Adrienne Young

She learned to play clawhammer-style banjo from Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, and set about amassing a catalog of old-time tunes.

As she says: I got really into traditional music when I was longing to connect with my family again, and that led to trying to build up a repertoire that my grandfather was familiar with, the classic old-time and bluegrass tunes.

"Little Sadie" featured prominently on her first CD, Plow to the End of the Row, produced with another Nashville-based musician, Will Kimbrough, and released on her own AddieBelle record label.

That version included several tracks with Young backed by Old Crow Medicine Show and was a top pick for 2003 Debut Artist by the Freeform American Roots DJ Chart.

Young and her band Little Sadie (at the time, Tyler Grant on guitar, Clayton Campbell on fiddle and mandolin, Amanda Kowalski on bass, and Steven Sandifer on percussion) toured extensively across the U.S. and in England.

The title track addressed issues that Young found herself pondering after the 2004 re-election of George W. Bush, specifically how the Republican Party had leveraged the theme of morality as a campaign tool.

Ben Franklin had such a practical approach toward nurturing virtue, the first point being nobody's perfect.Since 2004 Young has been a spokeswoman for the FoodRoutes Network, which aims to aid organizations in rebuilding local, community-based food systems.

[3] Young used the release of the CD The Art of Virtue to call attention to her involvement with the FoodRoutes Network, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable agriculture and connects consumers with local farmers who are willing to sell direct.

This wasn't the first time she mixed her farm action fever with artistic output: Plow to the End of the Row, her 2004 debut CD, came with a packet of seeds enclosed (and was nominated for the packaging design Grammy).Young advocates locally-grown and sustainable agriculture.

A portion of each record sold of Room to Grow goes to the Save A Seed fund, which she created with nonprofit organizations the FoodRoutes Network and the American Community Gardening Association.

Young's vocals mirror weariness and hope on 'Natural Bridge,' cross intimate valleys and climb the emotional peaks of 'Room Enough To Grow,' simmer on the stone-country burner "High Flyin’ Dream", yearn to go wherever the current takes her on 'River and a Dirt Road.

With Andy Thacker of Little Sadie
Little Grill Collective , June 27, 2008.