Songscapes: Music and Nature

Adam Gardner knows how to bring a vision to life. As alt/rock band Guster’s guitarist and vocalist, and co-founder of the nonprofit Reverb, he has a passion for sharing the messages he believes in through music. Reverb’s mission is to use the cultural power of music to influence related industries, concert tours, and fans to make sustainable change happen. They do this by collaborating with artists – for example, Billie Eilish, Har...

This week on Songscapes, Charles takes us to Nashville, Tennessee to talk with singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sierra Hull. Having picked up the mandolin at age 8, been mentored by Alison Krauss at 11, and debuted at Carnegie Hall at 12, the bluegrass virtuoso has long since been certain that the musician’s lifestyle was the one for her. Sierra talks about the strong community of musicians she’s always been surrounded...

This week, host Charles Coplin interviews five-time Grammy-award winner and American Blues musician Keb’ Mo’! He discusses his views on environmental and social activism, concerns about plastic overflow, and the idea of finding other planets to colonize. He cares deeply about preservation, and points out that we cannot escape our consumptive lifestyles, so we must become aware of the impact of our daily choices.

Despite how bad thin...

Today, travel with Arizona Trails executive director Matthew Nelson along the Arizona trail, which spans 800 miles from the Mexico/U.S. border to Utah. Matthew helped complete the last 100 miles of the trail in his youth, which he credits as a turning point in his connection with the Southwestern landscape. In his early 20’s, he was launched into a career in Grand Canyon National Park. He tells the story of his transformative first...

Meet punk musician and park ranger Mason Evan Runs Through III, also known as his stage name, Wounded Knee. Born in Minot, North Dakota, he is of the nearby Fort Peck Reservation in North East Montana and is a member of the Assiniboine (Nakoda) nation. He is currently based in Utah, where he lives and works as an interpretive ranger and environmental educator in Dinosaur National Monument. Mason also shares about his musical projec...

Charles Coplin catches up with his friend Gregg Hill to chat about his latest release, Born Liar.

Gregg has been making music since the 90’s and has spent most of his time focused on live performance and honing his songwriting craft. With a recent move to New Orleans, Gregg is embracing the artistic freedom that he has discovered in his new community.

The latest record is inspired by long road trips to western landscapes- to escape...

Cincinnati, OH based Folk-Rock outfit, The Heavy Hours just released their latest ep, Wildflowers in August.

This collection of songs was recorded in Woodstock NY, in the dead of winter. With two feet of snow on the ground, and in a small mountain town, the band was cut off from the outside world. And this was a good thing. Recording and making the best music they could was the only thing on their mind. Simone Felice, of the the Fe...

The guinea pigs for Sustain’s first Songscape retreat ever, we hear from Chris Freeman of Parsonsfield and some of the inspiration behind that experience. Charles Coplin and Chris explore the different ways in which inspiration can strike, how nature permeates other aspects of life and the evolution of the band over the years.

The new album, Happy Hour on the Floor, investigates the “in between moments” and being present in everyda...

Sean Rowe is all about connection, whether that be through his songwriting, foraging, or surviving in the woods for weeks on end. Since he was a child, Sean has been interested in what the natural world has to offer those curious enough to look closely. As he grew older, the interest took him to the Tom Brown Wilderness Survival School and onward to his own survival treks into the woods. Tune in to hear his insight from a three-wee...

Tune in for a talk with River Whyless from Asheville, North Carolina. The band explains how their Southeast mountain homeland has seeped into their sound, from its forests and rivers to the immersive outdoor-enthusiast culture. Hear stories about their favorite public lands (including Halli’s midnight mountaintop excursions!) and the places they never get sick of. The band’s latest album, Kindness, a Rebel, seeks to address recent ...

Folk-Americana artist Drew Holcomb knows all about the dedication it takes to be a family, whether it’s his own kin, or the bandmates he’s had for over 14 years. Drew speaks about what family means to him and how his parents and children alike have guided his career. He also shares stories behind the special songs that came from road trips with his wife and kids, and the magic he found in stopping to really experience natural areas...

This week on Songscapes, we are joined by rising pop star Rozzi! Raised in San Francisco and based out of Los Angeles, she’s no stranger to climate change and its manifestations such as raging wildfires and smoke-filled air. True to the artist’s way, she expresses the intimacy of climate change events through her song, “Orange Skies”. Tune in to hear about the many turns her life has taken to make her the musician she is today, fro...

Welcome back to Songscapes! This week, meet Betsy and Harrison, the husband-and-wife team who co-founded Sustain. Their backgrounds are from opposite ends of the nonprofit’s driving forces -- music and nature -- which allows them to support each other’s strengths to build up Sustain. Listen in to hear about Betsy’s work in Tanzania with chimpanzees, Harrison’s time in the band Parsonsfield, and how that led them to where they are t...

Summer is our busy season at Sustain. As a special treat, we wanted to share some extra content from some of our summer programs. This week we are featuring music highlights from our hike and concert series, Trail Sessions, that happen at public lands in Colorado. This year we are expanding the program to New York State, so check out our website to get all the details.

This episode features music from Courtney Hartman and Covenhoven...

This week on Songscapes, join host Charles Coplin as he interviews Daniel Rodriguez live from Telluride, CO, after his performance for Sustain’s Trail Session. The former Elephant Revival band member is continuing to learn and grow his musical style and range as an individual as he explores all genres from indie/folk to hip hop. He discusses the change in energy he feels in the return to live shows after a year-plus long pandemic, ...

Jonathan Meiburg’s life is uniquely situated between both the natural world and the music industry. As leader of the band Shearwater, and author of “A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey”, he provides plenty of insight on how to be a “generalist rather than a specialist” in terms of interests. His extensive travels from both touring and researching Striated Caracaras has ...

Founder of Bonfire Entertainment and the Winter Wondergrass music festival, Scotty Stoughton has tons of insight on the magic that exists in the music community. He moved to Colorado from the east coast while selling grilled cheeses as he followed the Grateful Dead’s “Summer Tour of ‘94”, and recognized a unique quality of the Colorado music scene. Listen in to hear him talk about that quality, as well as the type of live shows tha...

Tune in this week to hear singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and engineer Eric Lichter speak on the inspiration he draws from his ethereal Connecticut-based log cabin recording studio, Dirt Floor Records. Authenticity is the cornerstone of Lichter’s work, and he seeks to make music that reflects his wholehearted dedication to the craft. Find out what imperfections in a song mean to him, and how he has come to compare layered ...

Award-winning folk guitarist, Courtney Hartman, joins us this week. Colorado-born and Wisconsin-based, she and Charles talk about her 500 mile pilgrimage on the Camino De Santiago in northern Spain and how that experience shaped her latest album, Ready Reckoner. Courtney talks about working with Mike Campbell, a member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and producing with Shahzad Ismaily, known for his work with Tom Waits. Our int...