BEAR AND A BANJO is a fictional anthology series that centers around the unlikely musical partnership between Bear  whose powerful voice can change hearts, minds, even history, and Banjo, a guitar player with a mischievous persona. Spanning through time from the 1930s to the 1970s, each episode places this duo at pivotal moments in American history where they unwittingly influence and define events that would shape the 20th century. From the wrongful conviction of blues legend Leadbelly and card games with Sonny Liston, to the wedding of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the birth of the CIA, the healing and connective power of music is a key device in each narrative. These stand alone plot lines also culminate in a song from the upcoming eponymous album produced by multiple Grammy winner T Bone Burnett, featuring songs written by Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd, Jared Gutstadt, and Bob Dylan.

Jingle Punks is an award-winning company of creatives focused in the TV, film, brand, and radio space. With offices in NYC, LA, Toronto, and London, and employing over 50 producers, music supervisors, technologists, and administrators around the globe, Jingle Punks is the foremost leader in marketing the biggest brands and artists in the world through the power of sound.

iHeartRadio is the largest radio platfrom with over 850 local stations across the U.S. and Canda and the #1 commercial podcaster with more podcasts in the Top 200 than anyone.

Bear and Banjo assembled an amazing array of literary talent to write the first the season of the podcast.

Nic Pizzolato is the creator of HBO’s True Detective. Over three critically acclaimed seasons, he reinvented the crime procedural for television as something with art and depth. His innate and elegiac storytelling around New Orleans, Louisiana and East Texas colored the entire season of Bear and Banjo. He created the story for the Bear and Banjo season finale.

Jimmy Jellinek is the former Chief Content Officer for Playboy and an award-winning writer and journalist whose work has  appeared in The New York Times and Vanity Fair. He created the series Deadbeat Dad, for Showtime. He wrote the first three episodes of the Podcast which takes Bear and Banjo into a surreal journey through the Mafia, CIA and children’s entertainment plus a face-off with Robert F. Kennedy. He also co-wrote episodes seven and eight with Jared Gutstadt.

Tom Piazza is celebrated both as a novelist and as a writer on American music. His books include the novels A Free State and City Of Refuge, the post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters, and Devil Sent The Rain, a collection of his essays and journalism. He was a principal writer for the HBO drama series TREME, and the winner of a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey.

Bill Flanagan is known for his work on VH-1 Storytellers and Crossroads as well as his endeavors into the world of film, TV, and journalism. He wrote episodes four and six connecting Bear and Banjo to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Alan Lomax and Leadbelly. He also serves as an Executive Producer on the podcast.