Roots 'N Offshoots

It's been almost a decade since Johnny Cash died, but fans still travel from around the world to see the place the music legend often described as key to his development: his boyhood home in the eastern Arkansas town of Dyess. The small house will soon serve as a museum — not only as a tribute to Johnny Cash, but also to tell the history of the town.

Yonder Mountain String Band will return to Columbus and The LC Pavilion on Fri. Feb. 1, 2013.  You'll have many chances to win tickets on WCBE up until the show date!  This is also one of our VIP Concert events to choose from and you can check out all the details here. 

This is how we sum up 2012: beats, harmonies, struggles, breakdowns, recoveries, party starters, raw-voiced rallying cries, song suites, storytellers, pop experimenters, never-more-devastating septuagenarian poet-crooners, never-more-devastating 285-year-old oratorios, epic statements, perfect miniatures, instant classics, hard-won achievements and explosions of joy. The albums we loved in 2012 — presented here in alphabetical order — spanned genres and borders, and each one got its hooks into us. We hope you find something here that does the same for you.

Woody Pines will make a stop at WCBE to play some songs live during the Global Village. 

The Infamous Stringdusters, the bluegrass band out of Charlottesville, VA., will perform live during the Global Village! 

Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule will be backed up by The Lee Boys live during the Global Village! 

Every so often, people at an NPR station discover a song they can't get enough of. On those occasions, we ask them to share their obsession with the nation. Ben Famous is the music director at KCEP Power88 in Las Vegas. He spoke to Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep about a new cut from R&B heavyweight Avant. It's called "You and I," and it features Keke Wyatt. "The first time we played it," says Famous, "the phone lines lit up, and people were like, 'Who was that?' 'What was that?'"

Xavier Rudd, the Aussie musician, activist, and surfer will join us Live From Studio A during The Global Village to play a few songs from his 7th release, Spirit Bird. 

Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst make up the Charleston, S.C. group Shovels & Rope and they'll be making a stop by WCBE to play a few songs live ahead of the sold out show opening up for Jack White at The LC!

Original Folk/Rock/Pop musician from South Berwich, ME,   Connor Garvey will perform a few songs live on A.M. with Mike Taylor. 

The 20-year Austin veteran, Guy Forsyth, will join us live from Studio A during The Global Village!

The contemporary folk duo, The Two Man Gentlemen Band, mixing folk with hot jazz, swing, Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville and more into their repertoire,  will perform live in the 2PM hour during The Global Village! 

Catch Mark Erelli and Lori McKenna playing together Live in Studio A.

Mark Erelli is currently touring with Lori McKenna opening for and playing with her. Both will be performing that night at the Shedd Theatre at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.

Presented by Six Strings Concerts

The Phillip Fox Band will showcase a few new tunes during the Global Village in the 2PM hour! 

Recently, I was listening to a new tribute album covering the songs of Fleetwood Mac, and thought once again how dreadful most tribute albums are: They don't add much to the legacy of the artists being saluted, while inadvertently freezing vital old music in an amber of sentimentality. Then I turned to When I'm President, an album of new songs by Ian Hunter.

The prelude to Canadian singer-songwriter Corb Lund's new album sounds like a classic country music song. Lund built a cabin in rural Alberta with his longtime girlfriend and favorite uncle, but after the cabin was completed, his girlfriend left and his uncle died. Snowed in for weeks at a time, Lund emerged with Cabin Fever, the title of his new album.

Sons Of Bill will perform live from Studio A on Thurs. July 19, 2012 on Mike Taylor's Ante Meridiem in the 11AM hour on WCBE!

Bringing their brand of country music from Virginia to Columbus, the 3 founding members are literally sons of Bill!