Rambles.NET editor Tom Knapp writes occasional features for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences -- you know, the folks who give out the Emmys. Links to those stories are included here.
Tom's Academy features are indicated by this symbol: 📺


We're also pleased to include a series of podcast interviews by Jason Mundok from his Around the Wood Stove series. Give 'em a listen!
Look for this symbol: 🎧

(Note: Although Jason discontinued this series in 2014 and took down the website, the links now redirect to an archive of his podcast interviews. Not all of them are up yet, but he's adding more regularly.)





Interview subjects are listed alphabetically. Click on a title to read the story.


what's new

music
books
movies
folkways

links
enquiries


Learn a lot about Irish music from Ceol, the Traditional Irish Music Center in Dublin, Ireland.


mail
InTerViews

with musicians, authors, editors, poets, artists, actors, producers and creators of many stripes.


The music speaks for itself. Right? You can read the books, look at the art and watch the screen without any further input into your experience.

But aren't you curious what they were thinking as they created?

We were. Here's your chance to get behind the creator's facade and meet the human being behind the creation.

Let's see what they have to say.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


A

Jenn Adams: working anthropology into her music

Chloe Agnew: falling young into Celtic Woman

Akvarium: revolutionizing the Russian music scene

Elias Alexander: Who needs sleep?

Dana Alexandra: infectiously pop 🎧

Albert Alfonso: drumming with the bodhran swami

Maya Angelou: singing, swaying & shouting

Brooke Annibale: being quiet 🎧

Anonymous 4 (Johanna Rose): weaving the fine art of women's ancient music

James Apollo: finding cultural motivations in song

Asphalt Orchestra (Jessica Schmitz): choreographing anarchy with a piccolo


B

Baka Beyond (Martin Cradick): munching on caterpillars & making music with a pygmy tribe

Jesse Baker: creating movement with his music 🎧

Robert Bakker: hunting dinosaurs & making paleontology cool

Rose Baldino: fiddling witchery with Burning Bridget Cleary

Robert Ballard: finding the Titanic promotes nerdless science

Scott Balsai: taking a hike 🎧

Baltimore Consort (Mary Anne Ballard): resurrecting ancient pop

Glenn Banner: bridging a historical gap to Gettysburg

Barnaby Bright: finding Bliss 🎧

Samantha Bee: 50 years after the Stonewall riots, how far have we come? 📺

Michael Been: heeding The Call

Beggar Folk:
a band born of ping-pong smack talk 🎧
getting good angles 🎧

Julie Bell: fantasy painting for two of a kind

Beolach (Wendy MacIsaac): choosing music over Mounties

The Berrymans: surrealism meets silliness

Jessica Biel: making a mission of the female perspective 📺

Mary Black: singing for the joy of music

Sarah Blacker
flexible modality 🎧
land of opportunity 🎧

Blazin' Fiddles (Catriona MacDonald): a rose among thorns

Adam Blessing: a hard-working balancing act 🎧

The Blind Boys of Alabama (Jimmy Carter): gospel is alive

Rory Block: singing her country blues

Odds Bodkin: telling stories as an alternative to The Tick

Christopher Bohn: living the creative life 🎧

Brethren: fun with con-science 🎧

Bright Blue Gorilla: gorillas in the mix

Broken Fences
mend the gap 🎧
not the begging type 🎧

Brother (Angus Richardson): siblings in arms

Wanda E. Brunstetter: basing books on Plain writing

Burning Bridget Cleary (Rose Baldino): fiddling witchery

Burning Bus: guilt-free funk

Octavia E. Butler: pounding out novels on a manual typewriter

Corty Byron: out the window 🎧


C

Derrick Cameron: spreading the Cape Breton tradition

Fil Campbell
working for a living, & finding her songstress roots
celebrating the women who came before 🎧

Stephanie Carlin: a deeper look at structure 🎧

Liz Carroll: fiddles, kids & the Cubs

Travis Caudle: on the road again with an Australian singer-songwriter

Celtic Woman (Chloe Agnew): falling into Celtic Woman

Cherish the Ladies (Joanie Madden)
the jig is up
riding the Celtic wave

Chubby Checker: twistin' his life away

Circle of Fourths (Joe Lynch): bearing music

Clairseach (Ann Heymann): something for the Irish to harp on

The Clancy Brothers (Liam Clancy & Robbie O'Connell): keeping the faith & mellowing as they go

Mychal Cohen & Campfire Ok: asking the world for direction 🎧

Bernard Cornwell: crafting stories with vivid historical & military detail

Oliver Craven: pickin' for fun 🎧

A Crowd of Bold Sharemen
on the Newfoundland fringe
a Newfoundland identity

Chrissy Crowley: music philosophy


D

Danu (Oisin McAuley): doing his best

Paula Danziger: sdrawkcab gnitirw

Rachel Davis
catch her while she's young
developing her Cape Breton style

Tove de Fries: a Danish treat

Monalisa DeGross: collecting words

Charles de Lint: issues, inspirations & stories to tell

Iris DeMent: aching, longing & celebrating

Mark DeRose & the Way Home: consistent schizophrenia 🎧

Dervish (Cathy Jordan): Irish music for fun & profit

Donna-Marie DeWolfe: making a happy tune

Diner: just a good-time band

Dochas: anti-pop Scottish girl power

Rita Dove: breathing poetry

Alan Doyle: making a career of Newfoundland pride with Great Big Sea

Maggie Drennon: nontraditional Irish traditions

Richard Dreyfuss: a civil discourse on America's forgotten history

Noam Dromi: creating, collecting & telling stories, making strides in the delivery of content during a pandemic, & the very last chat with Carl Reiner 📺

Ducky & the Vintage: the art & the music 🎧

Dustbowl Revival (Zach Lupetin): playing in the shadows where jazz, blues & bluegrass intersect


E

Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart: situations where people would listen 🎧

T. Obinkaram Echewa: telling stories in three dimensions

Enter the Haggis: spreading bagpipe rock to the masses

Wesley Eure: dinosaurs, broken toys, Welcome Back, Kotter & Land of the Lost


F

Peter Facinelli: Twilight actor refuses to be typecast, and wants to do it all 📺

Olivia Farabaugh: Making her way in Nashville

Fine Friday: gigging in Gaelic

Fire in the Glen: lighting the flame 🎧

Fishtank Ensemble: leaving the mule caravan behind

Carolyn Forche: facing up to atrocities through poetry

Joella Foulds
Otis Tomas's fiddle tree
Team Cape Breton

Julie Fowlis: staying true to her Hebridean roots

Kimberley Fraser: a left-handed approach to tradition

Betty Friedan: issues without gender

The Frogs: proudly "happy fun"

Brian Froud, Wendy Froud & Terri Windling: making faeries

Frozen Poet: unusual perspectives


G

Gaelic Storm
surviving Titanic
setting new courses

Jordan Gagne: TV composer finds himself rewriting scores in his head 📺

 Pat Garrett: ties to Taylor Swift

Dick Gaughan: debunking Scottish claptrap

David Gettes: man of steel

Gwenan Gibbard: Welsh ambassador

GiveWay: but don't give up

Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan: scoring Tales from the Loop, where the fantastic interacts with the mundane 📺

Glengarry Bhoys: planning ahead

Katy Glorioso: trying her hand 🎧

Dean Gonzalez: on the road with Dave Grohl's What Drives Us 📺

Eddie Gonzalez: On My Block depicts a reality its creators know all too well 📺

Kenneth Good: love among the Yanomama

Great Big Sea (Alan Doyle): making a career of Newfoundland pride

Alyson Greenfield: striking tinder 🎧

Grey Eye Glances: buying back their music, note by note

Jonathan Groff: from wishing well to Woodstock

Guess Who (Garry Peterson): still pitching after all these years

Kevin Guilfoile: casting shadows

Roy Gullane: remaking traditions with the Tannahill Weavers


H

Jeremy Haft: On My Block depicts a reality its creators know all too well 📺

Harem Scarem
not pop on purpose
gigging in Gaelic

JP Harris & the Tough Choices: just country 🎧

Patti Harrison: 50 years after the Stonewall riots, how far have we come? 📺

Dan Hart: avoiding fame "at all costs"

Caleb Hawley: overcoming his inner jazz snob 🎧

Martin Hayes: tradition through innovation

Josh Heald: kicking into the future: Cobra Kai creators honor the past as they update The Karate Kid 📺

David Hemingson: producing drama, comedy & romance in Whiskey Cavalier 📺

Carolyn Hester: & the Fortress of Folk

Ann Heymann: something to harp on

Anne Hills: singer finds a voice for her dreams

Barby Holder: a period player

Hope for Agoldensummer: sex, babies & poverty 🎧

Dani Hoy: rockin' the trop

Jon Hurwitz: kicking into the future: Cobra Kai creators honor the past as they update The Karate Kid 📺

Dermot Hyde: a piper in the Pipeline


I

Joy Ike: two steps forward 🎧

Indian Summer Jars
too original for Sarah Squared 🎧
"Don't watch her foot!" 🎧
holding on to feeling good

Indigo Girls (Amy Ray): art & activism

Ellen Irmisch: the Tartan Terrors are the evil twin of Riverdance

Eileen Ivers
beyond space to fiddle
keeping the tradition alive


J

Cheyenne Jackson: saying "yes" to everything: multi-talented actor moves between genres and media with the greatest of ease 📺

Jamie Jensen: on the road with the Road Trip writer

Cathy Jordan: Irish music for fun & profit with Dervish

Shannon Johnson: fiddling around with tradition


K

Joel Allen Kabik: the tell-tale heart ... of an actor

Lucy Kaplansky: unzipped

Ryan Kauffman: playing what he feels 🎧

Guy Gavriel Kay: devising worlds

Nuala Kennedy: gigging in Gaelic

Kilmaine Saints
punky Irish madness 🎧
building an army 🎧

Brandon Kim: on the road with Dave Grohl's What Drives Us 📺

KimberLiana: catching butterflies

Kingsfoil
plugging in 🎧
bleeding hearts 🎧

Jennifer Knapp: from contemporary Christian to Americana

Habib Koite: making a musical life

Camela Widad Kraemer: staging her songs 🎧

Heather Kropf
recognizing Hestia 🎧
something shiny 🎧

Maxine Kumin: the poetry of a New England landscape


L

Mercedes Lackey: obeying the rules

Nelson Lauver: the American Story-Teller

Donnell Leahy & Natalie MacMaster: making music at home & away

Dave Lefever: almost like a dream 🎧

Lenahan: more than just Celtic rock

Paul Leonard-Morgan & Philip Glass: scoring Tales from the Loop, where the fantastic interacts with the mundane 📺

David Levy: planetary cataclysm makes him a household name

Beverly Lewis: basing books on Plain writing

Caryn Lin: Vivaldi meets Pink Floyd through electric fiddler

Jenn Lindsay: "antifolk" woman at work

Via Linota: defining the "newternative" sound 🎧

Thomas Lux: poetry for the people


M

Anita MacDonald: a fiddle from Santa

Catriona MacDonald: a rose among thorns

Max MacDonald & Joella Foulds: Team Cape Breton

Kendra MacGillivray: fiddling like nobody's business

Sabra MacGillivray: dancing Cape Breton-style

Troy MacGillivray: a piano teacher's dream

Burton MacIntyre: dancing Cape Breton-style

Wendy MacIsaac: choosing music over Mounties

Iain MacKintosh: with a banjo on his knee

Cynthia MacLeod: borrowing music from the neighbors

Natalie MacMaster
a fiddler who keeps on her toes
fiddler, producer, wife & chef
making music at home & away

Glen MacNeil: writing for a distant home

Joanie Madden
the jig is up
riding the Celtic wave

Michelle Malone: musical therapy & goats

Mandalele: crossing state lines 🎧

Matchbox 20: fame on the road

Iain Matthews: finding comfort in southern folk-rock

Ralphie May: comedy & a need to change the world

Peter Mayer: mysteries of the world 🎧

Sarah Mbogo: singing her gift

Oisin McAuley: doing his best with Danu

Alyth McCormack: Hebridean singer/actress gets back to basics

Rhyne McCormick: hard-working the region 🎧

Frank McCourt: living his story

David McCullough: a little touch of Harry

The McDades
fiddling around with tradition
just who are they, anyway?

Manus McGuire: an Irishman in Cape Breton

Maggie McKaig: ancestral connections 🎧

Tony McManus: reinventing the guitar

Mike McMonagle: a hopeful turn 🎧

Shannon McNally: no time for whining

AJ Michalka: getting schooled with spinoff star from The Goldbergs 📺

Darry Miller & The Veil
personal transformation 🎧
fresh soul 🎧

Misstallica (Gina Gleason): Metallica, but with lady bits

Buddy Mondlock: rocky road to Kerrville 🎧

Craig Moodie: pulled by the sea

More Power to Your Elbow: giving all they got in a Celtic revival

Annie Moses Band (Annie Wolaver Dupre): family is instrumental

Motherphunk: sort of familiar, but not like they sounded back then

Tudur Morgan: Wales songs

Gary Mullen: a Queen at heart

Patricia Murray: keeping an eye on Prince Edward Island


N

Nassiri: world peace through music

The Nields: putting a harder edge to their music


O

Fergus O'Byrne: on the Newfoundland fringe

Maura O'Connell: a singer in retirement

Robbie O'Connell: keeping the faith with the Clancy Brothers

Brian Oerly: firefighter, stuntman, action star 📺

Old Blind Dogs (Elias Alexander): Who needs sleep?

Robert Olmstead: milking his memories for his fiction

Out the Sun: hating labels

Judith Owen: eccentric Welsh singer


P

Keith Parkinson: success in the cards for fantasy artist

Janice Ward Parrish: recalling integration

Jim Payne: a Newfoundland identity

Katy Payne: elephant songs

Penn & Teller: the science of magic & laughter

Eddie Pennington: fingers 'n' thumbs

Christian A. Pierce: driven to create by the Real Bros real-life counterparts 📺

The Pig Merchants: weight with levity 🎧

Stuart Pimm: the balance of nature?

Emily Pinkerton: weaving the Americas 🎧

Pipeline: a piper in the Pipeline

Brendan Power: power to the harmonica

The Proclaimers: walking another 500 miles

Michelle Purple: making a mission of the female perspective with Jessica Biel 📺

The Pyrates Royale: acts of musical piracy


R

Amy Ray: art & activism with the Indigo Girls

Red Molly: poised for the leap

Bill Reid: bringing the music together

John Renbourn: wants applause for his music, not himself

Mark Ricker: Emmy-nominated production designer came to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom without revisiting past productions 📺

Hiram Ring
breathing deeply 🎧
crossover appeal 🎧

Stefani Robinson: writing What We Do in the Shadows, Man Seeking Woman & Atlanta 📺

Ben Rothermel: personal raw emotion 🎧

Saul Rubinek: family history makes Hunters deeply personal for actor 📺


S

Tommy Sands: peace through music

Pauline Scanlon: rising Irish star

Scantily Plaid: Celtic music, Canadian style

Hayden Schlossberg: kicking into the future: Cobra Kai creators honor the past as they update The Karate Kid 📺

Bobby Seale: proud Panther

Douglas September: ambient textures 🎧

Seven Nations
rockin' pipes
a fiddle in the mix

78 West: not a trend

Al Shade: Country & proud at age 95

Richard Shindell: somewhere near stardom

Silver Hawks: flashback or revelation

Slackwater News: more rock, less ramble 🎧

Slambovian Circus of Dreams (Joziah Longo): catching up with eccentricities

Smothers Brothers: the power of Yo

Jessica Smucker: cooking it raw 🎧

Norman Spinrad: revisiting the Druid King

Amanda Sprecher: saving Broadway

Nancy Springer: writing what she wants to read

Squash: a crossover breed

Start Making Sense (Jon Braun): yearning to Byrne

Static Trees: growing prolific 🎧

Dietrich Strause: poetic perspective 🎧

Stray Birds: pushed into harmony 🎧

Joseph Strider: where he's supposed to be

William Styron: a dose of his war

 Taylor Swift: owes thanks to Pat Garrett


T

Tannahill Weavers (Roy Gullane): remaking traditions

Tarras (Ben Murray): caught in a whirlwind

Tartan Terrors (Ellen Irmisch): the evil twin of Riverdance

Norberto Tavares: journey of the Badiu

Theodore Taylor: living on The Cay

Tempest: turning over a new Lief

They Might Be Giants (John Flansburgh): nerdy by nature

Tamlyn Tomita: opening people's minds & hearts with documentary series Asian Americans 📺

Toy Soldiers: telling the tale 🎧

Trinidad North Steel Band (David Gettes): man of steel

Brian Tyler: composer started on Dune, now writes music for Yellowstone 📺


U

John Updike: shared recollections


V

Boris Vallejo: fantasy painting two of a kind

Vas: listening for the soul echo

Le Vent du Nord
the French-Celtic connection
a French-Canadian storm

Vinegar Creek Constituency: explosions in a junkyard 🎧


W

Jonathan Lloyd Walker: Van Helsing showrunner moves vampiric mythology in new directions 📺

Taylor Ware: fair yodeling

Kevin Welch: keeps on writing songs

Amanda Wells: destined from birth to make music

Holly M. Wendt: love, loss & hockey

Susan Werner: from opera to folk

Cornel West: Race Matters author is a fan of ordinary people

Matt Wheeler: fostering a community 🎧

The Wiggles (Greg Page): making a little Wiggle room

Jason Wilber: time away from Prine 🎧

Bet Williams: flooring people with her strong stage presence

Dar Williams: living in a Green World

Huw Williams: hoofing it, Welsh style

Chet Williamson
a devout skeptic
Psycho writer

Terri Windling, Brian Froud & Wendy Froud: making faeries

Paul Winter
turning nature into music
crafting Celtic soundscapes

The Winter Sounds: gone with the wind 🎧

Denison Witmer: building spaces through song

Wolfstone (Stuart Eaglesham): a carving on the rock spurs "old guard" of Celtic rock

Wooden Soul: not a sing-along band

Victoria Wyeth: artistic insights from Andrew Wyeth's girl


Y

Emily Yanek: forever young, & touched by songs from before she was born

Weird Al Yankovic: he's no Amish expert, but parody artist finds inspiration in film


Z

Charlie Zahm: never a rock star, singer finds joy in Celtic traditions