The Female Bob Dylan

Emily interviews old-time music legend and reigning “deviled egg queen” Alice Gerrard live at The Celebration of Women in Old-Time at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville. Alice calls her new memoir Custom Made Woman: A Life in Traditional Music “a scrapbook”—those scraps are the meat of this far-ranging conversation about the DC + Baltimore scenes, Alice’s collaboration with Hazel Dickens, the Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project’s integrated tours in the South “chas(ing) after a better world,” and the women musicians she met who didn’t “play out” but were known in their communities. She also divulges the secrets to her pandemic pet-project in which she taught her dog to bring her a beer from the fridge. 
Recorded March 7, 2026 as a part of the celebration of Women in Old-Time Music weekend event in Knoxville, TN. Special thanks to Eric Dawson at the East Tennessee History Center and to Knoxville Community Media.
https://www.knoxcountylibrary.org/album/celebration-women-old-time-music

We took the podcast on the road to Knoxville and invited our friend Jessie Wilkerson to join us in celebrating the late great labor songwriter and groundbreaking bluegrass musician Hazel Dickens (1925-2011)! In front of a live audience at the Celebration of Women in Old-Time Music event at the East Tennessee History Center, we discuss Hazel's life and her powerful songs that narrate the Appalachian migrant experience, advocate for working people (including sex workers & migrant workers), and outline an intersectional working class feminism. 

Recorded March 7, 2026 as part of the Celebration of Women in Old-Time Music weekend event in Knoxville, TN. Special thanks to Eric Dawson at the East Tennessee History Center and to Knoxville Community Media. https://www.knoxcountylibrary.org/celebrating-women-old-time-music

We caught up with Rolling Stone Senior Research Editor Jonathan Bernstein about his recent interview with Lucinda Williams on her (and Dylan's) take on "the female Bob Dylan" label. Then we ponder the concept and construction of "the singer-songwriter" and go off the rails a little as we grapple with the role and efficacy of protest songs in our current political hellscape. In the mix: Tiktok-ification, mass movements (and the loss thereof), hopelessness and hope, the violence of the state, and the songs of the people. 

Special thanks to Ian Lynch and Lankum for the use of "Rocks of Palestine." We highly recommend Ian's excellent podcast Fire Draw Near: https://campsite.bio/firedrawnear
Special thanks also to our guest Jonathan Bernstein. Read his article, “Lucinda Williams on Trump Bashing, New Album: ‘Should I Be Afraid?’” in Rolling Stone and check out his new book What Do You Do When You're Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle: https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/jonathan-bernstein/what-do-you-do-when-youre-lonesome/9780306833274/

We talk with Julia Greenberg, co-director of the excellent 2024 documentary, Dory Previn: On My Way to Where. The film recounts Dory's far-flung creative life at the intersection of classic Hollywood, pop music, and Laurel Canyon bohemia. As a close friend of Dory's, a performer of her music, and one of the carriers of her legacy (and her microphone !), Julia shares stories of Dory's painting and needlepointing in her Berkshire farmhouse, Frank Sinatra's deaf cat, and plans for the Dory Previn archive.
Learn more about Dory Previn: On My Way to Where at https://www.doryprevindoc.com/
The outro music on this episode is "Quiet Day" by Julia Greenberg

Paying our respects to lyricist, truth-teller, and style icon Dory Previn (1925-2012). Previn was an accomplished songwriter for film and TV for years before pivoting to the spotlight as a cult-famous singer-songwriter in her 40s. We deep dive into her writing and the way she translates emotion and experience into song, detouring to talk mental health advocacy, Valley of the Dolls, Catholicism, and more. As a wise man (Sarah Bachman) once said, you will love Dory Previn if you've ever really snapped. Hop on into the Gorgon Revelator 240 Coupe with us, we're blasting "Twenty-Mile Zone"....