Billy Joe Shaver - Texas singer/songwriter Billy Joe Shaver’s music is imbued with a timeless Texas honky-tonk and the rich journeyman style of poetry that transforms life into a series of songs. Year’s ago, Shaver distinguished himself by penning every song on Waylon Jennings’ classic “Honky Tonk Heroes” LP. To date, he’s released 23 albums and his songs have been recorded by  Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, the Allman Brothers and Elvis Presley. Bob Dylan, who rarely covers other writers, often plays Shaver’s “Old Five And Dimers Like Me” in concert, and Johnny Cash called him “my favorite songwriter.” Shaver recently served as “spiritual advisor” to Texas independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman and the Americana Music Association awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting.

Matraca Berg - Before becoming a recording artist in her own right, Matraca Berg was an in-demand writer whose songs were recorded by Linda Ronstadt, Reba McEntire, Dusty Springfield, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, Deana Carter and Martina McBride. The Hall of Fame songwriter earned her first No. 1 song at 18, her first Grammy nomination at 22 and, in 1997, won the Country Music Association’s “Song of the Year” for “Strawberry Wine.” That same year, her “Sunday Morning to Saturday Night” CD was heralded as one of the Top 10 Albums in any genre by “TIME,” “People,” “Entertainment Weekly” and “USA Today.” This year, her song “You And Tequila” was nominated for the CMA’s “Song Of The Year.” Her current release is titled “The Dreaming Fields.”

Noam Pikelny & Friends featuring: Gabe Witcher, Chris Eldridge & Mark Schatz - A charter member of the Punch Brothers, in 2010, actor-banjo player-author Steve Martin awarded Noam Pikelny the first “Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass,” describing Pikelny as “a player of unlimited range and astonishing precision.” On his new release, “Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail,” Pikelny is backed by an all-star band of old friends and long-time heroes, including fellow Punch Brothers Gabe Witcher and Chris Eldridge, bassist Mark Schatz, fiddle player Stuart Duncan, vocalist-mandolinist Tim O’Brien, and dobro player Jerry Douglas.

Caleb Klauder Country Band – “Western Country,” the latest from the CKCB, is a tall glass of American roots music. Made up of veteran Portland musicians, the band includes Stephen ‘Sammy’ Lind (of Foghorn Stringband) on fiddle/guitar, Ned Folkerth on drums, Paul Brainard (of Richmond Fontaine) on electric and pedal steel guitar, fiddle prodigy Sophie Vitells (formerly of the Crooked Jades), and bassist Jesse Emerson (formerly of The Decemberists). Building on Caleb's intense love of honky-tonk, rockabilly, outlaw and early country, and infusing the songs with Caleb's dry-dusty voice and mature songwriting, the

Caleb Klauder Country Band is a rising star in today's Americana pantheon. 

April Verch Band- The internationally renowned Canadian fiddler, singer, songwriter and stepdancer has a passion for performing. Roots music luminary Dirk Powell said “She is a rare

mix of all the technique and super-flashy things, along with the deep soul and tradition that

comes from having grown up with the music.” On her eighth CD, That’s How We Run, April explores the Southern mountain traditions known as old time music, but always brings her Northern roots with her. Plucky, straight-backed Canadian tunes fit so snugly beside ancient Appalachian airs that you’d think they’d been neighbors for centuries.

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This episode is scheduled for NPR distribution on April 6, 2012. For more information, including hi-res photos, please contact Adam Harris at 304.556.4900.