Tag: BGS 5+5

BGS 5+5: Them Coulee Boys

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Artist name: Them Coulee Boys
Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Latest album: Namesake (available August 6, 2021 on Some Fun Records)
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): For better or worse, we’ve always been Them Coulee Boys.

(All answers from Soren Staff)

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

For me, it’s never about how tough it is writing a song, but rather when to move on from one. I generally build songs from a line or two that I’m excited about, whatever makes my stomach burn and rush to write more. Sometimes they come in minutes, but sometimes those lines can ruminate in my head for weeks or months, caught in limbo. When I try to force them out, it often isn’t something I’m proud of. The hardest part of writing for me is realizing when to take a step back and let songs breathe. That line is still going to be there when I come back, and maybe this time there’s more to the story. “Given Up” worked that way, and space let me fill out the story in a way not possible if I forced that out.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I feel like this is an answer that changes, but one artist that has loomed large in his influence on our work is Bruce Springsteen. It might not be sonically obvious, but I think every small town kid has looked at him and seen some of their story in his. The lesson I always come back to is that the intensely personal details can feel universal. On this next record particularly, I was more comfortable using characters that weren’t me. Just because you haven’t specifically lived it doesn’t mean someone you know and love hasn’t. We model so much of what we do off his example, be it in our powerful live performances, our evolving sound, or intimate style of writing. He’s a master at so many things, and I feel like I’m continually learning.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Right before COVID hit, we were on the biggest tour of our young careers, opening up for our friends in Trampled By Turtles at The Sylvee in Madison, Wisconsin. Being the closest show on the run to home, so many family and friends were in the audience, but in particular was the family of my dear friend Phil Marks. We lost Phil the year before, and this was the first time that his family could make a show. Every night when we play our song “I Won’t Be Defined” I talk about mental health, and that night I talked about Phil. When you get a crowd of 3,000 to go from joyfully dancing, to a complete silence, and then back to dancing, you feel the power in what you can do through song. I miss making people feel something, be it joy or sorrow. I’m so grateful to have that chance again very soon.

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

We are a band of family and friends that seek to create community through joy, energy, and sincerity in their work and performances. We learned very early how people respond to genuine expression, and we’ve made it our mission to be the absolute most authentic version of ourselves. We love what we do, and we hope you do too. One part bear hug, one part gut punch, and one part steadying hand. That’s what we want our listeners to feel when they listen to us.

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

Well, we are dreaming here, so I’m going all out! It’s tempting to think I’d be able to soak up some advice, but I love good food and I think I’d get distracted. First, I’d start with brunch with Joni Mitchell and my mother and let them do the talking. I’ve learned so much from them both and I know they’d hit it off. Then I’m headed over to LC’s, my favorite BBQ joint in Kansas City with Bob Dylan and the rest of Them Coulee Boys, if only to see how he handles the literal gallons of BBQ sauce in front of us. Finally, I’m ending the night drinking Handsome Johnnys with John Prine at my hometown Eau Claire, Wisconsin, dive The Joynt. I feel like he wouldn’t mind me picking his brain a bit with a few glasses of vodka and ginger ale.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Nelson

BGS 5+5: Sam Filiatreau

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Artist: Sam Filiatreau
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Latest Album: Sam Filiatreau

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

I was around 10 years old sitting in the basement with my dad and brother watching this Bruce Springsteen concert. I remember my dad saying something like, “Look at how much fun he’s having and that’s his job.” I had never really thought about being able to do something you loved and getting paid for it.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Maybe five years ago we threw a big concert on the day of The Kentucky Derby. My friends, The Nude Party, were on the bill too and we had a few days of debauchery leading into it. For the encore, all the bands got on stage to sing “Dead Flowers” and it was the first time for me where everything felt right.

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

Most of the time when I’m writing songs, they start with me just singing over some chords until a good line sticks out. Most of the time I’m usually writing outside of my own experiences, but there are many moments where I look down and realize that I was accidentally writing about myself.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

John Prine. Aside from being one of the best songwriters ever he’s just been so consistently cool and compassionate throughout his career. I feel like from the moment he started that his success never affected who he was. We didn’t deserve John Prine, but I’m glad we got him.

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

I spend a lot of time fishing with friends and on my own. I don’t think it necessarily inspires my music, but there’s something about fishing by yourself and playing music that go hand in hand. It becomes meditative at some point just listening to the water and finding some sort of rhythm. And when you finally catch a fish it’s just as exciting as pulling a lyric out of thin air and holding it close for a moment.

Photo credit: Maggie Halfman

BGS 5+5: Bill and the Belles

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Artist: Bill and the Belles
Hometown: Johnson City, Tennessee
Latest Album: Happy Again
Personal Nicknames: I renamed myself Spike (inspired by the bulldog with a spiked collar in Heathcliff) in the first grade and all the kids called me Spike for a few months. That was a big win. — Kris Truelsen

My name can be tricky for people (it’s like Kahlúa, but “kuh-LEE-uh”) and nicknames weren’t much of a thing until Game of Thrones came out and Khaleesi happened. — Kalia Yeagle

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

It’s a no brainer: Jimmie Rodgers. He’s been one of our main inspirations for years. His effortless skill in combining the sounds of the blues, jazz, and country will forever be inspiring. My favorite songs from Jimmie are the syrupy love ballads with strings and horns that lean towards being straight pop music of the time like “The Hills of Tennessee” or “Miss the Mississippi and You.” Brilliant stuff. Though I still sing many of his songs, more than ever I use his music as inspiration to break rules and to find the courage to make something unique, not tied to genre or emulating somebody else, but rather trying to be original. — Kris

Jimmie Rodgers was a huge influence on this band. More broadly, that big field of “early country music” (or whatever else you want to call it) is so full of genre-busting sounds and earnest musical experiments. Forming this band, we were very inspired by the folks that used what they had in creative ways, and worked with real fervor. — Kalia

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

A little over six years ago at the opening of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Virginia, we shot the pilot episode of Farm and Fun Time, the PBS television show we host. At sound check I stood at the side of the stage and watched Ralph Stanley sing the entirety of “O Death” in an empty theater. It was literally just me, the sound engineer Josh, and Ralph Stanley in this tiny 100-seat theater. It was absolute magic. — Kris

Similarly, another impactful not-quite-on-stage moment for me was when we shot an audience-less Farm and Fun Time from Kris’s front porch during the pandemic. This was early on enough that folks were still figuring out how to get the most out of livestreams, but late enough that we were all feeling scared about what the pandemic meant for our families and communities, and what it meant for our relationship with live music. Sitting on Kris’s front porch listening to local legend Ed Snodderly sing his songs smacked me good, right in the heart. It had been months since I’d experienced live music, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so grateful and moved. — Kalia

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

I’m informed by art that says what it means, and simple, impactful works that don’t feel overwrought. That’s because my head’s a pretty busy place, and I sometimes struggle to distill my thoughts and emotions. I also think that artists can see art everywhere, so yes of course a beautiful piece of writing or gut-wrenching brushstroke can stir up the feels. And so can the chalk drawings neighbor kids make, the way this lampshade shoots light up the wall, or the angles this broom maker created when they gathered the bristles. I’m a pretty emotion-full person, but there have been periods of time when making music was just a motion and not emotion. I’m working on treating music-making more like those little moments of surprising beauty, by staying present and approaching things more playfully. — Kalia

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

Well, a lot of songs end up in the trash after being reworked to death, but I’m getting better at knowing when to move on and putting less pressure on myself to produce, which inevitably makes the work I do finish stronger. The toughest song I’ve ever written that successfully saw the light of day was probably a jingle I wrote for the regionally beloved soda pop company Dr. Enuf. It’s an herbal, lemon-lime sort of thing like Kentucky’s Ale-8. People in East Tennessee lose their minds for “the Dr.” Not to mention it’s got vitamins. It took me ages to get the jingle honed in just right, but when I did I really nailed it. The hook goes “It’s the lemon-in’, lime-a-nin’, rich in vitamin, original pick me up.” I’ve written over 50 jingles and this one is undoubtedly my favorite. — Kris

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

Write songs that defy boundaries, keep evolving, have faith, and quit working so damn hard all the time. — Kris

Ask, “How is your work serving others? How is it serving you?” And always celebrate growth and abundance. — Kalia

Photo credit: Billie Wheeler

BGS 5+5: Lula Wiles

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Artist: Lula Wiles
Hometown: Our band sort of has two hometowns: we started the band when we were all living in Boston, but we first played music together as tweens at Maine Fiddle Camp, located in Wabanaki (Penobscot) territory (“Montville, Maine”).
New Album: Shame and Sedition
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Personal nicknames — who’s who should be obvious: Buckles, Burkles, Boms. A rejected bandname that we still joke about… “Monkberry and the Moonlights,” inspired by the Paul McCartney song “Monkberry Moon Delight” off of Mali’s favorite album RAM. We’re so glad we didn’t go with that name… lol.

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

Eleanor Buckland: I grew up playing music with my family and looking up to my dad, who is a professional musician, so I’ve sort of had a desire to be a musician as long as I’ve known that was a thing I could be. But, I do remember a specific Crooked Still show in Maine during my freshman or sophomore year of high school that made such an impression on me. During the show I felt almost sick with longing and from then on I knew I was doomed (ha!) for professional musicianship!

Mali Obomsawin: As a little kid I always just wanted to make people happy and make people laugh. I think I always was a performer, and I always loved words, and it just ended up being music that those things came through. I sang and improvised little poems and acted out a lot. When we would play games as kids, I would always come up with little songs and dances… and when we would play fairies or whatever I would always choose to wear this potato sack and be the “troll” character. I liked being the goofy one that got to do mischief and be different. Maybe this is telling… haha. My dad’s a musician too and there have been a lot of musicians in my family for generations… it was just normal to express yourself that way.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Isa Burke: My influences have shifted and cycled in and out constantly throughout my life. I’d say Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings and Joni Mitchell are probably the most long-lasting influences if I really had to narrow it down. But honestly, I think many of the biggest influences on me have also been my friends, family, bandmates, collaborators, and people I’ve shared musical community with. I also tend to go through phases where I’m really devoted to one artist, and this past year I’ve been really inspired by Fiona Apple. She’s so liberated in the way she creates, it makes me feel more liberated, too. When I listen to her music or read interviews with her, it’s like she’s shaking me by the shoulders and reminding me that I can do whatever the hell I want.

Mali: Like Isa I go through phases… some of my biggest influences that might not be obvious from listening to Lula Wiles are Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus. I got really into “avant garde” and free music at a young age and I think that has shaped my preferences and tendencies as a musician in so many ways. I also think on this album we were able to lean in a little bit more to those sounds that are exciting to me, harsher or more “raw” sounds juxtaposed with atmospheric/gentle/melancholy ones, leaving room in our arrangements for grit and breathability and improvisation. These are all things I associate with Mingus and Ornette — I especially have always been so inspired by Ornette’s gut-wrenching melodies. Just so human. I think Buffy Sainte-Marie had these piercingly honest sounds/qualities in her music too, but I didn’t really dig into her work until more recently. I dunno. These days I’m just loving indie rock, I’m not too proud to admit it!! Really sardonic or sarcastic songwriters like Rufus Wainwright and Randy Newman have been big influences for me. Aaaand, let’s see… Fleetwood Mac?

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

Isa: I’d say my songs definitely draw from fiction and film. I love songs that feel like short stories or films — songs with specific, carefully chosen details that expand in the listener’s mind to create a vivid scene, a feeling, a narrative. I also love dialogue in lyrics — Joni Mitchell is a master of that, obviously. Sometimes when I’m writing, I try to imagine the song as a screenplay, or a film, or a novel. Where would this scene take place, what would the characters say to each other, how would it look and sound and feel? That helps me hone in on which of the various elements at my disposal (description, dialogue, details, images, sounds, melodies) can best tell the story and create the feeling I’m looking for. I also think on a more musical (non-lyrical) level, my sense of rhythm is definitely informed by dance. I’ve always loved dancing and a lot of my most formative musical experiences were based in instrumental fiddle music, which at its root is dance music. I move around a lot when I play and I try to write music that feels embodied, that physically feels good to play.

Mali: So many of my songs have been sparked by specific phrases or ideas in fiction novels and poetry. I get obsessed with the beauty or rhythm or texture of a few words juxtaposed against one another, and I adore word-play, and just sonic patterns or complimentary sounds. Language makes me so excited. It’s nerdy maybe. But sometimes when I read a line in a novel that expresses a specific feeling in a poignant or abstract way, it’s really euphoric. James Baldwin is an example pertinent to this album -– the big inspiration behind “In Dreams” … I’m still working my way through Baldwin’s work now, but I’m also pretty deep in listening to speeches by Black Panthers and other civil rights activists from that time. I think it’s odd how we compartmentalize art/genres sometimes, because these speeches are some of the best pieces of American literature ever created. Anyway, I digress. I think in colors and shapes when I play and compose music, but not specifically in the form of paintings or anything.

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

Eleanor: “Hometown” on our previous record, What Will We Do, was one of my hardest songs to write. I think this was because the story I was trying to tell in the song is so closely connected to my home and the people I love. I found it harder to get to the truth of the song than ever before, because I was so determined to do the story justice. Mali and Isa were both critical co-writers for this song and helped me more deeply understand and stay true to the heart of what I was trying to say.

Isa: I have a song called “Wild Geese” that has been torturing me since April 18th, 2017. On that day, I sat down and wrote a verse and a guitar riff in about five minutes and thought it was one of the best things I’d ever written, but I’ve never been able to finish it. As soon as I wrote it I knew it had to be the last verse of the song, so I’m working backwards. Every so often I’ll pull the song back out and bang my head against the wall for a while, but I can’t seem to write anything that lives up to that one verse. I’ve even finished and scrapped a couple of full drafts (we actually recorded a rough version of one of them during the sessions for What Will We Do). I’ve always ended up getting rid of everything except that one verse. I can’t let that verse go. It haunts me! Maybe it’s just supposed to be a really short song — hopefully you’ll hear it someday.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Mali: Hmmm… the time Tim O’Brien introduced us as Lula Whales? There was another time we made Ellie eat a hot dog onstage in San Francisco on her birthday.

Eleanor: That was possibly my favorite birthday show ever. Isa and Mali surprised me with a hot dog onstage, since I love hot dogs and I am teased mercilessly for it. That same night, we also got pranked by our drummer, who had the sound guy at the Freight & Salvage play one of our TOP van jams, “Twang” by Mason Ramsey (featured in our playlist) as our walk-on music. It was awesome.

Photo credit: Laura E. Partain

BGS 5+5: Oliver Wood

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Artist: Oliver Wood
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado (born & raised); Nashville, Tennessee (current locale)
Latest Album: Always Smilin’
Personal nicknames: O

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I’d have to say that Ray Charles has influenced me the most. And I don’t claim to sound anything like Ray, but I think most of my heroes are people who combine all types of American music and come up with their own unique recipe. Artists like Ray, The Band (especially Levon), Dr. John, Sly Stone, The Allman Brothers Band, Aretha Franklin, and Allen Toussaint. It could be a long list, but all of them are able to combine musical traditions in their own way to create a unique voice. And as much as I love traditional music, I really get excited when someone creates something unique by mixing up those traditions and adding their own personality. Ray was a master at that, and I’ve probably listened to him more than anyone.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory of being on stage is when my brother Chris and I got to sing with Levon Helm (multiple times!). We did several shows with Levon and his band, but the most memorable were the Rambles at Levon’s barn. Being in that intimate space and standing right next to him at his drum kit and singing “The Weight,” with him smiling at us and egging us on… that was a huge highlight for me. To meet and sing with your hero is a pretty rare and special thing.

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

Other art forms definitely inform my music, especially books and films. I love stories that have ambiguity and abstraction, like a David Lynch film or a Faulkner book. I like when you can feel something without fully understanding it. And the ambiguity allows for personal interpretation. It’s nice when something isn’t completely spelled out for you and you can draw your own conclusions. And a great thing about books is that you can put your own pictures to the images and characters described in the stories (which is why movie adaptations often disappoint). That can happen in songs too. And I like when I’m able to write a song based on my own experience and images in my head that resonates with someone else, even though they may interpret it in their own way.

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

I’d say the toughest songs to write are often the most rewarding and cathartic. When my mom was dying I found there was no way to not write about it. My brother and I were so consumed by her illness (ALS) and passing that it just became part of our work. And as painful as it was, it was also a way to process and understand the situation (and a way to immortalize our mom). Songs like “Loving Arms,” “Blue and Green,” and “Don’t Look Back” came from that time. In the years since then I have found that writing tributes to my close friends who passed away was a difficult but healthy pursuit.

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

Stop giving a f#%k and just do it. Don’t worry, think, hesitate or compare yourself to others. Just be completely yourself, because that’s all you have, and that’s enough… Of course I’m not there yet, but that’s what I’m going for.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

BGS 5+5: Riley Downing

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Artist: Riley Downing
Hometown: Kansas City, MO
Latest album: Start It Over

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

It is hard to pick just one artist that has influenced me the most. I am a fan of all kinds of music and genres as well as underdog musicians, current and long since lost in time. It might sound cliché, but if I had to pick one who influenced me the most it’s gonna be Woody Guthrie. If it weren’t for finding Woody Guthrie in high school, I never would have started to appreciate folk, blues, and roots music that made me think the same way that punk rock did at the time. I also never would have ventured out to Okemah, Oklahoma for the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival when I was 18 and met the guys that eventually would form the Deslondes. Woody is an American hero who tried to save the world with a song that gave people hope, morals, an education, a good laugh, and thoughts to chew on to get them through lean times. Woody, as simple as some of his music seems, was much, much more than just a musician. I never stop finding more and more meaning and inspiration from his life’s work. I always loved his copyright law, too. He basically said, warning, if you sing these songs you might just be a friend of mine, which I do and I am.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I have a lot of good memories of being on stage, whether late at night in a small club or a backyard or opening up for and getting to hear some of my favorite musicians every night. But I will never forget the first time we got to play the New Orleans Jazz Festival. That was kind of an epitome of all the hard work and hard traveling the band had done in the previous years all leading up to that one moment. It felt good to be accepted and supported by the New Orleans music community all those years and finally playing the biggest show you can really get down there. It was a surreal honor and never stopped being or feeling like it.

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

The first moment I knew I wanted to be a musician was probably when I learned how to finally tune the guitar. Ha ha. I got my first electric when I was 13 and would just smash my fingers all over the strings and thought to myself, this almost sounds like I’m shredding. I thought all strings must have different sounds and tried out different kinds until my cousin finally showed me how to tune the guitar. Then came the power chords and once I was able to put a few together, I knew I needed to write words over them and attempt to sing them even though I didn’t know how to do that either. I did it anyway. Then came the buddies who also wanted to play music as well as different instruments and the realization that this is what we really love to do. I have been hooked ever since and honestly the process of doing that and the joy I get from it hasn’t changed much.

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

The elements of nature that I spend the most time in that affect my work are in the rolling hills of Missouri. I love small town life, sitting in the sun fishing all day, or on a back deck BBQing and taking my time driving slow through the backroads that I don’t have to look up GPS, or listening to music or just making up songs and singing a line over and over until I have to stop and write it down. It is true, there is no place like home. I traveled all over the US and world, wide-eyed and wondering where I should end up, but Missouri is home and I always feel a great weight lifted off my shoulders when I’m there. Even when I’m not there I can always write a song that takes me back. I am sad I missed morel mushroom season this year though, but hopefully that means there will be more to find next year.

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

Food and music do go hand and hand. If I had to make a pairing it would be a small BBQ festival that all my friends bands could come play at and ‘lightheartedly’ compete for who does it right. My Alabama buddies will tell you it’s all about the white sauce and my North Carolina friends will argue that it’s all about the hot pepper vinegar or Carolina Gold sauce. I grew up with a BBQ squirt bottle in my hand and it’s one of my favorite pastimes and meals. Whenever people ask me where to get the best BBQ in Kansas City I have a hard time answering that question because the answer is at my house. I’m not sure who invented the red sauce but I first had it in South Carolina and pick it up any chance I get. I am loyal to KC, but South Carolina definitely gives us a run for our money. KC is spoiled though with wide variety of BBQ sauces and seasoning selections at grocery/hardware stores. I have almost successfully left or sent a bottle of Head Country, an affordable Oklahoma dry rub, to all of my friends’ houses all over the US so when I visit it’s always within reach.

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

BGS 5+5: Graham Sharp

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Artist: Graham Sharp
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Truer Picture

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I think Steve Martin has influenced me more than any other artist. The level of attention and devotion he brings to every project (music, film, books, etc.) is inspiring. I don’t think I know any other artist quite so single-minded as Steve. When we began working together I had no expectations, but could easily picture him resting on his past success and coasting; nothing could be further from the truth. Over and over again he’s shown that to be successful you have to put in the daily work, keep pushing yourself and not be afraid to take chances.

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

I try to keep a few approaches in my toolkit, so if A isn’t happening one day maybe B, C, or D will. Sometimes I’ll try to remove myself completely from a song and let the story unfold. More often I can’t quite get away from myself and a lyric is my way of processing a situation. Likewise, I like to place myself in a more unfamiliar setting and try on a different voice or perspective. I think my songs, in general, have become more personal over the years and they’ve helped me be more empathetic. Often a song can encourage me to say what is otherwise scary or difficult to express.

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

The toughest time I had writing a song was probably “Honey on My Tongue” from the newest Steep Canyon Rangers album. We were holed up in a hotel in Vancouver for several days with no shows. I wanted to use the time to write a song for my daughter but sat there with paper and pen for hours on end with little or nothing to show for it. At some point I bought a ticket and visited a little Japanese garden nearby. But when we left town I still had nothing to show for it. It was familiar frustration of having something in sight but just out of reach. I try not to let that bother me too much, but it’s often in the background. When we got to the next tour stop, maybe Calgary, I got out my guitar backstage and the first thing that I played was a little melody. After that the whole tune just fell into place. Those are good moments.

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

I write directly about nature a lot. The song “Deeper Family” is a good example. I was spending time in the woods hiking and had just read The Overstory by Richard Powers. The book talks about the interconnectedness of the forest and a vast life taking place underground. Other times, the woods is simply a great place to let the mind wander and find itself. The forests feel have the great effect of calming the brain while firing up the senses. After a bike ride I can usually count on a new line or perspective or melody.

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

I tend to write best and most when I’m reading books, stories, or poems that I love. Short stories especially mirror what a song sets out to do. The scene is set and characters come to life so completely and economically. I think the same about the best songs, where no word is wasted and every line has a purpose.

Terry Allen – “The Beautiful Waitress”

The way he paints a scene, you find yourself sitting there in the booth with your bowl of chili and you can’t help but fall in love with the beautiful waitress. I admire writers who can set you down in a world so completely that you start filling in all the gaps from your own imagination. And the spoken word outro is the maybe the best ever.

Don Williams – “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend”

A perfect country song, outlaw with a soft touch. If I could trade my voice for anyone’s it would be Don Williams.

Nina Simone – “The Assignment Sequence”

The way this song starts in easy and builds to a monumentally intense groove never fails to get my heart pounding. Nina Simone is one of the absolute giants of American music, and she has long held my fascination and admiration.

Steep Canyon Rangers – “Honey on My Tongue”

A little song I wrote for my daughter. It’s hard to encapsulate everything that is the love of a parent but I’m proud of how this one turned out. I love the band’s take on it, from Barrett’s Astral Weeks-style bass to Ashworth (normally our drummer) playing a fantastical bubbly banjo line.

Graham Sharp – “Generation Blues”

When chaos seemed like it would swallow the world back last year, I wrote this while thinking about what we’ve inherited and what we can choose to bring with us or leave behind. Seth Kauffman, who produced the record, must have intuited how much I like The Kinks because the feel on this landed just where I didn’t know I wanted it; it seemed like he did that for every track on the record!

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

BGS 5+5: The Accidentals

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Artist: The Accidentals
Hometowns: We split hometowns of Traverse City and Nashville; we have houses in both (Sav and Katie) and Michael is from Grand Rapids
Newest Album: TIME OUT (Session 1)
Nicknames: Savannah is Sav, Katherine is Katie, Michael is ALWAYS Michael. haha.
Rejected band names: Flavor Monkeys, Savage Kittens (now our publishing company), Go Dog Go, Jalapeno Honeymoon, Comfort and Dismay. We were The Treehuggers before.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Katie: Brandi Carlile is one of those through-line artists we bonded over when we were teenagers and have never stopped learning from. I’ll never forget hearing “The Story” for the first time and doing a double take when the music drops out and she belts the chorus like there’s no tomorrow. As a socially anxious kid I wanted nothing more than to be able to hurl my feelings out of my lungs the way she does. Over the years we’ve watched her do everything from producing records to making her own music festival in order to support women artists.

One of the last shows we saw before the lockdown was Brandi playing with Kim Richey at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. We had just moved to town and as we sat on the worn wooden pews overlooking the stage, I was moved to tears watching the young girls in the front row throwing their heads back and belting along to “The Story.” Never in a million years would we imagine that a few months later we’d be writing music for our TIME OUT EP with Kim Richey, but we’ve learned even our heroes are humans who we can talk to on Zoom while wearing sweatpants and talking about bread baking. When we cancelled all our tours in 2020 we started feeling lost, but so many artists including Brandi reminded us that you never have to give up collaboration, activism, hard work, and heart.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Katie: Looking back, I have to say that 90% of my favorite moments were the unplanned ones. In 2018 we had the opportunity to sing on stage with Joan Baez for the Ann Arbor Folk Festival. I had just finished reading her biography and was starstruck, but once we were onstage her voice made everyone at ease and soon there were thousands of voices singing along. While everyone was walking off stage she grabbed my hand and I felt like my feet were floating.

Another favorite memory was playing Summerfolk Festival in Ontario — they have a tradition of pairing up two bands at the festival who’ve never met, and put them on stage together to play an after-party set. We had no idea what to expect when we loaded in our gear, but ended up playing an insanely fun hour-long set with Turbo Street Funk, a five-piece brass funk band including electric guitar, drums, sax, French horn and a hand-painted sousaphone plugged into a bass amp. We improvised on each other’s tunes all night, throwing in covers of “Ghostbusters” to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs to the Black Keys. We’re friends to this day, it was amazing.

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

Sav: Katie and I pick up inspiration everywhere we go. Usually every song is a culmination of things we’ve picked up around us – a piece of an Edgar Allan Poe poem here; the first sentence of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief paraphrased; a story in the New York Times about an endangered kind of parrot; an art piece made entirely of thread in the Crystal Bridges Museum, or if you’re Katie, sometimes a perfectly made plate of zucchini noodles is all it takes to be inspired.

We never really know where the moments of inspiration strike. I keep voice memos on my phone of little ideas as they come to me (usually in a public place, so I have to mumble them into my phone like a nerd) and a whole list of sticky notes of random billboards saying ominous phrases or things I pick up in conversation. There’s an episode of the Song Exploder podcast featuring John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, who talks about keeping a whole list of song titles written down at his disposal, so I started picking that up recently, too.

I will say that being in the music industry requires you to know a little bit about other art forms like film and visual art, because you never know when you’re going to be writing a treatment for a music video, or brainstorming / creating an album cover from scratch. Seeing how projects like TIME OUT EP or our upcoming album Vessel translate into film or visual art is fascinating, because it shows how when an art piece becomes multimedia, it starts to feel like you’re not just looking at a picture anymore – you’re standing in a room full of color, and you can see how it all fits together.

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

Sav: I think the answer would be different for both of us — our processes for writing vary song-to-song, but also Katie and I are really different writers. Katie usually takes her time with writing, and she’ll work on the same song for months at a time until it’s perfect. I usually like to knock out a song by sitting down once in a blue moon and just getting it down in two hours. So a process like “Night Train,” co-written with Dar Williams over the course of many Zoom calls, was pretty tough for me. That song had a Leonard Cohen-like aspect where it had infinite verses; the stories Dar told would have amounted to at least ten different songs. It was really hard to pick and choose what best told the story we were trying to tell.

Ultimately the version we kept is a travel journal about the power of community, the magic you experience in meeting strangers and finding common ground. The song is about coming to the realization that we are more alike than not, and there is more goodness in the world than we might believe. We wanted a song that would speak to every generation and community, a song about healing and investing in our future, because there’s still work to be done.

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

Sav: This is one of the very first things Beth Nielsen Chapman called me out on when Katie and I were doing our first co-write with her (which was also our first co-write in general). Beth made a good point that using “you” too many times in a song starts to sound pretty accusatory. If that’s what you’re going for, great! Ha ha. She went further to say that saying “I” makes it more personal. I definitely have a habit of doing this — putting “you” where “I” should be — and sometimes I still do it, but I’m watchful of it now.

One thing we picked up this year is that songs don’t always have to be about us, necessarily. They can be from someone else’s perspective, while still using “I” and “me.” On one of our weekly Monday writes with Tom Paxton, he told us one of the best ways to get started was to pick up a newspaper, read a story, and write like you’re a person standing in the room where it happened. There will always be some personal piece of you invested in it by the time you’re done. The goal is to get outside of yourself for a moment and write for the sake of the story. That was a good lesson to take away after a year of isolation. It’s human nature to tell stories — whether that story is to heal, to inspire, to relate, or to learn from. So even if it’s “me” or “you” or “they” or “we,” the goal is for someone to walk away feeling like they got something out of that story, so that they may retell it in their own way.

Photo credit: Aryn Madigan

BGS 5+5: Charlie Marie

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Artist: Charlie Marie
Hometown: Burrillville, Rhode Island
Latest Album: Ramble On
Personal Nicknames: Charlie

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Patsy Cline was the first country artist I ever listened to. My grandmother can be very critical of singers, but she was in love with Patsy. I would listen to her CD over and over again. I got a Patsy Cline songbook, so I could learn her songs at my vocal lessons. What Patsy taught me was to sing with your soul. Hardship is inevitable in life, but when you feel the stories that you tell you can process that pain. When you feel the hurt in your voice and hold it, then let it go, it can set you free for a moment.

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

It was one of my first live performances. I was around 10 years old. My vocal coach, John Cottone, put on a show for his students’ friends and family. It took place at the Caruso Club in Lincoln, Rhode Island. I was really nervous, but once I got onstage the anxiety settled. I sang “Crazy” and “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline while using a bar stool as a prop. I had this little skit that went along with the songs. I rehearsed it for days in my grandmother’s living room. When I finished everyone clapped and cheered. I felt a rush of joy exiting the spotlight and found my grandmother waiting for me near the students’ dressing room. She helped me change out of my show clothes and I told her how I wanted to be a country singer.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

Luckily the fear and anxiety that come up around certain music events force me to meditate. Before a “big” show or before a studio day, meditating is what helps me put my head on straight. It helps me see the big picture and recognize what’s going on inside my mind and body. A few years ago I found Tara Brach on YouTube and have been visiting her website weekly ever since. On her site, she has hundreds of free meditations and “talks” for people to use. I highly recommend giving one of her meditations a whirl.

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

My favorite place to write songs is rested on the grass. I spend most of my time with the earth and air. During the summer I deeply enjoy being with the ocean. Luckily I live in a secluded area surrounded by woods. When I’m sitting on the front steps and the sun is shining down, all I want to do is write a song. Being in the elements inspires me. It is the place I feel safest and where creativity flows.

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

My ideal pairing would be Frank Sinatra alongside a plate of Chicken Sorrento and homemade pasta from Pat’s Italian Restaurant in Johnston, Rhode Island. Local Italian restaurants always play him in the background. Every time I experience the combination I feel young again. Everyone is together and we are all having fun.

Photo credit: Owen Filion

BGS 5+5: Casey Driessen

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Artist: Casey Driessen
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Otherlands:ONE

Editor’s Note: Casey Driessen has released Otherlands: A Global Music Exploration, a self-produced travelogue of on-location recordings, short films and essays that documents collaborations with masters of regional music in Spain, Ireland, Scotland, India, Japan and Finland. Otherlands was filmed and recorded between 2019 and May 2020. During this time, proceeds from the Bandcamp sales of Otherlands:ONE will support music and folk arts rural communities in West Bengal, India.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I’m going to give some big props to fiddler Richard Greene, by way of Darol Anger. Back in the mid-1960s, while playing in Bill Monroe’s band, Richard invented a percussive bowing technique on the fiddle/violin called “chopping.” Darol Anger was the first person to learn this from Richard, and I then pulled parts of the technique from Darol. Chopping has been an essential part of my musical trajectory and has allowed me to fit into all sorts of exciting musical situations.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Two polar opposite ones just appeared in my mind simultaneously… 1) Playing a daytime set at the Telluride Bluegrass festival in a trio with Béla Fleck and Bryan Sutton, staring out at the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, when all of a sudden I hear amazing vocal rhythms joining us, and Bobby McFerrin appears by my side. I couldn’t stop smiling. 2) Playing an evening set with Steve Earle & the Bluegrass Dukes (Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Dennis Crouch) when a heckler starts asking for “Copperhead Road.” It’s in the set, and we’ll get to it, but that’s not good enough. Heckles continue. Steve gives him the finger. A full beer can sails through the air (mind you, we’re all around one mic), hits the stage, bounces and hits Dennis’ bass. A fight breaks out in the audience. The guy is taken away. The next thing thrown on stage is a bra.

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

I’m very visual and find inspiration in painting, drawing, and sculpture. The forms, shapes, patterns, lines, colors, and composition all give me ideas about how to approach my instrument or music.

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

I’ve never written a song, only instrumental compositions. So, I suppose the toughest time is all the time. That said, no particular composition sticks out to me, but the process of applying compositions to a live looping setup (when I was doing my Singularity project) was quite challenging. There are so many parameters to work within, from effects pedal limitations, physical coordination to pressing buttons with your feet while singing and playing, how to create engaging live looped arrangements from song to song without becoming repetitive or boring, and keeping a solo set interesting for yourself. They were some tough puzzles to solve.

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

I think either “A global music exploration in red shoes” or “The fiddle can’t be on everything?…I’d like to try.” I’m hungry for experimentation and inspiration from unlikely sources.

Photo credit: Arthur Driessen