Bluegrass, Blue Prince, and the Blues

Kirk answers a bunch of listener questions on topics like bluegrass guitar, the music of Blue Prince, good apps for training theory skills, Robert Fripp's "Frippertronics," a mysterious sound on a Gene Clark song, different types of music notation, and the legacy of the blues. All that, and a trio of terrific singer/songwriters stops by the studio to help answer a question about lyrics.

Come see Triple Click Live! Friday, July 11 at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, OR. Tickets Here

Kirk has new music for sale on Bandcamp: Music For Podcasting and his original score for Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Thanks to The Wailin' Jennys for coming on the show! Stay tuned for a full-length interview episode this summer, and go see them live if you can. They are amazing.

7/27/2025 Update: Several people wrote in with theories about the "Lady of the North" sound, and Kirk has been convinced it's an electric violin.

FEATURED/DISCUSSED:

• “White Trash Wedding” by The Chicks from Home, 2002
• A live performance of “White Trash Wedding”
• “Simon’s Theme” by Trigg & Gusset from the Blue Prince original soundtrack, 2025
• Kirk’s recent essay about Blue Prince and music
• Two good free music sites: musictheory.net and muted.io
• “What Am I Here For” by Jade Bird from Something American - EP, 2017
• “Across The Sea” by The Wailin’ Jennys from Bright Morning Stars, 2011
• “Lady of the North” by Gene Clark from No Other, 1974
• Bass legend Lee Sklar on YouTube
• Mark Lager's 2024 No Other retrospective in Under The Radar Magazine
• The terrific Wonder of Stevie podcast
• Tantacrul’s tremendous video about the history of music notation
• “Hammond Song” by The Roaches, 1979
• Chords of Orion video explaining and re-creating Frippertronics
• “The Heavenly Music Corporation II” by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno from No Pussyfooting, 1973
• “St. James Infirmary” rec. Joseph “King” Oliver, 1930
• “Cross Road Blues” rec. Robert Johnson, ~193x
• “Down Hearted Blues” rec. Bessie Smith, 1929
• Two versions of "Wedding Song" by Anaïs Mitchell from Hadestown, 2018
• Kirk’s essay about musical creation and “The Spark”

OUTRO SOLO: Rob Reich, prolific bay area multi-instrumentalist, died unexpectedly a few weeks ago at the age of 47. It's an unfathomable loss. Rob recorded an outro solo for Strong Songs back in its very first year, so we're including it in this episode as a tribute to him and his generous musical spirit. Read more about Rob here.

----LINKS-----

💰 SUPPORT STRONG SONGS!
Patreon | Paypal

🏠 HOMEPAGE
strongsongspodcast.com

👚 MERCH
strongsongspodcast.com/store

📬 KIRK'S NEWSLETTER
newsletter.kirkhamilton.com

📷 SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @Kirk_Hamilton
Bluesky: @kirkhamilton.com

💬 STRONG SONGS DISCORD SERVER
strongsongspodcast.com/discord

🎧 STRONG SONGS PLAYLISTS
Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music

🎸 KIRK'S GEAR & INSTRUMENTS
kirkhamilton.com/gear

🎶 KIRK'S MUSIC
kirkhamilton.com/music

🎨 SHOW ART
Tom Deja, Bossman Graphics

--------------------

JUNE 2025 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONS

Thomas McIlheran
Andy
Lisa Crotty
Rick Keeler
Elizabeth Culver
Meryl Allison
Robyn Metcalfe
Cesar
Corpus Frisky
Ben Barron
Catherine Warner
Damon White
Jay Swartz
Rush
Daniel Hannon-Barry
Christopher Miller
Jamie White
Christopher McConnell
David Mascetti
Joe Laska
Ken Hirsh
Melanie Andrich
Jenness Gardner
Nathaniel Bauernfeind
Paul Delaney
Sami Samhuri
Jeremy Dawson
AccessViolation
Dave Florey

JUNE 2025 HALF-NOTE PATRONS

Ian Steding
Margaret McReynolds
Alison Dugan
Princess of Whales
Dave Douglass
Suzanne Crawford
PhantomMare
Kym Griffith
Rachel
Aruni Jayatilleke
Ryan Gillen
TB
Daniel Kaberon
Wiggy Hash
Whit Sidener
Julie Kellman
Simon Hellman
Bea
Claudia Carty
Dani
Glenn Jackson
Christopher Selby Spink
Philip Kelly
Daniel Nervo
Kevin Stafford
Lawrence
Sy Jacobs
irritable
Ian Pidd
Andrew Hofer
Jordan Gatenby
Melissa Kuhns
Ashley
Seattle Trans And Nonbinary Choral Ensemble
Kevin Marcelo
Samantha Coates
James
Jeff
Dan Cutter
Joseph Romero
Ol Parker
John Berry
Danielle Kriz
Clint McElroy
Mordok’s Vape Pen
Inmar Givoni
Michael Singer
Merv Adrian
Joe Gallo
Lauren Knotts
Dave Kolas
Henry Mindlin
Monica St. Angelo
Stephen Wolkwitz
Rand LeShay
Max
eric sp
Matthew Jones
Thomas
Anthony Mentz
James McMurry
Ethan Laser
Brian John Peter
Chris Remo
Aaron Wilson
Dent Earl
Carlos Lerner
Misty Haisfield
Abraham Benrubi
Lee R.
Callum Webb
Dick Morgan
Ben Stein
Grettir Asmundarson
Sean Murphy
Randal Vegter
Kellen Steffen
Kaya Woodall
Robert Granat
dave malloy
Alan Maass
john halpin
Peter Harding
David
Kayla Russell
John Bauman
Martín Salías
Stu Baker
Steve Martino
Dr Arthur A Gray
Gary Pierce
Matt Baxter
Luigi Boccia
E Margaret Warton
Tim Sheehan
Charles McGee
Catherine Clause
Ethan Bauman
KenIsWearingAHat
Jordan Block
Aaron Wade
Jeff Ulm
David Futter
Jamie
Deebs
Portland Eye Care
Richard Sneddon
Janice Berry
Doreen Carlson
Wendy Gilchrist
Lisa Turner
Paul Wayper
Miles Forman
Bruno Gaeta
Kenneth Jung
Adam Stofsky
Zak Remer
Rishi Sahay
Jeffrey Bean
JRRJ
Ailie Fraser
Rob Tsuk
Josh Singer
Amy Lynn Thornsen
Adam W
Kelli Brockington
Victoria Yu
mino capossela
Steve Paquin
Donald Mackie
David Joske
Bernard Khoo
Robert Heuer
David Noah
Geraldine Butler
Madeleine Mader
Jason Pratt
Abbie Berg
Doug Belew
Dermot Crowley
Achint Srivastava
Ryan Rairigh
Michael Berman
Linda Duffy
Bonnie Prinsen
Eoin de Burca
Kevin Potter
M Shane Borders
Dallas Hockley
Jason Gerry
Nell Morse
Nathan Gouwens
Lauren Reay
Eric Prestemon
cbalmain
Angela Livingstone
Diane Hughes
Michael Casner
Lowell Meyer
Stephen Tsoneff
Joshua Hill
Pascal Rueger
Randy Souza
Clare Holberton
Diane Turner
Tom Coleman
Dhu Wik
Melmaniac
Eric Helm
Jonathan Daniels
Caro Field
Dave Sharpe
Naomi Watson
David
Alexander
Jeff Patterson
Chris K
Gavin Doig
Sam Fenn
Tanner Morton
AJ Schuster
Jennifer Bush
David Stroud
Brad Callahan
Amanda Furlotti
Andrew Baker
Andrew Fair
L.B. Morse
Bill Thornton
Brian Amoebas
Brett Douville
Jeffrey Olson
Matt Betzel
Nate from Kalamazoo
Melanie Stivers
Richard Toller
Alexander Polson
Justin McElroy
Arjun Sharma
James Johnson
Kevin Morrell
Colin Hodo