Boston Archives - Page 7 of 8 - The Bluegrass Situation

LISTEN: The Ballroom Thieves, “Homme Run”

Posted on January 24, 2020January 27, 2020 by Editor

Artist: The Ballroom Thieves
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Homme Run”
Album: Unlovely
Release Date: February 14, 2020 (album)
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “How do you put words to how powerful women are? How do you hinder what they learn, if they read, who they can become, or what they do with the organs in their bodies? When a piece of the population’s voices are quieted there can be no conversation about how to guide society. As the avalanche of our man’s world finally finishes its incredibly destructive crumble downward, we can see that this issue is devastatingly simple. Any words used to govern a person must be said by a relatable ally, or the rules are empty and harmful.

“We can’t earn equality in this world for men, we have to make it ourselves. Women are the creators and sustainers of human life. We’ll use the power of our voices not to control others, but to liberate ourselves to create and sustain humankind more effectively. This is everybody’s world now.” — Calin Peters, The Ballroom Thieves

Photo credit: Anthony Mulcahy

WATCH: Twisted Pine, “Papaya”

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Editor

Artist: Twisted Pine
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Papaya”
Release Date: July 10, 2020 (album)
Label: Signature Sounds

In Their Words: “We call this Americana funk. Chris [Sartori, bass & vocals] was playing this groove in NYC one time during a sound check, and then later at a gig in California when the chorus melody came flying out of me. We decided the song would be about a papaya. We figured, ‘Everybody loves a good fruit song, right?’ The song’s about the chase for someone, the wait. The idea that they won’t give into the fact that you two are a natural fit.

“I wasn’t really writing about love. You know how when you’re waiting for an avocado, you just want to eat it right now, but it’s not ready? That annoyed feeling, the fear of someone else getting to it first. Another day and this thing isn’t ready?! By the time it’s ripe, it’s already gone or you have to toss it out. It’s about a fruit relationship and the perfect timing for love. Don’t tell anybody, but I’ve never had a papaya. We’re putting it on the rider. I just hope I’m not allergic.” — Kathleen Parks, fiddle and vocals, Twisted Pine

Photo credit: Joanna Chattman

LISTEN: Grain Thief, “Pedal Down”

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Editor

Artist: Grain Thief
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Pedal Down”
Release Date: January 17, 2020

In Their Words: “There is no substitute for a group of musicians standing together in a room, facing each other, and feeling each other’s playing. It’s how we rehearse, how we jam, how we play in picking circles, and how we experience music authentically. Often, in modern recording we separate musicians in order to pursue that ‘perfect take’ — but you sacrifice the magic. In building this tune and thinking about our next record, we decided we care more about that magic.” — Mike Harmon

Photo credit: Andy Gagne Photography

WATCH: Mile Twelve, “Whiskey Trail”

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Mile Twelve
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Single: “Whiskey Trail”
Release Date: November 15, 2019
Label: Delores the Taurus Records

In Their Words: “Our bass player Nate brought this energetic Los Lobos song to the band nearly a year ago, and it has slowly but surely become one of our favorites to perform. Even though originally imagined for electric instruments, we think the bluegrass outfit suits the music well. Now we’re excited to be releasing this song as a studio single! To celebrate the premiere we made this live video of our arrangement performed at the Fox Bar & Cocktail Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee, and filmed by the amazing Alex Chaloff. What better place to film a song about hard liquor than this, right?” — David Benedict, Mile Twelve

Photo credit: Kaitlyn Raitz

LISTEN: Chadwick Stokes & the Pintos, “Sand From San Francisco”

Posted on November 12, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Sand From San Francisco”
Album: Chadwick Stokes & The Pintos
Release Date: November 15, 2019
Label: Ruff Shod Records/Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “’Sand From San Francisco’ is about a dejected man leaving San Francisco without his love circa 1964. It was recorded in Boston at Zippah Studios with a Nashville tuned guitar like the one Keith Richards plays on ‘Angie.'” — Chadwick Stokes

Photo credit: Mike Smith

LISTEN: Rachel Sumner, “Rocks & Gravel”

Posted on August 22, 2019August 22, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Rachel Sumner
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Rocks & Gravel” (Kacy & Clayton cover)
Release Date: August 30, 2019
Label: Sad Luck Dame

In Their Words: “I was so enchanted the first time I saw Saskatchewan duo Kacy & Clayton, I wound up getting tickets to see them the next night as well. I explored their discography and was particularly struck by ‘Rocks & Gravel’ and the natural, timeless quality about it — I was certain it must have been a traditional tune. Nope. Turns out Kacy & Clayton are just that good at tapping into ages’ worth of sorrow and heartbreak and synthesizing it all into modern classics for us to weep along to. For the past few years, I have been performing my own arrangement of ‘Rocks & Gravel’ beside my originals and a handful of other select covers at shows. I recently recorded my version of this song and some of those other covers in my set list rotation and have been releasing them as digital singles throughout the summer. Though this may not be a traditional folk song, I have found from making it my own that it possesses the same durable beauty of tunes that have been passed down for centuries.” — Rachel Sumner

Photo credit: Louise Bichan

LISTEN: Ward Hayden & the Outliers, “Hackensack”

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Ward Hayden & the Outliers
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Hackensack”
Album: Can’t Judge a Book
Release Date: August 24, 2019

In Their Words: “‘Hackensack’ almost didn’t make it on the album, but it’s ended up being one of my favorite recordings. In the early 2000s Fountains of Wayne had a huge hit with ‘Stacy’s Mom.’ I wasn’t wild about ‘Stacy’s Mom’ but I always loved when that CD got put on because the song right after it, ‘Hackensack,’ was such an aching love song with such a catchy and pretty chorus. All while telling the story of a guy who never left his hometown, who’s waiting around for the girl of his dreams to come back home. Meanwhile she’s out pursuing her dreams and might not ever know he exists.

“‘Hackensack’ has a lot of those elements that have always drawn me to good country music, and Fountains of Wayne wrote it in a pop-rock format. Our drummer Josh Kiggans really pushed for this song to get recorded with our own approach and I’m thankful he did. We made some changes to the arrangement and put in elements like Cody’s weeping pedal steel part, the low brooding baritone guitar lines, and Paul put down a more driving bass line.

“I once even had one of Boston’s best-known songwriters come up after we played it and say, ‘That song’s gonna make you famous,’ but they walked away before I had the chance to say it was actually someone else’s song we were covering. We did our best to do it justice and draw out the emotion and honesty of the lyrics, and we hope it connects with a lot of other people the way it connected with us.” — Ward Hayden

Photo credit: Niclas Bågerheim

LISTEN: Lisa Bastoni, “Walk a Little Closer” (Feat. Lula Wiles)

Posted on July 16, 2019October 11, 2021 by Editor

Artist: Lisa Bastoni
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Walk a Little Closer” (featuring Lula Wiles)
Album: How We Want to Live
Release Date: September 20, 2019

In Their Words: “One day a couple of winters ago, Sean Staples (How We Want to Live‘s producer) and I were writing at my kitchen table and he said, ‘Well, maybe they don’t all have to be devastating.’ Which I thought was an excellent point. We wrote this in 45 minutes, based on a Lynda Barry-inspired writing exercise around the word ‘adore.’ It was refreshing to write something so lighthearted, just a simple bluegrass song that tells the story of a first date. The first time I played it out was at a little bar in Cambridge, with Isa Burke on fiddle and harmony. That was the seed of the new album — to record locally, with some of my favorite musicians and people. I’m so happy to have Isa, as well as Eleanor Buckland and Mali Obomsawin (aka Lula Wiles) playing on this track!
— Lisa Bastoni

Photo credit: Love and Perry Photography and Film

LISTEN: Alice Howe, “You Just Never Know”

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Alice Howe
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “You Just Never Know”
Album: Visions
Release Date: May 17, 2019

In Their Words: “This song came to me as I was driving west on Route 90, affectionately known as the Mass Pike, leaving Boston in my rearview mirror for what felt like the millionth time. It struck me that I had been on that same road in so many different moods and circumstances over the past decade, from weekends visiting my high school boyfriend to my undergraduate years at Smith College in Northampton, and even the time I drove that highway from start to finish, all the way to its western edge in Seattle. Exits and road signs had become inextricably linked to faces and moments in my memory, all vividly flashing before my eyes as I sped past. After all those years, there I was on the same road, and in a way the road was like an old friend who had seen me grow up. This song describes me in a nutshell: a little nostalgic, but looking excitedly to the future, willing to accept the unknown that lies ahead.” — Alice Howe

Photo credit: Jim Shea

WATCH: Amelia White, “Free Advice”

Posted on March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 by Editor

Artist: Amelia White
Hometown: East Nashville by way of Boston
Song: “Free Advice”
Album: Rhythm of the Rain

In Their Words: “This song has been building up in me from years of people telling me what to change in my appearance to become more successful. ‘If you’d try to smile more onstage / shed the glasses, four eyes only worked for Lisa Loeb / You’ve got good legs, how about a skirt and some heels?’ This is some of the ‘free advice’ I’ve gotten after shows, along with more than a few warnings that Nashville is a ‘five-year town’ and women especially have a window of time to ‘make it.’ Zoom out and the tune is simply about the sad (but kinda funny too) fact that women feel the need to double-triple-check how they look before stepping into the public view. I’m hoping to provide a little tragic-comedy here to say, ‘Just be real, you are more than enough, just as you are.'” –Amelia White

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba