Tag: Compass Records

BGS 5+5: Alison Brown

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Alison Brown
Hometown: La Jolla, California
Latest album: The Song of the Banjo
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Mom (currently trending)

From the Artist: “‘Here Comes the Sun’ is a song I’ve loved for years. But I never thought about playing it on the banjo until I was inspired by stories of hospitals playing it over their PA systems to encourage staff and patients in their battle against COVID. As I started working on it I realized that the tune has a lot in common rhythmically and harmonically with ‘Águas de Março’ (‘Waters of March’), a Tom Jobim classic that’s one of my favorite melodies and recordings. So I put the two together and came up with this mash-up — setting the low banjo against a tapestry of piano and jazz flute.” — Alison Brown

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

I didn’t become a musician in one lightning rod moment. It was really more a series of baby steps. When I was really getting into the banjo in the late ’70s there weren’t a lot of successful role models that pointed the way to how you could make a career as an instrumentalist. As much as I loved playing the banjo I really thought it would be a hobby that I would talk about at cocktail parties in my real life as a doctor, lawyer, or another respectable white collar professional. As it happened, I had to spend several years as an investment banker before I got up the nerve to try being a banjo player.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I have so many great memories it’s hard to pick just one. Collaborating with a skratji band on stage at the Opera House in Paramaribo, Suriname, during a State Department tour is one that has stayed with me. Guesting on Brandi Carlile’s collaboration set with the First Ladies of Bluegrass at the Newport Folk Festival last summer with Dolly Parton singing “9 to 5” is definitely another. Playing on the Banjo Stage at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in front of a crowd that reaches all the way down Speedway Meadows never fails to blow me away and is one that always validates my decision to leave my investment banking job in San Francisco’s financial district to play the banjo.

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

Since launching Compass Records 25 years ago, my career has had two parallel tracks: one as an artist and the other as the co-founder of a roots-based indie label. When Garry West and I started the label in 1995, literally at the kitchen table, we felt there was a keen need in the market for a record company that was run by musicians. We were driven by the idea that our perspective gained from years of touring would position Compass uniquely in the market. Our goal was to create an artist friendly home for other artists; at the time I was halfway into a multi-album contract with Vanguard Records. Garry and I were, and are still, extremely passionate about discovering new artists and helping to bring their music to a wider audience.

Over the past two and a half decades, we’ve had a chance to help further the careers of an amazing roster of artists across the roots music spectrum and also have had the privilege of carrying the torch forward for some great label imprints through catalog acquisitions. One thing that I didn’t really anticipate when we started Compass was how running a label would inform my own creativity as an artist and producer. Knowing the challenges in the market has been very much of a double-edged sword: sometimes it makes it difficult to get motivated to create new music but, at the end of the day, having a handle on current challenges and opportunities on the business side has made it more natural for me to create music with specific target results in mind.

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

For me, studio = food:) When I’m producing, or leading a session, I like to arrive with warm scones or banana bread to start the morning and then make sure there’s a kitchen full of interesting snacks on hand throughout the day. I know it’s not great for the waistline, but for me it adds to the fun of the creative process. I’m also a fan of having slow TV, sound off, running on the monitor in the control room. When I was producing Special Consensus’ record Chicago Barn Dance, we had a Norwegian winter train journey from Oslo to Bergen on a loop while we worked and it complemented our musical journey in a perfect way.

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

Hmmm, perhaps not your typical banjo player’s dream, but how about a simple dinner with Tom Jobim on a garden terrace in La Jolla, California, overlooking the Cove and a menu that includes Jacques Pepin’s roast chicken, haricots verts, and a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay?

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba.
“Here Comes the Sun” credits: Low Banjo: Alison Brown; Piano: Chris Walters; Flute: John Ragusa; Bass: Garry West; Drums and Percussion: Jordan Perlson

LISTEN: Dirk Powell, “I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly” (with Rhiannon Giddens)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Dirk Powell
Hometown: Lafayette, Louisiana
Song: “I Ain’t Playing Pretty Polly” (with Rhiannon Giddens)
Album: When I Wait for You
Release Date: September 4, 2020
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I grew up playing and singing ‘Pretty Polly.’ I was really proud to have learned a unique version of it in the ‘overhand’ banjo style from my grandfather in Kentucky. One evening I was singing it during a soundcheck and heard the words ‘he stabbed her through the heart and her heart’s blood did flow’ coming out of my mouth… and I just stopped cold in the middle of the verse. I thought about my grandmother, my mother, my daughters. I thought about pervasive violence against women and the way men are given the bulk of the story in songs like these, and often some kind of twisted romantic glory or sympathy, and I said to myself, ‘I’m never singing this song again.’ I will not give any more energy to the stories of men who hurt, abuse, and kill women. Period.

“For some people, there are complexities — some say the songs are a needed warning to young people, or just dramatic tales, or that tradition trumps looking at them this way. But, for me… I’m just never singing them again. I’m done. I’ve seen the looks of hurt and confusion on my daughters’ faces when violent words like these are accepted or brushed aside. And I’ve seen fear in my grandmother’s eyes as she gave warnings to my sisters about men. Instead, I choose to sing, as I do here, about women like my Aunt Myrtle and men like my Uncle Clyde, who were together from the 1930s to the 2000s. Their relationship was full of love and sweetness and gratitude and respect. Those are the stories I actually know, from my own life, and those are the stories I’m going to tell.” — Dirk Powell

Photo credit: Joan Baez

BGS 5+5: Special Consensus

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Greg Cahill of Special Consensus
Hometown: Oak Lawn, Illinois
Latest album: Chicago Barn Dance
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Special C

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

I actually enjoy and appreciate all the forms listed here. I have always been a history buff and read a good bit of American history books as well as books about country and bluegrass music. I also enjoyed the Carlos Castenada books of the 1970s, which actually inspired our band name, Special Consensus. I very much enjoy live theater (Hamilton was unbelievably superb) as well as seeing movies in movie theaters and I am a fan of Cirque du Soleil dance troupe. Living in Chicago provides access to fantastic museums and of course the Art Institute, where I thoroughly enjoy spending an afternoon any time.

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

My mother’s mother was a fabulous piano player who played for silent movies and gave piano lessons throughout my mother’s childhood so my mom also became a great piano player. My father’s father was a great harmonica player who would give me his old harmonicas whenever he got a new one (usually a Christmas present from my grandmother) and he began teaching me to play when I was 5 years old. My father was a great tenor singer in the church choir. By the time I was 7 or 8 I began taking accordion lessons, which I continued until I was about 15.

By senior year of high school I became interested in string instruments and went off to college with guitar and long-neck banjo (a la Pete Seeger and Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio) in hand and played in a folk group until graduation. I first actually heard bluegrass music around junior year of college and dabbled with playing 3-finger style on the banjo, went into the Army for two years after graduation and came back to Chicago after living in Georgia for a bit and seriously began to try and play the five-string (around 1970-71). I have always had music in my heart and in my bones and I still absolutely love to play the banjo!

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

I think the most important thing about playing music professionally is to decide what you really want to do and set some goals. A mission statement might be something like practice your music to hone your skills, decide what type of music you really want to play and set goals for creating musical situations for yourself (like finding other people to play with) and be willing to continually work on improving. One has to create opportunities for oneself in the world of music.

It is vital to attend concerts to hear the music you want to play, to practice a lot and to seek those opportunities to play with others. Audition for bands you would like to play with whenever there is an opening. Once you are in a band or are gigging as a solo or duo/trio artist or in any configuration, take it seriously — it is very enjoyable but it is also now your job. Most importantly, don’t give up if this is what you really want to do. There will always and forever be huge ups and downs — keep the faith, believe in yourself and keep on keepin’ on!

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I would have to say it was the first time Special C ever played the Grand Ole Opry. It was in I think 2003 and the Opryland venue was under renovation so we played at the Ryman Auditorium. My bandmates at the time were Josh Williams, Jamie Clifton, and Tim Dishman. We had been together for a few years and gone through some wonderful times and some difficult times, including being in a bus wreck (fortunately, none of us were seriously injured).

Our individual and collective dream was always to play the Grand Ole Opry and that night we were truly living the dream. After being instructed backstage to play one and only one song, Jeannie Seely introduced us and we went out and played our hearts out. The audience went wild and the whole house was standing and cheering — Jeannie had no choice but to give us an encore. I will never forget that night.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

There are many artists who have influenced me. My parents’ love of music was instilled in me as a young child and they appreciated the “old standards” of the day and Dixieland music — family gatherings always included everyone around the piano singing and then my sisters and I would be asked to play. I was of course influenced by the master Earl Scruggs but then I would say J.D. Crowe became my mentor, even before I ever met him, because I loved his way of creating new licks and ways of playing with the drive and clarity and beauty of Earl’s playing.

Then there are so many great banjo player influences (Munde, Keith, Trischka, Vestal, Bela, Pikelny, Shelor, Shelton, Luberecki, Brown, Kruger, Munford, Benson, etc.). Other musicians whom I admire and listen to include Jethro Burns, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Buddy Guy, Don Stiernberg and many more. I believe it is the brilliance of these players, this gestalt that has and always will continue to influence me and keep me growing.

Photo Credit: David K. Cupp

BGS Podcast Roundup // May 8

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

In this week’s podcasts, we take you everywhere from Nashville’s Lower Broadway, to Compass Records, to the culinary scene in Montreal, and even back to a time when touring was a thing.

If you enjoy spending your weekend with the BGS Podcast Network, make sure to follow along on our social media [Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram] and right here, where we’ll consistently gather our new episodes, as well as some past favorites:

The Show on the Road – Jamestown Revival

On the latest episode of The Show On The Road, we feature Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, two Texans and expert harmonizers who for the last decade have toured the world as Jamestown Revival.

Right before all tours got sent home, host Z. Lupetin was able to hop on the Jamestown Revival tour bus to discuss their intimate new record, San Isabel. While their previous record, The Education of a Wandering Man, saw them harnessing the muscular roots-rock that can be heard at their powerful live shows, San Isabel strips everything back to their intimate two-voices-around-one-mic, “southern and Garfunkel” sound that brought them together in the first place — and has rightfully won them hordes of fans coast to coast.

They say sibling harmony can’t be compared and we’ve had several sets of twin bands on the podcast, but what about soul-brother harmony? If one thing is clear just sitting on the bus and listening to them weave their stories and songs together, it’s that Clay and Chance were born to sing together.

San Isabel was laid down at Ward Lodge Studios overlooking the San Isabel National Forest in Buena Vista, Colorado and often includes the natural sounds of the nature all around them. Give it a listen — it’s peaceful and powerful and raw and maybe just what we all need right now.

Toy Heart – Alison Brown

Banjoist and record label head Alison Brown speaks with host Tom Power from her studio at Compass Records headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. They begin with her early records made with Stuart Duncan, “finding her people,” and winning the Canadian National Banjo Championship (as an American), then on to her time at Harvard, where playing banjo became “something you’d talk about at cocktail parties.”

She describes the moment she decided to leave investment banking and commit to music full time, her cocktail napkin dream, and the two talk women in bluegrass, women in banjo, and the First Ladies of Bluegrass. The story they dive into together is ultimately about figuring out what makes you happy, and pursuing it bravely, against all odds.

The Shift List – Chef Dyan Solomon (Olive et Gourmando, Foxy) – Montreal

This week, The Shift List closes out its miniseries focusing on the food of Montreal with chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Dyan Solomon. If you’re from Montreal, Dyan Solomon needs no introduction. She’s the co-owner of multiple restaurants there, including Foxy, one of the city’s essential fine dining establishments. Back in November 2019 she released the Olive + Gourmando cookbook, a collection of 150 recipes from the namesake cafe that put Solomon on Montreal’s culinary map when it opened back in 1999.

Host Chris Jacobs checked in with Chef Dyan via email the other week to see how her restaurants have been affected by the stay-at-home orders in Canada. She replied with cautious optimism, saying that while all of her restaurants are closed until further notice, they are surviving and trying to remain positive about the future.

If you’ve listened to the last two episodes of The Shift List with Chef John Winter Russell of Restaurant Candide, you’ll know that he highlighted the work that’s being done to help support the Montreal Restaurant Workers Relief Fund, an organization set up to provide emergency relief to restaurant employees who are facing economic hardship due to COVID-19. Coincidentally, the fund was set up by Kaitlin Doucette, the Sommelier at Solomon’s fine dining restaurant Foxy, and donations are still being accepted at mtlrestorelieffund.org.

The String – Paul Burch, Thomm Jutz

Paul Burch moved from Indiana to Nashville in 1995 when his friend Jay McDowell (BR549) told him about the burgeoning indie country music scene on sleepy Lower Broadway.

In the 25 years since then, Burch has made uncompromising and original music with shades of classic honky tonk and timeless rock and soul. On the latest episode of The String, we talk with Burch about his role in the fascinating band Lambchop, the evolution of his band the WPA Ball Club and his new album Light Sensitive. Also in the hour, German-born bluegrass songwriting star Thomm Jutz.

 

Alison Brown – Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Banjoist and record label head Alison Brown speaks with host Tom Power from her studio at Compass Records headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. They begin with her early records made with Stuart Duncan, “finding her people,” and winning the Canadian National Banjo Championship (as an American).

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Brown then headed to Harvard, and playing banjo became “something you’d talk about at cocktail parties.” She describes the moment she decided to leave investment banking and commit to music full time, her cocktail napkin dream, and playing with Alison Krauss, Indigo Girls, and Michelle Shocked.

Power and Brown talk women in bluegrass, women in banjo, and the First Ladies of Bluegrass. The story they dive into together is ultimately about figuring out what makes you happy, and pursuing it bravely, against all odds.

A Minute in New Orleans with Sarah Quintana and Michael Doucet

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This is Sarah Quintana, singer/guitarist in Michael Doucet’s new solo project, Lâcher-Prise, and I love being a tourist in my own hometown, New Orleans. Michael and I met one Mardi Gras day, following a brass band through the French Quarter. Music is everywhere! Cajun and zydeco dancing, good Creole cooking and historic scenes. Here are some of our favourite places to perform, shop and eat!

Michael loves to go to Cane and Table on Decatur for his favourite Cuban cocktail, the Hotel Nacionale. Marjie’s Grill on N. Broad is one of his favourite places to eat. I sing for the Sunday Brunches at Emeril’s Delmonico. The atmosphere, the menu and the live music make this one of the best dining experiences in New Orleans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8RvvybFMHj/

One of our favourite clubs to play at and go dancing is d.b.a. on Frenchman Street. They have a wood floor series in the early evening that is acoustic and magic, dance lessons, lots of craft beer and rocking late-night shows. Need a coffee fix? Spitfire Coffee in the French Quarter is Michael’s favourite espresso bar.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9KB0eIl9_8/

Water here, Water there! My favourite neighborhood is Bayou St. John in Mid-City. Get your tour of frontier New Orleans by boat! Book a Kayak tour from Kayakitiyat! If you go on a gallery art walk down Royal Street in the French Quarter, stop by Antieau Gallery to see the artist who created our cover art for our album.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jtZ0qFQ81/

Photo credit: Daniel Kadar

The String – Michael Doucet

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Fiddler, singer/songwriter, bandleader, and folk music scholar Michael Doucet is synonymous with Beausoleil, the neo-traditional Louisiana band he co-founded forty-plus years ago.

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Still, Doucet relishes collaborations. His upcoming album with a new band, L’acher Prise, is a real Americana hybrid. The Compass Records release is Cajun at its core, but full of ideas from four other musicians a generation younger than he is. We talk about his legendary career in roots music, dedicated to rediscovery and reclaiming of a marginalized culture that made Louisiana the special place that it is. Also on this episode, the legacy and music of Warren Storm with musician, author, and record producer Yvette Landry.

Where Business Meets Banjo, Alison Brown Prepares IBMA Keynote Address

Posted on by Editor

The first time Alison Brown gave a keynote address at IBMA’s annual conference in 2002, the bluegrass industry gathering was still held in Owensboro, Kentucky. So much has changed since then, but not everything. Asked about memories from those early conferences, she replies, “Oh, it was like it is now. I always kind of think of it as a family reunion. It was just a slightly smaller family then, but no less enthusiastic or supportive, as far as I’m concerned.”

Brown is one of bluegrass’ most prominent figures, adept as an artist, a producer, and co-founder of Compass Records. She’s also won a mantle of IBMA awards in multiple categories, including Banjo Player of the Year in 1991 and a Distinguished Achievement Award in 2015.

This year she will present a new keynote address, “Four and a Half Things I’ve Learned,” on Tuesday at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina. She spoke with BGS by phone.

BGS: What was it about this opportunity to present the keynote address that appealed to you?

AB: I was thinking about the fact that this is Compass Records’ 25th anniversary, and so I thought that, personally, it would give me an opportunity to reflect a little bit on where we’ve been and what we’ve learned in the process of doing what we’ve been doing over 25 years. And maybe share a few things with folks that could be edifying for them.

You’re seeing this bluegrass world as an artist and producer, as well as a business owner. What do you hope that the creative side of the bluegrass community will take away from your presentation?

Hmmm, maybe a better understanding of the landscape that we’re all trying to navigate. And how to better position yourself for success. I think some of the idiosyncrasies of the business, from the view of the record company — I wouldn’t expect that most creatives would be as immersed in that as we are, running a record label. And so I think if you know the challenges that you’re dealing with, you’re better able to position your music and your career to take advantage of the opportunities that do exist, and stand a better chance to succeeding.

What are some of the bluegrass community’s greatest strengths right now, do you think?

I really mean this — I think that we are incredibly fortunate to have an organization like IBMA that’s kind of the centerpiece of our community, that’s looking out for all of us and keeping the community together. I really think that’s incredibly valuable, even more than people know. Other roots music genres that don’t have that are not as fortunate as our community, in my opinion.

What are some things that the bluegrass community can really take pride in?

I gave the keynote address back in 2002, so this is actually my keynote redux. You know, looking back at that keynote, a lot of what that was about was embracing diversity, and musical diversity. That was 17 years ago and that was a rallying cry at that point in time, but it’s not like it was a revolutionary idea. I’m really proud of our community for the strides that we have made. Expanding the envelope conceptually, welcoming in people whose music may be more on the fringes of bluegrass, and not exactly emulate what Earl and Lester and Bill did in 1945.

So there’s the musical aspect, but there’s also the demographic diversity, like gender diversity and racial diversity. Those are things that are community is still grappling with — but we are grappling with them and I’m proud of us for that.

One thing I’ve noticed over the last 20 years in bluegrass is that the music videos are better, the websites and album covers are modern, and the band photos are more contemporary. How important are visuals, do you think, for a bluegrass artist to get attention from press, festivals, and audiences in general?

I think visuals are more important than they’ve ever been. It’s my experience that people can’t just listen to music anymore. They have to see music. We have people in the studio all the time and you want to play them a new track, and I can just see their eyes wandering around the room, looking for the screen. “Where do I look while I listen to this?” So, I think it’s more important than ever.

I’ve also noticed that some bluegrass labels are choosing not to put their new music on Spotify. Why is it important for Compass to be represented there?

That’s where the audience is moving. Granted, the traditional bluegrass music audience is slower to adopt a new technology than a more youthful pop audience would be, but still we’re seeing our audience move there and it’s a great place for people to discover new music. It’s one of the new revenue sources for selling music. We’re seeing the music industry move more and more into the streaming arena. It would seem to be crazy not to be there, as frustrating as the economics may be.

It hasn’t really been our experience that having bluegrass on Spotify has meant that we sell less bluegrass in physical form. And it only really supports the artists’ efforts because maybe the older audience is used to consuming physically but the young audience is used to consuming through streaming and digital. So if you’re not present in that space, you’re never going to expand your audience into that younger demographic, and obviously an artist needs to grow their audience. You need to keep trying to make the average age of your audience younger, rather than older, just in terms of your own longevity as an artist.

So many bluegrass musicians are friends with each other, as well as colleagues in a sense. In bluegrass, it’s pretty rare to send a business-related email to someone you don’t know. How do you think that familiarity shapes the business side of bluegrass?

I completely agree with you but I’m not really sure how to answer the question, though. I guess I can really only answer it personally — that that is part of what gives me a lot of joy, to be in the business of the bluegrass world, because this community has meant a tremendous amount to me personally. I’ve been in the bluegrass community since I was 12, which is crazy to think about, and there are people that I see at IBMA that I have known since I was 12 years old. I think about how much others have given me as I’ve come up in this music. So to be able to have a hand in making this music stay healthy, and paying it forward, is very meaningful to me.

Looking back, is there advice you wish you’d been given in 2002 that you had to learn the hard way?

That’s an excellent question. That’s probably something I should ponder for my keynote and see if I can come up with a good answer. I guess the one thing that I would say is, big things can happen in small steps. We’ve been pedaling this bike for 25 years, building this label, and it’s amazing to look back over a quarter of a century and see how something that you literally started at the kitchen table can grow into an entity that some would consider to be a significant force in bluegrass music. I mean, I think I might have known that going into it, so it’s not really a revelation. It just takes a long time, but if you continue to do the work to the best of your ability, over that long period of time, at the end you can stand back and you will have built something that is amazing to see, and that it did really happen.

Photo courtesy of IBMA

LISTEN: Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, “Born With The Blues”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Born With The Blues”
Album: World Full of Blues
Release Date: October 4, 2019
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “This was a song that we wrote with a good friend of ours, Bobby Starnes, a few years ago and from the moment we finished it we just knew we had to record it on our next album. It always reminds me of a Clint Eastwood Western movie or something … and the percussion and horn section solidify that. This song has been a high point in our set list for a year or so now, as it always gives us some room to improvise and stretch out musically. That’s exactly how we recorded it also … totally live and totally ‘in the moment.’ We thought this was the perfect song to kick off our new album and we hope you all dig it!” — Rob & Trey

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba

LISTEN: Louisa Branscomb’s “Gonna Love Anyway”

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Featured Songwriter: Louisa Branscomb
Hometown: Cartersville, Georgia
Song: “Gonna Love Anyway” (written by Louisa Branscomb and Jennifer Strickland, performed by Sierra Hull, Jim Hurst, Bryan McDowell, Missy Raines, & Molly Tuttle)
Album: Gonna Love Anyway
Release Date: July 26, 2019
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “Being a songwriter keeps you honest if you let it. When I began this project, I’d been through a time of loss and change, including a tornado that took out my farm, losing both parents, and a little heartbreak thrown in to sweeten the mix. So I was looking for images of hope and resilience. Those images became the theme, and then the songs became the album. The song I worked the project around is ‘Gonna Love Anyway,’ with images of fragility and survival at the same time: a flower blooming in December, a cloud letting go of rain, and finally the guitar you pick up on a gamble that there’s one more song. I was so honored that Molly Tuttle agreed to do this one; she herself has such artistic power and grace at the same time, so it’s a perfect match. That is true of Sierra Hull, Jim Hurst, Bryan McDowell, and Missy Raines as artists as well, and that’s why I think this collaboration is so stunning and magical.” — Louisa Branscomb

Photo credit: Vicki Burton