Tag: BGS Podcast Network

The String – Amy Speace plus Marty Stuart

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

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

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

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

The String – Molly Tuttle and Episode 100 Highlights

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

The String turns 100 Episodes old with a focus on Molly Tuttle, one of the most celebrated and dynamic young artists in Americana music, a singer/songwriter who has negotiated the bridge from bluegrass to mainstream popular music with amazing grace.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

Molly Tuttle is a two-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year as well as a winner of prizes at Folk Alliance and Americana. But more significantly, her debut album When You’re Ready has launched her to appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, Telluride Bluegrass Festival and many other marquee stages. Also in the hour, we listen back to a few highlight moments from three years of The String, including Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Bobby Rush, Gretchen Peters and The Secret Sisters.

The Shift List – Martin Cate (Smuggler’s Cove) – San Francisco

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Rum purveyor and exotic cocktail expert Martin Cate talks about the exotic soundtrack that plays every night at his world-class Tiki bar in San Francisco, Smuggler’s Cove.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • MP3

So, if you haven’t noticed, Tiki is having a major rennaissance all across the US, and it’s due in no small part to Martin Cate’s elevation and dedication to the form. As he likes to put it, “Tiki is a multidisciplinary genre. It’s not just about the cocktails, it’s about creating an atmosphere. All of the elements need to come together seamlessly, and when something is missing or discordant, it takes you out of the experience.”

And central to this experience in any Tiki bar worth its salt is the music. As he writes in his award-winning Smuggler’s Cove book, along with exotica and other lounge music, the Tiki sound incorporates hapa haole, which is traditional Hawaiian music with lyrics sung in English, as well as the sounds of surf music. As Martin will explain in this episode, these sounds were actually countercultural to the greatest generation that made Tiki explode in its first wave of popularity back in the 1960s.

Be sure to visit one of his bars next time you find yourself in San Francisco (Smuggler’s Cove, owner), Portland (Hale Pele, co-owner), San Diego (False Idol, co-owner), or Chicago (Lost Lake, partner).

Martin’s Shift List 
Ixtahuele – “Colors of Hawaii”
John Kameaaloha Almeida – “Lei Hinahina”
Les Baxter – “Quiet Village”
Martin Denny – “Quiet Village”
Toots & The Maytals – “Sweet and Dandy”
Harry Belafonte – “Matilda”
João Gilberto – “‘S Wonderful”
The Ventures – “Diamonds”
Sweet Hollywaiians – “Hula Girl”
The Tikiyaki Orchestra – “Theme For Jetsetters”
The Evil Genius Orchestra – “The Imperial March”
Johnny Aloha – “Gangsta’s Paradise”
Glenn Frey – “Smuggler’s Blues”
The Crazed Mugs – “Smuggler’s Cove”

The String – Charley Crockett

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Charley Crockett has a story that’s difficult to imagine playing out in the 21st century – he’s hoboed around the country, lost loved ones, scuffled with the law, played on the streets for a decade.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

And recently he endured open-heart surgery. At 35, he’s lived several of our lifetimes. And the thing is, he’s poured it all into his remarkable country blues, and he’s finally getting the renown he deserves. It’s what roots music is all about. Get ready for his September 20th release of The Valley with this conversation, which took place backstage, hours before his Grand Ole Opry debut in the WSM Room. Also in the hour, Nashville’s Lillie Mae is back on the program to discuss making her second album for Third Man Records at Studio A with super-producer Dave Cobb. It’s part of a longer conversation that will be posted soon by our friends at WMOT.org.

The Show On The Road – Dylan LeBlanc

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week Z. speaks with Dylan LeBlanc, the lithe Louisiana-born roots ‘n’ roller who has one of those once-in-a-generation, ghostly-lilting voices that doesn’t seem of this time or place.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

His newest record Renegade, produced by Dave Cobb, makes it clear LeBlanc has grown up a lot in the last few years. It’s a big, snarling, cinematic, banger of a record; part spaghetti-western dust storm, and part hook-filled, ’60s AM radio sunshine.

This is our last episode of the summer season, so have a listen with a cold drink under the sun, and let Dylan’s voice transport you. Where? It’s up to you.

The Shift List – Honey & Co Revisited

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week, we revisit one of our favorite conversations from Season 1 of the Shift List, Mr. Itamar Srulovich from Honey & Co over in London.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • MP3

The Israeli born chef co-founded Honey & Co with his wife, Sarit Packer, a cozy spot located in London’s once sleepy Fitzrovia neigborhood that serves homey Middle Eastern fair directly across the street from their amazing food shop, market, and culinary boutique Honey & Spice.

Following in the footsteps of their UK colleague and cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi, of whom they both worked for prior to starting Honey & Co, Itamar and Sarit have released a handful of Honey & Co cookbooks over in the UK, and they just finished a whirwind tour of the US to promote the release of their Honey & Co at Home cookbook just last month. Feel free to head on over to Amazon now if you’d like to peak inside the front cover and maybe even purchase yourself a copy…

They visited cities and chefs all over the country to help promote the book, which presents their simple and delicious Middle Eastern dishes that are easy to make at home, and they stopped through Los Angeles to do a takeover of Sqrl, Jessica Koslow’s venerable breakfast and lunch spot which kind of feels like a version of Honey & Co in California.

Itamar excitedly talked to The Shift List about the role that music plays at Honey & Co last August, and we ended up recording this on two stools in a pseudo storage room in the working cellar underneath their Honey & Spice shop.

Theme Song: Jamie Drake – “Wonder”

BGS Podcast ‘The Shift List’ Joins Osiris Network

Posted on by Editor

The Bluegrass Situation is proud to announce that season 2 of The Shift List is now hosted on the Osiris podcast network.

The Shift List goes inside the kitchens of leading chefs to find out what kind of music fuels their shifts in the kitchen, influences their food and touches their lives. Partnering with BGS, the leading online source for roots culture, The Shift List offers a unique perspective on music through the eyes of the culinary world’s driving forces.

Host Chris Jacobs has talked to innovative chefs from around the world about the music that plays in their kitchens during a shift, including Copenhagen’s Rosio Sanchez (NOMA, Netflix’s Ugly Delicious), Kentucky’s Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, Top Chef), and Oklahoma City’s Colin Stiringer and Jeremy Wolfe (Nonesuch, Bon Appetit’s #1 Best New Restaurant 2018).

“The Shift List is a unique look into music through the culinary world, providing an intimate and authentic view of music from some of the world’s leading chefs,” said RJ Bee, CEO of Osiris. “The launch of The Shift List, in partnership with BGS, represents our expansion into more musical and cultural genres. Look for much more roots music and culture content from BGS and Osiris.”

Season 2 will include innovative chefs sharing the music they love from places like Hawaii, San Francisco, Austin, Montreal and more. Catch up on every episode of Season 1.

Subscribe to The Shift List wherever you get your podcasts — Apple Music, Spotify, and Stitcher.

The Shift List – Chef Sheldon Simeon (Lineage Maui, Tin Roof) – Maui, Hawaii

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Chef Sheldon Simeon is as passionate about music as he is about bringing Hawaiian food to a new generation. On the Season 2 premiere of The Shift List, Chef Sheldon revealed that if he could do anything other than be a chef, it would be a ukulele player.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • MP3

“My cooking’s heavily inspired by music, for sure,” Simeon said on the podcast. “Like a song, food can tell a story, and that’s what I’m trying to do. With my food, I’m just trying to tell the story of Hawai’i, on the level of Ka’au Crater Boys,” he adds, laughing. “The greatest (Hawaiian) band ever!”

Chef Sheldon Simeon’s Shift List:
Ka’au Crater Boys – “On Fire”
Ka’au Crater Boys – “Brown Eyed Girl”
Ka’au Crater Boys – “Are You Missing Me”
Ka’ikena Scanlan – “Smoke All Day”
Ka’ikena Scanlan – “Utu Bang Bang”
The Green – “Good One”
The Green – “All I Need”
Ledward Kaapana – “Radio Hula”
Cultura Profetica – “La Complicidad”
Three Plus – “Who the Cap Fit”

Content to jam on the ukulele with friends in his spare time, Sheldon came to prominence on the mainland when he competed in the 10th season of Top Chef: Seattle, making it to the finals, and winning Fan Favorite. He returned to the show again in 2017 for season 14 of Top Chef in Charleston, once again winning Fan Favorite.

In 2016, Sheldon opened his very first solo restaurant, Tin Roof, in Kahului, Maui, where he serves up local dishes in take-out bowls, and last summer he opened Lineage, a full-service concept for dinner that brings his interpretation of family-style dishes typical of a Hawaiian luau.

The Show On The Road – Smooth Hound Smith

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week Z. speaks with Smooth Hound Smith, the fiery folk-blues duo from East Nashville who’ve spread their infectious, honeyed harmonies and gritty, finger-picked, sonic essays all across the continent.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

Despite being two hilarious humans who got married and share nearly every waking moment together, Zack and Caitlin Smith have never stopped making each other laugh and have never stopped pushing their timeless songwriting to new heights.

With their fancy new record Dog in a Manger coming August 9, they shine a sharp light on the beautiful worn edges of our country.

The String – Odessa Settles

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

The lineage of Nashville’s Fairfield Four thrives and resonates in Odessa Settles, this week’s guest on The String.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

The daughter of singer Walter J. Settles (1928-1999), Odessa is an in-demand singer who values the full spectrum of sacred to secular music, especially the roots/Americana world where she’s amassed a long resume. She’s been a guest vocalist on projects by Darrell Scott, Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien and last year’s Rifles & Rosary Beads by Mary Gauthier. She works solo and in combination with her surviving brothers (she was the only girl of eight kids growing up) in the vocal group The Settles Connection. And she’s pulled all this off while maintaining an intense career as a nurse for premature babies at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Also in the hour, a visit with Trent Wagler and Jay Lapp, veterans of VA band The Steel Wheels, who’ve just released their seventh LP album.