Welcome, Friends Who Love Great Music!
Hello, and welcome to Adventures in Americana! We are Carol Roth and Jaclyn Nott, and we each share a love of music and writing. Together, we created this site in January 2021 to express this love of music, promote and elevate our favorite Americana artists, and share our exploration of artists new to us through our blog, The Music Distillery.
In January 2022, we launched a new venture—the Smouse in the House podcast—with our friend and local music photojournalist, Tom Smouse, to explore the creative side of music-making from the artist’s perspective and in their creative spaces.
While our focus is predominantly in the North and Midwest of the U.S., we explore artists from Canada and around the U.S., celebrating the expansiveness of what “Americana” is and can be.
Join us as we explore Americana music and support musical artists!
Co-Founders
Carol Roth
Writer + editor, social media manager, podcast producer and The Hook co-producer for Adventures in Americana, Carol’s a novelist who publishes under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley in a range of genres, from horror to thriller to YA. She loves to play guitar and sing, and occasionally writes songs. Her wide-ranging passions also include vegan cooking, personal finance, watching queer romance TV/movies and learning to speak Thai. By day she’s a marketing writer/brand strategist.
Photo credit: Dan Lee
Jaclyn Nott
The website & graphic designer, webmaster, writer + editor for Adventures in Americana, Jaclyn enjoys a wide range of music—and Americana is just one of many favorites. While her main hustle is grant writing & website design for artists, her true passion lies in screenwriting & filmmaking.
Photo credit: Cody Weber
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Tom Smouse
CONTRIBUTOR, Smouse in the House Podcast & Photographer
An innovative collaborator with 20 years of experience in the Minnesota music industry, Tom is a professional photographer, podcaster + music journalist. Sharing stories from the community remains his core passion. When not at a show you can find him at a record store.
Photo credit: Chris Taylor
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Eli Gardiner
CONTRIBUTOR, North Country Song Sessions
A songwriter, photojournalist, and videographer, you can catch Eli playing shows all over the Midwest with his band or as a solo performer, and as a videographer + photographer for local musicians + nonprofits. His passion is storytelling through music and pictures.
Photo courtesy of Eli Gardiner
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Sarah Morris
CONTRIBUTOR, About That Song on the Music Distillery Blog
Sarah is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
Photo credit: Tom Smouse
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Andy Ellis
CONTRIBUTOR, The Hook (producer), The Music Distillery Blog
Music has always hit Andy differently, and he's been obsessed with it since he can remember. He's been spotlighting indie music for over 10 years, including profiling a pre-fame Kelsea Ballerini, and is always looking for that next great band. When he's not listening to music he's reading, writing, and listening to podcasts about it. He also hosts the Melodic Noise Insider podcast covering Minnesota's expansive music scene.
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Doyle Turner
CONTRIBUTOR, The Music Distillery Blog
Doyle loves words. Whether it is shaping syllables into songs, poems, early morning journals, handwritten thank yous, lists, or album reviews, he is in a deep and abiding relationship with his college-ruled paper, Uniball Signo 207 .7mm pens, and mostly his keyboard. A good day is spent taking pictures, mailing things, making the words convey the precise meaning, driving, and singing.
Photo courtesy of no_aesthetic_stills
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Christine Davis
CONTRIBUTOR, The Music Distillery Blog
Christine was raised in NJ but is an honorary Midwesterner living in the Chicago area. She's an acupuncturist by day, but there's always music playing in her head. Live music brings her a thrill like no other, but she also listens to her favorite albums over and over (and over). A music historian at heart, she loves to find the threads that connect pieces, artists, genres, and fans together. She's the wife of a musician, mom to two of the best humans on earth, and amateur lap steel guitarist.
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Rosei Skipper
CONTRIBUTOR, Photographer
Rosei is a photographer, arts lover, wayward psychiatrist, fairly good gardener and excellent cat parent based in Rochester, Minnesota. She grew up in Oregon but fell in love with the Midwest in 2010. She loves live music, snail mail, going on walks and making stickers. She can also be found working for Rochester Public Music and sharing all things art with The Rochester Posse.
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Jacson Miller
CONTRIBUTOR, The Music Distillery Blog
Jacson is a huge fan of great Americana music and the songwriters who create it. He is a passionate supporter of equity in education and youth development as a Board Member of the nonprofit ‘Search Institute’. A long-time resident of Minneapolis, he grew up in southern Indiana, has a Business degree from Purdue University, an MBA from Duke University, and loves being a dad, playing guitar, and songwriting.
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Stephanie Roske
CONTRIBUTOR, The Music Distillery Blog
Stephanie is a Minnesota-based freelance writer who landed her first interview in 1998 with Blink-182 at the Quest in downtown Minneapolis. She’s covered bands such as Cherry Poppin Daddies and Reel Big Fish and done promotional work for musicians. Now that her children are older, she’s back on the journey she started 25 years ago, inspired to dive into independent artists, and more driven than ever!
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Sammie Jean Cohen
CONTRIBUTOR, Photographer
Sammie Jean (no_aesthetic_stills) is a dynamic creative whose work weaves together the vibrant threads of photography, music, and travel. With a camera in one hand and a guitar in the other, she captures the world through a uniquely personal lens, blending visual storytelling with melodic expression. Sammie Jean invites you to experience the beauty of the world through her eyes and ears, celebrating the intersections of place, people, and music.
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Randal Hicks
CONTRIBUTOR, Photographer, The Music Distillery Blog
Randal is a Chicago native who made the journey to the wonderful Wisconsin Fox Valley area. With a deep passion for music and photography, Randal finds inspiration in the beauty of both sound and visuals. When not capturing life's moments through a camera lens or exploring new musical horizons, Randal finds joy in watching his young son grow and discover the wonders of the world.
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Jordan Duroe
CONTRIBUTOR, The Music Distillery Blog
Jordan is the host of Farewell Transmission, a weekly alt-country and indie folk show on Converge Radio 101.9 FM—an independent station based out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Farewell Transmission airs new episodes every Monday from 5-6 PM, and replays on Sunday nights at 8:30 PM. It can also be streamed live at these times via the TuneIn app or by going to ConvergeMediaEC.com.
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Keely Zynda
CONTRIBUTOR, Photographer
Keely is a professional photographer based in Duluth Minnesota who travels throughout the Northland doing festivals and events. Besides capturing concerts, her specialties include band photos, wedding photography, and family and individual portraits.
We Made the News!
On Sunday, July 3 2022, Jaclyn Nott and Tom Smouse were guests on the Twin Cities FOX 9 Morning Show to talk about season two of the Smouse in the House podcast and the Adventures in Americana platform. Watch it now!
Read an article Carol wrote for the August 2021 edition of Minnesota Bluegrass
Corpse Reviver: Harry Smith’s Anthology Lives On in Minnesota by Carol Roth