Tag: bluegrass

BGS 5+5: Teddy and the Rough Riders

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Artist: Teddy and the Rough Riders
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Teddy and the Rough Riders
Personal nicknames: TRR, Teddy

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Well, since there are way too many artists who have had singular, exceptional influences on us, I’ll have to just pick one amongst many! But someone special that comes to mind for me is Bill Monroe. For me he took the song formula to the moon, maybe from speeding up Jimmie Rodgers and other traditionals to breakneck speeds, and singing as high as humanly possible. To me he breaks through bluegrass. As a creator he made these simple, beautiful melodies that can be felt beyond genre, as he certainly was in his day.

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

Growing up in Nashville there was a plethora of rock house shows and gatherings. One in particular I was around 15 years old when I saw this band Jeff the Brotherhood, and they just had this stripped-down, two-piece, driving minimalist rock sound. The scene around them was exploding and I truly felt like I got to be a part of it right then and there. That made me believe I could actually play music. It took our buddy Carter setting up a honky-tonk night every Sunday 7-9 at Santa’s Pub in 2011 to be fully convinced to play real country music, though!

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

Jack and I love to rehearse singing together before a big show. I play mandolin and sing the high harmony, and Jack plays guitar and sings lower. But we do a huge Louvin Brothers routine, kind of doing the high lonesome, blood harmony thing. It’s just great practice and lets us all warm up solidly and relieve stress before a show.

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

Nashville is surrounded by great hikes. We go to Sewanee, Tennessee, where a good many friends have family cabins out there. That will put a song in your mind, it’s a pretty special place. We all go out to Percy Priest Lake together and listen to music and sit in the sun and swim. We have access to canoes and a lot of our friends are good at efficiently camping. I definitely write songs about those experiences all the time.

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

In Nashville there’s an exceptional Southern-style meat-and-three called Arnold’s Country Kitchen. Well, naturally we go there a good bit, but before his death, and for longer than I know probably, John Prine would go there every Thursday before a writing session and get the meatloaf. We’d go and see him ride in his huge black Escalade and go to town. So to me, John Prine and a big ole meatloaf and three sides from Arnold’s is the stuff of legend!

Photo Credit: Monica Murray

LISTEN: Tim Stafford & Thomm Jutz, “Take That Shot”

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Artist: Tim Stafford & Thomm Jutz
Hometown: Kingsport, Tennessee; and Buehl, Germany (actual) / Nashville, Tennessee (felt)
Song: “Take That Shot”
Album: Lost Voices
Release Date: June 28, 2022
Label: Mountain Fever

In Their Words: “‘Take That Shot’ is a song about how images influence our perceptions of people and events. We cover a pretty wide range of photos in this song. From Billy the Kid, to Marilyn Monroe, to Bill Monroe and Robert Johnson. Tim and I are both very interested in history, so writing these types of songs comes natural to us.” — Thomm Jutz

“If you’re like me, you can’t pass up the chance to snap a photo in certain situations — a beautiful scene, something unusual that catches your eye. ‘Take That Shot’ is kind of unique in the bluegrass field, since there aren’t many ‘grass songs about photography, and especially historically important ‘shots.’ But they capture so much, about us individually and our culture — without words.” — Tim Stafford

Photo Credit: Jefferson Ross

WATCH: Appalachian Road Show, “Blue Ridge Mountain Baby”

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Artist: Appalachian Road Show
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Blue Ridge Mountain Baby”
Album: Jubilation
Release Date: October 7, 2022
Label: Billy Blue Records

In Their Words: “When we settled on the theme and title of Jubilation for this new project (intended to be sort of an ‘answer’ to our last project, Tribulation), we knew exactly the direction some of the material needed to head. But, sometimes finding just the right pieces to put it all together can be a task! One day the hook, ‘Blue Ridge Mountain Baby,’ popped into my head out of the blue sky. In that instant, I could just feel what the finished song ought to sound and feel like… We just needed to actually write it… and then perform it! When it was time to record it, man, did the guys sure scald it! If ever a song felt like it belongs on an album called Jubilation, I think ‘Blue Ridge Mountain Baby’ does!” — Jim VanCleve, Appalachian Road Show

Photo Credit: Erick Anderson

LISTEN: Ashby Frank, “Jump on It”

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Artist: Ashby Frank
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Jump on It”
Release Date: June 24, 2022
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “I have been a fan of this Pat and Pamela Terry composition since I heard it when I was a teenager. We started adding into our shows with The Likely Culprits a few years ago, and it always went over well with our audiences — but it got an especially raucous response from the crowd when we were out on tour opening for Jamey Johnson a few years ago. So when I started this project, I knew that I wanted to record it, and I had some ideas in my head about how to make the music fit the vibe of the lyrics. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that it would turn out like it did, but with the help of my co-producer Brandon Bostic, so many amazing musicians, and the backing voices of some of my friends who also happen to be legends in their own fields, I think we got a cut that is very special. I am so proud of this track!” — Ashby Frank

Photo Credit: Melissa DuPuy

WATCH: Tall Poppy String Band, “The Coo Coo”

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Artist: Tall Poppy String Band
Hometown: Portland/ Fort Collins/ Nashville
Song: “The Coo Coo”
Album: Tall Poppy String Band
Release Date: July 29, 2022
Label: Tall Poppy String Band

In Their Words: “This version of ‘The Coo Coo/ Cuckoo’ comes from the playing of John Snipes, a Black banjo player and singer from North Carolina. Recorded in 1974, Snipes’ version of this common banjo tune is like no other we’ve heard — it feels enigmatic and profoundly unsettled, with its ambiguous tonality and even more ambiguous meter. It’s one of those circular tunes that feels like it doesn’t want to end, each section spilling restlessly into the next. When we sat down last summer to translate ‘The Coo Coo’ from a solo banjo piece into a full-band arrangement, we wanted to honor the tune’s bold personality while also exploring the possibilities afforded by multiple melody instruments. It’s so satisfying to tap into this tune’s hypnotic groove together, and we like bringing out some of the melody’s unexpectedly Scandinavian-sounding undertones. This performance was captured in August 2021, during recording sessions for our debut album (releasing July 29th this year).” — Mark Harris, Tall Poppy String Band

Photo Credit: Natia Cinco

LISTEN: Jacob Jolliff, “Columbus Stockade Blues”

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Artist: Jacob Jolliff
Hometown: New York City
Song: “Columbus Stockade Blues”
Album: The Jacob Jolliff Band
Release Date: August 5, 2022
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “‘Columbus Stockade Blues’ is a tune I grew up playing with my dad, Bill. I remember us playing it together when I was around 9 — I’ve got so many good memories associated with playing with him. Most people know the famous recordings of this tune by Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, and Norman Blake, but it’s really the arrangement I learned from my dad I hear when I play this tune now. I really wanted this song to be the first single from this record because of that, but also because a lot of people have the impression that we mostly play heady instrumental music. Really, though, that’s only about half of what we do. ‘Columbus Stockade Blues’ is a great vehicle for the JJB to stretch out a little bit and it showcases our trad-bluegrass licking but also our singing, which is such a huge part of our live performances. My last recording with the JJB was an all-instrumental album in the vein of Béla or Dawg, but in our live show we’ve always mixed in a lot of trad bluegrass as well so it was important to showcase that by making this the first single from this new recording.” — Jacob Jolliff

Photo Credit: Adam Sweeney

LISTEN: Steep Canyon Rangers, “Sweet Spot”

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Artist: Steep Canyon Rangers
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Sweet Spot”
Release Date: June 3, 2022
Label: Yep Roc Records

In Their Words: “I had the tune and a few verses for ‘Sweet Spot’ for a couple months, just a simple JJ Cale sort of deal that I had tucked away for the next album. When Woody told us he was leaving we figured we’d like to record one last song to kind of tell the story a little bit and this one seemed like a great fit. We thought it’d be nice for different guys in the band to write about where they find peace or joy or inspiration. I’m glad the swan song for Woody wasn’t mopey and down because that’s not at all how we’re leaving things with him and that’s not how we’re moving forward. Instead, it just feels right.” — Graham Sharp, Steep Canyon Rangers

Photo Credit: Shelley Swanger

LISTEN: Unspoken Tradition, “Soldiers of Dust”

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Artist: Unspoken Tradition
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Song: “Soldiers of Dust”
Album: Imaginary Lines
Release Date: June 10, 2022
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Soldiers of Dust’ was written to represent multiple viewpoints of the world in the wake of the social unrest spurred on by the hardships of the pandemic. Every line in the song was intended to be a stand-alone idea to be interpreted in more than one way. There are references to working-class struggles, fear of change, gentrification, and the tyranny that can come with the deliberate removal of nuance. It was inspired by my own learning experience of how to relate to people who have different worldviews than me and the reward that comes from having empathy towards those views. ‘We live in these cities of rust, like soldiers of dust’ is a metaphor for what could happen if we are not willing to meet people where they are and we end up in a losing battle and in a society not worth having.” — Ty Gilpin, Unspoken Tradition

Photo Credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: The Slocan Ramblers, “Won’t You Come Back Home”

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Artist: The Slocan Ramblers
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Won’t You Come Back Home”
Album: Up the Hill and Through the Fog
Release Date: September 10, 2022

In Their Words: “John Hartford has always been a huge influence on me. I remember watching an interview with him where he talked about putting a strong emphasis on the sound of words and how they fit together. Knowing we’d need new material for our next album, this concept stuck with me. While on tour we played in a town called Athabasca in Northern Alberta. Everyone had fun saying the town name out loud, and all of us thought it would make a good reference in a song. No one acknowledged it, but I knew the race was on for who would be the first to have a workable song having to do with Athabasca. I beat them all to the punch. It’s funny how songs evolve when you’re writing them. I imagined Athabasca being a prominent word in the chorus. Ultimately, it ended up making a small cameo in the line: ‘You’re halfway to Athabasca / I haven’t noticed in a week.’” — Frank Evans, The Slocan Ramblers

Photo Credit: Jen Squires

LISTEN: Rachel Sumner, “Strangers Again” (Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Cover)

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Artist: Rachel Sumner
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Strangers Again”
Album: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Release Date: August 5, 2022

In Their Words: “‘Strangers Again’ is one of the lost songs that Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings managed to rescue after a tornado had torn through their studio in 2020. Out of the impressive three-volume collection they released in the storm’s aftermath, it was this particular song’s sweet and longing melody that captured me. I brought it to the band and we began to play it at shows, exploring ways we could make it our own, but we had no plans beyond performing it live. Coincidently, after we had finished recording the bulk of our upcoming album, Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, I noticed there was a thematic thread throughout the record of people feeling out of place or finding they had transformed into strangers — whether it’s to someone they were once close to, or to themselves — so, ‘Strangers Again’ seemed like it could be a perfect addition. We ended up going back into the studio for one more day of live recording to round out the album with a few more songs, and this was among that final batch.” — Rachel Sumner

Photo Credit: Adam Gurczack