Tag: bluegrass

With ‘Distance and Time,’ Becky Buller Gives Us More Heart, More Fiddle

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

In the business of bluegrass, it’s one thing to have a song on the radio or win some fiddle contests. But when you have a total of 10 IBMA awards between your fiddling, singing, and songwriting, then you might really have something. And Becky Buller has it.

Her new record, Distance and Time, is out now on Dark Shadow Recording, following 2018’s acclaimed Crêpe Paper Heart, while 2014’s Tween Earth and Sky ended the 10-year gap after her debut Little Bird. Known of us, Buller included, knew that we’d be spending an eternity in 2020 socially-distanced, yet Buller’s new set of songs is just the thing to keep us company as we head into winter.

BGS sat down with Buller to talk about the new album, her songs, and fiddlers — lots of them.

There is so much collaboration on this album and your work in general, between your songwriting and the featured guests. Why is that important to you?

Oh, it’s just fun to have a chance to work with these people. And of course, my band is doing the bulk of the work on the record, and they’re amazing! I do a lot more co-writing these days than I used to do, it just helps me get in the right headspace. Making that appointment forces me to sit down and write, which is really hard to do these days, because I’m wearing so many hats. It’s hard to focus on the writing as much as I’d like to. When I have the songwriting appointments, it’ll get me all excited about writing. I’ll even do some writing on my own, afterwards. 

“The Ride” is quite jammy, and “I Dream in Technicolor” is, well… technicolor! Knowing you, I wasn’t surprised to hear such diversity in the aesthetic. What’s inspired you to take this unique approach towards bluegrass?

With this record we were trying to stay rooted in the bluegrass tradition, but reach a little further forward. Most of the songs feature my band, standard bluegrass instrumentation. We did include drums on “Salt and Light” — Chris Brown and his drums of renown — that’s a first for me. Of course the Isaacs just added angelic harmony to that song. “I Dream in Technicolor” was a stretch, that’s more the progressive side of bluegrass music.

And of course we’ve got the more traditional, “The Barber’s Fiddle,” so I feel like there’s something for everybody on this album. We just tried to put together a collection of songs that offered diversity, but had that common thread of bluegrass. I personally like it when the songs on a record are diverse, it keeps me listening. So, that’s what I wanted to present. We recorded a cover, “Woodstock,” the day before the world shut down. The very last track that we tracked for the record.

Your voice fits so well with the Fairfield Four. What’s it been like to work with them multiple times now?

I just love their music so much. There is so much soul, and depth. I just feel the spirit moving when they sing. So it was a thrill to get back in the studio with them. It’s also the first time I’ve recorded a co-write with Jon Weisberger. We’ve had a really good track record of getting cuts with other artists, but this is the first time I’ve recorded one of our co-writes.

For someone who’s just getting interested in bluegrass, who are some of the fiddlers that you’d suggest as a gateway into bluegrass? Bluegrass Fiddle 101.

Well, Stuart Duncan. Particularly the Nashville Bluegrass Band’s Waitin’ For the Hard Times to Go record. Alison Krauss, Every Time You Say Goodbye for an album reference. It’s so good. Jason Carter, on Del & the Boys. Anything by Michael Cleveland! Kenny Baker’s Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe. And Eddie Stubbs on the Johnson Mountain Boys’ Live at the Old Schoolhouse.

Your show on the road is fierce, and I can already envision the way these songs will fit in. What does this set of songs mean to you now, though, when there aren’t many live performance opportunities?

Well, especially the song “More Heart, Less Attack,” I’ve been performing for a few years now. We finally had a chance to record it, and it’s so timely. It’s fortuitous that it came out when it did. It just encourages people to be kind to one another, and we need that so much now. Also, we chose the title Distance and Time before the pandemic. Ironic…

Photo credit: Jason Myers

BGS 5+5: Darin and Brooke Aldridge

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Darin and Brooke Aldridge
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Latest Album: Inner Journey

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Vince Gill has certainly influenced Brooke and I both in a big way since we remember hearing him the first time. We’ve admired him as a musical artist and person our whole lives. His songwriting and great stories he loves to tell, musicianship, the way he connects with his fans, and his love for his wife Amy Grant have always been inspiring factors for Brooke and what we set out to do in our own music. So happy opportunities have given us the chance to let Vince know just how much his music and big heart helped shape us to be the artists and people we are today.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Our favorite on stage memory is when we got to play the Grand Ole Opry on our 11th wedding anniversary in 2019. It’s always the most surreal experience to stand there on that sacred stage every chance we get to play it. To think of all the incredible artists we’ve loved and admired who’ve graced that stage and many who still stand there today. It’s also really special to share that moment as husband and wife. Two people who started out with the same goals and ambitions knowing that we once both dreamed of a time that we might get to play the Grand Ole Opry. We’ve had that privilege 25 times now and will be going back for our 26th appearance on November 27, 2020. There’s a picture of us holding hands on the Opry stage that will always hold our hearts. Go look for that on our Instagram page.

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

To encourage, uplift and leave people happier than we found them with every note played, song sung, story told and moment when you truly “become one” with the audience.

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

Music has always been instilled in Darin and me since we were kids. Our families and communities where we were born and raised had a big hand in supporting and encouraging us since they first realized we had musical talent and a connection with people. I always had the natural ability to hear a song just once and know the lyrics. And Darin could pick up just about any instrument, even if he’d never played it before and start creating licks and melodies in just a matter of minutes. Growing up and hearing artists that our parents loved would eventually rub off on Darin and I and give us an even deeper appreciation for the music we loved and the dream of becoming professional artists ourselves one day.

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

Every song that Darin and I have ever selected for a record or live show relates to us first in some way. We think it’s important to channel the characters in songs. This makes you sing the song the way it’s intended to be interpreted and allows every listener who hears it to feel that connection too.

Photo credit: Mike Lawson

Weird (Or Not), Mipso Keep Exploring Their North Carolina Roots

Posted on by Editor

To hear Mipso perform, it’s hard to believe that Libby Rodenbough, Joseph Terell, Jacob Sharp, and Wood Robinson didn’t originally get together with the intention of digging into bluegrass history or starting a band. But as the self-described “indie kids” played around with vocal harmonies and playful strings as students at UNC Chapel Hill, the traditional sounds of their native North Carolina beckoned.

“I had a need for exploring my own roots — the places I’m from and the traditions that come from North Carolina and the Piedmont specifically,” Terrell, who plays the guitar, tells BGS. “There’s a lot of depth to the music that’s been made around here, and because a lot of those folks are still making music around here, it’s still passed down in neighborhoods, at jam sessions and orally.”

As Mipso’s audience grew, its sound evolved, integrating elements of pop with traditional strings and vocal harmonies, and the foursome reckoned with more than just chords and lyrics.

“I was trying to make sense of North Carolina and being a more long-term North Carolinian — not just by birth, but by choice,” says fiddle player Rodenbough, of the early days. “There was so much context and story behind this traditional music. Every song, even if it was a modern creation, had little threads that tied it back to words that had been sung for decades or hundreds of years. It just felt like… well, in a nice way, a bottomless pit. Or, what’s a nice way to say that?”

“A well! An inexhaustible well,” offers Terrell with a laugh. And they’re still drinking from it: Last month, the group issued their fifth full-length album, a self-titled effort that embraced the band’s quirks and their past experiences.

“We’ve been living together so closely for the last eight years, and for better or for worse, we’re us now,” says Terrell. “We had phases of the band where we thought, ‘Oh, we’re supposed to be this, we need to make a song this way.’ This record, it was like, ‘Fuck it, this is how we make music.’ We like it, and we’re weird if we’re weird, and if we’re not, we’re not, but this is how we go about it. Here’s Mipso.”

BGS: Plenty of songs on this album feel like they were born from one person’s memory or experience; “Let a Little Light In,” for example, has specific lyrics about childhood. How do you bring a song from one person’s brain or notebook to the band as a whole?

Joseph Terrell: The lyrics and the melodies are certainly an important part of what makes a song, but I think when we talk about combining our voices, we’re talking about making a presentation of a song that makes an emotional impact when people hear it. “Let a Little Light In” is a great example of a song that really transformed in the studio. The lyrics mostly came from me, but Libby and Jacob and Wood had more to do than I did with building this cool, playful soundscape of dancey noises to make up a kind of funhouse mirror of childhood weirdness.

Libby Rodenbough: A lot of the songs are lyrically one person’s, or maybe two people’s, work. But we talk about the meaning of songs when we talk about the arrangements because the delivery of it has so much to do with the emotional meaning. There’ve been songs before that we’ve vetoed or decided to leave off a record because they felt too specific to one person — the rest of the band was going to feel like a backing band. Part of our standard for what makes a Mipso song is that we all have to find an in-road somewhere, something we can sink our teeth into.

You see a lot of bands packing up and moving to places like Nashville or LA, but you’ve held tight to the community where you came up in North Carolina. What makes it such a special place for you, as people and as musicians?

Terrell: For me, North Carolina is where the music comes from, and Nashville or Los Angeles is where the business comes from. In as many ways as possible, trying to keep and hearth and home on the music side of that equation is going to be really healthier in the long run.

Rodenbough: I would say, too, that there’s a part of it that’s arbitrary: Because I was born here and went to school here, and because I believe that there are benefits that you can only reap after a certain amount of time spent in one place, this is the place where I still am. It could have been somewhere else. But it’s North Carolina, because I’m a North Carolinian. This is it.

Terrell: There’s a part of you, a Libby-ness, that’s because you’re from this place. It gets a little bit vague and spiritual on some level to justify it, but I do feel that that’s true somehow.

Rodenbough: We formed the type of connection to a place that we have here by having been born here and having come of age here — by having returned here from every tour for seven or eight years. I have a more intergenerational community of people in my life. I’ve known people when they’ve had babies, and I know their kids now. I’ve met their parents and grandparents. You just can’t really rush that process.

Terrell: I had dinner on the porch with my grandparents three weeks ago — they’re 92 and 94 — and my grandma gave me a CD of my great-grandmother telling stories. It was recorded in 1985. So I’ve just been driving around in my car listening to this CD, and it’s about all these places that I still go. I feel a spiritual connection here that I can’t exactly explain. Yet I would hate to think that this answer could be spun in a way that means, “If you weren’t born in a place, you’re not valuable to that place,” because certainly the reason I love Durham is because of the immigrant community. There’s lots of ways of being from a place.

 

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One song that feels especially prescient on the new album is “Shelter.” I think a lot of people can relate to the idea of seeking out a place to be safe and accepted. What do those lyrics mean to you?

Terrell: That song came from Wood, primarily. He had this great melody that reminded us of a British Isles folk melody. Some of his family in Robeson County in Eastern North Carolina had been really impacted by one of the bad hurricanes, and he had the idea of telling that as a snippet of a story. But instead of making this about one very specific scenario where you’d need shelter, you have four different scenes that land on the same phrase or message — kind of in the tradition of country songwriting. Whether you’re a kid, an immigrant, a person facing natural disasters because of global warming, or the richest person in New York City going up into some big tower, this is a human need for shelter. We all need it, and therefore, we should all think of ourselves as tied together.

Rodenbough: And I think that a lot of the strife — to put it really lightly — happening in the country right now comes from an anxiety about lacking shelter, lacking a feeling of safety. That applies to people who are very clearly lacking in physical shelter as well as people who seem to be lacking for nothing. Our country has failed to provide that for people from every walk of life for a long time now, and so I think that’s one of the reasons that it’s unfortunately especially relatable right now. We all feel untethered. We all feel like we don’t really have a home.

Mipso’s sound developed in part thanks to in-person communities at places like festivals and neighborhood jams. Do you feel like there’s a way to emulate that in online communities?

Rodenbough: For so many subcultures, the internet has given people the gift of knowing that others like them exist. It is very empowering, and in some cases, that’s a bad thing — there are a lot of internet subcultures that we wish probably didn’t have that vehicle. But, for better or for worse, it makes something that probably felt very geographically disparate, and therefore disconnected, feel really strong and unified.

One example during COVID has been a Facebook group called Quarantine Happy Hour: They do a concert every night, or even a couple of concerts every night, and I’ve watched more bluegrass and old time music since [joining] than I did probably in the couple of years prior. It’s like a who’s-who, especially of contemporary old-time players, with bluegrass too. Every concert, no matter how well-known the performers are, has a couple of hundred people, and folks are tipping like crazy. And it’s interesting that it took a pandemic to make that happen, because we could have done that all along.

Even before the pandemic, though, Mipso was really harnessing the power of the internet to reach new fans — even listeners who maybe never considered themselves fans of traditional music.

Terrell: I think we’re probably more like a gateway drug into bluegrass than a haven for diehard fans. We have played a good number of bluegrass festivals and traditional-oriented-type venues, but I think we’re on the fringe of what they consider to be part of that world. If people find our music and like it, they might say, “Wait… there’s something in this that’s leading me towards all these other artists.” But there’s certainly not, like, a big tag we’re putting on our foreheads to weed out bluegrass or non-bluegrass fans.

Are there any misconceptions you think people have about bluegrass or traditional music — things they really get wrong?

Terrell: I mean, I have two things. The first is the idea that it’s white music, which I think is a really pernicious and awful myth. So much of this, the only reason we’re doing this is because it came from slaves who were here, and it came from African American music.

Rodenbough: It’s one of the nastiest and almost most ridiculous perversions of the truth, that white supremacists have used this type of music as an example of anglo-cultural achievement.

Terrell: The other [misconception] is that it’s tame or like, “stripped down.” For me, the best way to understand bluegrass specifically is that it was rock ’n’ roll right before rock ’n’ roll. It was high-energy and rip-roaring — the banjo twanged right before the electric guitar. It was the head-banging music of its day. [Laughs]

Rodenbough: This was a wild music — bluegrass in particular was not an old folky hokey thing. The way that we divide up the genres of traditional music comes straight out of marketing. I think it can be useful to understand how one style of music informs another that came later chronologically or something, but it’s not necessary to draw hard lines between old time and bluegrass in order to love stringband music or to love fiddle-centric music. All the borders are so blurry, just like with everything in history and in our overlapping cultures. I think that’s so wonderful, and I wouldn’t want to try to clean it up. That would be missing what’s so special about not even traditional music, but vernacular music — music that non-professionals make in their lives, about their lives.

Photo credit: D.L. Anderson

LISTEN: The Sharp Flatpickers, “Red Haired Boy”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Sharp Flatpickers
Hometown: Florida and beyond!
Song: “Red Haired Boy”
Album: Sundrops on the Water – Reflections
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “Scottish and Irish tunes were brought to America and became standard fare in bluegrass and old-time music. ‘Red Haired Boy’ is one of those classics (imbued with plenty of folklore if you dig around a bit). With this instrumental version Bryan McDowell and Kate Lee O’Connor play twin fiddles, and our arrangement fondly pays homage to THE UNIT. I’m proud of the warmth that comes through here and the solid licks all these fine players graciously deliver for it. Nothing not to love.” — Lee Kotick, The Sharp Flatpickers

Photo credit: Mark Schatz

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 189

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

For the first time, we are so excited to bring to you the BGS Radio Hour in podcast form! Since 2017 the BGS Radio Hour has been a weekly recap of the wonderful music, new and old, that we’ve covered here on BGS. Check back in every Monday to kick your weeks off with the best of BGS via the BGS Radio Hour.


LISTEN: APPLE MUSIC

Shemekia Copeland – “Clotilda’s on Fire”

Highly awarded modern blues artist — and our current Artist of the Month — Shemekia Copeland brings us a new release, Uncivil War, offering us a number of topical songs with perspectives on gun violence, LGBTQ+ rights, and more.

StillHouse Junkies – “Mountains of New Mexico”

Colorado-based StillHouse Junkies bring us a classic murder ballad inside an ode to the American West.

Marc Scibilia – “Good Times”

Recent 5+5 guest Marc Scibilia brings us a song from his new release, Seed of Joy.

Leyla McCalla – “Song for a Dark Girl”

Leyla McCalla (who you may know from folk supergroup Our Native Daughters) brings us a song from her new Smithsonian Folkways re-release, Vari-Colored Songs: a Tribute to Langston Hughes.

My Darling Clementine – “I Lost You”

UK-based duo My Darling Clementine brings us a new interpretation of an Elvis Costello/Jim Lauderdale co-write.

The Caleb Daugherty Band – “Daylight’s Burning”

The Caleb Daugherty Band pays tribute to Aubrey Holt of the acclaimed Boys From Indiana with a cover of “Daylight’s Burning.”

Madison Cunningham – “The Age Of Worry”

Madison Cunningham is back on BGS with a brand new EP, Wednesday, an interpretation of a handful of cover songs chosen by the California-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Adam Hurt – “The Scolding Wife”

“Clawhammerist” Adam Hurt was a recent feature on Tunesday Tuesday with a solo gourd banjo rendition of “The Scolding Wife.”

The Avett Brothers – “Victory”

Everyone’s favorite roots music brothers — that is, the Avett Brothers — are back with The Third Gleam, a follow up to the first and second Gleam EPs. Much like their earlier sounds, the new record is stripped down, with timely discussions of gun violence, mortality, and the human condition. Check out our conversation with Scott, Seth, and Bob Crawford.

Jeff Cramer and the Wooden Sound – “Aimless Love”

Denver-based singer-songwriter Jeff Cramer brings us an edition of The Shed Sessions along with his band the Wooden Sound, and a wonderful tribute to the late, great John Prine.

Max Gomez – “He Was a Friend of Mine”

Regular friend of BGS, Max Gomez brings us a timely, social justice-inspired song.

Mipso – “Your Body”

Pop string band Mipso is just one of so many great North Carolina groups that we’re proud to feature this month in our Made in NC playlist for #NCMusicMonth!

Julian Taylor – “Love Enough”

Julian Taylor was the guest of honor on our most recent episode of Shout & Shine, a series that serves as a platform for Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, LGBTQ+, and disabled musicians, who are so often marginalized in genres to which they’ve constantly contributed.

Tony Trischka – “Carry Me Over The Sea”

Quintessential banjo legend Tony Trischka was featured this week with a new single from his 2021 release, Shall We Hope, that also features Irish singer Maura O’Connell.

Susan Werner – “To Be There”

Like many, Susan Werner is currently hoping for better times. And better times is what this Carter Family-inspired number is all about.

Photo credit: (L to R) Tony Trischka by Zoe Trischka; Shemekia Copeland by Mike White; Leyla McCalla by Rush Jagoe.

MIXTAPE: Front Country, How Did We Get Here?

Posted on by Editor

“For our 2017 record Other Love Songs, we made the decision to record using only acoustic instruments and our voices with almost no additional production. That’s how we’d been playing live up until that point and we wanted to capture the sound we’d been working on as an acoustic unit. Soon after we found ourselves stepping outside the acoustic box and experimenting with the overall sonic picture of what we were presenting live. Roscoe (Adam Roszkiewicz) and I began using more effects pedals and started playing through amps. Melody began playing percussion and after the addition of the pandeiro (a handheld Brazilian percussion instrument that can sound very much like a small drum kit), “Front Country music,” as we like to call it, began to evolve.

“As we began writing and arranging for the album that would become Impossible World, we made the decision not to put any limitations on production in the studio and found a producer (Dan Knobler) who could help us realize the sonic vision we were working on. This was basically a 180 from our previous record and it was very exciting! However, when any band takes a big leap forward musically, I often wonder what were some of the musical influences that helped inspire this transformation. So here is a collection of music each of us was listening to during the process and how these tracks helped inspire what we all brought to this record. For anyone who’s been following us for a while or maybe had a different impression of the band before hearing this new music this will help answer the question: ‘How did they get there!?'” — Jacob Groopman, Front Country

Brandi Carlile – “The Joke”

One of the most undeniably heartrending songs of the last decade, this song encapsulates Carlile’s emotionally earnest yet epic songwriting style. The way she wears her heart on her sleeve and doesn’t mince words has really inspired me to try and cut to the core with my own songwriting in the past few years. — Melody

Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer”

This track actually came up several times while we were arranging the songs for the new album, for the neo-soul vibes, the approach to instrumental hooks and, you guessed it: counterpoint. — Adam

HAIM – “If I Could Change Your Mind”

This first album from HAIM is full of throwback ’80s pop perfection and super catchy songwriting. I think their approach to dense, multi-layered backing vocal parts really influenced the harmony arrangements I did for the poppier tunes on Impossible World. — Melody

King Crimson – “Three of a Perfect Pair”

Intertwining themes and counterpoint have always been a big part of the FroCo sound and that approach was directly influenced by King Crimson and this track in particular; also we covered it on our Mixtape EP in 2016. — Adam

Los Colognes – “Flying Apart”

I came across this album randomly right as we were about to start working on the music for Impossible World and fell in love with the ’80s-meets-modern vibe. The use of electric guitar on this track had direct influence on what I brought to the table for a few of the tracks on Impossible World, especially “Miracle.” — Jacob

Paul Simon – “She Moves On”

From Graceland‘s Brazilian-themed follow up album The Rhythm of the Saints, this track is smooth and spooky in its trance-inducing worship of the dark, sacred feminine. The verse vibe of the song “Mother Nature” was loosely inspired by this one. — Melody

Lau – “Toy Tigers”

Lau is a band from Scotland that has successfully melded electronic elements with Scottish folk music and the result is something truly mind-blowing. They have become one of my all-time favorite bands. — Jacob

Muna – “Never”

I was also listening to a lot of electro-pop and aside from Muna’s production being on point, the level of risk they take in the instrumental section of this track is excellent. — Adam

Tame Impala – “Yes I’m Changing”

Kind of an ironic title for the purpose of this article, but the Tame Impala album Currents from 2015 was a big influence on creating a big sonic landscape that still completely serves the song and doesn’t overshadow it. I’d like to think we achieved this on a few tracks on the record. — Jacob

Queen – “I Want To Break Free”

I grew up on Queen’s tight aesthetic and Freddie’s vocal virtuosity, and while this is may be their most compact pop track ever, it’s edited economy inspired our arrangement of our song, “Real Love Potion.” — Melody

Squarepusher – “Welcome to Europe”

Continuing with the counterpoint theme, I was listening to a ton of electronic music while we were making the new album and this track exemplifies how you can have multiple hooks supporting each other throughout a track. Also, I love big jumps between notes in my hooks and get a lot of inspiration from tracks like this. — Adam

Dawes – “Telescope”

After we recorded the first half of our record early in 2019 I found myself listening to the Dawes’ Passwords from 2018 a lot and particularly this track. I love how the song has this slow build and new musical elements are constantly introduced throughout to keep it moving forward. It could be something really tiny that has a big impact on how the song moves. — Jacob

Photo credit: Michael Weintrob

WATCH: From the Station Inn, Sturgill Simpson Cuts Grass on ‘The Late Show’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In October, outlaw country badass Sturgill Simpson expanded his already broad musical palette with the surprise release of a bluegrass record. The 20-track album, aptly titled Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions, is a return to roots for the singer-songwriter, whose prior endeavor could be described as nothing short of a roaring rock album.

After breaking the mold with Sound & Fury (which was released as a visual album, with an accompanying Netflix anime film), Simpson’s pivot back to more of a traditional-sounding record exemplifies his creative prowess and artistic boldness. Truly beholden to no rules, Simpson does things his own way, sparing no means to create a bluegrass record that honors the traditions of the genre. The album was cut as naturally as a bluegrass album is expected to be and features an all-star band with musicians like Sierra Hull and Stuart Duncan gracing the songs.

Released in October on High Top Mountain Records, Cuttin’ Grass also comes after a livestreamed bluegrass concert Simpson organized as a charity event and broadcasted from the mother church, the Ryman Auditorium in June. On a Veteran’s Day episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Simpson and Co. safely performed “Breakers Roar” from the Station Inn in Nashville. Watch the performance and check out his interview, too.

 

WATCH: Watchhouse and Milk Carton Kids Perform “Wildfire”

Posted on by Editor

Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan from the Milk Carton Kids are back with another episode of their socially distant video show, Sad Songs Comedy Hour. In their 17th episode, they bring on Watchhouse’s Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz for an insightful conversation about all things. From the election and life in isolation to creating in stressful times, these four provide some interesting food for thought. As the show name would infer, there’s the odd joke here and there, but the episode concludes with a beautiful collaboration on Watchhouse’s “Wildfire.”

The hosting duo says, “We FINALLY got our act together to sing with Emily and Andrew, and it was worth the wait. Great talk too, as they’re deep thinkers, generous players, incisive songwriters. Hope we didn’t ruin their ‘Wildfire’ tune. As always, please support NIVA — the National Independent Venue Association — because they’re supporting all of us.”

Like a beloved book or your favorite podcast, Sad Songs Comedy Hour will surely put a smile on your face and glow with warmth and familiarity. Check out the new episode, and hear their collaborative version of “Wildfire” below.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to include Mandolin Orange’s new band name, Watchhouse. 

WATCH: David Grier & Tommy Emmanuel Shred “Workin’ Man Blues”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Flatpicker David Grier and his band have missed the stage in recent months, itching to perform with the regularity they once did. Luckily, the good folks at Nashville TuneStream have given them a stage from which they can perform safely and deliver their golden musical product to audiences around the world.

A weekly residency was established for Grier and co. at the livestream production company earlier this year, and we at BGS have been watching. If you haven’t yet had the privilege of seeing David Grier work his magic live, we strongly encourage you to do so at the next safe opportunity — though streams will certainly stand in until that point! A purist and traditionalist of sorts, Grier isn’t quite a household name, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better flatpicker in the world. As a testament to his musicianship, Grier’s band is always loaded with heavy-hitting instrumentalists, this time including Stuart Duncan, Casey Campbell, Dennis Crouch, and renowned virtuosic guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.

Emmanuel leads the band through Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues.” The train gets off to a powerful start, but Grier and Emmanuel derail the ensemble and venture off into a delightful guitars-only playground near the song’s end. During this pseudo-guitar duel, the rest stop entirely and share laughs with one another, as amused as we viewers at the mini guitar hero battle. The David Grier Band is scheduled to perform weekly for Nashville Tunestream, so watch this performance as a teaser and, if you can, support the band by tuning in!

The Avett Brothers: Three Perspectives on ‘The Third Gleam’

Posted on by Editor

Back in March, the Avett Brothers — Scott and Seth Avett, along with bassist Bob Crawford — were scheduled to leave their homes in North Carolina and head out West, where their longtime producer, Rick Rubin, was waiting at his studio in Malibu. They were in a prolific place at the top of the year, and eager to keep up the momentum. They had just released Closer Than Together, their tenth studio album, in October 2019, and had written and recorded The Third Gleam, the latest chapter in a series of acoustic EPs. They had also written a ton of new material — enough for another album, by Scott’s estimation — and were all set to move forward with it when the coronavirus hit. Everything, including their flights to California, ground to a halt.

The only thing that’s gone according to plan for the Avetts in 2020 is The Third Gleam, and it’s weirdly fitting — fateful, even — that it’s a homecoming in many ways. The eight-song EP was ushered into a tumultuous time they never saw coming, one that’s forcing everyone to stay put, slow down, and count their blessings more fervently than usual. It’s a return to the sparse acoustic arrangements that the Avetts perfected in their early releases before they teamed up with Rubin in 2009 for their mainstream breakthrough, I And Love And You, which brought them into the rock arena.

The Second Gleam came out in 2008 just before I And Love And You changed their lives and their sound, and though they’ve never strayed from their bluegrass and folk framework, they haven’t returned to the simplicity of Scott and Seth working through ideas with only their guitars and each other for company to this degree in over a decade. (Crawford does join them on The Third Gleam; he wasn’t brought in for the first two.)

The Third Gleam was written long before the world abruptly changed, but it touches on themes that bubbled up from the tension and strife that’s shaped recent moments of violence, unrest, uncertainty, despair, and the embers of resilience, hope, and the pursuit of social justice that smolder in spite of all of the above. Gun violence (“I Should’ve Spent the Day With My Family”), facing the unknown with grace (“Victory”), considering mortality (“Prison to Heaven”), and the deep joys and struggles of the human condition (“The Fire”) are all explored here, in soft tones, plaintive strumming, and the meditative plucking of Scott’s banjo.

Each song is striking in its approachable yet profound sincerity, and this less-is-more approach is one they found to be particularly effective in this fractured time. These issues were on their minds before the coronavirus upended life as we know it, but the Avett Brothers find themselves finding new meaning on The Third Gleam back where they started: at home, in North Carolina, trying to make sense of the world with little more than two voices and two guitars in sharp relief. For Scott, it’s simple: “The smallness of the Gleam — that’s where its power is.”

BGS: When I think of the first two Gleams, some of the saddest songs you’ve ever written come to mind, like “If It’s the Beaches,” but also gems that became fan favorites, like “Murder in the City.” How do The Gleam, the Second Gleam and The Third Gleam stand out to you? What sets them apart from the rest of your work?

Scott Avett: If there was a heart or soul or spirit to everything we do, [The Gleams] orbit a bit closer to that. If there’s layers to an entity or a life, this is kind of at the pure center of it. I’m coming up with this theory for some reason right now with you. [Laughs] At the root of the songs, a lot of the songs on other releases, we have wrung them out — put them literally through the wringer — to see what they want to become, what they can become, what we’re trying to hear and get out of them. Are we challenging them or going too far with them? With these, we don’t ever take that journey. It’s much earlier in the inception of the life of the song that we stop meddling with them. There’s a little more to just be with them, which is at the root of things.

Seth Avett: The series itself sort of represents a simplification across many aspects of this whole thing. It represents the clearing out of many great things, many great tools, and many great advantages we have with our band and our resources, and our possibilities. It simplifies the process of collaboration, the process of artwork. It simplifies recording, mixing, mastering and everything else. Across the board, it’s just a process of simplification and reduction, to where the only real star is the lyrics. I think that we’re still attempting to make something that’s engaging, musically, but it’s no secret: what we put our time into is storytelling, writing words and then sharing them onstage. It’s always at the heart of our songs, and so the Gleam is presenting only the heart rather than the entire body in a way.

Bob Crawford: They’re Scott and Seth’s sketchbooks, really. If you knew these guys as well as I do — and I know a lot of people know them very well, because they put it all out there and they always have — but if you love a great painter’s paintings, and you become a connoisseur of that painter’s paintings, their sketchbooks are widely available nowadays, be it Rembrandt or Leonardo da Vinci. That’s how I look at the Gleams, stitched in with the fabric of all our work: they’re basically more broken down, raw thoughts that they guys have. They’ve always wanted these things to be quieter and less. This is the first one, I think, I’ve played on; normally it’s just Scott and Seth doing these. It’s just a chance for them to get quiet, be alone, and be brothers.

You’ve been very busy between Gleams. How has it been to return to this acoustic space after playing arena-ready roots-rock on Closer Than Together? 

Seth Avett: What it does for me, personally, is it takes a new inventory of our trust, of our brotherhood — my trust for Scott and his trust for me — with no other real considerations. It’s wonderful to be reminded in such a genuine way, with such gravity, that we still trust each other completely, and we’re not moving forward based only on the efforts of others. We still have each other’s trust and care, and we still hold those things in the highest regard. It’s a funny thing: on the first two Gleams and on this one, when we go into the process of finding out what the songs are going to be, and we present them to each other, there’s very little discussion.

All these full-length records, whether one person wrote the whole song technically or not, the other one will have a certain amount of contribution to it. There’s a lot of weighing: “What does it mean?” “Can it be said better?” “Is this too much, is this too little?” We do consider them in a big way, and we consider the songs on the Gleams in a big way as well — but we hardly talk about it. It’s like, “Hey, here’s four songs that are feeling really good to me and things I want to say,” and the other brother says the same, and that’s it. We just do it. It’s cool.

Bob Crawford: These Gleams give them an opportunity to come together and work together a little more than they have in recent years. We’re coming full-circle because of the pandemic. Since the pandemic, they’ve been living very close together and spending more time together. They were always close as brothers and best friends, but closer, approximately, so they could get together. We were actually about to go to Malibu to record the week the pandemic hit, the week of the shutdown. Ultimately, we tried to do it all these different ways; it just didn’t work out, so it turned into them recording demos themselves, sending me the demos, and me recording the bass and sending them back.

Did any of these new songs pose a new challenge you hadn’t confronted in your songwriting before? 

Scott Avett: What’s different about mine — and this is a change for Seth and I — we sort of switched places. Several years ago, I probably would’ve been the one that tended to be more rapid-fire, more erratic. I just chop it up with a lot of syllables and a lot of words. On this one, we switched. We were laughing about it. Seth’s songs have a lot of words and tell stories, they’re narrative, and then mine are very much personal and have a lot less words and a lot more space.

I always look at it that there’s only one character on the record, there’s one character in the story, and the two of us kind of make that character. We would do very different things on our own, probably. There’s a contrast to it, a gemini sort of approach to it I guess. [“I Should Have Spent the Day With My Family”] is a good example of what’s changed for us. It’s minor and subtle to anybody else, but it’s a change for us.

Seth Avett: If you look at The Third Gleam, it’s impossible not to compare and contrast between me and Scott — I know it is, I’m sure all of our fans do it — where the differences between the Seth and Scott songs have never been more laid bare, in terms of the difference of the vibe. Scott’s songs, they just have so much space and breadth in them. I don’t look at “Family” or “Fire” as songs that have a ton of breadth in them; they feel a bit more urgent.

The narratives have a bit more of an agenda. Whereas, “I Go to My Heart,” “Victory,” “Back into the Light,” they have quite a lot of breadth and space, and so I’m seeing a change in him. If we are writing the songs we’re meant to write, and we are giving reverence to our form, then the changes in us are the changes in the song. If you ask, “How have I seen his writing change?” I’m thinking about how he is growing and changing, as a man, as a father, as a brother. It’s all kind of wrapped in one.

The role of advocacy and activism in music has changed, even since you released Closer Than Together, and “Family” is a turning point for you especially, Seth. You mention your wife and child by name in a song about gun violence, and you’ve never done that before. How has it been to anchor the Gleam in this moment in that regard?

Seth Avett: I can’t say that there was a point where I said, “Okay, now I’m going to open the door and start writing these types of songs.” This sort of happened incrementally. A song like “Bang Bang,” there were multiple moments where I’d go to a hotel room, and I’d turn on the television, and it’s just one [show] after the next, from ridiculous garbage to the most eloquent sci-fi — but it’s always the leading man with the gun. It’s always presented with such power, and it’s just ridiculous. The idea of holding a gun to make someone powerful is absurd; it’s preposterous.

I had many moments like that, and then there were many shootings. “I Should Have Spent the Day with My Family” is an obvious, super-literal reaction; “We Americans,” that’s the first four years of a person’s life growing up as an American. I don’t know that there’s one moment where I gave myself permission, but there have been many moments that I consider wholly unavoidable in terms of taking that into the songwriting.

This has been a tumultuous time, so I was curious if you think there’s a connection between that and going back to the foundation with an acoustic EP. Do you find that it was an organic thing to take a step back and retract to that nucleus and get to the root of all things Avett with The Third Gleam, considering everything going on?

Bob Crawford: It’s definitely a time of reflection, and it does make you appreciate all we’ve done, because you don’t know when and how we’re going to do it again. … For me, “Victory” is the greatest song they ever wrote. We only win when we submit; we only find peace when we let go. How do we hold it all together in our hearts at the same time? How do we not lose our minds at that? How do we find true peace inside while there’s chaos flowing back and forth? I think, hopefully, the Avett Brothers can be part of the center of that. If you are the center of that, you’re not polarizing. You can’t alienate anybody. No matter what you know they believe, face to face is how we live the gospel, how we can make real change.

Photo credit: Crackerfarm