Tag: blues

Despite a Sad And Beautiful World, Mavis Staples Still Transcends

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Such words as “legendary,” “transcendent,” and “magnificent,” while accurate, only skim the surface in describing the greatness of vocalist Mavis Staples. There’s no idiomatic area where she doesn’t excel and no song, regardless of origin or writer, that she can’t turn into a personal triumph. She’s also a genuine survivor, both in the familial (she’s the last living member of the Staple Singers) and socio-political sense (she’s a cultural warrior and champion of the Civil Rights era whose resonant voice has inspired generations of listeners).

For many artists, claiming they’ve gotten better with age is at best polite overstatement, and at worst woeful exaggeration. But Staples at 86 still has the authoritative edge, tonal quality, and lyrical flair that’s always marked her performances. It seems hard to believe she’s been singing since childhood, and listening to the 10 tracks on her newest release, Sad And Beautiful World (released November 7 by Anti), you hear the confident, jubilant sound of a vocal titan.

That Staples can cover with equal distinction and flair songs penned by Tom Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Leonard Cohen, and Frank Ocean reaffirms her versatility. Producer Brad Cook smartly lets her voice dominate through each setting, regardless of instrumental backdrops, tempo or lyrical setting. Her spoken word narrative adds additional punch to the cover of Ocean’s “Godspeed” and underscores its recurring themes of urgency and redemption that fuel the album’s sensibility.

But the album also contains prominent message tracks, most notably “We Got To Have Peace,” a number whose tone and lyrics couldn’t be more timely in an era where it seems lunacy often runs supreme. “Anthem” and “Satisfied Mind” are just as powerful and energetic in their declarations of the importance of persistence, kindness, and goodwill. “Everybody Needs Love” provides the perfect finale, with Staples superbly punctuating its theme and completing a 38-minute epic work. Indeed, songwriter Kevin Morby has offered perhaps the best tribute to Staples’ brilliance possible, when he gave a press statement about what it meant to have her doing his song “Beautiful Strangers,” which is another memorable and passionate number.

“It isn’t easy to put into words what it feels like having one of the best, most important vocalists and cultural figures of both the 20th and 21st century sing one of my songs,” Morby said. “But hearing Mavis sing ‘Beautiful Strangers’ is hands down the greatest moment and highest honor of my career. Far beyond any kind of accolade or acclaim – having one of my biggest heroes sing something I wrote is the most validating and flattering thing that could ever happen to me as a songwriter and person. Thank you, Mavis.”

Staples has been awesome for so long, sometimes it’s easy to forget how many different periods and genres her artistry covers. The original family unit the Staple Singers were gospel and folk song giants. The unit included her sisters Cleotha and Yvonne, plus her brother Pervis, her father Pops, whose roots reached back to the seminal days of Delta blues, and Charlie Patton, who served as anchor, both vocally and on guitar. The Staple Singers began singing in Chicago churches in the late ’40s, became recording artists in the early ’50s, and earned their first hit with “Uncloudy Day” in 1952, recorded for the Black-owned label Vee-Jay. By the ’60s they were a cornerstone unit of the Civil Rights Movement, often accompanying Dr. Martin Luther King at rallies.

Mavis began really getting noticed as a solo performer during their transition in the late ’60s and early ’70s to a soul and pop unit. The decision to sign with Stax Records and the shift to secular music was one Pops often acknowledged as a controversial one, but it ultimately paid off as the group’s status elevated into crossover stars. They had eight Top hits in the early and mid-’70s; “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again” were chart toppers and “Who Took The Merry Out of Christmas” reached number two. Mavis also cut her first solo single in the late ’60s, then a full self-titled release for Stax in 1969. Their songs were expertly produced, featuring the crisp and outstanding backing of Booker T. & the MGs. Other essential hits included “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.”

Slowly but surely, Mavis began to establish herself outside the Staples family trademark. Her soundtrack LP, A Piece of the Action on Curtis Mayfield’s label, helped her reach some new audiences, as did another self-titled mid-‘80s LP. But it was a pair of releases produced by Prince in the ’90s that really helped her reach the next generation of listeners. The second by the duo, The Voice, was another masterpiece. It included her magical version of Prince’s “Positivity,” as well as a cover of “Melody Cool” from the film Graffiti Bridge. Staples returned to the church in 1996 for a marvelous release, Spirituals & Gospels: Dedicated to Mahalia Jackson, that personified the close friendship that Jackson had with the entire Staples family and her influence on Mavis, personally and professionally.

Over the course of the 21st century, Mavis Staples has unquestionably become an iconic figure. The roster of artists with whom she’s worked over the course of her remarkable career is an astonishing one, both in terms of talent and musical approach. She’s recorded with jazz guitarist John Scofield, Los Lobos, Bob Dylan, Johnny Paycheck, Natalie Merchant, George Jones, Delbert McClinton, Aretha Franklin, Nona Hendryx, and Ann Peebles, to cite only a handful. Staples has also continued making emphatic message albums, among them the 2017 dynamo If All I Was Was Black. Her voice has been sampled by rappers and hip-hop and pop artists like Salt ‘N’ Pepa, Ice Cube, Ludacris, and Hozier.

Mavis also been featured in a host of television shows and films, among them The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show With David Letterman, Conan, and “CBS Saturday Morning: Saturday Sessions,” and she was the featured performer on the very first episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Her film resume includes appearances in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz and Antoine Fuqua’s documentary Lightning in a Bottle, about the Salute to the Blues concert at Radio City Music Hall in February 2003.

Mavis!, the first feature documentary about Staples and the Staple Singers, was directed by Jessica Edwards and had its world premiere at SXSW in March 2015. It was later screened in theaters and was broadcast on HBO in February 2016, eventually winning a Peabody Award. Her appearance with Mahalia Jackson at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is among the many highlights in the award-winning documentary Summer of Soul, which was released in 2021. Staples has even been portrayed on film, played by Laura Kariuki in the 2024 hit film, A Complete Unknown.

Staples has rightly won numerous awards. The array includes three GRAMMYs and a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Rock and Roll, Gospel Music, and Blues Halls of Fame, and having been a Kennedy Center Honoree. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored her a second time in 2019 with the inaugural Rock Hall Honors Award for her solo work. Rolling Stone named her 56th among the “100 Greatest Singers of all Time” in 2008, though there was already no question about her inclusion in that select company.

Amazingly, there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down for Mavis Staples. She celebrated her 80th birthday at the Apollo Theater in 2019, returning to the famed venue where she first appeared as a teenager 63 years before that date. She did a series of collaborative birthday concerts that year with special guests that included David Byrne and Norah Jones. She also collaborated with Run the Jewels on the track “Pulling the Pin” from their studio album RTJ4. In 2022, Staples released Carry Me Home, a collaborative effort with the late Levon Helm that they recorded together at Helm’s Midnight Ramble in 2011.

She’s already announced upcoming tour dates for 2026 at three famous sites: Chicago’s Chicago Theatre, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, and New York’s Beacon Theatre. Mavis Staples also remains a voice for social justice. Way back in 2010, she performed at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear alongside singer Jeff Tweedy. In 2011, she was joined onstage at the Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival by Arcade Fire singer Win Butler. The two performed a version of “The Weight” by The Band. Shortly after the release of her 2016 LP Livin’ On A High Note, produced by M. Ward with songs written for her by Nick Cave, Justin Vernon, Neko Case, and others, Staples issued these prophetic words:

I’ve been singing my freedom songs and I wanted to stretch out and sing some songs that were new. I told the writers I was looking for some joyful songs. I want to leave something to lift people up; I’m so busy making people cry, not from sadness, but I’m always telling a part of history that brought us down and I’m trying to bring us back up.

These songwriters gave me a challenge. They gave me that feeling of, “Hey, I can hang! I can still do this!” There’s a variety, and it makes me feel refreshed and brand new. Just like Benjamin Booker wrote on the opening track, “I got friends and I got love around me, I got people, the people who love me.” I’m living on a high note, I’m above the clouds. I’m just so grateful. I must be the happiest old girl in the world. Yes, indeed.

Anyone paying attention to the songs on Sad And Beautiful World knows that’s still the case with Mavis Staples’ music.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth De La Piedra

Sabine McCalla Makes a New Orleans Album Out of Global Traditions

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In 1853, a 29-year-old Parisian photographer, Adolphe-Alexandre Martin, delivered a paper to the French Academy of Sciences. In his text, he proposed a process for creating a photographic image on thin, chemically coated metal sheets: the tintype. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his invention became the portrait medium of choice, especially across North America, eventually falling out of fashion in the 1930s. Strikingly evocative, tintypes imbue subjects with a surreal, dreamlike quality, offering an emotional portal into the past.

Over a century and a half later, the New Orleans-based Haitian American singer-songwriter Sabine McCalla, younger sister of the influential classical and folk musician Leyla McCalla, asked the tintype revival photographer Meg Turner to take her portrait. For an artist who draws from the past while seeking pathways forward, using an old medium to capture something new was an instinctive choice. Turner’s image became the cover art and a lodestar for the central feelings underpinning McCalla’s debut album, Don’t Call Me Baby, released through Kurt DeLashmet and Nick Shoulders’s Gar Hole Records label.

As we discuss later in this interview, the inspiration for Don’t Call Me Baby wasn’t born from a happy moment. Rather than sinking into sadness, McCalla juxtaposes joy and heartbreak, using narrative storytelling as a vehicle for catharsis across nine haunting, surreal songs. On “Sunshine Kisses” she recalls being lost in liminality after a breakup before letting loose on the classic rock and roll slanted singalong “Louisiana Hound Dog” (a co-write with Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys and Pat McLaughlin). By the time “Two of Hearts” arrives, our protagonist is singing about three different suitors.

Amid the paradisiac instrumentation surrounding her soothing voice, McCalla and her producers, Sam Doores (of The Deslondes) and Ajaï Combelic, collaborate with a cast of more than a dozen musicians from her musical community in New Orleans. Together, they blend rhythm & blues, country, folk, jazz, Tropicália, quiet storm soul, and doo-wop into hypnotic roots music. Song by song, the results reflect a lifetime spent studying traditions from across the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. Equal parts comforting, adventurous, and spicy, she serves up an Americana hotpot that speaks to the world while being informed by it.

Last month, McCalla joined BGS on a video call. Sitting on a yellow couch surrounded by rosebud-hued walls and framed art, she spent just under an hour with us. In a discursive conversation, we explored the influence of life in Louisiana, her passion for musical history, and, given her background, the inevitability of her worldly confluence of sensibilities. A thoughtful speaker, McCalla isn’t the type to rush her answers. She’s also happy to keep a point simple or, when needed, throw in some extended anecdotes. Sometimes it’s not that deep; other times, it really is.

How important is a sense of place and location to your music?

Sabine McCalla: I don’t know. I mean, it is important. Louisiana and New Orleans have been characters in, or influenced my music a lot. But I’ve certainly written songs outside of New Orleans and Louisiana. I think any land we connect with is important when we’re writing songs.

From the outside looking in, it’s easy to surmise that there is a quality to New Orleans and the musical community that lives there that unlocked something in your artistry.

Yeah, it’s definitely been very inspiring. New Orleans is a very musical city. Nearly everyone you meet is a musician or plays more than one instrument. It’s incredibly culturally rich here. Learning to play music in this environment, you learn certain styles, or you learn with a focus on dancing. There’s a lot of rhythm & blues, soul, and second-line music, and people dancing in the street. I think dancing is something I was thinking of when I thought about how I want these songs to be listened to. Like I’m thinking of a honky-tonk dive bar, hot and steamy, lots of close dancing.

Who says you can’t dance to misery, right?

You certainly can. In fact, you’re probably a better dancer.

There’s something about the juxtaposition between a sad sentiment and a happy rhythm or melody that can be so moving.

I think innately we all want to experience pleasure, and we all have our pains that go with it. I think that’s what people are connecting with.

Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, what is pleasure without pain?

Just a high.

New Orleans looms large in my mind as one of those places where traditions have been kept alive that don’t still exist elsewhere.

Yeah, for sure. There’s a tradition of passing down songs. There’s also so much space to create music here.

Don’t Call Me Baby is an ambitious album, but you succeed in your ambitions. You’ve braided a lot of threads together: different places, genres, periods of time. Was there a specific time in your life when you became interested in musical history, or looking to the past to find new ways to go forward?

I grew up playing classical music. Then I studied some old-time music from Appalachia. I’m interested in learning lots of old songs. I like listening to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. I feel like I’ve dug into a lot of pre-war recordings throughout the South and been inspired by ballad singing.

Like many people, I learned about the Anthology of American Folk Music through Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. There’s something about songwriters who go back and listen to their influences’ influences.

Totally. Shape-note singing is coming back into fashion now. I keep hearing about shape-note festivals around the country. My drummer, Howe Pearson, who also plays in The Deslondes, has been hosting a shape-note singing workshop every Monday.

What was it about the Anthology of American Folk Music that excited you?

They were songs I’d never heard before. I liked the quality of the voices on tape. So emotive and raw. And not just the Harry Smith anthology, Alan Lomax recordings too. I’ve always been interested in ethnomusicology. When I was younger, my sister and I had a mentor who played a lot of blues and jazz. I remember thinking he wrote these songs, until I realized, no, this white man from New Jersey did not write these songs. There’s this beautiful history of Black people in America who sang the blues and jazz and wrote so many songs that have been passed down.

Sometimes I wonder about the impact recorded music had on community singing. I’ve read that after phonograph records turned up, people became more self-conscious about singing at home. They’d hear these great singers and a shyness would set in.

People were keeping the songs they heard alive. They lived when there was no radio, so they were better keepers of songs than we are today. Now everything is so fast. There’s so much music, AI music, the industry pushing constant output, and not reviving songs. But I think a new resurgence of song revivals is happening.

You grew up in a Haitian family in New Jersey. Were your parents encouraging about music?

Yes and no. My sister’s also a musician. My mom was like, “Leyla’s the musician. You need to figure out your own path.” I was like, “No, I think I want to do this.” Both of my parents always encouraged choosing your own path and focusing on it.

It’s not always immediately obvious, but there’s a strong Haitian influence in American music.

Yeah, the Fugees! Lauryn Hill went to my high school. Her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is like a bible to me. It’s a perfect album – the intros, outtakes, transitions. Lyrically empowering. I grew up on her songs. I’m grateful for my high school. We had amazing music teachers.

I graduated with SZA and Dave Authors, and a few others who’ve done great things. My sister Leyla McCalla went there, too. New Jersey is incredibly diverse. A lot of people immigrate to New York and then move into the suburbs, which my family did as well.

Did you grow up on a bit of everything musically?

Classical music. School trips to the opera. My parents played the Haitian groups Boukman Eksperyans and RAM. We listened to The Beatles, Bob Marley, and Rod Stewart.

When I think about Americana, I think about this confluence of cultures and musical traditions that came together in the South. When did it become attractive to you?

It all came together naturally. I was focused on pre-war songs, then going through decades of music. When I moved here, I got interested in The Boswell Sisters and songs collected in New Orleans in the early 1900s. Then I learned about Lonnie Johnson, the godfather of rock ’n’ roll. Through studying songs, I realized that it’s all Americana music. It influenced how I sang and created songs.

In a sense, there’s an inevitability to where you arrived.

I originally wrote and sang songs a cappella. That became my EP, Folk. My friends Leonie Evans and Steph Green helped with backup vocals. There wasn’t much thought about creating a larger sound until I met Eli “Paperboy” Reed. I’d already been listening to New Orleans R&B and soul, and when he put chords to my songs, I was like, “Oh, this is the sound I’ve been looking for.” That changed how I thought about songs. I also grew up listening to [the Tropicália singer-songwriter] Caetano Veloso. I’ve been trying to read his book Tropicalism, but there are so many references to Brazilian artists. It’s going to take forever.

After growing up in New Jersey, you moved to New Orleans, where this was all even more concentrated. There was a weekly jam session you’d go to called the All-Star Covered Dish Country Jamboree.

Yes. The first time I went was in 2014, probably in February. Joy Patterson came up to me – she runs it – and said, “I know who you are.” I was like, “Oh no, this lady…” But I loved it. My sister had been living here, so people were like, “Oh, you’re Leyla’s sister.” I think I saw Sam Doores’ doo-wop group with Casey Jane, Camille Weatherford, Emma Eisenhower, Jon Hatchett, and Max Bien Kahn; they did a little doo-wop show. I thought it was so cute. I wanted to know these people. And I’ve ended up working with all of them.

From there, it became a weekly ritual in your life, right?

Yeah, it was like a church. Going to this country night where I could talk about songs with people and hear a lot of old songs: classic country, classic R&B and soul. Those things lit my soul up.

After all these experiences, what’s your understanding of country music and where you could fit into it in 2025?

I don’t know. Maybe giving voice to other women of color who are interested in country music, not just hip-hop or R&B, but a diversity of sounds. I also lived in Ghana growing up, and lots of people listen to country music in Africa. What surprised me was going to Ghana and someone saying, “Where’s your cowboy hat?” I was like, “I’m from New Jersey, not Texas!”

I get the sense that a lot of your music is therapeutic storytelling.

Yeah, it is. It comes from the heart.

What sort of stories do people tell you about their experiences with your music?

The best one was in London. Someone said their friend’s father passed away and left her a boat. She went sailing for three months. They didn’t listen to music for most of it, then one day she put on my record and that’s all they listened to. That made my heart swell. It’s making me tear up now. Another woman told me she’d separated from her husband and, after hearing my music, reached out to him, saying she was ready to compromise. I was like, damn… Hopefully, this music lets people feel they’re not alone in their feelings.

How much has loneliness driven your music?

It’s been a huge component. I value my alone time, but sometimes it’s a detriment when I’m alone too long or ruminating too long.

You need something to break the feedback loop. Tell me about the backdrop to this album?

I was playing with a lot of ideas. Not everything made it onto the record. A friend visited – she’s an amazing stylist – and I wanted to get a tintype photo done by Meg Turner. We did makeup, hair, clothes, jewelry, so much dazzling stuff, so I’d be shiny in the sun. It was hot in New Orleans. Right before taking the photo, I got a text from someone I was dating, and that’s the true look of shock on my face. After I saw the picture, I was like, “Everything needs to be based around this photo.”

It’s an amazing photo.

Right after that, I wrote “Sunshine Kisses” and then I thought, “What else goes with this?”

What sort of ideas did you have about the threads you wanted to bring together in the music?

I was like: What are all my breakup songs? I wanted it to be haunting, but warm. Some songs I wrote during the pandemic felt too cold for this album. I originally wanted to name it Sudden Blue because I was thinking of a colder feeling. But something transpired while making it; the songs were given a new breath by the people I was working with: Sam Doores, Gina Leslie, Roy Brenc, Howe Pearson, and Ajaï Combelic. It was a warm feeling in the room, lots of laughter. And we were doing it during Mardi Gras, during carnival season, which was wild, because we’d play shows at night and then go into the studio in the morning.

It’s amazing how much other people can make a difference to a creative process.

Yeah. We fed off each other. If there’s negativity or self-consciousness, it’s felt in the music. We were all happy to work out ideas and nerd out about music.

Did you have a heartbreak record, not necessarily one you idolized, but a north star to look towards?

A few albums inspired me. Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn… There were also songs: Irma Thomas’s hits, and “Andromeda” by Weyes Blood. It’s such a powerful song about all the emotions we face. Feeling lonely, then liking the loneliness, then changing your mind five times a day.

Photo Credits: Lead image by Camille Lenain; album cover tintype by Meg Turner.

2025 Good Country

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

What is Good Country?

We wouldn’t ever begin to even try to define it. Good Country is a place. A feeling. A sense of knowing it when you hear it. Whatever you consider to fall under the term or qualify for the moniker, there certainly is plenty of Good Country to be found these days – and especially in 2025.

To wrap up the year in country, we asked our GC contributors not to simply select their favorite country song or album of the year, but to consider that titular question. We gave our writers no parameters or qualifiers for what their picks could be or include, leaving the prompt as open-ended as possible, asking our folks to focus in on the music that stuck with them, whatever the reason or impulse or staying power. Most selections are albums and songs, but some are artists, books, soundtracks, live shows, or other more intangible moments.

The results perfectly illustrate how much easier it is to triangulate the location of Good Country by showing, rather than telling. Spanish-language and Mariachi-infused country fall alongside twangy Mississippian working class messages over hip-hop beats and contemplative singer-songwriter mental health reckonings. Bluegrass pickers can be found beside books and motion picture soundtracks and songs sung in te reo Māori. Smash hits and household names bump up against newcomers and fresh discoveries. It’s all here. It’s all Good Country.

As you scroll, we hope you enjoy the broad, borderless, and endlessly entrancing territory we’ve come to know as Good Country. As we turn the page from 2025 to 2026, we’re proud of the community of folks who love and make Good Country – and beyond excited to hear what they’ll continue to bring to us in the very near future.

Sammy Arriaga, “Before The Next Teardrop Falls”

Freddy Fender’s masterful 1974 hit, “Before The Next Teardrop Falls,” with its Tejano guitar and half-Spanish chorus, is so cemented into the history of the place it was made that it sounds as contemporary as Willie in Austin, and older than the Carter Family, even maybe older than Nashville itself. Recording a cover of it, especially in this era of ICE raids and xenophobic facism, is to argue for a kind of double heartbreak – where the loss of a lover and the oppression of a culture work concurrently. I would have never thought that Sammy Arriaga was capable of this, his previous work was often vapid and derivative, but 2025’s Heart in Texas has an immediate, difficult tenderness.

If Fender’s work has hope that his lover will eventually need him in the same way that country music will need him, then Arriaga’s work is devastating because he knows that he will not be asked to be there at all. – Steacy Easton

William Beckmann, “Por Mujeres Como Tú”

Few things brought me more joy this year than videos of country crooner William Beckmann performing Pepe Aguilar’s “Por Mujeres Como Tú” at Floore’s Country Store in Helotes, Texas, in September. Beckmann was joined by Mariachi Campanas de America, a San Antonio-based group that’s been active in different iterations since 1978.

A native of Del Rio, Texas, Beckmann has made no secret of his bilingual roots – he sang Vicente Fernández’s “Volver, Volver” during his Opry debut in 2023 and included a cover of “Por Mujeres Como Tú” on his major-label debut, Whiskey Lies & Alibis, earlier this year. But this was clearly a special moment, as evidenced by the triumphant expressions on Beckmann’s and the mariachis’ faces and the sounds of the delighted crowd singing along. It offered proof of what many generations of Texans already know to be true: Mariachis make everything better. – Will Groff

Luke Bell, The King is Back

Luke Bell was a country music chameleon like no other. Western swing, country blues, classic country, outlaw, cowboy, trucker songs, and rowdy barroom country – he sounded at home in it all. Enigmatic and tough to pin down, Bell was a quintessential driving force in the Americana and independent country scene as it blossoms now. He also struggled with mental illness and substance abuse, and was found dead at 32, truncating his musical contributions.

Now, a posthumous double album, The King is Back, delivers both Bell’s ineffable joie de vivre and his remarkable songwriting in the most complete form yet. The King is Back’s 28 tracks range from bravado on “Rattlesnake Man,” “Long Gone Love,” and “Cold Stew,” to vernacular country with “Roofer’s Blues” and “Irrigator’s Blues,” and classic country weepers like “Seven and Steady” and the album’s spectacular, tragic closer, “Tiger’s Mouth.” Bell’s songwriting was often stunningly prescient. And on the album’s title track, it’s easy to imagine Bell’s just stepped back on stage with a wink and a grin: “I heard things just ain’t the same without me/ Hold your hats, the party’s on, the king is back,” he sings. This album is as close as it gets. – Meredith Lawrence

Cole Chaney, In The Shadow Of The Mountain

In 2023, as I was wrapping up an interview with music industry counselor JT Nolan about the mental health benefits of playing music, he asked, “Have you heard Cole Chaney? Go to YouTube and listen to ‘Spirit.’” When friends and family turn away, houses of worship slam-lock their doors, and society at large stigmatizes and ostracizes, the broken take refuge in the arts. Sometimes it’s complex work. Sometimes it’s the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar and a high lonesome refrain: “I want to let go, I don’t want to hurt no more, I want to let go … spirit … I’m tired of holding on …”

A lot can happen in two years. Cole Chaney grew his hair, plugged in, turned up, and released In The Shadow Of The Mountain. The result owes as much to Cobain and Cornell as it does to Doc and Merle. Chaney describes it as “a little bit of a darker album.” That’s saying something, considering the emotional outpouring that is his debut, Mercy. Settled in midway on the new release is a revisited “Spirit,” somehow even more plaintive than the OurVinyl session.

Albums like In The Shadow Of The Mountain, in all its aching beauty, are reminders that while our brokenness may never truly leave us, music is the kintsugi that helps fill its deepest cracks. – Alison Richter

Tyler Childers, Snipe Hunter

Sure, Tyler Childers’ grungy Rick Rubin-produced masterpiece, Snipe Hunter, has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the Best Contemporary Country Album, but placing the project alongside releases by fellow nominees Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini illustrates how limiting this buzzworthy category split really is. To this listener, every single fascinating song on Snipe Hunter is built upon a centuries-old foundation of country and Appalachian tradition.

While the album has certainly had a polarizing effect among those who describe themselves as Childers fans, folks “in the know” inside and outside of the region – be it central or southern Appalachia, Kentucky, the South, or rural haunts in general – found endlessly artful complications and narrations of country (and country-ness) throughout the collection. Childers’ lyrics are all at once demonstrable and fantastic, far-fetched and absolutely grounded in reality. Over the half-year since its release, I find myself returning to Snipe Hunter over and over again to delight in new discoveries and freshly raised eyebrows and first time laughs-out-loud as I find more and more whimsical magic flowing from Childers’ true country pen. You may not see yourself reflected in this EP, but to those of us who do, the sensation is joyous – and addicting. – Justin Hiltner

Madeline Edwards, FRUIT

When Madeline Edwards started turning in songs for her 2025 album, FRUIT, an “industry leader” on her team suggested she package the project as a “grief EP” – a moment of catharsis in the wake of her younger brother’s death that would not distract her from more commercially viable musical pursuits. But the grief songs kept coming and the suits lost faith.

Edwards stuck to her guns and delivered the brilliant concept album independently. The pangs of mourning ring out throughout FRUIT, but so do hard-won determination and joy. Edwards’ range as a storyteller is on marvelous display from the instantly memorable piano ballad “Just A Dream” to the wall of guitars on “American Psycho” and gospel timelessness of “Holy Fire.”

Edwards is at home among the many different shades of contemporary country, while also dipping her toes in soul, rock, indie and her very own brand of classical pop vocals. Somebody please put this multifaceted performer on a massive headlining tour ASAP so we can watch her soar to even greater heights. – Lizzie No

Sierra Hull, A Tip Toe High Wire

With the release of her latest album, A Tip Toe High Wire, Sierra Hull has broken through a new level of national and international notoriety. With a songbird voice and soothing stage presence, the mandolin virtuoso took her deep bluegrass roots and blended it with a heady helping of Americana and indie-folk stylings.

Always cognizant of her traditional bluegrass foundation, Hull continues to use that steady footing to step over musical fences and into new realms of sonic possibilities, as seen with her appearances onstage in recent years with the likes of Slash, Cory Wong, and the Allman Betts Family Revival. If anything, A Tip Toe High Wire is, in many respects, Hull finally arriving into her own space and signature sound, something she’s chased after since she was a young kid playing alongside legends like Alison Krauss, Sam Bush, and Béla Fleck. The album itself is a testament to the unlimited possibilities she possesses and radiates with such ease and pure enthusiasm.

Not to mention, Hull also took home her seventh Mandolin Player of the Year honor at this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. – Garret K. Woodward

Nicholas Jamerson, The Narrow Way

Those plugged into Kentucky’s music scene will often put Nicholas Jamerson’s songwriting on the same level as that of Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, and Sturgill Simpson. With his latest record, The Narrow Way, it’s easy to see why.

On the 12-song project, the singer’s humility shines through as he tackles topics like the bond he’s built with his partner (“One With You”), remaining hopeful in life’s dim moments (“Dark In Every Day”), not taking your time for granted (“Running Out Of Daylight”) and reflecting on moments you can’t get back (“Prater Creek”).

Further recognition of Jamerson’s prowess as a writer can be found in the feature spots littering the project, which range from its producer Rachel Baiman to Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show), Tim O’Brien, Shelby Means (Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway), and his sister, Emily Jamerson (another artist to keep your eye on). Altogether, The Narrow Way follows the same formula Jamerson has rode to success for over a decade now – serving the song above everything else – and the best part is he’s showing no signs of slowing down. – Matt Wickstrom

KIRBY

@singkirbysing Did you know Mississippi has the most food deserts in America ? A food desert is where residents have limited access to affordable healthy & nutritious food options due to a lack of grocery stores. Spread the word. #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #fypシ #fypppppppppppppp #viraltiktok #viralvideo #fypdongggggggg #singing #relatable #singer #fypage #mississippi ♬ The Man – KIRBY

I spend more time on TikTok than I’d like Good Country’s readers to know, and it seems like most country artists’ content sits on a continuum between “here’s a bonfire scene that cost two million dollars to produce” and “pardon my PJs, the label made me post this :(.”

Mississippi songwriter KIRBY, however, used short-form vertical video as a canvas for her Southern Gothic storyscapes to great effect all year, turning album promotion into an opportunity for site-specific performances. In July, KIRBY posted a lyric video for “The Man,” a song from her then-forthcoming album, Miss Black America. She sings straight to camera in front of the yellow Dollar General sign you see on every block in the hood. Her vocal winks at Ann Peebles and the caption explains the prevalence of food deserts in America.

This fall, clips of “Na$ty” created their own cultural moment on the Black Internet. You kinda had to be there, which is a lesson in itself. On KIRBY’s internet, everything is text and anything can be useful. Hair, thighs, grooves, intertextual comparisons, and accents are thick, and AAVE will not be translated. We are cordially invited to keep up. – Lizzie No

Olivia Ellen Lloyd, Do it Myself

West Virginia native, now New York-based songwriter Olivia Ellen Lloyd taps into a deeper sense of love, heartbreak, liberation, and resilience on her sophomore album, Do it Myself. The release features an all-star band with Dave Speranza on bass, Connor Parks on drums, Duncan Wickel on fiddle, James Woodall on pedal steel, Sarah Glades on percussion, and Mike Robinson as producer – as well as playing guitar and pedal steel.

Lloyd’s storytelling is vivid, emotional, and quite powerful. Listening to both this album as well as her first, it’s beautiful to watch her story unfold in sentimental songs, which have a country twang, but you can also hear influences from other genres. Whether punchy songs or soft ones, all of her music has a groove that makes you want to sing and dance along – while also giving you a space to experience your own feelings, as she does while singing. – Emma Turoff

Rob Miller, The Hours Are Long But The Pay Is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music

A question anyone who pursues a creative life will ask themselves: Why do we take a vow of poverty to put art into the world? As put forth in Bloodshot Records co-founder Rob Miller’s memoir, The Hours Are Long But The Pay Is Low, it’s because not doing it is not an option.

Chicago-based Bloodshot caught the wave of mid-1990s alternative country, releasing seminal works by Old 97s, Waco Brothers, Robbie Fulks, Sarah Shook, and more. Miller comes across as an OCD character straight out of High Fidelity, and his memories of the label’s hardscrabble early days are refreshingly unpretentious.

Bloodshot’s story wasn’t entirely positive. Its original incarnation ended badly amid disputes between Miller and his business partner (the label was ultimately purchased by Exceleration Music, which operates it now under new management). But Miller summarizes the bad-vibes part only briefly, concentrating instead on telling one man’s love story for music. It’s honestly impossible to imagine him doing anything else. And as the cherry on top, Miller dedicates the book to a pair of late friends including Dex Romweber, who he writes “left this world before he could read what his music meant to me.” – David Menconi

Kristina Murray, Little Blue

Little Blue is an understatement. Kristina Murray’s sterling third LP could convincingly have been called “Huge Bummer,” which is coincidentally the mark of a great country record.

“It’s gonna get worse, just give it time,” Murray incants on “Has Been,” a cheekily dour turn-of-phrase that just may stop you in your tracks. (Surely she means it’s gonna get better, right?) Later, on the dreamy “Fool’s Gold,” Murray tries her best at seeing beyond the proverbial grey skies, only to come up short: “It’s just more clouds,” she sighs. Such moments are appropriately slathered in pedal steel, but there’s also a swampy, rock ‘n’ roll groove to tracks like the deliciously jaded “Watchin’ the World Pass Me By” that makes the whole set go down easy. – Will Groff

Drew Parker

My introduction to Drew Parker was his 2020 single “While You’re Gone,” about missing a girl and drinking a gas station PBR while waiting for her to come back. That song had the classic hallmarks of a contemporary country breakup song. Little did I expect the curveball to come five years later.

For over a month earlier this year, Parker teased a big announcement with cryptic social messages like, “Some chapters end. Some chapters begin. This one… isn’t about me. 9•15•25.” The day came and Parker revealed in a short film testimonial that he’s felt God speaking to him, culminating in Parker’s non-religious manager calling and saying Parker should record Christian (country) music. This “moment” stuck out to me not only for the unexpected manner in which Parker revealed his decision, but because it’s obvious this isn’t a creative “phase.”

I don’t see Parker putting together a “token” record about believing and then going back to just girls, beer, and his pickup. Furthermore, Parker exudes unwavering peace about it all – whether he loses fans or faces mean-spirited judgment. There’s tangible risk to this move and there’s something to be said for Parker’s resolve and frankly, his faith in making this change. – Kira Grunenberg

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Live at the Kia Forum

Thinking back on all the great music I saw this year, the concert topping my list is one I saw at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum in February. The amazing triple bill – a solo Sam Beam, Waxahatchee, and headliner Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats – all delivered dynamic performances. But it was the unexpected parts of the concert that really made it so memorable.

During his set, Rateliff welcomed several special guests: Lucius’ lead singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith from Dawes, and Grateful Dead bassist Bob Weir. What especially impressed me, however, was how Rateliff generously let his guests take the spotlight – a gesture that conveyed his joy for making music, particularly in a “more-the-merrier” collaborative way.

The Colorado-based Rateliff and his band also made the extraordinary gesture of using the concert to raise funds for victims of Southern California’s January wildfires as well as partnering in a purchase of a mobile food pantry to assist those left homeless by the destructive fires. This night reminded me how musicians can not only create a genuine sense of community through their rousing performances, but also through their inspiring actions. – Michael Berick

Sinners (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is the horror film of 2025. It’s been hard to ignore, and for good reason. Michael B. Jordan, who plays double duty as twin outlaws Smoke and Stake, leads the cast which also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, and Thomas Pang (also known by his stage name, Yao). The film ultimately raked in $367 million in worldwide box office receipts. From its unique spin on vampires to its rootsy, blues-driven music, Sinners excels in celebrating the rich history of Black music and connects the dots between African tribal music to modern day hip-hop and R&B.

Songs like “Travelin’” (a standout moment from newcomer Miles Caton as musician hopeful Sammie) and the mind-blowing time-traveling song “I Lied to You” (paired in the movie with a visual mixing all the styles of Black-made music throughout history) mark the soundtrack as one of the year’s best releases. It’s sure to give the audience a renewed sense of Black history that’s often correlated to specific moments and eras in time. The film and its soundtrack will be talked about for decades as being a vital cinematic moment. – Bee Delores

Ringo Starr, Look Up

Way back at the beginning of 2025, Ringo Starr reminded us how different the world would look today if not for his love of American roots music. Teaming up with GRAMMY-winning producer T Bone Burnett, Starr’s country album Look Up is a love letter to the sound that drove his imagination.

Over 11 new songs written mostly by Burnett for the occasion, a classic American art form got a British Invasion makeover, with modern masters like Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Alison Krauss joining Starr’s fun. Yet, what made this project a year-end highlight was not just the tunes. It was what they represent. As Starr openly declared, his first musical love was American blues and country. Artists like Lightning Hopkins sparked a creative impulse that would ultimately help redefine pop forever. From releasing music as a self-contained band and writing their own songs, to making youth culture a dominant force, The Beatles would change the world – and who knows? With a different drummer behind the kit, maybe none of it happens. Look Up shows where Starr was coming from. – Chris Parton

Vandoliers, Life Behind Bars

Vandoliers’ fifth studio album, Life Behind Bars, is both joyous and contemplative as the raucous country-punk band dive deep into themes of gender, grief, and sobriety in equal measure. “Dead Canary” blasts eardrums with a Mariachi flavor that barrels full steam ahead, setting the stage for their most impressive record to date. Other essentials such as “Bible Belt” and “Thoughts and Prayers” take aim at the current social and cultural moment, addressing religious fanaticism and how it clouds any sense of empathy.

Songs like “You Can’t Party with the Lights On” and “Valencia,” another Mariachi-intoned moment, are just plain fun. These round out the album into a well-crafted snapshot of the group right now and where they fit into the ever-changing world. Additionally, Vandoliers have never sounded so in tune with one another, vocally and musically, opting for compelling and intricate choices that expand their style without sacrificing what’s made them so good. – Bee Delores

Kelsey Waldon, Every Ghost

As the editor for Good Country and BGS, I listen to hundreds of albums a year, but they rarely stop me in my tracks. That happens even more rarely when album creators are longtime close friends of mine. But despite having met Kentuckian singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon nearly 15 years ago and adoring all of her LP releases in that time, when Every Ghost first arrived in my email inbox earlier this year, I was floored.

In a world – and industry and genre – absolutely dripping with affectations of country music in lieu of the “real deal,” Waldon’s sixth studio album is dyed in the wool, but unconcerned with meeting those expectations or checking the boxes of trends and salability. These honky-tonking songs are infused with old-time, bluegrass, outlaw, confidence, and Prine-ian philosophizing. Waldon somehow turns introspection and identity into gritty and engaging wit and metaphor, without ever needing to obscure her messages to make them feel artistic or serious or poetic.

Even listeners like myself, who have been in Waldon’s fan club for a decade and a half or who have swapped vegetable seedlings and chicken pics with her, or who have crisscrossed her Ohio river floodplain homeland dozens of times, will learn much more about Waldon, her approach, her sonic loves, and her inner machinations as she pulls back the curtain for all of us on Every Ghost. – Justin Hiltner

Marlon Williams, Te Whare Tīwekaweka

Down here at the bottom of the globe in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu (the North and South Islands of New Zealand), 2025 has very much been the year of the Māori singer-songwriter Marlon Williams (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai).

Back in April, I interviewed Williams for a Good Country cover story to celebrate his stunning fourth solo album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka (The Messy House) and director Ursula Grace Williams’s equally affecting documentary film Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds. Since then, he’s brought his antipodean blend of country and western, folk, rock and roll, and mid-to-late 20th-century pop to audiences across the U.S., UK, Australia, and at home, culminating in taking home the coveted APRA Silver Scroll songwriting award for his single “Aua Atu Rā” in late October.

Written and sung entirely in te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, Te Whare Tīwekaweka is a masterful example of how music can use mood and emotion to cross geographic borders and linguistic barriers effortlessly. Even when we don’t speak the same language, we can still find common ground. Sometimes a sense of connection is only a song or two away. – Martyn Pepperell

Photo Credit: Tyler Childers by Sam Waxman; Kelsey Waldon courtesy of the artist; Olivia Ellen Lloyd courtesy of the artist.

Confidence Is the Hallmark of Magnolia Boulevard’s Album Debut

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

While Kentucky is the birthplace of the father of bluegrass and as a hotbed for country artists, it also has much more to offer. Proof lies with Magnolia Boulevard, who’ve been turning heads with their mix of Appalachian soul and southern rock since their formation in 2017.

Led by powerhouse vocalist Maggie Noëlle – whose voice has drawn comparisons to everyone from Susan Tedeschi and Bonnie Raitt to Grace Potter and Amy Winehouse – the Lexington-based group has experienced highs like winning the band competition at Virginia’s FloydFest, hitting the road with Blues Traveler, and earning the personal endorsement of Paul Reed Smith and PRS Guitars – not to mention Noëlle becoming a mother. However, they’ve also experienced the lowest of lows, from having some of their biggest shows to date cancelled during the COVID pandemic to the unexpected death in 2021 of their drummer and founding member, Todd Copeland, that have done everything but derail them.

But instead of crumbling under the pressure, the band – now comprised of Ryan Allen (keys), Roddy Puckett (bass), Austin Lewis (lead guitar), Brandon Johnson (drums), and Noëlle – have fought through those trials and tribulations to deliver their long-awaited debut album. The self-titled effort looks at strength and perseverance in its many forms, from leaving relationships that are no longer serving you (“On My Own”) to learning to overcome and adapt regardless of the circumstances (“Strong-Willed Women”) and forgiving Noëlle’s father for never being around (“Nomad”).

According to Noëlle, the album marks a noticeable shift in her songwriting that reflects a much more personal tone and side of herself that she’s refrained from showing fully on stage, going all the way back to her days before the band when she sang in the bluegrass outfit Moonshine District.

“It’s taken a long time, but I’m finally realizing that songwriting for me is very much therapy,” she says. “Writing things down and getting it out and releasing it is just so gratifying and feels so empowering after being scared to do so for so long.”

During a candid conversation at an indoor market on Lexington’s north side, Noëlle spoke about everything from the long road to the band’s first album. We chat about how the sudden loss of Todd Copeland rocked the band’s world, the confluence of Appalachian and Southern music that informs the band’s sound, and more.

Why was now, eight years into the band, the right time to release your debut record?

Maggie Noëlle: I’ve wanted to put out a full-length record for years and years now. A lot of why we hadn’t yet was due to the age of streaming and constantly fighting the algorithm to get our name in front of people. Because of that, we’ve focused a lot on single releases as a way to gain more traction and win the algorithm over. But we also have a good, hard-working group of guys that are 100% for the music as a collective. Playing with them just comes so naturally, which has made everything from playing to writing together a lot easier. It’s about damn time! [Laughs]

Indeed it is! Regarding the song “It’s About Damn Time,” is it a reference to that long road to bringing the album to life, or something else entirely?

Ryan and I actually started “It’s About Damn Time” when we were driving to New Orleans to play an acoustic duo set at JazzFest. The idea was to portray the feeling of waiting around for things to change but ultimately realizing it’s you who has the control to change what you want in life. Even though it wasn’t originally meant for us as a band, it’s definitely shed some light on the progression of the group. It’s about damn time we finally have a full-length album!

You’ve had a lot of turnover in the band since 2017, from members coming and going to Todd Copeland’s death in 2021. What’s it been like continuing to make music as all of that has happened around you?

First and foremost, this band was Todd Copeland’s baby. He had an idea and knew he wanted to essentially give me a platform for my voice that I’d never had before with electric music. We kind of peaked during COVID after winning FloydFest’s On The Rise band competition in 2018 and going on tour with Blues Traveler in November 2019. But soon after, the world shut down, leading to the summer being letdown after letdown as we watched all the huge festivals we had lined up get canceled.

When 2021 rolled around, we were all excited to get back into the world until Todd’s unexpected passing, which shook all of us up in a way that we didn’t even understand. Obviously we were mourning our brother and friend, but it definitely shifted a lot of our energy. We’ve dealt with some more heavy punches since then, but we’ve also overcome a lot as well. Having someone in the group now like Roddy, who was close with Todd and played with him in the band Green Genes during the ‘90s, has made everything feel very full circle.

This album will also mark the band’s first vinyl release. What are you most excited about with that?

It’s something that fans have been asking us for for a while, so we’re thrilled to finally be giving it to them. We started taking some with us to sell at shows earlier this month and have already gone through a bunch of what we ordered. At the same time, though, it bugs me that so many songs from it are already released as singles. With records, I love listening to them front to back because oftentimes the track sequencing tells a story. But with how we approached releasing this it feels like it’s stealing some of the magic even though the full album still features three tracks – “Nomad,” “Anything,” and a cover of Robinella’s “Man Over” – that won’t be unveiled prior to it coming out.

Tell me about the Robinella cover?

When I was really little my aunt and uncle took me to Bristol Rhythm & Roots and I saw her perform. I was only 11 or 12 and fell madly in love with her and have been listening to the band ever since. She has a song called “Man Over” that I’ve long covered in my solo sets that Ryan really likes, so we decided to bring it to the band and put our own spin on it.

How did you decide which songs to put out as singles and which ones you wanted to save for the full album release?

Aside from the cover, “Nomad” and “Anything” are definitely two of my favorites that we recorded for the album. The latter is one that Ryan actually co-wrote with Madelyn Baier, who I didn’t meet until after the fact. When I did I told her how much I loved the song and she told me she thought it was meant for me to sing it. When Ryan first sent it to me I remember replaying it over and over. Before long, it turned into a mantra of sorts to help me acknowledge the special people and moments in my life and not turning a blind eye on things just because shit gets hard.

“Nomad” is also a very special song. Something I’ve always struggled with in my songwriting is opening up about my personal life, mental health, and emotions. That tune is a bit of a forgiveness song for my dad, who’s never really been a presence in my life. Rather than be bitter about it, I wanted to write a song that forgives him for that absence and reflects on how good a person I’ve turned out to be despite that.

“Strong-Willed Women” is another song that appears to take on a similar tone of highlighting strength to overcome adversity. Mind telling me about it?

I initially wrote that song when I was 17 or 18 about a health scare the women in my family were dealing with. It’s a song I never really expected to throw at this band, but Ryan always liked it and even helped me rewrite the bridge portion of it. It’s one we’ve been playing since the start that I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of. Lyrically it’s very close to what you described – about a person going through something really hard and overcoming it. Strength and resiliency are both really big parts of not just this track, but of the whole album.

You just mentioned how old “Strong-Willed Women” is compared to the other songs on the record. How do you feel you’ve evolved as a songwriter since penning that song in comparison to the newer tracks it joins here?

The difference is night and day and confidence is a big reason why. Ryan has always been in my corner encouraging me and trying to light a fire under my ass. He tells me that I have good songs inside me, I just need to practice and learn to use the tool correctly. I think a lot of what held me back in the past was being afraid to let all my dirty laundry out – not that I have much to begin with anyway. It’s taken a long time, but I’m finally realizing that songwriting for me is very much therapy. Writing things down and getting it out and releasing it is just so gratifying and feels so empowering after being scared to do so for so long.

With that in mind, what does it mean to you to be celebrating the album’s release back home with your biggest fans and earliest supporters at The Burl during your second annual Soul Stuffing Friendsgiving?

Being able to finally have a full length record out is such a personal achievement for me, and to share that with the community and people that have stood with us for eight years now is the icing on the cake. There’s some people – like you – who’ve been coming to all of our local shows and then some since the very beginning that have been begging us for this moment. There’s nothing more gratifying to have this moment with them back where this journey began. We’re also just very blessed – not only in Lexington, but Kentucky in general – to have so many talented musicians and other folks that we call friends who’ve been championing us for a long time too. It all feels like we’re one big family, which will make this celebration just after Thanksgiving all the more special.

What has the process of bringing this record to life taught you about yourself?

Like I said earlier, it’s taught me to have more confidence in myself – both on and off the stage. It’s taught me that I’m capable of letting people in more than what I have in the past and that I still have so much to learn. I’m always going to be my own worst critic, but when you have so much great feedback from great musicians and engineers like Duane Lundy it’s made it easier for me to accept their praise and keep my own thoughts and criticisms to myself.

Photos courtesy of the artist.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Valerie June, Bryan Sutton, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Hear ye, hear ye! A fresh collection of new music, premieres, videos, singles, and more is here. You Gotta Hear This…

To start off, Good Country purveyors, Texan duo Briscoe, offer a brand new music video for “Free.” It’s a track from their new album inspired by lessons learned by Truett Heintzelman from his grandfather, as well as an ode to the Texas roots he shares with his grandad – and with his bandmate, Philip Lupton, too. Also bringing a newly minted video, singer-songwriter Rachael Sage and her band the Sequins celebrate love, friendships, and togetherness on “Belong To You.” The adorable music video was created by hosting an open casting call inviting participants to arrive and join in the taping with whomever they “love the most.” Sidle up to your loved ones and click play.

Bluegrass guitar great Bryan Sutton sits down with mandolinist Sierra Hull for a new rendition of an instrumental classic, “Grandfather’s Clock,” this week, too. But, this time, Hull is playing a six-string instead. Did you know she’s an equally accomplished guitar picker? Meanwhile, Sutton quite fittingly performs the tune on a guitar once owned by his own grandpa. Elsewhere, you’ll find South Carolina-based gospel bluegrass band Eighteen Mile sharing a new single below. “What Mercy Means” is an excellent example of how the long relationship between gospel and sacred music and bluegrass and old-time continues today.

Keep scrolling, though, because we have two more videos for you to enjoy. If you have young roots music fans around – or if you’re young at heart – the Okee Dokee Brothers have an adorable new animated music video for their track, “Little Old You.” Sure, the Brothers make children’s music, but this is listenable at all ages, that’s for sure. The message of the track is sweet and timely, as they put it: “…We’re [all] infinitely big in all our little ways.”

And, finally, the cosmic and (literally) magical Valerie June has a new single out this week and an accompanying visualizer you won’t want to miss. “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” is raucous, impassioned, and brash – just how we like June’s music – and demonstrates yet again how complex and inviting this indie-string-folk mastermind can be. Especially when she brings the blues and the banjo together in exciting ways like this.

There’s plenty to watch and hear, so let’s get to it! ‘Cause seriously, You Gotta Hear This.

Briscoe, “Free”

Artist: Briscoe
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Free”
Album: Heat of July
Release Date: September 19th, 2025 (album); November 14, 2025 (video)
Label: ATO Records

In Their Words: “I’ve learned a great deal of lessons from my grandfather and the life that he lived so well. He was chock full of wisdom and always keen to share that wisdom with me and my siblings. Perhaps the most important thing he taught me was the art of moderation and the joy in being content with what you have. ‘Free’ is an ode to him and the Texas roots we both share, as well as a reminder for people of all walks to savor a life lived right down the middle.” – Truett Heintzelman

Video Credit: Jackson Ingraham 

(Editor’s Note: Read our recent Good Country interview with Briscoe here.)

Valerie June, “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”

Artist: Valerie June
Hometown: Humboldt, Tennessee (now Memphis, Tennessee and New York, New York)
Song: “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”
Release Date: November 12, 2025 (single)
Label: Concord

In Their Words: “Working with producer and bassist Matt Marinelli and drummer Andy Macleod brings a wild, rambunctious twist to this old blues standard, “Rollin’ and Tumblin’.” I love taking the banjo out of its traditional comfort zone and driving it into a raw, heavy, metallic space – like someone tossing and turning through sleepless nights until they finally let go.

“Decades of digging into how the blues bleeds into every style have taught me one thing – those roots never die. Every time I twist that sound through my own work, I find new ways to grow and let those old ghosts roar again.” – Valerie June

Track Credits:
Valerie June – Vocals, banjo
Matt Marinelli – Basses, producer, engineer
Andy Macleod – Drums

Video Credits: Filmed at Magnolia Pearl in Fredericksburg, Texas by Brights and in Big Sur, California by Dr. Ietef Vita.

Eighteen Mile, “What Mercy Means”

Artist: Eighteen Mile
Hometown: Upstate South Carolina
Song: “What Mercy Means”
Release Date: November 14, 2025

In Their Words: “I’ve always been intrigued by the mental picture of Moses climbing up Mount Sinai to meet God in Exodus 34.The Bible paints a picture that the mountain was dark and terrifying and it even describes earthquakes and thunder, all because the holy presence of God was there. I wrote this song to capture the divine tension of a powerful holy God meeting an unholy man. The song then relates the Bible story to my personal story, that even though I deserve the punishment that comes from being a sinner before a holy God, he surprises me with overflowing mercy every morning instead.” – Carson Aaron

Track Credits:
Hallie Ritter – Upright bass
Carson Aaron – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal, songwriter
Emily Guy – Harmony vocal
Jack Ritter – Banjo, harmony vocal
Savannah Aaron – Fiddle
Andy Leftwich – Mandolin, mandola, acoustic guitar
Steve Pettit – Mandolin

The Okee Dokee Brothers, “Little Old You”

Artist: The Okee Dokee Brothers
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Little Old You”
Album: Little Old You
Release Date: November 11, 2025 (video); November 7, 2025 (album)
Label: Okee Dokee Music

In Their Word: “This tune is a special one for us. It reminds us that we’re infinitely big in all our little ways. Even our tiniest feelings ripple like oceans, our dreams comfort the night, and our smiles can light the way for others.” – Justin Lansing

“It’s a gentle anthem to our place in the cosmos – showing that our smallest actions have big effects. We are silly and wise, young and old, and infinitely big in all our little ways.” – Joe Mailander

Track Credits:
Justin Lansing – Vocals, guitar
Joe Mailander – Vocals, guitar
Dean Jones – Organ

Video Credits: Directed by Jack Carr.
Art Directed by Zachariah Ohora.
Animated by Tom Jolliffe & David Jenkins.

Rachael Sage & The Sequins, “Belong to You”

Artist: Rachael Sage & The Sequins
Hometown: Hudson Valley, New York
Song: “Belong To You”
Album: Canopy
Release Date: November 14, 2025
Label: MPress Records

In Their Words: “‘Belong To You’ is the first song I’ve intentionally composed as a gospel ballad. It meant the world to me that many of The Sequins ended up singing on the arrangement, rather than me performing all the harmonies myself (as has often been the case). Kevin J. Killen’s soulful Hammond organ and guitar playing and Will Wilde’s incredible blues harmonica add so much; Dave Eggar’s cello performance keeps everything grounded so beautifully.We all genuinely feel so much love and devotion for one another, so the vibe that was captured via our friendships really mirrors the lyrics and adds so many beautiful layers of emotion.

“Because it’s one of the more universal songs on the record, it’s been really magical to perform it live, and have audience members at the gigs share their individual interpretations of it with us. Trina Hamlin, who also sings on the track, has been singing it with me live lately and it makes it very easy to sing about unconditional love and friendship when one of your best friends is harmonizing with you!” – Rachael Sage

Track Credits:
Rachael Sage – Lead vocals, background vocals, piano
Doug Yowell – Drums
Dave Eggar – Cello
Kerry Brooks – Upright bass
Will Wilde – Harmonica
Kevin J. Killen – Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Hammond B3 organ, background vocals
Trina Hamlin – Background vocals
Mikhail Pivovarov – Background vocals

Video Credits: Jenny He – Director, producer
Shadow Play Pictures, LLC. – Production company
MPress Records – Executive producer

Bryan Sutton, “Grandfather’s Clock” (with Sierra Hull)

Artist: Bryan Sutton with Sierra Hull
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Grandfather’s Clock”
Album: From Roots to Branches
Release Date: November 14, 2025 (single)
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “I’m so happy to have Sierra Hull on this record. We chose the song, ‘Grandfather’s Clock,’ just because it’s a classic, beautiful melody. A lot of people know what a great mandolin player Sierra is, but I’ve always known what a great guitar player she is. This song meant a lot to us and, in fact, I’m playing my grandfather’s old Martin 0-17 guitar on this track.” – Bryan Sutton

“Bryan is one of my favorite musicians in the world to listen to and make music with. He knows how to elevate any musical situation he enters. Whether he is supporting a simple melody with pure tone and restraint or providing a wave of rhythmic brilliance and musical playfulness to ride along with, he always knows how to make things feel and sound easy. He’s one of my biggest heroes, so I’m both honored and thrilled to get to be a part of this new duets project with him!” – Sierra Hull

Track Credits:
Bryan Sutton – Acoustic guitar
Sierra Hull – Acoustic guitar

Photo Credit: Valerie June by Dr. Ietef Vita Photography; Bryan Sutton courtesy of the artist.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Brit Taylor, Benson, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

We’re back with another excellent edition of our weekly roundup of new music, fresh videos, and sneak previews of tracks to yet to come.

Bluegrass power couple Benson – Wayne Benson and Kristin Scott Benson – call on Zack Arnold of Rhonda Vincent & the Rage for their new single, “Bully of the Town,” which drops today. You may recognize the track, which is usually performed as an instrumental, but its unique chord progression shines with Arnold’s vocal as the somewhat unexpected cherry on top. Also in a bluegrass space – bluegrass saxophone, of course – Eddie Barbash continues his mini-series with us of classic bluegrass and old-time fiddle tunes rendered superlatively, as only he could, on sax. This time, we’re sharing his new performance video of “Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase,” shot at Larkspur Conservation in Westmoreland, Tennessee. We can’t get enough solo saxophone fiddle tunes!

From the bottom of the globe, progressive New Zealand string band You, Me, Everybody returns to the pages of BGS with a new music video. “The Rest of Us” is a contemplative, introspective song set to sparkling newgrass that’s about leadership, abandonment, and rising above – if you can. From country, our friend Brit Taylor also debuts a new music video this week for “All For Sale,” her most recent single that released just last month. The new video, which only features a short cameo by Taylor, a new momma, is a fun-fueled yard sale spurred by heartbreak and readiness for a blank, clean slate.

To round out our collection this week, legendary blues master Robert Finley is celebrating a brand new album via Easy Eye Sound today, so of course we’re highlighting a track from Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya to mark the special day. “Can’t Take My Joy” is an infectious song with a perennial message that Finley holds at the core of his values system – you really can’t steal his joy. And, with music like this in our weekly roundup, you won’t be taking our joy, either!

It’s all right here on BGS and, just like every week before this one, You Gotta Hear This.

Eddie Barbash, “Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase”

Artist: Eddie Barbash
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase”
Album: Larkspur
Release Date: November 28, 2025 (The album will be released one song at a time with the last track coming out Nov. 28.)

In Their Words: “This song was recorded during a spring sun shower on the porch swing at Larkspur Conservation’s cabin headquarters. A barn swallow was nesting in the rafters just over my head and I was inspired by all of the bird songs around me to improvise this introduction.

“I learned the tune late one night from Ric Robertson after a party/concert in his Washington Heights apartment in NYC. I believe he learned it from Nate Leath and my version is also inspired by his recording. I decided to slow it down a bit and give it a lazier, swingier feel that just feels so good to play on the saxophone.” – Eddie Barbash

Video Credits: Shot and edited by Jeremy Stanley. 

(Editor’s Note: Watch the first video in our mini-series with Eddie Barbash here.)

Benson, “Bully of the Town”

Artist: Benson
Hometown: Boiling Springs, South Carolina
Song: “Bully of the Town”
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “I’ve always loved to play this song and didn’t even know it had lyrics for years. The chord progression is just different enough to make it work either way.” – Wayne Benson

“‘Bully of the Town’ is a good example of a song that wasn’t originally a part of the bluegrass genre, but is versatile enough that you can play it many different ways and it sounds like it belonged there all along. Wayne and I are pickers first and this arrangement is really built around being able to play around this fun chord progression, but the vocals are the icing on the cake, because prior to this cut, people typically played it as an instrumental. A lot of people don’t even know it has words, so adding vocals differentiates it and we got a young gun to sing it! Zack Arnold, from Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, did such a great job. He delivers it with a lot of energy, power, and a spirit that accompanies youthful musicianship. He really added excitement to an already-grooving track.” – Kristin Scott Benson

Track Credits:
Wayne Benson – Mandolin
Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo
Cody Kilby – Acoustic guitar
Kevin McKinnon – Bass
Zack Arnold – Lead Vocal

Robert Finley, “Can’t Take My Joy”

Artist: Robert Finley
Hometown: Bernice, Louisiana
Song: “Can’t Take My Joy”
Album: Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Label: Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “There’s an old saying that I used to hear folks say, ‘There’s joy in the world, can’t take it away.’ Joy is something that can’t be measured by man and can’t be controlled by man. That’s why I say, ‘You can’t take my joy.’ You can take everything else, but you can’t take that. You can take my freedom and I can still be happy. Though there are problems, there is still a way to look beyond the faults and accept the good things in life. Joy is something that no man has the power to give and no man has the power to take away.” – Robert Finley

Brit Taylor, “All For Sale”

Artist: Brit Taylor
Hometown: Hindman, Kentucky
Song: “All For Sale”
Release Date: September 5, 2025 (song); October 9, 2025 (video)
Label: RidgeTone Records/Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “We wrote this song like a script. There’s so much imagery in the song that it just seemed natural for the video to follow the lyrics. I decided only to make a quick cameo in the video and let my friends be the stars of the show! While it seems counterintuitive to what the rest of the industry is currently doing, it felt right to me. After all, the song isn’t about me, it’s about a story that wants to be told. And, honestly, my friends should probably move to Hollywood, because they really nailed their parts!” – Brit Taylor

Video Credits:
Robert Chavers – Producer, director, cinematographer
Steve Voss – Director
Solar Cabin – Production company

You, Me, Everybody, “The Rest Of Us”

Artist: You, Me, Everybody
Hometown: Ngāruawāhia, New Zealand
Song: “The Rest of Us”
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Label: Southern Sky Records

In Their Words: “I woke up with the melody and the lyric in the chorus, ‘If you’re the one who’s going to give up, what are the rest of us doing here tonight?’ And as much as the melody kept hooking me in, it took a while to find an angle for a song that could only really be about leadership. Even though it’s from the perspective of the people who are left when a leader abandons them, I was writing this with an awareness of how I felt I was letting people down at a time when I wasn’t following through on a commitment I had made. That’s why it’s less about blame and more about the heartbreak of watching someone lose faith in something they’d once worked so hard for.” – Kim Bonnington

Video Credits: Produced and edited by Kim Bonnington. Filmed by Ethan Bryant.

Photo Credit: Brit Taylor by Sammy Hearn; Benson by Sandlin Gaither.

BGS 5+5: SAVNT of Ghost Hounds

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: SAVNT (lead singer of Ghost Hounds)
Hometown: Englewood, New Jersey
Latest Album: Almost Home (released by Ghost Hounds in March 2025)
Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): Sav

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory from being on stage was back in 2018. A close friend of mine, Mitchell Lee, asked me to help him close his show at Music Farm in Charleston, South Carolina. I sang a song which we now know as “You’ll Never Find Me,” on our album Almost Home. By the time I got to the second chorus of the song, people were vibing so much that they were singing the chorus back to me. To witness a song no one had heard before make such an impact – that will forever be one of my favorite memories.

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

Water is the element in nature I connect to the most. When I start writing a song, I am either walking in the rain, washing dishes, taking a shower, or standing by a body of water, and that’s when inspiration comes to me the most.

What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?

Stepping into this new space as the lead singer of Ghost Hounds has been the most difficult yet rewarding creative transformation I’ve ever undertaken. As a solo artist you are often told to pick one lane, stick to it, and simplify your words so people can understand you; that doesn’t really work for someone like me, who is not only inspired by many genres of music and appreciates great storytelling.

With Ghost Hounds, I get to move wherever inspiration takes me. I get to explore my love of soul, folk, rock, blues, and country without apology. After coming from a world that was so restrictive, this type of freedom can be scary and you may feel like you are out of place. But with the support of my bandmates I realize the more authentic I am, the more real the music feels – in a world that teaches us to hide our emotions, this music thrives when you expose them.

What is the most random interview question you’ve ever been asked?

The most random question I’ve been asked was, “Is cereal a soup and is a hot dog a sandwich?”

If you were a color, what shade would you be – and why?

If I was a color I would be a shade of electric blue – the color of Iron Man’s heart piece. It reminds me of lightning and, for whatever reason, it makes me feel extremely powerful, like a storm.

Lead Image: Ghost Hounds by Allister Ann. Alternate image: SAVNT by Sergio Colon.

BGS 5+5: Diane King

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Diane King
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (grew up in Beverly, Ohio)
Latest Album: SKY (releasing September 19, 2025)
Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): D-Music

Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?

I actually have five or six artists who have had a big influence on my songwriting and artistry. But, to pick one: it’s Olivia Newton-John. I heard her song, “Let Me Be There,” on our country radio station in southeastern Ohio when I was around 8 years old. I remember it vividly. We had just pulled into the grocery store parking lot as the song began to play. I asked my mom if we could listen to it before going into the store. She happily obliged and, at the end of the song, the DJ said, “That’s Olivia Newton-John,” and my life was changed.

Specifically speaking to her musical talents, the two things I love most are her beautiful voice and her flawless harmonies. I love vocal harmony and her albums are full of them! But, Livy is so much more to me than a singer or musical artist. In addition to loving her angelic voice, I love her kindness and gentle spirit. And, frankly, she was a light for me. As a young girl, I watched her career and accomplishments and I knew there was something outside of the hills where I was growing up.

Here’s an interesting story. When I was working with Harlan Howard we were going to lunch one day and he asked me who I received my “calling” through. I remember just looking at him and pausing, because I hadn’t known anyone before who understood that, receiving your calling to music through another artist. I knew exactly what he meant. After pausing, I said, “Olivia Newton-John,” and in my mind I reflected back on that day in the car at 8 years old, listening to “Let Me Be There.” Harlan nodded and said, “Yep! I met her once; she was a sweetheart and a great singer!” He proceeded to tell me he received his calling through Ernest Tubb over the radio listening to the Opry in a barn loft in Michigan. It was a moment, for someone to fully understand how another artist can have such profound meaning in your life. That person for me is Olivia Newton-John.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory is going to be when I stand in the circle of the Grand Ole Opry to sing my songs on the live show for the first time!

What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?

I had a five-year battle with and recovery from lymphoma. I had a significant amount of trauma to my neck and throat with multiple procedures and surgeries in that area. Once I finally turned the corner on that cancer battle and the healing began, my voice performed differently. That has been and still is a big adjustment for me. Singing is certainly not as easy as it used to be “BC” (before cancer, as I call it), but I keep at it! I’m so grateful to be writing, singing, and recording again!

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

These are some songs that will likely surprise you that stop me in my tracks when I hear them. When they’re playing, I have to stop whatever I’m doing and just listen and be in the song. I can’t function in any other way.

“Uptown Funk” – Bruno Mars
“Nessun Dorma” – Aretha Franklin
“Dancing Queen” – ABBA
“Play That Funky Music White Boy” – Wild Cherry
“Shake It Off” – Taylor Swift
“Shoop Shoop” – Whitney Houston
“Simply the Best” – Tina Turner
“Addicted to Love” – Robert Palmer
“Deborah’s Theme” – Chris Botti

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

I so love this question! I can’t even tell you how many times my co-producer, Stephan Oberhoff, and I would use food metaphors to communicate with each other what we wanted to hear when recording a song. Such as me saying, “Stephan, it needs to sound more lush, like a creamy, rich alfredo sauce with a subtle hint of salt.” Or, “Can you make it sound warmer – it needs a dash of nutmeg.” So, yes, I agree that food and music go well together, in many ways! To answer your question: Dolly Parton and fried chicken (with some spice) and waffles with real maple syrup, a side of mashed potatoes with butter, sweet iced tea, and a piece of homemade apple pie a la mode!

Photo Credit: Misti Fahr

Bluegrass Gospel,
Arena-Style

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

This feature ought to start with a laundry list of our subject’s accomplishments, but rootsy country hitmaker Dierks Bentley’s résumé and inventory of accolades, awards, and trophies would be far too long to include. After 30+ years in Nashville, Bentley has more than made it and his particular brand of country – down-to-earth approachability, bro-ey (while remarkably non-toxic) good-time vibes, honeyed crackling vocals, an unwavering sense of humor, and fierce love for bluegrass virtuosity – has now gained such a strong gravitational pull, it continues to shift Music Row. (For the better, of course.)

In June, Bentley released his eleventh studio album, Broken Branches, and launched an eponymous continent-spanning tour with everybody’s favorite, fellow trad country lover Zach Top, and swampgrass North Georgia duo the Band Loula in tow. Broken Branches features guests like Miranda Lambert, Riley Green, John Anderson, and more and – like all of the albums in his expansive Dierkscography – quite a few string band- and bluegrass-inspired moments, as well.

The Broken Branches Tour, which has been clipped and shared thousands and thousands of times on social media over the past several weeks, includes many hits, striking sets and theatrical tech, cameos from the infamous Hot Country Knights, and, yes, plenty of bluegrass. On the set list, Bentley and Top duet on an incredible “Freeborn Man” – we’re leaving out spoilers here so you can catch the tour’s scant remaining dates yourself and still be delighted. Bentley also performs the title track from his hit bluegrass album, 2010’s Up On The Ridge, and Logan Simmons and Malachi Mills of The Band Loula join him elsewhere in the set for a delicious bit of church.

@thebandloula the broken branches tour is in fulll effectttt 🥹🤧 y’all come see us with @dierksbentley and @Zach Top ♬ original sound – The Band Loula

Singing a Bill Monroe bluegrass gospel number in tight, intricate three-part harmony may seem like an odd choice for a big mainstream country arena show, but longtime fans and listeners of Bentley will know this is no aberration. This is the norm. Whatever the sonics of his music, from the most poppy and radio-ready country to the more Americana-coded to straight-ahead bluegrass, classic rock, and New Orleans grooves (and back again), Bentley brings bluegrass with him everywhere he goes. He brings its pickers, legends, and unsung heroes, too, uplifting them for all to enjoy.

When Mills, Simmons, and Bentley step to the center stage of an enormous auditorium or amphitheater to sing “Get Down On Your Knees and Pray,” depicted behind them on towering LED screens is a little log cabin dive bar with a neon cross steeple and a flickering “open” sign. As they lead the audience in the stark, convicting, hair-raising number – with grit and heart and endless spirit – you realize, yes, this is church. This is gospel. This is country and bluegrass, front porch music and arena music. This is Saturday night and this is Sunday morning.

It’s hard to imagine all of these intricate roots music details not only being palpable in a show of this scale, but they’re also measured, vulnerable, and intimate – traits not known as hallmarks of either country or bluegrass. It’s here that we find exactly the conglomeration of reasons why Bentley retains such widespread appeal and adoration from fans of all entry points. While neither he nor any other artist is universally loved, Dierks Bentley accomplishes being the modern country “everyman” not by diluting himself and his personality beyond recognition, but by purposefully, creatively, hilariously – and spiritually! – putting all of himself on the line in his music.

Before the Broken Branches tour launched earlier this summer, Good Country sat down backstage with Dierks Bentley and the Band Loula during a break from tour rehearsals, after the trio had just run through “Get Down On Your Knees and Pray.” We spoke about what bluegrass means in a country context, the appeal of gospel to folks of any (or no) faith, tent revivals and camp meetings, the joys and vulnerabilities of singing harmony, and much more.

Obviously, Dierks, across your entire career you’ve had a relationship with bluegrass. And not just Up On The Ridge, which we just heard you rehearse a bit of for the Broken Branches Tour. You’ve got records and posters on the wall at the Station Inn here in Nashville, you namecheck Keith Whitley on the new album. You’ve worked with the McCourys over and over, Charlie Worsham, an excellent bluegrass picker, is in your band. There are so many more bluegrass touchpoints. Your bluegrassy CMA Awards show appearance last year was very popular with our audience.

And for y’all, the Band Loula, you call yourself “swampgrass.” The harmonies clearly have the grit and the gospel of bluegrass and the timbre of how your voices blend together reminds me of bluegrass.

It might be an obvious question to ask, but I figured we could go around the circle here and get each of your takes on what does the genre mean to you? What’s your relationship with bluegrass? What does bluegrass mean to you in the constellation of country music that you make now?

Dierks Bentley: When I think about bluegrass, obviously it’s the music and all that, but really it’s just people with acoustic instruments gathering to play and sing together. I never really did a lot of stints on my own, solo. Probably I’m not good enough, but bar gigs where I was just doing cover songs never really interested me. I always liked being in a band. I love the way this instrument talks to that instrument, this voice talks to that voice, and this voice gets added and– “Whoa!”

Like the Osborne Brothers, they’re switching harmonies. Sonny is singing the high tenor, then the next thing you know, he is on like a low baritone part. The voices, the way they move around. That’s the main thing, that’s what drew me in when I walked into the Station. And there were guys my age. I always thought bluegrass was kinda like Hee Haw stuff. I walked in and I was like, “Oh my God, there’s guys my age.”

It was about just playing songs together. And they were doing a lot of Merle Haggard songs, George Jones songs mixed in. Johnny Cash songs mixed in with Stanley Brothers, the Osborne Brothers, and all that too. So it was just, “Wow.”

It’s more about the community of people congregating through and with their instruments. And using those to have fun – and drinks as well. [Laughs] Lotsa drinks, a lot of moonshine back then. The real stuff! No label on it.

Not 30 proof. [Laughs]

DB: That’s what it means to me and that’s what I hear in [The Band Loula’s] music, a lot of, if you want to call it, “front porch” picking music. Picking their roots – you know, deep, Southern gospel-y kind of roots, the mixing of that, and those voices together.

That’s what bluegrass has always been to me. It’s about the community as much as it is about the instrumentation and the bands. It’s the great community of people.

(L to R): Logan Simmons and Malachi Mills (of the Band Loula) confer with Dierks Bentley during rehearsals for the Broken Branches Tour. Photo by Zach Belcher.

Logan Simmons: I’ll say something that comes top of mind for me. I spent my whole life going to tent revivals. It’s not just, “I go and it’s summer camp, ’cause somebody made me.” It’s like the pinnacle of who I am.

I really believe that it’s the pillar of my family. We go for about 10 to 15 days every year. It’s beside my nanny’s house, and all it is, red-back hymns and bluegrass. The service happens every night and you go for about an hour and a half before service starts, before preaching starts, to hear bluegrass, gospel bands.

That’s how I learned harmonies, hearing all my godmothers and aunts sing the wrong ones around me. [Laughs] And you’ll hear somebody over there, Linda’s like [sings operatically and off-tune] and she’s not on it at all. But I was at least learning something and I feel like with my roots in general, it already infused that bluegrass sound into my life.

Then when Malachi and I became friends and started making music together. He has a lot of Motown roots. I think, blended together, the blues and bluegrass just made something beautiful. And, on top of that, the family harmony we have together. We’ve been friends forever, half our lives.

Malachi Mills: It all comes back to blues, yeah. And just like you said, that cross-pollination of the different genres. North Georgia is like the southern point of Appalachia. Like she said, it really influences the music we make by our harmonies. That’s the biggest thing we take from it. I love bluegrass music, but I’m not like a bluegrass buff. I would lose at bluegrass trivia. [Laughs] But it’s just in our bones and in the harmonies that she was talking about. Growing up in church and everything influences the way that we sing together and the notes that we pick whenever we’re singing harmonies. One of the biggest things that I love about bluegrass is the rhythm and pocket. And the intonation of the instruments. Bluegrass players choose to be intentional about [all of] it, the pocket, the timing, the tuning. It’s all so dead on. The details matter when you’re making records.

Dierks Bentley and band give Good Country and members of the media an exclusive sneak peek at their Broken Branches Tour set at rehearsals in May 2025 in Nashville. Photo by Zach Belcher.

I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s striking that y’all have this bluegrass song as part of this big, arena-sized stage show. Because for me, translating those details in such a big space and in such a broad format could be really hard.

Then I hear and see y’all singing in three parts with a neon cross behind you and suddenly yes, this is church. This is what it is. Any close-singing harmony vocals are great, but when it really sounds like bluegrass to me is when you can hear the reeds of your voices match up when you’re harmonizing. That was a really beautiful moment.

Could you talk a little bit about capturing those details for a big audience in big rooms like this – or even outside, in amphitheaters. How do you take a Bill Monroe gospel song and translate it to that space?

DB: Well, there’s “Bluegrass” Ben Helson out there walking the hallways. Ben and a couple other guys in the band have played with Ricky Skaggs. Ben played with Ricky and Tim [Sergent] still plays with Ricky. I always say, if you can graduate from the Ricky Skaggs school of bluegrass and country music, you’re probably a pretty good musician. He also played with Rhonda Vincent.

I’m a big Del McCoury fan. They did [“Get Down on Your Knees and Pray”] and Del has such a cool version of it. We were just kinda thinking of songs to do with these guys that would be great using their voices. Like [they] said, they’re the blues and bluegrass. I’m still trying to figure out their sound. It’s such a unique mixture; it’s so Americana in the way that in this country we have this melting pot of stuff. We thought it would be cool to do a little three-part thing, so that one came up.

Marty Stuart also did a really cool version of that song. But Ben [Helson], our guitar player really came up with that [arrangement], leaning into the swampy stuff they do. Gave it that feel, a little Southern – I don’t know what the vibe is there, but that telecaster is playing and it just has a cool kind of dirty, bluesy vibe to it. Then working up the harmonies, there’s just something about hearing a cappella bands.

I remember seeing Billy Strings at a bluegrass festival years ago and the band all stopped – no one knew who he was back then. Bryan Sutton had told me who he was, so I was where he was. He played like a Thursday set in the middle of the day. They had just done three songs and then they stopped and did a four-part harmony thing. There’s just something about it that’s so powerful. It goes straight to your soul.

The oldest version of entertainment there was was probably harmonizing. Finding people, seeing how your voices sound together, it’s a weird, cool thing. Singers talk about it all the time, in any genre of music about how seeing how we sound together is an intimate thing.

It’s vulnerable and it’s immediately establishing that community that you’re talking about. “We may not be a band, but now we’re a thing.”

DB: I feel like I blend well with anybody, because I’m like the condition. I sing it pretty straight here and allow the people around me to really do their stuff. I’m just gonna hold the line. There’s like nothing special about my voice, but it’s good to blend with ’cause other people have these amazing voices. They can do a lot of movement and a lot of great vibrato. I’m like the dumbest Del McCoury School of Bluegrass [student], just find that note and put everything into it. [Laughs]

Not to mention, introducing people to bluegrass as well – I love that. You have a chance to be a bridge to your heroes and that is always fun. People have been that to me, Marty Stuart probably the biggest. You get into Marty Stuart’s music and you find out who he likes, and then, whoa! He brings you back there. So [I hope] this turns somebody onto Bill Monroe. That’s pretty cool.

Dierks Bentley has a quiet moment on stage during rehearsals for the Broken Branches Tour. Photo by Zach Belcher.

Country – a lot like blues, R&B, and the early days of rock and roll – it has this often tempestuous and inspiring relationship between the fun of Saturday night and the conviction of Sunday morning. So seeing y’all sing that song in front of the depiction of a church as a dive bar, complete with a neon cross and a flickering “open” sign – to me that’s “a little bit holy water, a little bit Burning Man” epitomized. You guys are embodying that relationship between the sacred and the secular here. And that duality is all over your new album, too, Dierks.

MM: I’ll say, I think that one of the biggest things that contributes to that is the goosebump, hair-standing-up-on-your-arm feeling. It’s knowing that you have a part in something and whenever you sing and play bluegrass music together, you have to give way to one another on stage. So it’s the whole stage saying we’re doing this very intentionally in unity, in harmony.

And everybody in the crowd, whether they know that or not, they feel it. That’s what I think people feel. Even if you’re not a believer and maybe the message that’s being said [doesn’t apply], but you still resonate with serving each other. With being present, which is a strong energy. I think that’s what makes me excited about playing this song. I don’t know what’s gonna happen emotionally for me whenever that moment happens, ’cause it’s gonna be so much of that unified energy.

DB: Unified energy is a good way of putting it. It’s unified and it really is energy.

We’re pretty involved with the church. I have an older daughter who’s involved in the church and another middle daughter who doesn’t believe it like I did. But there’s something divine that you just can’t ignore, whether you believe it or not – just look at a sunset, look at a flower, look at a fish, look at so much unnecessary beauty in the world. There’s just some energy that exists and you can’t deny it when you sing a song like this. It just taps [something] on anybody. Recognizing how small you are in this world and the power of whatever version of prayer you do.

LS: I liked how you said it joins secular and holy together and that actually made me think of the tent revival, as well. I think growing up in Appalachia, like Malachi said – I wish I could just teleport you there so you could experience!

DB: That would be cool, a tent revival – I can’t even imagine.

I haven’t been to a camp meeting or revival in so long!

LS: Everybody’s invited to camp meeting. I don’t know if you’d love it. Our tent – I say tent, it’s like a shack on a square, it’s like a big square, four sides. So we’ll say, “Are you on the upper line or the lower line?” We’re on the upper line, which is not a good thing. It’s like you think upper line is like uppity people or something, but it’s not. Our shack is the oldest and [most] untouched of the whole campground. It was built in 1846.

DB: Wow!

LS: So there’s holes in the roof and like, my bunk bed, I get water drops on my head if it rains. There’s hay floors, there’s no air, and there’s a lot of us, so it’s all packed in there. But camp meeting is where I learned my first Bible verses and where I smoked my first joint. [Laughs] So it all marries together how you said, like holy and secular at the same time. I think of that picture of going to the gospel tent revival, going to camp meeting, singing those red-back hymns, doing all those things – but then also learning the grit of growing up.

I just loved when you said joining those things together, because that was such a representation of my upbringing. Yeah, it’s a little bit holy water, a little bit Burning Man. It’s definitely Saturday nights and Sunday mornings – and the tent revival is where I feel like those two worlds are so evident.

Dierks, in all you’ve done across your career there are all these bluegrass moments. The country that you “grow,” it’s mainstream, it’s radio-ready, but it’s like there’s bluegrass in the “soil” you grow it in, so you can always taste bluegrass in everything you do. Like on the new record, “Never You” with Miranda Lambert feels that way and “For As Long As I Can Remember”–

DB: There’s a little “Circles Around Me” by Sam Bush [reference] there at the top of that song.

Oh my gosh, yeah! Exactly what I’m talking about.

You said a little bit earlier turning people onto your heroes always feels great, but for you, from your own perspective being that guy that used to just hang out at the Station Inn and now being the Dierks Bentley and going on tour in sheds and arenas and amphitheaters… Why do you keep bluegrass with you?

Dierks Bentley: It is selfish in a lot of ways. I have such a great band and I just take so much joy watching them do cool stuff that I can’t do. It’s like our guitar player, Ben, he’s just an unbelievable flat picker. Charlie Worsham’s in our band and Charlie won the CMA Musician of the Year. He is just an incredible musician. Dan [Hochhalter] is an incredible fiddle player. Tim is so underutilized. Our steel guitar player – who plays banjo and everything else – he’s one of the best singers to me. Hearing him is like hearing Merle Haggard. He sings like nobody else, but he’s also so underutilized. And Steve’s been playing with me since 1999.

It’s just a great group and we love bluegrass music, featuring that, and having the music part of the show. I like being in a band setting, so just getting to be around it and hear these instruments swirling around me playing, I think it’s just cool.

I got a chance to play ROMP Festival last year and I feel lucky to be friends with guys like Jerry Douglas and Sierra Hull and have them come up on stage and play with us. I still think bluegrass music is the punk rock of country. It’s just the coolest genre of music there is.

It’s gotta be centering or grounding to a certain degree just to have that as something you can go back to, to feed yourself and fill yourself back up even while you’re touring.

DB: Absolutely. In the show we go from playing Tony Rice to John Michael Montgomery. We play bluegrass with the Hot Country Knights with costumes on. It’s just it’s all very selfish! It’s like, “How can I have a lot of fun in the next 90 minutes?”

I wanna do our radio country. I want people singing songs back, because that’s a great feeling. I want to get a little bluegrass in there. Just see if we get away with that. Then, can we try to get canceled on the way out? [Laughs] I dunno. It’s really fun for me. And having these guys [out with us] and getting to harmonize with them, it’s gonna be really fun. Check back in a few months, see how it turned out.

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All photos by Zach Belcher.