WATCH: Logan Ledger, “Starlight”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Logan Ledger
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (by way of San Francisco)
Song: “Starlight”
Album: Logan Ledger
Release Date: May 3, 2020
Label: Rounder Records

In Their Words: “I was very fortunate to work with Joshua Shoemaker on the video for ‘Starlight.’ He’s a fantastic director. He conjured up the shadow world of sleepless nights and broken dreams. We shot it on the banks of the Cumberland River as the sun sank beneath the trees. It was a beautiful time.” — Logan Ledger

Photo credit: Bella Mazzola

BGS 5+5: Aubrie Sellers

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Aubrie Sellers
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Latest album: World on Fire and Far From Home
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Aub, Ubrie, Grand Ole Aubrie

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I’m hugely influenced by Buddy and Julie Miller. Their songwriting, production, voices, playing, everything is so incredible and unique. They put so much of their soul into every bit of it. Songs like “You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast” and “Dirty Water” are on my all-time favorites list. If the world of music was filled with with artists like Buddy and Julie, we would be looking at a very different landscape.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

On album release day for Far From Home, I was playing Town Hall in New York with Brandy Clark and Tanya Tucker. I was so excited that my record was out that day, and that I was getting to play with these two incredible artists who I admire. But, I was missing a lot of people who couldn’t be there with me to celebrate. In the middle of my set, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and my first thought was something had gone really wrong because they had been experiencing some technical issues. I turned around and Presley, Tanya’s daughter, was standing there with some flowers for me to make me feel more at home. That’s the first time I’ve ever cried on stage, and I’ll never forget it!

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

I’m a huge movie fan, and I moved to Los Angeles to act. I know music in film has always inspired my music, never more so than on Far From Home. I was listening to a lot of Tarantino soundtracks leading up to making that record, and I think because of my love for films I’m always seeing those visuals in my head when making music. I think it probably also informs my love of production because I love putting together a song in the studio and giving the whole record that cohesive feeling that a lot of art-driven films have.

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

I think the most important thing is to be true to yourself. As an artist, everyone around you has opinions on how things should be done, but you always have to follow your own light. Sometimes just being yourself can burn bridges if people don’t understand it. But, at the end of the day, I know if I don’t do that I won’t end up being proud of what I’m putting out into the world.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Growing up, I often found acting much easier than singing because I could hide behind a character. I don’t find myself doing that with music, most of my songs, if not all, come from a very personal place and being on stage as a frontwoman feels incredibly vulnerable to me. I’m a very sensitive and introverted person, and I can often hide it, but that doesn’t make it any less true to me. I love listening to music that has that raw quality to it, and so I think that’s naturally come into my songwriting.

Photo credit: Rose Carroll

LISTEN: Kenny Roby, “Silver Moon (For Neal)”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Kenny Roby
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Silver Moon (For Neal)”
Album: The Reservoir
Release Date: August 7, 2020
Label: Royal Potato Family

In Their Words: “I had the idea for this song the night after the memorial show for my friend Neal Casal at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, in September of last year. Dave Schools, who was taking the helm as producer for The Reservoir in Neal’s place, and I were standing outside the venue with other friends and performers, and he said, ‘Look at that moon!’ It was a giant bright silver crescent. We all just stood there and gawked at it. A beautiful sight at the end of a beautiful but heartbreaking night. Late the next night in the hotel I thought of the idea for the chorus. And the following morning as Dave and I stood waiting for a taxi to take us back to the city, I had the idea for the first verse. It was about the gathering in tribute to our friend and us singing the old gospel song ‘Farther Along’ together for the encore.

“Six days later I came back from South Carolina to New York to sort of pick up the pieces and start recording the new record. Before heading up to Woodstock, I was walking around New York City alone early one morning and thinking about Neal and other friends when the idea for the second verse came to me. I went back to our friend Gary’s apartment where Neal’s 1952 Gibson SJ-45 was. I quickly scribbled the new lyrics down and grabbed Neal’s guitar and made a demo of the song to send to Dave and Gary. Oddly enough I also finished the verses to ‘I’m Gonna Love Again’ that morning, which I had started the day before, and demoed it on Neal’s guitar. So the only two songs that I wrote after Neal’s death were written in the same week, finished on the same morning, and demoed on his guitar.” — Kenny Roby

Photo credit: Gary Waldman

The Show On The Road – Leyla McCalla

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week The Show On The Road features a conversation with Leyla McCalla, a talented, multi-lingual cellist, banjoist, and singer/songwriter.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS


Born in New York, raised in New Jersey, and McCalla is now based in New Orleans, where she raises three kids (she often tours with them in tow). McCalla often honors her Haitian heritage, bringing listeners into a vibrant world of Creole rhythms and forgotten African string-band traditions by introducing them to a new audience with her own powerful creative vision.

You may know McCalla as an integral part of two different roots supergroups: the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters. But for much of the last decade, she has put out heady, ever-surprising solo projects. The latest, The Capitalist Blues, harnesses the brassy, percussive sounds of New Orleans; her previous record, A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey, was also a standout, putting her gorgeous cello-work center stage while also examining powerful Haitian proverbs and Haiti’s often-overlooked, tragic history.

LISTEN: Dirk Powell, “I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly” (with Rhiannon Giddens)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Dirk Powell
Hometown: Lafayette, Louisiana
Song: “I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly” (with Rhiannon Giddens)
Album: When I Wait for You
Release Date: September 4, 2020
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I grew up playing and singing ‘Pretty Polly.’ I was really proud to have learned a unique version of it in the ‘overhand’ banjo style from my grandfather in Kentucky. One evening I was singing it during a soundcheck and heard the words ‘he stabbed her through the heart and her heart’s blood did flow’ coming out of my mouth… and I just stopped cold in the middle of the verse. I thought about my grandmother, my mother, my daughters. I thought about pervasive violence against women and the way men are given the bulk of the story in songs like these, and often some kind of twisted romantic glory or sympathy, and I said to myself, ‘I’m never singing this song again.’ I will not give any more energy to the stories of men who hurt, abuse, and kill women. Period.

“For some people, there are complexities — some say the songs are a needed warning to young people, or just dramatic tales, or that tradition trumps looking at them this way. But, for me… I’m just never singing them again. I’m done. I’ve seen the looks of hurt and confusion on my daughters’ faces when violent words like these are accepted or brushed aside. And I’ve seen fear in my grandmother’s eyes as she gave warnings to my sisters about men. Instead, I choose to sing, as I do here, about women like my Aunt Myrtle and men like my Uncle Clyde, who were together from the 1930s to the 2000s. Their relationship was full of love and sweetness and gratitude and respect. Those are the stories I actually know, from my own life, and those are the stories I’m going to tell.” — Dirk Powell

Photo credit: Joan Baez

LISTEN: Xanthe Alexis, “The Offering”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Xanthe Alexis
Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Song: “The Offering”
Album: The Offering
Release Date: August 21, 2020

In Their Words: “I see ‘The Offering’ as a voice of an omniscient narrator, The Oracle, The Mother. She is beckoning the listener to open. Offering a promise of protection. A presence of the mystical, the benevolent. When I wrote this song, I was in need of guidance and reassurance. These words soothed my heart that is so often straining under the weight of our collective suffering. I hope it does the same for others too.” — Xanthe Alexis

Photo credit: Luigi Scorcia

LISTEN: Warren Givens, “You’re on My Mind” (Featuring Ivy Givens)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Warren Givens
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “You’re on My Mind” (Featuring Ivy Givens)
Album: Rattle the Cages
Release Date: August 7, 2020

In Their Words: “In case it isn’t obvious, this is a good old-fashioned breakup song. I wrote it soon after releasing my first full-length record, when we were touring pretty heavily, about a short-lived fling that turned out to have a pretty lasting impact. Even though the song is about a breakup I went through, my idea at the time was to write a melody that Ivy (my sister) could sing. It was really fun to write something that was totally out of my range and to see how she really brought it to life. This is the only song on the record with someone besides Seth Kauffman (my producer and engineer) and me playing. Ivy flew down from New York and we gathered around one big dynamic mic — old-school bluegrass style. We did guitar, fiddle, and our vocals live, maybe two takes tops, and then Seth added the drums, bass, and electric guitar.” — Warren Givens

Photo credit: West Givens

BGS 5+5: Carolina Story

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Artist: Carolina Story
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Dandelion (to be released September 4, 2020)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Ben – Big Ben, Kingfish, Burly; Emily – Emmy, Em, Merley

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

This is a toss-up between Neil Young and Kurt Cobain. When I was a kid, my dad and I used to go fishing south of town from where I grew up in Arkansas. I’ll never forget the day he put CSNY’s 4 Way Street cassette into the tape deck. I was impacted by it all, but once I heard Neil do “Cowgirl in the Sand” I was hooked. I’ve been trying to play the acoustic and harmonica like him ever since. As far as Kurt goes, once I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” I begged my mom to get me a guitar and lessons so that I could start a band as soon as possible. – Ben

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

If I’m feeling uninspired I will turn to any outlet that brings me a way to be creative. I have taught myself how to macrame, which is ropes tied in tedious knots to make a beautiful wall hanging. I always have canvas on hand to paint using acrylics and watercolor paper for watercolors. I love interior design and really spend a lot of time creating an aesthetic that is pleasing to the eye but also relaxing and inspiring. Most of what I find for our home is from hours of me at antique or thrift stores to find pieces that weren’t made in mass productions. Last fall I took my first pottery class and look forward to when I can sit in another class again. And most recently, I have taken an interest in woodworking. We have a pile of scrap wood and I am determined to make some sort of wood sculpture. All that to say, I would love to go to art school someday. – Emily

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

In the summer of ‘97, once I had discovered Nirvana, Oasis, Stone Temple Pilots and many others, I started guitar lessons. I was 11 years old. After I had taken four or five lessons, I quit and just stayed in my room most of that summer with my ear glued to my jam box learning new songs. I took “Wonderwall” and made up all new words and played it in my 6th grade talent show and got some great applause from my peers. It was called “Another Night Downtown.” (I know, I know. What in the hell does a 6th grader know about a night downtown, much less another one?) That was definitely a defining moment for me. – Ben

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

About a year ago we moved just outside of Nashville. We have about three acres of land with two small children so the outdoors has become a dear friend. We spend a lot of time outside our own home saving turtles crossing the road, burying a blue bird who looked to have fallen peacefully from the sky, or removing a snake on its way to eat bird eggs. But also just down the road from us is our family farm, Harpeth Moon Farm. We spend a lot of time there helping harvest and pack produce for the upcoming farmer’s markets or spend relaxing days canoeing down the Harpeth River. This lifestyle has helped give us some major mental clarity and to really treasure the things that matter most. – Emily

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Unfortunately my ultimate meal pairing with a musician will never happen. I would have loved to have written a song with John Prine and see if we could get it finished before they ran out of meatloaf that day at Arnold’s Country Kitchen here in Nashville. But to take that a step further, the cherry on top would have been to have John and Anthony Bourdain over to my house outside of town for a Nashville Pt. 2 episode of Parts Unknown. I would have smoked an 18-hour brisket and made collard greens fresh from Harpeth Moon Farm. We would have all had one or two too many vodka and ginger ales. – Ben

Photo credit: Chrissy Nix

WATCH: Sabine McCalla Gives a Striking Performance of “Baby, Please Don’t Go”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In March, when artists, businesses, and schools were stepping into a new normal built around public health and safety, New Orleans folk singer Sabine McCalla was preparing for a feature on the popular roots music series Western AF. She selected “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” a tender ballad written to a fleeting foreigner after a whirlwind romance. McCalla gently sings what many could not bear to say, and does so with a hypnotic look in her eyes.

Like the Mona Lisa, McCalla wears a beautiful calmness, seeming at times to hold a soft smile that veils other emotions. The New Orleans based singer/songwriter is joined by an entourage of collaborators who add whimsical, airy harmonies to the fondest portions of the song. The physical arrangement of the group — they sprawl over a couch, spilling into each other’s laps and arms —  instills a sense that McCalla is sharing a painful memory with friends, in conversation. Western AF creates a window into a fragile musical moment as Sabine McCalla delivers a raw performance of this striking song. 

The String – Adia Victoria

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Adia Victoria taps the lineage and resolve of the early Blues queens with a sound made for “the now” on her 2019 album, Silences.

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Victoria’s journey from South Carolina to Atlanta and then to Nashville reads like no other artist of recent memory. She works hard to set herself apart from the institutional trappings of the indie music business. Critically acclaimed and sharply thoughtful, this made for a fascinating and challenging conversation.

Photo credit: Daniel Jackson at Newport Folk Fest 2019 for BGS