Biscuits & Jam

Grace Bowers grew up in Northern California, but when she was not quite 15 years old, her parents decided to move the family to Nashville for better schools and a different kind of life. At first, the culture shock was too much for her, but as Grace became more and more serious about the guitar, she found a music community that recognized her incredible talent—and took her in. Now, at just 18, she and her band, The Hodge Podge, have a new funk and soul-inspired album called Wine on Venus, a title inspired by Grace’s grandmother, who passed away not long ago at the age of 100. The album’s producer is John Osborne, from the Brothers Osborne, who’s become a friend and mentor as she navigates her abrupt rise to stardom. Sid talks to Grace about how BB King sparked a passion for music, her obsession with Sly and the Family Stone, her honest feelings about hot chicken, and much more. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leanne Morgan was raised in Adams, Tennessee, a little farming community not far from the Kentucky border. Her parents ran a small grocery store, and eventually a meat processing plant, but meanwhile Leeanne was nursing dreams of a career in Hollywood. It took her until her fifties to get there, but after more than 20 years of selling jewelry, doing small gigs on the comedy circuit, and some serious ups and downs, she’s now becoming a household name. Last year she had a Netflix show called I’m Every Woman, she’s selling out huge venues nationwide, and she’s just come out with a memoir called What In the World? A Southern Woman’s Guide to Laughing at Life’s Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings. Sid talks to Leanne about why the funeral home was a local hangout when she was growing up, how her family reacts to being part of her comedy routine, and whether that accent of hers is really real. They also talk about why Leanne’s story has resonated with fans in such a powerful way. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer/Audio Editor Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kelsey Barnard Clark was raised in Dothan, Alabama, which is a short drive from the Gulf Coast. But it wasn’t until she spent several years living in fast-paced New York City and working in the even faster-paced kitchens of Michelin-star restaurants that she truly appreciated her hometown. Since she moved back to Dothan in 2012, she’s been busy. She won Season 16 of Bravo’s Top Chef, becoming the first Southerner to ever triumph on the show; she opened KBC, her catering company and restaurant that became a James Beard Award semi-finalist this year; and she’s done more than her part to revitalize downtown Dothan. If that weren’t enough, she’s also found time to write a couple of cookbooks, and her latest is called Southern Get-Togethers: A Guide to Hosting Unforgettable Gatherings. Sid talks to Kelsey about her cooking tips for tailgate season, the former boss who inspired her to be an entrepreneur when she was just 15, and her insanely delicious recipe for shortbread crumble banana pudding. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer & Editor/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jess Pryles was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, but her fascination with the American South eventually led her to Austin, Texas, where she’s now lived for about 15 years. It didn’t take long for Jess to fall in love with the food in Texas, especially the barbecue, and since then she’s made it her life’s mission to learn the art and science of cooking meat. She’s so obsessed she actually completed a meat science graduate program at Iowa State University, and now she wants to share that knowledge with everyday cooks. If you follow Jess on social media, you may know her as the Hardcore Carnivore, and this fall she’s coming out with a fun new show on the Outdoor Channel with the same name. Sid talks to Jess about her visit with the Country Ham King Allan Benton, the rise of female barbecue enthusiasts in Texas, and the secret to an absolutely perfect burger. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mitchell Tenpenny basically grew up in the music business, with a grandmother who was the CEO of Sony Publishing and a mother who advocated for songwriters throughout her career. It was this unique vantage point that made Mitchell realize he wanted to be a songwriter, too, but the journey took him a while. It wasn’t until his boss on a construction site put him in touch with an LA producer that Mitchell’s own music career started to take shape. Now, he’s releasing an ambitious and deeply personal new 20-track studio album called The Third, a reference to both the father and grandfather he’s named after. Sid talks to Mitchell about some of his favorite songs on the new record, his grandmother’s cooking, the stories behind his beloved rescue dogs, and how his faith is reflected in his music and his career. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer/Audio Editor Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sid talks to a couple of guys from Alabama who are founding members of one of the hottest young bands in the country—the Red Clay Strays. Brandon Coleman, the charismatic lead singer, spent his youth running around with siblings and cousins on a family compound outside of Turnerville, just north of Mobile. Meanwhile, Drew Nix, who plays guitar and writes a lot of the songs, grew up further north, in Birmingham. The two met through a mutual friend and eventually formed a country rock group that’s made quite a name for itself, especially after their 2022 single, “Wondering Why.” Now the band is out with a new album called Made By These Moments, and they also have a song on the soundtrack for Twisters, one of the biggest movies of the past summer. Sid talks to the old friends and bandmates about their songwriting process, Brandon’s recent Alabama wedding, plus the role of faith in their lives and their music. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anne Byrn was born and raised in Nashville and, though she calls Tennessee home, her career has taken her all across the South as she’s written about the people who define this region’s extraordinary cuisine. For 15 years, she was the food editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, where she interviewed legends like Julia Child and Nathalie Dupree, and you may also know her as the Cake Mix Doctor, a name she coined as the author of a series of bestselling cookbooks that demystify baking. Now she has a new cookbook called Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories, which is undoubtedly her most ambitious to date. Sid talks to Anne about some of her favorite recipes from the book, why there’s so much debate around the right way to make cornbread, what she learned about cooking from her Mom,  and how President Lyndon Johnson’s cook helped change the course of history. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John T Edge grew up in Clinton, Georgia, raised in a Confederate general’s house that introduced him early on to the complicated legacy of the South. His childhood was complicated, too, and not always happy, but his mother and father shared a curiosity about food and cooking that never left him. For more than 20 years, John T headed up the Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi, shining a light on the diverse food cultures of the South, and he’s written as thoughtfully about the people of this region as anyone I know. His 2017 book The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, is a must read. And for the last several years, he’s also hosted True South, a television series on the SEC Network that explores the small towns, back roads, family restaurants, and unsung heroes who make the South such a dynamic place. Sid talks to John T about the 7th season of the show, some of his favorite behind-the-scenes moments, and a South Carolina family connection that surprised them both. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer/Audio Editor Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Texas troubadour Hayes Carll was born in Houston and raised in the Woodlands, a famous planned community that was much smaller back then, surrounded by thousands of acres of pine trees. He grew up listening to Kenny Rogers and Willie Nelson, and later, Jerry Jeff Walker and Townes Van Zandt, all of whom seemed like mythical figures to a kid from the suburbs. His family wasn’t particularly religious, but it was the music he heard at a Unitarian Church that ultimately inspired him to pick up a guitar. Now he and singer/songwriter Allison Moorer, his wife and sometimes-collaborator, are living in Nashville, and Hayes has developed something of a mythical career of his own. Sid talks to Hayes about his formative years in Conway, Arkansas, the new album he’s planning to release next year, and his recent collaborations with the Austin-based Band of Heathens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ricky McKinnie, the leader of the Blind Boys of Alabama, was born and raised in Atlanta, where he got his start singing in the church alongside his mother. Not long after that, while still in his teens, he embarked on a career as a singer and a drummer, often performing with a band called the Soul Searchers. Around the age of 20, he began to lose his eyesight, but as Ricky says, he never lost his vision. After playing with the Blind Boys of Alabama from time to time, he became an official member of the group in 1989, and since then, in various roles, he’s helped lead the band through years of success, fame, and Grammy Awards. Now the group is the subject of a fascinating new book called Spirit of the Century: Our Own Story. Sid talks to Ricky about why the Blind Boys have endured for so long, their hit version of “Amazing Grace,” what he’s learned over decades as a blind musician, and the song that always gets the crowd out of their seats. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since 2016, Fawn Weaver has been obsessed with uncovering the true story of Nearest Green, a former slave who helped teach Jack Daniel the complicated process of making whiskey. Along the way, Fawn became so invested in her research that she bought the farm in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where Jack Daniel and Nearest Green worked together, and she’s since launched the Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey brand, which is winning awards and making serious waves in the spirits business. Fawn stopped by the Southern Living offices on her recent book tour, so we had this conversation in our studio, and her personal journey is just as amazing as the man she’s writing about. Her new book, now a New York Times bestseller, is called Love & Whiskey: The Remarkable True Story of Jack Daniel, His Master Distiller Nearest Green, and the Improbable Rise of Uncle Nearest. Sid talks to Fawn about the process of reporting this incredible book, the foundation she created for Nearest Green’s descendants, and why she grew up with people like Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson at her kitchen table. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wynonna Judd was one half of one of the most famous duos in country music history, and she’s also been plenty successful out on her own. She was last on the show nearly three years ago, back during the height of the pandemic, and a lot has happened since then. On April 30th, 2022, the day before the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, she lost her mother, Naomi, to suicide, an event that upended her life and shook the world of country to its core. But Wynonna is back on her feet, and she’s dealt with the emotional turmoil of that event by reconnecting with her fans and focusing on her music. She also talks about becoming a grandmother and shares a little bit of a brand new song.  For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer Jennifer Del Sole-Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brian Kelley was born and raised in Ormond Beach, Florida, just North of Daytona. At one point, he thought he might have a baseball career ahead of him, but when he didn’t make the road team at his beloved Florida State, he spent his free time discovering the power of music. He also ended up heading to Daytona State College where the baseball coach taught him valuable lessons of perseverance that have served him well to this day. Now that he and his Florida Georgia Line partner, Tyler Hubbard, have each gone solo, Brian has a new album called Tennessee Truth.  Brian talks with Sid about his love of fishing, the new burger joint he’s opened in Santa Rosa Beach, and how got his start as a musician and a performer in the church. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer/Audio Editor Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ashley Christensen is a two-time James Beard Award winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author from Raleigh, North Carolina, who has a way of taking classic Southern dishes and making them the talk of the food world. She grew up with parents who loved to cook, entertain, and play music in the kitchen, and Ashley has channeled that spirit of hospitality into her restaurants like Poole's Diner and Death & Taxes. At home, she and her wife, Kaitlyn Goalen, love to cook together too, and they’ve also authored two cookbooks, including 2021’s It’s Always Freezer Season. Sid also talks to Ashley about her infatuation with grilling, her dalliance with a music career, and how she sees diners and restaurants as places for people to put aside their differences. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Biscuits & Jam is produced by: Sid Evans - Editor-in-Chief, Southern Living Krissy Tiglias - GM, Southern Living Lottie Leymarie - Executive Producer Michael Onufrak - Audio Engineer/Producer Jeremiah McVay - Producer/Audio Editor Jennifer Del Sole - Director of Audio Growth Strategy & Operations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Nettles was born and raised in rural South Georgia, where she got very involved in 4-H as a kid, a relationship that’s still a big part of her life. She went on to an extraordinary music career, winning a long list of Grammys, CMA Awards, and ACM Awards with Sugarland in the mid 2000s. By 2015, she’d started to work more in film and television, including her roles as Dolly Parton’s mother in Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors and Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors, and now she’s the host of a successful dating show called Farmer Wants a Wife. Jennifer never saw herself in that kind of role, but she talks about why this concept is so different from others in the genre, and why she’ll always feel connected to the farming community. She also shares a sneak preview of her upcoming album, Timeless, her thoughts on the evolution of country music, and what the hit song “Baby Girl” means to her 20 years later. For more info visit: southernliving.com/biscuitsandjam Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices