Rambles.NET is pleased to feature podcast interviews by Jason Mundok from his Around the Wood Stove series. Look for this symbol (🎧) to find his podcasts. Give 'em a listen!

(Note: In 2014 Jason discontinued this series and took down the website; however, 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.


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The music speaks for itself. But isn't it great to get behind the performer's facade once in a while and meet the human being who makes the music? Here's what some of them had 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: anthropology into her music

Chloe Agnew: falling into Celtic Woman

Akvarium: a musical revolution

Dana Alexandra: infectiously pop 🎧

Albert Alfonso: bodhran swami

Brooke Annibale: being quiet 🎧

Anonymous 4: the fine art of women's ancient music

James Apollo: good grief

Asphalt Orchestra (Jessica Schmitz): street assault


B

Baka Beyond: music worth eating caterpillars for

Jesse Baker: creating movement with his music 🎧

Scott Balsai: taking a hike 🎧

Baltimore Consort (Mary Anne Ballard): ancient pop

Barnaby Bright: finding Bliss 🎧

Michael Been: heeding The Call

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

Beolach: not a mountie

The Berrymans: surrealism meets silliness

Mary Black: for the joy of music

Sarah Blacker
flexible modality 🎧
land of opportunity 🎧

Blazin' Fiddles: 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

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: siblings in arms

Burning Bridget Cleary (Rose Baldino): fiddling witchery

Burning Bus: guilt-free funk

Corty Byron: out the window 🎧


C

Derrick Cameron: spreading tradition

Fil Campbell
working for a living
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

Celtic Woman (Chloe Agnew): falling into Celtic Woman

Cherish the Ladies
the jig is up
riding the Celtic wave

Chubby Checker: twistin' his life away

Circle of Fourths: bearing music

Clairseach: something to harp on

The Clancy Brothers: keeping the faith

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

Oliver Craven: pickin' for fun 🎧

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

Chrissy Crowley: music philosophy


D

Danu: doing his best

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

Tove de Fries: a Danish treat

Iris DeMent: aching, longing & celebrating

Mark DeRose & the Way Home: consistent schizophrenia 🎧

Dervish: music for fun & profit

Donna-Marie DeWolfe: making a happy tune

Diner: just a good-time band

Dochas: anti-pop Scottish girl power

Maggie Drennon: nontraditional Irish traditions

Ducky & the Vintage: the art & the music 🎧

Dustbowl Revival (Zach Lupetin): playing in the shadows


E

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

Enter the Haggis: spreading bagpipe rock to the masses


F

Fine Friday: gigging in Gaelic

Fire in the Glen: lighting the flame 🎧

Fishtank Ensemble: leaving the mule caravan behind

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

The Frogs: proudly "happy fun"

Frozen Poet: unusual perspectives


G

Gaelic Storm
surviving Titanic
setting new courses

Dick Gaughan: debunking Scottish claptrap

David Gettes: man of steel

Gwenan Gibbard: Welsh ambassador

GiveWay: but don't give up

Glengarry Bhoys: planning ahead

Katy Glorioso: trying her hand 🎧

Great Big Sea: making a career of Newfoundland pride

Alyson Greenfield: striking tinder 🎧

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

Guess Who: still pitching


H

Harem Scarem
not pop on purpose
gigging in Gaelic

JP Harris & the Tough Choices: just country 🎧

Dan Hart: never in Billboard

Caleb Hawley: overcoming his inner jazz snob 🎧

Martin Hayes: tradition through innovation

 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

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: art & activism

Eileen Ivers
beyond space to fiddle
keeping the tradition alive


J

Cathy Jordan: music for fun & profit

Shannon Johnson: fiddling around with tradition


K

Lucy Kaplansky: unzipped

Ryan Kauffman: playing what he feels 🎧

Nuala Kennedy: gigging in Gaelic

Kilmaine Saints
punky Irish madness 🎧
building an army 🎧

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 🎧


L

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

Dave Lefever: almost like a dream 🎧

Lenahan: more than just Celtic rock

Caryn Lin: Vivaldi meets Pink Floyd through electric fiddler

Jenn Lindsay: Woman at work

Via Linota: defining the "newternative" sound 🎧


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: not a Mountie

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 and goats

Mandalele: crossing state lines 🎧

Matchbox 20: fame on the road

Iain Matthews: finding comfort in southern folk-rock

Peter Mayer: mysteries of the world 🎧

Sarah Mbogo: singing her gift

Rhyne McCormick: hard-working the region 🎧

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

Darry Miller & The Veil
personal transformation 🎧
fresh soul 🎧

Misstallica (Gina Gleason): Metallica, with lady bits

Buddy Mondlock: rocky road to Kerrville 🎧

More Power to Your Elbow: giving all they got

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

Motherphunk: sort of familiar

Tudur Morgan: Wales songs

Gary Mullen: a Queen at heart

Patricia Murray: an eye on PEI


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

Out the Sun: hating labels

Judith Owen: eccentric Welsh singer


P

Jim Payne: a Newfoundland identity

Eddie Pennington: fingers 'n' thumbs

The Pig Merchants: weight with levity 🎧

Emily Pinkerton: weaving the Americas 🎧

Pipeline: a piper in the Pipeline

Brendan Power: power to the harmonica

The Proclaimers: walking another 500 miles

The Pyrates Royale: acts of musical piracy


R

Amy Ray: art & activism

Red Molly: poised for the leap

Bill Reid: bringing the music together

John Renbourn: wants applause for his music, not himself

Hiram Ring
breathing deeply 🎧
crossover appeal 🎧

Ben Rothermel: personal raw emotion 🎧


S

Tommy Sands: peace through music

Pauline Scanlon: rising Irish star

Scantily Plaid: Celtic music, Canadian style

Douglas September: ambient textures 🎧

Seven Nations
rockin' pipes
a fiddle in the mix

78 West: not a trend

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 🎧

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


T

Tannahill Weavers: remaking traditions

Tarras: caught in a whirlwind

Tartan Terrors: the evil twin of Riverdance

Norberto Tavares: journey of the Badiu

Tempest: turning over a new Lief

They Might Be Giants: nerdy by nature

Toy Soldiers: telling the tale 🎧

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


V

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

Taylor Ware: fair yodeling

Kevin Welch: keeps on writing songs

Amanda Wells: destined from birth

Susan Werner: from opera to folk

Matt Wheeler: fostering a community 🎧

The Wiggles (Greg Page): A little Wiggle room

Jason Wilber: time away from Prine 🎧

Bet Williams: beatnik punch

Dar Williams: in a Green World

Huw Williams: hoofing it, Welsh style

Paul Winter
turning nature into music
Celtic soundscapes

The Winter Sounds: gone with the wind 🎧

Denison Witmer: building spaces through song

Wolfstone: a carving on the rock

Wooden Soul: bustin' butts


Y

Emily Yanek: forever young

Weird Al Yankovic: no Amish expert


Z

Charlie Zahm: never a rock star