The Oklahoma Storyteller

The Oklahoma Storyteller is a 9 song album based off Oklahoma History. The Oklahoma Storyteller Podcast is a series of episodes that tell not only the story behind the songs, but the history as well. In this episode “Writing Letters”, Sarah Popejoy interviews Dr. Alvin O. Turner co-author and editor of “Letters from the Dust Bowl”, Dr. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg author of “Rooted in Dust”, and vocalist Jade Ann Wilson from the band, Tempest Revival who also sang background on the single.   The song, “Writing Lettters” officially releases to Americana Radio on Friday, August 22nd, as part of a series of songs from the upcoming docualbum, The Oklahoma Storyteller Vol. 1: Crossroads, which releases January 2nd, 2026. This collection of songs is based off historical events. “Writing Letters”, the first official release of the album is a song about an educated woman named Caroline Henderson who graduated from both Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and the University of Kansas. Caroline along with her husband were farmers in the panhandle of Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, yet they refused to let being at the center of the greatest ecological disaster in American history to push them out of their home. Caroline during that time wrote letters to the Atlantic Monthly, now known as The Atlantic, and through her vivid writing brought the knowledge of the struggles of those living in the plains area to the East Coast at a time when information couldn’t quickly or easily reach the masses. This song “Writing Letters” which I wrote was inspired by the letters that Caroline wrote and it portrays the difficulty and enormity of what living on the plains during the Dust Bowl was like from the vantage point of Caroline Henderson. So buckle up as we take you back in time to a place where the wind is so thick with dust that it scrapes the paint off the side of buildings and masks weren’t required but necessary if you wanted to breath outside. Recorded at The Church Studio, Leon Russell’s old recording studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sarah Popejoy's vocals, songwriting, and storytelling are at their best through, in this new album, The Oklahoma Storyteller. “Writing Letters” creates scenes from the Dust Bowl through song that place you in the footsteps of those who lived in history. A singer/songwriter who has honed her craft throughout the years being invited to play at some of the most iconic venues such as The Bluebird Café in Nashville, TN and Club Passim in Cambridge’s Harvard  Square, Sarah also hosts a podcast called AmericanaMusic.com and has interviewed artists such as Suzy Bogguss, Gretchen Peters, Sierra Hull, and James McMurtry about the craft of songwriting and artistry.  With a keen eye for talent, some of the amazing musicians on "Writing Letters" the song, include the soaring background vocals of Jade Ann Wilson, fiddle by Kyle Dillingham, guitar by Brandon Autry (Dad was cousin to Gene), drums from Tammy Mitchell-Woods, bass from Gene Morrison, piano by Spencer Sutton, studio engineer and mixing by Cade Roberts, and mastering by Patrick Conway.