Songs In The Keys Of Death Premieres June 16th

True-crime podcasts reproduce on podcast feeds at an alarming rate. Soon, each crime -- from shoplifting to murder -- will have its own podcast. It's the podcast version of Bravo's TV Real Housewives franchise.

 

Thankfully for listeners, Nevermind Media has mastered the creative chemistry of blending true-crime, music history, biography, and narrative climaxes. 

 

 On June 16, Nevermind Media will launch its latest podcast, Songs in the Key of Death, a historiography that combines music, true crime, history, and edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

 

The podcast's creative director is  Sean Cannon, who is a Peabody-winning producer and journalist. Cannon hosted the syndicated radio show The Guestlist, he also hosted and produced Striped: The Story Of The White Stripes, the Elliott Smith anthology Say Yes, and These Miracles Work: A Hold Steady Podcast. Sean won a Peabody Award for his work on The Pope’s Long Con while at Louisville Public Media.

 

Hosted by music critic and author Courtney Smith (Refinery29, MTV, Record Collecting For Girls), Songs in the Key of Death looks at the historic true crimes that inspired a selection of murder ballads, with season- one exploring some of the most notorious and well-known crimes of the early 20th century. 

 

I was able to preview the first episode and Smith is superb here as guide, narrator, forecaster, music critic, historian, and narrative soothsayer.

Smith is a critic, author, and former music programmer. Most recently at Refinery29, she made waves speaking out against gender inequity at the Grammys, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and in country music. She’s written for CBS Radio, Lenny Letter, Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, UPROXX, Yahoo!, and others. She started her career at MTV, where she worked in the music programming department.

 

Each episode focuses on a single murder ballad that has been passed down by scores of singers, with each generation telling their own version of events and putting a new spin on stories of very real, often gruesome slaughters. After being told and retold, these songs and the murders that inspired them have become legends. The show looks at the violent criminals we can’t stop singing about, the grisly history they reflect, and the underrepresented voices of victims who didn’t get to tell their own stories.

 

Artists SAD13 and Will Oldham (Bonnie "Prince" Billy) take turns creating new versions of the songs featured in each episode. 

 Episode one of Songs in the Key of Death focuses on “Delia,” written about the Christmas night killing of a 13-year-old Black girl in Georgia — although you wouldn’t guess that from the version popularized by Johnny Cash. 

 

Nevermind Media has made available SAD13’s updated take titled “Delia ”, debuting with Rolling Stone, in which Delia gets her revenge on the boy who killed her, ahead of the episode’s launch on June 16.

On June 16th, check out this podcast that defies genre classification because it aims its narrative in so many directions.

Not surprisingly, it hits its target.