Groundwater: The Blues Beneath American Music
Thomas StubbsIn 1927, the record industry split American music in two and sold it to separate audiences. We've believed the split ever since. Groundwater is a music history podcast that follows the current underneath — the blues, running from Congo Square to the South Bronx, from Robert Johnson to Aretha Franklin to hip-hop. Each episode traces a moment the industry tried to keep apart: the soul sessions at St... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 8 | Founded | 2 months ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | MusicMusic HistoryHistory | |||
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Latest Episodes
Jimi Hendrix played "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969 and let the war in around the melody. This year the United States turns 250. This Groundwater special steps back from the map to ask what twentieth-century American music has been fo... more
Muddy Waters, the Mardi Gras Indians, Blind Willie McTell, and the one record to start with: the second half of Thomas Stubbs's conversation with Rich Pettit, the man Atlanta knows as the Blues Professor.
In Part 1 we traced the blues out of West Af... more
Piedmont blues, the Allman Brothers, Lonnie Holley, and the long road the blues took out of West Africa: Thomas Stubbs sits down with Rich Pettit, the man Atlanta knows as the Blues Professor — part one of two.
For forty years, Rich has hosted Good ... more
A two-minute introduction to Groundwater — what the show is, why American music's genre labels are a lie, and where we're going. Start here, then follow the water.
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- Solid
Well written and well-researched. But delived like a conversation at a dinner party, rather than an academic lecturn. Could use a few more music references to illustrate the convergence of styles he’s discussing, but still an honest, accurate portayal of an extremely complex picture of influence, convergence, and attribution of musical styles and the different diaspora they came from. Good stuff.
Apple Podcasts5LNF in ATL
United Statesa month ago - Great listen
This is terrific. Really interesting cross-section of American history and music history. So much I’ve never heard about before. And some great writing in there, too.
Apple Podcasts5Eppie333United Statesa month ago
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Apple Podcasts | #96 |  Japan/Music/Music History |
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| Listeners per Episode | Gender Skew | Location | |||
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| Interests | Professions | Age Range | |||
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What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?
Groundwater explores the currents that connect seemingly separate strands of American music, tracing how blues underpins a wide range of genres from Congo Square origins to soul, jazz, and hip-hop. Episodes thread studio histories, race and commerce, and migrations to reveal a shared musical current that repeatedly crosses rigid genre boundaries. Notably, it highlights moments where artists navigated and challenged industry labels, and it weaves vivid storytelling with historical anchors to illuminate how political and cultural forces shape sound. Expect thoughtful synthesis, deep context, and connections across eras that are likely to appeal to listeners who love music history, cultural analysis, and compelling narrative journalism.
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1. You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians
2. Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
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this podcast launched 2 months ago and published 8 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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