Tag: Friends & Neighbors

The String Cheese Incident Salute Tony Rice on This ‘Manzanita’ Favorite

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The amount of love and respect that has poured out of the music community around the country and the globe for the loss of Tony Rice has been breathtaking to say the least. The breadth of Rice’s legacy cannot be understated as he pioneered not only the guitar’s role in a bluegrass band, but also created a new sound previously unexplored by acoustic musicians. A seminal flatpicker, his touch, timing, and taste are unmatched to this day, and there’s the separate matter of his beautifully rich voice. Here at BGS, we’ve shared Tony Rice memories and stories from the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Todd Phillips & Robbie Fulks, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, and David Grisman, and many others.

The latest contributors to our collective debt of gratitude to Tony is the String Cheese Incident, collaborating virtually to cover “Old Train,” the lead track on what many consider his magnum opus, Manzanita. The String Cheese Incident is known for being a genre-bending group, but founding member Bill Nershi had this to say about their bluegrass roots and Rice’s artistry: “Tony Rice’s guitar playing shaped a generation of musicians. His impeccable tone, taste, and timing were unmatched and highly regarded by players and listeners alike. We are very fortunate to have so many great recordings of his life’s work. If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing him perform, check out The Tony Rice Unit and David Grisman Quintet albums. I recommend you start with Manzanita. We’ll never forget you, Tony!”

Watch the String Cheese Incident perform “Old Train:”

Photo credit: Scott McCormick

Dive Into California Bluegrass Association’s 50-Hour Live Stream

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Among the many reasons why we love bluegrass is the innate sense of community and wholesomeness that the music carries. The California Bluegrass Association (CBA) has taken immense strides to foster that kinship and community over the years by investing in programs and opportunities for young bluegrass musicians to learn and perform. Perhaps their biggest endeavor is the Youth Academy, a four-day camp that takes place during their annual Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival. Due to COVID-19, the event has been canceled for the second year in a row. In response, the CBA hosted a 50-hour livestream event last month that featured more than 100 musicians from around the world and raised more than $25,000 in donations.

The livestream event was hosted in the format of a telethon and aptly named “Jam-a-Thon.” The funds raised were split between the participating artists and an effort by the CBA to build an educational website for young learners interested in bluegrass. Joining the event were many big names in bluegrass, including Sierra Hull, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, and even BGS contributor Tristan Scroggins. If you missed the event, fret not, as there is still ample opportunity to donate and to watch the stream, which was conveniently archived into eight portions on YouTube. Peruse through the many highlights from the stream below and celebrate a noble cause!

Editor’s Note: View streams 3 through 8 on the CBA’s YouTube Channel.

 

Hear Willie Nelson’s Answer to a Tricky Year: “That’s Life”

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In the midst of a pretty tricky year, Willie Nelson has just the thing to correct our course in 2021. The Red-Headed Stranger has just released That’s Life, a new studio album (his 95th!) that celebrates the music of his longtime friend and colleague Frank Sinatra. The record’s title track encapsulates a resiliency that should inspire all of us after some trying times. The song’s doggedly stubborn optimism was popularized by Sinatra’s 1966 album of the same name, and in 2019, the obstinate cheeriness of the tune was used to contrast the dark thematic content of the feature film Joker.

Willie’s take is fresh, turning his phrase in similar ways that Sinatra might, but with Nelson’s own charm imbued into the lyrics. A lyric video accompanies the single’s release and depicts artist Paul Mann painting the album cover. Mann, a legend in the movie poster realm, pays tribute to classic Sinatra record covers by positioning Nelson and his companion Trigger in the faint glow of a streetlamp. Recorded mostly in Capitol Studios in Hollywood, the album features ten other Sinatra favorites, including “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Luck Be a Lady.” Watch the lyric video for Willie Nelson’s rendition of “That’s Life.”

Colter Wall Covers the Classic “Cowpoke” for Western AF

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Canadian country singer Colter Wall has been slowly diffusing his rich, deep voice throughout the Americana world. In 2020, the singer from Saskatchewan announced his third album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, with the release of a cover of the Stan Jones classic, “Cowpoke.” The album is a gold mine of soothing classic country sounds. Recorded in Texas, Wall performed the music with the band he travels with, fashioning a familiarity with outside material that dovetails nicely with the Western sound that’s heard in Wall’s songwriting, too.

For a long while, Wall only sang “Cowpoke” live, and to the praise of his fans, he has finally committed the cover to record. He possesses a keen sensibility for Western culture — the music he creates is fresh, but bears great resemblance to deeply ingrained musical traditions. Buy it, download it, stream it; do whatever you have to do to hear Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs. You can watch Colter Wall sing “Cowpoke” in Bar Nunn, Wyoming, for Western AF below.

Photo credit: Robert Stilwell

WATCH: Mipso Get Experimental With “Let a Little Light In”

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Mipso’s sixth full-length release, simply called Mipso, marks an adventurous, exploratory turn for the group’s sound. Up until their most recent couple of projects the North Carolina four-piece’s music usually dwelt in the string band realm, but as this music video for “Let a Little Light In” will attest, the new self-titled album features more experimental textures and atmospheres. In the video, the members of Mipso revisit nostalgic memories that have a marked fuzziness and that strange cocktail of joy and sadness about them.

On YouTube, singer-fiddler Libby Rodenbough posted, “It was really tempting to take this song in a kind of familiar bluesy direction, but we fought the temptation and tried to take into a weirder, quirkier zone.” Mipso is a unique step for the group, following very much in the footsteps of this single. In a press release, the band calls it their “most sonically adventurous and lyrically rich work to date, each moment charged with the tension between textural effervescence and an underlying despair about the modern world.” Watch “Let a Little Light In” below.

Photo credit: D.L. Anderson

On ‘The Tonight Show,’ Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell Perform “The Problem”

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The best songwriters use all the tools at their disposal to craft their music. Among tools like instrumentation, timbre, and arrangement is story, a sometimes-overlooked device for writing incredible music. Amanda Shires is no stranger to story and demonstrates her aptitude as a writer in her emotional single, “The Problem.” The song tells a specific story, but not in an “on-the-nose” fashion; instead, it feels like a memory, slightly faded and filled with more feelings than information. Upon the single’s release, Shires stated, “This song is about making tough decisions and not having to go it alone.”

Delivered as a conversation between Shires and husband Jason Isbell, “The Problem” has a dreamy quality due to its winding melody and a cloud of reverb glowing over the studio production. With a similar atmosphere and feeling as The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” it acts as a testament to Shires’ knack for skillfully navigating lyric, tonality, and instrumentation to spin a narrative with a brooding unrest beneath the surface. Take a moment to hear one of the best writers in roots music today with this live performance of “The Problem” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Nathaniel Rateliff Offers “Redemption” for Justin Timberlake’s Film, ‘Palmer’

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After the album And It’s Still Alright bolstered Nathaniel Rateliff’s profile in 2020, the singer-songwriter turned his attention toward previously uncharted territory. In the final stages of production for the feature film Palmer, Rateliff was charged with the task of writing a song for the soundtrack. That song, “Redemption,” was released in December and sets the stage brilliantly for what promises to be a beautiful story of growth, love, and, yes, redemption.

Coming exclusively to Apple TV+ on January 29, the film stars Justin Timberlake and tells the story of a small-town high school hero turned ex-convict. In a humble return to his roots, the protagonist falls into an unexpectedly beautiful, guardian-like relationship with a neighbor boy, whose individuality reaps unwarranted discrimination from other children and the boys’ own parents. The trailer alone is enough to jerk a tear from the eye, but when paired with Rateliff’s proclivity for powerful songs, the film’s teasers soar to profound emotional heights.

A testament to the touching story, Rateliff recounts, “When I was first asked to write a song for Palmer I was told what the film was about and where the song was going to be used. The melody and the opening line came to me immediately.” Check out the trailer for the Apple Original film, Palmer, and watch the video for “Redemption” below.

Photo credit: Danny Clinch

Jalan Crossland Revives “Moonshiner” on a Historic Wyoming Stage

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In this must-see live video bluegrass and Americana veteran Jalan Crossland plays it lonesome at the Lincoln Theater in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Crossland, who has been releasing music since 2000, is a champion-level instrumentalist, but he mixes several techniques to shape his mountain sound on his song “Moonshiner.” Listen for a little flatpicking here and there, some fingerpicks like a Scruggs-style banjo player, and clawhammer thrown in for good measure on the strings of his banjitar (or ganjo, if you prefer).

The sound that comes from Crossland’s hands matches the gritty timbre of his rich voice, which seems to emanate from deep within and pour out like smoke from a fire. “Moonshiner” is from one of the instrumentalist’s earliest albums, dating all the way back to 2004. Performing solo inside one of Wyoming’s most beautiful and historic venues, he brings a skill and prowess to what is otherwise folk music, and the result has a magnetism that few others can achieve. Watch the striking performance from our friends at Western AF below.

In This Protest Song, Sheryl Crow Suggests a “Woman in the White House”

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Have you been missing a good protest song in your life? Sheryl Crow is here to save the day. In August, three months prior to the presidential election, Crow released a music video for a reimagined and rearranged rendition of her song, “Woman in the White House.” The track is grittier than when she originally recorded it as a 2012 B-side and has a more of a blue-collar, down-to-business attitude about it.

Meanwhile, its music video is wrought with images of protesters of today juxtaposed with images from years past. As a result, it paints a stark contrast between the grainy black-and-white footage from women’s suffrage protesters of the early 20th century and the crystal-clear images of modern protests against sexism, racism, and inequality. Images of picket signs run across the screen proving that there are many changes still to make, one hundred years on from early suffrage movement. Watching the video now instills a sense that a fresh perspective is what our great country deserves, and maybe, as Crow suggests, “a little female common sense” is just the thing we need down on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Photo credit: Dove Shore

Remember When Dolly Parton Took a Bluegrass “Shine” to This Rock Anthem?

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The queen of country music is celebrating a milestone birthday on January 19. Her majesty, Dolly Parton, turns 75 this year, and to celebrate the music that has won awards and our hearts alike, we’re deep-diving back to the distant year of 2001. Like Dolly herself, “Shine” comes from a record that was born in mid-January — one that features a little bit of everything, from original compositions and old traditionals to cleverly reimagined cover tunes like this one. That diverse album, Little Sparrow, earned a pair of Grammy nominations and a win for her vocal performance on “Shine.”

Although this 1993 rock radio staple was originally recorded by Collective Soul and written by its lead singer Ed Roland, Dolly and the all-star backing band in the video give the song a fresh breath of bluegrass energy and acoustic attitude. It’s a seemingly unlikely cover, yet Parton pulls a unique bluegrass diamond out of what seems like a through-and-through rock and roll song. Upon Little Sparrow’s release in 2001, Parton stated, “I’ve been trying to think of how I can sing it without all the rock stuff; it sounds spiritual and all that, and the melody lent itself well to some bluegrass harmonies. I figured we’d kick it around and if it didn’t work, we wouldn’t put it on. But it worked out great.”

As unbelievable as it may be, here is the TL;DR: Dolly won a Grammy for a cover of a Collective Soul hit. Watch the music video below and enjoy our Essential Dolly Parton Playlist in honor of her 75th birthday!