Tag: Amy Speace

You Gotta Hear This: Vickie Vaughn, Theo Lawrence, and More

Posted on by Editor

Every Friday, BGS shines a light on some of our favorite new tracks in bluegrass, folk, Americana and beyond. Then we ask the artist about the inspiration behind the music and pass their wise words along to you.

This week, we bring a new video from bluegrass group Ashleigh Graham & Appalachian Highway, who bring their song “Pinewood Prison” to life inside Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in East Tennessee. Meanwhile, Los Angeles musician Paula Fong puts her own spin on “Turn, Turn, Turn” with a feature from Sean Watkins, while Alex Miller & Carson Peters offer a satisfying rendition of the Delmore Brothers classic, “Hillbilly Boogie.” In addition, Lost Dog Street Band frontman Benjamin Tod digs into the bluegrass canon with Larry Sparks’ “Natural Thing to Do” and Vickie Vaughn tips her hat to John Hartford on “Paducah.”

Nashville fans of Alison Krauss & Union Station will have a lot to look forward to as Theo Lawrence opens the ensemble’s shows at the Ryman Auditorium later this month. Get a taste of his style with “Today Is a Good Day,” which he wrote with Opry legend Bill Anderson. Finally, don’t miss Texas musician Red Shahan’s first-person reflections in “14 Miles From Home” or folk poet Amy Speace’s thoughtful original, “Days of Letting Go.”

We mean it when we say, You Gotta Hear This!

Ashleigh Graham & Appalachian Highway, “Pinewood Prison”

Artist: Ashleigh Graham & Appalachian Highway
Hometown: King, North Carolina
Song: “Pinewood Prison”
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “‘Pinewood Prison’ grabbed me from the very first listen because it isn’t just a song—it’s a story that unfolds in your mind like a movie. When we decided to take that story to the screen, we knew we wanted to create something that felt bigger than a traditional music video, and filming inside the walls of Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary gave us an atmosphere we never could have manufactured.

“There were moments during filming when the place became so quiet and intense that you almost forgot there were cameras rolling. You could feel the history around you, and that brought an emotion and authenticity to the performances that I think people are going to see immediately. We wanted the video to be cinematic, but most importantly, we wanted viewers to become completely invested in the story. This was one of the most unique creative experiences I’ve ever been part of, and I’m incredibly proud of what we captured. Turn the lights down, turn the volume up, and watch all the way through!” — Ashleigh Graham

Paula Fong, “Turn, Turn, Turn” (Ft. Sean Watkins)

Artist: Paula Fong
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Turn, Turn, Turn” (ft. Sean Watkins)
Album: A Bird on the Wing
Album Release Date: October 2, 2026
Label: Head Bitch Music

In Their Words: “With 10 songs already tracked, the album felt nearly finished but still needed something to round it out. We went through countless ideas before my manager Steve finally suggested a cover of ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ – that timeless scripture-turned-song I’d grown up hearing from the Byrds. It was my producer Justin Sinclair who introduced me to Pete Seeger’s original, which I’d never heard before, and something about it felt magical enough to chase. It’s one thing to play a cover live, but my co-producer Phil Glenn felt strongly that a studio cover needed a real reason to exist. So we pulled ideas from several different versions of the song and shaped them into an arrangement of our own.

“As we talked through what that arrangement could be, the idea emerged to build it around artists who’ve influenced my music along the way. Abby Posner was an easy first call, I knew I wanted Justin’s voice on it, and Phil’s playing was clearly already woven throughout the entire track. In what seemed like an amazing moment of serendipity, Justin’s growing connections in Bell Choir Studios led to Sean Watkins agreeing to come play guitar on the track as well. On recording day, Sean laid down a series of gorgeous solo takes, and then even hopped up to the mic to sing on it as a featured artist. All in all, it felt like the stars aligned in a way that I couldn’t have imagined to bring this track into being and I’m incredibly excited to get it out into the world.” — Paula Fong

Theo Lawrence, “Today Is a Good Day”

Artist: Theo Lawrence
Hometown: Paris, France
Song: “Today Is a Good Day”
Release Date: September 4, 2026
Label: Warner Records

In Their Words: “When I heard I was going to be on the Opry, it felt like a good time to release a country song I’d been playing on tour with Alison Krauss called ‘Today Is a Good Day.’ It had been getting a warm response every night, so I called my friend Chris Scruggs and a few days later we recorded it together, leaning into that early ’60s Nashville sound. I wrote the song in Nashville with Bill Anderson, who knows a thing or two about country songs. His first big hit as a writer was ‘City Lights’ for Ray Price back in 1958. The song is about that moment when doing something sad feels like the right thing to do. Packing up and leaving before your heart gets broken beyond repair.” — Theo Lawrence

Alex Miller & Carson Peters, “Hillbilly Boogie”

Artists: Alex Miller & Carson Peters
Song: “Hillbilly Boogie”
Album: A Century of Strings, Stories & Songs: A Tribute to The Delmore Brothers
Album Release Date: October 1, 2026
Label: Billy Blue Records

In Their Words: “‘Hillbilly Boogie’ is a song that my grandad introduced me to, and it has remained a very special song to me! He had the 78 of The Delmore Brothers singing this song and I vividly remember cranking up his old Victrola and learning to sing it. Recording this song was one of the best days I’ve ever had in the studio, and I hope it shows when you put your ears on it. I was honored not only to be on this project and work with my producer, Jerry Salley, but also to pick with my good friend, Carson Peters. Carson’s musicianship is unmatched, and he’s one of the best songwriters and singers in Nashville. Hopefully this is the first of many collaborations to come.” – Alex Miller

“I am so happy to be a part of this project, and to be on one of my favorite Delmore Brothers songs with one of my favorite people in town, and produced by another one of my favorite people in town, makes it even better! Alex is part of the refreshing, authentic kind of talent that the current country music community is embracing nowadays, and I’m honored to be on this track with him. I can’t wait for the people to hear it!” – Carson Peters

Red Shanan, “14 Miles From Home”

Artist: Red Shahan
Hometown: Bluff Dale, Texas
Song: “14 Miles From Home”
Album: Hard Land
Release Date: August 6, 2026
Label: Make Wake Records

In Their Words: “I’ve had it in my head that I would never record this song for almost 20 years but maybe I’m getting soft, or maybe my wife and friends finally talked me into it. Regardless, getting to cut this one with Josh Serrato whom in a previous band we had played this one night after night made it worth it alone.” — Red Shahan

Amy Speace, “Days of Letting Go”

Artist: Amy Speace
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Days of Letting Go”
New Release: The Cardinals (a collection of poems)

In Their Words: “I went to graduate school in Louisville, Kentucky, and somewhere on 65 North there was a large black billboard with white writing that said, ‘Opium Kills. Jesus Saves.’ I was working on a series of ‘persona poems’ – poems where the narrator isn’t me, is a character, a specific voice – and I imagined it as a male narrator driving back home after the funeral of his father. Of course, my own father had died in late 2019 and that was also a subject I was writing about in my work at the time. I wrote the poem with the repeating refrain – clearly in song form – but wanted to keep it a poem, until one of my mentors asked me why it wasn’t a song. I sang the whole thing to my friend Vance Gilbert and he said, ‘You know what would be cool? If you spoke the verse lyrics.’ And I told him it was originally a poem and he laughed.” — Amy Speace

Benjamin Tod, “Natural Thing to Do”

Artist: Benjamin Tod
Hometown: Sumner County, Tennessee
Song: “Natural Thing To Do”
Album: Country Is Dead
Release Date: September 4, 2026
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “This has become a bluegrass standard in many circles now and I became obsessed with it after hearing it at a honky-tonk in Nashville at some point. Something about the brokenhearted longing and relentless loyalty harkens to something I can relate with personally. It is a natural thing to love someone enough to intentionally ignore trifling behavior. I believe this song sits well in a country western format and I love singing this one in the shower.” — Benjamin Tod

Vickie Vaughn, “Paducah”

Artist: Vickie Vaughn
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Paducah”
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “The first time I heard John Hartford’s ‘Paducah’ was when a friend performed it about twenty years ago on Murray State University’s campus. I thought it was so dang cool and humorous that I asked him about it immediately after he played it. Since then, I’ve been dying to put my own spin on it. Paducah is and will always be the most creative city I’ve known. I was lucky to grow up in the river bottoms on a farm in Symsonia, Kentucky, 20 minutes away from town. Paducah is full of hard-working, wildly creative people who let their hearts lead them in their artistic endeavors. It’s rich with the most talented, down-to-earth people you’ll meet. It’s easy to see how Hartford loved it so.” — Vickie Vaughn

Photo Credits: Laura Schneider (Vickie Vaughn), Jo Anna Edmison (Theo Lawrence)

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Laurelyn Dossett, Ruthie Foster, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Another week, another round-up of fresh roots music! You Gotta Hear This…

Starting us off, North Carolina singer-songwriter Laurelyn Dossett has a new single out this week, “Glory Glory,” previewing a brand new album coming in August entitled How Many Moons?, produced by Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor. “Glory Glory” celebrates the beauty and community of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina, where Dossett makes her home. She’s even joined by a choir of friends on the uplifting and inspiring song. Then, from Montreal via Nashville, we have more of Hiss Golden Messenger’s production work, as we share a track from Al Nicol’s deluxe version of Only Hoping, which is now available. “Blue Stained Glass,” which features lighthearted, is pristine and lush, indie-folk with a retro flavor that’s firmly grounded in the present. Both Dossett’s and Nicol’s numbers give a fascinating A/B of Taylor’s production style that we love to hear.

Continuing, Americana and blues icon Ruthie Foster previews her August album, Just Say Yes, with its latest single, “Tangled.” “This song came from telling myself the truth,” Foster tells BGS via email. “Sometimes that’s where the untangling begins.” We’re gonna just say yes to that! Also from Texas, singer-songwriter Jordan Whitmore brings us “Me or Us,” plus a brand new music video for the heartbreaking yet hopeful track. A crisp and modern country number, it’s about a relationship’s existential crisis and reaching the point of no return on whether to rebuild or walk away.

Kelly Hunt has announced a new Compass Records release coming in September with “Clouds,” the lead single. It’s a soaring tribute to the wide open plains of the Midwest, text painting towering storm clouds. She leverages indie-Americana textures and tones to consider the gargantuan size of these floating clouds, with plenty of wisdom found in the song’s central metaphor. For some Good Country, a much-buzzed-about artist Leon Majcen offers “Don’t You Cry” from his upcoming September release. With a plodding, marching beat and gritty acoustic guitar picking, it’s a tender song despite the patina on Majcen’s voice and the melancholic vibe. While it could be taken for a love song of the romantic sort, the singer-songwriter shares that the idea for the song is really that he’s speaking to and reassuring his mother.

Finally, you won’t want to miss the latest from Amy Speace. Today we’re sharing a video for her new single, “The Reckoning,” a devastating song written in the immediate aftermath of Renee Goode’s tragic murder at the hands of ICE in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. “I wrote this song in 30 minutes,” Speace shares, “quickly after hearing about Renee Goode’s murder – in rage, horror, and shock. It came out unfiltered.” It’s a stunning song of justice, pain, grief, and – truly – reckoning. Essential listening in this day and age.

There’s plenty to listen to, enjoy, and be impacted by in this week’s round-up. You Gotta Hear This!

Laurelyn Dossett, “Glory Glory”

Artist: Laurelyn Dossett
Hometown: Currently Stokes County, North Carolina. Born in Birmingham, Alabama.
Song: “Glory Glory”
Album: How Many Moons?
Release Date: July 29, 2026 (single); August 28, 2026 (album)
Label: Sycamore Road

In Their Words: “I live in a magical little corner of North Carolina, in Stokes County between Hanging Rock and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I knew when I found this place that it needed to be shared with others – it has become a gathering place for friends and family, for music and art, for wandering the woods and wading the waters. ‘Glory Glory’ is kind of my ‘welcome to the wilderland’ song.” – Laurelyn Dossett

Track Credits:
Laurelyn Dossett – Vocals, guitar
M.C. Taylor – Acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin
Sam Fribush – Hammond B3
Jason Sypher – Bass
Nicholas Falk – Drums, percussion
“Glory Glory” Chorus – Emilia, Rosalie, and Sophia Catanoso; Sydney, Samantha, Ellen and Rebecca Dossett; Stephanie Parent; Lori Aument, Emmy and Ann Wade.

Ruthie Foster, “Tangled”

Artist: Ruthie Foster
Hometown: Gause, Texas
Song: “Tangled”
Album: Just Say Yes
Release Date: July 29, 2026 (single); August 28, 2026 (album)
Label: Sun Records

In Their Words: “This song came from telling myself the truth. Sometimes that’s where the untangling begins.” – Ruthie Foster

Track Credits:
Ruthie Foster – Vocals, background vocals
Tyler Bryant – Guitar, bass, keys, percussion
Ben Satterlee – Drums, percussion

Kelly Hunt, “Clouds”

Artist: Kelly Hunt
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Song: “Clouds”
Album: Requiem for a Sleepless Night
Release Date: July 31, 2026 (single); September 18, 2026 (album)
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I crave long drives through the plains, the infinity of sky unfolding as far as eye can see. I do my best thinking on long, uncomplicated country roads where my mind has the chance to straighten out and run free. I wrote ‘Clouds’ on one such dead-ahead drive through the Midwest – late summer afternoon, storm brewing. I’d been driving for hours, lost in thought, when my eyes suddenly focused on what looked like mountains rising in the distance. I quickly realized they were only clouds, a string of thunderheads weighing heavily on the horizon with all the seeming concreteness of a mountain range. The fleeting shock of this moment got me thinking about the power of illusions, how real illusory things can feel at times, and of our capacity to both create and dismantle stumbling blocks in our own minds.” – Kelly Hunt

Leon Majcen, “Don’t You Cry”

Artist: Leon Majcen
Hometown: Safety Harbor, Florida / Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Don’t You Cry”
Album: The Leaving Kind
Release Date: July 31, 2026 (single); September 4, 2026 (album)
Label: Cloverdale Records

In Their Words: “This one’s a bit of me just talking to my mom. She always wanted me to be a doctor. I don’t think she thought the road-dog bug would get me like it did, but here we are. She’s just happy I’m hanging in there and getting after it.” – Leon Majcen

Al Nicol, “Blue Stained Glass”

Artist: Al Nicol
Hometown: Montreal, Québec, Canada / Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Blue Stained Glass” with lighthearted
Album: Only Hoping Deluxe
Release Date: July 29, 2026

In Their Words: “I wanted to write a song that told the story of someone who knew deep down their person would enter their life soon, even in their moment of deepest struggle. It’s a song about the strength of hope in the face of loneliness – finding and nurturing a belief and vision within oneself that things will work out. To see the world through a blue stained glass is to be optimistic, hopeful, aspirational.” – Al Nicol

Amy Speace, “The Reckoning”

Artist: Amy Speace
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Reckoning”
Release Date: August 7, 2026
Label: WindBone Records

In Their Words: “I wrote this song in 30 minutes – quickly after hearing about Renee Goode’s murder – in rage, horror, and shock. It came out unfiltered. Stream-of-consciousness. Literal ‘it’s the 10th of January…’ I felt like I was just dictating in my notebook exactly what was going on as it happened. I put my son to bed and grabbed the guitar and found that first chord and just started moving my hands up and down the guitar in patterns. I wasn’t thinking too hard as I wrote, just crying my way through the song, honestly.” – Amy Speace

Video Credits: Neighborhoods Apart, Neilson Hubbard and Joshua Britt.

Jordan Whitmore, “Me or Us”

Artist: Jordan Whitmore
Hometown: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Song: “Me or Us”
Album: Me or Us (EP)
Release Date: August 7, 2026 (single); October 16, 2026 (EP)

In Their Words: “This song was sparked by hearing one of my favorite songs, ‘Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,’ for what felt like the millionth time. Except that time, it hit differently. My marriage was in the aftermath of betrayal and we were trying to rebuild. Suddenly that song carried a weight I hadn’t felt before. I remember thinking, ‘Is that us? Is the end inevitable?’ Next thing I knew, I had my guitar in my hands and I was writing the question that would become the title track of the EP. ‘Me or Us’ is a song about wanting us to make it, hoping that we would, but fearing that we wouldn’t.” – Jordan Whitmore

Track Credits:
Jordan Whitmore – Lead vocal, background vocals
Brian Douglas Phillips – Acoustic guitars, pedal steel, background vocals
Jacob Hildebrand – Electric guitars
Z Lynch – Bass
Fred Mandujano – Drums, percussion

Video Credit: Shot and edited by Ben Danaher.

Photo Credit: Laurelyn Dossett by Matthew Chenet; Ruthie Foster by Jody Domingue.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Julian Taylor, the Grascals, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

We’ve got a fine collection of new tracks, videos, and performances for you this week in our premiere round-up, You Gotta Hear This!

Don’t miss some stellar bluegrass from genre staples – and labelmates – the Grascals, who are celebrating their 20-year anniversary, and Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. The former celebrate their heroes, the Osborne Brothers, with a cover of “Georgia Pineywoods” while the latter get topical while poking fun at doomsday rhetoric on “What If You’re Wrong.”

Jazzy roots duo Winterlark bring us a charming number with a somewhat unlikely subject– emojis. Well, and love gone not-so-right, too. Felled Oak, AKA Brian Carroll, also debuts “Taplines,” a track written while he worked the maple syrup season in Vermont. Singer-songwriter Amy Speace considers the construction of “The American Dream” with a brand new, summery music video and Spooky Mansion performs the title track from his upcoming album, What About You?, live outdoors on the ranch.

Don’t miss Julian Taylor’s debut of a brand new music video for “Pathways,” a song released earlier this week about family, connection, and inter-generational perspective that features the one and only Allison Russell.

To cap it all off, we’ve got an exclusive Yamaha Session from flatpicker Trey Hensley that posted to BGS earlier this week, too. It’s all right here and, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, but You Gotta Hear This!

Felled Oak, “Taplines”

Artist: Felled Oak
Hometown: Corinth, Vermont
Song: “Taplines”
Album: Smoke on the Hillside
Release Date: September 30, 2024

In Their Words: “All of the tunes on this project were birthed from time tapping trees in the sugarbush this past January here in Vermont. In the dead silence of winter, alone in a cluster of skeletal maples hiking uphill, I found myself humming and whistling melodies to keep myself (and the winter birds) company. Some of those melodies stuck and I’d pull out my phone, make a quick voice recording then when I got home transcribe them on the mandolin and octave mandolin.

“‘Taplines’ was a melody that fell beneath my own fingers effortlessly and when I brought it to good friend and musical partner, Mark Burds, a smile crept across his face as we played it together for the first time. All of these tunes were recorded in luthier workshops and small, personal spaces around central Vermont and featuring my closest musical friends. It’s music to be shared and played together, to connect. Intimate, organic, and honest.” – Brian Carroll, Felled Oak

“‘Taplines’ was really fun to put clawhammer on, because it’s one of those simple yet beautiful melodies that falls so nicely on banjo and it’s so satisfying to groove on.” – Mark Burds, banjo

Track Credits:
Brian Carroll – Octave mandolin, mandolin, upright bass, acoustic guitar
Mark Burds – Banjo

The Grascals, “Georgia Pineywoods”

Artist: The Grascals
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Georgia Pineywoods”
Album: 20
Release Date: August 23, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “I don’t believe The Grascals would be in existence without The Osborne Brothers. Their heavy impact and influence on us is one of the main reasons we all love bluegrass music so much. ‘Georgia Pineywoods’ is a classic Boudleaux and Felice Bryant song originally recorded by The Osborne Brothers and it just felt very fitting for us to include it on this album celebrating our 20th band anniversary. We will always salute The Osborne Brothers’ music and their continued inspiration to The Grascals!” – Jamie Johnson

Track Credits:
Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo
Danny Roberts – Mandolin
Jamie Johnson – Guitar, lead vocals
Terry Smith – Bass, baritone vocals
John Bryan – Guitar, tenor vocals
Jamie Harper – Fiddle, vocals

Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, “What If You’re Wrong”

Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “What If You’re Wrong”
Release Date: August 23, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Jon Weisberger and I co-wrote the song as a conversation with a conspiracy theorist. It’s meant to be a light-hearted look at the subject – I’m pretty sure it’s the first bluegrass song to mention chem trails! – but it does ask a serious question: When something earth-shaking is predicted, whether it’s the end of the world, a change of government, or just the results of a major ballgame, what do you do when it doesn’t happen? Do you question your sources or double down? We have so much of this in the era of social media and different realities we live with, it seemed pretty timely, and we had fun with it.” – Chris Jones

Amy Speace, “The American Dream”

Artist: Amy Speace
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The American Dream”
Album: The American Dream
Release Date: October 18, 2024
Label: Wind Bone Records

In Their Words: “I’ve worked with Neilson Hubbard and Joshua Britt (their production company is Neighborhoods Apart) on a bunch of videos, so I trusted them to get the vibe of the song. Also, Neilson produced the record and Josh played on it, so I knew they got it. We all wanted to capture that feeling of the freedom of the end of summer. I grew up mostly in a small town with rural countryside all around it and we’d take long drives through the cornfields as the sun set. We shot this on a country drive and an abandoned cabin (also used in the album art) near Franklin, Tennessee. The appearance of the tractor and the train are coincidences.” – Amy Speace

Video Credit: Neighborhoods Apart, Neilson Hubbard and Joshua Britt

Spooky Mansion, “What About You?”

Artist: Spooky Mansion
Hometown: San Francisco, California / Bay Area
Song: “What About You?”
Album: What About You?
Release Date: August 22, 2024 (song); October 31, 2024 (album)

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘What About You?’ with the intention of painting a picture of my life through different stories. The places I’ve been and the people I come from have all made me who I am. In those early days of a relationship, when you’re getting to know someone, there are certain memories that you retell to explain who you are.

“The verses are meant to be quiet, subdued, and more introspective as I try to describe myself. The chorus is bigger and joyful as I turn the attention to the person I’m talking to. In all my experiences, ‘I didn’t even know that I was looking for you.’ It culminates in a repeated anthem at the end as a reminder that despite what you’ve already lived through, there is more in life that will keep changing you and continuously creating you into the person you are. In this case, it was a beautiful woman I’d recently met who is now my wife and love of my life.” – Grayson Converse, Spooky Mansion

Video Credit: Directed by Jacob Butler.

Julian Taylor, “Pathways” (Featuring Allison Russell)

Artist: Julian Taylor
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Pathways”
Album: Pathways
Release Date: August 21, 2024 (song); September 27, 2024 (album)
Label: Howling Turtle Inc.

In Their Words: “I remember sitting in my living room when the melody and chord patterns just came to me. Often, when I sit down to write music, it’s the first thing that I start playing that sticks, because it’s raw and honest. I worked the progression in several different ways. First on the acoustic guitar and then on the piano. I still have probably upwards of seven or eight takes of it somewhere on my voice notes. Some were quite punk sounding, while others were quite folk sounding. Ultimately, the sound of the melody and progression in 6/8 time seemed to have the most impact on me.

“This song became a lyrical collaboration between two friends of mine that are also neighbors. I was invited to hang out and write with my pals Robert Priest and Rosanne Baker Thornley, who has a studio down the road from me. When I arrived, I showed them what I had been working on and they loved it. We ultimately wanted to write a hopeful song that spoke to our next of kin, and since we all have children who are the most important people in the world to us, we followed that inspiration. I performed with my friend Allison Russell at the Juno Awards this year and asked her if should be interested in collaborating on the song seeing as she is a mother as well and I am so honored that she said yes and brought yet another magical spark to our creation.” – Julian Taylor

Track Credits:
Julian Taylor – Vocal, guitar
Allison Russell – Duet vocal
Colin Linden – Electric Dobro, mandotar, bass, harmony vocal
Gary Craig – Drums, percussion
Jim Hoke – Saxophones
Janice Powers – B3 organ

Winterlark, “Ending With Heart Heart Heart”

Artist: Winterlark
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California
Song: “Ending With Heart Heart Heart”
Album: Sing To Me About Tomorrow (EP)
Release Date: August 23, 2024 (song); September 20, 2024 (EP)
Label: Squink Records

In Their Words: “It seemed that the world was ready for a song about the insidiousness of emojis, so I tried to write a modern-day song about a poorly communicated break-up, like the one in Elvis Presley’s rock-n-roll classic ‘Return to Sender.’ One of the keys to the song is the pairing of the sad lyrics with the happy, infectious beat driven by Kristin and drummer Chris Haskett. They make everything swing.” – Sweeney Schragg

“When Sweeney shared the core idea of this song, I do believe I laughed – uncomfortably. Aren’t we all guilty of throwing emojis at people instead of real words? Sweeney left six spots open for bass fills, a better gift than a box of black licorice (my favorite).” – Kristin Olson

Track Credits:
Sweeney Schragg – Guitar, vocals
Kristin Olson – Upright bass, vocals
Chris Haskett – Drums

Yamaha Sessions: Trey Hensley, “Hold What You Got”

On a sunny Sunday afternoon just outside of Nashville, Tennessee earlier this summer, BGS linked up with award-winning guitarist, songwriter, and jaw-dropping flatpicker Trey Hensley to kick off a new series of Yamaha Sessions. Hensley, a GRAMMY nominee and the reigning IBMA Guitar Player of the year, pulled his custom Yamaha FG9 R out of its road case to shred through a cover of a classic Jimmy Martin number, “Hold What You Got.”

Hensley is a picture perfect modern demonstration of how bluegrass trailblazers, like Martin, blurred the lines between country, old-time, bluegrass, and beyond. His voice reminds of honeyed country singers like Randy Travis, while his blisteringly quick picking and remarkable articulation are built on Tony Rice and Clarence White building blocks – but simultaneously, those techniques are as forward-looking and contemporary as his peers, Billy Strings, Jake Workman, and others. Hensley pulls limitless tone and warmness from his Yamaha FG9 R, even while approaching the song with near-aggression, ripping through acrobatic triplet licks and leaning into ugly delicious chromaticism in every solo.

More here.

Photo Credit: Julian Taylor by Robert Georgeff; the Grascals by Laci Mack.

BGS 5+5: Amy Speace

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Amy Speace
Hometown: originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Latest album: Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne

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

I remember from way back, because I started playing piano at age 3 (or so the story goes) and started formal lessons at 5, that I could disappear into my own world at the piano, inside the sound. I didn’t understand it but inside music was always this safe space for me.

So it’s hard to pinpoint when I wanted “to be” a musician because my earliest memories are that I was a musician. I just understood music from the start. Not that I didn’t have to work and practice, but it just made sense to me. So I’d chase that feeling back to being too short for my feet to hit the pedals practicing scales on my grandmother’s black upright piano.

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

Definitely all forms of storytelling. I didn’t write a song until I was about 28 but all through my childhood, I wrote poetry and stories and plays. I drew and painted. I read everything I could get my hands on. In college, I was a dual major in English and Theater and got obsessed with Shakespeare, Performance Art and Avant Garde Theater and Improv Comedy.

Then I went to NYC after college to study classical acting at The National Shakespeare Conservatory for two years and for the first time in my life started going to art museums and got lost in the big physical paintings of Pollock and Rothko. I lived in the Lower East Side and in Greenwich Village and really really loved living in that kind of Bohemia in my 20s.

I worked three jobs, one of which was as Lainie Kazan’s assistant on Broadway and in her cabaret shows, where I got the chance to meet so many legends of the theater. I hung out with dancers and clowns and actors and musicians and poets and we were all broke and idealistic and scrappy and I went to every show, every concert, every happening I could talk my way into.

I mean, there’s not really an art form out there that hasn’t moved me to tears and to want to create something of my own in response, from seeing Sondheim on Broadway to a poetry slam in the Lower East Side to my friend dancing burlesque. It all kind of informs whatever soup is all up there in my head, processing the pictures and the emotions and the memories. But when it gets down to pen on paper and crafting a song, I think that’s when film is really my guide: I think like a director/screenwriter/playwright. What’s the entry point in the story? What do you see out there? What’s the landscape like.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

Easy. That will be the next one I write after I finish this one I’m working on. Because it’s always like starting over at the beginning and I go through all the fears that I’ll never write another good song again and I’ll just sink into the ocean of bad cliches and stolen melodies.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Probably the earliest, honestly. I was in 8th grade, Curtin Middle School in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I was a very awkward, permed hair, 14-year-old. Bookworm, nerd, and not really that cool. I had joined chorus for the first time (I didn’t think I was a good singer) because my best friend Laura was a good singer and convinced me to join.

The end of the year the choir did a musical theater revue. I was kind of a class ham, very theatrical, did all the accents, and the choir director gave me a solo doing “Adelaide’s Lament” from Guys and Dolls because I could fake a good thick Bronx accent. I will honestly never forget how I felt when I stepped out onstage and the lights were on me and I disappeared into this character. It felt like the crowd roared and I got a standing ovation and the next day was like a freaking Christmas parade…

I went from being the new kid at school to everyone looking at me as if for the first time. The choir director took me aside and really encouraged me to study voice. She said, “I hear something in there…I think that you have a gift.” And literally, from that moment on, I knew I wanted to be onstage singing. I literally felt like I’d found myself that night.

I’ve had incredible stage moments, like being onstage at Town Hall in NYC opening for Nanci Griffith to a sold-out crowd — and you could hear a pin drop. To playing Gruene Hall with Guy Clark a few years before he died. To the first festival stage I was on at Glastonbury a few years back. Even to some incredible house concerts and small clubs. But that first time, it’s still so present to me, that I think that’s my favorite memory because it was when I first felt that I knew something true about myself.

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

Fascinating question. I don’t hide. I bring me into all the he’s and she’s and they’s and you’s in my song. If I don’t understand the characters’ passion, their desire, I can’t write it. So there’s got to be some autobiography in there, even if it’s masked by someone else’s story, even if it just creeps through two words in a bridge.

If I only wrote about my life and what was going on with me, literally, well, I’d have a short catalogue of songs because my life isn’t that interesting to sustain a career of writing about it. I don’t have time to hike the Himalayas or to be the captain of a ship. I’ve got a 16-month-old and an album coming out and I’ve got to get posters out and keep up with FaceTwittInstaHell. I’m tired. All the time.

Plus I have songs that need to get out and I have literally only the 30 minutes when my son may be napping to get a chorus idea down. So I have to find stories in newspapers or thieve parts of conversations I overhear or steal what you say that rhymes that you don’t even hear the rhyme. I’m always listening for ‘language of lyric’ to show up in my life and then, if I’m lucky and I can catch it, I keep it in a notebook for those naptime writing sessions.

So I may not let on that the “you” is actually “me” but it’s always a little bit of me.

Photo credit: Neilson Hubbard

The String – Amy Speace plus Marty Stuart

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Songwriter Amy Speace was entirely absorbed in theater, studying to be a Shakespearian actress in NYC. Then some fates and muses intervened and she began leaning into folk music.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

Before long she was recruited and mentored by the great Judy Collins, cultivating a voice that stands out even in the crowded songwriter scene of today. Now in Nashville, her story took another turn recently when she had her first child, a son, at age 50. Her complex observations about the world and herself pour out of the speakers on her newest, Me And The Ghost of Charlemagne. Also, a short phoner with Marty Stuart teasing the new mega-documentary Country Music by Ken Burns.

STREAM: Applewood Road, ‘Applewood Road’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Applewood Road (Amy Speace, Emily Barker, Amber Rubarth)
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Album: Applewood Road
Release Date: February 12
Label: Gearbox Records

In Their Words: "Recording live-to-tape feels like going back in time. We knew as soon as we'd written our first song, "Applewood Road," that we'd record it this way: live-to-tape with no edits, instead just nailing one good take. We wanted to capture the spontaneity that had brought us together in the first place — the intimacy of harmony singing, the bumps and bruises of performing something so new — and to find beauty in simplicity and a very minimal production." — Emily Barker

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba