Tag: fiddle

LISTEN: Bella White, “All I Gave to You”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Bella White
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada; now living in Nashville
Song: “All I Gave to You”
Album: Just Like Leaving
Release Date: September 25, 2020

In Their Words: “‘All I Gave To You’ feels explicitly gentle to me. However, underneath all that sweetness, there is definitely a tinge of heat. A little fire burning in 18-year-old Bella. I wrote it about being far away from something that I wanted so badly and for all I know, irrationally. A puppy love interest. It talks about wanting to be wanted, or better yet wondering if you’re wanted… a common theme in songwriting. Something I believe to be extremely human. Wanting to feel revered and liked. Especially by those that you’re fond of. In retrospect, I wrote ‘All I Gave To You’ when I was 18 and liked a boy, wasn’t sure if he liked me back, and then tried to be a poet about it.” — Bella White

Photo credit: Sheena Zillinski

LISTEN: Darlingside, “A Light on in the Dark”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Darlingside
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Song: “A Light on in the Dark”
Album: Fish Pond Fish
Release Date: October 9, 2020
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “The lyrics open with the question, ‘Are you swimming with the fish pond fish, looking for oceans in the saltlessness?’ When we wrote that, we were thinking about social atomization and the idea that people become trapped in these false enclosures — fish ponds of our own making. The world outside one’s home or even outside one’s self can become a darkness to be warded off and shut out, and I’ve certainly been guilty of turning inward and making the world even darker as a result. But I’m desperate to break that cycle and I think a lot of people are; a light can’t shine only on itself. When the pandemic started, suddenly that idea of shutting out the world became in one sense much more real, and we really did become trapped in our own physical little fish ponds — but I think it also heightened our desperation and willingness to turn outward, to really connect with one another wholeheartedly.

“The second verse pulls some ideas from a writing exercise in which I was given a prompt to write about being a ‘cellar master’ and so I wrote a sort of open love letter to my plumber, who embodies a number of traits and competences that I lack. The tune itself has been around since 2016 and was originally sung over an arpeggiating line from a little synthesizer called a Septavox. We ended up stripping away that synth part in favor of more traditional instruments, with the exception of one section where Auyon meticulously recreated the synth line using sped-up, plucked violin.” — Dave Senft, Darlingside

Photo credit: Robb Stey

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, “Fiddler’s Pastime”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

A handful of pages into her book, How To Do Nothing, artist, scientist, and researcher Jenny Odell makes the point that, under capitalism and the Protestant work ethic somewhere along the way modern human understanding of time transformed from being something that “passes” to being something that’s “spent.” Time is money. Where, in the not too distant rearview, time was not always considered a scarce resource or commodity. Instead of passing the time, we now spend it. 

Mid-pandemic, the distinction between these two perspectives feels even more important. To musicians — especially the working, middle-class set whose income hinges almost entirely on performing and creating constantly — the enforced global pausing of COVID-19 has allowed many the ability to refocus their priorities, retooling creativity to be something by which we all pass time, once again, instead of ravenously spending it. 

Any listener familiar with the bowstrokes of fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (Mile Twelve) will know this particular fiddler’s favorite pastime is… well, fiddle. The most tangible hallmark of her playing style may be her practice regimen, a preponderance of thought and intention evident in every last note. On her debut solo album, Fiddler’s Pastime, and especially its titular number, the oft-trod licks and turns of phrase she pulls on from those hours of study and rehearsal don’t feel canned or stilted, shoehorned into contexts to impress or beguile. They feel like simple outgrowths of Keith-Hynes’ tender-while-precise playing (and practice).

The musical backdrop of “Fiddler’s Pastime,” provided by Harry Clark (mandolin), Jeff Picker (bass), Jake Stargel (guitar), and producer Wes Corbett (banjo), acts as a cozy base layer of security and support for Keith-Hynes’ sometimes languid or teasingly lazy melodic interplay. But the cherry-on-top of this exquisite Bill Monroe via Kenny Baker cover is Laura Orshaw’s immaculate, identical-level twin fiddle. Awarded Fiddle Performer of the Year from the trad-facing Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPGBMA) in 2019, Orshaw’s fiddling remains dismally underrated on the national and international scenes. She shines here with her longtime friend and collaborator. 

The dots are seamlessly connected; between Keith-Hynes, Orshaw, and this superlative crackerjack band, Fiddler’s Pastime is one album well-suited for inclusion in our quiver of pastimes to take us through this pandemic isolation.

Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi

MIXTAPE: An Organic, Mountain Home Playlist

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

There’s never been a time when working people haven’t needed to lean on one another — and to look beyond the present day — just to get by, but the present moment often seems especially fraught. Nothing speaks better to each present moment than music, whether it’s making space for respite and healing or providing encouragement and inspiration for the struggle.

Here at Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records, our artists speak in unique, distinctive voices, yet each of these mostly southern artists have been unafraid to offer up songs that address the universal themes and social challenges of our times— whether they’re looking inward or to the outside world. — Ty Gilpin

(Editor’s Note: Find the entire playlist below)

Aaron Burdett — “Echoes”

“Echoes” is a product of this era, a processing of my own thoughts and feelings. I have questions about my surroundings and myself. It’s about current conditions but also about elements of our humanity that are centuries old. Uncertainty defines much of life in the year 2020 and I believe in recognizing and honoring it. Answers will not arrive until the right questions are asked. — Aaron Burdett

Tellico — “Courage for the Morning”

I was thinking about how people’s actions can inspire others, from the great revolutionary leaders to the everyday efforts of ordinary people. So, if you sing along to this song, you will be saying to yourself “I will walk, I will sing, I will bring a little courage for the morning.” That is something each one of us can take to heart and really think about: What is it that I can do to help another person in this world? — Anya Hinkle, Tellico

Balsam Range — “Richest Man”

Who has not thought about being the Richest Man? But what defines being rich? To have a life without regrets is easier said than done. The sacrifices made for gain can seldom be undone. The things lost and those won will only show with time. — Buddy Melton, Balsam Range

Thomm Jutz — “What’ll They Think Up Last”

When you enter John Hadley’s Fiddle Back Shack you are immediately in the moment and in a different world. I can’t think of any other house like his. Hadley is one of the most stunningly great creative minds I know — so is Peter Cooper. We gathered at Hadley’s funky Madison, Tennessee home one Sunday morning, talking over coffee. Hadley said something like “I wonder what they’ll think up last…” yeah, me too. — Thomm Jutz

The Gina Furtado Project — “The Things I Saw”

All throughout my childhood, I went to the river when I needed comfort of any kind. No matter what happened in my life, good or bad, the river was always the same. The plants and critters and smells and sounds became like old friends; always welcoming and beautiful in every way. I imagined a secret society whose mission was to fight hatred with love.

I’ve taken that little vision into my adult life, and enjoy trying to spot members of this secret society (and trying to be one myself!) They can be flowers, animals, sunsets, people you pass on the street — any person or thing that refuses to let darkness and negativity take over, and instead chooses to exude pure and unstoppable love. — Gina Furtado

Love Canon — “Things Can Only Get Better”

Love Canon has made a career from expertly covering classic ’70s and ’80s pop songs with acoustic instruments. In this Howard Jones hit, they found an anthem for trying times. — Ty Gilpin

Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters — “Brand New Start”

Asheville-based, Americana-leaning outfit the Honeycutters have built an increasingly storied career through their sensitive, skilled musicianship and the distinctive songwriting and voice of Amanda Platt. “Brand New Start” is about a scenario we could all use right about now. — Ty Gilpin

Balsam Range — “Trains I Missed”

Do we recognize when opportunities missed are really fate taking us in a better direction? How many times have you found yourself missing one train and taking another to right where you’re supposed to be? — Ty Gilpin

Zoe & Cloyd — “Where Do You Stand”

“Where Do You Stand” is a commentary on the state of our national discourse. Often, it’s the farthest ends of the political spectrum that make the news and it seems like inflammatory rhetoric is the only thing that gets heard these days. I’d like for us to remember that we’re all connected and are more alike than we are different, no matter who tries to convince us otherwise. For us to move forward, we have to find common ground on which to build a path toward a sustainable future. — John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd

Jeremy Garrett — “Circles;” “What Would We Find?”

“Circles” is a song I feel like many people can relate to. Sometimes you feel like you’re going in circles, but there is always light on the other side if you can just keep going and perhaps change your vantage point.

For “What Would We Find?” we were riding out through the Black Hills and it struck me how it looked as though, if you could take all the timber away and expose just the rocks and barren land, what would you find? It seemed as though there were hidden layers of possible treasures in the rocks under the timber — perhaps like relationships can be sometimes. I only had the idea and a basic melody, and had the opportunity to write with one of my heroes, Darrell Scott.  — Jeremy Garrett

Front Country — “Good Side”

Almost a capella from a group that has never shied from issues of social justice. Hailing from the west coast but now residing in Nashville, Front Country has consistently campaigned for marginalized members of our community. This powerful message is both personal and universal. — Ty Gilpin

Zoe & Cloyd — “Neighbor”

“Neighbor” is a song meant to inspire us to act with empathy, and to remember our shared humanity. It’s important to recognize our similarities rather than fear our differences. — Natalya Zoe Weinstein, Zoe & Cloyd

Aaron Burdett — “Rockefeller”

“Rockefeller” is, on the surface, just a fun song about wishing for more than you have and being envious of others. Dig a little deeper though, and the song brings in hints of income and economic inequality. But then the chorus is all about making do and being content with what you do have. So it’s a song with a few layers to jump back and forth between. — Aaron Burdett

The Gina Furtado Project — “Try”

The societal pressure to be a certain way can be overwhelming. ‘Try’ just came to me one day when I felt particularly defeated. We win some, we lose some; we do admirable things and less than admirable things. That is what it is to be a human, and as long as you know you try, it’s not a big deal either way. — Gina Furtado

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LISTEN: Scott Cook, “Rollin’ to You”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Scott Cook
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Song: “Rollin’ to You”
Album: Tangle of Souls
Release Date: August 7, 2020

In Their Words: “On August 7, I’ll be releasing my seventh album, Tangle of Souls. It comes packaged in a 240-page, clothbound hardcover book, the apotheosis of a long-running, possibly unhealthy obsession with liner notes. This is the first of those songs I wrote — yodeling and laughing to myself in a rented room in Chicago — and it planted the seed of an idea that led to making a string band record. The aesthetic is often the first thing I have in mind, before I even know what the album wants to be about, and this time around I wanted a string band, with a fiddle, because the fiddle is the electric guitar of acoustic music.

“I’d been touring a fair bit in Australia with Liz Frencham, a killer upright bass player with a studio in her backyard, and on one of those tours we got to talking about making a record. I brought over fellow Albertan and longtime collaborator Bramwell Park to play banjo and mandolin, and Liz connected with an Aussie fiddler named Esther Henderson, who I’d never met. I named the band ‘Scott Cook and the She’ll Be Rights’ after an Aussie expression meaning ‘it’ll be OK’ or ‘don’t worry about it.’ (You might say it’s somewhere on the spectrum between nonchalance and negligence.) We arranged the songs along that tour and cut the record at the end of it, then I spent the next year or so writing the liner notes. 🙂 ” — Scott Cook

Photo credit: Kate Baker

MIXTAPE: Daniel Rodriguez’s Songs of Authenticity

Posted on by Editor

I love all types of music and song. How beautiful a thing to hear the invisible insides of someone shared outwardly. A culmination of dynamic forces, experiences and sensibilities dialed into pulsating, Pythagorean waveforms, giving color to the space in between. The only catch is we have to trust what we’re hearing is authentic. Whether it’s the tonal intention of a singer or the specific touch of an instrumentalist, the song has to move me in some way or else I’m changing the station. Authenticity is subjective to each listener where no authority exists, though goosebumps, tears, movement, lofty notions and inspiration have always been my litmus tests to playing something thrice or more.

Here’s a list of songs that have moved me in some way worthy of mention. Also, if you’re so moved, check out my album Sojourn of Burning Sun out on August 28. — Daniel Rodriguez

Bill Monroe – “Uncle Pen”

From what I hear, this song is Bill giving gratitude and paying tribute to his actual uncle, Pen [James Pendleton Vandiver]. Pen played the fiddle at family gatherings and inspired Bill to join the musical world. The song structure of “Uncle Pen,” though only a few chords, is kind of complex. It’s a jubilant song with a great melody and has those goosebumping, Appalachian harmonies that Bill and his band often showcased. Probably what I like most about the song is that it appears to skip a beat before the head of each verse. It happens during a G run directly after the chorus that impossibly lands at the head of the next section. Simple genius.

Gregory Alan Isakov – “Amsterdam”

I like pretty much all of Gregory’s songs and his recordings. Catching his band live or him solo is a remarkable experience. I’m lucky to call him a longtime friend and I keep my fandom of his music separate from that. Gregory paints imagery that is most times not specific, which leaves you, as a listener, more in an abstract state of mind. Yet he threads a powerful emotion throughout, which his voice and arrangements unavoidably invoke. He uses imagery of a woman often, which comes across as more a mythical character of the sacred feminine, rather than one of a romantic endeavor. This is apparent in “Amsterdam”: “That howling wind, she’s waving hi, her other hand’s in mine.” The song ascends towards the end in some epic way when Greg moves his voice up an octave and sings “Churches and trains, they all look the same to me now / They shoot you some place, while we ache to come home somehow.” Goosebumps to follow.

Bruce Springsteen – “Youngstown”

The Boss has never failed to paint us the pictures of the struggling American working class. Our popular culture seems to only highlight the celebrities and billionaires, and yet The Boss celebrates and sheds light on the untold stories of the common man, the backbone of our culture. His stories are always rich with the American story, full of its hypocrisies and triumphs. “Youngstown” paints a very real picture of the uphill and endless bogging down of industry and war. The arrangement has a suiting Americana feel, stripped down and intimate. The pedal steel and fiddle give an eerie voice to the emotion of the character in the story who sings, “My sweet Jenny, I’m sinking down, here darling in Youngstown.”

John Prine – “Lake Marie”

When John Prine passed on earlier this year I cried constantly for three days. I’ve been lucky enough to catch him live more than a few times at festivals that we both played. The authenticity in his delivery has healing properties that only a few possess. John touches on all the hidden sadnesses and joys of humanity, and gives color to the seemingly opaque hidden corners of the human condition. “Lake Marie” is a special song with all the ingredients: New love, tenured love, relationship struggles and cold-blooded murder. John delivers this story in a very light-hearted and humorous way. He speaks the verses and accentuates certain parts, which become vital to the song’s DNA. The chorus is maybe the best chorus ever written, beautiful and joyous, juxtaposed with a very brutal and tragic story.

Levon Helm – “The Mountain” (written by Steve Earle)

Just like any song that Levon sings of someone else’s, he makes it his own. That is very much the case with “The Mountain” by Steve Earle. Steve recorded a great version of this song with Del McCoury, but my favorite version is the one Levon sings. It’s about the coal industry brutalizing the natural wonder of a homeplace. Removing mountaintops from where once majestic mountains stood. Filling in swimming holes that you once could cool off from the summer’s heat within its cool mountain runoff. Levon brings you there to those mountains, and he takes you to that swimming hole, and then he shows you the pain of it being no more.

Gillian Welch – “Everything is Free”

When speaking of Gillian’s songs it would be prudent to also mention David Rawlings. The line is blurred when trying to understand who wrote what — and it’s fitting that their voices in harmony become an entity of grace and grit that is alive and well. “Everything Is Free” is a song that hits home for the majority of musicians and artists who are at large suffering in an age where the fruits of their labors are taken for granted. This is certainly reflected by our culture, which would ironically feel the worth of music in its absence. In regards to this, Gillian sings: “If there’s something that you wanna hear you can sing it yourself.”

Leon Bridges – “River”

I’m not a religious person, but I am spiritual. Even though Leon uses biblical terminology in this beautiful song of yearning, and being cleansed from your sins — it’s the intention of the song that shines through and transcends all the negative connotations that might come with organized religion. It’s the true Christian values that are evoked here, of actively wanting to become a better person. It sounds like it was recorded live around one mic in a big room and really captures a beautiful moment of music.

Bob Dylan – “Murder Most Foul”

Bob is my favorite artist and songwriter. I love all the phases of his expression. I don’t subscribe to picking a favorite era or compare everything he creates to what he produced in the 1960s. This brings us to “Murder Most Foul,” a recent release of his. It is a nearly seventeen-minute song that talks about the day and days that followed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Bob beautifully describes this tragic and heightened moment in history, giving us a stream of consciousness of images peripherally and directly happening around the time of the assassination. The production of this song is very minimal which allows the lyrics to be absorbed and breathe.

Mandolin Orange – “Wildfire”

Growing up and residing in the hills of North Carolina, Mandolin Orange has lived and been more than aware of the culture that exists below the Mason-Dixon Line. Not buying into the rhetoric of those holding on to the nostalgia of the Confederacy, Mandolin Orange gives a historical and psychological look at the wildfire that unfortunately still is fueled today. “Wildfire” is a bit of medicine to us all, and carries a hope that some who might need the medicine most. Listen to this song that is served in the musical genre of its commonplace.

The Del McCoury Band – “Hot Wired” (written by Shawn Camp)

This song is a hoot. It’s very well-written, witty and might even spark a belly laugh or two. It talks about all the things the author’s girlfriend is capable of hot-wiring. My favorite lyric is “She might hot wire your Chevy, she might hot wire your Ford / And if she ever gets to Heaven she might hot wire the Lord.” Del breaks the bluegrass rules on this song and introduces an electric guitar after singing about his girlfriend hot-wiring his acoustic guitar to play like the “doggone Rolling Stones.”

Billie Holiday – “Strange Fruit” (written by Abel Meeropol)

This song is so powerful. Billie Holiday recorded it in 1939. The emotion and dynamics of her timing are delivered in a powerful and haunting way. The fruit that hangs from the trees is not fruit at all. [The song’s titular analogy references lynchings of Black folks.] It is perplexing to me that humanity can stoop so low to such an evil as to think one is inferior to another, where murder is rationalized within such a vitriolic mindset. In this specific case it is rationalized within the minds of pale complexion below the Mason-Dixon line. How those trees still stand and the fruit still hangs, though embedded within policy, social structures, the psychology of an unexamined people and history books with whole chapters missing. Music and song throughout time has been utilized to pass stories down and convey emotions. This is a song that passes down and conveys a traumatic truth; its shockwaves still crash on the shores of our everyday.

Josh Ritter – “Girl in the War”

This is one of my favorite songs. I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to play a bunch of shows with Josh and actually back him up on this song with my old band. I’ve heard him say in an interview that this song is about America. I’ll take his word for it. I’m not quite sure what the song is about myself, but I do know it’s a goosebumper. The recording of the song is stunning and I sure do like to play this song around the fire at gatherings.

Photo credit: Jesse Borrell

LISTEN: Veranda, “Yodel Bleu”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Veranda
Hometown: Montreal, QC, Canada
Song: “Yodel Bleu”
Album: Yodel Bleu
Release Date: May 29, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Yodel Bleu’ is a song about using yodeling to cure the blues! It tells the story of this girl who’s so down that the only thing that brings her joy is yodeling when she’s all by herself. And who could blame her? Because let’s face it, it’s hard to be blue when you’re yodeling. Maybe what we all need right now is a good dose of yodel therapy. Isn’t there an old saying that says ‘You can’t yodel in a minor key’? The song is also a tribute to the great Jimmie Rodgers and his classic ‘Blue Yodel’ song series.” — Catherine-Audrey Lachapelle and Léandre Joly-Pelletier, Veranda

Photo credit: Kevin Beaulieu

WATCH: Zoe & Cloyd, “Where Do You Stand”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Where Do You Stand”
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Where Do You Stand’ is a commentary on the state of our national discourse. We had the idea for the line, ‘When all that’s left is left, right, or wrong’ in regards to the hyper-polarization we’ve been seeing for a while and we built the song from there. We wanted the song and video to be thought provoking and a call to action. Some people will always attempt to pit us against one another for personal and political gain but we can’t let divisive, inflammatory rhetoric win the day. For us to move forward, we must find common ground on which to build a path toward a just and sustainable future.

“We filmed the video not far from our house in Fairview, North Carolina, outside of Asheville. The old building with the painted tree is right along the road and we thought it was a quirky rural spot that contrasted nicely with the political imagery. The other location was an abandoned ball court that had some interesting delineated grass with a sort of ‘line in the sand’ vibe. It also looked a bit post-apocalyptic. The fence shots represent several concerns such as the border wall, the lack of voice and access in certain communities, and feelings of powerlessness to change the status quo.” — John Cloyd Miller

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

From Goat Rodeo to Songs of Comfort, Yo-Yo Ma Believes Music Builds Bridges

Posted on by Editor

The world’s most famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma is spending the pandemic at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his family. It has been a situation that he describes, rather humorously, as being an adjustment for everyone. “Two-thirds of my marriage has been on the road. Forty-two years and suddenly my wife sees me home every night, and every day and every morning.”

Yet he says the experience has been a real blessing, too. “All the tensions of being home and preparing to leave, or coming back home to recuperate and then leave again, are all gone,” he explains by phone, before adding “replaced by, of course, the incredible fractures and ruptures in our society.”

Besides pondering a “tsunami of crises,” Ma talks about the joys of getting the band back together — a lineup informally known as Goat Rodeo, which also encompasses Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, and special guest Aoife O’Donovan. This Artist of the Month interview is the fourth of four installments as BGS salutes the incredible and iconic musicians behind the ensemble’s second project, Not Our First Goat Rodeo.

BGS: Like the first album, Not Our First Goat Rodeo was recorded at James Taylor’s studio in the Berkshires. Was there a comfort level about returning there?

Totally. The studio is aesthetically beautiful. It is right there in the middle of the Berkshires, the middle of the woods, and it’s a barn that has been built for that reason. We work hard. We play hard. And going back to it is fabulous because everybody in the band is so busy. So, just to get the time from their busy lives to get together is a feat, but when we get together, it feels like we never left. So, add to the great acoustics and the set-up of the barn, another added feeling of “the band is getting back together again.”

Since it was in August, was there a summer vacation vibe?

It was like camp except we weren’t 12 years old. [Laughs] Adult camp! We spend all day together. We have meals together. But it was also work. I have to say that Edgar, Chris, and Stuart worked like dogs, way into the night. Working on scores, working on correcting things. They worked really, really, really hard, but we also had a really good time.

Although the four of you don’t play together often, it seems that a high level of trust exists within the group and with the audience.

That’s such a good question, because you are talking about both the external and internal relationship of building trust. It starts with the trust we have in one another, interpersonally. Between Chris and Edgar. Between Chris and Stuart. Stuart and Edgar. Edgar and me. If you were to draw a networking line between all of us, and Aoife included, it’s trust on every level. Trust and respect. I think the two go together. In that, if someone has a deep opinion about something, there’s going to be deep respect for that. We might try it and it might evolve into something else. There’s never an argument…

The trust also comes from the philosophy: it’s not “It’s my way, your way or the highway.” It’s more like “I know certain things and you know certain things and I love what you know and you like what I know and respect what I know.” So we are just working it out all of the time.

So that allows for the freedom of creativity, to follow a musical idea and see where it takes you?

You know, that other thing about that is where you place your ego. We live in a world where some people think their ego walks in front of them. And [with Goat Rodeo], every one of us has a pretty strong ego because otherwise we can’t go and perform. But the egos never lead. We actually make fun of our own egos or each other’s.

Another thing is, we all have strengths and vulnerabilities, [but] we never, ever pounce on anybody’s vulnerability. I’m the oldest guy there. I’m full of warts. You can probably make fun of me until the cows come home but I think they treat me nice. There’s respect but they never step on someone’s vulnerability. It’s like a great relationship — a great domestic relationship. We didn’t get into pushing buttons. We’re so clear about the work that needs to be done. That’s how you build trust. You accept the whole person, and you treasure the parts that they excel in. You don’t tramp on weaknesses. But while we have a lot of fun!

What is one recording that ranks as a G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) for you?

When you ask a question like that, I can’t help but think about different time periods. If the well-lived life is the life that has been explored, then obviously at all times in your life you will have had different influences that have sparked new interests.

I will give you a musical example of recent vintage. There’s this 23-year-old musician named Jacob Collier from England. He’s almost self-taught. He sings. He plays dozens of instruments. He goes and creates. I find more and more as I get older and older, I am just stupefied by young talent in a way I never was. So someone like Jacob Collier comes along and he does harmonies in ways that are so astounding. I think he studied with Herbie Hancock and his level of inventiveness is so astounding. I feel like Salieri hearing Mozart for the first time. This guy just appears and he can spin and juggle 36 balls in the air while he’s talking to you. I just can’t take this! It’s just so amazing!

Chris is someone like that. Chris has that kind of mind. And I think working with Edgar gives me that sense of him. Because here’s this mind who is a perfectionist mind, in that he works things out in the perfectionist mentality where the abstract is really close to the reality. Usually I have an image of something and I’m going to translate that into a feeling, into a sound, and here it is. Edgar likes manipulating things in the abstract. That’s hard to do, because most of us like to work in the visible world, [which is a] tiny part of the spectrum in the universe.

So the invisible world, whether it is the larger universe or the micro universe, is something that most of us can’t experience… To go to trusting the abstract world, which we can’t see, and say that it’s real is very difficult. And so the question is, What is our faith in the invisible? That’s a big question. For me it is not a political question. It is a human question. As in, who do you trust and on what subjects? That’s very difficult because the world has become so complex.

And the world is so immediate and immense, and you are inundated from so many sides.

So, I grew up in three cultures, and each culture said, “We are the best!” I grew up as a 7-year-old — that is when I came to the States — saying, “Are you all crazy? You can’t all be right because you are claiming you’re the most right and that’s not logical!” So I had to figure out what that means. Just like, is bluegrass music the best? Is classical music the best? Is jazz the best? Is R&B the best? Is hip-hop the best?

I decline to think that way because that just gets me in trouble. Just because it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make sense logically. It doesn’t make sense to me sociologically. It doesn’t make sense to me as an American citizen because I take pride in all of the inventions we have made to the expressive world. And every new invention we have is a combination of a number of worlds.

You posted some music performances to your pandemic-inspired project, Songs of Comfort, to bring a little solace to people. How gratifying is it that it’s taken on a life of its own, with people around the world uploading videos?

One of the things that I have found out in this first trimester of the pandemic is how deeply people need one another. How deeply they need community. After lockdown, we see the beaches fill up, the bars fill up, and some people say that the economy must move. It’s totally understandable that we have that drive to be together. My way of thinking about it is to say, let’s be a community given the means we have.

In music, in service, it is always asking the question, “How can we help?” So it came from that impulse. That is a very natural impulse, which so many people have added to, or responded to, because we are all going through different versions of the same thing. We’re losing people. We’re stressed. We can’t find food. We can’t earn our living. We can’t plan. We can’t move around. We can’t be with one another.

But guess what? Music travels lightly. This is where the ephemeral is an advantage. It’s not something that needs to be moved by FedEx or a delivery person, but something we can transfer anywhere we want. It goes through walls. That’s why I say, in culture, music builds bridges because the bridges are not physical. Music doesn’t build walls; it builds bridges, because I can send you a link and there you have it.

I relished not only doing Songs of Comfort, but being able to Zoom into hospitals or getting to play for one patient. To send some music to one specific person to say, “I hear this is what you are going through. I’m so sympathetic. I’d like to send you this piece of music. Here it is. I recorded it on my phone.” And then send it to someone. That’s pretty personal. That to me is the essence of the aesthetic experience.

(Editor’s note: Read the remaining installments of our Artist of the Month interview series here.)

Photo credit: Josh Goleman

WATCH: The Alex Leach Band, “Take the Long Way Home”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Alex Leach Band
Hometown: Jacksboro, Tennessee
Song: “Take the Long Way Home”
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “After writing the song, my wife and I had a vision of how we thought the video would look. With plenty of help from our Mountain Home family and our band, we were able to make our vision a reality; complete with a ’60s, bright orange VW Microbus and bell-bottoms for all! Each of us got to unleash a bit of our inner, free spirit for the video, and we think the outcome gives off the perfect vibe. We hope you enjoy this groovy journey with us as we ‘Take the Long Way Home.'” — Alex Leach

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither