Martha Redbone Interview: A Creative Life Rooted in Afro-Indigenous Identity and Appalachian Traditions

Transcript: podcast, video linked

Martha Redbone is acclaimed for her powerful performances as a singer, as well as her prize-winning song-writing, composition and arranging. For over 30 years she’s been in a successful collaboration with her partner Aaron Whitby and we talked about some of their new theatrical projects including Black Mountain Women, The Sex Variants of 1941, and Guardian Spirit: The Words of bell hooks.  Throughout this episode you’ll be hearing clips from Martha’s powerful album The Garden of Love  which sets the poetry of William Blake to the diverse music of Appalachia, written with Aaron and John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Many people think of the music, culture and history of Appalachia in terms of the blend of white settlers in the area, but Martha’s family heritage from Harlan county Tennessee include African-American, Cherokee, and Choctaw. She shared her experiences growing up with her grandparents as part of a coal-mining family, as well as the dramatic changes she has witnessed in Brooklyn over several decades. 

In this wide-ranging episode, you’ll also hear Martha’s great advice for self-care, maintaining boundaries and working collaboratively.  

 We started this conversation with Martha’s collaborations with clarinettist Tasha Warren and cellist Dave Eggar and if you missed my interview with Tasha last year it’s linked

Transcript to my interview with the brilliant Canadian pianist Katherine Dowling; the podcast and video versions are linked. In this conversation we talked about her album of solo music by Alice Ping Yee Ho, mentors including Gil Kalish and Henk Guittart, and how and why she’s developed her exceptional musical memory. Katherine shared fantastic insights into teaching and learning, the importance of inclusivity and access to arts education, and how she uses the Pomodoro technique in the practice room. She explained how sound production on the piano is about the speed of attack and we discussed  different skill sets and career paths for pianists.  Dr. Dowling shared many inspiring musical memories, and how she developed her ambitious Elegy project to follow her personal path through grief.

The transcript of my 2024 interview with Pat Irwin. The podcast, video, show notes, and gallery of images are linked here, along with his website and my previous conversation with the renowned film and televison composer and multi-instrumentalist Pat Irwin, and we are featuring lots of Pat’s music for you today in different styles from many of his projects.

In my previous episode with him from 2023, Season 3 of this podcast, we talked about his days with the B52s and composing the score for Dexter: New Blood, and we also talked about his band SUSS and his work mentoring graduate students, and so much more and I encourage you to click on the link to that earlier episode if you missed it.

This interview jumps around Pat’s varied and fascinating creative life. You’ll hear more stories and music from some of his acclaimed cartoon music from Rocko’s Modern Life and songs from Pepper Ann. We talk about, and you’ll hear music from some of his projects, including rocking out with the PI Power Trio with Sasha Dobson and Daria Grace, and new albums coming out with Cynthia Sley, with SUSS and with Julia Heyward. I’m blown away by Pat’s detailed memory and this episode is rich with interesting stories, and also his down-to-earth advice.