Editor’s note: Basic Folk is pleased to introduce our listeners to one of our favorite podcasts by sharing an episode in our feed! Get Up in the Cool is a sweet old-time/bluegrass podcast hosted by Cameron DeWhitt. What’s amazing about this podcast is that Cameron has taken “the hang” at the jam and turned it into a podcast. The Jam happens *very* frequently in the old-time, bluegrass, celtic, roots, etc. worlds in the form of informal performances of music among friends and strangers. It’s the best place to hear and learn traditional songs, spend time around the campfire and just be with friendly faces connecting in the way that only performing music together can do. I’ve really loved listened to Cameron’s candor with their guests as well as learning about the amazing music that everyone is sharing. Whether you love the jam, love the hang or love ’em both, hope you enjoy Get Up in the Cool! Listen > Subscribe > Support!
Get Up in the Cool: Old Time Music with Cameron DeWhitt and Friends is a weekly interview and jam podcast hosted by banjoist Cameron DeWhitt. Each episode features conversations and musical collaborations with today’s most influential traditional musicians, like Jake Blount, Tatiana Hargreaves, Nic Gareiss, Laurel Premo, and Adam Hurt.
As an interviewer, Cameron balances an effusive curiosity for the potential of traditional music with a dogged respect for its origins. Serving as audience surrogate, they ask illuminating questions to Old Time’s best and brightest while telling the larger story of the tradition’s modern era. And with over 250 episodes released and no signs of slowing, Get Up in the Cool is one of the largest available archives of new recorded Old Time music.
In this episode of Get Up in the Cool, Adam Hurt returns to play selections from his 2020 release Back to the Earth, the “sequel” to his all gourd banjo album Earth Tones. In between tunes, Adam and Cameron talk about Adam’s unique approach to melody with the clawhammer technique, the challenge of arranging for string band around a gourd banjo, and the tension of individual expression and tradition.
Adam Hurt & Cameron play “Biddy and Lily of the Valley”