Tag: friends and neighbors

WATCH: The Secret Sisters Welcome Solace of Spring with “Late Bloomer”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

With spring just arriving, our BGS Artist of the Month has just given us a seasonal freshen-up with a lovely new release. Siblings Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle, known as The Secret Sisters, released their latest album, Saturn Return, at the end of February. The new record was produced by Brandi Carlile along with Phil and Tim Hanseroth and was released on New West Records.

“Late Bloomer” and its accompanying video have the same glow that an old photo album or a home-cooked meal with your family might have: welcoming, heart-warming, and encouraging. The message of the song is one of affirmation and reassurance, reiterating that everyone’s story is different and every path is unique. For a peak into what Saturn Return holds, watch the Secret Sisters’ touching music video for “Late Bloomer,” a spring of solace for those who feel the familiar impulse to compare and pass judgment on their own experience.

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Hawktail’s Wintery Ride, “The Tobogganist”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Bluegrass instrumental music is being reimagined by one of the buzziest bands in Nashville. Hawktail is an assemblage of four exquisite instrumentalists with a collective prowess for composition like no other. Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, and Dominick Leslie just released their highly anticipated sophomore album, Formations on Padiddle Records. Co-produced by Chris Eldridge, the record is a gem whose songs transport the listener to another place, one filled with familiar sounds built in unique structures. The Current caught onto the dream that is Hawktail, bringing in the group to capture videos of their new music. Here’s Hawktail performing “The Tobogganist” from their new album Formations.

Photo credit: Dylan Ladds

WATCH: Grammy Nominee Tyler Childers on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

After a whirlwind year in 2019, Tyler Childers’ star is burning bright as ever at the start of this new decade with a Grammy nomination for “All Your’n,” a single off of his third full-length album, Country Squire. Released in August of last year, Country Squire fulfilled the promises of his previous breakout record Purgatory.

Childers takes bold steps as a mature writer and a gifted vocalist; the project is shaped like a concept album in which each song flows one right into the next, connecting the music and painting the record with a consistent palette allowing the songs to feel like a complete collection. The Grammy nod for Best Country Solo Performance is testament enough to the marked vocal prowess of the redhead from Kentucky. 

Childers and his band, the Food Stamps, are preparing for a very busy touring schedule in 2020 with highlights that include four sold-out concerts at the Ryman in Nashville, joining country outlaw Sturgill Simpson for his A Good Look’n Tour, and shows all over Europe. Watch as he performs the title track from his latest record on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Photo courtesy of the artist

WATCH: The Dead South Sing “Black Lung” at OurVinyl Session

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Acoustic music gets a little tougher north of the Canadian border, thanks in large part to the Dead South. Originally hailing from Saskatchewan, the Dead South is a true success story of a grass roots musical endeavor that’s blossoming into a wide-reaching, iconic acoustic group. Since their formation in 2012 they’ve built success on relentlessly energetic live performances and genuine person-to-person connection with their fans.

In October of 2019 they released Sugar & Joy, their third full-length album on Six Shooter Records. Words aren’t quite enough to describe the grit and scruff that the Dead South bring to string band music, so watch as they perform their song “Black Lung” on OurVinyl.

Photo credit: Brandon White

WATCH: Mavis Staples Performs “Change” on ‘Live From Here with Chris Thile’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Musical matriarch Mavis Staples is as active as she has ever been. Fresh off an Americana Award nomination for Artist of the Year, Staples was recently featured as a guest performer on Live From Here with Chris Thile. Her latest album, a release from May 2019, is a collaborative work with another extraordinary singer-songwriter and blues icon, one Ben Harper. The new record, titled We Get By, features Staples’ sultry singing over Harper’s compositions, and like so many magical musical matchups, the total of the project is somehow far more than the sum of its parts.

Speaking to the writing, Staples had high praise for her junior collaborator. “When I first started reading the lyrics Ben wrote for me, I said to myself, ‘My God, he’s saying everything that needs to be said right now,’” she remembers. “But the songs were also true to my journey and the stories I’ve been singing all my life. There’s a spirituality and an honesty to Ben’s writing that took me back to church.”

Staples’ performance on the Live From Here is just that — it’s like going to church. Watch as she performs the opening number from her newest record here.

Photo of Mavis Staples courtesy of APM

WATCH: Che Apalache Tell the Stories of Dreamers

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Some songs have a message too important to ignore. In a moving song and poignant video, Argentinian string band Che Apalache tell the story of one immigrant boy and his family residing in North Carolina. By singing of the struggles of one Moises Serrano in “The Dreamer”, Che Apalache share the experience of so many thousands of immigrants living in the U.S.

Serrano is actually a close friend of Che Apalache frontman Joe Troop; having grown up together in North Carolina, the two became fast friends over their shared Appalachian roots and prominent roles as queer activists in a sometimes culturally narrow part of the country. The song is the lead single on Che Apalache’s new Béla Fleck-produced album on Free Dirt Records, Rearrange My Heart. While the song — and video — may be heartbreaking, their message comes at a pivotal time in the history of our country’s government.

If you would like more of this impactful content, Serrano is also the subject of a documentary titled Forbidden: Undocumented and Queer in Rural America. In a time of so much political discord, we are thankful that music can subvert the noise and bind us, one human to another.

Watch “The Dreamer” here on BGS.

Photo credit: Mauro Milanich and Andrés Corbo

WATCH: Zach & Maggie Are Lonely in Their “Double Grave”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Maybe you have noticed that some holidays just get more musical love than others. Halloween parties are subjected to the same playlist every year: “Monster Mash,” some ominous organ music, “Thriller,” and then an encore of “Monster Mash.” This year, BGS wants to help broaden the musical palette for the spookiest holiday of the year, at least in some small way. 

Nashville-based Americana duo Zach & Maggie’s newest single “Double Grave” is charmingly unnerving, telling the story of a man who waits on his widow to join him in their final resting place. Sweet? Maybe. Spooky? Definitely. The accompanying music video does little to ease the angst of the tune, but it does foster a sense of pity for the widower, even though he ultimately wishes for his partner’s demise.

The pair takes an irreverent approach to a bleak topic, creating a great addition to the stark library of “Halloween music.” Speaking of the new release, singer and guitarist Zach says, “I find it humorous to think about the petty annoyances of everyday life overshadowing something so serious as death. What sort of neurotic behavior would we come up with if death was just an inconvenience?” Just in time for All Hallows, watch the music video for “Double Grave” here.

Photo credit: Electric Peak Creative

WATCH: The Tallest Man on Earth Drops by ‘Live From Here with Chris Thile’

Posted on by Editor

With a new album released this past April titled I Love You. It’s A Fever Dream., the Swedish-born artist known as The Tallest Man on Earth has been touring the world behind the new music. In fact, he’ll play throughout the UK next week, followed by shows in Belgium, France, and Sweden, before returning stateside in March.

Full of passion and raw energy, The Tallest Man on Earth — also known as Kristian Matsson — brings a powerful performance of “I’m a Stranger Now” to Live From Here with Chris Thile, filmed at Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, California.

Photo courtesy of American Public Media

LISTEN: Marcus King Takes on Tough Times with Blues Guitar in “The Well”

Posted on by Editor

Marcus King has a voice that’s made for the blues, with a story to match. An undiagnosed bipolar disorder and the death of a close friend at 13 deeply affected him, so he turned to music to cope. At 23 years old, he’s been playing professionally for half of his life. His incredible gift as a guitarist has led to appearances with Chris Stapleton, at Crossroads Guitar Festival, and even on the Grand Ole Opry.

These experiences have led him to “The Well,” his latest single. “When you have a $70 check go bad, you know times are tough,” King tells Rolling Stone. “’The Well’ for me symbolizes the source of all my influences. It is everything that has happened to me to make me the man I am today.”

Dan Auerbach produced King’s upcoming album, El Dorado. Set for release on Fantasy Records in 2020, the 12-track project was written and recorded at Auerbach’s Nashville studio, Easy Eye Sound, with legendary songwriters including Paul Overstreet, Ronnie Bowman and Pat McLaughlin.

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Anna Vaus Is Driven to Succeed in This “Day Job”

Posted on by Editor

Nashville’s reputation as a breeding ground for great songs and songwriters is built on people like this. California native Anna Vaus has made waves as a writer in her short time in Nashville, from being named the first recipient of the Miranda Lambert Women Creators scholarship to signing a publishing deal with Black River Entertainment, to releasing her original music on her debut EP almost one year ago. Wit, charm, authenticity, and transparency abound on The California Kid, and if you haven’t heard her music yet, take this chance to get familiar, because we’ll be hearing a lot more from this up-and-coming artist.