Pony Bradshaw’s latest release, Thus Spoke the Fool, is his fourth album but it serves as the third part of a trilogy about the North Georgia region that he calls home. It might feel like you already know some of the characters from listening to his previous two records – Calico Jim, released in 2021, and last year’s North Georgia Rounder. The recurring geography and continued themes provide a sense of familiarity that connects you to this new batch of songs from the very first listen. You were already invested in these stories, and now new layers have been added that pull you deeper into the worlds that were created by Bradshaw’s incredible ability to mix myth, folklore, and history together in a song.