It’s ‘theme time’ in this episode of Deeper Roots. We’ll listen to performances that explore that not-so-curious passion for money, the anxiety and fear of not having enough, and stories of a time when was hard to come upon. We’ll hear what would be paid for a song or keeping quiet; fantasies of what it might be like to in a position of wealth and nightmares of when the money’s all gone. Mostly, however, we’ll hear stories about what would be paid in exchange for a man’s time, or maybe a man’s soul. Join Dave Stroud for another journey through a century of America’s music where he’ll include among the performers Buddy Guy, Lefty Frizzell, The Blue Sky Boys, Gillian Welch, Chuck Berry, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Two heads are better than one…indeed. Deeper Roots features music performed in pairs in an episode called “Duos and Duets”. The music will feature our usual assemblage of genres blended for a Friday night. They’ll include the heavenly country sibling harmonies of The Louvins, The Delmores, and the Whitsteins, special duets featuring Johnny Cash, John Prine, Blind Willie Johnson, and Otis Redding, as well as a full helping of pop, jazz, and rock.

Let’s celebrate a popular topic: food!  Shall we? It’s a century of America’s music covering potatoes, pork, beans, cornbread, and biscuits…as well as some of your favorite desserts. And we’ll also celebrate the barbecue, another favorite immigrant tradition that had, by the 19th century, become a place of communal congregation in the American South.

We’ll be singing for our supper with Helen Humes, struttin’ with some barbecue with Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, stoppin’ in at the donut shop with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, stomping the blues with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and sitting down to cake that Eileen Barton baked.