Author: StevenB

Steven Branstetter is a Colorado native, college professor, musician, and writer currently based in Pennsylvania, blending a lifelong love of storytelling with an unapologetically nerdy streak and a coffee snob’s devotion to the perfect cup. When he’s not teaching or digging into national health research, he’s co-leading the Americana band One Acre West and writing about the artists who shape the roots and country landscape. His work focuses on thoughtful listening, careful detail, and the human stories that anchor great American music.

Show Review: Jim Lauderdale in State College PA

July 1, 2026July 1, 2026StevenB0

Songwriter’s Songwriter & Performer’s Performer: Jim Lauderdale Still Leads From the Front June 20 – State College, PA There are artists whose reputations eventually outgrow their real-life performances. Jim Lauderdale isn’t one of them. By the time Jim Lauderdale walked onto the tiny Attic stage inside The State Theatre in State College, Pennsylvania on June […]

Interview: Bill Wence and Lauren Zartman on The State of Americana

June 15, 2026June 14, 2026StevenB0

The State of Americana: Past, Present, and Whatever Comes Next Americana promoter, advocate, and early architect Bill Wence and emerging industry leader Lauren Zartman discuss the genre’s past, present, and future. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nobody seems sure how to define Americana music. And they never did. That uncertainty is not a bug in the system; […]

Show Review: The Time Jumpers: Nashville’s Living Americana Museum

June 9, 2026June 11, 2026StevenB0

May 18, 2026 | 3rd & Lindsley | Nashville, Tennessee The Time Jumpers are typically described as a western swing band. Or a country band. Technically, both are true. And if you walk into Nashville’s 3rd & Lindsley on a Monday night expecting Bob Wills, twin fiddles, a yearning steel guitar, and dancehall swing rhythms, […]

Show Review: Lilly Hiatt At The Attic

December 17, 2025December 17, 2025StevenB0

Lilly Hiatt at The Attic at The State Theatre, State College, PA (December 13th, 2025) In my house, we had an old Mason jar where we put all the spare bits and left over pieces of Lego sets, the small little cubes of hard plastic landmines that we stepped on in the middle of the […]

Show Review: Madison Hughes at the Attic

December 8, 2025December 17, 2025StevenB2

Madison Hughes at The Attic at The State Theatre, State College, PA (December 4th, 2025) By the time she had pulled into State College, Pennsylvania on the afternoon of December 4th, Madison Hughes was over a thousand miles — and six days — into her first solo tour. She arrived to find a college town […]