Specializing in quality roots and Americana music since 1978.

In the years since his first album, 2004's Last Call, Nashville singer-songwriter Stephen Simmons has wandered the wide landscape of American roots music, from contemplative country and finger-picked folk to rugged and ragged blues-rock.

 On his 12th album, Hunch, released October 24, 2025, he hints at the thread that ties 20 years of ideas together.

"It makes me feel better when I tap into the truth" he sings in the closing track on Hunch, "Someone Like You," a ballad brimming with Rhodes chimes and gentle longing.

Tapping into the truth doesn't only mean one thing, and the 10 tracks on Hunch show the breadth of what it means to mine what feels real, from connection and disconnection to wonder, sorrow, reflection and confusion.

"It's not therapy, but it's therapeutic," Simmons says. "People talk about when you first start writing, sometimes it's almost like clearing your throat. You're not really at the thing yet, and sometimes you write for a while before you get in some kind of flow. And then something starts coming together. And when you feel it, you know it's true — and you didn't know yet how you were gonna say it 'til it comes out. It's gratifying."

Hunch's predecessor, 2020's Family Album, explored the truth of where Simmons comes from in deep detail, with 18 songs about family and hidden history captured inside his grandmother's empty house in Woodbury, Tennessee.

Released amid the pandemic, it originated and unintentionally stayed close to home, as Simmons and so many of his contemporaries got stuck introducing and supporting new music virtually, smartphone sets streaming from living room to living room.

Hunch is the post-pandemic door flung wide open, carrying Simmons back to the road and miles away from Tennessee. He's in a Dresden sushi bar, wondering how and why love sparks. He's in a rented car in Amsterdam, tracing what takes us toward wrong turns. He's gazing at the moon.

But wherever Hunch travels, the narratives always seem to pull Simmons back home.

Mid-tempo country cut "Grandpa's Jacket" considers how we crave ties to where we came from, even while we chase adventure. The album's title track, while just as imbued with truth, comes at life decisions with a wink and a bluesy lurch. Everyone had ideas for where that kid from Woodbury might go. But, "Uncle Glen had the best plan of the bunch," Simmons sings, "strummin' on the guitar and live your life on a hunch."

"That's the only one that's a little cheeky," Simmons says. "It's tongue-in-cheek. It's a blues-rock song. Then everything else goes a completely different direction. I don't know why, it just kinda felt like a pivot."

 To render the full pivot, Simmons turned to folks who've been part of his musical story tracing almost back to when he first left Woodbury.

 Goffrey Moore (Jonatha Brooke, Maia Sharp) produced Hunch in his Madison, Tennessee, studio, and he and Simmons invited contributions from lap and pedal steel player Paul Niehaus, singer/pianist Molly Jewell, bassists Dave Jacques and Billy Mercer, and drummers Matthew Crouse and Bryan Owings.

 All accomplished players who've collaborated with country and Americana greats from John Prine to Patty Griffin, they've all played with Simmons on various songs and stages over decades.

These well- and long-established personal and musical connections allowed Moore and Simmons to experiment in comfort, letting songs go where they seemed to want to. The songwriter's initial intent was to hole up in Moore's century-old cabin to capture a stripped-down set. But as the recording progressed and friends came in, Hunch took a more dynamic and textured turn.

 "It was a different way to do it for me," Simmons says. "It kinda lent itself to, like, 'OK, well, maybe we'll go big on this one.' And then all of a sudden, it presents itself."

 Call it following intuition. Call it living on a hunch.

Korby Lenker is a storyteller in every sense of the word. A singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author, actor, and podcaster, he’s spent his life chasing what moves him—whether that’s through melody, fiction, or film. His newest single, Meet Me at the End of the World, marks a return to the lyrically rich, emotionally resonant songwriting that has defined his career for nearly three decades.

A self-proclaimed troubadour, Korby has toured internationally, published award-winning fiction, and released eight albums of critically acclaimed Folk-Americana. After 2021’s Man in the Maroon (named one of American Songwriter’s Best Albums of the Year), he took a detour into film, co-writing and starring in Morse Code, a television pilot loosely based on his own winding creative path. The project racked up awards on the festival circuit—Best TV Pilot, Best Lead Actor, Best Original Music, and more—cementing his reputation as an artist who refuses to stay in one lane.

Following the success of Morse Code, Korby leaned even further into his love of storytelling by launching The Morse Code Podcast, a deep-dive series on creativity and process with high-achieving artists, writers, and filmmakers. Now in its second season, the show has featured Grammy winners, bestselling authors, Hall of Fame songwriters, and Tiny Desk Concert alumni.

At the core of it all, Korby is simply a guy who loves people, loves ideas, and loves seeing where the road leads next.

Featuring Ellen Stanley on banjo and vocals, Mother Banjo is a New England-raised, Minneapolis-based songwriter. Called “an outstanding poet” (Inside Bluegrass), she was a Midwest Finalist for the prestigious Mountain Stage NewSong Contest and has been featured nationally on SiriusXM Radio and CMT.com. Her first original release in over five years, the highly anticipated Eyes on the Sky (2019) is Mother Banjo’s most fully realized album to date, artfully mixing her signature blend of folk, bluegrass and soulful Americana that has become a hallmark of her live shows, whether playing solo or with her dynamic five-piece band.

Independent record label based in Brighton on the South coast of the UK. 
2018 Releases: Orphan Colours, Dean Owens,........
2017 saw releases from: Robert Vincent, Orphan Colours, Hans Chew, Robbie Cavanagh, Steph Cameron, Ags Connolly, The Orphan Brigade, Beth Bombara & Heather Lynne Horton.

Presenter of The Miller Tells Her Tale Americana/Folk podcast.  This show broadcasts on WRFN 1025, and is available as a podcast and via mixcloud.

FatCat Records is a British independent record label founded in 1997.

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