Best Daniel Donato Podcasts (2025)

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Daniel Donato 59:01

Play Pause

23d ago59:01

59:01

Episode #342: Daniel Donato became one of Nashville's more revered electric guitar players during his three years playing four nights a week at Robert's Western World on Lower Broadway. When he lost that gig in 2015, he had to start from scratch as a working musician and songwriting artist. In his second appearance on The String, Donato talks about…

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Born On The Bus: Katie from Jam Band News 46:59

3h ago46:59

46:59

We trace Katie’s path from a childhood steeped in Grateful Dead lore to a career shaping how fans discover shows. Along the way, she shares a tender Fare Thee Well story, the rise of Jam Band News, her JamBase work, and why Westville Music Bowl feels like home. Thanks for riding along on So Many Roads. If you’re enjoying the journey, follow, rate, …

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Ashley Monroe 59:03

7d ago59:03

59:03

Episode 344: Ashley Monroe moved to Nashville just after 10th grade from East Tennessee with a single-minded drive to sing and write country music. Her career would be the envy of many - Grammy nominations, several major label albums, and Pistol Annies, an influential supergroup - and yet many in roots music haven't recognized her as among the grea…

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Rosie Flores 59:00

14d ago59:00

59:00

Episode 343: Her name is made of flowers. And she's been spreading bouquets of joy and open-hearted country and rockabilly for more than 50 years. She is Rosie Flores, sounding great and enjoying the stage as much as she ever has as she cruised past her 75th birthday during Americanafest 2025. A couple days after that, we sat down to talk about her…

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Lance Roark 29:16

20d ago29:16

29:16

Lance Roark was singing at an open mic at a bar in Tahlequah one night, where RC Edwards — bassist for the then-on hiatus Turnpike Troubadours — was in the audience. With Turnpike on hiatus at the time, Edwards asked Roark to join his Americana rock band, RC & the Ambers. When Turnpike returned to the studio in 2022, Roark joined Edwards to co-writ…

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Luther Dickinson Returns 59:01

1M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 341: Since co-founding the history-making, history-preserving North Mississippi Allstars almost 30 years ago, Luther Dickinson has taken his guitar, his deep blues repertoire, and his Memphis soul around the world and into all kinds of collaborations. In his latest return to The String, we talk about the nature of improvising and some of hi…

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Donna Jean’s Road: Muscle Shoals to the Grateful Dead 14:51

1M ago14:51

14:51

In this episode, we honor Donna Jean Godchaux’s life and legacy, tracing her path from Muscle Shoals precision to the fearless edge of the Grateful Dead and the soulful warmth of the Jerry Garcia Band. Along the way, we revisit key tours, essential recordings, and the moments that define her lasting impact. • Muscle Shoals training and session craf…

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Robert Randolph 59:01

1M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 340: Robert Randolph had no plans or dreams to take his fiery talents on the pedal steel guitar beyond the New Jersey church where he grew up and the network of pentecostal Black churches around the country that made the "sacred steel" a core part of their services. But his passionate sound and his joyful improvisational spirit were a perfe…

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Marcus King 59:01

1M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 339: South Carolina guitar wizard and powerhouse singer Marcus King has come through the valley of shadows, breaking self-destructive habits and arriving at a place of contentment and love on his latest album Darling Blue. In a career-spanning conversation, King talks about his unique path to finding his voice on the guitar, his collaborati…

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Broncho 1:11:09

1M ago1:11:09

1:11:09

It's been seven years since Broncho's last album release. In the time since, singer Ryan Lindsey has had two children and moved to Tulsa. Broncho's latest album, Natural Pleasure, is a return to a pace more natural to Lindsey. In this conversation, Lindsey reflects on 15 years of Broncho, the origins of the band and his musical life, and how this a…

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Tift Merritt plus Tony Kamel 59:00

2M ago59:00

59:00

Episode 338: North Carolina songwriter Tift Merritt became an instant star of Americana music when she emerged in the early 2000s with Bramble Rose (2002) and Tambourine (2004), but only with time have we learned that her relationship with her prestige record label - Lost Highway Records - was tumultuous and dispiriting. After a period of relative …

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The Unbroken Chain: Phil Lesh, Daniel Donato, and The Capital Theatre 25:41

2M ago25:41

25:41

A room can change the way music moves — and The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester is one of those rare spaces where the past hums in the walls and every note cuts sharper. We follow a living thread from the Grateful Dead’s legendary 1971 run to Daniel Donato’s first headlining night, exploring how tradition and risk keep pushing each other forward. F…

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Chat Pile and Hayden Pedigo 27:37

2M ago27:37

27:37

The day Hayden Pedigo moved to Oklahoma City, he messaged Chat Pile, a metal band that puts Oklahoma front and center on their albums. And despite their wildly different genres, they found they got along, watching movies and going to shows together. Hayden Pedigo is known for beautiful acoustic guitar. While Chat Pile songs are full of noise and gr…

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Ken Pomeroy 59:00

2M ago59:00

59:00

Episode 337: Ken Pomeroy, who turned 23 days after this interview, is a fresh voice not just from the Oklahoma lineage of great roots songwriting and musicianship, but also from a new generation of Native American voices in popular music. She talks about her Cherokee heritage and the stewardship that comes with it, plus her emotional bond to music …

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Danny Burns and Shelby Means 59:00

2M ago59:00

59:00

Episode 336: In a time when bluegrass is surging with young talent and mainstream dreams, Danny Burns and Shelby Means offer two profiles in making the string band business work in 2025. Burns is an Irish immigrant who brought his trad training and hearty work ethic from his native County Donegal. Even before releasing North Country in 2018, he'd m…

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Leslie Jordan 58:01

2M ago58:01

58:01

Episode 335: Leslie Jordan, the Nolensville, TN-based songwriter not the late comic actor and singer, makes a major statement in her pivot from a robust career in Christian folk/pop to storytelling Americana with The Agonist. It's a song cycle that fleshes out the story of her late grandfather, a conflicted and complex man who left his family in In…

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Our First Thousand Miles Down The Road 16:25

3M ago16:25

16:25

We look back on our whirlwind first 1,000 downloads. What started as a living room hobby and grew into a global, multi-format project. From viral clips and Primus encores to London street chats and Bay Area anniversaries, the through-line is simple: the scene lives because the people do. • origin story and early clips • viral Primus moment and back…

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Brent Cobb 41:34

3M ago41:34

41:34

Brent Cobb has been writing songs and playing music since he was a teenager. Inspired by his son's discovery of classic and southern rock, Brent's latest album, Ain't Rocked in a While, looks back at his earliest influences while also exploring what it takes to be a working musician, just trying to make a living for the last two decades. In this ep…

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Shawn Camp 57:59

3M ago57:59

57:59

Episode 334: Shawn Camp arrived in Nashville almost 40 years ago as a 20-year-old guitar picker and fiddle player hoping to find a niche. As he graduated from touring sideman to songwriter to respected recording artist, he found himself working with his heroes. He quietly became an avatar of traditional country music and bluegrass done right. His w…

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Barton Hall Echoes: Deadhead Stories with Seth 33:54

3M ago33:54

33:54

What happens when two old friends return to Ithaca, New York, to sneak into Barton Hall — the site of the Grateful Dead’s legendary May 8, 1977 show? In this episode, I sit down with my college friend Seth in the bleachers of Barton Hall and reflect on the music that drew us back. We talk about the Dead’s history at Cornell, the lore of 5/8/77, and…

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Rodney Crowell 59:02

4M ago59:02

59:02

Episode 333: Rodney Crowell let it slip in the middle of this interview that it was the eve of his 75th birthday. One of America's greatest (and most commercially successful) songwriters is now three quarters of a century old, a steady patriarch. He continues to do excellent work, evidenced by two fine albums in a row, 2023's The Chicago Sessions a…

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The Fabric Holds: Standing Amid 60 Years of Deadheads 22:14

4M ago22:14

22:14

From London to San Francisco to Vegas, the threads of the Grateful Dead keep pulling me into unexpected connections. In this episode of So Many Roads, I follow those threads through a Dead & Company 60th anniversary show — from running into friends I first met in London, to a surprise backstage moment with Les Claypool, to standing among both brand…

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Keyland 9:59

4M ago9:59

9:59

When Kyle Ross isn't teaching English or coaching football in Bixby, he is the lead singer and songwriter of Americana band Keyland. They are opening up for The Droptines this Friday in Oklahoma City and will be playing Tiny Porch in Tulsa on Saturday. Matthew Viriyapah spoke to Ross before his show in Oklahoma City at Scissortail Park in June, ope…

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Tamara Saviano On Americana Music 59:01

4M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 332: It's been 30 years since three music business renegades created a radio chart for an emerging alt-country, roots music wave they called Americana. Now that it's a mature format and movement, we're seeing books emerge on the history of this idea. Poets And Dreamers: My Life In Americana Music is Tamara Saviano's contribution, a warm and…

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Hayes Carll 59:01

4M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 331: Hayes Carll is such an admired veteran of the Texas songwriting tradition that his visage is painted on a sign along with Townes Van Zandt at the Old Quarter Cafe in Galveston. Over ten albums, he's matched cleverness with insight and tenderness with roadhouse rock and roll. In this self-effacing interview, Carll talks about his appren…

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Legacy and the Living Scene: the Grateful Dead at 60 22:04

4M ago22:04

22:04

In this episode of So Many Roads, I travel to San Francisco for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary. From a grassroots Dead night in Berkeley to a massive pier show, Jerry Day in McLaren Park, and a visit to the Grateful Dead house, I explore the tension between legacy and the living scene. Along the way, I meet musicians, fans, and friends who ar…

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Mason Via 59:00

4M ago59:00

59:00

Episode 330: After a three-year tutelage with Old Crow Medicine Show, multi-faceted Appalachian artist Mason Via has set out on his own road. He was raised in bluegrass festival campgrounds and at picking parties hosted by his dad, songwriter and musician David Via. Bluegrass royalty hung out at his home near the North Carolina/Virginia border, and…

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Noeline Hofmann 28:34

5M ago28:34

28:34

Noeline Hofmann was playing bars after quitting her job working on a ranch when Zach Bryan came across her singing on TikTok in 2023. The two recorded a duet of that song “Purple Gas” which kickstarted the Canadian twenty-something's country career that has continued to overlap with Oklahoma. She toured with Stillwater's Wyatt Flores and had her fi…

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Vincent Neil Emerson 21:04

5M ago21:04

21:04

Texas singer-songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson released his latest album, Golden Crystal Kingdom in 2023. In this episode, Vincent Neil Emerson talks about the title track, the song he wrote inspired by Uvalde, Texas, and connecting with other Native musicians.By KOSU

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Cody Jinks 59:01

5M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 329: Few fully independent artists in any genre have been able to grow to the scale and influence that Cody Jinks has pulled off in the outlaw country space. He sells out iconic venues like Red Rocks in Colorado with a sound that layers his boyhood influence from Lefty Frizzell with the edge of the thrash metal rocker he once was. The Fort …

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Southern Avenue 59:01

5M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 328: While it's one of the great music cities in the world, the story of Memphis, TN is generally told as one about Elvis, BB King, Isaac Hayes, and possibly Justin Timberlake - artists from the history books or well on in their careers. Roots music fans might know more contemporary talents like songwriters Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith. M…

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Bob Weir at The Royal Albert Hall: An American Weir Wolf in London (Part 2) 31:34

5M ago31:34

31:34

In Part Two of my London Dead adventure, I head to the iconic Royal Albert Hall to see Bobby Weir & the Wolf Bros live. I take you with me—through the crowd, into the show, and into conversations with fellow fans along the way. This follows Part One, where I visited historic Grateful Dead locations around London and connected with the city’s local …

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Federal funding for KOSU has been eliminated. Here's how you can help 2:36

5M ago2:36

2:36

Despite a valiant effort by KOSU listeners and public media supporters nationwide, Congress has voted to rescind $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This money had already been promised and budgeted for at KOSU and public media stations across the country. Losing it is devastating, and one NPR estimate shows that roughly 18% …

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Douglas Miller 1:02:28

5M ago1:02:28

1:02:28

On this episode is Douglas K Miller. He's an OSU professor and author Washita Love Child: The Rise of Indigenous Rock Star: Jesse Ed Davis. Our previous episode we explored the life and legacy of the native Guitarist who played with Bob Dylan, Jackson Brown, and more. On this episode we talk about the process of putting together the book, working o…

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Mike Farris 59:01

5M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 327: To hear Mike Farris sing - an experience a bit like being pinned to the seat of an accelerating Porsche Taycan - is to believe that he was born to the stage, motivated from childhood, and destined for soul/gospel glory. Yet in Episode 327 of The String, we learn that A) Mike is lucky to be here at all and B) that a singing career was n…

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An urgent message from KOSU 2:10

6M ago2:10

2:10

In the next few days, the U.S. Senate will consider a package that would devastate many public radio stations by clawing back two years of previously approved funding. At KOSU, it would significantly impact our ability to provide emergency alerts and Oklahoma news. You can help by calling Senator Lankford and Senator Mullin to ask them to resist th…

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Jesse Ed Davis 1:08:53

6M ago1:08:53

1:08:53

From different members of The Beatles, Jackson Browne and Taj Mahal to Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and John Trudell, Jesse Ed Davis resided in a universe of classic rock superstars, but is not as well known as those he shared the stage with. In this first episode of a two-part series, Miller takes us through the life and work of Jesse Ed Davis and how …

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Andrea Zonn 59:02

6M ago59:02

59:02

Episode 326: Andrea Zonn has been on my list of possible Music City star musicians to be a guest on the show for some time, but her new project the HercuLeons and their debut album of the same name sealed the deal. She's been a leading studio and road musician since the 1990s, when she sweet talked her way into a touring spot with burgeoning countr…

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John Cowan 59:01

6M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 325: In 1972, a 19-year-old bass player and natural born singer from Kentucky and Indiana auditioned for an emerging band called New Grass Revival. Over almost 20 years, John Cowan would be the voice of that ensemble, through mega tours supporting Leon Russell, improbable country radio success, and the emergence of a whole new genre of root…

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An American Weir Wolf in London (Part 1): Walking in the Grateful Dead’s London Footsteps 18:09

6M ago18:09

18:09

In this episode, I fly to London to see Bob Weir and The Wolf Bros play the Royal Albert Hall 🛫🎸—but before the show, I set out to walk in the Grateful Dead’s London footsteps. This is Part 1 of a two-part travelogue. In this episode, I visit key spots tied to the Dead’s brief but fascinating UK history: the Roundhouse in Camden (site of their canc…

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The SteelDrivers 59:01

6M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 324: It's hard to believe that Nashville's SteelDrivers have been making their unique brand of hard-core string band music for nearly twenty years. They were the vehicle through which many of us were introduced to the epic voice of Chris Stapleton, back when he and Mike Henderson co-wrote that band's high impact debut album of 2008. When He…

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How She Won a Signed Custom Bob Weir Guitar!— Hillary’s Story 38:46

6M ago38:46

38:46

In this episode, I sit down with Hillary, a dedicated Deadhead, who shares the once-in-a-lifetime story of how she won a signed guitar from Dead & Co. But that’s not all — she also had a surprise encounter with Phil Lesh, as well as a story of how she came to possess a playbill from a magical, famous show. If you love fan stories, music history, or…

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Larry & Joe 41:12

6M ago41:12

41:12

Special Episode: The story of how global banjo explorer Joe Troop (formerly of Che Apalache) met Venezuelan harpist and all-around folk music master Larry Bellorín is testimony to the magic of global culture and a cautionary tale about the stark turn US policy has taken against working asylum seekers this year. Over three years as the bilingual, ge…

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Getting on the Bus with Dave: Jerry’s Gear, an Autograph Story, and a Deadhead Origin Tale 47:17

7M ago47:17

47:17

In this debut episode, I sit down with my longtime friend—and our show’s producer—Dave, to talk about how he got on the bus, why Jerry Garcia’s guitar tone still captivates him, and what makes the Grateful Dead more than just a band. We break down some of Jerry’s legendary gear, including his effects and tone from the later years, and we take a few…

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Music City Postcard: Durham, NC 59:01

7M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 323: This episode of The String is a field report from the city that raised me in the 1970s and 80s and gave me my foundation in music, from college rock radio, to youth orchestra at Duke University, to jazz tutelage at a Black Muslim community center. It's an arts-forward city that in the past decade has become something of a magnet for ro…

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Vincent Neil Emerson 59:01

7M ago59:01

59:01

Episode 322: Texas songwriter Vincent Neil Emerson graduated from playing on the streets and in the bars of Fort Worth to tours with Colter Wall and American Aquarium and then a well-received debut album (2019's Fried Chicken And Evil Women). That inspired none other than Rodney Crowell and Shooter Jennings in turn to take an interest in producing …

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Exploring Good Fortune Market with Becca Goossen: A Local Bodega with Big Heart! 21:08

7M ago21:08

21:08

Send us a text In this episode of Beyond the Check, Reyshan Parker sits down with Becca Goossen, the owner of Good Fortune Market at the Water's Crossroads in Savannah. Becca shares the story behind her charming bodega, from opening during a hurricane to creating a neighborhood hub where locals can find New York bagels, high-quality deli meats, fre…

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Kristina Murray 59:02

7M ago59:02

59:02

Episode 321: Atlanta native Kristina Murray moved to Nashville in 2014 with a fresh and original debut album and steely determination. The country singer and songwriter carved out a respected space at honky tonks like Santa's Pub and the American Legion. When hard work and critical acclaim for her two releases didn't launch her career to a new orbi…

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JD Clayton 59:02

8M ago59:02

59:02

Episode 320: JD Clayton is one of the first emerging artists to release music in an era of new leadership at the historic Rounder Records in Nashville. He's an open-hearted guy who got the songwriting bug growing up in Fort Smith, AR and who then found his songs and his way on stage led to organic growth. His 2023 album Long Way From Home got him o…

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Samantha Crain 38:39

8M ago38:39

38:39

Oklahoma Singer-songwriter Samantha Crain new album is titled Gumshoe, named in part about how she became a detective to solve the mystery of being a lone wolf but wanting to find community. In this episode, hear her talk about overcoming newfound stage fright, spending hours beading her album cover, and how studying Choctaw helped solve her person…