LISTEN: Kris Gruen, “Pictures Of”

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Artist: Kris Gruen
Hometown: Worcester, Vermont
Song: “Pictures Of”
Album: Welcome Farewell
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Mother West

In Their Words: “My firstborn has started a list of her first choices for college. I’m gonna look past how stereotypical I sound and just say it… Feels like yesterday that I was swinging her to sleep in her detachable car seat and spinning her favorite episodic bedtime story, Stanley the Friendly Whale. I’ve written her songs, and into songs, in the past. One of them was about a deep nostalgia for her younger years, but ‘Pictures Of’ is a tribute to her maturation and readiness for the world. It’s a Woody Guthrie-esque declaration of belief in her courage and her right to be in love with the world, recognizing that we, her elders, spend hours every day filling her ears with reasons to fear it. ‘Pictures Of’ says, ‘Yes, be excited for and in love with the world! Regardless of our collective fear in the unknown, I can tell you want to be! And you’re right to be! And I’m glad you are!'” — Kris Gruen

Photo credit: Jeff Forney

WATCH: The Connells, “Stars”

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Artist: The Connells
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Stars”
Album: Steadman’s Wake
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Black Park/Missing Piece Records

In Their Words: “I find the lyrics to be the hardest aspect of songwriting, which is why it is not uncommon for me to come up with the basic idea for a song well before the lyrics are finalized — months and months in some cases. That’s the way it went with ‘Stars.’ It is the tongue-in-cheek lament of someone who feels as though the stars are aligned against him, and who is asking ‘When it’s over, tell me….’ There’s been a lot going on in the world — global pandemic, political turmoil, global warming — that make the ‘When it’s over, tell me’ refrain a bit more resonant.” — Mike Connell, The Connells

Photo credit: Bryan Regan

WATCH: Balsam Range, “Highway Side”

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Artist: Balsam Range
Hometown: Haywood County, North Carolina
Song: “Highway Side”
Album: Moxie and Mettle
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Highway Side’ is one of my favorite songs on the new project both musically and lyrically. I think the video helps bring this great song to life. It also helps to fill a void we have all had in recent times with the lack of traveling and connecting with folks through live music. So jump on board with Balsam Range for a quick road trip!” — Buddy Melton, Balsam Range vocalist and fiddler

Photo credit: David Simchock

WATCH: Kat Wallace and David Sasso, “Somes Pond”

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Artist: Kat Wallace and David Sasso
Hometown: New Haven, Connecticut
Song: “Somes Pond”
Album: Old Habits
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “David wrote this instrumental tune at a cabin on Somes Pond, Mount Desert Island, Maine, last summer. We recorded this track at Dimension Sound Studios in Boston with David on mandolin and octave mandolin and Kat on fiddle joined by Brittany Karlson on bass and Ariel Bernstein on drums. In rehearsal, this harmonically adventurous tune called for a ripping solo section, and Kat suggested inviting friends to contribute to a big party breakdown. After a sparse melodic beginning and solos by Kat, David, and Brittany, Ariel launches the track into a funky groove with solos from this all-star cast of featured guests: Max Allard (banjo), Joe K. Walsh (mandolin), Mark Kilianski (guitar), Mike Block (cello), Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), and Mike Marshall (mandocello). A few harmonic twists bring the tune home.

“‘Somes Pond’ is the third single from our second album, Old Habits, which evolves from the raw and transparent fiddle/mandolin duo feel of our first album, Stuff of Stars, into a full band sound with guitar, bass, drums, and pedal steel. Our album’s eclectic songs explore the cyclical nature of life, love, and loss, taking inspiration from the isolation and pain of the past year’s pandemic yet reaching to find beauty in the blemishes of the human experience.” — Kat Wallace and David Sasso

Photo credit: Naomi Libby

BGS 5+5: Sideline

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Artist: Sideline
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Latest Album: Ups, Downs and No Name Towns

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a band?

It wasn’t really a realization of “wanted to” as much as a realization that we “should be” a band. We had been playing a small handful of shows for a couple of years while still with other groups (hence the name “Sideline”). We started to see a style developing, as well as a demand from certain areas. We came to the realization that we were starting to develop a following, and we had to either commit to the new endeavor or back off. In mid-2013 we made the decision to go for it. We’ve been a full-time group ever since.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

We appreciate music from many different artists, spanning a wide variety of genres. Bluegrass standards like Flatt & Scruggs, The Bluegrass Album Band, and The Johnson Mountain Boys, as well as great artists like Journey, Ronnie Milsap, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. All having great talent and musical approach to learn from, and all having great success stories to be inspired by.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

What we do relies heavily on us being a solid unit or “team” of players. While some may not call it an art form, I would say that the art of teamwork would be the biggest influence on our music and our lifestyle. Taking time as a group to attend concerts, live sporting events, or any recreational activity as a group, really adds to morale and team spirit, which then carries over into our musical creativity and stage performance.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

We have recorded three separate projects, along with a few compilation projects for the Mountain Home Music Group out of Arden, North Carolina. Every time we have a session scheduled at Crossroads Studio we always come in the night before and go to the Wild Wing Cafe. It’s tradition, a great way to bond before we head into the session, and blesses the session with good luck!

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

Sideline was founded on the idea of having fun every time we step out on stage. As many musicians will agree, 2020 showed us all how much we took full-time musician status for granted. Now more than ever, we reach back to why we started and why we do this: To be entertaining, leave everyone with a smile, and kick as much musical butt as possible with every show.

Photo credit: Sideline

On “Radio Silence,” The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby Lets Her Voice Be Heard

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Natalie Hemby’s new single “Radio Silence” puts her cunning sensibility as a songwriter on full display, while drawing on the strengths of co-writers Rosi Golan and Daniel Tashian. No slouches themselves, Golan is an accomplished songwriter whose music can be heard on countless TV shows and films, and Tashian is a writer and producer in Nashville with credits such as Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour.

With this dream team in support, Hemby’s weighty single encapsulates the anxiousness of being cut off from a friend — a true story that hits close to home. “This song is basically about being ghosted by a friend, only not because of a fallout, but because your friend doesn’t want to drag you into their struggles, so they shut down,” says Hemby. “I was the friend, and Rosi Golan was the one reaching out. We wrote the song with Daniel Tashian.”

An acclaimed writer and two-time Grammy Award winner, Hemby will releasing her first major label record as a solo artist, following her work with the Highwomen, the collaborative group with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires. “Radio Silence” and lead single “Heroes” precede Pins And Needles, an album that leans on her rock and roots musical influences, due out October 8 on Fantasy Records. “Pins And Needles is the record I never got the chance to make and I always wanted to,” she adds. “It’s the late 90’s sound, which is the sound of my young adult life.”

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Clinton Davis, “Curly Headed Woman”

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Artist: Clinton Davis
Hometown: Carrollton, Kentucky
Song: “Curly Headed Woman”
Album: If I Live and I Don’t Get Killed
Release Date: September 10, 2021
Label: Tiki Parlour Recordings

In Their Words: “‘Curly Headed Woman’ is a rare version of one of the most common American folk songs: ‘The Hesitation Blues’ or ‘If the River Was Whisky’ as most people call it. My version is most directly inspired by a 1928 recording of Kentucky banjoist Dick Burnett and fiddler Leonard Rutherford. Their version contained some common folk lyrics — anyone with any exposure to folk and blues music has probably heard the line ‘If the river was whisky and I was a duck, I’d dive to the bottom and I’d never come up’ sung with a hedonistic, ‘let the good times roll’ kind of sentiment. But this version also held more unique lines about a curly-headed woman that had brought great pain and misfortune on the singer. And in that context, it occurred to me that the famous lyric about a river of whisky could also be a cry of pain. This thought became the center of my interpretation and my arrangement became a kind of dreamy balm. The video, shot on a beautiful spring day in an urban canyon of San Diego, features Erin Bower, who sang on the recording, and Aaron Brownwood.” — Clinton Davis

Photo credit: David Bragger

WATCH: Audrey Spillman, “Summertime”

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Artist: Audrey Spillman
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Summertime”
Album: Neon Dream
Release Date: September 24, 2021
Label: Paper Star

In Their Words: “I’ve always loved ‘Summertime’ and the way it pulls you in emotionally through the lyric and melody. I wanted to create a swampy, dark, lullaby-esque sound that you could get lost in and somehow capture the way that song has always felt to me upon hearing it for the first time. Throughout my journey I’ve worked at trying to uncover my unique voice. I’ve always been drawn to the torch singers of the past and this song allowed me to further explore that style of emotive singing. Throughout the whole album, moments of my life are highlighted whether it be falling in love, having a child, or the loss of someone close to me. These songs give life to my most precious moments and memories.” — Audrey Spillman

Photo credit: Neilson Hubbard

See Photos: Brandi Carlile, Charley Crockett Win at Americana Honors Show

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

The Americana Music Association celebrated distinguished members of its community at the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards at the historic Ryman Auditorium on September 22. Notable wins included Brandi Carlile as Artist of the Year and Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), named Album of the Year. Among many other categories, blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Keb’ Mo’ received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance and fiddler Kristin Weber took home the award for Instrumentalist of the Year.

Here is the full list of winners:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Brandi Carlile

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), Sturgill Simpson, Produced by David Ferguson & Sturgill Simpson

EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR: Charley Crockett

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR: Black Pumas

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR: Kristin Weber

SONG OF THE YEAR: “I Remember Everything,” John Prine, Written by Pat McLaughlin & John Prine

Legacy of Americana Award, presented in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music: Fisk Jubilee Singers

Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Keb’ Mo’ (below)

Lifetime Achievement Award for Producer/Engineer: Trina Shoemaker

Inspiration Award: Carla Thomas

Trailblazer Award: The Mavericks (below)

Photos on stage by Jason Kempin/Getty Images, courtesy of Americana Music Association
Photos backstage by Erika Goldring/Getty Images, courtesy of Americana Music Association

WATCH: Jackson+Sellers, “Hush” (Yamaha x BGS Artist Sessions)

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Artist: Jackson+Sellers (Jade Jackson and Aubrie Sellers)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN
Song: “Hush”
Album: Breaking Point
Release Date: October 22, 2021
Label: ANTI-

In Their Words: “I really loved [Aubrie Sellers’] voice and asked if she’d be interested in doing a co-write / duet. I wasn’t expecting a response but moments after I sent the message she responded with she’d love to. I knew the song would benefit from heavy female vocal harmonies, but working with Aubrie was such a boost. Collaborating with someone who’s so energetically strong, it gives you even more creativity and license to explore.” — Jade Jackson

Editor’s note: Watch more of our Yamaha x BGS Artist Sessions here.