Tag: guitar

From Death Metal to a Fishing Boat, How Billy Strings Finds Renewal (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on by Editor

Billy Strings has had his foot on the gas since he was a teenager, bringing his prolific picking to hundreds of shows around the country each year and winning over a throng of devoted fans in the process. His bluegrass bona fides may be obvious from the outset — he’s quick to cite such greats as Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, and the Stanley Brothers as some of his first musical influences, and no honest spectator could deny his talent on the guitar and mandolin — but astute listeners will also note elements of rock, jam bands, and even heavy metal in his performances, especially as Strings bounds around the stage.

The Nashville-based, Michigan-raised musician’s latest album, Renewal, comes on the heels of an exceptional year: His Rounder Records debut, Home, won the 2020 Grammy award for Best Bluegrass Album. And even as much of the music industry was grounded from touring, his innovative approach to livestreams and digital performances moved the Pollstar Awards to dub him the Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic. But that breakthrough was more than a decade in the making, and the forces that shaped Strings as a prodigious young picker are still at work today, pushing him creatively in the studio and on stage as well as calming him at home between gigs. Here, in the second half of our BGS Artist of the Month interview, Strings tells us about his upbringing, his latest influences, and the way he unwinds between shows.

Editor’s Note: Read the first part of our interview with Billy Strings.

BGS: Tell me about where you grew up. How do you see its impact on your work today?

Billy Strings: I was born in Lansing, Michigan on October 3, which is my grandpa’s birthday. My mother, who lived in Kentucky at the time, had gone up to Lansing to visit her dad on his birthday, and that’s when I decided to show up. [Laughs] So that’s why I was named Billy as well, because that was my grandpa’s name — I was his little birthday gift.

We lived in Morehead, Kentucky, for a couple of years before coming back home to Michigan, where I really grew up. I grew up in a little town called Muir, population 600. My dad is an incredible guitar player, so he taught me how to play. He was always showing me music when I was a little kid: Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Larry Sparks, and stuff like that — a lot of good bluegrass. We’d hang out at this little campground and play music next to the river by the fire. That was my childhood, man, just sitting there picking by the river.

It was real good until I got to be a teenager and started to turn sour. I had to run off and figure out a new life. I took what my dad taught me when I was a little kid, and all of a sudden I realized that bluegrass is actually pretty sweet and people love this shit — that maybe I could do something with this; that it’s not just something that I do with my dad that I should be halfway embarrassed about.

Who are the artists that you feel really inspired by right now? And are those different than the ones that you feel like you were listening to a lot when you were a kid?

For the most part, it’s still Doc Watson — he’s the main nerve — and Bill Monroe, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley and Carter Stanley, the Stanley Brothers. But I listen to a lot of different shit. I listen to death metal, and lately, I’ve been getting into this music from Mali that Béla Fleck was showing me — some really amazing stuff. And Memphis trap: I’ve been listening to Young Dolph a bunch. There’s just an energy to it. I grew up around crack houses. I’ve seen that shit that they’re rapping about. It just gets me hyped: He’s talking about coming out of nothing and becoming a self-made millionaire. I listen to it before the shows sometimes to get myself hyped up.

You played in rock bands in high school — groups with music that might not sound a lot like what you’re doing today. Is there any lesson or anything from that time that you feel like you still turn to or still apply to the music that you make?

Yeah, performing live. I never learned how to perform in a bluegrass band. I learned how to perform in a metal band. I learned music by playing bluegrass when I was a little kid, but by the time I was doing it on stage it was in a metal band — we were headbanging and running all over the place — and I still can’t help but get into the music like that. I can’t just stand there and play.

You have been in Nashville now for a little while. Has anything that has surprised you about it, good or bad?

I really love Nashville. A lot of your favorite musicians, that’s where they live. You’ll see your favorite singer in the grocery store. I get calls for sessions, and it’s from people who I grew up listening to and who I’ve idolized for my whole life. Like Béla Fleck’s record just came out, and I played a handful of songs on that. I was so honored to play with David Grisman, and Chris Thile, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, and Edgar Meyer — all these cats that are just… well, I don’t feel like I’m really in that league. It really was an honor. And there’ve been several things like that! I went from listening to these cats on a record to being on a first-name basis with them… texting and being friends. It’s a trip.

What’s one thing that’s brought you joy recently?

Fishing. I love bass fishing. I grew up doing that with my dad as well, but I didn’t do it for a long time because I was so busy. When the pandemic hit, I started fishing again. I go out there in rain or shine. I just like it for the solitude. Last night, I was in front of thousands of people, and to come home and go out on my boat and be alone in nature — to check out the blue herons and the fucking ospreys, eagles, fish, everything doing its thing — it’s brought me a lot of joy, brought me down to Earth. I put my boat in at 5 o’clock in the morning when the sun is just coming up. I like being out there alone at that time of day. It’s just good for my mind.

And yet it’s so clear from your performances that interacting with listeners gives you a certain joy, too. What are the forms of feedback that you value most from your audience when you’re playing live?

Sometimes when we finish a solo, everybody starts cheering real loud, the whole place gets real loud. That feels good. But sometimes I look out there and I look around and I see individual people and I literally play to them. Last night, we played in Montana and I was looking around and there was this one dude just standing there with his beer just completely still. I didn’t even know if he was enjoying it or not. So I just walked up to the front of the stage and stared directly at him and I just started playing right to him. [Laughs] So he started laughing, and then he took a drink of his beer and started bobbing his head a little bit. I think he just started getting into it by the end of the show.

I’ll look for things like that. The audience is really in control of how I’m feeling up there. Sometimes, when they’re just on fire, I can’t help but have a good time. They feed us the energy, and we give it back to them. It’s reciprocal.

Photo credit: Jesse Faatz

Billy Strings Draws a Line in the Sand with Sobriety, Not Bluegrass (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on by Editor

From carving out a name for himself on the road as a teenager to winning a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album (2019’s standout Home), the prodigious 29-year-old guitar player Billy Strings has cultivated a devoted following and collected an impressive list of accomplishments along the way. His latest Rounder Records release, Renewal, capitalizes on the confidence and artistic growth those experiences have delivered, with experimental new instrumentation, contemplative lyricism, and trademark picking. Produced by Jonathan Wilson (Roger Waters, Father John Misty), the sixteen-track opus offers a glimpse at an artist who is continuously rediscovering himself.

“I’m going through a part in my life where I’m looking through the windshield instead of in the rearview,” he says. “I think of a new day, the morning light, a spider molting, or a snake shedding its skin: It’s a renewal.” In the first of our two part BGS Artist of the Month interview, we caught up with Billy Strings about those new beginnings — on the stage, in the studio, and in his day-to-day life.

BGS: Renewal is mostly acoustic, but it pulls from a lot of different sources of inspiration — and not all of those are necessarily bluegrass. Is there any particular moment on the record where you noticed the influence of a genre that may be unexpected to some listeners?

Billy Strings: “Hide and Seek” is a song that maybe draws more from my influence of playing in metal bands — trying to write a song that’s more like a metal song, but with acoustic instruments… using odd time signatures, diminished chords, and avoiding the major scale. I grew up listening to a lot of death metal, and a lot of that music is just not verse-chorus-bridge, verse-chorus-outro. The songs are like 10 different parts. They’re hyper-composed, and that stuff’s sort of neat.

Was there anything that you did in the studio that took you out of your comfort zone?

I mean, I wouldn’t say it was uncomfortable, but it was different playing synthesizers and different instruments hands-on. I think I gained a little confidence when I won that Grammy — the next time I went into the studio, I was the one calling the shots: “Hey, do you have a triangle? Let’s all come together and do a singalong.” I was the one coming up with the creative ideas and feeling confident in myself to do that. On “Heartbeat of America,” I’m playing some old synthesizer, playing with the pitch wheel and stuff. That shit’s fun.

“Hellbender” stands out as a reasonably upbeat, fun song when you’re listening to it, but the lyrics are… kind of dark. What was going on in your head when you were writing that?

That song’s about a real bad headache and a real bad hangover — being lost in the demons of alcohol, not knowing where to stop, saying, “Fuck it, I’m going to drink until the night’s over.” I haven’t drank in over five years: I haven’t had a sip of alcohol because I had a real bad headache one day. So it’s not really about me, but I wouldn’t really call it a fictional song either. I have been there and done that: woken up like that. It’s about a guy who can’t freakin’ stop.

“Know It All” on the new album talks about learning from your mistakes. Has there been any kind of a difficult learning experience that you feel shaped you as an artist?

Well, maybe that headache I was talking about.

Oh yeah?

One day we had this awesome gig. A lot of people showed up, and we sold a bunch of merch, and I thought we were fucking rock stars. I had been up all night and drinking beer and liquor and a bunch of shit. We got to the bar after and I was all, “Old Fashioneds! Get one for everybody, on me!” I was raring and tearing. But the next day, we barely made it to our gig, because I was puking every 10 minutes. We made it there in time to set up our stuff and play — we had to set up our gear in front of the audience. This was at a time where my career was really starting to take off, and I saw that as an opportunity to draw a line in the sand.

How so?

I think it’s about being conscious of my surroundings, being aware of the vibe that people are giving, and also being aware of the vibe that I’m putting off. I don’t want to be a drunk asshole when some fan comes up to me and says, “Hey man I really enjoyed the show.” I want to be there. I want to be able to say, “Thank you, man. Thank you for coming. I fucking appreciate it.” I just came off four gigs back-to-back. We played Spokane, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and then somewhere in Montana. And right now I’m on my way to Salt Lake City. I can’t do that if I’m drinking. It’s all I can do to take care of myself. There’s no time for that shit.

You won Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic from Pollstar —probably the first time anybody was awarded something like that. What motivated you to try new things when you lost your outlet on stage? Was there anything that struck you as a special moment even remotely connecting with your fans?

I’ve been doing this since I was 19 and I went on my first tour across the country. It’s all I’ve really known, just keeping this going. I’ve been “striking while the iron’s hot” for 10 years. [Laughs] So when all of a sudden I don’t have anything to do, it’s like, “Well shit. We need to keep doing something to engage the fans. We can’t just stop.” We started doing little streams at my house, and then that moved to doing a streaming tour around venues and stuff, and then eventually the whole Capitol Theater run, which was six nights, including this whole experiment where we tried to interact with our fans through telekinesis. That was really special. Even though there wasn’t anybody there, it felt like we were really connected with the audience.

You are out there day in and day out, and I’ve also seen you talk candidly about having anxiety and nerves before going on stage. Is there anything in particular that you do to manage that?

I mean, it’s been a journey. I hit the road when I was 19, playing 200 gigs a year, and for a while there, I was invincible, untouchable. I thought I could drive the van, sell the merch, book the hotels, settle up at the end of the night, write the songs, perform the shows, do everything. It was all on my shoulders. But I hit a wall where all of a sudden, instead of being confident, strong, and untouchable, I was fragile and scared of the world. Anxiety really fucked me up. I started having these crippling panic attacks where my whole body would go into convulsions.

I’m not trying to be a tough guy. I’m trying to be an honest guy. It’s uncomfortable for me to pretend like I’m feeling any way that I’m not, so if I’m angry, sad, anxious, mad? You’re going to know it because I don’t want to hide that shit. I’ve been going to therapy ever since 2019 and it’s helped me a bunch. I had a lot of trauma from my childhood that I had to sort out so I could keep moving forward and stop looking back. That’s what Renewal is all about.

Editor’s Note: Read part two of our Artist of the Month interview here.

Photo credit: Jesse Faatz

Billy Strings and Del McCoury Team Up for “Midnight on the Stormy Deep”

Posted on by Editor

Simple and strong, this live performance of “Midnight on the Stormy Deep” encapsulates so much of what we love about bluegrass. A style-defining voice and top-shelf front man, Del McCoury sings tenor and strums his signature rhythm guitar on the tune as Billy Strings leads from behind a mandolin — a lesser-known instrument for the fiery flatpicker whose name and music have become synonymous with modern bluegrass.

A timeless bluegrass standard, McCoury and Strings’ fresh take on “Midnight on the Stormy Deep” is reverent and quietly respectful of the music’s traditions. The breaks and fills are baked into the sound of bluegrass while the forward, bright vocal tones of the two friends could be the textbook definition of traditional harmonies. Some might say that McCoury and Strings could hardly be any more different as artists, but their mutual respect and appreciation is evident in this figurative, bluegrass passing of the baton. Don’t miss their in-studio performance of “Midnight on the Stormy Deep.”

Photo courtesy of Rounder Records

So Many Supergroups: Hear IBMA’s 2021 Instrumental Recording Nominees

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

We’re just over a week and a half away from the International Bluegrass Music Association’s annual awards show held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Bluegrass being a technical, virtuosic genre, the awards have always included efforts to note, encourage, and honor instrumental music and instrumentalists. Each year five bands or acts are nominated for Instrumental Group of the Year, as well as individual songs nominated for Instrumental Recording of the Year. Today we’ll spend a little time with each of the nominees in the latter category, a collection of five instrumentals that showcase collaborative, exciting lineups, some acrobatic mandolin picking, and the exciting depth and breadth of the musical talent evident in the bluegrass community. 

Appalachian Road Show — “The Appalachian Road”

Appalachian Road Show is Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Darrell Webb, Zeb Snyder, and Todd Phillips, kicking off the Instrumental Recording category with our first supergroup of the bunch. Their titular tune, from the 2020 album, Tribulation, feels like an exciting, galloping journey with twists and turns and a slight darkness, like evening creeping over an Appalachian holler. Appalachian Road Show is the second-most nominated band this year at the IBMA awards, also up for New Artist of the Year – but don’t be fooled, this group has been making fiery music like this centered on VanCleve’s signature sawing for several years now.

Bluegrass 2020 — “Foggy Mountain Chimes”

Scott Vestal reprised his Bluegrass ‘95, Bluegrass ‘96, and Bluegrass 2001 records in 2020 with a new generation, filling out the band with IBMA Award winner and fiddler Patrick McAvinue, guitarist Cody Kilby, Hawktail mandolinist Dominick Leslie, and his brother Curtis Vestal on bass. His ‘95 edition included Wayne Benson, Adam Steffey, Aubrey Haynie, Barry Bales, and Clay Jones, while the ‘96 record featured Mark Schatz, Jeff Autry, and Rob Ickes – in addition to Haynie and Benson. In 2001, Autry and Benson were joined by John Cowan, Randy Kohrs, and Jim VanCleve. 

It’s easy to tell, from this 2020 rendition of “Foggy Mountain Chimes” or from any sample taken from this series of recordings helmed by Vestal, that his commitment to traditional bluegrass, that constantly pushes the envelope, is matched only by his commitment to crafting recordings such as these, where the most tangible throughline – perhaps the only throughline, besides Vestal himself – is the community and the music-making first and foremost.

Bluegrass at the Crossroads — “Ground Speed”

And, another supergroup! Mountain Home Music Company, an imprint of Crossroads Label Group in Arden, North Carolina, has been releasing a series of recordings featuring crackerjack bands of artists and musicians from across their label community and friends. This lineup includes Kristin Scott Benson of the Grascals, Darren Nicholson of Balsam Range, Jeremy Garrett of the Infamous Stringdusters,  Skip Cherryholmes of Sideline (and yes, Cherryholmes), and professor, bassist, and musicologist Kevin Kehrberg. 

It’s not uncommon for this IBMA Awards category to include traditional numbers from the bluegrass canon but it’s certainly a treat to have two such thoughtful – and downright fun – Earl Scruggs numbers up for the trophy this year.

Industrial Strength Bluegrass — “Mountain Strings”

If you haven’t had the good fortune to stumble upon it yet, scholar Neil V. Rosenberg has been taking BGS readers down memory lane, describing the 1989 Dayton Bluegrass Reunion that went on to inspire not only a book, Industrial Strength Bluegrass, but this new Joe Mullins-produced Smithsonian Folkways compilation album by various artists, too. This track features Sierra Hull with a band including Ben Isaacs, Kristin Scott Benson, Glen Duncan, Josh Williams, and the rarest of rare, bluegrass drums by Phil Paul. “Mountain Strings” was originally recorded by Red Allen and its composer, mandolinist Frank Wakefield. The album’s in-depth and museum-like liner notes get it right when they describe Hull’s rendering of the tune as inhabiting “rock and roll swagger,” much like the song’s originators. The ear-puckering cross tuning will stick in your craw, executed with a precision Hull accomplishes universally and deftly.

Justin Moses with Sierra Hull — “Taxland”

The Instrumental Recording of the Year category is always great at showcasing bluegrass’s endemic talent, but this year it really confirms and reconfirms the skill of many pickers, several of whom are nominated on more than one recording in this category, as you will have read already! Sierra Hull appears once again, this time on a track with her husband and musical compatriot Justin Moses, who assembled yet another Instrumental Recording supergroup on his Fall Like Rain project released in January of 2021. “Taxland” – a Tunesday Tuesday feature when it was released as a single in October 2020 – was inspired by all self-employed musicians’ least favorite time of year and features some of Hull and Moses’ signature double mandolin stylings, backed by Michael Cleveland’s jaw-dropping fiddle, Bryan Sutton on guitar, and Barry Bales on bass. It’s a tune that feels rollicking and impressive, but entirely musical, too – a quality not all bluegrass instrumentals share.

Congratulations goes to all of this year’s Instrumental Recording nominees, every one a deserving finalist for the award.

 

LISTEN: Caleb Lee Hutchinson, “I Must Be Right”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Caleb Lee Hutchinson
Hometown: Dallas, Georgia
Song: “I Must Be Right”
Album: Slot Machine Syndrome
Release Date: September 17, 2021

In Their Words: “‘I Must Be Right’ is a song I wrote with the incredible Trey Hensley on Zoom during the middle of 2020. I have been a fan of Trey for quite some time and was very excited to write with one of my favorite guitar pickers of all time. I tried to bring some kind of guitar lick into the write, which ended up being what you hear in the first few seconds of the song. Trey had the idea for the lyric and it only took us maybe an hour to write it. Trey is such an amazing writer and player so it didn’t take much for us to write a song like ‘I Must Be Right.’ It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written as a result.” — Caleb Lee Hutchinson
ᐧ

Photo credit: Don VanCleave

WATCH: The New Acoustic Collective, “Old Gray Coat” Feat. Wyatt Rice

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The New Acoustic Collective
Hometown: San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area
Song: “Old Gray Coat” Featuring Wyatt Rice
Album: Art of Acoustics
Release Date: September 20, 2021

In Their Words: “Tony Rice’s ‘Old Gray Coat’ has a special place in The NAC’s repertoire. This specific project came about when artistic director of Bay Area nonprofit Music in Place, Aaron Lington, contacted us and wanted to include us in the list of amazing musicians featured in a remotely-filmed music video production during the COVID-19 pandemic. I began to give Aaron some suggestions on song ideas and he really enjoyed ‘Old Gray Coat’ by Tony Rice. I thought if The NAC was going to record ‘Old Gray Coat,’ I’d like to feature a special guest, Tony’s brother Wyatt Rice. To have the opportunity to collaborate closely with both our NAC members and Wyatt Rice as a special guest was a dream come true!

“The fun and challenging part of this project was that it was all distanced and used with a click track, which started with me tracking my rhythm guitar part. Afterwards, Wyatt recorded his parts and then The NAC featuring Alonso Sanchez (double bass), David Boyden (fiddle), and Nathaniel Grohmann (cello) layered their parts and solos from there. Overall, the creative partnership between The NAC and Wyatt Rice was particularly rewarding and we are all grateful to work with him along with Music in Place, a nonprofit with an amazing mission!” — Jason Keiser, The New Acoustic Collective

Photo credit: Music in Place

WATCH: Charlie Parr, “Last of the Better Days Ahead”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Charlie Parr
Hometown: Duluth, Minnesota
Song: “Last of the Better Days Ahead”
Album: Last of the Better Days Ahead
Release Date: July 30, 2021
Label: Smithsonian Folkways

In Their Words: “Last of the Better Days Ahead is a way for me to refer to the times I’m living in. I’m getting on in years, experiencing a shift in perspective that was once described by my mom as ‘a time when we turn from gazing into the future to gazing back at the past, as if we’re adrift in the current, slowly turning around.’ Some songs came from meditations on the fact that the portion of our brain devoted to memory is also the portion responsible for imagination, and what that entails for the collected experiences that we refer to as our lives. Other songs are cultivated primarily from the imagination, but also contain memories of what may be a real landscape, or at least one inspired by vivid dreaming.” — Charlie Parr

Photo credit: Shelly Mosman

LISTEN: Leah Shaw, “Pretty Mama”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Leah Shaw
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Song: “Pretty Mama”
Album: Play Beautifully
Release Date: July 30, 2021

In Their Words: “The guitar, harmonica and fiddle-based song ‘Pretty Mama’ closes the album. I think of ‘Pretty Mama’ as really a prayer to my mom. I wrote it just before she died, I played and sang it at her memorial service, and while she was still physically with us at the time, due to how her condition had worked so slowly over time, I had long been imagining that her spirit had been leaving this world in these sort of waves or pieces, and it made me happy to imagine that she was then constituting herself in a sort of beautiful afterlife place, bit by bit, and maybe waiting there in peace to become whole as the rest of her that was still grounded with us in this world, wrapped up and passed on.

“As I was thinking or praying in this way, I thought, well I am operating out of a very dark place right now, and she taught me better — so while I do hope her spirit is with me somehow, I also kinda hope she didn’t see these latest round of life choices! At this time, I was by myself a lot, without a partner, I didn’t live near my family, and I had just quit my job; I was feeling very alone. I drank too much, I didn’t treat myself with a lot of self-love. So in this song I thought and prayed: Mom, if you are there, and if there is any guidance and protection you can give, please show me that — ‘let me know,’ as the final verse says!

“Of all the album’s songs, ‘Pretty Mama’ was clearest in my mind in terms of arrangement. Along with the bass and acoustic guitar, it would have two instruments in conversation with one another: cello, an instrument my mom adored and I which think reflected her warm and grounded personality, and then violin — a miniature of the cello, beautiful also but less calm, a bit more frantic. In other words, me! And then there would be the very important harmonica solo, which sounds as lonely as I felt at the time writing the song. The beautiful minimal backing vocals bring a little warmth and hope at the end, and this along with the song’s placement at the end of the project is meant to give my listeners and myself a sigh of relief — after the journey, a deep, calming breath. And then we keep on.” — Leah Shaw

Photo credit: Rodgers Dameron

These Members of the Roots Community Embraced Innovation Amid a Pandemic

Posted on by Editor

The roots music community, like the rest of the world, faced an uncertain future as the pandemic essentially wrecked everybody’s plans in 2020. However, a number of musicians and industry leaders figured out a way to navigate the uncharted waters with grace and bravery. The Bluegrass Situation invited five members of the roots community to share their thoughts on how they harnessed their creativity and embraced innovation over the last 12 months.

Billy Strings, Winner of “Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic” at the 2021 Pollstar Awards:

It was almost kind of a welcomed break, you know? I was tired, man. We had toured our asses off and I was like, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. Then all of a sudden, this stuff happened and we got a big break. And now I realize how lucky I was. Now there’s nothing I’d like more than to be stuck in some hotel room somewhere after a gig with some random folks at 3 o’clock in the morning, just hanging out and having a good-ass time.

For one thing I wanted to get the quality [of livestreaming] better than what I could do at my house. It started with just me on my couch playing, and the next thing you know we’re doing that tour where we’re playing the Exit/In and gigs around Nashville. It was kind of cool and eerie and weird. I’m just thinking, I know there are people out there watching us, but they’re not here and I can’t see them. When you’re used to playing for crowds, it’s like, man, this sucks! [Laughs]

We did debut a lot of songs at the Capitol Theater when we did our gigs there in February. We played like 16 brand new songs when we were over there. … People will go on fan pages and say, “Holy shit, did you hear that song?!” I don’t want to pay attention too much to that, because it just feels like you’re playing for the internet, but then it is good to get a good little gauge on what songs they’re digging.

Mercy Bell, Singer-Songwriter and Cast Member of the New Documentary, The Sound of Us:

I think a fallow season is really important for everyone, or we’re producing from an empty well. Not of creativity, I think creativity is always there, but contrary to popular opinion of the tortured and manic creator, even artists need to sleep and drink eight glasses of water a day. Like all of us, I spent 2020 trying to survive. I had a nervous breakdown. I lost my job. I had a heartbreak. I turned to art, pop culture, movement, exercise, my cats, meditation, to keep me going. …

There was a period of time I didn’t know if I’d make it. I was in a pretty dark place before I got some new treatment for my mental health. I was obsessively walking 14 miles a day, really scared, really not wanting to be alive, in quarantine far from my family, unemployment wasn’t coming through. Scheduling livestreams gave me something to look forward to. Playing music to my supporters, all over the world, it made me feel less alone. I don’t know how any performance will ever beat that. We really needed each other. Singing to people gave me a reason to keep going in the most literal sense. And my supporters also kept me fed! All those $5 tips kept groceries in my fridge. And then Netflix and podcasts, Cardi B’s “WAP,” and my cat kind of saved me. It gave me something to look forward to. That’s the power of art and pop culture, and pets. It cuts through to places we can’t get to. It got me through each day, one day at a time.

Without giving too much away, The Sound of Us spotlights a variety of musicians and the incredible impact their work (or lack thereof because of COVID) has. Some of those highlighted include folks working to bring music to underprivileged neighborhoods, into prisons and hospitals, working on researching lost works of art from the Holocaust and other genocides, and of course, how musicians were affected by institutional racism and the pandemic. When I saw the screening, I cried all my eye makeup off. It’s an incredibly emotional and profound documentary. I am so proud to have been part of it.

Robert Meitus, Co-Founder and VP of Industry Development of Mandolin.com:

Roots music fans tend to have a strong connection with artists and a desire to connect frequently and deeply. Additionally, the nature of roots music itself is built around intimacy, vulnerability and honesty, so that desire for connection really runs both ways. Mandolin’s vision has always been to build a space in the digital world where the noise of the industry fades away; one where a musician and their fans can connect not only through a concert stream, but through other unique experiences like interactive/online VIP events, soundchecks and workshops with artists.

Specifically, Mandolin started with a name that is itself an acoustic instrument and a workforce full of people who had worked a lot with roots music, including among others: myself, representing as an attorney artists such as John Prine, I’m With Her, and Keb’ Mo’; Jason Wilber, longtime guitarist for John Prine; and Larry Murray, formerly of the Luck Reunion. The name and connections naturally led us to develop the roots music connections in our first year, although Mandolin’s technology and services are certainly applicable to all music genres.

I have been a bit surprised at the almost uniformly positive views about integrating streaming into the live festival experience. It helps that cameras have been in place on and around stages for many years already, largely for the IMAG projections on the sides of stages, so musicians are used to this. COVID introduced livestreaming technology and practices to the music world at a much faster rate than would have been the case otherwise, and we have all learned how technology can connect us around the world and accommodate those that may be challenged to attend an event in person. The result is that, coming out of the pandemic, I believe bluegrass and other festivals will be more interested in the hybrid livestream for all sorts of reasons. This may be a bold claim, but I would expect that almost every festival — roots or otherwise — will have a virtual experience component. Think about it: with a phone in hand, every single fan is a digital fan, whether they are streaming at home or on the festival grounds.

Jackie Venson, R&B/Soul Artist and Guitarist from Austin, Texas:

I was pretty well-versed in livestreaming pre-pandemic. I had a series called Jackie Venson Live on Thursdays, which was an effort to help sell tickets to my album release at the Paramount in Austin, Texas, in 2019. I saw the potential in it when it first came out in 2014. I attempted to livestream a concert from Berlin, Germany, but the technology just wasn’t there yet so it was a really bumpy experience. I remember feeling really grateful that the technology existed when the pandemic was ramping up so that I could keep performing once there was no option for in-person shows. There was literally nothing else to do, and when there’s nothing to do I lose my mind and default to the first thing I can think of, which in this case was filling the performance void with livestream performances.

I used my Austin City Limits TV performance as a platform for Black Lives Matter because that episode will be rerun and it’s important to me that this message doesn’t die. The response overall was positive; of course there were some naysayers but that’s why we need to keep repeating the message. During the pandemic I received overwhelming support and positive feedback from the Austin music community. Everyone was on the same page and it seems as though things are changing for the better. I will absolutely continue to stream from home when possible, and I plan to livestream some of my shows from the road for those who want or need to stay home. I think livestreaming will be a staple in the world of live music. It makes live shows accessible to those who are unable to come out due to economic, accessibility, or other issues. (Read the BGS interview.)

Aengus Finnan, Executive Director of Folk Alliance International:

Everything was upside down last year, but the greatest challenge was envisioning and delivering an event we had never done, with half the staff, all new software, no roadmap, and little sense of whether anyone would want to gather online 11 months into a Zoomed-out pandemic. Being able to offer a sliding scale registration fee, including free, was absolutely necessary given how hard hit our community was, and despite that approach, we exceeded our modest revenue goals to cover the costs of the new online systems we used. The most rewarding element was definitely having new artists and industry join us for the first time, and to see a sharp increase in BIPOC and marginalized community representation across all panels. That happened because we were able to extend invitations to participate in more accessible ways. We were also thrilled to finally provide honorariums to all panelists this year, which we are committed to continuing.

Personally, it’s a joy to see FAI play a part in curating, commissioning, and compensating artists for meaningful new content and partnerships, which is the central aim of our Artist In Residence program — playfully renamed Artists in (Their) Residences this year for the pandemic. There were certainly some artists we approached who simply don’t do co-writes, some for whom the online process felt odd, and others who, while flattered, were simply too busy with other projects or recordings. But for the most part, there was instant interest, especially when they knew that one of their peers had selected or recommended them. The cross-border collaboration as part of a bigger collective project, reflecting on a traumatic year, with the added element of raising awareness for The Village Fund to support the community rang a lot of “count me in” bells.

We are already full steam ahead with a hybrid event this year, and we’re not looking back. Our focus will naturally be on ensuring that the in-person event is top-notch and delivers the experience we all know and love, but there are thousands of people who can’t attend each year, for myriad reasons, and providing online content, as well as live-streamed and interactive content enables more community engagement, participation, and inclusion, and builds bridges and connections that folks will use as an entry point leading to the growth of our genre and industry. While daunting, we’re excited about the opportunity to innovate what we do and offer, and who we can reach.

Photo of Billy Strings by Emma Delevante

LISTEN: Cameron Knowler, “Done Gone”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Cameron Knowler
Hometown: Yuma, Arizona & Houston, Texas
Song: “Done Gone”
Album: Places of Consequence
Release Date: July 16, 2021
Label: American Dreams

In Their Words: “‘Done Gone’ exists as a mission statement for the album: examining early fiddle music etymologically, rendering it meditatively, with a slow tempo and low tuning. In some ways, this is meant to problematize the history of flatpicked guitar, wherein guitarists learn fiddle tunes from other guitarists as opposed to fiddlers. This version borrows from a number of early fiddle sources while paying homage to my hero, Norman Blake, whose guitar playing is a broad synthesis of early country music, while pushing far beyond the scope of the genre’s canon. Recorded on a late ’30s plywood guitar, I hope the listener is directed toward the inconsistent and unwieldy qualities of the instrument, a factor that shapes the performance just as much as my sources. This track is in conversation with an Easter egg found on the record.” — Cameron Knowler

Photo credit: Laura Lee Blackburn