Artist:Rachel Baiman with Atwood Quartet and Kyshona Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “No Good Time for Dying” Album:Cycles Release Date: June 11, 2021 Label: Signature Sounds
In Their Words: “Of all the songs on the record, this one felt the most cinematic, production-wise. Perhaps because I see this as the real story (of my late grandmother) playing out in my head each time I sing it. That’s why it seemed so fitting to collaborate with Atwood Quartet for this special live version of the song. Ben Plotnick wrote the incredible string parts, which both mimic and enhance the original album production. Kyshona was an artist I thought of immediately for the vocal harmonies, because of the quality of her voice and general spirit as a human. I was really grateful that she was up for it! After a year in which we’ve all had to face so much tragic death, this song feels like a reckoning of sorts, and a moment to process and hope for better in the future. I also want to give a special thanks to my neighbor Mike Malkiewicz for letting us transform and use his beautiful backyard stage.” — Rachel Baiman
Artist:Angela Autumn Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (originally from Zelienople, Pennsylvania) Song: “Sowin’ Seeds” Album:Frontiers Woman Release Date: June 4, 2021
In Their Words: “‘Sowin’ Seeds’ is the oldest song on the record; I wrote it in 2017. It explores the could-be life of the musician; one of imagined ease, free from sacrifice. Once, after a show, a construction worker asked that I play this song again. It was in Pittsburgh, a town full of blue-collar workers. The chorus is a reference to the African American spiritual, ‘Working on a Building,’ which was recorded and later popularized by The Carter Family. The song features Nate Leath on fiddle, Keagan Justice on banjo, Mickey Justice on mandolin, and Kate Haldrup on drums.” — Angela Autumn
This week on The Show On The Road, we bring you a deep dive with silky-voiced, southern gothic-folk songwriter Lera Lynn. Lynn has recently gained notoriety for her mysterious and lushly cinematic sound, as heard on her haunting 2020 LP, On My Own (on which she writes, produces and plays every instrument on each song) and in the music of HBO’s True Detective (produced by T-Bone Burnett) — she became a cast member in Season 2.
We’ve all had our dark moments during this last year. For Lera Lynn it was figuring out how to put out a new album, which she had painstakingly made herself in isolation (see also: Springsteen’s moody and homemade Nebraska), right as her first baby was on the way without any family being allowed to help shoulder the load. At times, the burden seemed too much to bear, but what emerged was a touchstone set of songs that unintentionally seemed to pinpoint the exact center of our collective dread — and the flickers of hope of a new beginning that can come out of a such a societal time-quake. Searching, reverb-y rock standouts like “Are You Listening?” seem to be calling out into a void that we never knew we had, perhaps reminding us again how much we need human touch, friendship, family warmth, and true soul connection.
While we are currently emerging into the light-filled end of this COVID-19 tunnel, it’s important to note that this interview was conducted back in 2020 in the thick of the harshest lockdowns (the taping footage was lost, then finally found). Songs like “Isolation” hit the exact pain point for many artists like Lynn, who once thrived on bringing live-music’s unique sweaty joy to strangers in a new town each night. Her rising calls of “Is anybody out there?” ring like echoes from a very recent bad dream. A dream, of course, that is still very much a painful reality across this country and around the world.
Coming out of the fertile roots rock scene of Athens, GA, Lynn’s earlier records — like the intimate and country-inflected Have You Met Lera Lynn? from 2011 and its pop-forward follow ups The Avenues (2016) and Resistor (2017) — focused mostly on her endlessly warm and rich voice and the fury and frustration she was processing having grown up an only child of an alcoholic dad. But it was her guest-star-laden LP, Plays Well With Others (2018), where Lynn began to realize the extent of her gifted arranging and vocal powers together. Teaming up with a murderer’s row of Americana artists like Shovels & Rope, John Paul White of the Civil Wars, and Rodney Crowell, the album may be the most high-spirited of her works — like a basement party jam session going off the rails in all the best ways.
The tough year at home did make Lynn come to appreciate how far she’s come since those early days — maybe it took a decade of hard-won acceptance and practice to be able to create On My Own without any help from other musicians or producers. The result is a wonder to hear. Now if she could just play it for an actual live audience. Stick around to the end of the episode to hear Lynn introduce her favorite broken-romance number, “So Far.”
Not many artists are doing what Nick Shoulders is doing today. With energy, attitude, and a yodel as good as any out there, Shoulders is keeping that classic country and western sound alive. Theatricality and vigor sum up this Arkansan’s style as a singer and songwriter, drawing on deep ties to southern music and life experiences gathered in his Ozark upbringing.
A true embodiment of integrity and DIY ethics, Shoulders’ new album, Home on the Rage, was recorded entirely in Arkansas and captured onto tape. In this OurVinyl session, Nick Shoulders and vibrant fiddler Milly Raccoon stand on the front porch of an old farm home and perform the upbeat number, “After Hours.” To hear something that harks from way back but with a modern twinge about it, check out the OurVinyl session below.
Artist:Shay Martin Lovette Hometown: Boone, North Carolina Song: “Parkway Bound” Album:Scatter & Gather Release Date: May 14, 2021
In Their Words: “This song is a tip of the hat to the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs from Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the western edge of North Carolina near Cherokee, to Shenandoah National Park at Rockfish Gap. I consider myself lucky to live near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Boone, North Carolina, and find myself in constant awe of the landscape that this region offers. In ‘Parkway Bound,’ I wanted to capture the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the dead of winter. To me, the hiking trails and scenery in this area offer a means of escape from the confines of normal life and as I got further along in the writing process, I was drawn to the imagery of someone leaving their troubles behind and setting out for the Parkway as I have done so many times. The music could be said to be influenced more by great narrative writers like Norman Blake and Slaid Cleaves than your standard folkies, but there’s a little Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons in there.” — Shay Martin Lovette
The widespread shuttering of the music industry during coronavirus has given many musicians, bands, and artists the opportunity to inspect and reconfigure their priorities. In the many months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, this phenomenon has been well-documented in writing about music — music released as a result of the coronavirus or released in its all-eclipsing shadow, both. Artists have altered so many of the ways they interact with and create music and watching creatives respond to this worldwide cataclysm has been all at once entrancing and existential.
Especially in instrumental music. Especially in instrumental music made in the off time — away from the “day job,” the main gig, or perhaps, again the off time afforded by COVID. In the gaps, where life allows, acoustic musicians in bluegrass, Americana, and old-time have been exploring the existential questions brought about by the pandemic — and also often by parenthood, by identity, by health and well being, or simply by the pursuit of self — in endlessly fascinating musical endeavors.
Andrew Marlin, co-frontperson of longtime Americana string duo Watchhouse (formerly known as Mandolin Orange) released not one but two albums of such endeavors this year, ostensible results of introspection of his role as a father, fighting-while-resigning-to the day-to-day beauties and fears within fatherhood. There’s a bleak, beautiful nakedness to “The Jaybird,” off Fable & Fire, an age-old sounding fiddle tune with sleek, modern simplicities that seem to indicate the gorgeousness possible from being still, watching, waiting, and listening.
On Witching Hour, “Too Hot To Move” isn’t a barn burner, it’s a Musgraves-level slow burn; a tepid, mosquito-laden, languid afternoon on a back porch, the air thick with humidity. Again, striking in its display of the delectable everyday, in not just occupying the same place with the same people daily, but inhabiting that place with intention. Marlin’s backing band of Clint Mullican (bass), Josh Oliver (guitar, piano, and more), Jordan Tice (guitar, bouzouki), and Christian Sedelmeyer (fiddle) is largely consistent between the projects as well, reiterating this point.
Sara Watkins, known for many a “main gig” — whether that be Watkins Family Hour, Nickel Creek, or I’m With Her — released another fantastic solo offering, built on many of the same tenets evident in Marlin’s recordings. Under the Pepper Tree, whose title track is the album’s sole instrumental, is a whimsical, winking collection of near-lullabies and other ageless classics rendered as only Watkins could, with pop underpinnings and gloss, but a worn, charming patina of bluegrass and Americana via the American Songbook and its associated canon.
“Under the Pepper Tree” listens like a fiddled campfire coda to a day on the trail; or, similarly, as if a goodnight to Watkins’ young daughter, after returning from tour. While the album as a whole carries the movement and adventure of the Wild West, as well as theatre and cinema and gaiety, its sense of place — of rootedness — is remarkable, especially in “Under the Pepper Tree,” oozing of lessons learned and intentions made underneath its boughs through pandemic isolation.
Continuing on fiddle, Mike Barnett’s non-Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder project released in 2020, +1, feels like somewhat familiar territory, a collection of duets with friends and musical compatriots that stretches out purposefully and athletically from his tours with the Country Music Hall of Famer (who also appears on the album). “Piece O’ Shrimp,” with guest Alex Hargreaves on twin fiddle, is wonky, newgrassy, orchestral, and sly with old-time baked in and a dash of Darol Anger & Mike Marshall’s duet work.
The poetry in the tune, and the entire project really, came from a health-related pausing of a different kind, though. While the rest of us felt the world halt due to the coronavirus, Barnett’s record release, as well as his performing career, were unexpectedly paused when Barnett suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in July 2020. This collection of songs gains an entirely new meaning, not only in the context of COVID-19, but also as a waypoint on Barnett’s journey through music, his recovery, and his eventual return to playing. Still in in-patient rehabilitation and therapy, Barnett posted an update via GoFundMe (support here) in February 2021 that closed, “…A full recovery is possible and likely!”
Finally, to conclude our foray into solo instrumental explorations, Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter of Meadow Mountain, considers ideas of place, identity, and belonging on his upcoming crowdfunded release, Spark in Your Smile. Decidedly forsaking tradition-adjacency, perhaps more than might be expected if a listener’s entry point is Meadow Mountain, the album is a testament to Armstrong-Zickefoose’s commitment to community building; he’s utilizing music and creative expression for that purpose. The expansive quality of the project’s lack of genre conjures joy first and foremost, especially on “Mona,” and globe-crossing communities as a near second, each instrument, texture, and tone evidence of what’s possible when roots music allows folks to be and to belong. A priority high on everyone’s list, but especially queer folks in bluegrass, old-time, and Americana like Armstrong-Zickefoose.
As touring bands return to the road, it will continue to be fascinating to watch musicians navigate the reconfiguration of their priorities — and how they will continue to carve out the time to express themselves, instrumentally and otherwise, while life, and the music industry, charges on ahead.
Photo credit: Sara Watkins by Jacob Boll; Andrew Marlin by Lindsey Rome.
In Their Words: “This is a story of unusual friendship and strength in companionship, inspired by the beautiful work of Finnish photographer Lassi Rautiainen. In Finland’s northern forests a grey wolf and a brown bear — two typically solitary animals — were found to have formed a magical bond; playing, eating and hunting together. We loved the imagery of old pines and misty lands setting the scene for this natural wonder. Recorded at home in Norwich during the lockdown of 2020/2021.” — Christina Alden & Alex Patterson
Artist:Maia Sharp Hometown: Nashville, TN (originally Los Angeles, CA) Song: “Things to Fix” Album:Mercy Rising Release Date: May 7, 2021 Label: Crooked Crown
In Their Words: “When I moved into my place in Nashville in 2019 (from California where I had lived all my life) there was, of course, a list of things to fix or upgrade or just tailor to my taste. This was all while I was trying to process the end of my 21-year marriage. I knew there were things I said that I wish I hadn’t and things I should’ve said that I didn’t. I wasn’t sure how to fix that yet so instead I painted a room and then another room, I replaced locks and hinges and repurposed picture frames, you get the idea. I brought this situation as a song idea to my co-writer, Noah Guthrie (who has a great version of the song on his new album) and we saw it all the way through. Eventually I did get to say the better things to my ex and we are lifelong friends but in the meantime I had the cleanest house ever.” — Maia Sharp
Allison Russell has already made an exceptional impression in roots music — first in the duo Birds of Chicago, then as a member of Our Native Daughters. Now with her new album Outside Child, she’s putting her own story front and center. Whether she’s singing in English or French, Russell’s voice feels like satin, comfortable and cool. Yet she weaves some of the most painful memories of her formative years in Montréal into the fabric of her Fantasy Recordings debut.
Special guests on the album include the McCrary Sisters, Ruth Moody, Erin Rae, and Yola. Upon revealing the project, Russell wrote, “This is my first solo album. It is acutely personal. It was hard for me to write, harder still to sing, play, and share. Also a relief. Like sucking the poison from a snake bite. Thanks to the supreme empathy, musicality, kindness, sensitivity, and humour of each artist who brought these songs to life with me, the recording process became — by some mystical alchemy –joyous and empowering…. Eased by loving communal laughter as much as shared tears.”
Specifically pulling from the childhood trauma she experienced at the hands of her stepfather, she adds, “This is my attempt at truth and reconciliation and forgiveness — a reckoning and a remembrance. This is my attempt to be the hero of my own history, despite the shame that has been my closest and constant companion all these years.”
We are proud to present Allison Russell as our BGS Artist of the Month for May. In the days ahead, look for a new performance video, an exclusive interview (read part one here)(read part two here), and a sleek style shoot with this singular artist, who now calls Nashville home alongside her partner JT Nero and their young daughter. Discover more of her musical journey with our BGS Essentials playlist.
Artist:Carsie Blanton Hometown: Philly (via New Orleans and Virginia!) Song: “Mercy” Album:LOVE & RAGE Release Date: April 30, 2021 Label: So Ferocious Records
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Mercy’ for my husband Jon, who I’ve been with for thirteen years. My early experiences of love were a mixed bag; what seemed like love was often more about control. Through Jon, I found out that love can be a gentle force that allows us to become more ourselves. Once I discovered that, I was able to envision a whole world of love; a world that’s less about control and more about compassion.” — Carsie Blanton
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez
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