Introducing the Alabama Astronaut Podcast with Abe Partridge and Ferrill Gibbs

Acclaimed Alabama songwriter Abe Partridge and podcaster Ferrill Gibbs return to the podcast world with their new series titled Alabama Astronaut Radio Transmission, continuing their earlier work in the podcast series Alabama Astronaut to chronicle the religious practice of snake handling in the American South, and to document the movement’s unique and largely unknown songs and often raucous musical styles. Abe’s quest brought him face-to-face with the deadly practices of a largely ridiculed subculture, first amidst a backdrop of American crises occurring in 2020–2021. As they captured audio on a little Sony handheld recorder, Abe and Ferrill cobbled together the foundations of a bizarre and wonderful story, as mistrust gave way to genuine friendships. In their quest, the two collaborators bring us insights into a widely misunderstood and stigmatized tradition which also contains a wealth of great music. Their stories come from a place of openness and curiosity rather than from a mindset of superiority or conceit. The results reveal and interpret a rich and fantastical world seldom explored and even more rarely understood. I spoke with Abe and Ferrill about coming back together for their latest work as introduction to episode two of Alabama Astronaut Radio Transmission, which follows our conversation here. <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " > Alabama Astronaut Radio Transmission Snake Handling While Singing to the Ceiling With Alabama Astronaut Joe Kendrick Thank you for stopping by, and we hope you can spread the word about this series and help us reach more music fans just like yourself. Please take a moment and give us a top rating on your podcast platform of choice, and where you can, a review. Doing either, and especially both, boosts the ranking and therefore the visibility of this series to all the other music fans who also follow podcasts. This is Southern Songs and Stories, where our quest is to explore and celebrate the unfolding history and culture of music rooted in the American South, and going beyond to the styles and artists that it inspired and informed.&nbsp;- Joe Kendrick