Collaboration and networking are instrumental in whatever success I enjoyed in my former corporate work life and now in my post career volunteer world.  Nancy LaBerge of Calgary’s “Backyard Betties” was introduced to me via email by Linda Wilson, a former radio colleague….giving me the heads up Nancy and her group would be coming to Kansas City for the 2024 Folk Alliance International Conference.  Might there be any broadcast or performance opportunities for the Backyard Betties on the Tasty Brew Music Radio Show?  Of course.  I soon came to know that Nancy, through her affiliation with the Calgary Songsmiths, had already come into my orbit through a songwriting collaboration exercise with our local Heartland Song Network members borne from a prior year’s introduction at Folk Alliance. Joining Nancy LaBerge in three-part harmonies are Pip Hazel and Sarah Nielson on percussion with Mark Cassano on guitar.  The Backyard Betties are exceptionally talented with a strong commitment to connecting with their audiences through songs of love, life and loss while fostering the growth of emerging songwriters in their community.  Colin Cutler, an Army Vet, is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based singer-songwriter, folk musician, poet, and storyteller toting a banjo and guitar. Whether solo or with his band, Hot Pepper Jam, he is a wide-ranging performer whose musical roots draw from the breadth of American folk music—from Appalachian oldtime to blues to gospel to country to rock’n’roll—to form what No Depression has described as “one magnificent tapestry of roots music.”. In the course of curating a private showcase for a Folk Alliance International Conference, it becomes quite daunting to make decisions with so very many talented artists making submissions.  Colin Cutler made the decision easier for me to choose him when his bio revealed his latest work “Tarwater” was based upon the work of Georgia author Flannery O’Connor.  That was enough of a hook to send me down the rabbit hole of his background and discography.  Enjoy my conversations with and in studio performance by Backyard Betties and Colin Cutler.