Tag: Appalachia

With Each and Every Album, Extraordinary Mandolinist Sierra Hull Finds Herself

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

The traditional path of a musician’s career would say that gaining a record label’s approval reflects a certain level of accomplishment and stature. That’s a good thing, right? It can be, but what makes for the right fit to a musician’s career – whether with a label or as an independent artist – largely depends on how a person wants to navigate the ebbs and flows that come with making music for a living.

Enter Sierra Hull.

Just over five years removed from her fourth full-length album, 25 Trips, the aforementioned fork in the road is exactly the juncture at which Hull recently found herself. Now bearing her fifth full-length album, A Tip Toe High Wire, the Nashville-based mandolinist and songwriter decided that the extra work of an independent release didn’t scare her.

In fact, Hull is someone who keeps busy – “I’m not good with time off,” she says – and A Tip Toe High Wire may turn out to be her most true-to-form album to date. From her collaborators – Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Aoife O’Donovan, Lindsay Lou, Ronnie Bowman, Justin Moses, Ethan Jodziewicz, Geoff Saunders and more – to her co-writers, to production, arrangements, and underlying theme, every aspect of the record evokes Hull’s concentrated instincts as a musician, composer, and experienced public artist.

These songs let the rest of us know just a little more about the “who,” “how,” and “why” behind the music and how it fits into Hull’s life and of the lives of those she holds dear. It’s a multifaceted expression of individualism and independence while also being nowhere near a display of isolated work – truly a balancing act of coexisting contrasts.

BGS spoke with Sierra Hull by phone ahead of a packed tour, about the significance of going independent, embracing new ways of songwriting, how her perspective of making music has changed, and more.

How would you describe where you were creatively, between the release of 25 Trips and leading into this new independent recording?

Sierra Hull: Part of it is that I didn’t really have the opportunity to go out and tour 25 Trips. When things were starting to open up [after the pandemic shutdown], I put together this band that I’m touring with and was able to think about what I wanted the music to feel like on the heels of [COVID]. I tried to think about songs that would would feel fun to stand on a stage and perform, you know? And I think some of the context of moving into [A Tip Toe High Wire] was thinking about that.

[25 Trips] was also my last record as part of my Rounder Records contract. A Tip Toe High Wire just felt like this new chapter. And having fresh songs that I had started to write, having been inspired by the time off the road to write music, I kind of leaned into that. I was loving playing with this band and I felt like I had the freedom to not necessarily have outside chatter in my ear about what the next thing needed to be. It felt like an opportunity to just make music that I felt excited by and capture it. At first I wasn’t sure if it was going to become a record, or a single, or what it might be. But the further we got into it, I would just continue to book sessions that we could get in the studio and record in between all the touring.

I feel like [being independent] gives me more of an opportunity to have a direct offering and connection to my fans in a way that maybe I couldn’t have in another scenario, and it feels really important for me to have that in this moment.

How has your perspective of the music and album making process changed? What kind of goals did you set for yourself in this new career chapter?

I don’t know if my goals felt different, because the goal for me has never been to try to chase a particular thing or to please a certain kind of entity. But at the same time, when you’re independent, you get to call all the shots, you know? You decide when you’re recording, how you’re recording, when the music gets released, how it gets released, all that kind of stuff. It’s kind of like a difference of me deciding what’s on the puzzle pieces and then figuring out how to put the puzzle together, rather than just somebody handing you a puzzle and the picture is there already.

I often say, “If I was only making music for me, I could do that anytime I want.” I can sit at home in a room by myself and enjoy music that way. But I think that we as artists and performers, we create and we make stuff because we want to be able to share with people. We want to be able to share a common emotional experience with people. It’s the struggle between trusting yourself, and being vulnerable enough to receive the good things and knowledge that other people around me have to offer.

In deciding, “I’m going to do what I want to do,” it almost prompts the question, “Wouldn’t she have that figured out already?” It’s a nice reminder that there’s no timeline to connecting with self-discovery.

It’s funny, because I feel like it’s one of those things with every album I’ve made. [People say,] “She’s finally coming into her own” – it’s like that every chapter! But the truth is, that’s the human story at any level. You can be coming into your own your entire life. you know? It looks different at 16, and it looks different at 20, it looks different at 25, and it looks different now in my 30s.

There is a certain amount of weird calm that I feel about more things in my life and I think part of that is when you work hard throughout your 20s and there’s such a grind taking place. For me, I love the grind. I live for the work part of all this. Like I said, I’m not really good at just sitting around doing nothing so I’d rather be working than not. But at the same time, I need to not clench my hands too tightly around the thing that is my art and my career. So much of this is out of my control. People will like it or they they won’t and it’s about trying to find some peace and asking myself, “Do I feel like I’ve done my best?” And how much that really matters, instead of being as validated by the praise one receives. We all long for that – I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, too. But I think there’s just a little bit less worry about that. It kind of feels like age gives you that.

What about your songwriting approach did you change for A Tip Toe High Wire?

I think songwriting is always such a journey. This was the first record that has been primarily made up of my touring band. Some of the songs were written and then performed live before we even recorded them in the studio – not all of them – but a good chunk of them have been road-tested, which is an interesting way of [developing a song]. “Lord, That’s a Long Way,” I wrote that tune because I literally was imagining in my mind the way it would feel to play this live with this band. It’s a different kind of approach when you’re thinking that way. I imagine one instrument kicking it off and then another one joining in on that same riff and kind of building the opening. In this way, sometimes you can almost hear it and feel it in a live experience before you’re even finished writing a song.

“Muddy Water” is a beautiful song with an equally beautiful sentiment about staying true to oneself. How does this mentality applies to your experience as an artist?

I think part of it is about trying to not become jaded by [the life of a musician]. If you’re doing something over and over and it kind of becomes your world, it’s easy to get burned out. I’m always trying to make sure that I don’t get burned out and am finding ways to be inspired. So much of that is about keeping a positive mindset and trying to keep an open mindset to the inspiration around us. The other thing that I’ll say is, I’ve gotten to do so much collaborating over the last few years. That’s been a big part of my musical world and I feel like it’s been really broad-reaching too, in ways that I’m inspired.

Stepping out on tour with Cory Wong – that’s a fun time. It’s way different than what I do, but it’s a fun time. Going to make music with Béla Fleck – that’s about really getting in the weeds and rehearsing and working hard on incredibly complex instrumental music. Getting to go join Sturgill Simpson on something, it’s about not over-rehearsing the songs and making sure there’s something about the freshness of maybe one or two takes in the recording studio. That’s why I love collaboration. Being part of something that’s not yours, but you’re kind of part of it so you’re getting to learn and grow and experience and have that excitement rub off on you.

Several of the songs on A Tip Toe High Wire – “Red Bird,” “Haven Hill,” “Spitfire,” “Lord, That’s a Long Way” – nod to the matriarchs of your family. How would you describe where and how music fit into their lives and shaped each of their relationships with you and how you remember them?

Music was part of everyday life. My whole family is very much rooted in the backwoods of Appalachia, the boonies of Tennessee, as far back as I know. Not a lot of money, no college degrees, but such smart, strong characters and people with a wealth of knowledge and grit and toughness and all that. I think music was a way that they were able to cope and have it be part of their way to pass the time. More a way of life than trying to dream of being a performer.

I remember my Granny singing when I was a kid, hearing her sing in church, and I know [my husband Justin Moses’s] family background was much the same. So certainly a different kind of musical experience. But music has always been a big part of both my family story and Justin’s family story. And I was lucky enough to get to know all of his grandparents – he’s since lost three of them – but I was lucky to get to know them and my grandparents too. Not everybody gets that. So I feel super lucky. And yeah, I think inevitably those stories kind of wind up weaving their way into my songwriting.

How do you balance so many different but interconnected objectives – especially finding space to let out parts of yourself through your music?

I’ve been able to say yes to a lot of things, because [I’ve chosen] to say no to some other things and that feels rewarding because normally I’d be stressing out. So trying to think ahead and find the balance as a human, asking, “How can I be focused in the moment, not stack too many things on top of each other, and instead carve out the balance where I do have time to write, I do have time to record, and I do have time to tour?” Because I love all those things. In a perfect world, you make them exist in a cohesive way and that can inform what the art becomes on the other side of it, because I’ve given myself space to enjoy all these things in their own way, instead of just the constant chaos of trying to do five things at once.

Photo Credit: Bethany Brook Showalter & Spencer Showalter

Americana Agnostic: How Cristina Vane Developed a Sound All Her Own

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

A blues, old-time, and Americana alchemist, singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Cristina Vane has just released a striking new album, Hear My Call, a collection that defies categorization and tidy genre labels.

Something of a roots music influencer – though she perhaps would never self ascribe that title – Vane has built a remarkable following around her agnostic approach to borderless, post-genre roots music that effortlessly calls back to eras before all of these styles were stratified and separated.

Vane’s Americana agnosticism stems from a variety of inspirations and inputs, but is largely derived from circumstances, taste, and whim. On the seventh track of Hear My Call, “My Mountain,” she sings along with loping frailed banjo:

I was born across the sea
At the feet of the mountain
I left young and it left me
Lost a piece of my grounding
I watch you and how you speak
Belonging is astounding
I watch you, but what of me?
The history that I’m bound to…

She’s referencing her upbringing in Europe, born at the foot of the Alps and raised in Paris before moving to the U.S. in her youth. What does it mean to be a purveyor of “mountain music” when the mountains you claim are not Appalachia or the Ozarks or even Celtic highlands? How can you be an expert and interpreter of these art forms, while ultimately sensing – consciously and subconsciously – that your identity is not or cannot be interwoven with them? Perhaps it brings a certain unbridled freedom and ease? Or perhaps it means your entire relationship to the musics you love will be informed by this kind of daunting existential question: Can you belong?

For Vane, it’s clearly a smattering of many factors that has led her to this delicious and carefree combination of styles, sonics, and songs. She is truly an expert on blues, bluegrass, old-time, and beyond, spurred to excellence on one hand by her feeling of imposing in these traditions and on the other by a devout love and gratitude for the people who also inhabit these spaces and who passed the art along to her.

Cristina Vane may have not felt truly at home in the roots music scenes that claim her until recently or maybe she needed to still grow, easing into her current confident, unapologetic sense of self. At any rate, she’s ready for the world to hear her call – and to understand that she alone decides who she is, how she sounds, and where she belongs. Whether “her mountain” is found in the Alps, in the southeastern United States, in Los Angeles, Music City, or anywhere else. Vane knows that she, too, is a part of these timeless traditions and that, above all else, could be the primary reason she moves between these folkways so gracefully and entrancingly.

Your sound feels like it hearkens back to a time before roots music was split up into all of these different genres, when blues and folk and old-time and bluegrass and country were all technically considered the same thing. I feel like you combine sounds in a really similar way. How do you approach your sound? To me it feels like you’re pretty agnostic, you are very fluid in the way you approach genre. Especially with this album, as it feels so fully fleshed out, built up, and lush.

Cristina Vane: It is a really fine line to walk and I’ve had this struggle since forever where I just don’t want to choose. I don’t feel like I should have to really, either, and I do think that’s what I was hoping would come across in all my albums. Specifically this one in many areas of my life, includes this question of, “Who am I?” “Where am I from?” “Who am I in my community?”

“Who am I” applies to genre as well. Every time I feel this voice of self-doubt that’s like, “It’s just too confusing. If you wanna be appealing to more people and get better opportunities and festivals, they have to know what you are.”

Every time that comes up it’s a difficult feeling, but I ultimately always just say “fuck you!” [Laughs] It’s really affirming that you feel positively about that because I also agree, in the sense that I come from the ‘90s and 2000s, listening to different music and genre was important, but not in the way that I feel like it can get tiresome in Americana music. Where there’s this legacy and tradition that you have to uphold if you’re gonna fit within the parameters of a genre. Whereas, in indie music you can do whatever you want and if it sounds kind of like the other bands in the genre, then I guess you’re indie!

I guess I approached the older traditions with some hesitancy, because I knew that traditional-leaning people are [going to question me]. “You’re not really a blues woman” and “You’re not really a bluegrass artist” and “You’re not really an old-time player.”

Honestly, I think one of the people that, in a lot of ways inspired me on my first album to just stay the course, was Sarah Jarosz. It was more than the fact that she played different instruments and didn’t feel bound to be just a mandolin player. She’s just so talented, obviously, and I think it was very full circle when her last album came out and it was a completely different world than the string band sound stuff. I was like, “See? We all have it in us to want to explore different things.”

To answer your question a little more directly, I don’t worry about genre. If I wrote this song and I am proud of the song, I want to flesh it out in a way that just intuitively feels good to me. That being said, there are some songs where I lean towards more bluegrass, but there’s also a song like “Storm Brewing,” where it’s a clawhammer song. I wrote it on the banjo and then when we dressed it up, it just felt really good to put some electric guitar in there. I’ve added drums to everything because that’s how I wanna play my live show.

I love that you mention Sarah Jarosz, because that’s definitely an artist that this album reminds me of, but also Larkin Poe, Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi specifically, because you have these big bluesy modern tracks, but you’re a picker as well. I think that changes the music, when the bones of it or the origins of it are coming from someone who’s an instrumentalist-performer-songwriter-vocalist.

I also think that’s part of why the music, even though it comes from a variety of genre backgrounds, feels so engaging and charming, because you can play around with those sounds freely. Even if you were just playing the songs solo, just you, yourself, and your instrument – whatever instrument that may be – they would still work, but they also work fully realized.

Can you talk a little bit about how being a picker informs you and inspires you as a songwriter and as a frontwoman?

You kind of already hit on it. From the outset every song starts with me and my instrument – and they usually start either like “Storm Brewing” in a tent in Utah or like “Getting High in Hotel Rooms” getting high in hotel rooms in Las Vegas. I sit down with an instrument and the music always comes first.

“Everything Is Fine” actually started as a more fingerstyle thing on my resonator [guitar]. I wrote the words and then I was feeling the chorus. The vibe is more rock, and I wanted a strumming electric guitar. So it can be malleable, but pretty much [most of the time] it’s like, “I wrote this riff on this instrument and now I’m gonna write some words to it.” Then, in the case of this album, I bring it to my touring band, who I trust immensely and we can collaboratively work, play around with it, and they give their input as well.

Let’s talk about the title track. “Hear My Call” is like Ola Belle Reed meets Gillian Welch meets modern, head-bobbing bluegrass mash. I love that. I thought it was interesting to pick this one as the title track, given that it’s one of a handful of string band songs on the record among many much “harder” sounding tracks. I wanted to know more about the inspiration behind it, choosing it as the title track, and having it be the keystone of the project. How did you write it and how did it all come together?

You know, I’m actually deeply dismayed to say that I don’t even remember when exactly I wrote this riff! I think I was on a very long, grueling West Coast tour, but you know the West Coast is also always filled with magic. I’m very partial to the nature and landscape out West. I would’ve definitely written the riff first and then I started just hearing this chorus over and over. I was playing it at soundchecks.

I guess I didn’t even think about choosing a song that best represents the album. I was struggling to name the album, just because it’s hard to do that. Do I choose another title or do I do a title track? But I actually chose it because this whole album [is about] the way I was mentally, the way I still am feeling about my place in music, my place in the world, and the general sort of comfort level I have with being exactly who I am.

I’m in a time of changing my energy from being an observer and a student of a lot of different cultures and musics, from looking at other people and taking all of that with deep gratitude, realizing that I have a story as well. The unique blend of things that make up my cultural history, and geographical history – all of those things I should be proud of and not uncomfortable with. Until the last couple of years, I was just uncomfortable with how complicated everything is in my my personal history and my musical influences and not knowing how to marry being a girl from Paris that went to Princeton with being someone who loves down-home music. I just spent [a lot of] time almost apologizing for things that I really can’t change [about myself].

“Hear My Call” is reflective of the shift that happened. Maybe it’s just growing into yourself and realizing I’m actually proud of where I’m from and I’m happy to have had the experiences I have. I have learned a lot from other people, but other people can maybe also learn from me. It’s not all just “take take take.” I can give something back. It’s an assertion of reclaiming space. That’s really what this song is about.

It’s interesting to hear you say that you’re giving yourself permission to be exactly who you are and love the music you love and make the music you make, because I think part of the “trad” music world is that we’re all policing ourselves all the time.

I actually didn’t realize it, but I think a lot of what influenced how I went into the studio [for this album] was that, around that time and a little before, I was delving deep back into the music I listened to when I was, let’s say, 11 to 18. After so many years of being a true student of the blues and then old-time – like, “I have to learn every tune and I have to read all the books!” Well, I wanted to. I went back into this music that felt so familiar and not being stupid and young anymore thinking, “I can’t listen to Blink-182, ‘cause it’s not cool.” I missed The Strokes and Bon Iver and Elliott Smith and all these things that, while I’ve always loved them, I kind of pushed to the wayside as all this new music came in, which is natural.

I loved this feeling around the time of doing this album of just reconnecting with my teenage self and remembering that that [music] has [also] informed the way I write. I want it to be just as present as someone that I discovered much later, like Gillian Welch. I’m hoping that mix comes across, to some extent.

I also wanted to ask about your “online community.” You have a huge social media following and you have so many amazing collaborators that you make content with. Personally, I think part of why you’re able to approach genre without being contained by categories is because you have built this direct-to-consumer business model. You’re directly interfacing with so many of your listeners, so none of them are gonna be surprised to see you code-switch on a project, genre-wise or sonically.

It jumped out at me that the way that you operate online – creating on your own terms with the door open and the window shades up so that everybody can be part of that process and also take ownership of it – must somewhat allow you to do what you want. You aren’t beholden to anybody but yourself, especially given that you’ve created this ecosystem and this community for yourself and your fans already know that’s what to expect from you.

Wow, I just love doing interviews, ‘cause I feel like when they’re insightful people like you they’re telling me things about myself! Because that’s so, so insightful and I have never thought about it that way!

So much has been dictated by circumstance or necessity – and partially just me being batshit crazy and honestly not scared of anything. [Laughs] Like, I would go on the beach in Venice, [California] when I lived there and busk. Instead of playing songs that would make me a lot of money, I played my own songs over and over and over, because I was like, “I’m playing my guitar. I need to get good at it. I think it’s cool and they’ll think it’s cool, too.”

When I first went on the road, I was like, “Well, I’m gonna bring my electric guitar, because my acoustic is gonna explode when I’m in Zion and Moab and all these crazy places.” I was on the road for six months in a tent, mostly. That was a big factor in choosing why a lot of my songs are performed on electric. Then I brought my banjo, ‘cause I liked it and I was like, “I don’t really care if it’s confusing, but I’m gonna like play my blues stuff.”

This is actually going to offend people if you print this, but I would play through my [Fender] Blues Junior and then I would just plug my banjo into it, because, “It’s an amplifier and it fucking works, so…” [Laughs] It didn’t sound that bad actually, to be honest with you, but yeah, I would be playing some random brewery somewhere that I’ve never been and I would go from playing Son House to “Angeline the Baker,” because that’s what I was learning at the time.

I guess in some ways, of course I’m like everyone else and I worry deeply about what people think of me and how I am perceived, but in other ways, I just don’t care. That can be really freeing. I think that’s carried over a little bit. I had experimented with paring myself down – “OK, I need to just be a blues player” and then I would show up to the gig and there would always be one or two people that were disappointed I didn’t bring the banjo. And vice versa when I just did the string band stuff, it felt like I was missing a huge part.

I mean there was no way I was gonna not play my guitar. That’s like my main instrument, but there was a time in Nashville where I was just playing with a string band and I didn’t ever play my resonator. I just played acoustic and the banjo. It didn’t feel complete. I don’t have it figured out. I don’t know that there is a “figuring out” that’s going to happen. I’m just gonna play what I like.

You contain multitudes!

Yes! Thank you, I try. [Laughs]

Photo Credit: Stacie Huckeba

Woody Platt’s Release Show Became a Hurricane Benefit, Raising Thousands

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

On October 11, singer-songwriter Woody Platt stood onstage at 185 King Street, a cozy music venue in the depths of the small mountain town of Brevard, North Carolina. And what was supposed to be an album release party for Platt’s Far Away With You became a fundraiser for flood victims of Hurricane Helene, which devastated the region last month.

“I was conflicted about even having a show,” Platt says. “But, then I remembered that music is healing, helpful, and great for the community. It’s also a wonderful way to raise money.”

Dubbed “Rescue Carolina,” the sold-out benefit concert was a genuine celebration of togetherness after the traumatic events and during ongoing struggles of Asheville and greater Western North Carolina. Platt and his wife, acclaimed singer-songwriter Shannon Whitworth, came up with the idea for “Rescue Carolina.”

“Why don’t we use our platform, this show, and our relationships in the community to figure out what’s the quickest and more direct use of these donations to those who need help?” Platt says.

Woody Platt and band as seen from 185 King Street’s backyard. Photo by David Simchock.

At last count, the GoFundMe page for “Rescue Carolina” has raised more than $107,000 and counting. The funds will be doled out to an array of hyperlocal nonprofit organizations, small businesses and residents in need.

“There are many individuals that lost their homes and businesses that were totally destroyed,” Platt noted. “It’s pretty bad out here.”

A Brevard native who still calls Transylvania County home, Platt is the founder and former frontman for the Grammy-winning Steep Canyon Rangers. Formed almost 25 years ago while students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Rangers are a marquee act in the Americana and bluegrass realms.

“It was just us jamming in the college dorm rooms,” Platt recalls. “And then, all of a sudden, we got excited and hit the road.”

In 2022, Platt decided to step away from the Rangers in a genuine effort to spend more time with his wife and young son. And to simply slow down, maybe go fly fishing more – another lifelong passion that’s now parlayed itself into a private guiding service led by Platt.

“I have a habit of turning all my hobbies into careers,” Platt chuckles. “You know, I did 23 years with the Rangers and did enough years on the road to pay my dues out there.”

And yet, even though Platt stepped off the bus, literally and figuratively, the music hasn’t stopped. Quite the contrary. It flows seamlessly and endlessly through the heart and soul of the troubadour like the ancient rivers and creeks in Southern Appalachia.

Standing room only – inside and outside – at 185 King Street for Platt’s release show and Rescue Carolina benefit. Photo by David Simchock.

You’re no stranger to philanthropic causes and have always been involved with charities. Why is it so important to continually be involved in these efforts? Because it can take a lot out of you to do it.

Woody Platt: Yeah, it does, man. Honestly, I come by it real naturally. My whole life, my family has always been at the forefront of fundraising. My mom started the local Boys and Girls Club chapter here. And not just started it, but raised the money for a really significant facility that now services hundreds of kids. It’s a way of life for my family. I really don’t know any other approach than to get in the trenches and try to give back, you know? I mean, I’ve been really lucky, in my life and my career, to have had a lot of community support. And it’s very natural to want to turn back around, if you can, and give back.

And we’re still not out of the woods with efforts here in Western North Carolina. Not by a long shot. Everyone’s just kind of dazed at this point, where it’s like a kind of a “Twilight Zone” thing.

Yeah. I’ve used that term “Twilight Zone” so many times. There’s normalcy and there’s work. People still have to pay the mortgages and do the things they’ve always done. But, you don’t have to look too far to just see somebody in total devastation. You turn the corner and everybody’s all happy up on [a] hill, and then you just go a hundred yards down and you start seeing the devastation. I hope we don’t have to see this again. I tell you what, I hope this was truly a thousand-year flood.

Casey Driessen (fiddle) and Bennett Sullivan (banjo) perform as part of Platt’s band. Photo by David Simchock.

Obviously you scheduled the album release party prior to the flooding and it was aiming to be a special night. But, it just felt like way more of a special occasion. What did that night mean to you?

There were so many layers to that. The first layer was that I’ve never in my career done a Woody Platt concert, just a show that has my name on it. I’ve always done band shows or collective shows with other musicians, but I never just had a show that was sort of centered around music that I made and recorded. So, that in itself, even leading up to the event, had a special feeling to me because that’s a long time coming. And then, you had the hurricane and how the show quickly needed to pivot to a fundraiser – put the record in the backseat and the fundraiser in the front seat. And it kind of created some anxiety, but excitement. During the show, I [played] a lot of the songs from local songwriters right here in Transylvania County. And I invited them all to come and sing a snippet of their song in its original form before I did my version of it back-to-back throughout the night – that made it even more familial and really Transylvania County-centric. It was a special night.

You’ve been playing music for a long time, but it feels like this fresh avenue with the new album. But, how is this all going to work moving forward? Are you going to tour, play with a band, case-by-case gigs?

Well, one of my favorite things about music right now, Garret, is that when I play, it’s just solely about the joy. Not that music wasn’t joyful before, but it’s just coming from a really easy place right now. I’m not worried about the money as much or worried about the tour and all the gigs that you need to put together when you’re full-time on the road. You need to put together a robust [touring] schedule and that can weigh on you a little bit. It’s just the nature of the music business.

So, I feel like I’m playing music from a really free place, and that’s made it so fun that I’ve kind of wanted to do a little more of it. Shannon and I have a band together, and we have sort of a fixed lineup where we play [out] a little bit. This project and this band that I played with the other night, we’re going to play some, but not much. Just enough to scratch that itch and enjoy music in its just simplest form, which to me is just wonderful. I do anticipate a handful of gigs, but there’s no sort of pressure attached to it. It’s a fun place to be.

Shannon Whitworth and Woody Platt soundcheck before the show. Photo by David Simchock.

Well, it’s where you’ve always wanted to be.

A hundred percent. And that’s where it started early on. You know, with the Rangers, we got so many offers and were so busy for so long. It was incredible and such a fun ride, but it’s one of those things [to be on the grind].

The Rangers are such a freight train with their touring. Then you wonder, “Should I step off the train?” or “What’s going to happen when I step off the train?” But, you stepped off the train and you found stability in your life.

Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. Somebody asked me just yesterday, “Did you anticipate making a record? Did you anticipate playing these gigs with these different guys and developing a new repertoire?” And honestly, I didn’t. I just knew I needed to step off that train and the rest would unfold naturally. And that’s what’s happening, you know? And I was so flattered to get tucked in with Compass Records and work with [label owners] Alison [Brown] and Garry [West].

You talk about being in a free space, and that’s the way I felt listening to the album. It felt very light and that you had a kick in your step, like momentum was moving forward. There’s no heaviness on the record.

And I’m glad. I just wanted it to come from a really easy place, and get to sing with Shannon. We sing together all the time, but we’ve recorded together very little. And so, with having her there, I wanted it to be easy, fun, fresh, happy and all the things.

And that’s where you’re at right now.

You better believe it, man.

A huge crowd watches from 185 King Street’s cozy backyard. Photo by David Simchock.

When you first left the Rangers, I remember you telling me that the goal was: more time with family and more fishing, with one foot still in music.

The goal was family first. I only got one little boy, and I felt like I was missing a lot of that. When I go to the studio now, it’s like a day job, where I come right home. And when I go fishing, it’s just a few hours and I come home and sleep in my own bed. I’ve got a nice balance of those three things you mentioned. Still being front and center with the family, enjoying [fishing], and keeping the music in a good place — it’s kind of a dream come true at this point.

(Editor’s Note: Though Rescue Carolina has reached their GoFundMe fundraising goal, donors can still give to continue to support hurricane relief in Western North Carolina here.)

Photo Credit: All images by David Simchock.

Hurricane Helene: How to Help Roots Musicians and Appalachia

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, and beyond in late September, 2024, leaving a wide wake of devastation and destruction from her high winds, record rainfall, and historic flooding. Central and Southern Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee were hit especially hard, experiencing what some experts have called a 1,000-year weather event. Due to the particular nature of the geography and topography in the mountains, communities of all sizes – from Boone and Asheville, NC to tiny Chimney Rock and Lansing, NC to Erwin, TN and Damascus, VA – were hit especially hard by flash floods, downed trees, landslides and mudslides, impassable roads, and utility outages.

Slowly but surely over the last ten days, as cell service, power, and communication are restored in a slow trickle to the hard-hit and hard-to-access area, more stories, photos and videos, and first-hand accounts have been disseminated from survivors of Helene’s fury. Their accounts are truly harrowing. The damage nearly unparalleled in recent memory.

Central and Southern Appalachia are a region rich in musical and cultural heritage, with so many of America’s quintessential roots music forms being hugely influenced by these mountains and their neighboring locales. Asheville and Boone are two gems in the American roots music scene and so many smaller towns in the tri-state area have their own bustling arts economies, as well. Musicians, songwriters, and creators from all corners of the BGS family reside in this part of the country; watching from afar as they recover their destroyed lives and livelihoods, build community, support each other, clean up the mud and debris, and act in pure solidarity has been both encouraging and heart-wrenching.

For those of us who adore the Blue Ridge, Appalachia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia but live elsewhere, it’s been a nearly constant questioning of, “What can we do to help?” since the storm hit. Especially, what can we do to aid our fellow roots musicians in Helene’s track as they rebuild their lives? Gratefully, resources, tips, donation links, volunteer oppportunities, and more have been pouring in as the mountains and neighboring areas come back online.

Below, we gather a few events, donation links, GoFundMes, resources, and more – for folks in and outside of the region – to lend their support to our friends and neighbors whose lives have been forever altered. While we hasten to rebuild and recover, we also hold immense love, care, and grief for all of those who are still missing, unaccounted for, and presumed deceased in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The road to a “new normal” across the southeast, from Florida’s Big Bend to Virginia’s Crooked Trail, will span months and years, if not decades. The only way we’ll get there is by supporting and caring for each other – and that support starts now.

Sturgill Simpson’s North Carolina Benefit Show

Mainstream country outlaw Sturgill Simpson has just announced his Why Not? tour – featuring his new project and persona, Johnny Blue Skies – will hold a special North Carolina Benefit Show on October 21 in Cary, North Carolina at the Booth Amphitheatre with all proceeds benefitting the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund. Tickets go on sale this Friday, October 11 at this link. As explained in a press release announcing the event, Simpson was originally scheduled to perform at Asheville’s ExploreAsheville.com Arena on the same date, but due to the devastating impact of the storm, that show has been canceled. This quick-pivot rescheduled benefit show is just another indicator of how important North Carolina is to country and roots musicians.

Help Musicians Hasee Ciaccio and Abby Huggins Rebuild

Hasee Ciaccio is a bluegrass bassist who has toured and performed with Molly Tuttle, Sister Sadie, Laurie Lewis, Alice Gerrard, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, and many, many more bands and acts in bluegrass, old-time, and string band music. She and her spouse Abby Huggins, a community builder, dancer, and artist, lost their home to Hurricane Helene-caused tree falls and mudslides.

The California Bluegrass Association has begun a fundraiser to help Hasee and Abby rebuild, as they must continue paying a mortgage on a home that became unlivable in an instant. The outpouring of generosity has been overwhelming, with 60% of their goal already being reached in the short time since the hurricane struck on September 27. Visit the CBA here in order to read more and donate to support Hasee & Abby.

Mandolinist Darren Nicholson and Band Pitch In

Darren Nicholson is a mandolinist, songwriter, and Western North Carolina native who knows first hand how floods of this nature can uproot entire lives and communities. In 2021, his home turf, Haywood County, was devastated by flooding from a tropical depression. He led recovery efforts then, and he’s pitching in again now – with his entire band pulling their weight to bring GoFundMe donations, supplies, and resources to their own communities in Western NC and East TN.

“The entire band is out serving their communities at this time,” Nicholson shares in the GoFundMe description. “Avery is a first responder doing search and rescue;  Aynsley is distributing supplies in Unicoi, TN; Kevin is distributing water and fuel; Darren is cutting trees and distributing supplies in Haywood County, NC.”

If you’re able, you can give directly via GoFundMe to support Darren Nicholson and his band bringing glimmers of hope to their impacted communities. They’ve already exceeded their fundraising “goal” – and the dollars raised back in 2021 – but there is still much work to be done, so consider donating if you can.

BGS Contributor and Music Journalist Garrett Woodward Reports From on the Ground

Frequent BGS contributor and freelance music journalist extraordinaire Garrett Woodward has been reporting – for RollingStone and others – from on the ground in the region about the impact on Asheville, North Carolina’s musicians and beyond. Despite dealing with power and internet outages himself, Woodward has been shining a light on the experiences of those dealing with the immense fall out of this storm.

Here, he describes the impact on venues and music presenters in what has become a hotbed for indie and DIY music of all genres and styles, but especially roots.

Here, he details how musicians and artists have been pitching in – whether from nearby or far away – to help this incredible area of the world recover and rebuild.

You can also find his reporting for Smoky Mountain News on Hurricane Helene efforts and impacts here.

We so appreciate Garrett keeping all of us in the loop with what’s happening on the ground, while spreading the word about relief efforts, resources, and donation pages. All of his stories above include many ways to give and to show up for North Carolina, so dig in and get involved.

Donate to the IBMA Trust Fund

Hurricane Helene hit during IBMA’s World of Bluegrass business conference and IBMA Bluegrass Live! festival held in Raleigh, North Carolina. While the disruption to the event was not insignificant, the organization immediately began messaging more broadly about the impacts to the region and the destruction just down I-40, in the western parts of the state, in Tennessee, and Virginia.

Before the festival had even concluded, IBMA began fundraising through their Trust Fund, which supports bluegrass musicians and professionals facing hardships – whether financial, medical, disasters, etc. Members of the IBMA and its staff and board even already held a benefit livestream show. You can watch that performance here, and donate to the Trust Fund at any time as it supports bluegrass community members in need.

Help Ola Belle Reed’s Hometown Rebuild

Ola Belle Reed’s hometown of Lansing, North Carolina is nestled in the mountains of Ashe County alongside Big Horse Creek. As you drive into the tiny village from the south, you’ll encounter a brightly colored mural of Reed on a local store’s brick wall, a bright barn quilt accenting a gorgeous portrait of this iconic old-time and bluegrass legend. Unfortunately, Helene took its toll on Lansing’s adorable little downtown too, flooding nearly every business and destroying homes, bridges, and livelihoods.

The Old Orchard Creek General Store, a newer business that had become an important community keystone and gathering place in its few short years of business, was almost entirely destroyed. The store is known for hosting nearby and regional musicians – like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Martha Spencer, Trevor McKenzie & Jackson Cunningham, and many more – on their porch and in their cute cafe, supporting dozens of area artists with a quality local gig. You can donate to support the general store’s rebuild here.

In addition, Lansing and the Ashe County area surrounding it are criss-crossed with mountain creeks and streams, many of which burst their banks and washed out bridges, driveways, and crossings that were critical for folks’ daily lives and safety. As a result, the citizens are banding together to rebuild this critical infrastructure for their neighbors. Give to help rebuild their roads, bridges, and driveways here.

Woody Platt’s Album Release Becomes Rescue Carolina

Many folks are synonymous with the Western North Carolina music scene, but perhaps no single person epitomizes what it means to be a musical community member in Western NC like Woody Platt does. With a new album, Far Away with You, dropping this Friday, October 11, Platt has re-tooled his album release show to be a benefit for Rescue Carolina, raising money for local relief efforts in Brevard, NC and nearby. A bastion venue in the area, 185 King Street, will host the show – and they’ve been pitching in quite a bit with recovery themselves, too. Everyone is pitching in!

Not in the region? You can purchase a livestream ticket and still show up for Woody Platt and for Rescue North Carolina. Give directly to their GoFundMe here.

Star-Studded Concert for Carolina

Announced yesterday, October 7, with tickets going on sale Thursday, October 10, Charlotte, NC’s Bank of America Stadium will be taken over on October 26 by Luke Combs, Eric Church, Billy Strings, James Taylor, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, and more for a star-studded benefit show. Proceeds will support relief efforts in the Carolinas. The event will be hosted by ESPN’s Marty Smith and Barstool Sports’ Caleb Pressley and will feature additional artists still to be announced. It’s sure to be a sell out – and for good reason!

Get more information and purchase tickets here.

Hiss Golden Messenger Dedicates Sanctuary Songs: Live in Omaha, NE to Western North Carolina

North Carolina-based indie, folk, and Americana artist Hiss Golden Messenger (AKA M.C. Taylor) has announced his upcoming live album, Sanctuary Songs: Live in Omaha, NE, will benefit BeLoved Asheville, a local organization raising funds for relief efforts. The 18-song project is available for purchase now exclusively via Bandcamp.

“Western North Carolina is really, really hurting, y’all,” Taylor noted on Instagram. “We don’t even know the half yet, and I’m glad to be able to help.”

Safe Water for Hurricane Helene Survivors Via LifeStraw

LifeStraw is a brand all about safe, clean water for all. Their products are popular with hikers, campers, outdoors people, and folks with limited access to clean water around the world. After Helene, the company activated their Safe Water Fund and their disaster response teams to bring their filtration products to those who’ve lost access to clean water. Donating directly to the fund helps bring their large purifier systems like the LifeStraw Community and LifeStraw 8L to the region as well as their LifeStraw Home pitchers and dispensers for use in homes and personal bottle and straw filters for individual use. Get more info and donate here.

Appalachian Aid Music Festival

On October 19 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the Appalachian Aid Music Festival will feature performances by host Alex Key, John PayCheck (son of Johnny PayCheck), local great Wayne Henderson, and many more. The event will benefit Musicians Mission of Mercy, a non-profit embedded in rural Western North Carolina, specifically in Ashe County. Tickets are available now via Eventbrite, but first responders – nurses, doctors, firefighters, linemen, EMS, etc. – should know they’ll be admitted for free with their work IDs.

Cardinals At The Window Compilation Album

Released on October 9, Cardinals At the Window is a gargantuan compilation album of 136 tracks – yes, you read that right, 136 – submitted from various artists from across the roots music landscape. The project will benefit three non-profits based in Western North Carolina administering hurricane relief, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Rural Organizing and Resilience, and BeLoved Asheville. Compiled by Libby Rodenbough, David Walker, and Grayson Haver Currin, the album is available exclusively via Bandcamp and features tracks from amazing artists like Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Hiss Golden Messenger, Watchhouse, Calexico, the Decemberists, Iron & Wine, MJ Lenderman, Mipso, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childer, Waxahatchee, Yasmin Williams, and many, many more.

Purchase the project and support the cause here.

Appalachian Allies

On October 27 at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee an impeccable lineup of roots musicians will gather to raise funds for the East Tennessee Foundation, a non-profit committed to supporting flood victims and flood relief programs in the mountains of East Tennessee. Hosted by bassist Daniel Kimbro and singer-songwriter Sam Lewis, the event will feature performances by Adeem the Artist, Darrell Scott, Jerry Douglas, Larkin Poe, Sarah Jarosz, and more. Tickets are on sale now. Make plans to support Tennesseans by showing up and showing out for Appalachian Allies on October 27.

“Hell in High Water” – Mike Thomas

Singer-songwriter Mike Thomas grew up in East Tennessee. After Helene tore through his home state, the Carolinas, and Virginia, he began writing “Hell in High Water” in early October.

“For generations, my family has called East Tennessee home, and although I have lived in Nashville for 20 years, I will always be an East Tennessean. Watching the aftermath of Helene unfold affected me deeply…” Thomas said via press release. “I couldn’t get those heartbreaking stories and images out of my mind.”

So, he wrote “Hell in High Water,” recorded it in record time, and released the track with all proceeds going to Mountain Ways, a non-profit committed to providing ongoing hurricane relief and assistance in the region. “I started writing ‘Hell in High Water’ on October 4th and finished it on October 6th,” Thomas continues. “I played it for some close friends and family who urged me to record and release it as soon as possible. I sent it to my producer, Tres Sasser, and my bandmates. Everyone dropped what they had planned to record the track on October 17th. There was a sense of urgency and purpose to get the song done and to get it done right.”

The song is now available to stream via Spotify, Apple, and more. Listen to the track below. All proceeds will go to hurricane relief. Listeners and fans can also donate to Mountain Ways directly here.

Our Co-Founder, Ed Helms, Agrees

 

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A post shared by Ed Helms (@edhelms)

Even our co-founder himself, Ed Helms, took to social media to point out how special and important this region of the country is to all of us – BGS and beyond. Like many of us, Ed has had a lifelong relationship with the mountains of Western North Carolina and he understands personally how difficult this recovery process will be. You can find all of the links he mentions in this clip and more below.

Whatever you have to give and contribute to rebuilding after this storm, nothing is too small or insignificant. It will take all of us to rebuild Central and Southern Appalachia and the entire Southeast post-Helene.

Give to the Appalachian Funder’s Network here.

Give to World Central Kitchen here.

Support Operation Airdrop, Concord, NC

Give to BeLoved Asheville

Arts Organizations: Get plugged in with Hurricane Helene resources via the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response.

For more donations to local, vetted organizations, Blue Ridge Public Radio has compiled this list.

(Editor’s Note: Have a fundraiser, link, benefit concert, or similar hurricane recovery resource you’d like us to share here? Email us at [email protected].)

Photo Credit: Courtesy of NASA Image and Video Library. Sept. 25, 2024 – Hurricane Helene is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 257 [miles] above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Mississippi.

Out Now: Sam Gleaves

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Last month, Sam Gleaves released his latest album, Honest, with the intention of sharing his truth. Sam was born and raised in southwest Virginia.

Songs from the project, like “Queer Cowboy” and “Fear,” were written for his partner and detail queer experiences. Lyrics like “Love is stronger than fear” point toward the challenges of being part of the LGBTQ+ community and the need for authentic love. Other songs address his parents, like “Walnut Tree,” written for his father, and “Beautiful” for his mother. Both songs feel nostalgic and share the value of simple things like gratitude and a day outside, under the trees.

In our Out Now interview, Sam shares his current state of mind, his favorite LGBTQ+ artists, the best advice he’s ever received, and more.

What is your current state of mind?

I feel grateful. After years of work, the new record Honest is out in the world! I am fortunate to have worked with a bunch of my dear friends in the creative process. They are all world-class musicians and singers. Hasee Ciaccio and Josh Goforth were the core team in the studio. We arranged the songs together and recorded most of them as a trio. Josh Goforth is a genius producer and his vision really made the songs shine. A number of my favorite musicians and singers guested on various tracks, like Carla Gover, Linda Jean Stokley, Jared Tyler, Jeff Taylor, and Chris Rosser. I’m proud of every second of music we created together.

Why do you create music? What’s more satisfying to you, the process or the outcome?

What a great question! I create music because I need it. I love storytelling. I walk through memories in my writing process. In the songs I selected for my new record, I wanted to honor the people who have shaped my journey: family, musical collaborators, and lovers. All of those people are tied to places etched onto my heart, especially southwest Virginia and central Kentucky. I process grief through my songwriting, because there is great injustice in our world and that affects the people and places that I love. Most of all, songwriting is restorative and the songs become a mode of connection.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

To try to laugh or smile when I make a mistake. I feel that applies in my musical life and the rest of my life!

Who are your favorite LGBTQ+ artists and bands?

I have too many favorite LGBTQ+ artists and bands to name! I am grateful for friendships with my mentors, who are also pioneers, like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Peggy Seeger, and the members of Kentucky’s own Reel World String Band.

Over the past decade or so, it has been a great joy to see the many roots musicians that are celebrating their identities, folks like Justin Hiltner, Jake Blount, Jared Tyler, Tyler Hughes, Amythyst Kiah, Pierceton Hobbs, Larah Helayne, and many others. The list goes on and on!

For anyone reading this who might not be out of the closet, were there any specific people, musicians, or resources that helped you find yourself as a queer individual?

When I was in my early twenties, I met Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer. Cathy and Marcy have been the two most generous, supportive, and loving mentors in my musical life. Cathy produced my first record, Ain’t We Brothers, and Cathy and Marcy both played on it. Their mentoring helped me to learn to believe in my art and pour myself into it. By being life partners and musical partners in the traditional music world, Cathy and Marcy created space for musicians like me to be part of the community. They are committed to celebrating diversity and advocating for social justice through their music. I think that all young LGBTQ+ people should hear Cathy and Marcy’s recordings, especially Cathy’s song “Names” and Fred Small’s song “Everything Possible.” I am one of many folks who have benefited from Cathy and Marcy’s wisdom and friendship.

Around the same time that I met Cathy and Marcy, I heard Gaye Adegbalola perform. Gaye’s music, her luminous personality, and her openness about her identities made a great impact on me. I was deeply moved to witness an artist so firmly rooted in blues traditions telling her story as a queer Black woman. At that time, Gaye had recently recorded an album called Gaye Without Shame, one of my absolute favorite records. I didn’t realize how much shame I held around my queerness until I heard Gaye sing her brilliant songs with such confidence and verve. From the moment we met, Gaye encouraged me and poured out love. As she says herself, Gaye has a whole lot of mojo to give!

Photo Credit: Erica Chambers

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Yasmin Williams, Danny Roberts, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

It’s our first New Music Friday of August! This week, we’ve got an excellent handful of tracks you simply gotta hear. First, there’s Paula Fong with a “zippy little tune” that’s delightfully old school country. Plus, Danny Roberts brings us a ramblin’ bluegrass track, “The Drifter,” which pays homage both to David “Dawg” Grisman and Roberts’ late brother-in-law, Mike Mullins.

Our penultimate premiere is the title track for Americana duo – and 2024 AmericanaFest Official Showcase artist – A Tale of Two’s upcoming album, Renegade. To finish us off, the impeccable and mystifying guitarist Yasmin Williams calls on indie folk favs Darlingside for “Virga,” a swirling song from her just-announced upcoming album, Acadia.

Listen below, ’cause You Gotta Hear This!

Paula Fong, “A House Is Not A Home”

Artist: Paula Fong
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “A House Is Not A Home”
Album: Chestnut Mare
Release Date: September 6, 2024

In Their Words: “This is hands down the fastest I’ve ever written a song. It took me around 15 minutes to write it top to bottom – chords and lyrics – and felt like it just flew out of my head onto the page. I often write about fairly heavy subjects, but in this case I thought I’d just try out a zippy little tune that puts a smile in your heart and makes you want to tap your feet. I often get compliments that it sounds like an effortlessly classic old country tune.

“When I was in my early 20’s I moved from Los Angeles to North Carolina for a time to work at an outdoor Montessori/Quaker farm school that was located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Life there was full and busy, but in a different way from LA. Many things were clearer, more simple, more joyful in a way. I feel like this song captures one facet of the simplicity of that time (and some specific NC references – traveling across the mountains, chickens in the garden). Generally speaking, I think love is hardly simple, but there are certainly moments that can feel as easy and carefree as this song.” – Paula Fong

Danny Roberts, “The Drifter”

Artist: Danny Roberts
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Drifter”
Release Date: August 2, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “When I started writing ‘The Drifter,’ I was inspired to compose something to pay tribute to one of my all-time favorite mandolin players, David Grisman. I feel like this song has that vibe, though nobody can play that style like Dawg. The song title is in honor of my late brother-in-law, Mike Mullins, who wrote a book called The Drifter before he passed away; that title just seemed to fit this song. ‘The Drifter’ was so much fun to record, and it’s always great to have my wife Andrea playing bass with me and the solos that Tony Wray (banjo and guitar) and Jimmy Mattingly (fiddle) played on it are magical. I’m blessed to have such great musicians helping me bring my music to life!” – Danny Roberts

Track Credits:
Danny Roberts – Mandolin
Andrea Roberts – Bass
Tony Wray – Acoustic guitar, banjo
Jimmy Mattingly – Fiddle

A Tale of Two, “Renegade”

Artist name: A Tale Of Two
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Renegade”
Album: Renegade
Release Date: October 4, 2024

In Their Words: “‘Renegade’ is a fitting title for both the record and this song. It represents a shift, a changing of the tide. Our aim is to embody an identity that defies the norms of Nashville. Drawing inspiration from fragments of a previously unreleased track, “Renegade” continues the next chapter of our story, infused with the spirit of the Appalachian terrain we know so well.” – A Tale of Two

Track Credits:
Aaron Lessard – Guitar and vocals
Stephanie Adlington – Vocals
Ross McReynolds – Percussion
Elizabeth Estes – Fiddle
Jon Estes – Bass

Yasmin Williams, “Virga”

Artist: Yasmin Williams
Hometown: Woodbridge, Virginia
Song: “Virga”
Album: Acadia
Release Date: October 4, 2024
Label: Nonesuch Records

In Their Words: “A virga occurs when trails of rainfall from a cloud evaporate before they reach the ground. While virga can be beautiful to look at, it can also cause extreme turbulence for aircrafts. I related this phenomenon to how I feel about participating in the music industry. While it’s so fulfilling to create music that I’m proud of and to be able to travel around the world, the industry itself is dangerous to be a part of and doesn’t always value art or artists.

“Instead, the music industry values metrics and other things that are related to business, not art, forcing most artists to think about hitting their next business target instead of putting their energy into their music. I often feel overwhelmed with all of the expectations that the music business puts on artists and the constant need to move on to the next goal post instead of being able to reflect on, and be grateful for, the things I’ve already achieved.

“While writing ‘Virga,’ I realized that it’s totally fine to feel suspended in time, with my career goals, hopes, and dreams suspended in the atmosphere of an environment I have no control over… and I eventually learned how to thrive “in Virga,” through both the beautiful times and the turbulent ones.” – Yasmin Williams

Track Credits:
Darlingside – Vocals
Rich Ruth – Synth,
Yasmin Williams – Harp guitar
Jeff Gruber – Recording engineer
Mixed by Ken Lewis at thATMOS Studios.

Photo Credit: Yasmin Williams by Ebru Yildiz; Danny Roberts by Sandlin Gaither.

Out Now: Sage Christie

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Sage Christie (formerly known as Siena Christie), is a modern folk artist known for their pure voice and captivating story songs. In both 2022 and 2023, Sage was a finalist at the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest. They also won a handful of other songwriting contests including the Great River Folk Festival songwriting contest in 2021, Portlands Folk Fest Song Contest in 2022, and the Walnut Valley Festival NewSong Showcase in 2023.

Sage has spent much of their time in the past year touring the Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest. When they’re not on the road, they’re now based in Asheville, North Carolina. They moved to Asheville last year, eager to connect with Appalachian music, folk traditions, and the vibrant local arts community.

Our interview covers their dreams to tour full time and their ideal day on the road filled with beautiful landscapes, new towns, and deep connections with both good friends and strangers. We also explore their passion for music, their favorite LGBTQ+ artists, and their experience as a nonbinary artist navigating a recent name change.

Why do you create music?

Sage Christie: I don’t. Music creates me.

Okay, but for serious, I don’t really know; I just always have. I can’t go a day without making up pieces of songs in my head. That’s been true since I was 5 years old.

Who are your favorite LGBTQ+ artists and bands?

I might be slightly biased, because I’ve seen these people in person (and they absolutely wowed me off my feet), but I would definitely include Olive Klug, Emily the Band, Spencer LaJoye, and Flamy Grant on that list.

For anyone reading this who might not be out of the closet, were there any specific people, musicians, or resources that helped you find yourself as a queer individual?

Listening to Jimmy Somerville, the Communards, and Bronski Beat helped me get through high school. I was deeply moved by Jimmy’s heartbreaking songs about searching for belonging as a queer person. But I couldn’t explain why I was so particularly entranced and comforted by the music of a gay man, since, at the time, I thought I was a bisexual cis girl. The better I get to know myself, as a masc-leaning enby, the more sense it makes. To anyone who’s in the closet or questioning: you don’t have to know who you are today. You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t feel safe. Your feelings are a hundred percent valid and okay. You matter, and you are enough.

What are your release and touring plans for the next year?

In September, I plan to release an LP called Little Deaths, a storybook concept album that traces the arc of a short-lived romance from start to finish. I have always been fascinated with fairytales, so I decided to write one myself. I feel like I grew up a lot while writing it. This album is basically me trying to explain love and death to myself like I’m in kindergarten. Once Little Deaths comes out, I’ll be celebrating its release with a two-week tour, visiting Chicago, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, St. Louis, and some other cool places as well.

You’ve been touring all over the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest. What’s that been like for you to organize these tours and be on the road so much as an independent artist?

Touring is my favorite thing ever. I love traveling, seeing new places, making new friends and fans, and playing shows night after night. Booking tours is a lot of work – from researching and contacting venues, to planning safe tour routes and lodging, to promoting the shows and practicing for them – but the payoff so far has been amazing. If I could tour full time, I would. That’s a dream for the future.

Tell us about your recent move to Asheville, North Carolina. What drew you there and how are you liking it so far?

I knew I wanted to move to the southeast U.S. because of the rich Appalachian music heritage and continuing folk traditions here. Leaving the Northwest was tough emotionally, because most of my family and friends still live there, but luckily, they’ve all been supportive of my decision to chase my own adventure. Now that I’m in Asheville, I’m inspired by the community of songwriters, poets, and visual artists that has welcomed me with open arms. To be fair, I’ve only been here half a year, but so far, as a creative person and as a queer person, I feel like Appalachia is a good home for me.

How has your recent name change influenced your personal and professional identity?

I changed my name to Sage recently. I was born with the first name Siena, and it always felt like someone else’s beautiful name. Naming myself Sage has felt like an empowering step in my journey as a queer and self-defining person. Many fans and venues still know me as Siena Christie, so I’m doing my best to spread the message about my new name.

What would a “perfect day” look like for you?

Being on tour with dear friends and partners. Driving through gorgeous natural areas and towns I’ve never been in. Playing a backyard concert with string lights and fireflies and stars and lemonade. Getting to cry and laugh with people I’ve just met because of music. Staying up late with friends eating chilaquiles while watching planes go by. Seeing my loved ones’ shoulders relax and eyes sparkle.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

A year ago, a good friend said, “You’re kind, to a fault. You should be more mean to people.” That might sound weird, but it’s helped me realize that failing to put on my own “oxygen mask” first actually hurts people – not just myself, but ones I love. Listening more closely to my own suffering has made me a better listener in general.

Photo courtesy of Sage Christie.

Adeem the Artist’s ‘Anniversary’ is a Complex, Deeply Moving Homecoming

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In the press release for their 2024 album Anniversary, Adeem the Artist, the non-binary, self-described “cast iron pansexual” singer-songwriter, mentions that the album is queer country – as a genre, not simply as music made by queer people, but as a whole new thing. They also mention recording and creating with their child, their partner, and their tour manager, in a week off from touring in semi-rural Texas. The album is a deeply moving, hauntingly specific, and profoundly sophisticated look at the interweavings of family and a (literally) hostile landscape.

This is queer country – queer as a sexuality and gender and musical identity, but also as an indication of being a little askew, not really fitting plumb, as a political and personal identity. Here, a genre, Adeem notes, is a way of working against expectations or histories:

“Country music is important to me, because it’s so much tied into the dirt of where I grew up. It feels like a place I can comfortably speak from, in the authority of my testimony as a Southerner and a child of Confederates. That’s my responsibility, my calling. That’s why I’m making country records right now. It’s where I need to be, to be processing the things I’m processing.”

One of the ways of keeping safe in this landscape, while acknowledging and trying to make amends, is to move inwards, to lean on the “cast iron” of “cast iron pansexual.” This album moves from the outside – a world that is toxic and violent – toward one that is domestic. In the coruscating rock breakdown of “Plot of Land,” with its minute-long, Tom Petty quoting coda, Adeem sings:

And the politicians cast their lies like street craps,
And they sweep up every time
So baby I’m gonna find us a plot of land
With a little home to put a family in …

The plot of land is a long term plan, but there are moments in this record where you can see possibilities – of a loving home, of a rock and roll life, of a genderqueer Southern utopia, of the perfect dive bar meetup – falling out of an ambitious set of recordings. The too muchness of the album can be understood given it was made in a week, in a hostile place.

Adeem talks about how they made “Nightmare” in Texas, incorporating all the elements in their surroundings including “Isley’s laughter [their daughter], Kyle’s gentle presence [their tour manager], Hannah’s bouncing energy [their wife] as she pitche[d] hymns we could reference irreverently. That week away from the internet and the news cycle was a little insulation bubble that gave us so much room to breathe and feel safe. I don’t think this song could’ve been delivered with a different midwife.”

The midwife analogy is especially relevant to understanding some of these songs, particularly “Carry You Down,” where Adeem writes gorgeously about having and raising babies. The song is so gentle, so respectful of the autonomy of the child, but also filled with the details of domestic life that have become rare in country lately. In an album about adult pleasures and pains, it is a rest song, about carrying a child down the stairs when they ask to be carried, even if that interrupts “chorin’,” doing dishes or work in the garden.

If “Carry You Down” is a waltz, then “The Socialite Blues” is a romp about “staying up to the break of dawn/ making out of tune songs with you” – another kind of domestic, with “out of tune” its own kind of queerness. These songs have a sweetness, a refuge from harm, a way to escape not outside, but within.

The invocation of “out of tune songs” is a euphemism, but there are spaces on the album where Adeem is explicit about desire, as explicit as a country song has ever been, like in “Nancy,” which expresses exactly how difficult it is to fuck while on pharmaceuticals; or “One Night Stand,” about relationships that happen between last call and sunrise, but whose memory might, out of mercy and grace, stay on for “a lifetime of nights with him;” or “Part and Parcel,” where they sing, in gentle but urgent tones:

Take it all apart, it’s part & parcel
I came here with a strange and honest feeling
Chase all of these contradicting versions
Childhood perversions, & dreams that never steered
Let them drive a little while so that I can disappear

Those “contradicting versions” include being a child from the South, so the history here is not only personal, but social and political. There is a cluster of artists working out the history of the South right now – Justin Hiltner’s “1992,” Miko Marks’ Race Records, Willi Carlisle’s recitations of the failures of Appalachian and rural drug work, the entire career of Jake Xerxes Fussell, all of the ancestor work in Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. It might seem like Adeem’s work is personal, but all of this historical work flows from the personal to the corporate, an understanding of history that includes both last week and last century, trauma and joy twisting into a complex homecoming.

Homecoming for Adeem also includes the history of Knoxville, Tennessee; on the album’s last song “White Mule, Black Man,” they begin by asking if it’s too much to do one more, but after the end of the track, it’s clear that nothing could be more proper. Here, Adeem telling stories of the South, from Confederation onward, means taking racial politics seriously.

In almost exactly three minutes, they tell the story of a white mob rioting after a foiled lynching, the eventual coverup of that lynching, and the layers of myth-making and storytelling to prevent the truth from being revealed. Moving from talking to singing, somewhere between Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is” and Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” the story in this final song laments, “But if the Tennessee River runs red with blood/ ‘Til the city runs white again/ Well, a white mule’s curse means more round here/ Than the last words muttered by murdered Black men.”

Adeem has been blunt like this before, tearing down the charnel houses of violent American racism and its myths, and this song is a deepening and extending of that practice. By ending the album on this note of violence, not as a lecture but as a moral accounting, that history work is ensuring that everyone is seen and known, their family is known, and the origins of their family’s prosperity is known.

Such knowledge is the necessary, sometimes haunting, sometimes delightful, attraction of Adeem as a person and “the Artist” – earning that sobriquet.

Photo Credit: Hannah Bingham

40 Years Of Mountain Stage’s ‘Outlaws and Outliers’ Laid Out On Compilation Record

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Born out of humble beginnings in 1983, Mountain Stage has blossomed to become not just one of Appalachia’s most sought after musical platforms, but one of all of Americana and roots music’s most cherished stages. Broadcasting bi-monthly to nearly 300 NPR stations nationwide, the program has welcomed everyone from John Prine to Wilco, Wynonna Judd, and even Widespread Panic during its historic 40-year run. To celebrate the achievement, Mountain Stage and Oh Boy Records have partnered to release the 21-song Live On Mountain Stage: Outlaws and Outliers (released April 19).

According to Larry Groce — Mountain Stage host from 1983 to 2021 and one of the compilation’s curators — distilling 40 years of music into one album was quite the task. Deliberations began with a list of over 150 songs before landing on the 21 that made the album.

“At first we just looked at the artist named and began to narrow it down from there,” Groce describes the process to BGS. “After several narrowings we began listening to some of them, getting the list down to about 30 before cutting it further down to the 21 that made the album.”

Sticking close to the country, folk, and bluegrass sounds of the show’s West Virginia home, the album includes performances from Appalachia’s own – like current Mountain Stage host Kathy Mattea, Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, and Tim O’Brien alongside A-listers like Prine, Eric Church, Alison Krauss, and Jason Isbell. Helping to attract and keep such a diverse array of talent returning has been the program’s artist-first approach, which caters to the performers and platforms great songs over all else.

“We’re not trying to be trendsetters and we aren’t trying to be hip,” asserts Groce, who broke onto the scene as a singer-songwriter with his song “Junk Food Junkie” in 1976. “We try to look at things in the long run by booking talent we think will last. Our goal has always been to put the artist at the center of the show rather than myself, the program, or anyone else. There’s people that would argue that we should always be pushing the brand, but that’s not the way we — or anyone else — operates in West Virginia.”

One of the many artists appreciative of that approach is Molly Tuttle, who last appeared on Mountain Stage in 2023 to support her album City Of Gold, which has since earned her a second Grammy win for Best Bluegrass Album. Born in California, Tuttle didn’t become aware of the show until moving to Nashville in 2015. She’s gone on to play the show three times, the first being a visit in 2018 that provided the performance of “You Didn’t Call My Name” that made the compilation.

Of the show, Tuttle says what she’s cherished most about her time on it is the chance to collaborate and catch up with her colleagues.

“It’s one of the few places where you get to meet, converse and collaborate with other musicians, which typically only happens for us on the road at music festivals,” explains Tuttle. “That really speaks to the trust Larry Groce and the entire Mountain Stage team have in giving the artists freedom to do what they want. What results is a well curated show that’s become one of the most important showcases around for this kind of music.”

In agreement with Tuttle is Tim O’Brien, a native West Virginian who made his Mountain Stage debut in the late ’80s with Hot Rize, an occasion he credits to his mother that has sparked too many follow-up visits to count.

“She called my sister and I — who were living in Colorado at the time — to tell us about it after hearing about it on the local radio back home,” recalls O’Brien, whose song “Cup Of Sugar” from a 2021 appearance is featured on the record. “She immediately thought we’d be a good fit for it, so she wrote them a postcard one day asking when they were going to get Hot Rize on. It was a good fit the first time, and always has been.”

“I remember writing her back saying ‘Your son’s band is much more famous than we are,” Groce jokes as he looks back on the moment. “The question is, does he want to go on the show, not whether we’ll have him or not. And sure enough, we booked Hot Rize shortly thereafter.”

The Indigo Girls perform on Mountain Stage. Photo by Brian Blauser.

It’s that attitude of never feeling above anyone or anything that has helped Mountain Stage to excel and have the lasting legacy that it does. It captures its home region of West Virginia and Appalachia better than most any other music-related program does, both in sound and in sentiment. It’s the latter that’s arguably been the biggest asset in attracting bigger names as the show taps into the majestic mountains around them.

“There’s many different kinds of people that live in Appalachia, but one thing that’s really bedrock is supporting one another, and that shows with Mountain Stage and how they put the program on,” reflects O’Brien. “It’s intimate and friendly, just like the state.”

Photo Credit: Tim O’Brien Band performing on Mountain Stage by Chris Morris; Molly Tuttle performs on Mountain Stage by Josh Saul.

Appalachian Bluegrasser Missy Raines Explains The West Virginia Thing

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Acclaimed bluegrass musician Missy Raines is also a very cool and funny lady, originally from West Virginia – not far from the Maryland border and the city of Cumberland. First of all, I had questions for her about why people from West Virginia are so into their state. She gets into that and also explores the influence of the vast and varied bluegrass music scene she found there, as well as the scene in nearby Washington, D.C..

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Raines has made a significant impact on the genre, earning 14 International Bluegrass Music Association awards, including 10 for Bass Player of the Year. Her latest album, Highlander, showcases Raines’ mastery of the bass alongside an ensemble of top-tier musicians from Nashville – her home base for the last 34 years – and plenty of special guests, too, blending traditional bluegrass with innovative twists.

Throughout our conversation, Raines reflects on her deep connection to Appalachian culture and the Appalachian Mountains, which have profoundly influenced her music. We explore her experiences performing live at music festivals and the evolution of bluegrass music as a genre and community. We recount the passion her family felt for music, touching on the story of her mom and aunt crying their eyes out over John Duffey leaving their favorite bluegrass band, The Country Gentlemen.

Raines also talks about taking care of her late brother Rick, who died of HIV-AIDS in 1994 at the age of 39. Through that experience, she was empowered to help others whose loved ones were also dying and suffering from HIV and AIDS. With her unique blend of banjo and fiddle music, and her activism in a normally conservative genre, Raines continues to push the boundaries of the genre while staying true to its roots, making her a trailblazer in the world of Americana and folk music. Our conversation was in depth, fun and enlightening – I had high hopes for this one and I was not disappointed!

Photo Credit: Stacie Huckeba