In our episode with Wisconsin-born, New England-based Jeffrey Foucault, we had a handful of questions for the singer-songwriter about his background: coffee, the Midwest, and Mark Twain wisdom. Then, we talked about Billy Conway for more than an hour. Conway was Foucault’s long-time partner in music, his drummer, and best friend who died from cancer in 2021. He was a roots rock and roll legend in Boston with his tenure in Morphine and Treat Her Right. Conway was like a holy man, known for his creative, curious, and infectious spirit where even people who met him only one time (myself included) were quite taken and inspired by his presence. His loss hit the music community hard. In 2023, a tribute album showcasing the songwriting of Conway recorded by some of his closest friends (including Chris Smither, Foucault, Kris Delmhorst, and Billy’s wife Laurie Sargent) was released. And now, with his latest album release, Jeff’s given us a working wake for his friend Billy, The Universal Fire.
Elsewhere in the episode, we talked about what was going on with Jeff when he met and started working with Billy in 2013. What state of mind made this spectacular friendship and collaboration completely click? Jeff has also been conscious about his reaction to Conway’s death and processing grief, when it comes to being an example for his teenage daughter (who is also getting into folk music and live performance, too – hi, Hazel!)
We also dig into the new album. Jeffrey paralleled the loss of Billy Conway with a different type of loss, the 2008 fire at the Universal Studios lot in California that destroyed master tapes of hugely influential American recordings. And finally, we check in on how Jeffrey’s human-ness is faring in the high-tech world in the year 2024.
Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
I like to describe my music as rock meets country, though I have some ’90s alternative and pop influences in there. To mash all those up into one genre, I settle on calling it alt-country.
How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me?”
All the time. It’s almost impossible to exclusively divorce my own emotions and experience when creating a character. It’s very freeing, though, and I like to weave in and out of not just the character’s perspective, but the perspectives of other people I know, too, as well as mine.
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
I wrote a song called “Back of My Mind,” which is about my father who passed away when I was young. I cried my way through writing it and relived a lot of the grief I hadn’t felt in years.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
I love Enya. I put it on when I am super stressed, need to fall asleep, or just want to feel some mystical vibes. Last time I visited Ireland, I fulfilled a dream and put it on full blast as I drove along the Irish west coast taking in the scenery.
Does pineapple really belong on pizza?
I fought it for so long and one day I was high and hungry enough to be talked into it. It was an instant love affair. I’ve since branched out into being open to other fruits on a pizza. Fig, pear… though I might draw the line at watermelon.
You know we always have your back when you need new music recommendations, right?
This week, we’re sharing premieres from extraordinary bluegrass pickers like fiddler Andy Leftwich and the Vestal Brothers, Curtis and Scott. Plus, singer-songwriters Eden Brent and Annie Bacon each showcase new emotive and moving songs about family, love, and grief. Bacon wrote “Alone With Grief” to be a comfort and a balm to those who have experienced loss, but without sugar-coating or toxic positivity. While Brent’s “You On My Mind” was written by her husband – and collaborator and bandmate – Bob Dowell, about their long distance courtship.
Don’t miss the Faux Paws reprising a song from their 2023 EP, Backburner, with bassist Zoe Guigueno or the final installment of Meadow Mountains SkyTheory Sessions series, which we’ve premiered in four parts over the last few weeks. You can watch “Backburner” and “Count Me In” below and find links to the Faux Paws’ crowdfunding campaign and the preceding three performances from Meadow Mountains video series, as well.
It’s all right here on BGS and You Gotta Hear This!
Andy Leftwich, “R-26”
Artist:Andy Leftwich Hometown: Carthage, Tennessee Song: “R-26” Release Date: May 24, 2024 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I’ve always loved the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. This fun tune was introduced to me by my wife’s cousin, Luke. It’s one that you don’t hear very often, but has a simple and catchy melody that is extremely fun to improvise and solo over. Django and Stephane have inspired so many great musicians and have had a huge impact on bluegrass music. I first heard about Stephane through David Grisman and their record, Live. I instantly fell in love with that style of music and dove head first into their catalog. The art of improvisation is something that makes bluegrass and swing music so unique and I was thrilled to record this one with Cody Kilby on guitar and Byron House on upright bass. I hope it brings a smile to your face as it does for me each time we play it!” – Andy Leftwich
Annie Bacon & her Oshen, “Alone with Grief”
Artist:Annie Bacon & her Oshen Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan Song: “Alone With Grief” Album:Storm Release Date: June 14, 2024
In Their Words: “Before I wrote this song, I knew this was my grief album and it’s deeply personal. But with the recording sessions approaching, I felt this urgency to say something directly to the listeners and not just share my own experience. I wanted to speak to that strange time in early grief when you need so much comfort, but also you kind of need zero bullshit. For example, I wanted the word dead in this song. No euphemisms. Your loved one is dead. They’re dead. That’s what it is. It’s strange how people struggle to say that word. For me there was a lot of comfort in being able to say it that plainly. But I also knew that my nervous system in that period was so dysregulated all the time. I was a disaster: veering between jumpy and catatonic. So when I was writing this song and channeling that time of grief, I wanted to create as much comfort and emotional safety as possible.
“I listen to a really wide variety of music, and while I didn’t make a conscious decision to give this a samba feel when I was first writing it, that’s definitely the kind of music that soothes me. When it was clear that that was what the song was leaning towards, I leaned all the way in. I’m so lucky that the musicians I was working with (Anson, Thomas and Paul) are really versatile and talented across multiple genres. So it wasn’t a stretch or strain. After I’d received the final master, I saw a friend’s post about her Mom dying suddenly, and I recognized the tone of her writing: a distant numbness from shock, matched with a recounting of the details, and then veering into total heartbreak. I sent her the song and she wrote back, ‘I feel like this was made just for me,’ and that’s about the best compliment I could’ve received. I hope that’s how it feels to everyone who hears it.” – Annie Bacon
Track Credits: Written by Annie Bacon. Performed by Annie Bacon, Paul Defiglia, Thomas Bryan Eaton, and Anson Hohne.
Produced by Annie Bacon and Paul Defiglia. Recorded by Paul Defiglia with Kate Haldrup and Wil Tsyon at Daylight, Nashville, Tennessee. Mixed by Mike Clemow and Wade Strange at SeeThruSound, New York. Mastered by Piper Payne at Neato Mastering, California.
Eden Brent, “You On My Mind”
Artist:Eden Brent Hometown: Greenville, Mississippi Song: “You On My Mind” Album:Getaway Blues Release Date: June 21, 2024 Label: Yellow Dog Records
In Their Words: “My husband Bob, who produced and plays bass on this recording, wrote this song for me, so it’s very personal. He is from London and I am from the Mississippi Delta, which means that we spent the whole seven years of our courtship across the Atlantic Ocean from each other. This song expresses the love that made our long separation tolerable. The idea is borrowed from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 44, which is a favorite of mine. In those 14 lines the poet declares that despite distance, one’s true love is only a thought away. When Bob was writing this, we discussed how most songs are remembered for the repeated lyrics and not for the meaning of the song in its entirety. We mentioned ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ and ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy,’ and discussed John Mayer’s ‘Say.’ Melodically and lyrically, Bob wanted a song that was simple and easy to remember. We joke about this popular songwriting style and sing it like this: ‘Say what you need to say. Say what you need to say. Say what you need to say. Say what you need to say, and get out!’
“Musically, Bob originally envisioned a sort of marching gospel, but once the studio session began, my keyboard part sounded more like a country waltz. Here, Bob plays a warm sostenuto bass and asked the guitarist, Rob Updegraff, to, ‘Make it as country as you can.’ When the tape rolls, Rob bends the Telecaster strings making that lovely cry that opens the track. The drummer, Pat Levett, with his love of New Orleans rhythm, adds a triplet undercurrent and brings the song back into the gospel realm. The resulting landscape is unusual yet familiar and lends the perfect accompaniment to the simple, heartfelt lyrics. ‘Everything is easy with you on my mind.'” – Eden Brent
Track Credits: Produced and written by Bob Dowell. Recorded by Benedic Lamdin at Fish Factory Studio, London.
The Faux Paws, “Backburner” (featuring Zoe Guigueno)
Artist:The Faux Paws Hometown: Springfield, Vermont Song: “Backburner” Album:Backburner EP Release Date: April 7, 2023 Label: Great Bear Records
In Their Words: “Hey, have you ever had sad feelings? Have you ever tried shoving those feelings deep down and not feeling them and then everything’s great!? That’s what this song is about! It’s a bop and the title track off our 2023 EP. Noah really cuts loose on the fiddle insanity. Lately we’ve been thrilled to tour and record with bassist Zoe Guigueno (Hadestown, Della Mae, Fish & Bird) and will be hitting a slew of festivals with her this summer. We’ve also got a new album in the works right now and are in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign to make it all happen! Check out the details and other fun content here.” – Chris Miller
Video Credit: Directed and Produced by Rebecca Branson Jones.
The Vestal Brothers, “Let Those Fingers Fly”
Artist:The Vestal Brothers Hometown: Duncan, Oklahoma Song: “Let Those Fingers Fly” Album:Family Ties Release Date: May 28, 2024 Label: True Lonesome Records
In Their Words: “‘Let Those Fingers Fly’ is a song written in a reflective mindset thinking back to the days Scott and I would head to Oklahoma to stay with our grandparents for the weekend or off to a festival with grandma and grandpa, Famon Self. He was a fiddle player in a country western band and they played local rodeos, nursing homes, and special events local to the community there in Duncan, Oklahoma. I remember seeing him on a tractor-trailer stage in the parking lot at the mall, and he’d get us up to play with them. Good times!
“We had this song recorded and along with Eddie Sanders of True Lonesome Records, decided it was time we went ahead and work on a record that will be released later this year. Be on the lookout for Family Ties.” – Curtis Vestal
Track Credits: Curtis Vestal – Lead vocal, bass Scott Vestal – Banjo, harmony vocal Tim Crouch – Fiddle Cody Kilby – Guitar, mandolin Randy Kohers – Resophonic guitar, harmony vocal
Meadow Mountain, “Count Me In”
Artist:Meadow Mountain Hometown: Denver, Colorado Song: “Count Me In” Album: June Nights Release Date: May 22, 2024
In Their Words: “I originally conceived of this song as a ‘rewriting’ of ‘Rocky Mountain High’ by John Denver. The first lyric from ‘Count Me In’ is: ‘Twenty-seven came and went like a storm, hanging on by the songs I wrote on the day that I was born,’ which is an homage to Denver’s lyrics: ‘He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before.’ From there, the song took on its own life. It is a celebration of life in The Rocky Mountains. You want to go play up in the talus fields and by the ice cold mountain lakes? ‘Count Me In.'” – Summers Baker
Artist:Donovan Woods Hometown: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada Song: “Back For The Funeral” Album:Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now Release Date: July 12, 2024 Label: End Times Music
In Their Words: “‘Back For The Funeral’ is a story that a lot of us end up experiencing. Big life events – deaths, births, divorces – seem to pull us out of the flow of time somehow. The days around these events can feel like a dream wherein the regular rules of our lives don’t apply. People fall back onto old habits or maybe construct a new temporary-self to shield them from grief or shock. What I like best about this song is that it reflects that dream-like feeling without sacrificing clarity. It feels the way those life-dividing days feel. I wrote it with Lori McKenna and Matt Nathanson. I’m about as proud of it as anything I’ve written. I hope it’s useful to people.” – Donovan Woods
Track Credits: Written by Donovan Woods, Lori Mckenna, Matt Nathanson.
Acoustic guitars, vocal, piano – Donovan Woods Synths, drum programming – James Bunton Bass – Mark McIntyre Strings – Drew Jurecka
Recorded in Toronto at Union Sound Company – Studio B, Small Dog Sound.
Singer-songwriter Hannah Connolly, originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin (the same as Justin Vernon and the Bon Iver crew!) has just released her second solo album, Shadowboxing. Written to reflect on musical and life transitions, it was recorded in beautiful Idyllwild, California, just outside of her new hometown of Los Angeles. While in that mountain town, Hannah reconnected with nature through hiking, finding joy in connecting with her friends and collaborators in music.
The process of making Shadowboxing, which was celebratory and fun, was crucial for Connolly’s mental health in music. Her debut album, 2020’s From Where We Are, centered around the trauma and healing she and her family faced after her little brother, Cullen, was killed by a drunk driver in 2015. Born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Cullen was the life of the party and a bright light in every room he entered. Being able to process and mourn his loss through the making of her first record was not only extremely difficult, but also very necessary for Hannah. In our Basic Folk conversation, we talk about who Cullen was and how he continues to influence Hannah’s life and music. These days, Hannah is looking for the fun and lightness again, which is exactly what her little brother would want her to do.
Even though Connolly’s visual storytelling and folky roots are strong, they are no match for her love of emo music, which has influenced her since she was a teenager. She even performed, recorded, and toured in an emo band prior to “going solo.” Hannah gets into her emo past, her childhood stint in musical theater and, of course, cheese curds in this new episode of Basic Folk. She also gives us the all important updates on her wedding planning! She recently got engaged to Eric Cannata of the alternative rock band, Young the Giant. I’m so happy for Hannah, not only for her future marriage, but also for creating this joyful new album.
Artist:Rachel Gore Hometown: Wilmington, North Carolina Song: “Good Death” Album:Forgotten Woman of Folk Release Date: August 11, 2023 (single); October 6, 2023 (EP)
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Good Death’ in the midst of dealing with a lot of anxiety – specifically surrounding death. I feel like it’s a topic that’s not normally discussed openly, so I wanted to write a song that took that fear and made it into something really beautiful. I recorded the song with Americana artist and producer Sarah Peacock, who transformed it into something beyond what I could have ever imagined.
“Much of ‘Good Death’ and the upcoming EP surrounds spirituality and Southern upbringing, so I knew for the video that I wanted to find some really beautiful old churches in the country. I brought this idea to the director, Corbin Eaton, who just blew it out of the water. We spent a day roaming around rural Tennessee finding the most incredible historical chapels, and we even got invited to record inside the last one we were filming. I’m so thrilled to share this song with the world, and I hope there are people who feel like ‘Good Death’ is exactly what they’ve needed to hear.” – Rachel Gore
Artist:Melanie MacLaren Hometown: New York, New York Song: “Tourist” Album:Tourist Release Date: April 20, 2023
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Tourist’ for my nieces and nephews during a time when we were all grieving an unimaginable loss in our family. Most of the songs I’d written during that period were songs I kept to myself because they just felt bleak and counterproductive, and I thought if I was going to write about this at all (and go so far as to record it), I should write a song that lyrically and musically provides some comfort; otherwise it felt wrong. Overall the song is here to say that most everything is temporary, but that there are some things out there that we don’t understand that are true and eternal.
“The love between a parent and child I think can be one of those things — it stays with you when you leave or when the person that loved you leaves. If it’s true, then it stays. The title is kind of a riff on that, talking about something serious in a really corny way. All the songs on the record deal with similar themes — memory, family, loss — and when I wrote this song I realized that they’re all actually about grief in some way or other, and learning how to come to terms with loss by ascribing value to things that are fleeting. Because all things are, but that doesn’t make them pointless.” — Melanie MacLaren
This week, we’re back for the fall season with the first face-to-face taping in nearly two years. I was able to catch up with the fearless deep-voiced frontman BJ Barham of North Carolina roots-rock favorites American Aquarium, in the front bar of The Troubadour in LA as his tour was passing through.
American Aquarium’s rawly personal new LP Chicamacomico dropped earlier this year and focuses on the twin losses of BJ’s mother and grandmother — as well as a dark point in his own marriage when he and his wife lost a child. He was already building a room for the little one during the pregnancy when everything changed. While fans have been following the band as a roaring country-tinged rock outfit since they formed in Raleigh around 2006 (the masterful Jason Isbell-produced Burn.Flicker.Die put them on the map right as they thought they would quit), it’s with Barham’s more poetic, stripped down offerings like 2020’s Lamentations and his searing solo work Rockingham that he is breaking new ground. Barham isn’t shy about processing his adoration for The Boss as the preeminent living rock-n-roll intellectual king, and there are cuts off the new LP like “The Things We Lost Along the Way” that feel like they could have been recorded in that haunted place alongside Nebraska or Darkness on the Edge of Town.
As a new dad myself who just experienced my wife going through a terrifying birth, BJ’s songs hit me a little harder these days. I can’t think of a country artist today with as big a following from North Carolina to Texas who would center the title track of his record around the unspoken tragedy of a late miscarriage, but Barham pulls it off with a remarkable sensitivity. Like Isbell, Barham notes that his career really began when he got sober and could finally examine the dark corners of his history, his relationships and the fractured history of the South he grew up in.
Though hard to say, naming a record about working through deep loss Chicamacomico makes all the sense in the world. It’s a real place of course, a life-saving station built in 1874 on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and a beach area where BJ and his wife tried to go to blow off steam and forget their sorrows. Now a proud dad to a little daughter (see the cheerful country banger “Little Things”) Barham has learned that in the end, being a father and husband first doesn’t make him less of a hard-working, deep-thinking artist. In fact, it’s finding that balance that has allowed him to write the most powerful songs of his career.
Artist:Phoebe Hunt featuring Tabitha Meeks and Makena Hartlin (the Pitch Pipes) Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Goin’ Gone”
In Their Words: “I was introduced to the Pitch Meeting in Nashville by my dear friend Makena Hartlin. She kept telling me to come out to Sonny’s on a Tuesday here in Nashville. I had been reluctant to go anywhere during the pandemic, but this August, I felt like it was time and the Pitch Meeting graciously featured me as their guest artist. It was really special to see what can happen when a group of supremely talented individuals come together to support one another. I felt heard, held, supported and lifted up. I hadn’t played in a live setting with a full band in a really long time and it really lifted my spirits. The next week, Makena and Tabitha Meeks invited me to be a featured guest in their Pitch Pipes female songwriter showcase. Again, I was blown away by the support from these beautiful women.
“Nanci Griffith passed the day before I met up with the Pitch Pipes. My husband and I had her album, The Last of the True Believers, on repeat in our home and I felt deeply connected to her voice, her writing and the covers she chose to sing. You can hear genuine tenderness in her voice. You can feel her spirit. So, I brought ‘Goin’ Gone’ to Makena and Tabitha and asked if they would be open to learning it and paying tribute to Nanci with me. It feels sacred to sing the songs she sang in her wake. As if we can keep the music and her memory alive simply by playing the songs she held close. We’ve lost many beautiful souls lately and it feels important to sing the songs of those who pass and keep their spirit alive through the music they left behind.” — Phoebe Hunt
Artist:Reid Zoé Hometown: Toronto, Canada Song: “When I Go” Album:Shed My Skin Release Date: May 14, 2021
In Their Words: “On the surface, ‘When I Go’ is a song about dying — but it’s really all of the questions that come with being a human on this earth. It’s the acceptance that we don’t know everything, and that that’s okay. We are part of everything. It’s about the joy that can come with the realization that ‘nothing really matters. It was written during a time of really potent growth, and I hope it’s as healing for the listener as it has been for me.” — Reid Zoé
Photo credit: Andy Ince
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