In March, the BGS and Good Country teams were honored to return once again to SXSW, this time partnering with our friends at Big Feat PR for A Night of Good Country at Sagebrush in Austin, Texas. The evening featured lovely half-hour sets from artists on Big Feat’s stellar roster of clients – and quite a few Good Country favorites – including Shakey Graves, Tyler Halverson, Aubrie Sellers, Travis Bolt, and Tenille Townes.

Our pals at I Know We Should were on hand at Sagebrush to capture these Good Country performances, and over the upcoming weeks and months we’ll be sharing clips and full sets right here on the site. To continue the series, we’re excited to bring you songs from Shakey Graves‘ performance at SXSW – perfectly timed for our celebration of Graves as our May Artist of the Month.

As contributor Matt Wickstrom pointed out in his article unveiling Graves as our Artist of the Month, the Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter has reinvented his sound and artistry time and time again across his career. But as contributor Brian D’Ambrosio notes in his BGS exclusive interview with Shakey for AOTM, his brand new album Fondness, Etc. is as much based on that tradition of reinvention as it is reflection – a new sort of Shakey sound that’s fresh, yet again, but based strikingly in the familiar. In the qualities of Graves that are hardest to pin down but most signature.

For his set at Sagebrush, Graves dipped back into his deep-and-wide discography to share classic songs from across those eras of reinvention. Though Shakey himself may balk at the idea of any of his songs being regarded as hits, these selections deserve the moniker objectively, that’s certain. Between them “Roll the Bones,” “Nobody’s Fool,” and “Dearly Departed” have racked up hundreds of millions of streams (on Spotify alone) with “Dearly Departed” numbering nearly 150 million streams and “Roll the Bones” tipping over 100 million.

Even sung in this simplified setting, to a small (but packed) bar during SXSW with just a simple acoustic or hollow-body electric guitar, a kick drum, and a tambourine for a “band,” these songs shine, demonstrating the reasons why they’ve taken this beloved artist in the alt, indie, and roots community and brought him to the entire world. Shakey never loses that sense, in whatever musical or performing context, that what you’re watching is real art, real music being made in realtime. These well-worn, well-loved songs still sound fresh and intoxicating; and fully realized even back in their original, primal forms performed by Shakey Graves, solo.

We hope you enjoy these lovely SXSW performances of “Dearly Departed,” “Nobody’s Fool,” and “Roll the Bones.” Stay tuned as we will launch more Sagebrush SXSW Sessions in the coming weeks – including performances from Tyler Halverson, Travis Bolt, and Aubrie Sellers. It’s all coming soon right here on Good Country.

Video Credits: I Know We Should, Brad Wagner, Juan Soria, and Charlie Peterson.
Photo Credit: Jessica Alexander

Explore more of our Artist of the Month coverage of Shakey Graves here.

These sessions brought to you in partnership with Big Feat PR.