Flow State: Across the Horizon

Across the Horizon Ep. 62: Balmorhea

Flow State — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 07:03:13 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes of SUSS reconnects with co-hosts Rob Lowe and Michael A. Muller of Balmorhea for a discussion about their latest release in Vol. 2 of the Across the Horizon music series. Rob and Michael also curate a playlist of influences from their early years in Balmorhea, which is on the eve of its twentieth anniversary, including music from Bexar Bexar, Pullman, Rachel Grimes, Will Ackerman, and many more. The playlists from this episode are available here.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two of Balmorhea’s albums released on Deutsche Grammophon. The Trap, their latest album, came out in August of last year, and is an original score for a film written and directed by Lena Headey (not the M. Night Shyamalan Trap). As they discuss on today’s episode, that record is just Rob and Michael playing keys and guitar together. We’re also playing The Wind from 2021, which features a range of accompanists including cellist Clarice Jensen.

The Trap - Balmorhea (24m, no vocals)
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The Wind - Balmorhea (46m, spoken vocals on track 1)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 61: Marine Eyes

Flow State — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 07:02:09 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, host Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined in this episode by Cynthia Bernard aka . In addition to her prolific ambient output, Cynthia is also one of the curator artists in Vol. 2 of the Across the Horizon music series. In this episode, she discusses the music and artists that she brought to the series, as well as a playlist of ambient artists that have inspired her own music including Nancy Wilson, Amiina, Julianna Barwick, and many more.

Today we’re listening to two records by marine eyes, one solo and one by her trio, Almost an Island. First up is idyll, the solo record that was originally released in 2021. We’re playing the extended version released in 2023, which includes six remixes by artists like poemme and IKSRE. The Almost an Island trio is Cynthia, James Bernard, and Kenneth James Gibson. We interviewed them this past October and recommended their self-titled LP for its peaceful blend of guitar, keys, field recordings, and ethereal vocals.

idyll (extended edition) - marine eyes (77m, blended-in vocals across tracks)
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Almost An Island - Almost An Island (45m, some vocal tones)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 60: Big Ears 2026

Flow State — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 07:03:00 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes (of ) speaks with artists featured at this year's Across the Horizon Showcase at Big Ears 2026. Pulled from interviews Bob has had over the last few years, the show features the conversations with and music of Pan-American, Chuck Johnson, Hayden Pedigo, Gwenifer Raymond, Ken Pomeroy, Dave Harrington, Luke Schneider, Walt McClements and more.

For Flow State, we’re listening to albums by episode guests Pan-American and Gwenifer Raymond. Last year Pan-American released a collaborative album with Kramer called Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea, a series of ambient pieces blending guitar, synth, piano, and plenty of effects. For the Raymond record, we’re revisiting Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark, a Philip K. Dick and sci-fi inspired LP which was one of our favorites of last year.

Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea - Pan-American & Kramer (47m, no vocals)
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Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark - Gwenifer Raymond (42m, no vocals)
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Have a really nice Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 59: Clarice Jensen

Flow State — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 08:02:32 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined by his co-host, the cellist and composer Clarice Jensen, to discuss the music of her friends and mentors: Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Stars of the Lid, and more. She also discusses her latest releases, including her submissions to the new Across the Horizon Vol. 2 series.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two of Jensen’s solo records. in holiday clothing, out of the great darkness came out in October of last year, and consists of her cello loops processed through various effects. The title comes from a Rilke line in Letters to a Young Poet. We’re also playing Esthesis, her 2022 record, which is structured around seven emotions and brings in accompanists: piano from Timo Andres and voice from Laura Lutzke, Francesca Federico, and Emma Broughton.

in holiday clothing, out of the great darkness - Clarice Jensen (41m, no vocals)
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Esthesis - Clarice Jensen (38m, blendt-in vocals on tracks 3 and 6)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 58: David Moore (Pt. 2)

Flow State — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 08:03:20 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, host Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined once again by in the second part of his two-part conversation. David’s known for his work with Bing & Ruth and Cowboy Sadness, as well as his collaborations with Steve Gunn and Stephanie Coleman. In part two, he brings along a beautiful set of solo piano pieces from artists including Debussy, Philip Glass, Dr. John, Brother Theotis, and more. He also discusses Graze the Bell, a collection of solo piano pieces he released last week on RVNG Intl.

Flow State also posed a few questions to Moore over email about his musical journey generally and his work on Graze the Bell in particular – that conversation follows the streaming links. While playing Graze the Bell, listen for the influences he discussed with Bob on the two Across the Horizon episodes. We’re pairing the new record with one of those influences, Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations, specifically the 1981 version, recorded a year before he passed away.

Graze the Bell - David Moore (48m, no vocals)
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Goldberg Variations (1981) - Glenn Gould (51m, no vocals)
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What’s your earliest memory of music?

It’s really just flashes of many memories more than any complete one, and it’s not even that I remember it physically, but I do remember this feeling of being a tiny little thing and always bashing away on pots and pans. Apparently I had this compulsion to empty the kitchen cabinets and arrange everything in a big drum set on the floor. Just BANG BANG BANG. Bless my parents for putting up with it honestly. Maybe something that’s underappreciated is that behind a lot of drummers are very patient parents.

How did you start playing piano? What was the first piano you played?

I started playing the piano when I was six years old. I told my folks I wanted to learn, so one day I came home and we had a piano in the basement. That’s how they were. It was this little Kimball spinet that we traded up for a Yamaha a few years later. As for when I feel like I really started PLAYING the instrument, that was later. I was one of two drummers in my high school jazz band when the pianist, who was quite good, died tragically in a car accident in the middle of sophomore year. They needed someone to replace her, and the teacher knew I studied classical piano so he sort of volun-told me to switch instruments mid-year. I didn’t know anything about improvising or about jazz, but as I started learning I just became obsessed. That’s when everything changed. I had clarity. By the end of that year I had effectively quit playing the drumset and oriented my whole life and future around the piano. I still think about that girl almost every day. To be quite frank it’s been a heavy debt to carry.

What were the early records or songs that pointed you in the musical directions you ultimately pursued in your solo work and as Bing & Ruth?

The first time I heard Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” it was less like I was hearing music and more like I was learning about a whole new sense. Sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and… whatever this feeling was. It seems obvious, but the more you open yourself to being moved by music, the more you’ll get moved by music, and so it just kept happening. I found Bach, then Chopin and Debussy. Then as I got older and some of my mental health struggles started to present themselves, I had this whole special world I could go to for relief. By that point I also had McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans in the mix too. All this music became a ground to stand on when no other ground felt solid. Then, one day when I was 19 I stumbled into a Barnes & Noble in Kansas City and heard Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint, and everything just immediately clicked into place. That’s when the whole thing became about developing this language, a voice to channel the emotive qualities of this more romantic and impressionistic piano music I had been drawn to with the motion and philosophies of minimalist composition. I’m still eating off that sandwich to be honest.

The new record is solo piano. Tell us about the experiences and motivations around focusing on the instrument in this form.

Every direction I have grown as a performer, composer, and human has come out of the piano specifically. It has always been this window through which I looked at and tried to make sense of the world, and it’s where almost everything I do musically starts and returns to. So for Graze the Bell, there’s something in me that feels like it’s important to honor that source, because in the end what I’m honoring when I do that is the human singular. So much of music and the performing arts more broadly is about interplay – a reaction sprouting from the space between us, but there is something so different about performing alone. It lets you explore more thoroughly the context of being truly “solo” – of swimming in those deeper pools, so to speak. There is no consensus. There is no compromise. You live and die by your honesty, and that’s kind of the only thing I’m interested in these days. It’s why there’s no overdubs on the record. Even those felt dishonest in this context.

What was the process of composing and recording these pieces? How much planning was done in advance versus impromptu playing?

A lot of how I approach recording an album is just experimenting with different processes to see what yields the best results for that particular body of music. For Graze the Bell, the songs were all in a sort of incomplete completeness, but almost in this way where, like, the racecar is not finished until the race completes it. In that spirit, the full piece was mostly put together, because for these songs and the nature of how exposed you are in a solo context, it felt important that I approached the sessions more as a pianist than a composer. It’s different brains. I don’t know if it’s like that for everyone but it is for me. Practically speaking this meant that while I was in the studio, instead of going song by song until I had a take, I would just play for long stretches, cycling through different songs, sometimes the same one a few times in a row but mostly jumping around and changing things here and there – altering forms and pacing and dynamics in the moment. I knew I had the record after a couple days of that, but it took a while to sift through everything.

How do you discover new music these days? Any recent notable finds?

I don’t know why I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but I use Shazam a lot. I try to keep my ears open and when I hear something I like I just point the robot at it. Living in a dense place like Brooklyn, especially on nice days you get all kinds of cool stuff from all over the world coming in through car windows, bluetooth speakers, etc. It’s just music everywhere. The most recent find was from a construction site on my block that was blasting this wild Malian stuff that had me in a FIT with an armful of groceries. Here’s the last few from my search history, starting with that:

Ganda Fadiga - “Ouli Abidy Camara / El Geuje”

Baba Rancho - “Viejo de Julio Aramburo la Bandononona”

Jards Macalé - “Farinha do Desprezo”

Snatam Kaur - “Ra Ma Da Sa”

Name an underrated artist from the past 50 years.

It’s got to be my favorite ambient artist Willamette. I don’t know much about them in a biographical sense, but they came on my radar via a friend a long time ago, and all three of their records are perfect. One in particular that deserves a highlight is called Always in Postscript. I was listening to that periodically over the years I was writing Bing & Ruth’s Tomorrow Was the Golden Age, and their sense of timing, texture, and movement are so profound. They are a bit more straight ahead ambient than the direction I ultimately wanted to go, but I like shouting them out whenever I can because they deserve more ears than I sense they’ve gotten. For me they’re shoulder to shoulder with SOTL, Basinski… all the genre greats.

What are you working on next?

Well… a lot! I need to keep busy. I noticed that I have these natural cycles with albums/projects where it’s about five years from seed to harvest, so my plate is usually full with things in different stages of that cycle. Next up will likely be quite a lot of new music from my jambient power trio Cowboy Sadness, and I have some plans to record more pump organ/fiddle duets with Stephanie Coleman this year. Beyond that it’s all still coming into focus. Always writing piano music. I’d like to do another Bing & Ruth record at some point too, but that feels like a ways off. I’m grateful though, because never in my whole life have I felt this creatively clear, and channeled it through a balanced work ethic (not just blasting through and burning out constantly). I’ve also been putting more attention on my own writing/newsletter. As the mechanisms for music discovery continue to be dominated by non-artistic paradigms, it feels more important than ever to cultivate your own garden, so to speak. On that note I’ll end by saying I deeply admire what Flow State has built. Thank you for elevating this shade of music, and thanks for having me involved. Super love peace.

Across the Horizon Ep. 57: David Moore (Pt. 1)

Flow State — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 08:02:29 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes from SUSS is joined once again by composer and pianist David Moore (Bing & Ruth, Cowboy Sadness). In this first of two parts, they discuss deep listening and solo piano pieces, including artists Glenn Gould, Morton Feldman, Sergei Prokofiev, and Emahoy Guèbrou. Bob and David also discuss the music and recording process behind David's forthcoming album of solo piano works, Graze the Bell.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two albums by Bing & Ruth, the ambient ensemble Moore started in 2006 as a jazz student at The New School. First we’re playing Tomorrow Was the Golden Age, which came out in 2014. It leads with Moore’s searching piano, accompanied by bass, cello, and clarinets. Second we’re playing No Home of the Mind, from 2017, which features similar instruments and leans into reverb.

Tomorrow Was the Golden Age - Bing & Ruth (57m, no vocals)
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No Home of the Mind - Bing & Ruth (59m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 56: Six Missing

Flow State — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 08:02:27 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined by co-host Six Missing aka TJ Dumser. Dumser is best known for his ambient and soundscape work, as well as his collaborations with Patrik Berg Almkvisth, Foam and Sand, Robert Koch, and B9. One of his latest collaborations was with SUSS, which they discuss on the episode. Most surprisingly, TJ brings along a playlist of music that inspired his initial love for performing including Pink Floyd, Phish, Grateful Dead, Nels Cline, The Allman Brothers, and more. You can listen to the music featured on this episode via playlists here.

For Flow State we’re listening to Six Missing’s two latest LPs. Without Mind came out in 2025 and consists of meditative compositions for piano and synth – specifically a eurorack, Moog Matriarch, and Minimoog. Here For Now, from 2023, is more atmospheric and multi-instrumental. About the latter TJ wrote, “It is recommended you place headphones on and listen while in a darkened and quiet room, though wherever you most prefer to listen is the ideal location. Closing your eyes may result in occasional inner journeying, this is intentional.”

Without Mind - Six Missing (84m, no vocals)
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Here For Now - Six Missing (43m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 55: Best of 2025 w/ Stephen Brower

Flow State — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 08:03:00 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, host Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined once again by Stephen Brower, Head of Music, US for Amazon Music and, more specifically, the curator of the “Cosmic Strings” playlist on Amazon Music. They list their favorite artists and music from 2025, including William Tyler, Steve Gunn, Julianna Barwick, Hayden Pedigo, Gwenifer Raymond, Mary Lattimore and many, many more. All Across the Horizon episode playlists are now available here.

For Flow State we’re listening to two of the records highlighted in this conversation. First we’re playing Luke Schneider and Jamie Lidell’s collaboration from October, A Companion for the Spaces Between Dreams. We’ve featured Schneider’s work before, including his August record, For Dancing In Quiet Light. We’re also playing Patterner by Golden Brown, an ambient country record rooted in acoustic guitar with many effects applied to create atmosphere.

A Companion for the Spaces Between Dreams - Luke Schneider & Jamie Lidell (44m, no vocals)
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Patterner - Golden Brown (44m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 54: Jake Xerxes Fussell & James Elkington

Flow State — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:02:25 GMT

On today’s episode of the Across the Horizon podcast (formerly Ambient Country), host Bob Holmes (of SUSS) is joined by guitarist and folklorist Jake Fussell and his collaborator James Elkington, who discuss their upcoming release, the score for the film Rebuilding. Jake and Jim discuss their inspirations, including classic soundtracks from Angelo Badalamenti, Ry Cooder, Bruce Langhorne, and Daniel Lanois.

Jake and Jim’s score for Rebuilding comes out this Friday, so on Flow State we’re listening to a couple of James Elkington records. First is Ambsace from 2015, a fingerstyle guitar collaboration with Kentuckian Nathan Salsburg. Track seven is an instrumental cover of “Reel Around the Fountain” by The Smiths. Second we’re playing Pastel De Nada from earlier this year, which is a collection of 27 short guitar-led tracks representing a range of styles, with digital effects, low-key drums, and ambient recordings – reminiscent of One Wayne G by Mac DeMarco.

Ambsace - James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg (39m, no vocals)
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Pastel De Nada - James Elkington (59m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Photo: Sam Moss

Across the Horizon Episode 53: Woody Jackson

Flow State — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:02:49 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes of SUSS invites Woody Jackson to be this episode’s co-host. He’s best known for his soundtrack work for RockStar Games’ Red Dead Redemption and its follow-up, which broke opening weekend revenue records for any movie, TV show, or game release. The Spaghetti Western soundtrack for RDR2 is now considered a classic of the genre. Woody also brings a wide playlist of music, including music from Ennio Morricone, Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, Ry Cooder, as well as some of his own recent work. Woody also brings a lifetime of stories the likes of which you ain’t heard before.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two of Woody’s albums. The first is that RDR2 score, on which he invited several other artists including Arca, Colin Stetson, and Senyawa. We’re also playing his 2024 record, Cowboy Yoga, a collection of spartan impromptu jams. The loose, freeform style is a reflection of his approach to recording, as he tells Bob, of limiting takes to one or two only.

The Music of Red Dead Redemption 2 - Woody Jackson (73m, no lyrics; some whoops and whistles)
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Cowboy Yoga - Woody Jackson (40m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

From the artist

Across the Horizon Ep. 52: Marc Byrd of Hammock (Pt. 2)

Flow State — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 07:02:39 GMT

On today’s episode of Across the Horizon, Bob Holmes of Suss hosts part two of his conversation with Marc Byrd, one of the founders of ambient & post-rock pioneers Hammock. Bob speaks with Marc about his early days with Hammock as well as the music of Slow Meadow, Peter Broderick, Holly Kenniff, and many more. In this episode they also take a deep emotional dive into the music and inspirations behind Hammock’s latest release, Nevertheless.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two Hammock albums. First we’re playing their 2013 record, Oblivion Hymns, which was an early instance of them combining guitar/synth ambient and string orchestration. We’re also replaying Hammock’s latest record, Nevertheless, whose moving backstory Marc and Bob discuss on the pod. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Oblivion Hymns - Hammock (57m, vocals on tracks 2, 7, and 10)
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Nevertheless - Hammock (44m, blent-in vocals on a couple tracks)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Across the Horizon Ep. 51: Marc Byrd of Hammock (Pt. 1)

Flow State — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 07:02:44 GMT

For the launch of Season 5, Bob has renamed the Ambient Country podcast to Across the Horizon to better reflect the wide expanse of music that he has been featuring on his show. The new name also aligns with the music series and NTS show. In this episode, Bob invited Marc Byrd of the Nashville-based band Hammock. Together with his band-mate Andrew Thompson, Marc created a new genre of music that floats somewhere between ambient and post-rock. In this episode they discuss Marc’s influences, like The Church and The Cure, as well as music from his playlist including Idaho, Stars of the Lid, Josh Varnedore, and Luminette. Bob also features tracks from Hammock's most recent album, Nevertheless.

On Flow State, we’re listening to two albums by Hammock – one new and one old. We last featured their music all the way back in 2019. Their new album, Nevertheless, came out in July, and consists of eleven vast, soothing soundscapes. We’re also playing Silencia from 2019, which features orchestral strings arranged by Viktor Orri Árnason over holy synth pads.

Nevertheless - Hammock (44m, blent-in vocals on a couple tracks)
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Silencia - Hammock (62m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 50: William Tyler (Pt. 2)

Bob Holmes — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 07:02:49 GMT

On today’s episode of Ambient Country, of SUSS brings back guitarist William Tyler for part two of the discussion that they started in Episode 49. Not only do they discuss his latest release Time Indefinite, but also his recent collaboration with Julianna Barwick for the Across the Horizon music series. They also discuss the music of Joni Mitchell, Genesis, Kraftwerk, and more. William's playlist for an apocalyptic road trip across the US takes a lot of detours, so get ready for a wild ride.

On Flow State, we’re listening to Tyler once again, this time two other albums. The first is Secret Stratosphere from 2023, a live album on which he performs with his band, The Impossible Truth. It includes an instrumental cover of Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity,” whose original version appears on the episode. The second album is Modern Country from 2016, which is a solo Tyler record on which he plays atmospheric instrumentals.

Secret Stratosphere - William Tyler & The Impossible Truth (58m, just a few spoken vocals)
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Modern Country - William Tyler (40m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 49: William Tyler (Pt. 1)

Flow State — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 07:02:36 GMT

On today’s episode of Ambient Country, Bob Holmes of SUSS speaks with guitarist William Tyler, who debuts his new music from the Across the Horizon series, including collaborations with Claire Rousay and Julianna Barwick. They also discuss his genre-defying recent album, Time Indefinite, as well as career-defying tracks from artists like Brian Eno, John Cale, Billy Joe Shaver, and more.

For Flow State, we’re listening to an old album and a new album from Tyler (whom we previously featured back in 2020). The old album is Deseret Canyon, which originally came out in 2008 and was then reissued in 2015. That LP is centered around Tyler’s acoustic guitar, with ambient synths and raga-like repetition. The new album is Time Indefinite, which came out in April. It’s a more experimental-sounding record than Tyler’s previous work, blending techniques from musique concrète with country and electronic styles.

Deseret Canyon - William Tyler (57m, no vocals)
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Time Indefinite - William Tyler (49m, some sampled choral vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 48: Walt McClements

Flow State — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 07:02:49 GMT

On today’s episode of Ambient Country, Bob Holmes (of SUSS) is joined by co-host Walt McClements as he takes listeners on a tour de force of international accordion music. Walt plays tracks from Narciso Martinez and Steve Jordan, as well as little known works from Macedonia, Switzerland, and Holland. The episode also features Walt's recent contributions to the Across the Horizon series, including works by Natalia Beylis and Yara Asmar. We also feature the work of Walt from his recent release On a Painted Ocean.

We previously featured McClements in April, focusing on his new record, On a Painted Ocean, which is one of our favorites of the year so far. We’re revisiting that record today. We’re also playing his 2021 record, A Hole in the Fence, which plays a similar style of ambient accordion, combining the traditional instrument with modern effects.

On a Painted Ocean - Walt McClements (38m, spoken vocals toward the end of track 6)
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A Hole in the Fence - Walt McClements (33m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 47: David Moore

Flow State — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 07:02:15 GMT

In today’s episode of Ambient Country, Bob Holmes from SUSS is joined by co-host David Moore (Bing & Ruth, Cowboy Sadness) as they spend the hour talking about musical "blind spots." Every artist believes that their creativity is influenced by the music that they've listened to in their past, but in this episode Bob and David make the case for the music that you've missed along the way being important as well. This episode's musical "blind spots" include Bowie, Eno, Prince, Springsteen, and many more. The episode also features sneak peeks at the new David Moore submissions to the Across the Horizon music series, including tracks from Cowboy Sadness and a collaboration with Stephanie Coleman.

For Flow State, we’re listening to two records from David. The first is a live album he recorded in London with Steve Gunn, the other half of Bing & Ruth. The second is his 2024 collaboration with Peter Silberman (guitar, synth) and Nicholas Principe (drums). The trio call themselves Cowboy Sadness, and the record is called Selected Jambient Works, Vol. 1. We eagerly await volume two.

Live in London - Bing & Ruth (38m, vocal intro at the start)
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Selected Jambient Works, Vol. 1 - Cowboy Sadness (60m, no vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 46: East Forest (Pt. 2)

Flow State — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:02:22 GMT

On today’s episode of Ambient Country, Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined by co-host East Forest in the second part of this two-part episode. They discuss his music, his influences, and the approach to his psychedelic ceremonial practices. In addition to a great playlist of influences including Sigur Rós, loscil, and Aphex Twin, Bob & East discuss ambient music and robots; the danger of genres; and the benefits of putting a bed in your recording studio. East has extended his invention to all listeners of Ambient Country to enjoy his feature-length documentary "Music for Mushrooms" for free. Enjoy using this link for the next 10 days.

We’re playing East Forest’s 2019 album, Music for Mushrooms: A Soundtrack for the Psychedelic Practitioner. It’s five hours of gentle ambient music which can be enjoyed in any state of mind.

Music for Mushrooms: A Soundtrack for the Psychedelic Practitioner - East Forest (300m, Sigur Rós-like airy vocals on some tracks)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Episode 45: East Forest (Pt. 1)

Flow State — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 07:02:04 GMT

On today’s episode of Ambient Country, host Bob Holmes of SUSS welcomes co-host East Forest to the first of a two-part episode. East is a musician, producer, speaker, and ceremony guide, probably best known for his recent full-length film and album titled Music for Mushrooms. East discusses his music and film, but also brings along a playlist of music that has inspired his wellness music and practice. As an Ambient Country listener, you can screen the Music For Mushrooms documentary for free from now until June 26.

For Flow State’s selections we’re playing Lovingly: A Soundtrack for the Psychedelic Practitioner, Vol. III. It’s a collection of over six hours of gentle, longform ambient compositions that are largely improvised. As the co-hosts discuss on the podcast, this music is meant to inspire calm and mindfulness in any listener regardless of setting or state of mind.

Lovingly: A Soundtrack for the Psychedelic Practitioner, Vol. III - East Forest (374m, occasional light vocals)
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Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Ep. 44: Friends We Made Along the Road (SXSW Edition)

Flow State — Wed, 14 May 2025 07:02:29 GMT

In this episode of Ambient Country, host Bob Holmes of SUSS plays music and interviews from artists that SUSS played with at this year's SXSW music festival in Austin, TX. Those include neo-folk rockers Frail Talk and Little Mazarn; cosmic country kratutrockers Garrett T. Capps and NASA Country; singer/songwriter Jerry David DeCicca; ambient composer SixMissing; and SUSS collaborators Immersion.

On Flow State we’re listening to two records from artists who appear on the show. FIrst we’re playing the new EP from Six Missing, an Austin-based ambient musician. The EP is called Without Mind: Identify, and it’s four mellow, low-frequency, enveloping compositions. Second we’re playing the collaborative LP from Immersion and SUSS which came out earlier this year: Nanocluster, Vol. 3. That one combines the ambient country twang of SUSS with the Air-inspired studio plushness of Immersion.

Without Mind: Identify - Six Missing (34m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Nanocluster, Vol. 3 - Immersion & SUSS (40m, vocals on tracks 2 and 5)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Have a great Wednesday.

Ambient Country Ep. 43: Friends We Met Along the Road (Big Ears Edition)

Bob Holmes — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 07:02:24 GMT

In this episode of Ambient Country, host Bob Holmes of SUSS is joined by the artists who took part in the 4-day Across the Horizon programming at Big Ears in Knoxville, TN. The episode includes interviews and music from Michael Rother (Neu! and Harmonia), harpist Mary Lattimore, composer Clarice Jensen, Alan Sparhawk (Low), Marisa Anderson, David Moore (Cowboy Sadness) and Yuka Honda. Recapture the magic of Big Ears!

For Flow State, we’re listening to a couple records by Michael Rother, whose solo work we haven’t featured before. We’re starting with his first EP, Flammende Herzen, which came out in 1977. That record has a bunch of guitar-led instrumentals, rather sunny-sounding renditions of the kosmische his earlier bands helped define. Second we’re playing Katzenmusik from 1979, which is more ambient, reminiscent of Harmonia’s freeform compositional style. If you’d like to check out more music by the other artists in this Ambient Country episode, we’ve linked to previous Flow State editions in the paragraph above.

Flammende Herzen - Michael Rother (35m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Katzenmusik - Michael Rother (41m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Have a great Wednesday.