Tag: elton john

BGS 5+5: Ron Pope

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Ron Pope
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: Bone Structure (March 6, 2020)

Which artist has influenced you most and how?

Springsteen has always been my North Star. First of all, he’s a band guy in solo artist’s clothes. I’ve always felt the same way; I meant to be in a band of equal partners (and that’s how I started), but in the end, I was unwilling to cede the control necessary to do that forever if I was going to have to do the lion’s share of the work. That was a tough thing for me to admit to myself, but I figured it couldn’t be that wrong if Bruce did it.

I guess it was also coming from that same kind of blue-collar background and trying to tell the stories of how real people around me were living their lives. Bruce showed me that a songwriter could reflect the world they came from and represent those who would otherwise go unrepresented. I never had to learn that, because he was doing it before I was born; I’ve always known that was possible.

What’s your favorite memory from being onstage?

The first time we played at Irving Plaza in New York my grandparents happened to be in town. They hadn’t seen me play in years. The last show they’d attended was at a shady club in Miami where there were maybe six paying customers and we’d been instructed by the management to pay some tweaker named “Speedy” to watch our van. At this sold-out show in New York with over a thousand people in attendance, my grandparents were pretty wide-eyed. At some point during the show, I called them out and had a spotlight thrown into the balcony. The whole crowd went wild. I’ll never forget my grandmother standing up there waving down at the crowd like the queen. My grandpa (who is not an easy man to impress) was very stoked. I’ve never been happier on stage than in that moment.

What other art forms inform your music?

I am constantly reading. I can’t imagine attempting to be a writer if you’re not an avid reader. I have to put words in to get words out. Recently, I’ve been on an autobiography kick. I just finished Elton’s. Now I’m reading Presidents of War. Thinking about rereading On The Road next.

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

My philosophy is simple: Just don’t stop. When everyone around you quits, just keep on going and eventually, you’ll get where you’re hoping to go. When I was starting out, I wasn’t the best musician in my social circle (not by a mile), but as each of them decided it was too hard to keep going, I refused to surrender. That’s what made the difference.

What is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

My wife and I do a silly cooking show on Instagram that we’ve dubbed “Frankie’s Test Kitchen.” (In theory, we’re teaching Frankie, our twenty-month old, how to cook; in practice, she just tries to eat fistfuls of flour and chases the dog.) We always want to have our musician friends over, but it’s rare that any of us are in town at the same time. In 2020, I’d like to find one day where I can get everyone to the house all at once and do a big Sunday supper like my grandma used to do, with my homemade meatballs and red sauce.

Everyone who’s ever gotten a dinner invite to my house could come (including Lilly Hiatt, Lauren Morrow, Michaela Anne, Katie Schecter, Kirby Brown, the Trotters from The War and Treaty, Struggle Jennings, Caroline Spence, Alanna Royale… I could do this all day; I’m forever inviting people to dinner at the house). So rather than some dream pairing where I make coq au vin for Jimi Hendrix, I just want all these people who I know and like to come eat a dish that usually makes people smile. And if you happen to talk to them, somebody tell Bruce and Patti we’re saving them two seats!

WATCH: Yola, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Yola
Hometown: Bristol, England
Song: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
Album: Walk Through Fire: Deluxe Edition
(Featuring “I Don’t Wanna Lie” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”)

In Their Words: “Can’t believe it has only been a year since we announced Walk Through Fire, working with Dan Auerbach and the team has been an absolute dream and [I am] so proud of everything we have achieved. So many great songs from that session didn’t make the final cut, including ‘I Don’t Wanna Lie.’ I’m a HUGE Elton fan and we’ve been playing ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ on the tour and wanted to cut a version for this release, which Dan also produced! And then for Elton to personally premiere it, well that is the icing on the cake!” — Yola

Photo credit: Daniel Jackson

Brit Pick: Roseanne Reid

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Artist: Roseanne Reid
Hometown: Edinburgh, Scotland
Latest Album: Trails

Sounds like: In her authentic Americana accent: Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams. In her home-grown voice: A folky Eddi Reader

Why You Should Listen: With her stripped-back style Roseanne Reid emphatically demonstrates how less is more. In a voice that evokes East Tennessee rather than her native east coast of Scotland, Reid delves into the human condition without a surplus word or note throughout her debut album, Trails. Teddy Thompson’s production hones the sparseness to the point that you could be sitting on her porch listening to song after song.

Reid sounds as if she’s been singing roots Americana for years. Take ‘Amy,’ where a very simple guitar line gives way to the aching regret of unrequited love. Lucinda Williams comes to mind here as does Gillian Welch on ‘Levi,’ wherein Reid offers a sympathetic shoulder to one rejected in love. But, be in no doubt, Reid is an original. She sings ‘Out in Space’ in a soft Scottish lilt.

If you need any endorsement before giving Reid a go, then how about Steve Earle? That’s him duetting on ‘Sweet Annie,’ a collaboration that occurred after Reid had attended one of his Camp Copperhead songwriting workshops. She can also already count Elton John, who has been playing her on his radio show, among her biggest fans.

Roseanne Reid has been immersed in music since learning guitar aged 12. Her dad is Craig Reid of The Proclaimers, whose record collection of country, folk, and gospel enthused young Roseanne. But it was Mum who taught her to play guitar.

In spite of her famous father, Roseanne went her own way, starting on the local folk club circuit, often open mic nights. Reid’s unique form of Americana may soon have fans on both sides of the pond very willing to walk at least five hundred miles to hear her. In fact, she has just been announced as an official showcasing artist at Americanafest in Nashville in September.

Photo credit: Bianca Cecilla

Six of the Best: Weird and Wonderful Bluegrass Covers

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

It’s a big month for bluegrass covers. Chatham County Line revealed some of their biggest musical influences (and favourite songs to soundcheck to) when they released Sharing The Covers, their eighth studio album, with arrangements of Beck, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Tom Petty and Wilco, to name a few. It’s a record that will present the warm glow of familiarity to all those pickers who cut their banjo teeth on Beatles and Stones songs – and which among us has never heard “Norwegian Wood” floating across the festival field at 2am?

Meanwhile The Cleverlys – the reigning kings of the bluegrass pop cover – are putting the Beyoncé back in bluegrass on their latest album, not to mention the Bieber and the LMFAO. Call them a novelty act, call them comedians, but there’s plenty of merit in their musicality – and there’s something about their Ozark twist on Kelis’s “Milkshake” that’s going to stay with you ’til the day you die.

For more envelope-pushing, boundary-breaking, what-were-they-thinking-please-don’t-let-it-stop covers, check out our picks below.

“Super Freak” (Rick James) — Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby

This one’s a winner from the very first line. Sure, Ricky Skaggs has never let his own freak flag fly, but hearing him sing the words “She’s a very kinky girl” somehow gives you hope that one day, the divide in America might be healed. It’s a nice antidote to all those bluegrass songs about dear, dead old mothers, and one you suspect might have brought on their demise in the first place. Hang on in there for the slick modulation in the final instrumental…

“Price Tag” (Jessie J) — Keller Williams & The Travelin’ McCourys

Presumably this is a song that resonates with bluegrassers – since no one’s in this music for the ker-ching ker-ching or the ber-bling ber-bling. Plus, if the sound of Jason Carter jumping in on the chorus to sing ‘it ain’t about the money-money-money’ doesn’t flood you with instant joy then you may want to get your frontal lobe checked out. We picture him practicing his harmonies as he bumps along on the bus next to Del, trying to explain who Jessie J is. Actually that raises the question – how the heck did he know?

“Piece of My Heart” (Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns) — John Hartford

Notable not so much for its inclusion on Hartford’s 1984 album Gum Canoe, but for the rare music video he later shot to accompany it. The man might have been a creative genius on a par with xxx, but there’s something about his black-box realization of this ’67 soul number that’s creepy AF. The Beckettian close-ups of his lips and eyes are made even more sinister by his customary bowler-hat and vest, which here take on a distinctly Clockwork Orange feel. “Break it! Break another little piece of my heart now baby,” sings the dead-eyed droog, as he contemplates his next bout of ultraviolence.

“Honky Cat” (Elton John) — Country Gazette

How can a bluegrass cover be even better than the original – especially when the original is Elton fricking John? And yet this funky upbeat string version was surely what John and Bernie Taupin really heard in their head when they composed the song in 1972. Alan Munde, Byron Berline and the boys were quick to recognize the song’s “redneck” sensibility, recording their cover within the year on Don’t Give Up Your Day Job.

“Stayin’ Alive” (Bee Gees) — Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang

Sure, covering the Bee Gees’ most famous disco number isn’t new. But the mean-and-dirty take Claypool manages to get on it sure is. The Primus bassist manages to turn the ultimate floorfiller – a song as familiar and family-friendly as your dad’s station wagon – into something frantically alien. It’s compelling, unnerving, and completely unclassifiable. Somebody help him please.

“Downtown” (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) — LBB & The Fancies

If you’re going to parody a major rapper’s already-pretty-nutso music video – one that includes a guy riding a chariot made of four motorcycles – you’re going to have to bring it. But fair play, Laura Bell Bundy did just that. Her loving bluegrass homage to Macklemore’s epic has everything from flat-footing and line-dancing to a honey hanging off a tractor. Even better, when they sing “whitewalls on the wheels like mayonnaise” there’s actually someone eating mayonnaise. Macklemore didn’t have that.

 

WATCH: Mile Twelve, “Rocket Man”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Mile Twelve
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Rocket Man”
Release Date: September 26, 2018

In Their Words: “We wanted to explore covering material outside of the bluegrass genre, and our bassist Nate suggested Elton John’s classic ‘Rocket Man.’ When we listened to the original recording we loved all the twists and turns in the arrangement, all the effects and quirks that create such a surreal soundscape. We were excited to try to recreate that on our acoustic instruments. When we started playing it live crowds really responded, so we decided we had to make a recording of it. We really hope this video helps the song reach more people who will connect to our version.” — Mile Twelve

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Taking the Wheel: A Visit With Rhonda Vincent

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In no small part because of her bubbly personality, Rhonda Vincent has befriended some of the biggest names in bluegrass and country music. Dolly Parton asked her to sing harmony for an upcoming film soundtrack. Bernie Taupin gave her free reign to reimagine “Please” on an Elton John tribute album. Bluegrass heroes Bobby and Sonny Osborne set aside a 10-year break of performing together to appear on her newest album and DVD, Live at the Ryman. And she’s a frequent guest on the cable series Larry’s Country Diner, where she displays her talent for singing classic country among a roster of stars from the golden era.

Yet, beyond her upbeat demeanor, the real reason these legendary artists are reaching out is simple: Vincent is in top form with her musicianship and singing ability. In concert she glides to the high notes without straining, occasionally boosted by a little jump. She easily trades off between mandolin and fiddle, although she’s just as likely to let a band member from The Rage take the spotlight.

Off stage, Vincent maintains the tireless work ethic that’s carried her from being a child prodigy in Missouri to a Grammy-winning artist. (She picked up the 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for a live album, All the Rage: Volume 1.) She leads her business with longtime husband, Herb Sandker, and keeps her hands on all facets of the industry – and now that means the steering wheel of the bus, too.

A few days after performing at her family’s Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Queen City, Missouri, Vincent invited the Bluegrass Situation into her home studio in Nashville.

On stage, you appear to be so comfortable when you talk to the crowd. Why is that important for you to do?

I love that first of all. It’s something fun for me. It’s not something fun for everyone, I realize. But that is such a part of what we do. I love meeting the people. I think my first trip to Europe was to Finland in ’92-’94 or something like that with my family. And I’m thinking, That’s going to be such a different experience. I’m thinking I’m going to Mars or something. The terrain’s going to be different and the people are going to look a different way or something, I don’t know. I got there and it’s like “This looks like Missouri.”

But I found out the people were so special. The places may look the same, but the people are what can really make it special. And I like making it an experience. People are shocked because we meet and greet after every show, and they’re like “Oh my gosh, I actually get to talk to you?” Or they come and they can’t believe it and then they don’t say anything.

And then beyond that it’s not just a show, it’s not just a meet and greet, but now with Facebook and social media I get to stay in touch with them. Not that I can answer everyone, but I have set aside a little bit of time. Usually right before I go to sleep I have about 30 minutes and I try to answer messages or respond to people.

There’s a blind girl that lives in Portland, Oregon, and she sent me a message asking how to tune her mandolin. So I took my phone and made a YouTube video and [mock playing] ding, ding, ding, ding. I said “Cody, here’s E…” And I went through that and posted that and sent that to her. And from that, she flew all the way from Oregon to my family’s festival and she performed on stage with us at Sally Mountain last week. So it’s about relationships and loving these people because they love you so much and they love the music.


What is the audition process like to be in your band? How do you pick your musicians?

Mostly I guess I would see them. Like Hunter Berry, I saw him with Melvin Goins. What struck me about him, once again, he made himself accessible. He was backstage at the festival in Eminence, Missouri, and I would see him there every year, jamming for hours before they ever went on stage. Then he was with Doyle Lawson, the same thing. Then when I had an opening on fiddle, I called him up.

First of all their style has to fit the music and Hunter has that Benny Martin feel. He has that grit, and I loved that about his fiddle style. Mike Cleveland was in the band before Hunter, very similar styles, so the style had to fit. But just always being aware. I love to get out at SPBGMA or IBMA, wherever we are at festivals, and hear young talent because you just never know. …

It’s nice that you can be the one to make those decisions. You don’t have to say, “All right let me get back to my lawyer and my label.” This is kind of a family business for you.

It is, yeah. It’s what you see is what you get. The Live at the Ryman CDs came in recently. I went by myself and loaded up 6,000 CDs and loaded them in my car to bring them to the warehouse. The guy’s like, “Don’t you have somebody to do that?” And it’s like, “Yeah I do, but this is a good workout program.” And there’s a satisfaction going, “Wow! Look how nice I stacked those, and look how nice this is.” And you know what, I’m in charge of inventory.

Back to your question about musicians… it wasn’t always so easy to find musicians. When you’re starting out and you don’t have a lot of dates, I couldn’t seem to keep the band members. And it used to be where the agency would call and they’d go “Band of the week, band of the week.” So I heard this over and over. And also there’s being a female. I had a guy that I called to audition once. We set up an audition; he called back an hour later and he goes, “My wife’s not going to let me travel with you.” I mean, I’ve been married it’ll be 35 years on Christmas Eve, so I know where I stand. You know, we have fun, but there’s a line, and we’re not going to cross that line, no one is. If you do, you wouldn’t be here.

Early on, I’d be like, “Oh my goodness, I want to keep these musicians.” Or if there was an issue, I was really learning how to deal with that. Now as I have gotten more experience, I’ve been in the business longer and my tolerance level is gone. If you’re drinking now before the show, you’re fired. But you don’t have that at first. There’s a timeline for that. It’s like trying to get musicians, then trying to keep musicians, and I’ve been through all of that.

Another thing, I had done two mainstream country albums [in the ‘90s] and for the longest time, it’s like, “Are you country or are you bluegrass?” I was clearly playing bluegrass, but I was coming from that, and so I took a mentality of always proving yourself. I felt like I had to prove that yes I am bluegrass. Or [hearing] “Well you’re not going to stick with this.” One time my whole band quit, and people were like “Oh I guess you’ll give up.” It’s like “No, that’s when I call better musicians.” Thanks to my father always saying, “Don’t let anyone say you can’t do something. You just figure out how to do it.”

Did all the band quit within a week’s time?

On the same night.

Wow.

It was right after we won [IBMA] Entertainer of the Year. I think that was 2001, maybe, yeah. Then there’s the rumors: “Oh she’s hard to deal with, she’s impossible, she did this” So this is the best one I heard and I heard it a lot: That I threw an ashtray at Mike Cleveland, who is blind. That doesn’t even make any sense. Number one, there’s no smoking on the bus so we don’t have an ashtray – or if it was a beer or whatever, I don’t know. I’ve heard that a lot. I mean, it was sort of ridiculous, it’s like “OK, it’s untrue, but whatever you think.”

I’ve worked with so many different things, and different attitudes. It was like, “Oh my gosh, what is the problem this week?” When that changed, I regrouped and for the longest time I would sit there and go, “There’s no issues, there’s no problems. What’s going to happen?” It took a long time to finally relax and go “Great people, great musicians, and how awesome not to have some sort of a meltdown every week about something.” So yeah I am not immune to that and I have been around that, but the more that you progress – now don’t try that with me. Because I’m not going to forget it. There’s not going to be a tolerance for it.

I think leadership comes from the top down, and if you’re out there working really hard and meeting those expectations too, other people will rise to the occasion.

That’s true. And that comes with the fact that I don’t ask anyone to do something that I’m not willing to do myself. In fact I’m even working on getting my CDL’s for the bus.

Is that the driving license?

Yep. Yeah, I never in my life thought I would do that, but we have the electronic logs now, and we have a driver first of all, and then Mickey [Harris, the bass player] is the second driver. But when we went to Connecticut, and they have the timelines of how long they can drive, we nearly ran out of hours. I asked the rest of the guys and nobody was interested. And then I thought, “If I’m willing to ask them, I need to be able to do that myself.” I’ve been in driver training.

Really!

I have my permit and everything. I’m excited, I am so excited! It’s so empowering, it’s like, “If I want to go somewhere on my own bus, I’m going to be able to do that!”

Photo courtesy of Rhonda Vincent

That Ain’t Bluegrass: Mile Twelve

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Mile Twelve
Song: “Rocket Man” (originally by Elton John)

How did you guys decide to work up this song?

Evan Murphy: It was actually Nate [Sabat’s] idea, which is funny, because I don’t think he remembers that, so I should just take credit for it. [Laughs] We had been talking a lot about wanting to do a pop cover, at some point, just because so many bluegrass bands that we like have done that. We were looking for something that had an interesting arrangement to it, something that had parts that could be mimicked by acoustic instruments. Nate suggested “Rocket Man” one time while we were in the car and, while we were all listening to it, we realized that it had these different memorable motifs that happened throughout it and we though it could be really cool.

I remember it was last August when we were easing David [Benedict] into the group, he was flying up from Nashville to hang out, do some rehearsing, and see if it was a good fit, and we felt bad, because everything that we practiced with him would be a song that we wrote — so that would get tedious for him. We thought, to be fair to David, we should try to do something that none of us had done yet, something totally fresh, to see what it feels like. So we picked “Rocket Man.”

You mentioned other bluegrass bands covering pop songs — which is kind of a tradition in bluegrass. Why do you think that is?

A lot of musical genres do covers across genres, but bluegrass has such a specific aesthetic to it — in terms of what instruments are involved, what they sound like, and what their roles are. Bluegrass tends to be more codified than other genres. “Jazz” is such a big word, and “rock” is such a big word, so if you said that Queen did a rock ‘n’ roll cover of Elvis, that may not mean anything, because you’re using a big, catch-all genre like “rock.”

But to say that someone did a bluegrass cover of something tells you something really quickly. It tells you, most likely, what instruments were involved, that they don’t have a drummer, and that most of the instruments aren’t going to be plugged in. There’s just something inherent about the limitations of bluegrass as this acoustic form of music that doesn’t usually use percussion. So, if you say that someone covered a song from outside of the genre, instantly you have this feeling like, “Oh, I want to hear that. How did they do that?” I think that’s why it’s interesting to people.

Rather than changing the original to make it a bluegrass song, you arranged your version to basically mimic the original recording, but with a bluegrass band. How did you decide to arrange it this way?

That’s the question when a bluegrass band covers a pop song. Are you bluegrass-ifying it? Or are you trying to create a note-for-note recreation of it? There’s a band called Iron Horse that covered “Rocket Man,” and I was aware of their video of it for years — long before Nate suggested we cover it. I said to [Mile Twelve], “I’m happy to cover ‘Rocket Man.’ It would be a lot of fun to do at festivals and stuff like that, but just so you know, there’s this really popular video on YouTube of another bluegrass band doing ‘Rocket Man.’” I mean, it has like 1.3 million views on it. It’s a popular video.

The first question they asked was if they bluegrass-ified it or not. And they do. The band said, “Oh, then we’re good, because they do a bluegrass version of it and that’s not what we would do.” I was a little cautious, thinking, “Okay, we’re going to cover this song that’s already been popularly covered by another bluegrass band.” But for us, I think the point of doing pop music on bluegrass instruments is to not bluegrass-ify it.

There’s nothing wrong with doing that. We did an Alan Jackson song, “Ace of Hearts,” on our album, which we totally bluegrass-ified. With something like “Rocket Man,” it’s so well arranged; it has those spooky spaceship noises and the crashes in it. What’s so cool for people to listen to is to hear the things they recognize from the original arrangement. People will come up to us after they’ve heard the song and say very specific things like, “I loved when the fiddle did the spaceship noise.” People’s ears are catching these things that wouldn’t be there if you were to bluegrass-ify it.

You know that ain’t bluegrass, right?

[Laughs] Ain’t no part of nothin’? You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that to us. It may just be that we aren’t playing the most traditional festivals in the world. I definitely remember one time when we got an email back from a place that said we weren’t traditional enough for them. But we’ve mostly had the opposite experience.

We played at this place called Bill’s Pickin’ Parlor in South Carolina — this place is super old-school, pictures all over the wall of all these country and bluegrass stars. I was getting nervous, thinking we’re the dinky, Yankee band that’s playing polite, northern bluegrass for this audience. I remember specifically during “Rocket Man” thinking, “Oh, God.” I wasn’t getting a good read off of the audience. Then after, during the set break, a lot of people told us they loved our version of “Rocket Man.” Honestly, I feel like we mostly get the reaction of people being totally into it. It’s gotten to the point now where, if we come off stage and someone starts a sentence with “I loved …,” I’m 99 percent sure they’re going to fill it in with “your version of ‘Rocket Man.’” It’s a good problem to have, I guess. I think it’s the most popular thing we’ve done.

MIXTAPE: Jillette Johnson’s Piano Pioneers

Posted on by Editor

Piano players aren’t as common in roots music as pickers are, so we asked Jillette Johnson to compile a list of her favorites for us. The keys-tickling singer/songwriter’s new album, All I Ever See in You Is Me, pretty well indicates that she’s on her way to joining this list herself.

Molly Drake – “The First Day”

There is no sweeter, more poignant sound than that of Molly Drake, Nick Drake’s mother. She sounds like my childhood, chasing bunnies in my grandparents’ yard in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, while my aunts, grandparents, and parents ate tuna fish sandwiches on the patio and talked about the weather. This song, in particular, has taken me through many changes in my life, from ending relationships to moving to new states to simply starting new days. 

Aretha Franklin – “Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)”

What a voice. And, by voice, I don’t just mean what happens when she opens her mouth. Aretha Franklin is, hands down, my favorite piano player. She plays like she sings. Without apologies and, simply, better than anyone else ever could, and perhaps ever will. 

Randy Newman – “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”

I first saw Randy Newman play when I was 16, at an ASCAP convention, where he was the guest of honor. He sat for two hours playing his songs and talking about them for long intervals in between. That day changed everything about songwriting for me. This song, I had already heard from my favorite movie of all time Beaches. Bette Midler, who plays Cecelia Bloom, sings a beautiful version of it. It’s one of my favorite moments in the movie. But honestly, once I heard Randy sing it live in that room, I fell madly in love with him, and don’t think anyone can hold a candle to his recording of it. 

Carole King – “So Far Away”

I can’t think of a single person, album, or song, for that matter, that has influenced me more as a songwriter than this one. This — and she — taught me everything, starting at a very young age. I’m so grateful for it.

Elton John — “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”

Favorite Elton song. I was already a superfan, but when my childhood friend, Chelsea, put this on a mix she made for me when we were in middle school, I became forever addicted to it. I listened to it every morning on the bus going to school and every afternoon coming home.  

Leon Russell — “Tight Rope”

Saucy, groovy, wicked excellence. 

Tom Waits — “Martha”

He released Closing Time when he was 23, I think, which means he must have written “Martha” before then, which doesn’t make any sense. “Martha” is a story that only an old man would be able to tell. My best friend and I often drive around Nashville together, singing this song at the top of our lungs. 

Billy Joel — “Summer, Highland Falls”

I grew up on Billy Joel, and this has always been one of my favorite songs of his. He taught me not to be afraid of wordy mouthfuls of lyrics, as long as they tell the story in a way you can understand. My brother also, coincidentally, went to West Point for college, which is in Highland Falls, New York. So I blasted this song every time I drove up to bribe him to do my physics homework for me in exchange for donuts. 

Tori Amos — “Winter”

My friend Jon once said to me that he believes music can be reincarnated in people as generations pass. If that’s true, in my wildest dreams, I might be a reincarnation of Tori Amos. The way she writes, sings, and plays makes so much sense to me. It feels like my pain and my happiness, when I listen to her pain and her happiness. I know she makes the rest of the world feel that way, too, which is part of why she’s brilliant. And this song gets me every time. 

Ben Folds Five — “Boxing”

Ben is the only person I’ve ever “fan girled” over. I was 17 and saw him in line at Starbucks in New York City. I walked up to him, thanked him for having such a big influence on me, and darted out before he could even respond. My big brother got me into him when I was 11 or 12, and I ate up everything he ever did from then on. 

Fiona Apple — “Paper Bag”

Now if I had the opportunity, I would definitely fan girl over Fiona. I dreamed of being her from the minute Criminal hit the airwaves. I’ve watched that music video thousands of times. I had a hard time picking just one song. 

Rufus Wainwright — “Poses”

If you are a man and you sound anything like Rufus Wainwright, I will probably fall in love with you, at least a little bit. He really sunk into my skull after I turned 20, and changed the way that I thought about melody. He’s got this lilting, grand romance to him that few people other than Rufus can pull off. 

Father John Misty — “I Went to the Store One Day”

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I had to listen to Father John Misty … I’ll admit I was late to the game and fairly resistant, just because I live under the constant, bull-headed assumption that modern music is less good than the stuff I grew up on. But I’ll be damned if Father John Misty isn’t amazing. This song is beautiful, jarring, painful, and lives in a world all its own. 

Photo credit: Anna Webber

Squared Roots: Tift Merritt on the Fearlessness of Linda Ronstadt

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In the world of folk-rock, a few artists reap the lion’s share of mentions, with Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Jackson Browne, among them. One of the great voices of the genre, though, is Linda Ronstadt. As a singer and song collector, she is all but unrivaled — a point most of her peers would agree with. Starting in the mid-1960s as a member of the Stone Poneys and, later, as a solo artist, Ronstadt made a name for herself on the marquees of folk clubs and rock arenas, alike, thanks to albums like Hand Sown … Home Grown (which some consider the first alt-country album by a female), Silk Purse, Heart Like a Wheel, and many more. Her artistry recognized no boundaries as she recorded with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, as part of Trio with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and in Spanish. In 2011, however, she announced her retirement brought on by a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

“I don’t have any great, huge proclamations to begin with, except that I adore Linda Ronstadt,” singer/songwriter Tift Merritt says with a laugh. And, really, that’s enough. From her debut album, Bramble Rose, to her latest release, Stitch of the World, Merritt has attempted to follow in the footsteps of her musical heroes — women like Harris and Ronstadt — who have blazed a trail of feminine fearlessness. By pretty much all accounts, she has succeeded — a point most of her peers would agree with.

Are you a student of Linda’s work for your own artistry or just a fan for your own enjoyment?

You know, I wanted to talk about Linda because she’s not singing anymore because she has Parkinson’s, so it’s almost more important to talk about her now because of that. I think what we need to talk about with Linda Ronstadt is that, at the height of the singer/songwriter movement, she was the one headlining stadiums with the Eagles and Elton John. I think it’s really important to talk about a woman doing that. She was bringing all these songwriters she knew and loved, and taking their songs and singing them. She was on the cover of Time magazine. She was a girl next door and a member of the band with a very understated sexuality, but she was also an absolute star and a commercial success. I think we tend to think about women with guitars singing earthy rock ‘n’ roll as coffee shop acts or something that’s going to fall apart in your hands. And Linda Ronstadt was kicking everyone’s ass. [Laughs]

[Laughs] What’s interesting is that there’s a quote of hers from 1999, in which she said, “I always mean to be a singer, not a star.” So, even though she achieved that level, like you said, it wasn’t necessarily her goal.

I think that’s why it’s important to talk about, too. Because she is an artist. I think she had a complicated relationship with her success and how she was viewed, sexually, and all of that. But she achieved success through her art. And I know that I first fell in love with Linda Ronstadt records when I was in my early 20s. In fact, when I made Bramble Rose, I wanted to make a record like [Emmylou Harris’s] Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town or I wanted to make a record like Heart Like a Wheel or Silk Purse or one of the early Bonnie Raitt records. Those first records were so raw and heartfelt and just penetrated your bones and brought tears to your eyes.

I remember that was said in the press release for my first record, and one of my first reviews kind of made fun of me for liking Linda Ronstadt. I thought, “Oh my God. This person doesn’t get it.” For me, all of those women, and Linda Ronstadt, especially … this was in the late ’90s or early 2000s. I sort of came of age in the ’90s. Madonna was on MTV in the ’80s. And I needed some female role modes who were more like me, who had something to say, who were not intent on acting outrageously, but really wanted to be storytellers. And who had a lot to say and who were masters of their art. You can tell from Linda Ronstadt’s discography and her work as a writer and a singer, she’s a student of her craft. But she always manages to look so cool in all the pictures of her! And she was in a band, too! You navigate this world of dudes traveling on the road, and she did that with so much grace.

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like, in listening to her and reading about her, to me, her fearlessness as a singer …

Uh huh. Absolutely!

… both in song choices and vocal delivery. You can hear so much in her voice.

She’s totally fearless. Maybe that’s the source of her power because she’s so powerful, as well. I’ve sung along with those records … I had a break up and I ended up putting on those records to comfort myself and I was right back there. I’ve been singing along to those records for such a long time, and her voice is an unbelievable instrument. Unbelievable. It’s silken and velvet, and also as powerful as steel. And it’s fierce. The effortlessness with which she can belt at the top of her range, then go low … any melody is so lucky to end up in her hands. [Laughs]

[Laughs] What does it take for a singer to do what she did — both in terms of breaking down as many genre barriers as she did and finding her way into songs she didn’t write, but might as well have? They sounded like they were fully coming from her.

Right. They were realized through her. I don’t know her, personally, at all. But my impression is that it’s a combination of open-heartedness and intelligence and that fearlessness where you are singing with your heart on the line. Period.

Yeah. You find your way in and bring everybody along with you.

Mmm-hmm.

The other thing I feel like … her identification as a singer and, later, a producer … she was no less revered and respected just because she wasn’t a songwriter.

No. I know.

Except for with the guy who reviewed your record. [Laughs] Do you think that’s changed at all? These days, is being a songwriter, too, a huge part of the credibility factor?

I don’t know. I think the world has room for so many different types of careers. I come at this as a writer. But music is such a powerful thing, and to be able to inhabit that … music is a physical and social medium. To be open enough to let that run through you, it’s really an awesome thing.

I took some time off from touring and I missed that. It’s such a joyful letting go, even if it’s a sad song. And I think that’s what you hear when you listen to Linda Ronstadt. So much power coming through these tiny muscles in your neck. They’re so fragile. They’re the size of a dime. There’s an electric current that seems to jump out of her. Like a river of feeling coming out. I think it’s important to talk about, that music is not about a canvas on a wall. It’s not about words on a page. It is a physical, living, breathing type of media. And to be able to do that seamlessly … I love watching and hearing people who have that gift. And it is a gift.

That’s a great ending, right there.

Well, we just have to mention that “Long Long Time” and “Blue Bayou” are two of the greatest performances of great songs. Ever. [Laughs] That is all.

Tift Merritt photo courtesy of the artist. Linda Ronstadt photo courtesy of Carl Lender.

3×3: Winterpills on Elton John, E-Minor Drones, and a Love of Two Amys

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Artist: Philip Price (of Winterpills)
Hometown: Northampton, MA
Latest Album: Love Songs 
Personal Nicknames: Cranky

 

My favorite news is about things that don't happen.

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What was the first record you ever bought with your own money?
Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

How many unread emails or texts currently fill your inbox?
18,204

If your life were a movie, which songs would be on the soundtrack?
No songs, just an E-minor drone.

 

one template

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What brand of jeans do you wear?
Target

What's your go-to karaoke tune?
"Life on Mars" by David Bowie

If you were a liquor, what would you be?
Bloody Mary with extra tabasco and olives.

 

a double-yolker!

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Poehler or Schumer?
Both. Come on, don't do this!

Chocolate or vanilla?
Vanilla. But this only applies to me.

Blues or bluegrass?
Neither. Blue by Joni Mitchell.