Tag: Americana

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Mon Rovîa, Brennen Leigh, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

You Gotta Hear This! Our weekly new music collection is yet again full-to-bursting with the best in country, bluegrass, Americana, and beyond. It’s another week for popcorn and Milk Duds, too, as most of our featured artists have brought us music videos to enjoy.

Son of iconic and beloved troubadour Jim Croce, singer-songwriter A.J. Croce brings a soulful and plaintive song, “Didn’t You Want That Too,” packaged in a brooding and passionate performance video. Croce tells us he wrote the song while heartbroken on a cross-country flight. South Caroline’s Jennie Arnau showcases an adorable stop-motion music video today for “Mabel,” a lovely and heartfelt Americana track inspired by her beloved cat and the idea that when you need connection and joy, one ought not forget the comfort and light we carry with us as we move through our communities and the world.

In the bluegrass realm, one of Western North Carolina’s favorite mandolinists/bandleaders Darren Nicholson drops a new single today, “Get Me Down the Line.” Written with Charles Humphrey III, it’s deep-pocketed and grooving modern ‘grass, an anthem for all the folks who might be chasing the next best thing. Plus, Josh “Jug” Rinkel returns with another solo performance video from his Live from Reverb and Echo Studio series. “Lonely and Free” came to Rinkel like a jolt in the middle of the night; he wrote the song sitting on the side of his bed at 4 a.m.

A Good Country purveyor of the first degree, Brennen Leigh has a new single that released last week, “Tell Me,” so we’re excited to share the new music video for that fine track. The video is a bit of an aesthetic time machine, a stylistic rewind that pays tribute to the ’60s on Music Row and “country business casual,” which we love. Boston-based artist Robin Young also shares her new video for “There’s a Part of Me,” below. Featuring a loping, energetic beat and plucked banjo, it’s the first song Young wrote for her upcoming album, Letters to a Ghost, and it artfully balances country and bluegrass grit with a lush, glossy polish.

Rounding us out, an indie folk singer-songwriter who’s almost universally beloved by the internet – and IRL – Mon Rovîa has announced his debut full-length album today with a new track, a single from the project, “Whose face am i.” Bloodline, the upcoming LP, arrives in January 2026. “Whose face am i” shows Mon’s captivating, contemplative sort of writing that has charmed millions of indie and roots fans around the globe. It’s a song about generational trauma, history, family, interpersonal connections, and the strife and turmoil that can stand between these facets of identity.

We hope you enjoy another exemplary round-up of roots music, ’cause You Gotta Hear This!

Jennie Arnau, “Mabel”

Artist: Jennie Arnau
Hometown: Greenville, South Carolina
Song: “Mabel”
Album: A Rising Tide
Release Date: September 5 (single); September 12 (video); November 7, 2025 (album)

In Their Words: “When I wrote ‘Mabel,’ I was reflecting on a time when I craved more connection and joy. While I was traveling alone, it occurred to me that my cat, Mabel, my constant companion and quiet soulmate, reminded me of the comfort and light I carry with me. That thought brought into focus how much I thrive when I’m traveling, meeting people, sharing a glass of wine, and exploring new ideas and places. That’s when I feel most alive. The idea for the video came to me immediately after. I found Adrian (the videographer) and asked him to capture a character on a journey – discovering light, warmth, and happiness along the way. In many ways, Mabel represents the brighter version of myself, the part that chooses joy and moves forward and he was really able to translate that in what I think is an amazing video.” – Jennie Arnau

Track Credits:
Jennie Arnau – Vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriter
Alan Lerner – Drums
Pete Levin – Keyboards
Binky Griptite – Electric guitar
Brett Bass – Bass
Greg McMullen – Pedal Steel
Kendall Sherman – Background vocals
Jacob Joliff – Mandolin
Mike Savino – Banjo, tenor guitar

Video Credit: Adrian Venti

A.J. Croce, “Didn’t You Want That Too”

Artist: A.J. Croce
Hometown: Born in Bryn Mawr near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Song: “Didn’t You Want That Too”
Album: Heart of the Eternal
Release Date: September 12 (video); March 7, 2025 (album)

In Their Words: “This is the most personal song on the album. Some songs I’ve written are fun to analyze, because in looking back I see that there was a deeper meaning than I realized at the time. In this case it’s too painful for me to look any deeper than the surface. I wrote it, heartbroken, on a flight from California to Tennessee.” – AJ Croce

Brennen Leigh, “Tell Me”

Artist: Brennen Leigh
Hometown: Moorhead, Minnesota
Song: “Tell Me”
Album: Don’t You Ever Give Up On Love
Release Date: September 3 (single); September 12 (video); October 3, 2025 (album)
Label: Signature Sounds

In Their Words: “When our producer Kevin Skrla built Wolfe Island Recording Co., it was with Nashville’s legendary RCA Studio B in mind. Many of my favorite albums were made at RCA in the ’60s, so when we recorded the video for ‘Tell Me,’ we were imagining some of the magic that occurred in that world… when Nashville A Team studio musicians might have gone in for a day of work in the studio. We played dress up, imagining folks like legendary producer and musician Chet Atkins and visionary engineer and vocal group leader Anita Kerr, what they might have worn – country business casual – and the charts they may have made.

“I’ve always been a musician first and a performer second, so the world of working session players in the ’60s holds a special mystique for me. Georgia Parker, Rebecca Patek, and Josh Artall (some of my favorite musicians) portrayed the original session band, Dave Biller, Matty Meyer, Josh Hoag, and Damien O’Grady. Kevin Skrla and I portrayed ourselves. We’re saving up for a time machine.” –Brennen Leigh

Video Credit: Directed by Oceanna

Darren Nicholson, “Get Me Down The Line”

Artist: Darren Nicholson
Hometown: Canton, North Carolina
Song: “Get Me Down The Line”
Release Date: September 12, 2025
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Get Me Down The Line’ is such a fun song! It’s another one that I co-wrote with Charles Humphrey III and it’s without a doubt the best response I’ve ever had to a song when performed for our live audiences. It’s a jukin’ little anthem for the person who is chasing the next best thing – another take on the human condition and how we are constantly looking for something to fill the void, looking for whatever ‘it’ is to make us feel better temporarily. I am laughing as I write this because I’m very familiar with this notion. I love writing songs about my own human experience, and I hope maybe others can relate to them from time to time. Thanks for listening! I hope you find yourself groovin’ along as well. Have fun and enjoy the quest for whatever ‘it’ is that gets you on down the line.” – Darren Nicholson

Track Credits:
Darren Nicholson – Mandolin, lead vocal
Tony Creasman – Drums
Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo
Mark Fain – Upright bass
David Johnson – Acoustic guitar, resonator guitar
Kevin Sluder – Harmony vocal
Avery Welty – Harmony vocal

Josh Rinkel, “Lonely and Free”

Artist: Josh Rinkel
Hometown: Mount Eden, Kentucky
Song: “Lonely and Free”
Album: Live from Reverb and Echo Studio
Release Date: September 12, 2025 (video)
Label: Reverb and Echo

In Their Words: “I’ve always heard songwriters tell stories about how a song came to them in their sleep, how it woke them up and they just had to write it… I never believed them until it happened to me. That’s how ‘Lonely and Free’ came about. I wrote that song sitting on the side of my bed after waking up out of a dead sleep at four in the morning. I think a lot of people are afraid to admit that they’re lonely and they write it off as being free or independent – not needing someone in their life to slow them down. To me, that’s the meaning behind ‘Lonely and Free.'” – Josh Rinkel

Video Credits: Video by Carter Brice; audio by Dan Deurloo.

Mon Rovîa, “Whose face am i”

Artist: Mon Rovîa
Hometown: Libera-born, Tennessee-based
Song: “Whose face am i”
Album: Bloodline
Release Date: September 12, 2025 (single); January 9, 2026 (album)
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “A lot of life is about your history. The search for understanding what has happened, what is, and what isn’t. The Truth lies at the epicenter of the case. For many adopted children, or those who have lost parents when young or never knew theirs to begin with, there can be an unspoken weight. We all long to know who brought us into this world, and at what cost. Relief releases sweetly as answers come to light. Know you aren’t alone in your search for your story. Many seek with you.” – Mon Rovîa

Robin Young, “There’s a Part of Me”

Artist: Robin Young
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “There’s a Part of Me”
Album: Letters to a Ghost
Release Date: September 17 (single); October 17, 2025 (album)

In Their Words: “‘There’s a Part of Me’ is the first song I wrote for my debut album, when my emotions were truly raw. I was in the beginning stages of a relationship with someone new while a large part of my heart stayed stubbornly loyal to someone from my past. He’d made me feel a depth of emotion that I just couldn’t seem to access with anyone else and I couldn’t imagine ever being able to move past it, though many years down the road I now thankfully have.

“The major chords during the chorus represent a momentary glimpse of what moving on might feel like, but then drift back into minor chords in the verses like a slide back to reality. Rather than sounding upbeat, the faster tempo is meant to feel almost frantic.

“The music video shows me trying to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Western Massachusetts in the present, while being continually pulled back into memories of the past. The one shot taken indoors is meant to evoke a confession booth as I express the guilt of retaining feelings for someone while in a relationship with someone else.” – Robin Young

Track Credits:
Robin Young – Vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriter
Charlie Burket – Electric guitar, mandolin, banjo
Carter Sanders – Piano
Russ Sternglass – Drums
Joe McMahon – Upright bass

Video Credits: Directed and edited by Chris Bartlett. Color grading by Jefferson Rosa.

Photo Credit: Mon Rovîa by Zayne Isom; Brennen Leigh by Lyza Renee.

A Country Road Trip

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Editor’s Note: Each issue of Good Country, our co-founder Ed Helms will share a handful of good country artists, albums, and songs direct from his own earphones in Ed’s Picks.

Asleep at the Wheel

Among the many excellent Texan country & western bands Asleep at the Wheel have been standing tall for more than 50 years. Their new album, Riding High in Texas, collects ten of the best songs about the state from some of country’s most iconic artists and writers – and it features quite a few stellar guests as well, like Lyle Lovett, Brennen Leigh, and Billy Strings.

The Creekers

A few short weeks ago, no one would have faulted you for not knowing who Eastern Kentucky bluegrass band the Creekers were. Now, their track “Tennessee” is seemingly everywhere on the internet. The song has been used on more than 36,000 TikTok videos and the group has quickly amassed upwards of 60,000 followers on the platform – plus, “Tennessee” has been streamed more than 3 million times on Spotify and has racked over half a million spins on YouTube! Let the catchy tune do the explaining why.

KIRBY

Here’s some Good Country! Now, it’s true not every track from this Mississippian genre-bender’s brand new album, Miss Black America, would be “permissible” on country radio, there are still plenty of rural, down-home, red clay, Americana moments throughout this impeccable collection. From the visuals of the album and her social media accounts to tracks like “The Man,” “Reparations,” “Mama Don’t Worry,” and “Thick n Country” it’s clear KIRBY and her material would fit right in alongside the best of today’s pop country and country trap – and would certainly outshine most songs in those subgenres, too.

Sabine McCalla

The GC team was first introduced to this incredible singer-songwriter, Sabine McCalla, through her equally talented sister, Leyla. But soon after that she took the internet by storm with her Western AF video performance of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” – which rests comfortably at 1.1 million views on YouTube. McCalla just announced her debut full-length album, Don’t Call Me Baby, arriving November 7 via Gar Hole Records and we can’t wait. The singles she’s released so far promise more lovely and innovative heart-wrenching indie-roots music.

Margo Price

New Margo Price music is always cause for celebration. We’ve worked with Margo a lot over the years, from Bonnaroo to the Good Country Goodtime at Newport Folk Festival this July, and we’re constantly impressed by her drive, grit, tenacity, and the way agency is at the center of all of her work. That’s certainly true for her brand new album, Hard Headed Woman. Don’t ever change, Margo.

Want more Good Country? Sign up to receive our monthly email newsletter – and much more music! – direct to your inbox.

Photo Credits: Asleep at the Wheel by Curtis Clogston; The Creekers courtesy of the artist; KIRBY by Justin Hardiman; Sabine McCalla by Camille Lenain; Margo Price by Yana Yatsuk

BGS 5+5: Diane King

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Diane King
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (grew up in Beverly, Ohio)
Latest Album: SKY (releasing September 19, 2025)
Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): D-Music

Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?

I actually have five or six artists who have had a big influence on my songwriting and artistry. But, to pick one: it’s Olivia Newton-John. I heard her song, “Let Me Be There,” on our country radio station in southeastern Ohio when I was around 8 years old. I remember it vividly. We had just pulled into the grocery store parking lot as the song began to play. I asked my mom if we could listen to it before going into the store. She happily obliged and, at the end of the song, the DJ said, “That’s Olivia Newton-John,” and my life was changed.

Specifically speaking to her musical talents, the two things I love most are her beautiful voice and her flawless harmonies. I love vocal harmony and her albums are full of them! But, Livy is so much more to me than a singer or musical artist. In addition to loving her angelic voice, I love her kindness and gentle spirit. And, frankly, she was a light for me. As a young girl, I watched her career and accomplishments and I knew there was something outside of the hills where I was growing up.

Here’s an interesting story. When I was working with Harlan Howard we were going to lunch one day and he asked me who I received my “calling” through. I remember just looking at him and pausing, because I hadn’t known anyone before who understood that, receiving your calling to music through another artist. I knew exactly what he meant. After pausing, I said, “Olivia Newton-John,” and in my mind I reflected back on that day in the car at 8 years old, listening to “Let Me Be There.” Harlan nodded and said, “Yep! I met her once; she was a sweetheart and a great singer!” He proceeded to tell me he received his calling through Ernest Tubb over the radio listening to the Opry in a barn loft in Michigan. It was a moment, for someone to fully understand how another artist can have such profound meaning in your life. That person for me is Olivia Newton-John.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory is going to be when I stand in the circle of the Grand Ole Opry to sing my songs on the live show for the first time!

What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?

I had a five-year battle with and recovery from lymphoma. I had a significant amount of trauma to my neck and throat with multiple procedures and surgeries in that area. Once I finally turned the corner on that cancer battle and the healing began, my voice performed differently. That has been and still is a big adjustment for me. Singing is certainly not as easy as it used to be “BC” (before cancer, as I call it), but I keep at it! I’m so grateful to be writing, singing, and recording again!

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

These are some songs that will likely surprise you that stop me in my tracks when I hear them. When they’re playing, I have to stop whatever I’m doing and just listen and be in the song. I can’t function in any other way.

“Uptown Funk” – Bruno Mars
“Nessun Dorma” – Aretha Franklin
“Dancing Queen” – ABBA
“Play That Funky Music White Boy” – Wild Cherry
“Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift
“Shoop Shoop” – Whitney Houston
“Simply the Best” – Tina Turner
“Addicted to Love” – Robert Palmer
“Deborah’s Theme” – Chris Botti

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

I so love this question! I can’t even tell you how many times my co-producer, Stephan Oberhoff, and I would use food metaphors to communicate with each other what we wanted to hear when recording a song. Such as me saying, “Stephan, it needs to sound more lush, like a creamy, rich alfredo sauce with a subtle hint of salt.” Or, “Can you make it sound warmer – it needs a dash of nutmeg.” So, yes, I agree that food and music go well together, in many ways! To answer your question: Dolly Parton and fried chicken (with some spice) and waffles with real maple syrup, a side of mashed potatoes with butter, sweet iced tea, and a piece of homemade apple pie a la mode!

Photo Credit: Misti Fahr

Finding Lucinda: Episode 10

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Ismay wakes up the day after interviewing Mary Gauthier ready to attend a live performance by Lucinda Williams at the Ryman Auditorium. In order to finish out their journey, Ismay hopes to interview Lucinda right before her show and find a conclusion to their road trip. However, it turns out that due to unforeseen circumstances the interview is no longer possible. So, Ismay attends the show anyway and has to make a decision about whether to continue following Lucinda or to move forward. Plus, they meet up with engineer and producer for Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Ray Kennedy.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • AMAZON • MP3

Produced in partnership with BGS and distributed through the BGS Podcast Network, Finding Lucinda expands on the themes of Ismay’s eponymous documentary film, exploring artistic influence, creative resilience, and the impact of Williams’ music. New episodes are released twice a month. Listen right here on BGS or wherever you get podcasts.

Finding Lucinda, the documentary film that inspired and instigated the podcast, is slated for release on September 9, 2025. Both the film and podcast showcase never-before-heard archival material, intimate conversations, and a visual journey through the literal and figurative landscapes that molded Lucinda’s songwriting.

Credits:
Produced and mixed by Avery Hellman for Neanderthal Records, LLC.
Music by Ismay.
Artwork by Avery Hellman.
Nashville Recording: Recorded at Room and Board Studio.
Sound Recordist: Rodrigo Nino
Producer: Liz McBee
Director: Joel Fendelman
Co-Director & Cinematographer: Rose Bush
Special thanks to: Mick Hellman, Chuck Prophet, Jonathan McHugh, Sydney Lane, Don Fierro, Jacqueline Sabec, Rosemary Carroll, Lucinda Williams, and Tom Overby

Find more information on Finding Lucinda here. Find our full Finding Lucinda episode archive here.

Pre-order the documentary film via Apple TV here.

Rick Trevino on Only Vans
with Bri Bagwell

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Today on Only Vans, a living legend. A wordsmith. A wine connoisseur. Rick Trevino joins me in the van to talk about his whole experience of life thus far. We discuss wine, his getting signed Cinderella story, speaking Spanish, tropical music, writing on piano versus guitar, having a writing partner, and his awesome family, too.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • AMAZON • MP3

Rick Trevino is a dang living legend in my book and when his cousin and tour manager Gibby (who has filmed some of my music videos) told me Rick wanted to be on the podcast, I almost died. Then Rick and Gibby showed up with a bottles of wine and whiskey for us and I actually did die.

I think what’s cool about this casual conversation with Rick is that he has gotten to write, record, and sing among so many legendary people – so much so that he just talks about everyone on a first-named basis. Raul is Raul Malo from The Mavericks, for example, and Flaco is of course Flaco Jimenez, rest in peace.

I re-listened to the Los Super Seven records that I had forgotten Rick was a part of, and man, y’all gotta dive back into those! And also all of Rick’s catalog, but especially get to a live show. Thanks for the chat and gifts, Ricky!

 

You Gotta Hear This: The Foreign Landers, Rachel McIntyre Smith, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

You Gotta Hear This! We’ve got bluegrass, Americana, folk, and so much more for you in our weekly roundup of new music and premieres.

Kicking us off, Western North Carolina bluegrass greats Balsam Range dust off an old track, “Virginia Girl,” from member Caleb Smith’s archive solo album for their own rendition – with a special “vintage” banjo solo added in. From just down the mountains in upstate South Carolina, bluegrass and roots duo the Foreign Landers share their lovely new song, “Smell the Rose,” which reflects on the good, simple gifts we all receive while walking through life (if we’re open to receiving them!).

Elsewhere in our collection, another folk-Americana duo, Oliver the Crow, return with new music for the first time in a few years, offering a new video for “Burn It Down,” a song about finding redemption in starting over, starting fresh. And Rachel McIntyre Smith – who has been sharing a mini-series of cover song performance video collaborations on BGS over the past few weeks – unveils an impeccable cover of Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn” with fellow artist Sammi Accola joining in.

Don’t miss Natalie Del Carmen singing “El Cortez,” an energetic country-folk song about spending time with her father and the rarity of still enjoying first-time experiences as an adult, when such firsts are much more common as a child. You’ll also hear singer-songwriter Jared Dustin Griffin fingerpicking and growling through “Shovel,” a new track that meditates on sacrifices and all you can gain from the labor of putting yourself aside.

Bringing us vibey indie roots rock, Liam Kazar contemplates “The Word The War” on his new single from his upcoming album, Pilot Light. You can watch the video for this musical exploration of loneliness and the journey (rather than the destination) below. And finally, from all the way across the globe, the High Street Drifters of Melbourne, Australia, introduce their down-under bluegrass to BGS with “Words for Leaving,” a song about distance, longing, and goodbyes – sweet and bittersweet.

It’s a stout collection this week and we’re excited for you to get to it. You know what we say every time– You Gotta Hear This!

Balsam Range, “Virginia Girl”

Artist: Balsam Range
Hometown: Haywood County, North Carolina
Song: “Virginia Girl”
Release Date: September 5, 2025

In Their Words: “In 2013, I was putting together some tunes for a solo album. Patton Wages was my first call to help me with his killer banjo playing. I first met Patton at Everett’s Music Barn in Suwanee, Georgia, around 2005 and I immediately was a fan. We became friends and stayed in touch. He became Balsam Range’s first call if Marc Pruett ever needed to miss a gig and Patton always filled Marc’s great picking with greatness of his own.

“I wrote ‘Virginia Girl’ in March of 2013 and it was slated to be on my solo album along with “God Knows,” “The Touch,” a few more originals, and a few standards. Patton, Aaron Ramsey, Adam Steffey, and Nicky Sanders helped me create the album. I’ve sat on the tune and the album since 2013, frequently revisiting it when Balsam Range needed a tune to add to one of our albums, but ‘Virginia Girl’ has remained unused for 12 years… until now! Balsam Range recut the tune and I had an idea to see if we could fly Patton’s original banjo cut from 2013 to our new 2025 cut and it worked flawlessly, as if it were meant to be. Our engineer Clay Miller at Crossroads Studios in Asheville, North Carolina, worked his magic and did such an awesome job! Patton, I’m honored that you agreed to this and I’m honored to be your friend! We hope you enjoy ‘Virginia Girl.'” – Caleb Smith

Track Credits:
Caleb Smith – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Tim Surrett – Upright bass, harmony vocal
Patton Wages – Banjo
Marc Pruett – Banjo
Don Rigsby – Fiddle, harmony vocal
Alan Bibey – Mandolin

Natalie Del Carmen, “El Cortez”

Artist: Natalie Del Carmen
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “El Cortez”
Album: Pastures
Release Date: September 12, 2025 (song); January 30, 2026 (album)
Label: Torrez Music Group

In Their Words: ‘”El Cortez’ was written for my dad, so I knew early on that I had to get it right. Last holiday, I gambled with him in Vegas for the first time at the El Cortez Hotel. It was such a fun time together. When you’re young, your first experiences go over your head because everything is a first. But then you become an adult and the pool of opportunity to have first experienced memories gets smaller. I have more respect for my parents now than I ever could have understood as a kid. It’s about getting familiar with all the ways you feel rich in life that really don’t involve money.” – Natalie Del Carmen

Track Credits:
Natalie Del Carmen – Vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo
Nick Antonelli – Bass
Amelia Eisenhaeur – Fiddle
Jordan Ezquerro – Organ
Tanir Morrison – Drums, percussion
Amelia Eisenhauer – Percussion

The Foreign Landers, “Smell the Rose”

Artist: The Foreign Landers
Hometown: Travelers Rest, South Carolina
Song: “Smell the Rose”
Release Date: September 12, 2025

In Their Words: “‘Smell the Rose’ was written with our good friend Danielle Yother as a reflection on the good gifts we’re given in this life – things like music shared with friends, laughter around a campfire, sunsets, or driving down a beautiful highway with the windows down. Those moments are full of beauty, but they also slip away with time. In writing this song, we wanted to capture both the joy and the ache of that truth. For us, it points to something deeper: a reminder that while all good things here fade, they’re signposts that lead us to the one source of lasting love and beauty – God himself. Our hope is that this song encourages listeners to savor those fleeting gifts while also looking beyond them to the greater hope we have in him.” – The Foreign Landers

Track Credits:
Tabitha Agnew Benedict – Lead vocals, guitar, banjo
David Benedict – BGVs, mandolin
Danielle Yother – BGVs
Julian Pinelli – Fiddle
Nate Sabat – Bass

Jared Dustin Griffin, “Shovel”

Artist: Jared Dustin Griffin
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Song: “Shovel”
Album: The Perseverance of Sisyphus
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Label: First City Artists

In Their Words: “‘Shovel’ was born in the heat of July 2020, my hands fumbling through unfamiliar fingerpicking patterns until the song unearthed itself. The melody came slow, like digging through hard earth, and the lyrics followed in a single, fevered afternoon. It’s a meditation on sacrifice – how we bury parts of ourselves for something greater and the toll that takes. In the shadow of calvary this song wields its own blade, turning over the soil of belief and what it costs.” – Jared Dustin Griffin

Track Credits:
Jared Dustin Griffin – Guitar, harmonica
Heather Little – Harmonies
Fergal Scahill – Fiddle, mandolin
Nathan Alef – Piano
Matt Greco – Piano, organ
Dave Campbell – Banjo
Frank Swart – Bass
Derrick Phillips – Drums

The High Street Drifters, “Words For Leaving”

Artist: The High Street Drifters
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Song: “Words for Leaving”
Release Date: September 3, 2025

In Their Words: “‘Words for Leaving’ began its life at a lonely bus station in between where I was headed and who I was saying goodbye to. We wanted the track to carry that bittersweet feeling, balancing lyrical tenderness with the bluegrass pulse moving you down the road. Every instrument is a part of the dialogue, echoing the goodbyes we say to loved ones knowing that loving someone always carries the possibility of losing them. Being in Australia, so far from much of the rest of the world and with so much distance between places and people, gives this track a weight I think a lot of people will connect with. The push and pull between heartache and hope.” – Justin Vilchez, mandolin

Liam Kazar, “The Word The War”

Artist: Liam Kazar
Hometown: Chicago-raised, Brooklyn-based
Song: “The Word The War”
Album: Pilot Light
Release Date: November 7, 2025
Label: Congrats Records

In Their Words: “I can’t say I know exactly what the word is, what the war is. Utter loneliness at the mountain top, perhaps? Not that I’ve ever been there. Something close to knowing and loving the path, not the destination. Poor sleepless queen and her sleepless nights alone, but whatever, that’s her problem. Get me to the riff!” – Liam Kazar

Video Credits: Directed, produced, and edited by Austin Vesely.
Kevin Veselka – Director of photography
Featuring Emily Neale.

Rachel McIntyre Smith, “Slow Burn” featuring Sammi Accola (Honeysuckle Friend Sessions)

Artist: Rachel McIntyre Smith and Sammi Accola
Hometown: Oliver Springs, Tennessee
Song: “Slow Burn”
Latest Album: Honeysuckle Friend (Deluxe)
Release Date: September 10, 2025 (video); June 27, 2025 (deluxe EP)

In Their Words: “I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Sammi Accola at writers rounds over the years, but we had never hung out one-on-one until this recording. I truly felt like we became friends during this session. I think that’s evident in the video. We got lost in the groove of this Kacey Musgraves classic and had so much fun with it. This is the final video in the three-part series with BGS as part of You Gotta Hear This, but the Honeysuckle Friend Sessions continue on my YouTube channel!” – Rachel McIntyre Smith

“I love how naturally it came together – Rachel and I had a completely different song in mind, but the moment I saw the Kacey Musgraves vinyl on her living room wall and we started talking about the mutually loved album, the choice felt easy. ‘Slow Burn’ is just the best – gorgeous, full of harmonies, and somehow both light and grounding. In the middle of a hectic week, it was the perfect song to play. A reminder to slow down, appreciate the people in our life, and laugh at lines like, ‘Grandma cried when I pierced my nose,’ relishing our twenty-something years. I love collaborating with Rachel and celebrating the power and simplicity of a great lyric.” – Sammi Accola

Video Credits: Filmed and edited by Rachel McIntyre Smith.

Watch more Honeysuckle Friend Sessions on BGS here and here.

Oliver the Crow, “Burn It Down”

Artist: Oliver the Crow
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Burn it Down”
Album: A Feather in a Hurricane
Release Date: September 5, 2025 (single); November 28, 2025 (album)

In Their Words: “‘Burn it Down’ is a song about starting over – a song about building something great and how that sometimes means taking down whatever’s in its place. To illustrate this point, this is my fourth rewrite of a song using this same chorus. Over many years of scratching out verses and starting over, my life itself became a bunch of fresh starts. Maybe this is what led to the final version you hear today – one of the more stripped-back and bare songs from an album of mostly larger, fuller production.” – Ben Plotnick

Track Credits:
Ben Plotnick – Fiddle, songwriter
Kaitlyn Raitz – Cello
Anthony da Costa – All other sounds, producer

Video Credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

Photo Credit: the Foreign Landers by Nicole Davis; Rachel McIntyre Smith and Sammi Accola courtesy of the artists.

Basic Folk:
Rissi Palmer & Miko Marks

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

This time on Basic Folk, we are checking in with country singer-songwriter and Color Me Country radio host Rissi Palmer and Americana/country artist Miko Marks. The two close friends both came up as Black women in country music in the early part of the 21st century where they experienced gatekeepers and discrimination in the industry, but undeniable love from listeners. Both stepped away from music for several years, but have since come back and found their audiences, artistic grooves, and industry independence. We last spoke with the pair in 2023 (you gotta go listen to that convo if you missed it!) and we have wanted them back on ever since!

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Rissi and Miko dive into who they think is making waves and positive change in country and Americana. We talk about rising pop-country singer Tanner Adell and her 2023 hit “Buckle Bunny,” a song that’s clearly written for a different kind of country music fan (read: young Black women). Rissi mentions having Mississippi country sensation KIRBY on her show recently and promises her Miss Black America to be a monster of an album. There was a lot of consensus on the podcast that Madeline Edwards has released the best album of 2025 with her record Fruit, where she digs into the extreme grief and extreme joy she experienced after her brother passed away.

Elsewhere, we also touch on the pair’s experiences at Rhiannon Giddens’ inaugural Biscuits & Banjos fest in Durham earlier this year, an event dedicated to reclamation and exploration of Black music. We talk about Alice Randall’s new compilation, My Black Country – The Songs of Alice Randall, a collection of Randall compositions recorded by Black women – including selections performed by both Miko and Rissi. We talk about audiences in London versus the US, a contrast BF co-host Lizzie as well as Rissi and Miko have experienced first hand. In fact, Rissi has been curating a Color Me Country stage at The Long Road Festival in Leicestershire, England, for the past four years. We hope you learn something new, get some insight into what’s happening in Americana for musicians who are Black, and gain some joy from listening to Rissi and Miko’s hilarious banter.

Photo Credit: Cedrick Jones

Molly Tuttle Always Leaves a Mark

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Fresh off two back-to-back GRAMMY-winning albums, guitar virtuoso, songwriter, and artist Molly Tuttle is heading in bold new directions with her fifth solo release, So Long Little Miss Sunshine. A California native now based in Nashville, Tuttle embodies many sides of herself while staying rooted in where she comes from – both musically and geographically.

Already highly decorated as an instrumentalist (including two International Bluegrass Music Association awards for Guitar Player of the Year and the Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year), Tuttle continues to captivate with her signature tone while stretching the boundaries of the genre that launched her. And she does it all with reverence and a playful sense of self-exploration.

From the scorching opener “Everything Burns” to the crush-worthy pop bop “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark” (co-written with Better Than Ezra frontman Kevin Griffin), the album weaves together personal reflections and observations of the world around her. It’s a colorful puzzle that reveals the many pieces of Tuttle.

When BGS sat down with her to discuss the album via Zoom, it was clear that her boundless curiosity about life and what’s next musically fuels everything she does. She spoke about her songwriting process, her reverence for her roots, the inspiration behind the album’s visual aesthetic, and how she’s already working on her next project.

You’ve called this record a departure, but to me it also feels like a distillation of all the people you’ve been, all the places you’ve gone, and all of who you are. Even though you’re experimenting with different genres, it feels cohesive—like you’re telling a story about yourself over a really diverse musical bed. Almost as diverse as the wigs on the cover of the record. Was there a lightbulb moment when this project came to life for you, or was it more of a gradual process?

Molly Tuttle: It was kind of a gradual idea. About a year ago, I was finishing the songs for this record. The first one I wrote was “Golden State of Mind,” a few years back, but for a long time, I just had this big batch of songs that didn’t feel like a cohesive grouping. Then last year, there was a light bulb moment where suddenly the songs really started flowing again, and it felt like I’d found this new voice – though it still connected to earlier songs like “Golden State of Mind” and “Everything Burns.” I reworked those older ones and then wrote about two-thirds of the record in the last year.

Making Crooked Tree and City of Gold helped me gain the confidence to do something different this time and not feel tethered to any particular style or genre. Those bluegrass records were me paying tribute to the music I grew up with, and once I did that, I felt free to branch out—try something bold and ambitious sonically while still tying it back to where I came from. I wanted to tie it to my past work but also really spring forward and try something new.

Did you have any trepidation about that shift?

I wasn’t really nervous, but we did have a lot of conversations about it – mainly between me and Jay Joyce, who produced the record. He first saw me play at the Ryman with Golden Highway, which was a bluegrass show, though we always stretched the boundaries a bit. The next day, he called me and said, “I think we should still incorporate your banjo playing and some acoustic elements.” That’s when we brought in Ketch [Secor] to play fiddle, banjo, and mandolin.

We wanted to make sure it didn’t feel like too far of a departure and that it still sounded like me. So we decided to make this a guitar record. Every song has guitar solos and I’m the only soloist on the album. That was new for me, and really exciting.

How did you end up working with Jay? Did you seek him out? Were you a fan of his work?

I actually wasn’t super familiar with him at first. I’d heard music he’d produced, but hadn’t connected it to him by name. During the pandemic, my manager, Ken Levitan, suggested I meet with Jay. Ken thought we’d work well together since Jay’s not only a producer, but also a great guitarist.

I played him some songs and liked his vibe, but at the time, I felt pulled to make Crooked Tree because I had those songs ready to go. Still, I always kept Jay in the back of my mind and really wanted to work with him eventually. Last year it fell into place: I sent him my new songs, we met again, and then started pre-production in the fall. I’m glad that I’d had that rapport with him for the last few years rather than just meeting him when we started making the record.

What was the studio experience like? Did it feel different from your past records?

Very different. We spent so much time on pre-production – more than I ever had before. We worked on arrangements, added solos, and rewrote bridges. By the time we brought in the band for a week of tracking, we already had these really fleshed-out demos. I’d played and sung a lot of my parts. Jay had been programming and I think Ketch had even played some of his parts already. We had a ton of tracks ready to go when we went into record.

Some of my demo takes even made it onto the final record, because I was just so relaxed, not feeling the pressure of having a set number of days to get it all done.

Much of this album was co-written with your partner, Ketch. What does writing with someone who knows you so well unlock for you?

Over time, we’ve developed a shared voice that feels like both of us. Earlier songs sometimes sounded more like his voice or mine, but now it feels like ours. He sees my daily life, so he can suggest ideas I might not have thought of, and that keeps the process flowing and honest.

Are you approaching the tour for this record differently than past tours?

It is going to be a little different. We’ve got some amazing special guests and openers joining us, and I’m excited to collaborate with them onstage.

The band is also super versatile: Ellen Angelico plays pedal steel, Dobro, banjo, and more, and Mary Meyer plays fiddle, mandolin, keys, and guitar. That range allows us to move between full-on rock moments and stripped-down acoustic sets, which fits perfectly with the mix of songs from this new record and my older ones.

The visual aesthetics of this record are striking. How did you land on the album cover concept?

Honestly, I didn’t have an idea at first. I was brainstorming on Pinterest and even asked a friend to pull tarot cards about it. She told me, “I think you already know the cover in your mind – you just need to uncover it.” Around that time, my friend Fletcher Moore sent me this grid of women with different hairstyles, and I was also looking at Let It Be by the Beatles. I thought, “What if I did something like that?”

This is the first time I’ve appeared without a wig on an album cover. I’ve worn wigs on all my past covers, but I wanted this one to feel more personal, like, “Hey, this is the real me.” At the same time, wigs are still a part of who I am. I wear them often, sometimes multiple in a day if I’m going to different things. What once felt like a source of insecurity when I was a kid now feels like a source of creativity.

So that inspired the cover, along with my song “Old Me, New Wig.” We had fun tying different hairstyles to songs – like a hippie look for “Summer of Love,” a goth look for “The Arsonist,” and even a Dolly Parton-inspired one. It was really fun but at the same time, I’m always nervous. I don’t want to distract from the music by making it all about the hair, but I like to have fun and experiment with it. It is something that feels unique to who I am.

That’s amazing. What inspired you musically and otherwise while making this record?

Playing with people like Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews over the past few years has been hugely inspiring. I think you can hear echoes of artists like them.

As for books, I love California literature and that ends up inspiring some of the songs on the record. Angle of Repose [by Wallace Stegner] inspired some of this record and City of Gold. Joan Didion is another big one for me – her writing about California is just gorgeous.

You’re clearly prolific. Are you already working on what’s next?

After I finish a record, I usually take a little break from writing, just to focus on preparing the new music for live shows. But now I’m back at it – I’ve got about two-thirds of another record written already. I love being in the studio and I’m always chasing that feeling of making an even better record than the last. Touring slows down my writing a bit, but when I’m home, I’m already dreaming about what’s next.

Last question: from what I can tell, some fans feel a sense of ownership over your bluegrass identity. How has the reaction been to this new music?

Mostly supportive and loving, especially when I play the songs live. But yeah, when I released the first single, “That’s Gonna Leave a Mark,” probably the poppiest track on the record, some people online were like, “Oh my God, Taylor Swift!”

And it is not like I am never playing bluegrass again. Our shows are still half, if not more, bluegrass! I’ve stopped looking at online comments, because it’s not a real snapshot of what people are thinking and feeling.

But this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to shake things up. I feel like this record is full of little surprises. And if people are talking, that means they are paying attention. It means they care. If nobody said anything, I would be worried.

All photos by Ebru Yildiz.

Artist of the Month:
Caroline Spence

Posted on by Justin Hiltner
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Author and artist Jenny Odell begins her impeccable book, How to Do Nothing, immediately driving to the heart of the matter:

Nothing is harder to do than nothing. In a world where our value is determined by our productivity, many of us find our every last minute captured, optimized, or appropriated as a financial resource by the technologies we use daily.

The book is a striking, heartfelt argument for a realignment of societal and personal priorities that decenters social media, the “attention economy,” and the ways each of our individual “rat races” have now penetrated every aspect of our own lives and our each and every waking moment. In Chapter 1, “The Case for Nothing,” Odell continues,

Currently, I see a similar battle playing out for our time, a colonization of the self by capitalist ideas of productivity and efficiency. … The removal of economic security for working people dissolves those boundaries – eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will – so that we are left with twenty-four potentially monetizable hours that are sometimes not even restricted to time zones or our sleep cycles.

These paradigms of and assumptions about “productivity” immediately jumped into my mind when I first heard singer-songwriter Caroline Spence’s lovely new album, Heart Go Wild. Released August 29, it marks Spence’s return to independently releasing music – on her own terms and retaining ownership of her own intellectual property (and the productivity that birthed it).

Over 12 original tracks, Spence is meditative and introspective, angry and tender, grateful and underappreciated, clamoring for justice and toying with the idea of giving up. There’s self-cajoling and there’s self-acceptance. There are aspirations, too, but the undercurrent of this collection isn’t ambition or climbing Music Row ladders or seeking any sort of superlative recognition. More than perhaps any of her other delicious albums – which also carry through many of these same themes – Heart Go Wild seems to be an exercise in songcraft, music-making, and album production that’s more in the vein of “doing nothing” than “doing everything, for everyone, 100% of the time.”

So, while these songs will surely elicit tears, spur daydreams, trigger longing, and untether dozens of emotions, overall they feel like one long, therapeutic sigh. A “deep breath out” to purge years of being underestimated or overlooked or underserved by record label execs, an exhale to eliminate any traces of ambition only for ambition’s sake, and to say goodbye – once and for all – to making art in order to meet the expectations (or profit margin targets) of others.

Since Spence’s most recent prior album, 2022’s True North, the shape of her professional life and network isn’t the only way her day-to-day has changed. She married her life partner, together they started a family, and the rocky relationship she had with the music business and its executives was just one facet of many in a deep self-searching and realignment of her musical and artistic priorities.

You can hear this shift in – or perhaps, recovery of – her values system in each of these songs. Spence has learned that “doing nothing,” that is, working outside of the machinations of the music industry, has always been her preferred method. And, just as she tends her bulbs, wildflowers, and hydrangeas, rain by rain, day by day, season by season, she now brings the same sort intention to her entire music-making process.

Odell continues in How to Do Nothing, “Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.”

These songs – whether “Confront It,” “The Sound of You,” “Soft Animal,” “Dried Flowers, Old Habits,” and many others on the LP – indicate a deep, in-her-bones understanding that maintenance, stillness, rejuvenation, and feeding one’s soul – and the souls of your loved ones – is always productivity. Does it pad the pockets of suits in Nashville board rooms? Certainly not. Can it birth one of the best albums of the year? It does seem so!

Heart Go Wild is full of redemption – and the labors required to bring about a “blank slate,” a fresh starting point, and a re-solidified foundation. It may not feel like a totally new turn for diehard Spence fans (either sonically or textually), but there is still a palpable sense of the dust being shaken off and a new and endless creative horizon coming into view – tempting, tantalizing, and ready for Spence to gallop off toward.

As often as these songs are sad and self-challenging they are bold and dripping with agency. There are many moments of looking back and asking, “Why? How?” and “Did it need to end up this way?” Which are that much more impactful alongside their counterparts that say, “I know who I am,” “I know where I’m going,” and “I know who I’m bringing with me.”

Heart Go Wild places at its center – first and foremost – the loved ones Spence will elect for her songwriting and album-producing “board room” in her mind: her loving husband, their child, her family, her friends and peers, and her endlessly faithful rescue dog, Roxy. Spence is looking forward, utilizing the clarity she did gain from looking back to establish a new sort of workflow.

Externally defined productivity clearly won’t have the power over this critically acclaimed and musician-and-artist-beloved singer-songwriter anymore. (Though this writer is skeptical it ever truly did have that power to begin with.) Spence, like many of us, has spent the last few years, especially post-COVID and in the midst of growing her family, to learn how to constructively do nothing.

Now, with this stunning set of songs, she’s passing along those lessons to us. And, as we’ve already established, this kind of nothing isn’t nothing at all, no matter how hard it is to do. This kind of doing nothing is doing everything.

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Caroline Spence is our Artist of the Month! Check out our Essential Caroline Spence playlist below and stay tuned as we share content on Spence, her music, and her songwriting throughout the month. We also have a very special “in conversation” interview feature with Spence and Lori McKenna. Follow on social media, too, as we dip back into the BGS archives for all things Caroline Spence all month long.

Photo Credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

Anna Tivel Makes Poetry in Music From Poetry in Nature

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

There is something woodsy and nature-rooted about Anna Tivel’s songwriting. It calls to mind mountain hiking, tall pines, mushroom foraging. The clink of a water bottle against a caribiner. The gentle tiptoe sound of dew dropping from treetops. Maybe it’s Oregon that’s seeped into her bones. Maybe it’s just the way her intrinsic poeticism steers things.

Listening to Tivel’s music tends to conjure the words of other writers. Consider some of the final lines from Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer:

“Solitude is only a human presumption. Every quiet step is thunder to beetle life underfoot; every choice is a world made new for the chosen.”

Or, consider the poetry of Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver or Andrea Gibson. Each seemed to have plucked their pieces from shrubs and vines – or at least from the air around their foliage. Indeed, some of these names came up in our recent conversation with Tivel about her new album, Animal Poem, which drops August 29 on Fluff & Gravy Records.

Much like a walk through the woods, Animal Poem offers listeners a pathway toward retaining their humanity in a world that can feel inhumane. Though Tivel notes she began writing this album two years ago, she was conscious of the shifting geopolitical landscape and the way the chaos in the news might – or might not – echo into people’s private lives.

In the end, she suggests that life is mostly made of small moments between people who are guided by love and who are trying to understand one another. Those are the moments of dissonance where our commonalities have the best chance of prevailing. To hear Tivel tell it, that is the basis of her job as both poet and songwriter.

With so much going on in the world geopolitically, so many people are struggling with how to make art and why to make art and, of course, feeling compelled to continue to make art. But there’s this existential part of it that I feel like you’re addressing on this album. Maybe also in the creation of this album, which I’m guessing was recorded well before what’s happening today, and will be different from what will be happening when we publish it.

So, when you think about this album now, and what you were working through with these songs in that moment, how has it aged in your mind?

Anna Tivel: That’s funny, I was thinking today how, in this particular year so far, I’m having trouble [writing songs]. I’m having a lot of trouble finding the core of what I mean. I always feel like writing is this search for something a little beyond your understanding. You’re just moving through the world kind of trying to express what you see and what you’re learning and what you’re reaching for. And I’ve been finding, in this particular moment, it’s just so loud and it’s so tangled. I’m writing a lot of angry things that I will never play, [about] not understanding and not even knowing what to reach for to try to understand.

This album was all written like two years ago now, in a state of the world not dissimilar from this one. I was reading a lot of Wendell Berry and just thinking about big, overarching systems and how impossible it is for those to stay about people. [I was thinking] about the earth and kind of thinking about how these smaller communities … function and how things ripple outward. But, the really small things, like your family or your neighborhood. Power lies in these very mundane but magical lives we’re living. How we’re touching the person across the street from us or how we’re figuring out our own hearts, and how powerful that is in the overarching, huge system that [can] become very inhumane so easily.

I think there’s a lot of that there – a lot of love and immense, wild power. All these things are coming out of the technological wavelength that we’re on. And then things like love [that] just can’t be snuffed out.

As you were talking about what we’re reaching for, and the small things, I kept thinking about this image at the end of this record, in the song “Meantime.” The swing set that nobody used and this family that, maybe there was abuse, but the dad built the swing set. Nobody went out to play on it, and they left, and the swing was still there, blowing in the wind.

A swing doesn’t know what it’s reaching, but it’s always there to lift you. What a beautiful thesis that it is for this record, coming as it does, at the end. Can you talk a little bit about that song, “Meantime,” and your decision to place it second to last? Does it feel to you like that’s what this record was reaching toward? I’m always interested in how sequencing tells the story.

Sometimes [sequencing] is really just meaning-based, or it’s sort of sonically based. I really liked the idea of this record kind of starting with this song that expands as much as the whole country. And then going all the way down to the last song, [which] is just very quiet, about love between two people, or what it is to build the language of love with the people nearest to you. I like there to be some kind of journey on a record, where you’re taken through different stories and different lives, for there to be some sort of arc.“Meantime,” to me, feels [like] that’s what I’m trying to say, but it takes place in a very small image. It’s one neighbor. There’s always a lot of neighbors in my music. [I’m a] very voyeuristic neighbor, probably.

There’s this feeling on the record, I think, that we hold all these things and we’re contributing to all these things – such pain and also such beauty. And we’re all sort of trying to separate ourselves from each other [and] from these big forces.

You can recognize yourself in everything, both the good and the bad. But inside of me is so much love and there’s so much cruelty and so much confusion. And becoming part of a family or a community – or a global community – it’s almost like the deeper you [go,] the more you recognize that you are just like everybody. You hold all those things and they hold all those things, even if they feel ugly or small or huge or powerful, they’re in there.

You’re reminding me of the poem by the late, brilliant Andrea Gibson. When I first heard their line, I actually thought of you. And then listening to this album, it came back to me.

The line is, “Do you know how many beautiful things can be seen in a single second?” It’s from the poem, “In the Chemo Room…” It’s thoughts from chemo, which is such a hopeless, awful thing, theoretically. And yet, all of Andrea’s work is so full of hope. I feel like that is so true to what this album conjured for me. I’m wondering if you have any kind of relationship with their poetry or if you were even aware of that parallel.

Yeah, I wish. I wanna take it in, because my good friends in Portland were just telling me to go read their work. I haven’t yet, but I resonate a lot with that. Like, you can just look all around you and see horror upon horror. [But] we are stunningly alive. Full of love and mystery, all at the same time. You’d die if you couldn’t hold that. You can kind of lean in either direction, or you can kind of like just sit there in all directions at once. That’s the journey of the whole thing.

While I’m bringing up poets, you mentioned Wendell Berry. One of my other favorite lines is from him: “Be joyful though you’ve considered all the facts,” Right? Like, this whole idea that we are animals among animals on this planet. Everything’s brutal – and there’s joy. And there’s love, you know. This is such a vital part of what every poet says, right?

There’s a song on here called “Animal Poem,” but the fact that you chose that phrase as the title of the album seemed to resonate. What was it about, to you, to choose those two words as the title of this project?

It’s exactly that. I feel very much like I want to be another being on the earth [who is] trying to express all those things at once, that everybody’s feeling, going through, and finding ways to say to each other.

There’s so many ways that we hold the word “animal”: Wild, untethered, maybe dangerous, maybe instinct[ive], maybe disturbing. … A poem is such an intentional, beautiful way to capture a small part of being. I like the idea that maybe this whole thing is just [us] running around confused, trying to find a little beauty, in what often appears to be utter chaos.

But where is the line, in your mind, between poetry and music? Is there any difference? Is it something intrinsic to the piece? Or, how do you decide what gets music added and what stays a poem?

Yeah, maybe I just think it all comes from the same place – the raw urge to express something. The way that music, or any art form, allows you to express it a little more honestly, because it’s not so straightforward.

When you can live outside the exact facts and use all the colors and the sensory details and emotion of a thing, sometimes that feels more true than being like, “Ted went to the store and bought an egg.” You know? There’s all the other things that happened in that moment that informed the way Ted’s heart was moving, that can be more readily got-at with art. There’s all these ways that people do that.

Ted’s egg was actually quite an experience for him.

Yeah, I mean, why did he go for just one egg? That’s my question.

There’s only one egg left. Poor Ted.

Logistically, when it came to making this record, you noted that it was a group of people in a room just kind of playing together. Was there rehearsal? How many times did everybody else hear these songs? And what was the creative process in that circle?

It was really free. I loved making this record. It felt, to me, like a bunch of freedom. Hearts in a room, just having our thing.
Some of us had toured together a little bit, so we played some of these songs in various ways. Some were new. We sort of just sat and played together for a day or two beforehand. We tried really hard not to make parts. [We were] really trying to at least get comfortable with the forms, so you know where the bridge lives, so it doesn’t surprise you. But [we didn’t do] so much that people settled into things.

Then we just sat in a circle. We didn’t wear headphones, which I loved, and we put my voice through a little monitor in the middle of the room. I’m fairly quiet, so everyone could at least hear the words. We mixed ourselves and just played music in the room together. There was no turning yourself up in the headphones or adding reverb. It just was what it was.

That felt really free. It felt like we forgot we were making a record. Just trying to feel the thing in the moment. I love this group of people. I’ve done a lot of touring with [them] over the years. [I’ve] known them a long time and really respect their musicality, but also their spirits.

Photo courtesy of the artist.