Andy Barron has made a career of visually documenting life on the road for musicians, both on stage and off, over the last decade. He’s currently Chris Stapleton’s official tour photographer, and he’s done similar work for groups like Foster The People and Switchfoot. His résumé also sports freelance photography for the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Joy Williams and New Kids On The Block. A native Californian but now based in Nashville, Andy discusses how to keep things fresh while taking pictures of the same tour night after night, how that same schedule helps you from regretting not taking the perfect shot, how listening to vinyl compares to seeing a film in a movie theater versus at home and more!

For over two decades, Polyvinyl Records -- which started in the small Midwestern town of Danville, IL -- has been releasing various offshoots of indie-rock with touches of folk, hardcore punk, chamber pop or new wave, including records from Braid, Japandroids, Of Montreal, Joan of Arc, Deerhoof, Alvvays, Beach Slang, Jeff Rosenstock, Matt Pond PA, Owen, Jay Som, Mates of State and countless others. On today's show, Polyvinyl co-founder Matt Lunsford remembers the hands-on DIY nature of the label’s first releases, the early importance of documenting a scene (along with co-founder and wife Darcie), how long their lead time is at pressing plants for a label of their caliber and adapting quickly to how listeners consume music.

As director of business affairs at the Country Music Association, Aaron Hartley clears rights for online content, works with music publishers on payments for song placements and acts as a liaison between artists and the CMA for television properties. But before working in the world of country music, Aaron cut his teeth by launching Theory Eight Records, a small indie-rock label that has released material for the likes of Bully, Caitlin Rose and Copeland among others.

Eric Astor — CEO and President of Furnace Record Pressing in Virginia — returns to the show to discuss last month’s 2nd annual Making Vinyl conference in Detroit and Furnace’s recent addition of several new record presses. Plus we go over this year’s Record Store Day Black Friday releases with former podcast guest Nick Digilio from WGN Radio in Chicago.

While it's commonplace for mentors and musical influences to get thanked in a Grammy-acceptance speech, Sadler Vaden made sure to pay homage to his father's physical record collection when, as lead guitarist for Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, the group took home this year's award for Best Americana Album. Since joining the group after the release of Isbell's 2013 breakthrough "Southeastern," Sadler has performed worldwide in one of the busiest and most critically-acclaimed bands working today, even playing side-by-side with some of the classic rock heroes that his dad first spun around the house.

Though much of this year's Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival in Franklin, TN was sidelined due to weather-related safety concerns, we still managed to chat with Dawes lead vocalist/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, soulful singer/songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews and Ireland's Grammy-nominated Hozier, who all shared their thoughts about the importance of vinyl in a digital world, and how the medium has influenced their own work. For details on Pilgrimage Festival, visit pilgrimagefestival.com. 

Our special guests this week are Grammy-winner John Paul White (formerly of The Civil Wars), acclaimed singer/songwriter Erin Rae, sibling vocal duo The Watson Twins, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer John Oates of Hall & Oates, Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel, photographer "Cowtownchad" Cochran and former Vinyl Emergency guest Austin Lucas, all providing great stories about their appreciation and personal history with vinyl, recorded live at various locations during Americanafest 2018 in Nashville, TN! For details on Americanafest, including how to join the Americana Music Organization, visit AmericanaMusic.org.

With a long history in journalism covering audio and home entertainment, Shane Buettner began boutique vinyl reissue label Intervention Records in 2015, with a focus on albums from the late 70's to early 2000's that he felt weren't getting the proper, or any, treatment on wax. Inspired by the Music Matters Jazz label and priding himself on overseeing every aspect -- from working with the original analog tapes to art restoration to sleeve printing and assembly -- Shane has released high-quality, in-demand reissues from Everclear, Joe Jackson, Erasure, Judee Sill and more over the last three years. Most recently, Intervention has partnered with 90's power-pop king and former Vinyl Emergency guest Matthew Sweet to reissue and remaster his catalog from 1991-1995, all of which were originally recorded entirely to analog: Girlfriend, Altered Beast, the never-before-on-vinyl Son of Altered Beast EP and 100% Fun. On today's show, Shane discusses what the music industry learned from Neil Young's Pono experiment, how farm-to-table restaurants relate to the vinyl world, and his new website -- vinylreviews.com -- which aims to create a community where listeners can share their thoughts on specific pressings and packaging.

In the footsteps of groups like The Band or The Flying Burrito Brothers, who still exude country rock coolness 50 years on, comes Nashville's Great Peacock. Since their 2015 debut, they've been hailed by publications like No Depression, American Songwriter and Paste for their powerful, poignant mixture of folk, rock, blues and Americana, while sharing stages with Margo Price, Cage the Elephant, Colter Wall and Hurray for the Riff Raff. Andrew Nelson and Blount Floyd -- guitarists and co-songwriters/vocalists for the quartet -- sit down backstage at hometown venue 3rd & Lindsley to discuss their connections to vinyl, their favorite music documentaries, whether an artist's name on the front of their records takes away from the album's visual art, how My Morning Jacket's Tom Blankenship and Carl Broemel ended up contributing to Great Peacock's terrific new album Gran Pavo Real and more!

Her dad and grandfather are respected bluegrass musicians, her namesake great-grandmother hung up her guitar in order to raise her siblings around the time of the Great Depression, and for as long as she can remember, Dori grew up playing classic Appalachian songs with and for her immediate relatives. On her 2016 self-titled album as well as 2017's "Letters Never Read," the latter of which was released on Dori's own label, she delivers a riveting mixture of her folk/bluegrass roots and the direct, emotional clarity of influences like Rufus Wainwright and Peggy Lee. On today's show, Dori talks about the LP's she listens to with her husband and daughter, the struggle to get vinyl pressed as an independent artist, how she overcomes the nerves of performing live, what truly defines old-time music, how art can suffer from a failed quest for authenticity, the upcoming album she recorded with grandfather and renowned pencil artist Willard Gayheart and much more.