Artist: Michaela Anne
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Single: “Good Times”
Label: Yep Roc Records
In Their Words: “Hope and optimism are two things I have to work hard to keep. I often write songs as reminders or affirmations for myself and for the people I love. ‘Good Times’ is a prime example of that. Trying to remember the blue sky is always there behind the clouds.” — Michaela Anne
Photo credit: Matt Wignall
Hey everyone! My name is Kyle Nix and I fiddle for the Turnpike Troubadours. I’m also a solo artist and have a record coming out June 26 called Lightning on the Mountain & Other Short Stories. As a bluegrass fiddler and songwriter, I’ve put together a list of fiddle tunes and bluegrass songs from artists that have inspired me through my journey and continue to do so every time I hear them play. Hope ya enjoy these ditties! — Kyle Nix
Michael is the most dynamic fiddler I’ve ever seen and perhaps the most dynamic musician. Incredible player.
Sara Watkins – “Long Hot Summer Days”
Sara and I are close to the same age and I’d see her at bluegrass festivals from time to time. I think it’s pretty neat that my band (Turnpike Troubadours) and Sara both recorded John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Days” around the same time. Love her version!
Byron Berline – “Flyin’ Fingers”
Byron’s a friend and a hero of mine. I’m always learning from him and he’s still got a fire in his belly. He composed and recorded “Flyin’ Fingers” a few short years ago and it’s a fine example of how he’s still “got it.”
Sierra Hull – “From Now On”
Sierra is one of the virtuosos. She makes it look easy. Big fan right here! Dig the tune “From Now On.”
Chance McCoy and the Appalachian String Band – “Yew Piney Mountain”
Love this version of “Yew Piney Mountain” by Chance McCoy. Chance is a real talent, from The Appalachian String Band to Old Crow Medicine Show.
Kenny Baker “First Day in Town”
Huge fan of Kenny Baker’s fiddling and his melodies abound. “First Day in Town” is a mean one!
John Hartford’s Aereo-Plain is one of my favorite albums and “Steamboat Whistle Blues” is one of my faves on the record.
Aubrey Haynie – “Bill Cheathem”
A stellar version of “Bill Cheathem” here by Aubrey Haynie — a fantastic, killer fiddler!
Alison Krauss & Union Station – “Man of Constant Sorrow”
This is the one that kicked off the bluegrass craze of the early 2000s. Each member of this band, a Giant.
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder – “Shady Grove”
I remember the first time I heard this version…. My eyes about bugged out! Blisteringly fast, clean as a whistle. Outrageously good!
Byron Berline – “Sally Goodin”
Byron’s version of Sally Goodin is the quintessential version of the song. Here, he’s joined by Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs… and it’s beautiful, man!
Photo Credit: Amber Watson
Artist: Tara Dente
Hometown: Asbury Park, New Jersey
Song: “Hill So Steep”
Album: Truth in the Mud
Release Date: July 17, 2020
Label: Travianna Records
In Their Words: “‘Hill So Steep’ is about a dream I had. In the dream, I was driving up a hill so steep, I felt like I was climbing the steepest roller coaster with no belt on or bar to hold me in and would just fall out. The dream certainly reflected difficult circumstances happening in my life at the time. I was a server at a popular restaurant in my town and did pretty well in tips that day. As soon as I turned the corner walking to my car after work, I noticed it, as well as a slew of other cars, had been towed. The dollar amount it took to get my car back from the auto shop was the exact amount I had made that day in tips. That night, I had the dream. Sometimes you take a step forward, and then take a step right back. But then another day, you’ll take three steps forward. You just have to hang in there the best you can, and look for the next right thing.” — Tara Dente
Photo credit: Jesse Andrew Photography
Artist: Joshua Ray Walker
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Latest album: Glad You Made It (July 10, 2020)
Personal nickname: High Wide and Handsome
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
I started playing tenor banjo when I was three years old, and guitar when I was five. My grandfather brought a large record collection with him to Texas from Union County, Tennessee, decades before I was born. Every day after school I used to listen to those records in his workshop and try to play along on yard sale instruments he’d find. The first time it really clicked and I could keep up with one of those bluegrass records, I was obviously too young to know then, but I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.
How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?
Often. I build characters based on people I know, have met, or parts of my own personality and experiences. It took me a long time to realize that last part, but now that I know, I use it as a way to explore parts of myself I otherwise wouldn’t be brave enough to write about.
What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?
I would say film has the largest impact on my music. I think of my songs kind of like short stories and they play out in my head like movie scenes. Certain directors have informed the way some of these scenes play out, and the filters and angles by which I view them. Martin Scorsese, The Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson to name a few.
Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?
One of my favorite parts of touring is trying the local dishes in all the places I visit. Nashville is a great food town and I have a whole itinerary of favorite spots I try to hit up every time I’m there. Fourteen-year-old me would be disappointed if I didn’t pick Jack White. He lives in Nashville, I hear we agree on where to get hot chicken in the town that invented it, and I’ve had countless near-miss encounters with him. So I pick the hot chicken basket with fries and coleslaw, extra pickles and a lukewarm Sprite with Jack White at Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish!
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
It was December 2018 and I had just released “Working Girl” and “Canyon” in anticipation of my debut record, Wish You Were Here. I had played to fairly large crowds as a lead guitarist for other bands, but I had never played my songs live to more than about 150 people at a time and I definitely had never experienced the type of “buzz” surrounding my career prior to that point. I had a string of four preternatural shows booked that, in short, made me believe all the hard work of the previous decade was going to pay off, and instilled a confidence in me that I hadn’t had previously.
The first show was my first time playing a theater at the Kessler Theater in my hometown of Dallas, Texas. The second show was my first time opening for Colter Wall, and my first time playing solo at the Granada Theater. The third show was my first time playing the Tower Theater in OKC, opening for Colter. The last show was my first time opening for American Aquarium, and my first time at Cain’s Ballroom. Each show escalated rapidly in magnitude and capacity, and I’ll never forget how amazing and surreal it all felt.
I’m going to focus on the second show briefly. At that time, I had seen close to 100 shows at the Granada Theater, and it had been a staple in my East Dallas community for years. Spotify had just reminded me that Colter Wall and Paul Cauthen were my most listened to artists of 2018, and when I looked out into the crowd that night it seemed like I saw the face of every person who ever cared about me all in one place, singing along to my songs.
My favorite memory of being on stage actually happened right after I walked off it. I pushed my way through the heavy curtain, and what was in the tunnel waiting for me was truly unbelievable: Colter Wall, Paul Cauthen, Vincent Neil Emerson, Matt Hillyer (Eleven Hundred Springs), Summer Dean, Simon Flory, Jacob Metcalf, and others filled the hallway. They had all been watching me close the set through the curtain, and were there to congratulate me when I was done. That was one of the most heartwarming, and reassuring moments of my career and life.
Photo credit: Chad Windham
Me and my Turn Turn Turn bandmates Savannah Smith and Barb Brynstad have chosen a mix of music that’s either helped shape us as musicians and songwriters, resonates with us in these uncertain times, or is stuff we keep coming back to, like that lover we can’t seem to shake. It’s old and new like our band — we “turn” to the distant past of early American recorded music, “turn” again to that renaissance of the 1960s and 1970s, and finally “turn” again to the present looking forward. We hope you dig the sonic journey. — Adam Levy
Ry Cooder – “Boomer’s Story”
Probably one of the most influential players of my life. Evocative, funky, reverent of past blues players, but super innovative. All the double stops sound like he’s often imitating fiddlers. I do that on the guitar solo for our song “Fourteen.” This song is the ultimate Ry Cooder groove with Jim Keltner on drums. Reminds me of years listening to it touring in a van with my band, The Honeydogs. — Adam
Luluc – “Controversy”
There’s another level of calm within Luluc’s music I have always appreciated. Nico with modern themes… I don’t know how they do it, but they do it so well. — Savannah
The Staple Singers – “Freedom Highway”
Who can say they HAVEN’T been influenced by the Staple Singers? Unvarnished, insistent, and catchy as hell, it’s no surprise that “Freedom Highway” is as eminently listenable today as it was in 1965. And sadly, although it was written more than five decades ago, this song’s imperative message resonates just as strongly in 2020 as it did during the apogee of the Civil Rights movement. — Barb
Judee Sill – “The Lamb Ran Away With the Crown”
It’s hard to choose a favorite of hers. One of the greatest underappreciated American songwriters. She crosses genres, she sings some of the most profoundly spiritual music and she hooks the listener with amazing harmonic movement and melodies. If you don’t have goosebumps at the rousing end of this gem you might need to check your pulse. As good as anything on Pet Sounds — maybe better. — Adam
Turn Turn Turn – “Delaware Water Gap”
Imagine if Dylan wrote a song about a female serial killer and had Emmylou Harris and Stevie Nicks join him while Grady Martin and Clarence White duel on guitar. — Turn Turn Turn
Sarah Jarosz – “House of Mercy”
I fell in love with multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz a few years ago, when I saw her perform at the Dakota, a renowned live-music venue in Minneapolis. Fresh-faced and not too far out of college (New England Conservatory of Music), she played as a part of a well-oiled trio of seasoned twentysomethings. This particular song appeals to me because it pierces the conventions of traditional bluegrass music — lyrically, vocally, and instrumentally. Importantly, it was my gateway to a deeper appreciation of bluegrass and old-time music. — Barb
Lefty Frizzell – “Treasures Untold”
Lefty is often overlooked in the country music pantheon. His voice is velvety voice and cheeky chords meld honky-tonk gently with Tin Pan Alley pop. This song is nearly perfect to me as a composition. — Adam
Jessica Pratt – “As the World Turns”
Jessica Pratt’s voice and melodies are incredibly ethereal. I’ve always admired her songwriting, especially in this song. To me, I feel the driving, unstoppable passing of time while stuck in a trance of reflection. — Savannah
Turn Turn Turn – “Cold Hard Truth”
Adam wrote this one about deep self-examination and suggested Barb and Savannah do the vocal heavy lifting. We’re pretty proud of this bridge and we bet Phil Spector or Jeff Lynne would give us a nod of approval. — Turn Turn Turn
Dixie Chicks – “The Long Way Around”
I love the Dixie Chicks for their fearless defiance of conformity. And I love this song’s transcendent harmonies, soaring hooks, and in-your-face lyrics (“I wouldn’t kiss all the asses that they told me to”) that serve as a clarion call to all the uppity movers and shakers who refuse to be conventional. — Barb
The Rolling Stones – “Loving Cup”
I came to country music through the Stones. They always had a couple country nods with close harmonies, twangy pedal steel-like riffs and stories about dissipation, loneliness, yearning, and travel. “Loving Cup” is loose and sexy, takes you by the hand, spanks you and just keeps building with that piano-horn driven, drum-tripping outro. — Adam
Laura Stevenson – “Time Bandits”
Laura Stevenson is someone I have always really looked up to. Both her voice and her songwriting are incredibly powerful. This song hit me really hard during quarantine; it’s heartbreakingly hopeful. — Savannah
Big Bill Broonzy – “Glory of Love”
First time hearing this I was struck by the driving rhythm. I thought it was a couple guitarists. I spent a couple days figuring out this relatively simple three-chord song. And I only recently figured out how to get that ragtime banging drive happening — some 30 years after first hearing it. — Adam
Photo credit: Ilia Stockert
Artist: Will Hoge
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Tiny Little Movies (June 26, 2020)
Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?
My dad. He was a musician before I was born and that carried over into an incredible album collection. Every great album from 1964-1978 was at my disposal.
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
Shit, at this point, I’ll repeat a worst memory just to be back on stage. Also any time I get to play at the Ryman.
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
My dad and my uncle snuck me into a bar to see Bo Diddley when I was about 13. My mind was totally blown. Hard to focus on much else after that.
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
“Jesus Came to Tennessee.” It had about 15 more verses. Editing that one was a journey.
Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?
Ice cream and Brandi Carlile
Photo credit: Katie Krauss
Artist: Crary, Evans & Barnick
Hometown: Placerville, California
Latest Album: Prime Time
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Three Old White Guys in a Folk Trio
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
Mark Twain said the two most important days in your life are the day you’re born and the day you discover why. For me it was the day in 1952 (I was 12) when I turned on the radio and accidentally heard Don Sullivan, a Kansas City hillbilly country singer on his noon hour live radio show sing twangy songs and play the steel-string guitar. The sound of the guitar that day struck me like something straight from God. I didn’t even know what it was, but I knew I wanted to play one, to hear more of that beautiful noise. — Dan Crary
My life’s direction pretty much came into focus on February 9, 1964, when I was seven years old. After watching the Beatles’ first live U.S. television appearance, the world wasn’t the same for me after that moment. I went to school on that Monday morning knowing that I would be a musician someday. — Bill Evans
During my year spent with the Mobile Riverine Resources/USN/9th Infantry Division Mekong Delta ’68-69, I met a fellow who had purchased a Hi-Fidelity component stereo system from the PX. He set it up in his hootch. He had pals stateside who were mailing him “care packages” containing the latest vinyl LPs by the boxful. Buffalo Springfield, Jeff Beck, Cream, the Doors, etc. When we thought the coast was clear, we’d load up a “bowl” and then listen to those great sounds coming out of those three-way speakers and the music would take us to another place. I did not play any instrument at that time, but I knew right then that I wanted to figure out how to play. All I had to do was get home in one piece. I did, and once stateside I latched on to the bass guitar and have not ever let it go… over 50 years now. — Wally Barnick
Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?
Musicians who were influential: 1) Fritz Kreisler: When I was 5 years old, about 1945 (!) my mom and grandma took me to a concert in the Kansas City Music Hall of violinist Fritz Kreisler. I never forgot it, it’s like yesterday. 2) Bud Hunt, old-time banjo and guitar guy on The Brush Creek Follies, a ’50s Kansas City country music show. My old Webcor wire recorder caught him one night playing “Wildwood Flower.” I had never heard anything like that, changed my life forever. 3) Sabicas, Segovia, Doc Watson: Their brilliant performances made me want to get serious. 4) The Stanley Brothers: Sheer, stunning beauty for the ages. — Dan
I’ve been playing professionally now for over forty years and the people who have had the most influence on me are those who I’ve gotten to know through playing and touring with them in bands or getting to know them as personal friends: folks like Ron Thomason of Dry Branch Fire Squad, Tony Trischka, Alan Munde, Jim Nunally in California and, most of all, Sonny Osborne. And I’ll count Dan and Wally in this group too — I admire what they have both accomplished in their lives and my respect and love for the both of them knows no limits. — Bill
How often do you hide behind a character in song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?
Seems like they’re all about me, at least the ones about trying to get it right and loving my lady. — Dan
I’m a composer of instrumental tunes, not songs with lyrics. Often, I set out an assignment for myself in order to get the process started, such as composing a melody over a particularly challenging chord progression or modulation, or something that has an Irish flavor, such as “Winston’s Jig” on Prime Time. In this way, I’m assuming a kind of another identity, most definitely. I feel that way about it, at any rate. — Bill
It is typical that I select and attempt singing songs that mean something to me, even when they are written by someone else. So the short answer is… I sing every song like I mean it, as if it’s mine and as if I’m telling my story. — Wally
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
In the ’80s a French festival promoter told me on the phone that Byron Berline and John Hickman and I were, because we worked as a trio, “not real bluegrass.” Then, about three days later we three were onstage playing “Gold Rush” to a few thousand fans at the KFC festival in Louisville. Suddenly, with no advance notice, Bill Monroe himself walked on stage with a big smile, sat down with us and we all played the rest of the set together. At one point Bill announced to that audience that, except for his own Blue Grass Boys, we were his #1 favorite bluegrass band! If I live to be a thousand…. — Dan
That’s tough to narrow down to just one memory. Perhaps the most musically revelatory moment for me on stage was hosting an evening in Berkeley at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse around the year 2000 with J. D. Crowe, David Grisman, Ron Block, Ron Stewart, Alan Senauke, and Missy Raines. It was an amazing thing to hear Crowe and Grisman experience the groove they created together on stage. Ron Block, who played guitar that night, commented to me after our show had ended that he had never felt such intense rhythm and awareness of musical space on any stage before. Musicians talk about how powerful a player J. D. is and I was lucky to actually experience it very intensely by being on stage with him. — Bill
Probably the first time that I performed a Cream song (“Sunshine of Your Love”) and I discovered that I could sing and play it, remembering all the lyrics and changes, and the (bar) crowd loved it! — Wally
If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?
Today I will try to be worthy of the guitar. — Dan
Giving back what’s been given to me and giving more, in whatever way that I can. — Bill
If it ain’t fun, skip it. — Wally
Photo credit: Nola Barnick
Artist: Philippe Bronchtein
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “I’ll Let the Steel Do the Crying”
Release Date: June 5th, 2020
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘I’ll Let the Steel Do the Crying’ shortly after relocating to Nashville. I was putting in marathon practice sessions on my steel guitar, so it was always on my mind. While commiserating on the phone with an old friend, I made the joke in passing that I didn’t have to cry as long as I had my pedal steel to do it for me. He lit up and said, ‘That’s a song.’ I finished writing it that night. It features my good friend Asa Brosius on the pedal steel.” — Philippe Bronchtein
Photo credit: Monica Murray
The timing was right to split the hour between two exceptional emerging artists making hard country music in the outlaw tradition.
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS
As you’ll hear, Jesse Daniel and Jaime Wyatt have lived the life, paid the price and processed their pain and redemption in song. Both are products of the West Coast and both have dug deep into their own stories. Many are sizing up Daniel’s ‘Rollin’ On’ and Wyatt’s ‘Neon Cross’ (produced by Shooter Jennings) as among the cream of 2020. These are candid, complimentary conversations.
Artist: Cold Chocolate
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Gone”
Album: Down the Line
Release Date: June 26, 2020
In Their Words: “‘Gone’ was the last track we wrote for the album and will be the final track on it. Of all the songs off the new record it actually has the most similar of a vibe to our previous recordings, tapping into that high-energy bluegrass feel that we love. But we really ended up fusing a lot of genres within this short song, stretching from bluegrass and hillbilly country to disco funk. The song started out in rehearsals as an upbeat country groove with some simple, cheeky lyrics, and we immediately gravitated toward its playfulness. When we brought it into the studio, Sam Kassirer, who played keys on the record, threw this cool gospel organ on top which heightened the intrigue of the song tenfold. We’re delighted by how it all came together and psyched for its release!” — Ethan Robbins and Ariel Bernstein, Cold Chocolate
Photo courtesy of Cold Chocolate
