ABOUT : Brad Apple

Brad Apple is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. Besides the performing side of the music business, he also has a recording studio where he does recording and mastering for his own projects and others. 

His original songs have been recorded by Auldridge, Bennett & Gaudreau, and the former members of J.D. Crowe and the New South, known by the name of Flashback. Brad also has a podcast, Acoustic Music Talk, where he interviews many of the greats in the world of acoustic music. 

“I’ve literally been in and around music all of my life,” says Brad. “From the time I was old enough to have memories, I remember jam sessions at my Grandpa and Grandma Apple’s (Woodrow and Lois) house. I can still hear the fiddles, guitars, mandolins, and banjos coming across that old hardwood floor.” 

As if it weren’t enough to have music on the Apple side of the family, Brad’s Grandpa Townsend was also an excellent old-time fiddler who also had an extensive record collection of fiddle music. 

The jam sessions at Brad’s Grandpa and Grandma Apple’s house and under the shade trees in warm weather eventually got so big that the family decided to have their own bluegrass festival. The Apple Family Bluegrass festival ran from 1979-to 1984. 

“At that time, the extent of my playing was chopping a few mandolin chords that my Dad showed me, but I was really influenced musically by some of the bands my Dad booked at the festival. Among them was Southern Connection, which included future bluegrass superstars Scott Vestal and Russell Moore. Other future stars that played at the festival included Mike Snider and Brent Truitt. 

The next pivotal moment for Brad came early in 1986. His Grandpa Apple and brother, Brandon, were home recovering from sickness. “I got off the school bus one day when Grandpa and Brandon were home, and Grandpa asked me if I wanted to learn to play the mandolin because he was teaching Brandon the fiddle. I said yes, and he began showing us tunes that he knew, and we were off and running.” 

Later that same year, Brad’s Grandpa ran the radio dial and discovered a bluegrass program being broadcast on KABF Radio out of Little Rock, Arkansas. “That was important for me and hugely influential because I heard bands I’d never heard before like The Virginia Squires, Lonesome River Band, Bluegrass Album Band, etc. I would put a cassette tape in the recorder and tape the shows so I could listen to my favorites repeatedly.” 

For many years, Brad played in his family band and his Dad, Larry, mom, Diane, and brother, Brandon, and regularly performed at regional bluegrass festivals and at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. 

In 1995, he began a 10-year stay as the audio mastering engineer at Raney Recording Studio in Drasco, Arkansas, owned by the family of the late Wayne Raney. “I learned a lot about recording and mastering audio from Jon and Zyndall. I was really close to them also, like a second family.” 

Brad continues to be very involved in the music community, performing with a long-time friend, Pam Setser, recording, and doing a podcast where he interviews other musical artists.

About Pam Setser

Pam adds to her musical memories with the current lineup of groups she performs with; The Pam Setser Band, Apple & Setser, Leatherwoods, and Ozark Granny Chicks. She also performs as a solo artist.  And today, Pam's newest album, Now, reflects her life in music. It is an Americana mix of folk, bluegrass, gospel, 1930s swing, and country. 

It all began with her family.  "I started singing when I was 5 years old," Pam recalls. "My dad was already playing some guitar; mom played some autoharp…so we started playing as a family band, The Simmons Family."  She feels blessed to have been able to play music with her parents.  "I am the youngest of four children, so music was a great outlet for me to see places I wouldn't have experienced otherwise," Pam says. "We had lots of fun and adventures together, and I treasure those memories."  Pam also sang in church. "My grandpa was a Baptist preacher," Pam says, "so the church was and still is a part of my life." 

Pam learned to play the autoharp when she was 8. "I would lay it on my lap to play so I could use my left hand for strumming" recalls the left-handed musician.  She describes how "my mother tried to teach me on a right-handed mountain dulcimer, but I was having trouble..."; so "Lynn McSpadden, the maker, said, 'Let me make her a left-handed dulcimer.' And that was what I needed." 

At 15, Pam took up spoons. "I saw someone play them and just thought how neat," she remembers. "I want to do that!"  By the time she was 23, it was time to learn guitar and upright bass.  "Most of my guitars have been specially ordered," Pam says. "Not every music store carries lefties. My latest guitar is a Red Gibson J200. We looked for it for three years and finally found it at a store in Texas called Southpaw."  She plays upright bass, by the way, right-handed.   Of all these instruments the mountain dulcimer is her favorite. "It has such a sweet sound, and I have such wonderful memories playing duets with my mom."  While rearing her two children, Pam says, "my income from my music was our fun money…money was tight then." 

You can find Pam on many, many recordings.  "The Simmons Family Band” made four albums. She is on five mountain dulcimer albums with her mom. Her solo albums are At Last, Crooked Ridge, and her latest Now. 

"Most of the songs on Crooked Ridge are more familiar songs," Pam says, "whereas on Now, most of these songs are first-time recordings."  Pam enjoys a diversity of Americana music, and that is reflected in the 13 songs on Now. But at the end of the day, it is all about the song.  "I didn't pick the songs thinking about genres. I picked the songs because I liked the words and melody. When we recorded them, each song took its own direction." 

Pam is now with Valerie Smith's Bell Buckle Records. Valerie is also acting as Pam's creative marketing director.  Pam continues to make her musical memories with her records, performances with her bands while living in Mountain View, Arkansas, the place where she grew up and still calls home. 

Like many musicians, Pam has been performing on Facebook because of the pandemic.  "I feel God has given me my talent, and I always hope my music blesses those who listen," Pam says. "I feed off an audience that gets into your performance. No matter what is going on in my life, when I get on stage, it's like all is OK."

1. Hand Me Down My Walking Cane

(Bluegrass / Folk /Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222630 

(Public Domain) 

(Brad Apple-Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Bass, Lead Vocals; Pam Setser-harmony vocals; David Johnson-Fiddle, Clawhammer Banjo) 

2. Grandma Danced With the Arkansas Traveler

(Bluegrass / Folk /Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222631 

(Brad Apple / Charley Sandage- Brad Apple Publishing/BMI, Black Branch Publishing/BMI 

(Brad Apple-Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Bass, Mandolin; Pam Setser-Lead Vocals; Tim Crouch-Fiddle, Banjo, Bowed Bass) 

 3. A Friend You'd Never Met

(Folk / Bluegrass / Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222632 

(Brad Apple- Brad Apple Publishing/BMI) 

(Brad Apple-Fingerstyle Guitar, Acoustic Bass, Lead Vocals; Pam Setser-Harmony Vocals; Sam Cobb-Mandolin) 

4. Too Far Gone 

(Folk / Bluegrass / Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222633 

(Pam Setser/BMI) 

(Brad Apple-Acoustic Guitar, Fretless Electric Bass, Harmony Vocals; Pam Setser-Lead Vocals; Sam Cobb-Mandolin; Danny Crawford-Piano) 

5. Hayes' Hoedown

(Bluegrass / Folk /Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222634 

(Pam Setser/BMI) 

(Brad Apple-Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Bass; Pam Setser- Dulcimer; David Johnson-Fiddle) 

6. Rake and Rambling Blade

Bluegrass / Folk / Roots

ISRC:  uscgh2222635 

(Public Domain) 

(Brad Apple-Acoustic Guitar, Acoustic Bass, Lead vocals; Pam Setser-Harmony Vocals; Sam Cobb-Mandolin; David Johnson-Fiddles, Dobro) 

7. It Doesn't Matter Anymore

(Folk / Bluegrass / Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222636 

(Paul Anka- EPA Publishing) 

(Brad Apple-Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Bass, Harmony vocals; Pam Setser-Lead Vocals; David Johnson-Fiddles, Viola, Dobro) 

8. I'll Love Nobody But You

Bluegrass / Folk / Roots

ISRC:  uscgh2222637 

(Jim & Jesse McReynolds- Fort Knox, Trio Music/BMI) 

(Brad Apple-Mandolin, Acoustic Bass, Lead Vocals; Pam Setser-Harmony vocals; David Johnson-Acoustic Guitar, Banjo, Fiddle) 

9. When The Wagon Was New 

(Folk / Bluegrass / Roots

ISRC:  uscgh2222638 

(Public Domain) 

(Brad Apple-Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Bass, Harmony vocals; Pam Setser-Lead Vocals; David Johnson-Fiddles, Dobro) 

10. When You and I Were Young, Maggie

(Folk / Bluegrass / Roots)

ISRC:  uscgh2222639 

(Public Domain) 

(Brad Apple-Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar)