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Alabama Astronaut
Abe Partridge & Ferrill Gibbs
13 episodes
4 months ago
Alabama Astronaut is a podcast featuring Alabama songwriter & artist Abe Partridge. Abe discovers a set of undocumented songs in the hills of the Appalachians, and believes they are undocumented because of the subject matter: lyrics that speak of the consumption of poison, and the handling of venomous snakes. These are the songs of the serpent handlers. To capture their music, Abe must first capture the hearts and the minds of the people who wrote it...and in the process, they capture his.
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Documentary
Music,
Society & Culture,
Music History
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All content for Alabama Astronaut is the property of Abe Partridge & Ferrill Gibbs and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Alabama Astronaut is a podcast featuring Alabama songwriter & artist Abe Partridge. Abe discovers a set of undocumented songs in the hills of the Appalachians, and believes they are undocumented because of the subject matter: lyrics that speak of the consumption of poison, and the handling of venomous snakes. These are the songs of the serpent handlers. To capture their music, Abe must first capture the hearts and the minds of the people who wrote it...and in the process, they capture his.
Show more...
Documentary
Music,
Society & Culture,
Music History
Episodes (13/13)
Alabama Astronaut
Ep 1: The Glenn Summerford Case: "The Snake Beat"

In Anniston, an Alabama newspaper attributes a mystery felony to serpent handling preacher, Glenn Summerford. 

This claim initiates a new quest for podcasters Abe Partridge and Ferrill Gibbs, who are tipped off about this article by Andrew Hamblin, serpent handling preacher from Gray, KY.

For months, Ferrill and Abe dig into this claim. In the process, they discover parts of the Summerford story do not jibe with the media coverage over the years.

 

Coloring the way Abe views journalists on the Snake Beat is the media's treatment of Andrew and Taylor Hamblin. One night, they let down their guard for the two podcasters, and, in a rousing display of trust and acceptance, play Ferrill and Abe an incredible version of the faith's most powerful worship song, Little David Play On Your Harp. It happens late one night, capping an incredible overnight recording session.

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5 months ago
42 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
Foreword: The Glenn Summerford Case (by Alabama Astronaut)

Over the years, Abe Partridge and Ferrill Gibbs have maintained a steady appetite for hunting down songs of the serpent handling people.

New information – courtesy of a serpent handling preacher from Gray, Kentucky – diverted the fellows to an interesting trail.

Abe Partridge, songwriting artist turned prolific documentarian; and Ferrill Gibbs, Murrow Award-winning podcast producer, peel back the "big stinking onion" to see what lies beneath.

Meanwhile, imprisoned serpent handling believer Glenn Summerford still serves a 99 year sentence. Any day now, a fresh parole hearing comes.

Abe and Ferrill's journey began in 2020, with a podcast called Alabama Astronaut. (To start at the beginning, go there.) In 2024, they released a memoir of serpent handling believer Cody Coots, Marked for Life. It's a deep dive podcast into the mind of one serpent handling believer.

Music by Kenosha Kid. 
Special thanks to freelance journalist Beth Braden.

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7 months ago
37 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
Bonus Episode: Alabama Astronaut Live!
This was a live show recorded at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center on January 21, 2023. It features a tearful Abe Partridge, introduced by curator Elizabeth Elliott, narrator Elizabeth Gibbs, and host Ferrill Gibbs. Abe describes his experience of finding Jamie Coots in Middlesboro, Kentucky, and all the wonders to follow. Also in this episode: the first live performance of “Carson Springs,” a song Abe wrote that referenced preacher Jimmy Morrow. Pastor Morrow passed away two days after this recording.
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2 years ago
24 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
Bonus Episode 1
Abe shares the podcast with his subjects, and one sends him back a humbling text.
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3 years ago
15 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"All Over Me" Part 2
Abe continues to visit the churches of Bro. Jimmy Morrow and Andrew Hamblin. At Jimmy Morrow's church, Abe and his wife Cathy sing at a church service. Andrew Hamblin is invited by Abe to Nashville, to accompany Abe on a song.
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3 years ago
1 hour 6 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"All Over Me" Part 1
Ferrill arranges a meeting with Abe and "Salvation on Sand Mountain" author Dennis Covington, in Lubbock, Texas. Abe composes questions for Dennis Covington, not least of which is: "Did you apologize to the congregation of Old Rockhouse Holiness Church? And if so, why?"
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3 years ago
53 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"Jesus On My Mind"
Abe and Ferrill meet a New Yorker named Tony Feyer, an artist whose history intertwines with the most legendary serpent-handling church of all time: Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia. Tony surprises Ferrill and Abe with bombshell information: legendary music documentarian Alan Lomax knew about the powerful serpent-handling music.
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3 years ago
1 hour 3 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"Jesus Made the World"
Abe and host Ferrill Gibbs meet in person in Birmingham, Alabama, to transport a load of recording equipment to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where they will make a studio album of Cody and Cassy Coots singing songs of their faith.
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3 years ago
57 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"Preach the Word, Preacher Man!"
Abe visits the home of Pastor Jimmy Morrow, in Cocke County, Tennessee, to learn about serpent handling, and to ask Jimmy and his wife Pam if they might sing songs into his handheld recorder.
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3 years ago
54 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"Little David, Play On Your Harp!"
Abe visits legendary serpent-handling church "Old Rockhouse Holiness" in Section, Alabama – a church that once inspired author Dennis Covington to write a popular book, Salvation on Sand Mountain.
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3 years ago
1 hour

Alabama Astronaut
"It's Alright With Me, Lord, if It's Alright With You"
Abe visits the home of fourth-generation serpent handler Cody Coots, along with Cody's wife, Cassy, to capture generations-old songs from the duo's live performances on his Sony handheld recorder.
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3 years ago
37 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
"Brush Arbor"
Abe meets serpent handling preacher Jamie Coots on a chance encounter in 2006, while pastoring a church in Middlesboro, Ky. Years later, while touring in Oregon, Abe hears a song by Alabama songwriter Will Stewart called "Brush Arbor" which sparks Abe's interest in the serpent handling faith.
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3 years ago
36 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
Foreword
In the spirit of John and Alan Lomax, Abe Partridge embarks upon a quest to capture the undocumented songs of the serpent handlers.
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3 years ago
27 minutes

Alabama Astronaut
Alabama Astronaut is a podcast featuring Alabama songwriter & artist Abe Partridge. Abe discovers a set of undocumented songs in the hills of the Appalachians, and believes they are undocumented because of the subject matter: lyrics that speak of the consumption of poison, and the handling of venomous snakes. These are the songs of the serpent handlers. To capture their music, Abe must first capture the hearts and the minds of the people who wrote it...and in the process, they capture his.