Tag: Friends & Neighbors

WATCH: Alison Krauss’ Unforgettable Performance of “Amazing Grace”

Posted on by Editor

As one year leads into the next, it’s worth a few minutes to pause and enjoy one of 2019’s most breathtaking performances from a legendary performer in bluegrass, country, and acoustic music.

In this emotional video, Alison Krauss performs “Amazing Grace” on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the 30th National Memorial Day Concert. She returned to Washington six months later to accept a much-deserved National Medal of Arts and Humanities at the White House.

On behalf of the Bluegrass Situation, best wishes for 2020.

Photo Credit: Universal

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: Brittany Howard’s Big Sound at NPR’s Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Alabama Shakes alumnus and Bluegrass Situation Artist of the Month, Brittany Howard has maintained a steady course through her journey in blues and roots music. Driven by a resilient spirit and equipped with a stout voice, Howard has seen her fair share of peaks and valleys. From tragically losing a sister to cancer to breakout success and Grammy nods with Alabama Shakes, Howard has faced more in her 31 years than most of us will see in our whole lives.

After playing founding roles in two other rock bands (Bermuda Triangle and Thunderbitch), she decided it was time to take a step forward and release an album as a solo artist. The debut record was a tribute to Howard’s sister and was also named after her; Jaime was released this past September.

Howard’s addendum to the record offers some insight to the music: “Every song, I confront something within me or beyond me. Things that are hard or impossible to change, words and music to describe what I’m not good at conveying to those I love, or a name that hurts to be said: Jaime.” Brimming with emotion and truth, Jamie is available now, as are tickets to her  tour. Watch her Tiny Desk concert here, on BGS.

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

WATCH: British Folk Singer Sam Lee Explores “The Garden of England”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

British folk singer, conservationist, and activist Sam Lee is set to release a new album in 2020. In preparation, Lee provides an appetizer for the project with a video for “The Garden of England (Seeds of Love).” Lee’s writing shines in this release, as the melody and structure have a familiar air about them, sharing in the agelessness common in folk traditionals. The arrangement provides a hypnotic, entrancing bed for the melody and draws the listener in with its constant pulse.

The accompanying video is equally mesmerizing, panning through various shots of presumably British countryside and wilderness. As a preview of what we might expect to come on the album, Old Wow, “The Garden of England” piques all the right interests. The new project will be released January 31, 2020. Watch the music video here.

Photo Credit: Dominick Tyler

WATCH: Josh Ritter Brings Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires to Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

A collaboration for the ages, Josh Ritter teamed up with Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires to work on his newest record, Fever Breaks. This top-tier trio stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk to perform some of the more poignant and concise songs from the record — songs that some may even be labeled protest songs.

Each of them icons in their own right, these three musicians are no strangers to BGS. Earlier this year, Ritter was featured as an artist of the month, Isbell taught us a thing or two about protest songs, and Shires has enjoyed some accolades this year for her involvement in supergroup The Highwomen. A roots music trifecta, watch as Ritter, Isbell, and Shires grace the Tiny Desk here.

 

WATCH: The Grascals Are “Callin’ Your Name”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

If you haven’t gotten your fix of straight up bluegrass today, stop what you’re doing and check out new music from bluegrass pillars The Grascals. In late August the band released their most recent album, Straighten the Curves, on Mountain Home Music Company.

No stranger to the bluegrass limelight, the Grascals have now released eleven full-length albums, building a reputation of excellence on their tight vocal sound and traditional writing style. Accompanying the album is the music video for “Callin’ Your Name,” a catchy number led by newcomer-to-the-band Chris Davis, who proves himself as a strong vocalist and stout lead guitar player, injecting some fine flatpicking into the Grascals’ refreshed but classic sound. 

Photo credit: Kim Lancaster Brantley

WATCH: Boyz II Men Bring Out Steep Canyon Rangers

Posted on by Editor

Boyz to bluegrass?! You read that right. R&B legends and vocal virtuosos Boyz II Men have collaborated with North Carolina’s Steep Canyon Rangers for this stunning reproduction of the bluegrass group’s 2007 song “Be Still Moses.” During a Boyz II Men performance at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center, twelve members of the Asheville Symphony joined the Rangers for this video, capturing what may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime performance of the song.

Boyz II Men’s Nathan Morris remarks, “The other day someone said ‘Boyz II Men does bluegrass?’ We laugh cause it sounds crazy, but to us good music is good music no matter what genre.” Graham Sharp of the Steep Canyon Rangers adds, “I give credit to our producer Michael Selverne and to Michael Bearden for their vision of bringing together two very different musical worlds for a moment that transcends any genre designation.”

Watch as musical traditions collide and stars align in this illuminating performance.

WATCH: The Wild Feathers Sing Alone at the Ryman

Posted on by Editor

Celebrated for its acoustics, the mother church of country music hosts this special performance by the Wild Feathers. This Nashville band blurs the lines between country and rock, while never forgetting to pay respect to the roots of American folk music. Watch as the Wild Feathers deliver a moving performance of “Lonely is a Lifetime” huddled around one microphone in an empty Ryman Auditorium.

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: Rhiannon Giddens Plays the Tiny Desk

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Former Carolina Chocolate Drops leader and old-time music maven Rhiannon Giddens has the uncanny ability to sing through an audience. In May, she released her third full-length, studio album, there is no Other, with Nonesuch Records. In this new chapter, Giddens collaborated with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, who is known for his virtuosity on percussion and jazz piano. Giddens, Turrisi, and bassist Jason Sypher stopped by NPR to perform some music from the latest record; watch as they stun the audience huddled around the Tiny Desk.

Photo credit: Claire Harbage/NPR

WATCH: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on ‘Bluegrass Underground’

Posted on by Editor

PBS has launched their ninth season of Bluegrass Underground, a television series of roots music concerts from the cavernous heart of middle Tennessee. Since the show’s launch, dozens of famous acts in bluegrass, blues, Americana, and country music have graced the stage. Now filmed at The Caverns, an awe-inspiring cave venue in Pelham, Tennessee, the upcoming season will feature acts like Keb’ Mo’, Steve Earle, the Brothers Osborne, Josh Ritter, the Devil Makes Three, and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose performance was the season opener. Watch as this timeless country band commands the cave on Bluegrass Underground.

Photo credit: Glen Rose