Welcome to Episode 10 of Roots Music Rambler! Join us – hosts Francesca Folinazzo, who Jason calls “Frank,” and Jason Falls, who goes by “Falls” most of the time, as we explore the real roots of the music we love.
Ashley Best has one of the stories that just sets him up to write great country songs. The Cadiz, Ohio dairy farmer started playing music in his teens, then life got in the way. In his early 20s, his wife died unexpectedly and left him with two daughters to raise. The struggles of a widower got to him and he admitted to spending years self-medicating with alcohol.
Then he hit rock bottom.
The journey out of alcoholism included finding love again, getting back to his family farm, and rediscovering his ability to write and perform. Best produced an EP in 2018, then dropped his first full album, Something, in 2022. His mix of honky tonk swoon and rockabilly energy has produced strong music that matches nicely with his layers-of-life-experience voice that is unique, to say the least.
Best told us he describes his vocal quality as, “tired.” We think it’s “seasoned.”
Best joined us to share his emotional journey down and back, what it’s like playing honky tonks in the Ohio-West Virginia-Pennsylvania section of the country, how his grandfather’s old reel-to-reel recordings put him on his path to music and much more on an emotional and uplifting episode of RMR.
Frank and Falls also talk about their respective vinyl record collections, share their reaction to a local radio station’s top 2023 albums list and react to Jason Isbell’s recent dental work.
Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.
Notes and links:
Jason Isbell explains reason behind teeth fixing: https://www.cbs42.com/entertainment/jason-isbell-shares-reason-for-getting-teeth-fixed/
Ashley Best online: https://ashleybestcountrymusic.com
Something on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/61ED29HiqrbzFuCHArncfs
Ashley Best on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleybestcountrymusic
Ashley Best on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleybestmusic/
Ashley Best on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashleybestmusic
Ashley Best on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashleybest1796
Ashley Best on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6IWRDs6tclY475Q4rZnQDg
Roots Music Rambler on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rootsmusicrambler/
Roots Music Rambler on TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@rootsmusicrambleon
Roots Music Rambler on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/RootsMusicRambler
Jason Falls on Instagram – https://instagram.com/jasonfalls
Francesca Folinazzo on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/workmomtravels/
Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations
Lucy Dacus on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/07D1Bjaof0NFlU32KXiqUP
WFPK & Louisville Public Media online – https://www.lpm.org/music
WFPK 2023 Countdown Results & Playlist – https://www.lpm.org/music/2023-11-07/best-albums-of-2023-countdown
Join WFPK/Louisville Public Media – https://donate.lpm.org/membership
And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! – https://gomuskox.com/rambler
Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.
Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum
