ANNOUNCING: Only Vans with Bri Bagwell Joins BGS Podcast Network

BGS is excited to announce the addition of Only Vans with Bri Bagwell to the BGS Podcast Network! Beginning today, May 20, the show – which is recorded from inside Bagwell’s tour van – will be distributed and promoted by BGS alongside hit podcasts such as Toy Heart and Basic Folk, and joining the ranks of fellow artist-hosted, artist-focused chat and performance podcast, the Travis Book Happy Hour. Only Vans is a podcast unlike any other, not just because it is recorded in a van (or Class C RV, to be specific), but because its conversation topics are anything but ordinary.

“[It’s] a podcast where I chat with my friends in the music community, from my van, about things that two buddies in a van would chat about,” Bagwell explains on her website. “It’s really insider info, like an Only Fans subscription… but clothes stay on (usually) and formality goes out the window.”

The banter between Bagwell and her friends and guests sounds and feels organic, because it is! With fifteen years of road experience, Bagwell hosts with ease, navigating topics that non-artists hosts perhaps can’t; and in that often unexplored landscape of crazy road stories, fond personal festival memories, and deep inner fears and beliefs, fans of the podcast say they really appreciate the raw honesty, insight, and hilarity that comes out in every Only Vans episode.

The first episode to be distributed by BGS features Bagwell’s friend and mentor, famed lead singer of Cross Canadian Ragweed, Cody Canada and his wife/manager Shannon. They cover a wide variety of topics like racial injustice, partying, the metal music scene, and shifting priorities after having kids. (Listen here.)

Bagwell, named Texas Female Artist of the Decade by the Texas Regional Radio Report, is a force to be reckoned with from her rousingly fun live performances to trailblazing recordings garnering her 12 #1 singles on Texas Country Radio and counting. People Magazine raves, “Bagwell increasingly finds her name being mentioned amongst country music truth-tellers such as Ashley McBryde and Morgan Wade.” Her latest album, Corazón y Cabeza (Heart and Head), has already spawned three #1 singles, “Trenches,” “Free Man,” and “Hello Highway,” the latter inspiring her 2023 summer tour across 10 states and Mexico.

In a time of growth for the BGS family – having just launched our curated email newsletter, GOOD COUNTRY, earlier this year – it’s especially exciting to bring on this new podcast, to welcome Bri Bagwell as a contributor, and to bring these intimate, fun, and one-of-a-kind interviews to our followers, listeners, and fans. Subscribe to Only Vans on Apple Podcasts here – or wherever you prefer to get podcasts. New episodes drop every other Monday!


 

Cody & Shannon Canada on Only Vans with Bri Bagwell

(Editor’s Note: BGS is proud to announce the addition of Only Vans with Bri Bagwell to the BGS Podcast Network! Read more about our newest podcast coming on board here.)

In the latest episode of Only Vans, Texas country artist and host Bri Bagwell chats with friend, mentor, and famed lead singer of Cross Canadian Ragweed, Cody Canada and his wife/manager Shannon in the bus, covering a wide variety of topics like racial injustice, partying, the metal music scene, and shifting priorities after having kids.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFYAMAZON • MP3

Find Cody’s music, tour dates, and merchandise here.

Only Vans would like to thank CH Lonestar Promo for being the best merch company in all the land!

Intro music: “Free Man” by Bri Bagwell
Outro music: “Elle” by Cody Canada & The Departed


 

10 Tunes for Your End of Summer Road Trip

Summer’s pretty much over, but there’s still time to get in one last road trip to see Uncle Phil and Aunt May down Pennsyltucky way. So roll down the windows of the minivan, bluetooth your Spotify into the entertainment system, and hit the highway to this playlist of 10 Tunes for Your End of Summer Road Trip.

New Grass Revival: "On the Boulevard"
Guitarist Pat Flynn wrote this one as the title cut for the first of four albums recorded by the band’s last lineup (that included Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, and John Cowan). It’s a nice, easy cooker that’s perfect to get you off the onramp and onto the road.

The Allman Brothers: "Jessica"
Some 40+ years since the Allmans dropped this in 1973, it’s still one of the greatest country instrumentals of all time. Dicky Betts wrote the record for his daughter with Les Dudek helping out on the bridge. Air guitaring is allowed in the passenger’s seat only.

Little Feat: "Let It Roll"
The title cut from the first post-Lowell album from the Feat, this one simply smokes, from the opening B3 spread by Billy Payne to the funky horn riffs to the song’s drive-off-the-cliff ending. Please don’t follow.

Robert Earl Keen: "Amarillo Highway"
If you’re going on a road trip, who would be the first Americana artist you’d invite? I’d invite Robert Earl Keen to sing while I drive (and beat four-on-the-floor with my free foot).

Dave Dudley: "Six Days on the Highway"
Earl Green and Muscle Shoals songwriter Carl Montgomery wrote this one for Dave Dudley. It’s a little known fact that going on a family road trip without playing this song once is illegal in 29 states and the District of Columbia.

Junior Brown: "Highway Patrol"
Dave’s the rebel and Junior’s the law — and, funny enough, they sound almost the same. One of the best songs ever recorded by a dude who easily has the best guitar collection on the planet.

John Hiatt: "Memphis in the Meantime"
Any excuse to include John Hiatt in a playlist is an acceptable excuse … except no excuse is needed. This tune rocks as hard as any he’s ever recorded.

The Band: "Endless Highway"
This is a song that was batted around the Band for a number of years but never got a proper airing. Capitol Records does us a favor by including it on a rarities record and we inject it into the proceedings, right between John Hiatt and Cross Canadian Ragweed.

Cross Canadian Ragweed: "Highway 377"
A road trip without at least one sinister song is like a campfire without a ghost story. Herein, we travel down the dark road that is “Highway 377,” courtesy of the dearly departed Cross Canadian Ragweed.

Homer & Jethro: "Freda on the Freeway"
Every sinister song needs a silly antidote and this one’s perfect. Country humorist Don Bowman recorded this one in ‘66, but his musical brethren Homer & Jethro bring this one home to roost.

Save the full playlist to your Spotify account right here.


Photo credit: Princess Stand in the Rain / Foter / CC BY-NC