SEASON 7: Blake Christiana of YARN on Survival, Songwriting, and Finding the Humanity in Music
Release Date: 07/27/2026
SEASON 7: Ray Wylie Hubbard Talks New Album, Fatherhood, and the Joy of Never Second-Guessing Inspiration
The Load Out Music Podcast
Ray Wylie Hubbard — one of the greatest American songwriters in history — returned to the Load Out Music Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation with host Aaron Perlut ahead of the release of Hubbard's new album, Reel to Reel, For Real, out later this summer. Now well into his seventies, Hubbard talked candidly about life on the road, the physical toll of touring, and why the joy of walking on stage — especially alongside his son and guitarist, Lucas — still outweighs the grind of getting there and back. The two dug into Hubbard's songwriting philosophy: His belief in never...
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SEASON 7: Blake Christiana of YARN on Survival, Songwriting, and Finding the Humanity in Music
The Load Out Music Podcast
For nearly two decades, Americana band YARN has built its reputation the old-fashioned way: one show, one song, and one audience connection at a time. On this episode of The Loadout Music Podcast, we welcome YARN frontman and songwriter Blake Christiana for a conversation about the band's unlikely beginnings in New York City's Greenwich Village, the grind of life as a touring musician, and the evolution of an artist who continues to find new meaning in songwriting. Formed in Brooklyn in 2006, YARN grew out of a weekly residency at Kenny's Castaways, where songs were written, musicians...
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SEASON 7: Neil Salsich & The Mighty Pines -- St. Louis Roots, National Ambitions
The Load Out Music Podcast
Neil Salsich didn't set out to become a St. Louis music icon — he just never stopped loving music long enough to do anything else. The founding member of The Mighty Pines, a soul-inspired roots rock band shaped by the wide rivers and red-brick streets of their hometown, Salsich turned a lifelong obsession into a full-time career in 2014 and hasn't looked back. His Season 23 appearance on The Voice — where he earned a rare four-chair turn opening with Hank Williams' "Honky Tonk Blues" — elevated the band to a new level of visibility. But Salsich is quick to put it in perspective: "The...
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Season 7: The Legendary Jorma Kaukonen Reflects on Life as One of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
The Load Out Music Podcast
He’s a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists,” and at 85 years old, he’s still riding motorcycles, producing his own CBD oil, and regularly has more gigs on the books than most musicians half his age. We sat down with the great for the latest episode of The Load Out Music Podcast, covering the entire span of his unbelievable career—from his father’s initial dismissal of his musical ambitions to the “you suck” teaching method of his first fingerstyle mentor. Jorma shares the inside story of how he casually named...
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SEASON 7: Amelia Day Goes From Rhubarb Festivals to Rock and Roll
The Load Out Music Podcast
Rising singer-songwriter Amelia Day joined host Aaron Perlut on The Load Out Music Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about her journey from Sumner, Washington — the self-proclaimed “Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World” — to Nashville, where she’s been building a reputation as one of indie folk-rock’s most compelling rising voices. Day discussed her musical evolution, her refusal to be boxed into a single genre, and the deeply personal heartbreak that fueled her latest EP, Ego Trip. Drawing comparisons to Brandi Carlile and Norah Jones, Day brings a storyteller’s instinct...
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SEASON 7: Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s Kevn Kinney Returns With Crushing Flowers With "No Idea How to Be Famous"
The Load Out Music Podcast
In the 1980s, popular music in Georgia started to once again find its footing. There was a burgeoning hip-hop scene, an exceptionally talented group of up-and-coming R&B artists, and a collection of rock ‘n’ roll bands that included the B-52s and R.E.M. out of Athens, as well as the Black Crowes and Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ in Atlanta, among others. While the success of the B-52s, R.E.M. and Black Crowes has been well documented—Drivin’ N’ Cryin’’s track record of producing exceptional music has often fallen through the cracks. Perhaps that's why the band’s founder...
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Season 7: Hunter Hayes Finds Home With Evergreen
The Load Out Music Podcast
We kick off Season 7 of The Load Out Music Podcast with the GRAMMY-nominated, multi-instrumentalist and PLATINUM-selling artist—Hunter Hayes. He’s an embodiment of a musician that embraces evolution and redefines boundaries who burst onto the scene with his PLATINUM-certified debut album and charted a unique course through the genre-bending course he was destined to explore. His latest album Evergreen completes a three-album arc that began with 2019’s Wild Blue, continuing through Red Sky—a conceptual journey exploring optimism, tension, and resolution.
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Season 6: The Last Revel is By Far NOT Gone for Good
The Load Out Music Podcast
The Load Out Music Podcast returns for our final show of Season 6! We finish up a tremendous season strong, as we are joined by Lee Henke and Vinnie Donatelle of The Last Revel. The highly acclaimed band was formed in Minneapolis in 2011 and has a tightly harmonized sound that’s one part folk, one part bluegrass, and a little alt-country. The band’s sound harkens to the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of what it means to pursue your dreams in real time—the foundation of which is conjured by a deep appreciation and genuine respect for the vast landscape and sometimes-harsh realities...
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SEASON 6: Kai Crowe-Getty Goes From Party Band Leader Towards Finding a Cathartic Place
The Load Out Music Podcast
Singer-songwriter has spent more than a decade fronting the rock 'n' roll band Lord Nelson. But in recent years, he's been quietly crafting a more thoughtful style—very much along the lines of the exceptional James McMurtry—that stands in stark contrast to his rowdier rock catalogue. His new foray is on full display throughout his strong debut solo LP, The Wreckage. "I've played in big rock 'n' roll settings for a long time, and I do enjoy that," he says. "But this is a vehicle for a different avenue of songwriting that explores different things. I wrote this album's songs while working...
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Season 6: Andy Frasco Saves the World
The Load Out Music Podcast
Pop. Funk. Soul. Rock. Blues. Call him whatever you want, but Andy Frasco is an exceptionally talented and exciting independent singer-songwriter and performer from Los Angeles who has built a solid career through relentless touring and an energetic performance style. After teaching himself piano at 17, he used his bar mitzvah savings to buy a van and started touring independently, picking up musicians along the way to form his backing band "The U.N." He occupies a niche in the jam band and festival circuit rather than mainstream fame, playing more than 200 dates per year at...
info_outlineFor nearly two decades, Americana band YARN has built its reputation the old-fashioned way: one show, one song, and one audience connection at a time.
On this episode of The Loadout Music Podcast, we welcome YARN frontman and songwriter Blake Christiana for a conversation about the band's unlikely beginnings in New York City's Greenwich Village, the grind of life as a touring musician, and the evolution of an artist who continues to find new meaning in songwriting.
Formed in Brooklyn in 2006, YARN grew out of a weekly residency at Kenny's Castaways, where songs were written, musicians rotated in and out, and a band slowly emerged on stage in real time. Since then, the group has become one of Americana's most respected road warriors, earning four appearances on the Grammy ballot while building a loyal following through relentless touring.
Christiana reflects on the band's journey from playing nearly 170 shows a year to finding a more sustainable rhythm, as well as the personal growth that has shaped his songwriting. He discusses how his early work centered around "whiskey and women," while his current music is focused on connection, gratitude, and bringing people together.
The conversation also explores YARN's latest album, Saturday Night Sermon, a record that expands the band's sonic palette with gospel choirs, horns, and richer arrangements while maintaining the storytelling foundation that has defined the band for years.