Alabama Astronaut

This is the official trailer for the Alabama Astronaut Podcast. Meet Abe Partridge, serpent handler Cody Coots, host Ferrill Gibbs, and a panel of experts who chime in on serpent handling, the consumption of poison, and the undeniable power of the group's music.

Abe Partridge, a folk artist from Mobile, Alabama, approaches Ferrill Gibbs, a podcaster from Texas, in mid 2020. With his gigs canceled due to coronavirus, Abe spends time at serpent-handling churches across the Appalachians. He explains to Ferrill how originally, his plan was to paint the oft-ridiculed sect, but while taking in their frenetic services, he began to realize their songs were powerful, and possibly, undocumented. Abe shares audio with Ferrill of a serpent handling preacher who tied Abe's hands with a Gibson guitar strap in a worship service. Also, Ferrill draws a connection to legendary music documentarians, John Avery and Alan Lomax.Visit the website for bonus content!Alabama Astronaut WebsiteAnd find us on social, too:Alabama Astronaut FacebookAlabama Astronaut's TwitterAlabama Astronaut InstagramSpecial thanks this episode to: John Nova LomaxAndrew HamblinTaylor Hamblin

While on the road to a Panama City show, Abe tells Ferrill about his recent trip to a small church in desolate, southern West Virginia – House of the Lord Jesus. There, Abe captured audio of their worship: a blistering, rockabilly-style sound. Also, Abe tells Ferrill about a moment when Chris Wolford, the church's preacher, called out the Alabamian from the pulpit, causing Abe to recount his own days as a pastor in the mountains of east Kentucky. Visit the Alabama Astronaut Podcast website for more content!Alabama Astronaut Podcast website Find us on social, too:Alabama Astronaut FacebookAlabama Astronaut's TwitterAlabama Astronaut Instagram Special thanks this episode to:Chris Wolford and House of the Lord JesusDr. Spencer GreeneWill Stewart

As the coronavirus finally arrives in Mobile and, most detrimentally to Abe, the Mobile music scene, Abe’s gigs begin to drop.   With more free time on his hands, he travels to Jackson County, Kentucky, to meet fourth-generation serpent-handling preacher Cody Coots, along with his songwriting wife, Cassy Coots. Abe conducts a field recording at their house to capture generations-old songs from the duo. A life-changing friendship begins to take root.  Visit the Alabama Astronaut Podcast website for more content:Alabama Astronaut Podcast website Find us on social, too:Alabama Astronaut FacebookAlabama Astronaut's TwitterAlabama Astronaut Instagram Special thanks this episode goes to: Cody and Cassy CootsProfessor Tom Lewis of UGADave Garrett (of the Psych Peas)

The “calling out” of Abe (and his friends) at church services reaches a boiling point at the famed “Old Rockhouse Holiness” in Section, Alabama. It's the church where author Dennis Covington of the hit book Salvation on Sand Mountain once became a convert and handled a massive rattlesnake. Abe tells the story of the founding of the church: the infamous murder trial and conviction at the heart of it.  After one service that Abe attended, with rattlesnakes in the building, the lights are shut off. In the darkness, Abe and his friend consider running out of the church. Meanwhile, Abe has his first encounter with National Geographic: a run-in with a photographer at both Old Rockhouse Holiness Church and, in the same weekend, Jimmy Morrow’s church in Cocke County, Tennessee.   Brother Jimmy Morrow takes Abe to a graveyard high in the east Tennessee mountains, to see the graves of four believers who died following the signs.  Visit the Alabama Astronaut Podcast website for more content!Alabama Astronaut Podcast website Find us on social, too:Alabama Astronaut FacebookAlabama Astronaut's TwitterAlabama Astronaut Instagram Special thanks this episode:  Old Rock House Holiness Church Bro. Billy Summerford Dave Garrett Morgan "Willy Mo" Hammond