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MIXTAPE: JigJam's Irish BluegrassWe all grew up in rural Ireland in small communities in the midlands around County Offaly and County Tipperary. From a young age we were brought up with traditional Irish music, learning the tunes and playing in local sessions. Bluegrass was never a part of our musical upbringing, however, little…

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John Smith Explores Life's Beauty in Tragedy with 'The Living Kind'His name might be a little … beige? But those who know John Smith have long loved the vibrant colors of this gifted guitarist and singer-songwriter’s creative palate – especially the serene sophistication at its core. A unique form of meditative propulsion has endeared Smith to heavyweight collaborators like 3-time…

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The Creative Freedom Behind Leyla McCalla's 'Sun Without the Heat'Sun Without the Heat is Leyla McCalla’s fifth solo album, but it is different from past efforts and she brings the listener through the transformative process with her. Produced by Maryam Qudus at Dockside Studio in Louisiana, McCalla dug into her personal history, primary sources from Amistad Research Center at…

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Open Mic: For Misner & Smith, Gardening Helps Their Creativity Thrive(Editor’s Note: Open Mic is a BGS series with a simple premise – to remove all the filters between artist and audience and give musicians and creatives an Open Mic. With each installment, we’ll hold space for musicians to say whatever they’d like on any topic they like in any…

Into the Squishy Middle: Humbird Celebrates Being Wrong on 'Right On'

MIXTAPE: Bridget Kearney's Photographic Memories

Women's History Spotlight: Ola Belle Reed, Loretta Lynn, and More

Out Now: Lillian Werbin

FeaturesApr 16, 2024

BGS 5+5: Louisa Stancioff

Artist: Louisa Stancioff Hometown: I live in Warren, Maine and I am originally from Chesterville, Maine Latest Album: When We Were Looking Which artist has influenced you the most and how? Regina Spektor keeps coming to mind. I listened to her albums Begin to Hope and Far incessantly when I was young, and I loved…

FeaturesApr 8, 2024

BGS 5+5: Matt Koziol

Artist: Matt Koziol Hometown: Linden, New Jersey Latest Album: Last of the Old Dogs (out April 5, 2024) What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician? I was probably 4 years old and I saw Elivs on TV. It was like watching lightning in a bottle and I wanted…

FeaturesApr 3, 2024

Artist of the Month: Leyla McCalla

Since her solo debut in 2014, Vari-Colored Songs: a Tribute to Langston Hughes, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, and thought leader Leyla McCalla has routinely and consistently expanded her own sonic universe. But these have not been gratuitous or ambitious artistic reinventions. Instead, the cellist and multi-instrumentalist intentionally and organically brings in new and exciting textures, influences, stories, cultural…

FeaturesApr 2, 2024

BGS 5+5: Kendl Winter

Artist: Kendl Winter Hometown: Olympia, Washington Latest Album: Banjo Mantras Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): "Lower half of The Lowest Pair" What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – inform your music? I like this question, because I think everything you do, witness, consume, walk by, dance with, or touch informs…

FeaturesMar 27, 2024

Terry Allen, For All Reasons

(Editor's Note: Below, singer-songwriter and filmmaker Scott Ballew reflects on his relationship with legendary Texan musician Terry Allen for an exclusive BGS op-ed. Ballew, who directed a 2019 documentary about Allen's life and music, Everything For All Reasons, will release a brand new album, Rio Bravo, on March 29 via La Honda Records.) I moved…