Artist: Tray Wellington Band Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina Song: “Moon In Motion 1” Release Date: September 1, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I often equate music and nature as one in one, as music is a constant movement that is always progressing forward through time. With this idea in mind, I thought one thing that always moves around us, like music, is the moon. I thought what a better way to progress in my music than channel this idea of continuous movement? That’s where the idea for ‘Moon In Motion 1’ came from, and the song is meant to convey these emotions. This is the first part of a three part movement that will be on my upcoming album.” – Tray Wellington
I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and I was raised primarily in San Francisco, but we lived in Havana and Amsterdam before settling in Kentucky, ancestral homeland of my maternal grandfather. My family on my grandmother’s side were Roma and Jewish, my grandfather’s, Scotch Kentuckian. My mother took after hers, and we moved around a lot while she made documentaries and wrote poetry.
Latest Album:Forever Home (out September 22, 2023)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Sadwick, Dadwick, Sandwich, Shadooby, sometimes I am Henry, and so on. We have many names and take many forms.
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
If I’m doing my job well, I don’t really retain memories of being onstage… The “I” disappears into the music. Of course, if something goes badly, I will remember it for the rest of my life. But my dearest onstage memory is from recently at a festival in Wisconsin – a tattooed dad and his two punk-rocker daughters were all singing along to every word of our songs. That felt really special… I may have cried about it. I definitely cried about it.
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
I remember being five years old, dancing in the mirror with my plastic guitar and ripped jeans to my mother’s Bruce Springsteen records. She likes to remind me of that memory. I guess I have always known. Even though there are many career paths that I would like to explore in other lives – baker, teacher, postman, monk – this one is for songs, and I am rich with them. Laden, even.
If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?
Sing from the heart. Don’t take it too seriously. Remember to have fun, and to be kind. That’s pretty much it! We have a tendency to overcomplicate things, when the simplest answers are often the truest.
Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?
I love to watch trees. We are rich with trees in Kentucky, and out where we live on the farm (just outside Louisville). The last few years I have been trying to learn all of their names, their leaf shapes, their bark textures. A favorite hobby of mine is foraging – black walnut, mulberry, gingko. Mushrooms, too. This year we got lucky with the morels. Last year I missed morels, but was lousy with the butteriest chanterelles, from a hillside near Greenbo Lake in Eastern Kentucky.
I have always felt connection in nature, in a spiritual sense. Nurturing that connection is essential for my mental health, and, I believe, also for our survival as a species. Our dominant culture would have us believe that humankind is separate from nature, but of course we know that’s not the case. We are wholly of the Earth, our larger body. It is this imaginary separation that allows us to objectify and exploit her, which of course has brought about this very real existential threat that is the climate crisis.
How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?
This is such an interesting dance, as a writer – the one between subject and object. Every time we perform, we are creating a character for the purpose of communicating this particular story. When I was a younger songwriter, I would tend to write about things that had really happened to me – heartbreaks, epiphanies, tribulations and such. Nowadays, I don’t find my autobiography to be quite so interesting. And although there are many such personal narratives on Forever Home, the “I” and the “you” are ultimately “us,” and the perspectives of “writer” and “listener” can be interchangeable in that same way: telling the stories of the human heart and mind, that are universal in more ways than they are disparate. So yes, very often, because in the end, there is only us; only One consciousness experiencing our human and cosmic dramas through the infinite and beautiful forms we take.
Artist:Tom Heyman Hometown: San Francisco, California Song: “The Mission Is On Fire” Album:24th Street Blues Release Date: October 6, 2023 Label: Bohemian Neglect Recording Works
In Their Words: “I have lived on the Eastern end of 24th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District around the corner from SF General Hospital for more than 20 years now. I work at a bar near the corner of Mission and 22nd Street and a number of years ago (pre-pandemic), there were a series of devastating fires on Mission Street — two of them practically next door to my workplace, and another about three quarters of a mile south at 29th Street. Fires in a densely-populated city full of attached wooden houses are scary enough, but add in the scarcity of affordable housing, the simmering resentments around the huge influx of tech workers, and the white-hot real estate market and the overall effect was pretty unsettling.
“The phrase, ‘The Mission is on fire’ popped into my head and I knew there was a song there. I chased it down until I thought I had it. Around the time that I wrote it, I had another record coming out that it wasn’t really right for, but I knew that it was going to fit squarely into the group of songs that made up my new record, 24th Street Blues. It seems that San Francisco is in the news often these days and is struggling with all the things that an awful lot of cities are struggling with, but I deeply love my neighborhood – and most days I find it difficult to imagine living anywhere else.” – Tom Heyman
In Their Words: “I couldn’t be more excited to release this brand new one written by my wife Miranda and I. It’s a feel-good song about holding on to the last days of summer with good friends, camping in the mountains, and making everlasting memories with the ones you love. It’s also very special to me, as we recorded it at the late great Steve Gulley’s Pinnacle Studio in Campbell County, Tennessee. Steve was a huge mentor to me as I began getting into the music business, and his engineer/bandmate, Bryan Turner, has since taken over the studio and graciously allowed us to come in and cut this one. It will be the first nationally distributed single recorded there since Steve’s passing in 2020. I hope it brings you back to the mountains and the crisp, late summer air, the songs around a campfire, and the full moon surrounded by stars above. No matter when or where you listen from, I hope Summer Haven will take you into the mountains for a night you’ll never forget.” – Alex Leach
The BGS Team is excited to return to Western North Carolina for the second year of the Earl Scruggs Music Festival at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring. Held September 1, 2, and 3, the event will be hosted by Jerry Douglas and will include headline sets by the Infamous Stringdusters (Friday), Greensky Bluegrass (Saturday), and Emmylou Harris (Sunday) plus, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., don’t miss the Earl Scruggs Revue Album Tribute hosted by Tony Trischka and sponsored by BGS. The showcase will spotlight an album by Earl Scruggs’ iconic late-’60s to ’80s group featuring his sons, the Earl Scruggs Revue, and will include appearances and performances by many special guests pulled from the festival’s expansive bluegrass and roots lineup.
In preparation for the festival this weekend and our trek to beautiful Western NC, check out a few of our preview picks for each day of the event:
Thursday, August 31, 2023
It’s the day before the real fun begins at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, but you’ve already pulled into town and you’re rearin’ and ready to go – what to do? Travel down the road about 30 minutes and visit Shelby, North Carolina, Earl Scruggs’ hometown, and the incredible Earl Scruggs Center. It’s open every day of the festival until 4 p.m., but hours vary some so check before you visit.
Not only does the Center co-present the festival, but it’s housed in the former Cleveland County Courthouse in the center of the Shelby town square. It’s an adorable small town with an outsized impact on American roots music – Don Gibson is from Shelby, as well; Nina Simone is from Tryon, just down the road. (Visit her homeplace on your way back to Mill Spring.) We focused on Shelby for an episode of our podcast made with Come Hear NC titled Carolina Calling. Listen to our Shelby episode while you drive!
Ready to head to the Equestrian Center to check out the festival footprint and do some reconnaissance? You’re in luck! The official festival events don’t commence until Friday, but on Thursday there will be a FREE concert on-site and restaurants and vendors will be open from 6 to 9 p.m.
Friday, September 1, 2023
The day is finally here! Gates open at 8 a.m. and the fun begins at 10 a.m. with restaurants, vendors, experiences, workshops, performances, and so much more.
Don’t miss “Secrets of Scruggs-Style” on the Legends Workshop Stage at 11 a.m. featuring Tony Trischka, Charlie Cushman and Pete Wernick – arguably three of the best living scholars and emulators of Scruggs – a perfect way to kick off his namesake festival. At 3 p.m. on the main stage, affectionately dubbed “Flint Hill Stage,” J.T. Scruggs and Jerry Douglas will do an official festival welcome leading directly into a Banjo Kickoff by Gena Britt, Charlie Cushman, Rob McCoury, Pete Wernick, Tony Trischka and Ben Wright.
We’ll also be making a point to catch Foggy Mountain Stage sets by Jake Blount (5:30 to 6:30 p.m.) and Shawn Camp (8:30 to 9:30 p.m.) plus Flint Hill Stage appearances by Sister Sadie (4 to 5 p.m.), Del McCoury Band (7:30 to 9 p.m.), and the Stringdusters closing out the night at 9:30 p.m.
Don’t go back to your campsite or your hotel yet, though! Foggy Late Night begins at 10:30 p.m. with Armchair Boogie.
Saturday, September 2, 2023
If your schedule is too-tight and you can only make one day of ESMF 2023, Saturday is the day not-to-miss. It’s wall-to-wall, superlative programming across all of the stages at the event.
On the Legends Workshop Stage we’re eyeing “High Lonesome Songs: Then & Now” at 11:30 a.m., a songwriting workshop featuring Louisa Branscomb, Celia Woodsmith and Jon Weisberger. But you may have to split your time between Legends Workshop and Flint Hill, because Tony Trischka’s tribute to Earl Scruggs – EarlJam! EarlJam! – begins on the main stage at 12 p.m. Stick around, because banjo phenom and innovator Tray Wellington brings his tight and tidy band to the main stage directly after EarlJam. Wellington’s languid drawl is only one of many traits of Scruggs’ he carries on with his innovative sound and truly traditional right hand approach.
We’re super excited to see our friends Della Mae (Flint Hill Stage, 8 p.m.) and Twisted Pine (Foggy Mountain Stage, 8:45 p.m.), but the highlight of day two for us will certainly be the Earl Scruggs Revue Album Tribute show on the Foggy Mountain Stage at 3:30 p.m. It will feature a star-studded lineup hosted by Trischka and his band and featuring songs from a classic Earl Scruggs Revue performance. (Hint above.) Our own managing editor Justin Hiltner will be emceeing and updating y’all on the event on our socials, so be sure to follow along.
At Foggy Late Night we’ll be dancing along to Della Mae past midnight! See you there?
Sunday, September 3, 2023
When Sunday morning rolls around, we, too, will be wondering where the weekend went so fast. But don’t worry, there’s still a full day of music and fun before the post-festival depression starts to creep back in.
Sunday begins, appropriately, with Gospel Brunch hosted by Darin & Brooke Aldridge and immediately following, singer-songwriter and host of Apple Music’s Color Me Country, Rissi Palmer will “take us to church” on the Flint Hill Stage, too. If you’ve never had the chance to experience Palmer’s heartfelt, modern, and soulful country stylings you won’t want to miss her set. For an infusion of a faith tradition less prominent in roots music, check out Zoe & Cloyd on the Foggy Mountain Stage at 4:30 p.m. Their latest album, Songs of Our Grandfathers, combines bluegrass, fiddle music, old-time and Jewish folk and klezmer.
On the Legends Workshop Stage at 1 p.m., get up close and personal with festival host and the worlds premier resophonic guitarist Jerry Douglas before his main stage set with his band at 3:45 p.m.
Then, to close out your weekend full of amazing music, excellent hangs, and so much fun, settle in for Emmylou Harris’s headline set on the Flint Hill Stage at 5:30 p.m. As her final notes fade into the Western North Carolina air, cheer up – you don’t have to go home yet! Reedy River String Band will give us one last hoorah for their Foggy Mountain Stage performance from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
As you drive back home after the second annual Earl Scruggs Music Festival we hope, like ourselves, you’ll be making plans to return next year (perhaps as you listen to Carolina Calling).
Artist:Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road Hometown: Deep Gap, North Carolina Song: “Crooked As You Go” Album:Crooked As You Go Release Date: September 1, 2023 (single)
In Their Words: “‘Crooked As You Go’ is a lively song with its musical roots in the fiddle tune tradition we grew up in. The lyrics outline a simple truth learned in early adulthood, that life is neither straightforward nor predictable. It’s not a journey in a straight line, rather a crooked path filled with twists and turns. As touring musicians, we can all relate to this through the eyes of the industry we operate in, but the implication rings true for many folks in many different situations. In the end, these unexpected adventures, trials, and sidetracks are often the most beautiful parts of the journey as one reflects on the path that led them to the present moment.” – Liam Purcell
Cali Wilson is the kind of artist who starts playing and the rest of the world melts away, leaving you with her phenomenal voice, warm guitar, and captivating lyrics. The first time I heard Cali play, she was doing her soundcheck for our monthly Queerfest showcase at Vinyl Tap in Nashville. Of course, I had listened to her music before, but I was stunned by how strongly her voice felt live, her vibrato resembling Brandi Carlile’s.
Following Cali’s appearance at Vinyl Tap, I was proud to book her for Queerfest 2022 and Nashville Scene‘s BEST FEST.
Cali’s latest release, “Old Fashioned,” was co-written with Chris Housman, another queer artist in Nashville known for his single “Blueneck.” It’s exciting to see LGBTQ+ artists collaborating and growing together.
Our Out Now conversation touches on the process of creating music, the challenges around promoting it, and finding a balance between social media and mental health.
Why do you create music? What’s more satisfying to you, the process or the outcome?
CW: I think creating music, for me, is one of my forms of communication. It’s a way I can look inward and reflect on my emotions. Often we are so caught in our own experience, it’s hard for us to be objective. Music has a way of letting me see more points of view. It helps me get outside of myself to find the story in the situations of life.
I think the process is always amazing and inspiring. It’s art that can keep evolving. To have a song or a record you can physically hear and feel is truly incredible, of course. But I’ll always love the act of writing and feeling it in the moment – a moment that you’ll never have again with that idea. Either by yourself or with co-writers, it’s the challenge of finding the best words to express that. I love that challenge. I love getting better at that process and soaking in how other writers flow, too. It’s the best thing about songwriting.
Do you create music primarily for yourself or for others?
I think that’s a really difficult question to answer. I find it’s mostly for me as I’m creating it, but then when I play it out, I hear how others connect with it. Then it becomes something else entirely. The best way I can describe it is, it feels like it’s for me, because it is at first. It’s what I feel. It’s my idea. But then it grows to be bigger than that feeling when people connect with it. That’s why music is so universal and beautiful. People can see something in a song that is totally different than what I wrote it for.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
No one is going to promote you if you won’t promote yourself. And you can always be better. I don’t care if you’re the biggest hit writer, you can always learn something from someone in a room or on stage. Don’t get too big for your britches!
What are your release and touring plans for the next year?
I am planning some more single releases and maybe even an EP in the near future. Touring will be mostly around Nashville, but I’m heading to other states as well. Looking forward to creating more and broadening my fan base.
What would a “perfect day” look like for you?
I wake up, take my dog for a walk, and have my morning coffee or matcha. Then I head to co-writes on the row. Grabbing lunch, spending time with my wife and friends after a day like that is my slice of heaven.
Where did the idea for “Old Fashioned” come from? And how have you found the process of this release from writing to recording and promoting?
“Old Fashioned” was the first song Chris Housman and I wrote together. We had the title first and then wrote it as a love song. I’m super proud of it. The process was pretty simple. The production and how I wanted the record to sound was the hard part. Promotion is always going to be a challenge. You don’t want to overstimulate your audience, but you also want them to listen when it’s released. It’s tricky.
Independent artists like myself have nobody else to help with promo, social media, etc. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Over the past year you’ve seen substantial growth on social media. What has that been like for you? Do you enjoy the process of creating content and promoting your work? Do you ever find it tiring or exhausting? How do you balance social media and mental health?
To be honest, I think social media was so much lighter on my soul when it wasn’t exactly “part of the job” in music. I have a hard time with it, but it’s getting better. I get overwhelmed and it’s hard for me not to compare myself to the peers that are doing better on socials. I get anxious cause I’m not posting enough and then I just get so anxious I don’t post at all. It’s such a hard balance and can really take a toll on you mentally. I try to balance it out with creating posts ahead of time when I can and just floating them up there on a schedule. That has helped a lot with the overthinking.
I’ve also found it’s okay to be silly and not take yourself too seriously. People want variety in your content regardless of what the “professionals” say. I always try to remember that as well.
(Editor’s Note: Charlie Mars takes BGS readers on a photographic, first-person tour of his gorgeous Yalobusha County, Mississippi home.)
A few years ago I finally got a dog. He’s a Cane Corso mastiff named Kudzu. He’s kind of a handful, so I started looking to move out into the country to give us both a little space. My brother found a finished-out quonset hut on 43 acres for sale in Yalobusha County, Mississippi. It was built on one of the highest points in the county and you can see for 20 miles from the back door. Kudzu liked the view. I bought it and moved in.
My new album, Times Have Changed [out October 6, 2023], was written on this guitar. I’ve played every show for 15 years on that Gibson Hummingbird. In a transient world, it’s nice to have well made things that work. I toured with REM once, and at the last show Peter Buck told me I had to go to Morocco. He was one of my heroes, so I went straight there from Denmark after wrapping up the tour. I bought that red rug in a Marrakech market and had it shipped to the Memphis airport. Kudzu chewed a hole in it. I saw Peter Buck in Austin a year later and told him I went…”What? I’ve never been there,” he said.
My grandfather, Charles Mars, was in the Army Air Corp in World War II. He taught me my first notes on the piano. He was a great tap dancer. As a boy, he would take the train from Meridian, Mississippi, to New Orleans, tap dance all day for tips, and take the train home in the evening. I was fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time with him the few weeks before he died. That watch was beside his bed when he passed. Times have changed.
Eating something I’ve cared for and grown just hits differently. I planted my first rose bush this year. It’s nice to have a little living color in the house.
My brother, Chad Mars, is a painter. This is one of his first paintings he ever did. It’s of a pumpkin patch in the courtyard of the Episcopal Church in Oxford, Mississippi. I hope I make it through that light at the end of that tunnel one day.
I bought this bag 20 years ago from my friend Mark, who works at Hinton and Hinton on the Oxford, Mississippi, town square. I’ve traveled with it to every show since. It’s an old doctor’s bag made by Trafalgar. I love that damn bag.
I bought a Husky toolbox to use as my kitchen island. Kudzu likes to park it on the concrete floor and watch out for intruders.
I drove a 15-passenger van for many years. I played a show in Austin one night and used the cash to buy that dresser. It was a really fancy store. I told them I was paying cash and taking it with me. “We only take cash if you have exact change, and we normally ship,” he said. It fit in the back of the van with half an inch to spare.
I had a big night in Vegas many years ago. I came home and bought that Steinway upright piano. I wrote the songs “Country Home” and “Silver Dollar” from the new album on that black beauty. It’s been an inspiration. Quonset huts don’t have a lot of storage, so the Husky tool boxes come in real handy.
My property was clear cut about 4 years ago. Things have started to grow back. They left enough trees to leave the place looking pretty. I think they left the ugly trees they didn’t have much use for. I like the ugly trees.
I played the El Cosmico festival in Marfa, Texas, one year. My friend Liz Lambert payed me 300 dollars. There was a girl there selling t-shirts and she used that bench to display the shirts. I asked her if the bench was for sale. She said she’d made it and it was her first piece of furniture she’d ever made. I gave her my 300 bucks and she shipped it to me in Mississippi. I love how simple and sturdy it is.
I bought that Bang and Olufson stereo in 1997 in Atlanta. It still works like the day I bought it. I remember when the attendant waved his hand in front of it and the glass doors opened… I was sold.
We filmed the video for my latest single, “Country Home,” in one take at my quonset hut home. Some of my neighbors came over and made cameos in it. Brock rode a three-wheeler, Earl rode a side-by-side, and Eric rocked the tractor. I don’t know where I’d be without my neighbors.
In the title track, “Times Have Changed,” the chorus says: “What happened to no sir, yes ma’am, looking folks in the eye? To family and the good Lord and thanking him every night? / I ain’t saying I wanted things to stay the same… but man times have changed.” In the country, things change in harmony with nature. Life is hard, and the reward comes from making it through the hard times. I don’t just know my neighbors, I need them. It’s a different rhythm. All of the songs on my new album come from that different rhythm. I’m grateful to be singing a new song about old ways.
Artist:Carrie Newcomer Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana Song: “Potluck” Album:A Great Wild Mercy Release Date: August 28, 2023 (single); October 13, 2023 (album) Label: Available Light Records
In Their Words: “Writing and recording this song felt like a magical collaboration with of some of my favorite musicians on the planet to work with creatively (Jim Brock, Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, Gary Walters, & Siri Undlin). ‘Potluck’ was co-written with a luminous new writer Siri Undlin from Humbird. We were both musing one day about the spirit of Midwestern pitch-in gatherings. Essentially, you choose to trust whatever people bring to the table. In times when there seems to be so much distrust and division, a potluck is still a place where we welcome one another with a bit of grace and humor, a place where we still meet folks right where they are — with all their joys and sorrows, quinoa, kale, chocolate cake, and deviled eggs.” – Carrie Newcomer
Artist:Sister Sadie Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Willow” Release Date: August 25, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “When I first heard ‘Willow’ I could hear us doing it. I could hear Jaelee slaying this tune, vocally. I could hear this funky groove that came to life in the studio. It’s got a deep pocket and has been a crowd favorite on tour this summer. This Ashley McBryde-penned tune has become one of my favorite Sadie songs EVER!” – Deanie Richardson
“Sister Sadie is the best thing that ever happened to this song. I wrote it on an afternoon where damn near everything was going wrong. Deanie and the girls tore it UP and gave it the best life a song can have! Jaelee Robert’s voice could sing somebody back to life, I swear.” – Ashley McBryde
“When I first heard ‘Willow,’ I knew it would absolutely fit Jaelee’s voice — and boy, was I right! What an incredible song that was written by Ashley McBryde! The energy in the studio when we cut it was palpable. When we play a show now, I can’t wait ’til we get to ‘Willow’ in the set. It’s as much fun to perform live as it was to record it! It rocks!” – Gena Britt
Photo Credit: Eric Ahlgrim
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