Episode 20 – Louise Coombe

Louise Coombe is a songwriter of great poise and a voice that will give you goosebumps. She grew up in McEwen, TN, on a cattle farm, riding horses and writing poetry, and began writing songs after college while working in TV/radio in Knoxville. She moved back to the Nashville area in 2004 and began co-writing with country, bluegrass and folk artists. Louise had a major creative breakthrough in 2007 when a song she wrote with famed Americana producer and writer Ray Kennedy was picked up for a PBS documentary. She started writing songs about the South—what she knew and where she grew up.In 2008, Louise began working on a new album, entitled called “Home,” a mix of bluegrass, country and folk. She entered some song contests connected to festivals and ended up winning top awards at Kerrville Folk Festival, Wildflower! Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. “Home” debuted at #1 on the Folk DJ charts in January 2010 and went on to be one of the most played albums that year for that chart.Today, Louise lives in Massachusetts, where she is a fixture on the Northeast acoustic circuit.  She’s played at The Bluebird Café in Nashville, Club Passim in Boston, Caffé Lena in upstate NY and many more venues. She is also a good friend of the pod and we were delighted that she sat down with us! Her most recent album, Paris, was released in 2025.