WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.980 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. You know how we 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:05.599 do it. We sift through all the material articles, 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:08.480 interviews, the whole lot, and boil it down so 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.820 you get the essential insights fast. Today we 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:14.519 are diving deep into an artist who I think really 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:17.460 captures so much about the modern American experience, 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.280 especially its contrasts. We're talking about 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:22.879 the incredible Kentucky singer -songwriter S 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.280 .G. Goodman. That's a perfect way to put it. 00:00:25.339 --> 00:00:28.379 Our sources... really paint her as more than 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:31.359 just a musician. She's almost like a cultural 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.939 synthesizer, maybe? Yeah. A bridge builder. Yeah. 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:36.000 We've got a pretty comprehensive set of materials 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.600 here. Her life story, career path, how critics 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.020 have responded. And our goal today, really, is 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.500 to figure out how this unique mix, you know, 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:47.359 deep rural southern roots plus a serious education 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:49.560 and philosophy created this voice that speaks 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:52.200 so clearly to America's divides, especially that 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:54.299 urban -rural tension. And you kind of have to 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:56.060 start right there, don't you, with that central 00:00:56.060 --> 00:00:58.439 contrast, that pterodox, because it feels like 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:00.840 the engine driving her art. I mean, she's this 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.340 critically lauded figure in Americana folk rock. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.939 But where did she come from? Hickman, Kentucky. 00:01:07.819 --> 00:01:09.900 Started singing in the Southern Baptist Church. 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.359 That's deep tradition, faith, rural life, all 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.319 baked in. But then she goes off to university 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:17.939 to study philosophy. And now she's writing these 00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.140 incredibly sharp songs about things like the 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:23.659 opioid crisis. It's just, yeah, a fascinating 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:26.560 clash of worlds. It really is. It's like the 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:29.739 traditional South meeting this analytical questioning 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:33.280 mind. Goodman, who's, what, 36 now in October 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.969 2025. She's not just carrying on a tradition. 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:39.430 She's using the language of Americana, but she's 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.829 kind of interrogating it, too. She offers this 00:01:41.829 --> 00:01:43.969 really modern, informed voice in a genre that 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:46.530 can sometimes lean towards, well, romanticizing 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:48.530 the past. She gets the Southern story from the 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:51.209 inside, definitely. But she also has that philosophical 00:01:51.209 --> 00:01:53.750 training to sort of dissect where things might 00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:55.829 be broken. Right, to see the systems, maybe. 00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:58.530 Exactly. So to really understand that synthesis, 00:01:58.709 --> 00:02:00.870 we have to start at the beginning. We need to 00:02:00.870 --> 00:02:03.670 ground ourselves in her geography because it 00:02:03.670 --> 00:02:05.849 seems absolutely... fundamental to her identity. 00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:08.289 And, you know, her sound follows from that. For 00:02:08.289 --> 00:02:10.610 sure. She grew up way down in the southwestern 00:02:10.610 --> 00:02:13.090 corner of Kentucky in Hickman. And now she lives 00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:15.349 a bit further northeast in Murray. And those 00:02:15.349 --> 00:02:17.129 places are crucial. Hickman's right there by 00:02:17.129 --> 00:02:19.870 the Mississippi River. Feels pretty remote sometimes, 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:23.810 even from the rest of Kentucky. That whole experience, 00:02:24.090 --> 00:02:27.250 the farming, the small town life, it just anchors 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:29.110 her music. Yeah. You look at how people write 00:02:29.110 --> 00:02:31.509 about her work and they constantly point back 00:02:31.509 --> 00:02:35.460 to this deep connection to. the place, the Southern 00:02:35.460 --> 00:02:37.919 narratives. There's this sense that we need authentic 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.919 voices from these areas that often get, well, 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.780 stereotyped or misunderstood. And right at the 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:45.479 heart of that early life, you've got farming 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.219 and faith. Her dad was a farmer, still is. That 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:50.199 connection to the land, the cycles, the hard 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:52.639 work, that's a whole worldview right there. Definitely. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.639 And alongside that agricultural rhythm, there 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:59.159 was the rhythm of faith. The sources really stress 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.719 how central the Southern Baptist Church was, 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.860 attending church three times a week with her 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:06.759 family. I mean, three times a week. That's not 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:08.759 just showing up on Sunday. No, that's serious 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.479 commitment. It's total immersion, right, in the 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:14.539 community, the rituals, and importantly, that 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:17.120 specific kind of vocal performance environment. 00:03:17.689 --> 00:03:19.830 That's really where she started performing. Probably 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.349 shaped her voice, her sense of communal storytelling. 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:24.490 It's that classic foundation, like you said. 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:26.349 But what's also really interesting about that 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:28.949 childhood is how you have that structure three 00:03:28.949 --> 00:03:31.750 times a week church side by side with these other 00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:35.009 details that suggest this like incredible early 00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:38.969 independence. Yeah. Well, OK, she started playing 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:41.550 rhythm guitar around 15. That makes sense for 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:43.710 a musician. Right. Pretty standard. But then 00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:46.930 there's this amazing detail. She apparently started 00:03:46.930 --> 00:03:50.129 driving much, much earlier, like age seven. Age 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:52.689 seven. Wow. OK, that's that's a detail you remember. 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:55.330 Right. That's kind of a perfect little anecdote, 00:03:55.449 --> 00:03:57.229 isn't it? Just instantly paints a picture of 00:03:57.229 --> 00:04:00.879 maybe. Rural pragmatism. The sources are clear. 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:03.539 It was definitely illegal in Kentucky. But it 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:05.520 suggests this environment where, you know, the 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.860 practical needs of farm life, getting around 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:10.560 on back roads, maybe just outweighed the official 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:12.659 rules sometimes. I think we should pause on that 00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:14.819 for a second because it says so much about that 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:18.319 internal tension, maybe. How so? Well, you have 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.060 this kid steeped in the moral framework of the 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:23.410 Southern Baptist Church three times a week. all 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:25.730 about rule structure. Right. But at the same 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:27.850 time, she's out there learning independence, 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:31.230 maybe breaking the law just out of sheer necessity 00:04:31.230 --> 00:04:33.350 on the farm. That's a great point. It's almost 00:04:33.350 --> 00:04:35.550 like the origin story for the artist who can 00:04:35.550 --> 00:04:38.370 critique the system, but still clearly loves 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:41.589 the people in it. That early independence, driving 00:04:41.589 --> 00:04:44.069 at seven, I mean, that fosters a kind of self 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:46.470 -reliance that must feed into her art later. 00:04:46.689 --> 00:04:48.430 Yeah, you'd think so. She's not waiting for permission, 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:50.449 right? Yeah. Whether it's driving a truck or 00:04:50.449 --> 00:04:52.790 writing a song that tells a hard truth. It sets 00:04:52.790 --> 00:04:56.490 up this duality, structure and freedom, tradition, 00:04:56.589 --> 00:04:59.430 and just doing what needs to be done. And then 00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:02.569 those tensions start to really combine or maybe 00:05:02.569 --> 00:05:06.089 get processed with the philosophical turn. Around 00:05:06.089 --> 00:05:08.649 2007, she moves to Murray, goes to Murray State 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:11.970 University. And she specifically chooses to study 00:05:11.970 --> 00:05:14.750 philosophy. That feels like a key moment. Experience 00:05:14.750 --> 00:05:18.290 meets analysis. This is maybe the most critical 00:05:18.290 --> 00:05:20.930 piece for understanding her depth, I think. Yeah. 00:05:21.009 --> 00:05:23.569 That philosophy degree isn't just like an interesting 00:05:23.569 --> 00:05:26.589 factoid. It's the toolkit. Yeah. It's what separates 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:29.709 her perhaps from a lot of other songwriters working 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:32.529 in similar veins. Okay. Explain that. Why philosophy 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:35.230 specifically? Why not say political science or 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:38.170 sociology if she's interested in social issues? 00:05:38.509 --> 00:05:40.870 That's a really good question. Because philosophy, 00:05:41.089 --> 00:05:43.250 especially areas like ethics or epistemology, 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:46.420 how we know what we know, it trains you. to spot 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:49.639 and question the underlying assumptions. Butal 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.000 science or sociology might describe the structures, 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:54.620 how things are. Philosophy asks why they are 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:57.459 that way, questions the values, defines the terms, 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.939 builds the moral arguments. So that training 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:02.240 lets her go beyond just, you know, reporting 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.459 on the opioid crisis or the rural -urban gap. 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.959 It lets her analyze the root, causes the sort 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:11.759 of moral questions, the economic factors, the 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.180 failures maybe in community or government. So 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:16.000 she's not just a storyteller. She's a critic 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.339 using music as her medium. She's getting at the 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:21.680 whys. Exactly. When she tackles these tough subjects, 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.699 she's bringing the heart of someone who lived 00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:27.079 it, for sure, but also the brain of someone trained 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.660 to think systematically about complex ideas. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.600 She can handle nuance, avoid easy answers, maybe 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.220 because that education pushed her to think critically. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.540 It gives her that necessary distance, maybe. 00:06:39.019 --> 00:06:40.680 to look at her own background without just being 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.100 sentimental or falling into stereotypes. I think 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.060 so. And that's maybe how she can bridge that 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:47.540 urban -rural divide in her work. She brings this 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:49.600 intellectual seriousness to the rural experience, 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:52.180 forcing listeners who might dismiss that world 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:54.879 to actually engage with the critique in the songs. 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:56.920 Okay, so we've got the roots, the intellectual 00:06:56.920 --> 00:06:59.699 framework. Let's talk about how the music itself 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:02.860 developed. Before her solo career really took 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:04.620 off, there was an important earlier chapter, 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:07.670 right? The band, the Savage Radley. Yeah, the 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:09.870 Savage Radley. That was our first main musical 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:12.129 project. Started with drummer Stephen Montgomery. 00:07:12.709 --> 00:07:16.149 They put out one album, Kudzu, on a label called 00:07:16.149 --> 00:07:19.610 Slow Water Records. Kudzu. That's quite a title 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:21.829 for a Southern band. Isn't it? That invasive 00:07:21.829 --> 00:07:23.949 vine that just covers everything in the South. 00:07:24.029 --> 00:07:26.750 Such a loaded, potent metaphor. Wow. Beautiful, 00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:29.810 but overwhelming, maybe destructive. Wow. So 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:32.670 even early on, she was grabbing onto these complex 00:07:32.670 --> 00:07:35.410 symbols of home. Seems like it. And that band 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:38.430 experience is important context. First, it shows 00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:40.370 she wasn't just an overnight sensation, right? 00:07:40.430 --> 00:07:42.730 She was working at it, honing her craft. And 00:07:42.730 --> 00:07:45.250 second, that label, Slow Water, being a more 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:47.769 regional Kentucky label, it shows some early 00:07:47.769 --> 00:07:50.089 roots, some loyalty to the local scene. Right. 00:07:50.189 --> 00:07:52.589 And then she moves into her solo work and starts 00:07:52.589 --> 00:07:54.750 building this signature sound. We hear it called 00:07:54.750 --> 00:07:57.769 Americana, folk, country, rock. It kind of touches 00:07:57.769 --> 00:08:00.430 all those bases. It does. But her technical choices, 00:08:00.670 --> 00:08:04.089 the gear. That seems really specific and important 00:08:04.089 --> 00:08:07.170 to the overall mood. Let's get into that, because 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:08.930 this is where someone interested in how music 00:08:08.930 --> 00:08:11.529 is actually made can learn a lot. Okay, yeah. 00:08:11.629 --> 00:08:14.129 We know she really favors Guild Starfire guitars. 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:17.350 These are semi -hollow or hollow -bodied guitars, 00:08:17.509 --> 00:08:20.850 different from, say, a solid -bodied Telecaster 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:23.209 or Les Paul that you might associate with rock 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:26.569 or some country. Okay. And crucially, the sources 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:28.550 mention she likes them specifically for their 00:08:28.550 --> 00:08:31.629 humbuckers. All right. For the non -guitar nerds 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:34.129 among us, what does choosing humbuckers tell 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:35.690 us? What kind of sound is she going for there? 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:38.649 It tells us quite a bit, actually. So a humbucker 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:41.409 pickup, basically it cancels out electrical hum, 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:44.570 hence the name humbucker, which single coil pickups 00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:46.850 can be prone to. Right. But sonically, the big 00:08:46.850 --> 00:08:48.450 difference is that humbuckers generally give 00:08:48.450 --> 00:08:50.549 you a fuller, thicker, kind of beefier sound. 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:53.429 They have a higher output. Think less bright 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:55.710 twang or sharp jangle like you might get from 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:59.570 single coils and more. Warmth, weight, maybe 00:08:59.570 --> 00:09:02.129 even a bit of grit. Ah, okay. So it pushes her 00:09:02.129 --> 00:09:04.990 sound away from pure folk or traditional country 00:09:04.990 --> 00:09:07.850 twang. Exactly. It leans it more towards that 00:09:07.850 --> 00:09:10.590 rockier side of Americana. It gives music this 00:09:10.590 --> 00:09:13.429 density, this substance, which honestly feels 00:09:13.429 --> 00:09:15.450 really appropriate for the heavy themes she often 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:17.710 explores. So the gear choice itself has muscle. 00:09:17.929 --> 00:09:20.009 It does. It's a deliberate sonic texture that 00:09:20.009 --> 00:09:22.529 matches the lyrical weight. But maybe the most 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:24.330 defining technical detail, the one that really 00:09:24.330 --> 00:09:27.730 shapes her sound, is her tuning. Okay. She usually 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:29.710 plays with her guitar tuned down a whole step. 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:33.210 That's a big deal, a significant choice. Explain 00:09:33.210 --> 00:09:35.889 that. What does tuning down a whole step do? 00:09:36.029 --> 00:09:38.950 How does lowering the pitch change things for 00:09:38.950 --> 00:09:41.590 her and for us listeners? Okay, so tuning down 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:44.029 a whole step means every string goes down two 00:09:44.029 --> 00:09:46.809 frets, essentially. E becomes D, A becomes G, 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:50.149 and so on. It's a dramatic shift. For the guitar 00:09:50.149 --> 00:09:52.649 itself, it lowers the string tension. This tends 00:09:52.649 --> 00:09:55.370 to make the sound darker, maybe more resonant. 00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:57.889 Sometimes a bit looser or heavier. Think of a 00:09:57.889 --> 00:10:00.090 standard guitar having a bright voice. Tuning 00:10:00.090 --> 00:10:01.629 down a whole step gives it more of a baritone 00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:04.309 quality. A heavier feel. So if the songs are 00:10:04.309 --> 00:10:06.730 already dealing with heavy topics history, social 00:10:06.730 --> 00:10:09.090 problems, the down -tuning kind of doubles down 00:10:09.090 --> 00:10:11.230 on that mood sonically, even before she sings. 00:10:11.590 --> 00:10:14.230 Precisely. The whole sonic foundation is inherently 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:17.990 moodier, weightier. And for Goodman as a performer, 00:10:18.250 --> 00:10:20.590 this often helps her vocally. By lowering the 00:10:20.590 --> 00:10:23.149 pitch of the music behind her, It allows her 00:10:23.149 --> 00:10:26.230 voice to sit in a different register. Maybe a 00:10:26.230 --> 00:10:28.470 lower, more powerful spot where she doesn't have 00:10:28.470 --> 00:10:30.470 to strain as much to get the intensity across. 00:10:30.789 --> 00:10:32.830 Ah, that makes sense. It contributes to that 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:35.570 characteristic vocal delivery she has. You know, 00:10:35.590 --> 00:10:38.769 really raw, direct, powerful. The whole package 00:10:38.769 --> 00:10:41.610 feels heavy. The tuning is heavy. The pickups 00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:44.009 are thick. The lyrics carry weight. It all works 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:46.230 together. And this carefully built sound comes 00:10:46.230 --> 00:10:49.470 together for her solo debut in 2020, Old Time 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:52.490 Feeling. And that album arrived with a really 00:10:52.490 --> 00:10:54.389 significant partnership that must have given 00:10:54.389 --> 00:10:56.710 her a huge boost right away. Yeah, that debut 00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:58.629 was a big deal, partly because it was co -produced 00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:01.029 by Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Okay, and 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:03.370 Jim James, he's Kentucky music royalty, basically, 00:11:03.409 --> 00:11:05.690 but also known for being pretty experimental, 00:11:05.870 --> 00:11:08.929 right? Exactly. He's an institution in that whole 00:11:08.929 --> 00:11:11.730 Kentucky rock alternative scene, known for pushing 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:15.009 boundaries, psychedelic sounds sometimes. Having 00:11:15.009 --> 00:11:17.809 him involved immediately signals something important. 00:11:18.090 --> 00:11:20.299 What does it signal, you think? To the industry, 00:11:20.419 --> 00:11:22.759 to listeners. Well, it gives her instant credibility 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.720 beyond just the folk or country world. It says, 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.080 hey, this songwriter is sophisticated enough 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.279 to catch the ear of someone like Jim James. Right. 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:32.940 His influence probably encouraged some of the 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:36.299 more atmospheric, maybe slightly rockier elements 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.179 on. old time feeling. It ensured the record didn't 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:42.220 sound just like traditional folk. It had this 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:44.779 indie rock sensibility, too. That connection 00:11:44.779 --> 00:11:46.659 was definitely key in getting her initial momentum 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:49.220 going, pulling in listeners who might not normally 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.539 check out an Americana debut. So let's track 00:11:51.539 --> 00:11:53.740 her solo albums since then. She's been remarkably 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:55.679 consistent, putting out three albums pretty quickly. 00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:58.539 Yeah, very consistent. The debut old time feeling 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.940 was 2020. Then two years later, Teeth Marks came 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:04.720 out in 2022. And then the most recent one, Planting 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.509 by the Signs, just arrived. June 20th, 2025. 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:10.029 So yeah, roughly a two -year cycle. That's a 00:12:10.029 --> 00:12:12.049 strong creative pace. Especially considering 00:12:12.049 --> 00:12:14.330 the debut landed right in the pandemic. Right. 00:12:14.669 --> 00:12:16.610 Now, looking at the labels involved, there's 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:18.769 an interesting path there, too. Teeth Marks was 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:21.429 on Verb Forecast, which is part of a major label 00:12:21.429 --> 00:12:24.370 group known for jazz, but also some serious alternative 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:27.429 stuff. A significant step up in terms of label 00:12:27.429 --> 00:12:30.450 profile. But then for the 2025 album, Planting 00:12:30.450 --> 00:12:32.690 by the Signs, she seems to have shifted again. 00:12:32.909 --> 00:12:35.389 It's listed as being released via Slow Water 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:37.850 Records. That's the same local label from the 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:40.409 Savage Radley days. Right. Back to the roots. 00:12:40.649 --> 00:12:43.429 in a way. But also with distribution through 00:12:43.429 --> 00:12:46.269 30 tigers. What does that combination tell us? 00:12:46.690 --> 00:12:48.929 Well, it tells us a lot about how savvy, independent 00:12:48.929 --> 00:12:52.049 artists navigate the business now. Moving to 00:12:52.049 --> 00:12:54.750 Verve for teeth marks likely gave her a much 00:12:54.750 --> 00:12:57.830 wider reach, bigger marketing budget. Sure. But 00:12:57.830 --> 00:12:59.990 returning to Slow Water for the latest, while 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:03.009 bringing in 30 tigers for distribution, that 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:06.509 suggests a focus on artistic control. Maybe loyalty 00:13:06.509 --> 00:13:08.909 to her roots, but still needing professional 00:13:08.909 --> 00:13:11.669 reach. And 30 Tigers, their big name in the independent 00:13:11.669 --> 00:13:14.429 world, right? Oh, yeah. Arguably the name for 00:13:14.429 --> 00:13:16.529 distribution and marketing support for indie 00:13:16.529 --> 00:13:19.309 artists in Americana folk country. Yeah. Working 00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:22.210 with them lets her and Slawater keep ownership 00:13:22.210 --> 00:13:24.850 and creative direction, but still get their records 00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:27.570 into stores nationwide, onto digital platforms 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:29.029 effectively. So it's kind of a hybrid model. 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:32.139 Exactly. It's smart. She keeps that local connection, 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:34.379 that independence, but gets the horsepower she 00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:37.399 needs as a nationally recognized artist. It really 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:40.299 fits her profile. Yeah. Committed to her Kentucky 00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:42.679 identity, but with national, even international 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.379 ambition. OK, let's go back to the content of 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:47.600 the music, the thematic depth, because this is 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:49.460 where that philosophy background really seems 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:52.259 to come into play. Her second album, Teeth Marks 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.559 from 2022, has a track that directly confronts 00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:57.840 a major issue. Track five, If You Were Someone 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:59.899 I Loved. It's about the opioid crisis, right? 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:02.360 Yes. And that's such a devastatingly important 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:04.600 topic, especially for Kentucky, which has been 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:07.220 hit incredibly hard. What's striking is how she 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:10.279 approaches it. It's not abstract or political 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.019 in a lecturing way. It feels incredibly personal, 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.200 intimate, and just deeply sad. The song's framing, 00:14:16.379 --> 00:14:18.799 If You Were Someone I Loved, allows her to talk 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.179 about the tragedy and maybe the systemic failures 00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:24.100 around it, but through this lens of personal 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:26.909 connection and loss. And thinking about that 00:14:26.909 --> 00:14:29.789 through her philosophical training, she's not 00:14:29.789 --> 00:14:32.169 just reporting on addiction statistics, is she? 00:14:32.169 --> 00:14:34.710 She seems to be exploring the, I don't know, 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:36.750 the community breakdown, the ethical implications 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:39.330 of it all. I think that's exactly right. Her 00:14:39.330 --> 00:14:42.289 background might equip her to move beyond just 00:14:42.289 --> 00:14:44.509 the surface level tragedy and ask those deeper 00:14:44.509 --> 00:14:46.730 questions about why it's happening. The human 00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:49.870 cost, yes, but also the systemic neglect, the 00:14:49.870 --> 00:14:52.409 sense of abandonment. Music becomes this way 00:14:52.409 --> 00:14:54.690 to have a communal conversation about really. 00:14:55.449 --> 00:14:57.769 painful things. She's forcing listeners both 00:14:57.769 --> 00:14:59.470 inside and outside her community to face the 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.049 devastation not just as a news headline but as 00:15:02.049 --> 00:15:05.110 this incredibly personal potential loss. The 00:15:05.110 --> 00:15:07.769 loss of someone I loved. It makes her more of 00:15:07.769 --> 00:15:09.929 a truth teller maybe than just an entertainer. 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:12.730 That takes real courage to hold up a mirror to 00:15:12.730 --> 00:15:16.029 your own community like that. It does. And this 00:15:16.029 --> 00:15:17.809 actually connects to something mentioned in the 00:15:17.809 --> 00:15:20.490 sources, this idea of music being healing. We 00:15:20.490 --> 00:15:22.669 can come back to that, but maybe part of the 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:25.970 healing is in actually naming the pain, validating 00:15:25.970 --> 00:15:28.450 the experiences of people affected by the crisis, 00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:31.289 creating that shared space for grief. Maybe that's 00:15:31.289 --> 00:15:34.429 the first step towards change. Speaking of dealing 00:15:34.429 --> 00:15:37.610 with difficult circumstances, her early touring 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:40.210 life had a really unusual start, didn't it? Yeah, 00:15:40.230 --> 00:15:43.090 talk about bad timing. Her debut... Old Time 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:45.309 Feeling, the one produced by Jim James, creating 00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:47.690 all this buzz. Yeah. It comes out in 2020. Right 00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:50.110 when the world shuts down. COVID. No live music. 00:15:50.210 --> 00:15:51.870 Exactly. So she has this critically acclaimed 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:54.250 debut, getting great reviews, but she can't do 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:56.289 the thing that rising artists absolutely need 00:15:56.289 --> 00:15:59.629 to do. Tour, connect with audiences live, build 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:02.389 that grassroots support show by show. Wow. That 00:16:02.389 --> 00:16:04.210 must have been incredibly frustrating. A huge 00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:07.129 hurdle. For sure. Which means, kind of remarkably, 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:10.029 that her tour for her second album, Teeth Marks, 00:16:10.029 --> 00:16:13.730 in 2022. That was effectively her first proper 00:16:13.730 --> 00:16:16.509 solo headlining tour. So the momentum from the 00:16:16.509 --> 00:16:19.149 first album had to carry itself purely on the 00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:21.690 recordings and the press for two whole years. 00:16:21.750 --> 00:16:23.870 Pretty much. Before she could really get out 00:16:23.870 --> 00:16:25.870 there and capitalize on it in person. That just 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:28.149 underlines how strong that debut album must have 00:16:28.149 --> 00:16:30.970 been. That it could sustain that level of interest 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:33.509 and critical acclaim without the usual touring 00:16:33.509 --> 00:16:36.330 push. The music itself was doing the heavy lifting, 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:39.220 just waiting for the stages to reopen. And the 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:41.759 power of that songwriting, even with those challenges, 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:45.019 is really clear when you look at the impact of 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:49.120 one specific song. Space and Time. From Old Time 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.059 Feeling. Ah, yeah, Space and Time. That song 00:16:52.059 --> 00:16:53.940 seems to have had a life of its own. It's the 00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:56.059 perfect example of how her writing connects across 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.080 different worlds. It got covered twice, right? 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.299 In really different styles. Twice, yeah. First, 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:04.059 you have this huge endorsement from right within 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:07.240 her genre's heartland. Tyler Childers covered 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.240 it on his album, Rustin in the Rain. Okay, now 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.140 that is significant for anyone listening who 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:14.460 follows Americana or country. Tyler Childers 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:17.200 is massive. He's another Kentucky artist with 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.220 immense credibility and a huge following. Him 00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:23.180 choosing to cover your song, that's like a coronation 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:25.700 almost. It really is. It's a huge stamp of approval. 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.240 It confirms the song's emotional weight, its 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.960 lyrical quality. That someone like Childers, 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.440 known for his own powerful, often politically 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.480 charged Appalachian storytelling, saw that song 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.660 as something he wanted to sing. It connects Goodman 00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:42.400 directly to that vital Kentucky songwriting lineage. 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:45.339 But then the song jumps tracks completely. It 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:47.400 was also covered by Devante Hines, who most people 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:49.839 know as Blood Orange, and the singer Mariba. 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:52.420 And this was for a film soundtrack. Yeah, for 00:17:52.420 --> 00:17:54.920 the soundtrack of the 2022 movie Master Gardener, 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.279 Paul Schrader film. Wow. So that takes her work 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:00.859 into this completely different sphere. Indie 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:03.839 film, arthouse sensibility. Devante Hines' sound 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.299 is nothing like Tyler Childers. It's more R &B, 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:08.740 electronic, atmospheric. Totally different world. 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:11.319 So his interpretation with Meribah is going to 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:13.180 bring out different qualities in the song, probably 00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:16.160 more texture, maybe more ambient. But clearly, 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:19.279 the emotional core of the song still worked powerfully 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.559 in the context of that film. And that cover actually 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:24.190 got formal recognition, didn't it? It did. The 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:26.250 performance by Marabal earned a nomination at 00:18:26.250 --> 00:18:29.349 the 2023 Hollywood Music and Media Awards for 00:18:29.349 --> 00:18:31.970 Original Song Independent Film. And crucially, 00:18:32.109 --> 00:18:35.250 Goodman was credited as the songwriter. That's 00:18:35.250 --> 00:18:38.650 amazing. So the same song works for a major country 00:18:38.650 --> 00:18:41.609 star and a sophisticated indie film composer. 00:18:41.930 --> 00:18:44.309 What does that tell you? It tells you the songwriting 00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:46.769 itself is just fundamentally strong. Universal, 00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:50.430 maybe. It has this core emotional truth that 00:18:50.430 --> 00:18:52.789 resonates, whether it's presented with a country 00:18:52.789 --> 00:18:54.750 playing or an electronic soundscape. It just 00:18:54.750 --> 00:18:56.190 proves the quality of the composition itself. 00:18:56.369 --> 00:18:59.170 So all of this, the albums, the covers, the critical 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:01.869 buzz, it all seemed to come together in 2023. 00:19:02.130 --> 00:19:04.210 That felt like her real breakthrough year in 00:19:04.210 --> 00:19:07.430 terms of industry recognition. Definitely. The 00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:09.430 biggest marker was winning the Emerging Artist 00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:11.990 of the Year Award from the Americana Music Association. 00:19:12.390 --> 00:19:14.430 That's the official nod, the industry saying, 00:19:14.609 --> 00:19:17.680 OK. She's arrived. She's a major voice for the 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.460 future of this music. And even before that big 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:22.500 award, she'd already gotten the nod from some 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:24.500 pretty important gatekeepers in the folk world. 00:19:24.700 --> 00:19:26.960 That's right. She played the Newport Folk Festival 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:31.119 back in July 2021. Getting invited to Newport, 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:34.059 I mean, that stage has so much history. So many 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.700 legendary careers were launched or cemented there. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.400 Playing Newport that early in her solo career 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:42.279 really solidified her place within that whole 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:45.220 folk and Americana tradition. OK, so let's try 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:46.859 and tie these threads together for the listener. 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:49.519 You've got Jim James producing her, Tyler Childers 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:52.079 covering her, Devante Hines using her song in 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:54.680 a film. She wins emerging artists, plays Newport. 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.279 What does all that mean about S .G. Goodman and 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.420 her music? I think it means she's achieved something 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:02.339 really rare. The synthesis we talked about, it's 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.660 real. Her music is undeniably rooted in Kentucky. 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:08.079 Yeah. You can't separate it from that place, 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:11.059 that culture. But the way she processes it. The 00:20:11.059 --> 00:20:13.599 sophistication maybe brought by that philosophical 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.799 lens makes it connect way beyond those borders. 00:20:16.900 --> 00:20:19.740 She operates right at that crossroads of like... 00:20:19.869 --> 00:20:22.349 Deep Southern tradition and forward -thinking 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:24.910 indie music. She can hang with an experimentalist 00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:27.630 like Jim James and be embraced by a traditionalist 00:20:27.630 --> 00:20:30.589 powerhouse like Tyler Childers. She really is 00:20:30.589 --> 00:20:33.130 building bridges, carrying the specific story 00:20:33.130 --> 00:20:35.809 of her corner of Kentucky out to all these different 00:20:35.809 --> 00:20:38.049 audiences. It's that combination, isn't it? Authentic 00:20:38.049 --> 00:20:41.480 voice plus artistic and intellectual rigor. So 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:43.859 wrapping this up, we followed this incredible 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:46.680 path from Hickman, Kentucky, the farm, the Southern 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:49.220 Baptist Church three times a week. That almost 00:20:49.220 --> 00:20:52.240 unbelievable story of driving at age seven through 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.460 to studying philosophy at Murray State. And all 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:57.759 of that feeding into this artist who becomes 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:00.160 the Americana Emerging Artist of the Year with 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:02.640 these three really vital albums out now, Old 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.640 Time Feeling, Teeth Marks, and Planting by the 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:06.539 Sign. But I think the big takeaway for you listening 00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:08.960 is seeing the power of synthesizing different 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.140 parts of your experience. than feeling like you 00:21:11.140 --> 00:21:13.819 have to choose one or discard another. SG Goodman's 00:21:13.819 --> 00:21:16.640 strength, her depth, it comes precisely because 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:19.039 she didn't abandon her roots when she picked 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.640 up those analytical tools from philosophy. She 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:23.880 used the critical thinking to understand and 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.480 articulate her Kentucky experience in a new way. 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:30.559 The result is art that feels both deeply authentic 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.079 and really challenging. It's that constant interplay, 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:36.619 isn't it, between the very specific place she's 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.319 from and the broad, critical perspective she 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.160 developed. That's what makes the music travel 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:43.119 so well. And that brings us right back to that 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:45.619 core tension and this idea of healing that the 00:21:45.619 --> 00:21:47.799 sources mention. Goodman apparently believes 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:50.119 music can't be healing for the person writing 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.480 it and the person listening. But then you look 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.220 at her whole approach, choosing to tune the guitar 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:58.220 down, creating this inherently heavier sound. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:01.299 tackling subjects like the opioid crisis head 00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:03.680 on, critiquing aspects of her own community. 00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:06.799 Right. So how does an artist who leans into difficulty, 00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:09.740 into weight, into critique, how does that process 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:12.900 become healing? Is the healing in finding comfort 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:15.859 or is it found in the act of confrontation itself? 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.180 That's the big question, isn't it? What kind 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:21.119 of philosophy is at play there? Is she suggesting 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:26.119 that true healing actually requires facing the 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:29.279 difficult stuff first? That maybe you can't get 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:31.619 past the burden of history, that old time feeling, 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:34.440 without using those critical tools to understand 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:36.440 why the wounds are there in the first place. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.059 It makes you think about the artist's role. Are 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:42.160 they there just to soothe or also to diagnose, 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:44.960 maybe even perform a kind of cultural surgery? 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:47.299 A powerful thought to leave things on. That's 00:22:47.299 --> 00:22:49.000 a question for you to ponder as you maybe go 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:50.859 listen to S .G. Goodman's records after this. 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:53.359 Thanks for joining us for this deep dive. Yeah, 00:22:53.380 --> 00:22:54.660 thanks everyone. We'll catch you next time.