Examples of their eclectic style can be heard as well.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Soul Singer Eddie Floyd

Deborah Boykin talks with soul music great Eddie Floyd. Floyd, who wrote hits including "Knock on Wood" and "634-5789," describes his songwriting techniques, his early career in Detroit as part of The Falcons, a group that also included Prattville native Wilson Pickett, and his experiences touring in Europe. He also talks about growing up in Alabama, his early musical influences, and his performance at theGovernor's Arts Awards on May 17th, 2011.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Braxton Schuffert original Drifting Cowboy

Folkorist Deborah Boykin talks with 97 year old Braxton Schuffert, a country singer and songwriter who was one of Hank Williams's original Drifting Cowboys.  Mr. Schuffert talks about his early life, his experience performing on WSFA radio and his long friendship with Williams, which began when Schuffert made a delivery to the boarding house run by Hank's mother. He also describes the experience of co-writing a song with Williams and talks about his own compositions.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Valerie Burnes and Tina Jones

Anne Kimzey, folklorist with the Alabama State Council on the Arts, interviews two University of West Alabama faculty members who are working to promote the Black Belt region of Alabama.  In the first half of the show Valerie Pope Burnes, Director of the Center for the Study of the Black Belt and Assistant Professor of History at UWA discusses the activities of the Center and its role in creating appreciation of the culture and natural history of the 19-county region.  In the second half of the show, Dr. Tina Naremore Jones, Dean of Educational Outreach at UWA and president of the board of the Alabama Black Belt Heritage Area describes efforts to develop tourism in the region.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Lee Sentell and Grey Brennan Alabama Tourism Dept.

Alabama Center for Traditional Culture Director Joey Brackner interviews Alabama  Tourism Department  Director Lee Sentell about the tourism industry in Alabama and his Department's themed campaigns such as the "Year of Alabama Food" and "Year of Alabama Arts". In the second half Grey Brennan, Marketing and Regional Director for the Alabama Tourism Department, talks about this year's innovative campaign "The Year of Alabama Music" and its importance to the state's local economy.  Also included is a discussion about the Year of Alabama Music Songwriting Contest.

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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Dr Wayne Anthony Barr Director of the Tuskegee University Golden Voices Choir

Steve Grauberger interviews Dr. Wayne Anthony Barr, director of theTuskegee University's Golden Voices Concert Choir, about his work and some of the choir's history regarding Tuskegee University founder Booker T. Washington and well known choral arranger and director Dr, William Levi Dawson.


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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, James Lamb and Ashley Dumas Black Belt Museum Livingston Alabama

This week Joey Brackner, director of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture interviews Dr. James Lamb and Dr. Ashley Dumas of the Black Belt Museum, a division of the Center for the Study of the Black Belt at the University of West Alabama in Livingston.


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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, 2011 Alabama Book Festival

Deborah Boykin interviews Gail Waller, co-chair of the 6th annual  Alabama Book Festival , and Jeannie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writer's Forum, about the upcoming festival on April 16 in Montgomery's Old Alabama Town.  They discuss the authors who will appear at the festival and the activities planned for visitors of all ages, including readings, book signings, and children's activities.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Country Musicians Cast King and Matt Downer

This program is a rebroadcast of a 2005 interview by Anne Kimzey with musicians Cast King and Matt Downer from Sand Mountain.  Guitarist and songwriter Cast King and his former band The Country Drifters recorded with Sun Records of Memphis in the 1950s.  Matt Downer, a young musician, has been working with Mr. King for a few years to learn his guitar style and to record his music and life history.   During the program Mr. King performs three of the approximately 500 songs he has written in his lifetime. Cast King died in 2007.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Donna Russell director of the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education

This week Anne Kimzey of the Alabama State Council on the Arts interviews Donna Russell, director of the Alabama Alliance for Arts Education.  During the program Russell discusses the Alliance's work as an advocate for arts in the schools, training opportunities for teachers and communities, and fruitful partnerships both nationally with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and statewide with the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
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Alabama Arts Radio Podcast, Enoch and Margie Sullivan of the Sullivan Family Bluegrass Gospel Band

This program is a rebroadcast of a 2003 interview with Enoch and Margie Sullivan in memory of Enoch Sullivan, who recently passed on Feb 23^rd 2011 in Mobile.  The Sullivan Family of St. Stephens, Alabama has been stalwart in the presentation of Bluegrass Gospel music throughout the world.  Among their many awards are the Alabama State Council on the Arts’ Folk Heritage Fellowship and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
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