Tag: holidays

BGS Wraps: Roots Music For the Season

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Each year, the BGS Team likes to “wrap up” the year in music by featuring holiday, seasonal, and festive tunes and songs throughout the month of December. It’s a perfect way to generate holiday cheer while shining a light on some of the high quality new – and timeless! – seasonal music we’ve got playing on repeat each winter. And, it gives us the chance to infuse our veteran/stalwart holiday playlists with some new life, too.

This year, we’ll be sharing songs, albums, shows, and events each day for the first three weeks of December, a musical bridge to bring us to the peak holiday season, the end of one year, and the beginning of another. Check back each day as we add more selections to these weekly posts, highlighting roots music that will soundtrack our solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year.

What are you listening to this time of year? Let us know on social media! Scroll to find our complete BGS Wraps playlist for 2024 below. You can check out Week 2 of BGS Wraps here and Week 3 of BGS Wraps here.

Chapel Hart, Hartfelt Family Christmas

Artist: Chapel Hart
Album: Hartfelt Family Christmas
Release Date: October 25, 2024

In Their Words: “The Hartfelt Family Christmas album feels like a true classic with a fresh, updated feel that I can’t get enough of. The mix of songs on the album range from ones that make you want to get up and dance to ones that will have you driving and bawling your eyes out. This album is a must-have for the holiday season, as it truly captures the spirit of Christmas, and I believe gives you a warm welcome into the Christmas season with Chapel Hart! I highly recommend adding this album to your holiday music collection.” – Danica Hart, via press release

From The Editor: “One of our favorite groups in country, Chapel Hart are continuing collectivist country sounds a la the Chicks, Pistol Annies, Little Big Town – while keeping it in the family. Sisters Danica and Devynn Hart and their cousin Trea Swindle render classic holiday songs and originals with crisp, mainstream production plus a cozy, living room family reunion vibe. Plenty of special guests appear on the project, too, from Gretchen Wilson and Rissi Palmer to Vince Gill and the Isaacs. It sometimes feels tough to discover new holiday music when the classics we return to each year are such high quality; Hartfelt Family Christmas fits right in, though, and is sure to become a wintry stalwart for many Christmas playlists to come.”

The McCrary Sisters, A McCrary Kind of Christmas

Artist: The McCrary Sisters
Event: A McCrary Kind of Christmas
Date: December 6, 2024
Location: Riverside Revival, Nashville, Tennessee

In Their Words: “I have always loved this time of the year, because people seemed to love or like each other. We should love all year long, but unfortunately we don’t. So I will take a season of love, rather than no love at all. We take this time of the year to be a blessing to others. It brings my heart joy to be able to give to others. When you have lived without yourself, then you know how it feels when someone takes the time to acknowledge you and bless you. It is important to us to be a blessing to others. This annual benefit show has blessed so many families over the years, and each year we want to give more and more. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital helps so many families, so it is an honor to be able to give back to them along with local Nashville families. IT IS A BLESSING TO BE A BLESSING.” – The McCrary Sisters, via press release

From The Editor: “The McCrary Sisters are a Nashville institution, as is their annual holiday celebration, A McCrary Kind of Christmas – now in its 15th year. Happening tomorrow, December 6, at Riverside Revival in Nashville, Tennessee, A McCrary Kind of Christmas will benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and will feature performances by Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller, Raul Malo, Dave Pomeroy, the McCrarys, and many more.

“This is a Music City holiday extravaganza not to be missed! Tickets are already sold out for A McCrary Kind of Christmas, but for those who didn’t get a chance to support the music and the cause, donations can be made directly to St. Jude’s here. And, lucky for all of us, the McCrarys released their essential Christmas album, A Very McCrary Christmas, back in 2019 – so make a donation, put on the album, and enjoy your own taste of A McCrary Kind of Christmas wherever you are.”

Väsen & Hawktail, “The Tobogganist”

Artist: Väsen & Hawktail
Song: “The Tobogganist”
Release Date: September 20, 2024

In Their Words: “We can’t really believe that we got to make this album with our heroes in Väsen. But we did! It’s called Väsen & Hawktail…” – Hawktail, via social media

From The Editor: “Two virtuosic, groundbreaking trad instrumental groups join forces and cross-pollinate continents – and generations – on Väsen & Hawktail (released in September by Padiddle Records and Olov Johansson Musik). This is a standout acoustic album of the year, certainly; a perfect selection among the album’s stunning tracks for BGS Wraps is ‘The Tobogganist,’ a composition we first highlighted when it was recorded by Hawktail for their album Formations in 2020. Bluegrass, old-time, and fiddle music from any/all countries of origin have catalogs packed full of seasonal and holiday tunes that may be connected to holiday and year-end festivities by title alone. ‘The Tobogganist’ is a perfect example of the form, though its peaks and valleys text paint an exciting and joyous wintry scene for listeners, lyrics or no.”

Caylee Hammack, “Blue Christmas”

Artist: Caylee Hammack
Song: “Blue Christmas”
Release Date: October 18, 2024

In Their Words: “I never knew ‘Blue Christmas’ needed a steel guitar solo until I spent some time reimagining this song, and Bruce Bowden brought the twang we needed to country fry this classic Christmas canon. I take the holidays as a time to revisit old memories and old songs, even when it wasn’t always a happy time for me, but I’ve come around that bend. Every year that I get to produce another Christmas record to share, makes me feel more in love with this season.” – Caylee Hammack, via press release

From The Editor: “Every holiday playlist needs some Good Country – and Caylee Hammack certainly checks that box with her Blue Christmas EP released in October. Don’t miss her playful, personable reimaginations of ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ and ‘Hard Candy Christmas’ alongside her twangy rendition of ‘Blue Christmas.’ Hammack has been on the Music City beat for years, the groundwork for the well-deserved momentum she’s enjoying at the moment being laid deliberately and intentionally over time.”

Adam Chaffins, “Layaway Momma”

Artist: Adam Chaffins
Song: “Layaway Momma”
Release Date: November 15, 2024

In Their Words: “I’m not sure co-writer Eric Paslay and I knew we were actually writing a Christmas song when we started on ‘Layaway Momma.’ Little by little, we unwrapped this tale of overcoming adversity while staying true to yourself – told through the story of a mother’s determination to ensure her little boy has a good Christmas. I think in the end, we wrote an anthem to the single parent who is not looking for pity, but is working her way towards the American Dream.” – Adam Chaffins, via press release

From The Editor: “Country and string band textures combine on Chaffins’ timely and tender seasonal track, ‘Layaway Momma.’ While much noise is made in the media, pre- and post-election, about ‘the economy’ and its performance, Chaffins – an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter in bluegrass, Americana, and beyond – and his co-writer Paslay point out that for many, our economy has never functioned properly. This is especially clear this time of year, as consumption snowballs and those with less feel the financial pinch even more prominently. Chaffins treats his subject, the Layaway Momma herself, with dignity and care – this isn’t just your typical holiday poverty porn, and that’s certainly a breath of fresh air.”

 

BGS Class of 2023: Reading Recommendations

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

I call January my reading month. To be clear, I do of course still scan words and decipher syntax throughout the remaining 11 months that fill the calendar, but I always seem to start and finish the most books in the first month of the year. I don’t think it’s because I have a romantic notion of what my new self will be like in this new year – always reading and writing more or doing xyz to “better” myself (though if I’m being honest, that’s probably part of it). Rather, I think it’s more so that in the hangover of the holidays, when the gatherings are over, and there are months of dreary winter to look forward to, I take comfort in the ability to transport myself to another time or place, or simply get lost in someone’s thoughts for hours at a time. 

This community, as much as any, understands the import of passing stories on – allowing a new generation to take the torch and keep honored traditions burning while evolving its culture and extinguishing the shameful parts of its priors. That’s why we at BGS compile notable books that tell the stories by or about these genres’ songs and songwriters and the scenes, places, and events that made them. 

Maybe you’re like me, looking for ideas of books to get lost in this winter, or maybe you are looking for a way to turn the page on the calendar and become your most “badass self” (we’ve got a book for that). You might be here looking for a last minute gift idea for that special music-loving person in your life. In all those cases, you’ve come to the right place! 

We’ve got a book by an esteemed songwriter who waxes poetic on the art form he loves. We’ve got titles about how certain times in certain places scenes have blossomed and sub-genres formed so palpable that listeners can identify a song by its roots. We’ve got biographies of famous musicians, and some of whom have looked back at their own lives and careers. Find all that and more in our list of reading recommendations, organized by categories below: 

Sense of Place

Night Train to Nashville: The Greatest Untold Story of Music City, Paula Blackman

Drawing on stories from her grandfather, E. Gab Blackman, a 30-year radio executive at WLAC, Paula Blackman shares the story of how the Nashville radio station became a pioneering source for Black rhythm and blues music in the 1940s and ‘50s. Seeing the opportunity to reach a more diverse audience – not, as Paula notes, to be a “white savior” – Gab teamed up with disc jockey Gene Nobles to play “race records.” In Night Train, Blackman also profiles William Sousa “Sou” Bridgeforth, the owner of New Era Club, a prominent Black nightclub in Nashville that blossomed as a result of the new artists being spun on WLAC airwaves, many of whom were introduced to Gab by Sou. Fitting that the story of Nashville, in the time leading up to the civil rights era, is told through the music played on the AM radio speakers throughout the city. 

This Must Be the Place: Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City, Jesse Rifkin

Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival, Mark Guarino

In Their Own Words

World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music, Jeff Tweedy

Wilco frontman and New York Times bestselling author Jeff Tweedy follows up on Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) and How To Write One Song with a gushing love letter to songs. In it, Tweedy dedicates chapters to many (but clearly not close to all) of the songs that have resonated deeply with him for one reason or another. From Bob Dylan to Billie Eilish, from The Clash to ABBA, Tweedy sheds any and all pretense of what might be considered “cool” in his selections. 

Wayward: Just Another Life to Live, Vashti Bunyan

In Wayward, Vashti Bunyan, an English singer-songwriter, recounts her early career in the mid ’60s leading to her debut release, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. Disillusioned by its lack of success (at the time) and the fact that her songs, life, and career were all dictated by men, she left the music industry entirely before re-emerging in the early 2000s. Pick this up for the story of what happened in between, how she reclaimed her life, and is taking her second act in music on her own terms. 

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir, Lucinda Williams

3-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and now New York Times best-selling author, Lucinda Williams, recounts her upbringing and bumpy ride to fame. Once getting feedback from a record company who said her music was “too country for rock and too rock for country,” Williams stayed the course, and became one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time.

On Banjo: Recollections, Licks and Solos, Ben Eldridge

Born in Richmond, VA, Ben Eldridge fell in love with roots music watching WRVA’s Old Dominion Barn Dance. In this memoir-meets-tablature book, he recalls his path from upbringing to moving to D.C. to become a mathematician, and ultimately going from jam sessions to forming a group that would change bluegrass henceforth – the Seldom Scene. This conversational book with pictures that set the scenes even comes with licks and transcriptions for banjo playing fans. 

TransElectric: My Life as a Cosmic Rock Star, Cidny Bullens

This book starts with a bang! And I’m not even talking about the foreword from Elton John. As just a 24-year-old Cidny (then referred to as Cindy) had shown up uninvited to a live recording session for Dr. John at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood, and eventually found himself starting an impromptu jam with Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, and Joe Cocker. This retrospective traces his arc from a backing vocal career in the drug-fueled ’70s for the likes of Elton John and Rod Stewart, and having trouble finding his footing as a solo artist who had expectations of how a woman could behave and perform. Bullens settled into the life of a typical suburban mom, experienced a personal tragedy, and eventually found his true voice. 

Nashville City Blues: My Journey as an American Songwriter, James Talley

Biographies & Histories

Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s 

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle, Philip Norman

Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, David Menconi

Oh Didn’t They Ramble chronicles the comprehensive history of the quintessential folk record label for the last 50-plus years. With extensive access to Rounder artists, staff, and founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin, BGS contributor David Menconi is able to tell Rounder’s story, from its humble but audacious and idealistic beginnings to becoming one of the most influential record labels in the history of recorded music. 

The Downhome Sound: Diversity and Politics in Americana Music, Mandi Bates Bailey

How-Tos

Light Beams: A Workbook for Being Your Badass Self, Valerie June

Like I mentioned, this workbook/journal might be coming just at the right time as you resolve to become your most “badass self.” But even if you’re reading this well into the new year, then there’s no time like the present! Published on Jack White’s Third Man Books, Valerie June’s Light Beams offers its readers “contracts and agreements, self-healing wishes and spells, and maps and prescriptions in exercises” on a journey to self-love and waking up with a promise of choosing kindness and shining like a “badass.”

Y’all Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen, Miranda Lambert

How To Produce A Record: A Player’s Philosophy For Making A Great Recordings, Pete Anderson

Other

Western Chill, Robert Earl Keen

As a set that features a double sleeve album, a DVD with music videos for every song, a graphic, illustrated novel that explains the writing process, and a songbook with lyrics, notes, and chords so the purchaser can play along, this title certainly belongs in a category of its own. 

 

BGS Wraps: Patty Loveless, Darin & Brooke, Brei Carter, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

How is December already half over? Christmas is merely 10 days away – and in just over six days, Winter Solstice will bring the light back into our lives. We hope your home smells of evergreen and sugar cookies and that a seasonal roots music tune is wrapping you up in wintry coziness. If that isn’t the case, we can help with the rootsy seasonal tunes bit!

For our third week of BGS Wraps, we have celebratory bluegrass alongside loping country, introspective indie and gothic Tim Burton-esque tales, too. Plus, don’t miss Jeannie Seely as Grand Marshal of the Donelson Hermitage Christmas parade in Nashville tomorrow.

Whatever you’re celebrating this season, we’ve got the music, songs, albums, and events to pair with your peace and joy.

Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Hometown Holiday

One of bluegrass’s preeminent couples, Darin & Brooke’s new Christmas album, Hometown Holiday, feels like an afternoon visit in their living room, as they play down a few of their favorite seasonal numbers. The husband and wife duo are known for their covers of non-bluegrass songs, and several among this collection truly shine – like Joni Mitchell’s “River,” rendered beautifully by Brooke. You’ll hear country piano, a modern classic popularized by Amy Grant, “The Chipmunk Song,” and more, all packaged with a neat and tidy bluegrass bow.

Beth // James, Christmas at the Burchills

Friends of BGS will know this team loves a good tiki drink, so including this Beth // James original seemed essential for our holiday Wraps. “Tiki Christmas Land” is one of four originals – joined by a cover of “Blue Christmas” – on Beth // James’ new EP, Christmas at the Burchills. Make yourself a holiday mai tai or painkiller and enjoy your visit with Beth, James, and the Burchills.

Brei Carter, Twinkling Tales of Christmas

Your cheeks may be a bit rosier after listening to Brei Carter’s jazzy, pop country holiday collection, Twinkling Tales of Christmas – and not just because of the chill in the air! “50 Shades of Christmas” will certainly get you in a festive and adventurous mood, and “Santa Wontcha” is for all Christmas season fans who proudly extend the season well prior to Thanksgiving. But “Bow on You” and “Christmas Is You” are certainly the stand out tracks.

38th Annual Donelson Hermitage Christmas Parade December 16, with Grand Marshal Jeannie Seely

If you’re near to Music City USA, head out to Donelson tomorrow afternoon, December 16, to catch country legend Jeannie Seely as she Grand Marshals the 38th Annual Donelson Hermitage Christmas Parade. Seely is standing in for Brenda Lee, who ended up being unable to attend the event – and who better to step into Lee’s Christmas hit-singing shoes? Seely has been involved with the parade many a time before and this year is an especially perfect time for the Grand Ole Opry member to Marshal, as she just released a holiday single with the Flat River Band entitled “Christmas Time.”

Pat McGrath, “Let’s Just Get Past Christmas”

A smooth, swingin’ Christmas song from singer, songwriter, studio musician Pat McGrath that looks forward, willing the new year to come fast and wipe the slate clean. A great tune for anyone who feels the holidays are often bittersweet, with a heavy dose of love and putting one foot in front of the other, you can get past just about anything. Christmas included.

Drake Milligan, “Cowgirl for Christmas”

More Christmas songs need yodeling, right? Right. Drake Milligan’s “Cowgirl for Christmas” is a delight, from the sound stage music video set that feels direct from a ‘50s western to the catchy, yodeled hook, to the danceable, western swing beat. Not a brand new track or video, but one worth remembering each year when December rolls around for sure. You’ll be wishin’ for a cowgirl under your tree, too.

The Nields, “The Darkest Day”

A harmony rich neo-folk song from The Nields, “The Darkest Day” was released earlier this year on their brand new album, Circle of Days. To herald solstice, they’ve brought out a video to highlight the track and ask the titular question, “What do you want on the darkest day?” A timely reflection, as we welcome back the sun and look ahead to spring – however far away it may feel.

Malin Pettersen, “Santa”

Malin Pettersen’s first ever Christmas song is an entire vibe. With a classic R&B back beat and conversational tone with Americana touches, Pettersen lays out her wishes for the holiday – for her longing to end and for some light to brighten the holidays and dark January. Whomever you’re trying to manifest into or out of your life, Pettersen can offer a shortcut to writing your letter to the big man at the North Pole.

Hannah Rose Platt, “The Wendigo Rag”

Wendigos and skinwalkers, oh my! If your TikTok For You Page knows that you love a cryptid tale or the paranormal or other unexplained phenomenon, Hannah Rose Platt has made a wintry, stop motion, Tim Burton-esque video just for you. And if you’d like to continue your rootsy Wendigo songs playlist, we have another selection from back around Halloween by Thunder & Rain you’d enjoy, too.

Larry Sparks, “White Christmas”

Each Christmas we’re reminded of this amazing album by bluegrass legend Larry Sparks and especially of this four-chord version of a holiday classic, “White Christmas.” Only a picker like Sparks could pave over such an iconic chord progression without leaving the listener missing it – at all. “White Christmas” is a jam buster no more, anybody can play along. We put this album on every year around the holidays and are never disappointed.

Sofia Talvik, “Alone for Christmas”

Swedish folk and Americana singer-songwriter Sofia Talvik utilizes jazz touches and dramatic strings to paint a lonesome Christmas portrait that both relishes and abhors the season. Playing around within that paradox – how can lonely holidays feel so bereft of Christmas spirit, while also epitomizing so many of the feelings of the season? The repetition in the song (“Alone for Christmas… Again. Again.”) underlines how being “Alone for Christmas” really isn’t as uncommon or unfamiliar as any of us would hope it is.

The Wildwoods, “Somewhere in the Snow”

Nebraska-based folk trio The Wildwoods offer their first-ever holiday song, “Somewhere in the Snow,” replete with a Peanuts-style animated video. It’s gauzy and sweet with a burnished patina and tone of redemption. Whether you love or hate the snow, it certainly seems like a perfect place to bury your troubles and fears.

Our Classic Holiday Album Recommendation of the Week:
Patty Loveless, Bluegrass & White Snow, A Mountain Christmas

Patty Loveless’s bluegrass bona fides are unassailable, it’s true, but this album might clinch her claims to the genre, if ever challenged by a naysayer or proverbial chair snapper. Bluegrass & White Snow is a perfect combination of classic, sing-along carols and bluegrass staples, plus a couple of bespoke beauties, too, sung as only Patty could sing them. With a big, belty voice that carries with it some of that signature high lonesome grit. Dr. Ralph would be proud. (And he was.)

Photo Credit: Darin & Brooke Aldridge by Kim Brantley; Brei Carter courtesy of the artist; Drake Milligan courtesy of the artist.

BGS Wraps: Brenda Lee, Andy Thorn, Joy Clark, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Hanukkah has begun, advent calendars have barely three weeks left, and days will start getting longer when we reach winter solstice in merely 13 days – but who’s counting? As we lean further and further into the coziest, roots music-iest time of year, we’re rounding up our favorite seasonal and holiday albums, tracks, and shows each week on BGS Wraps. Scroll to find this list in playlist form, plus don’t miss our Classic Holiday Album Recommendation of the week.

We’ll be back next Friday with more BGS Wraps! Until then enjoy some hot cider or some eggnog and some delightfully festive bluegrass, country, and roots music.

Hayes Carll and Melissa Carper, “Christmas in Prison”

A perennial favorite penned by none other than John Prine, “Christmas in Prison” is a rare country Christmas song that can be sung year-round. Like your favorite holiday movie that’s actually not specifically a holiday movie – Die Hard? Little Women? – this is a song so classic, so iconic, that it demands recognition across the calendar and not merely in December. Hayes Carll and Melissa Carper join together on this brand new rendition and they do the song justice, for sure.

Joy Clark, “Gumbo Christmas” 

As most holidays are, Christmas is its own familial and cultural melting pot, and guitarist and singer-songwriter Joy Clark highlights her own New Orleans traditions with “Gumbo Christmas.” It’s a song with a recipe both literal and figurative, a combination all of the best holiday dishes know intimately. That Big Easy horn section is fit to carry us into 2024.

CMA Country Christmas (December 14, ABC; December 15, Hulu and Disney+)

The queen of Christmas in Nashville, Amy Grant, is co-hosting this year’s CMA Country Christmas TV special on ABC with none other than Trisha Yearwood. With performances by The War & Treaty, Ashley McBryde, Jon Pardi, reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Lainey Wilson, and more. Tune in on Thursday, December 14 for the live program, or watch the following day – and throughout the season – on Hulu and Disney+. For those of us who won’t make Vince Gill and Grant’s annual holiday residency at the Ryman in Nashville, this show will be an excellent consolation prize.

Rose Cousins, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”

There’s almost no better artist to turn to for delicious melancholia than Rose Cousins. Her new holiday single, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” demonstrates this fact and then some. Winter songs without a specific religious or traditional bent are too rare, so we especially love this track for its “agnosticism” and relatability. Why care how much it may storm, if you’ve got your love to keep you warm? We hope you are surrounded by love this holiday season, and however lonesome or joyous you’re feeling this year, Cousins’ voice will envelope you like a toasty hug.

Bridget Kearney, “Don’t Think About the Polar Bear”

A vibey and meditative new track from Lake Street Dive bassist Bridget Kearney is another holiday track of the Die Hard sort – not demonstrably seasonal, but it works so we’re accepting it with open arms into our wintry celebration. The accompanying animated music video is whimsical enough to be a fitting addition to any lineup with The Grinch, Rudolph, and all of your other favorite Christmas animated TV specials. If your intention is to not think about someone this holiday season, you might just find them wandering across your mind – so don’t think about the polar bear, instead.

The Kody Norris Show, “Mountain City Christmas”

The territory surrounding Mountain City, Tennessee, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Southwest Virginia is home to most of the farms that grow most of the Christmas trees for the eastern seaboard of the United States. It’s more than fitting, then, to take this nostalgic and magical Kody Norris Show-led journey through the picturesque counties they call home. What’s more bluegrass than singing about snow, home, family, faith, and rhyming “there” with “Christmas carol”?

Larry & Joe, “Mi Burrito Sabanero”

Bluegrass banjo player and fiddler Joe Troop and harpist, multi-instrumentalist Larry Bellorín are Larry & Joe. Their new holiday single, “Mi Burrito Sabanero,” is a funny, raucous, and enjoyable version of a quintessential Latin American holiday tune written by Venezuelan harpist and composer Hugo Blanco. Much of Troop’s work connects the dots between Latin folk music and American roots music, crafting idiosyncratic amalgamations often expected to be more disparate and dissonant than they really are. For this track, Bellorín set aside the harp and picked up the cuatro, with Troop adding twin fiddles and banjo in another instance of remarkable latingrass fusion.

Maddie & Tae, We Need Christmas

Maddie & Tae, of “Girl in a Country Song” fame, recently released an extended cut of their 2020 holiday EP, We Need Christmas, adding three new tracks – each classic Christmas carols – to the fan favorite collection. Both women are now married and starting families and there’s a confidence and ease they’ve grown into at this phase of their careers. Easily some of the most interesting pop country being made, and certainly an excellent holiday manifestation of the form.

Brenda Lee, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

For the first time in her 60+ year career Brenda Lee has scored a Number 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with her truly unforgettable holiday single, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” How she supplanted Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas,” we’ll never know, but we are so glad for Lee that she’s notched this incredible milestone even at this late stage in her lifelong music-making. She first recorded the iconic track as a thirteen-year-old and in an emotional video posted by Billboard and to her social media, you can tell she never imagined this song would be the gem it is in the crown of her music career. Congratulations, Brenda Lee!

Kaitlyn Raitz, “River”

Cellist, composer, and arranger Kaitlyn Raitz released a stunning, instrumental string-centered cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” a handful of weeks ago, a timely tune drop for those of us struggling to navigate the holidays without Mitchell’s catalog available on a certain streaming service. Lush and romantic, Raitz’s cut of the track is high concept while down to earth, like a perfect Christmas Eve program at a local church, stained glass bookended by poinsettias and candles. A must-add for your instrumental holiday playlists or perfect to soundtrack your cookie icing party or frenzied gift swaps.

Matt Rogers, Have You Heard of Christmas?

BGS Wraps would be simply incomplete without a laugh-so-hard-you’re-crying option, supplied here by comedian Matt Rogers’ holiday outting, Have You Heard of Christmas? With guests such as Muna (swoon-a), Bowen Yang (Rogers’ co-host of the hit podcast, Las Culturistas, known from SNL), and Leland, Have You Heard of Christmas is pure chaos, absolutely unhinged. Melodrama meets the chronically online. Joe’s Pub, dragged through 54 Below. When you’re offered aux this year at your holiday gatherings, put this one on. We dare you.

Andy Thorn, High Country Holiday

Banjoist Andy Thorn was known as Leftover Salmon’s banjo player, before a video of him serenading a wild fox went mega viral and eclipsed all other entries on his resumé. Thorn – who is a self-professed Christmas fanatic – has recently released a brand new holiday album, High Country Holiday, drawing on inspiration from his Colorado backyard and his musical community to put together a bevy of carols and one bespoke original, “The Bells of Boulder.” Add it to your stack of bluegrass Christmas records! It’s destined to become a classic in that category.

Tim and James, A Tim and James Christmas

Los Angeles-based string duo Tim and James – Tim Reynolds and James Spaite – have followed up their popular debut, Lemon Tree, with a holiday EP, A Tim and James Christmas and it’s already a favorite of ours. These simple duets feel fully realized, even while they remain contained, and draw on folk, new acoustic, and chambergrass influences. The kernel within Tim and James’ music – that took their songs from beginning as a regular Tuesday collaboration to tens of thousands of streams – is on full display. There’s something entrancing about this bare bones, four-song collection.

Our Classic Holiday Album Recommendation of the Week:
Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, Jingle All the Way

Each year we are reminded of the sheer genius of Béla Fleck & the Flecktones’ Jingle All the Way. It’s a Christmas album we return to again and again and we know we aren’t the only ones – it was chosen by O magazine (yes, Oprah’s publication) as 2008’s Best Christmas Album and it peaked at Number 1 on the contemporary jazz charts. Béla and the Flecktones’ cultural impact was certainly solidified by the time Jingle All the Way had released, but this album – perhaps more than any other music by the group in the 21st Century – cemented their broad, far-reaching influence.

Photo Credit: Joy Clark by Nkechi Chibueze; Rose Cousins by Lindsay Duncan; Andy Thorn courtesy of the artist.

BGS Wraps: Irene Kelley, Jon Pardi, Wynonna, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

To celebrate one of the most roots music-y times of year – the winter holiday season – we’ll be showcasing the best in new and classic holiday music from our BGS family with a weekly BGS Wraps round up. Welcome to its first edition!

Whether you adore or abhor holiday music – and we certainly understand both of those mindsets – we hope you’ll find plenty to love with our BGS Wraps playlist (below) and these bluegrass, country, folk, and Americana albums, songs, videos, and shows all celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. From Irene Kelley to Jon Pardi, Wynonna to Brandy Clark, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Christmas to Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam, BGS Wraps is a splendid roots music family reunion. Plus, don’t miss our weekly Classic Holiday Album Recommendations to close out each edition of this mini-series. Check it all out:

Brandy Clark, “My Favorite Christmas” / “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”

Brandy Clark’s self-titled, Brandi Carlile-produced album released earlier this year has been a favorite good country record of the BGS team this year. For the holidays, Clark has followed up the success of her full-length 2023 release with an A side / B side single of an original, “My Favorite Christmas” and a classic, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

Helene Cronin, Beautiful December

Singer-songwriter Helene Cronin has released an EP of six original holiday songs entitled Beautiful December. This track, “I Could Use a Silent Night,” is described by Cronin as “a song for all who are holiday weary, tired of the commercial chaos that comes around every year at Christmas.” We can certainly relate! Roots music is always a perfect reminder of what really matters this time of year: People, love, kindness, and togetherness.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Christmas Jam (December 16, Nashville, TN)

If you’ve been enjoying Daniel Donato’s recent Cosmic Country Mixtape – a BGS exclusive – you won’t want to miss his Cosmic Country Christmas Jam at Brooklyn Bowl in Nashville on December 16. (Tickets and info here.) It’ll be pickers’ polar paradise with appearances by Sierra Hull, Duane Trucks, Grace Bowers, Willow Osborne, and many more. 

Steven Gellman, “Jewish Christmas”

An adorable and delightfully cheesy holiday song – as all of the best holiday songs are – that reminds us how cultural traditions blend and transform, not only in the American “melting pot,” but all around the world, too. Hear more from this award winning folk singer-songwriter with our October premiere of “Little Victories.”

Warren Haynes Presents: Christmas Jam (December 9, Asheville, NC)

If you’re in North Carolina’s High Country, here’s a rockin’ Americana Christmas Jam you won’t want to miss. The annual event, organized and hosted by Grammy Award winner Warren Haynes, will be held on December 9, benefits Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, and will feature appearances by Billy F. Gibbons, John Medeski, Gov’t Mule, Bill Evans, and many more. Plus, its bonus/offshoot event, Christmas Jam by Day, will showcase a handful of fast-rising roots artists including Colby T. Helms and Red Clay Revival. Tickets are still available and, if you don’t happen to live within striking distance of the Blue Ridge Mountains, you can stream Christmas Jam live on Volume.com.

IBMA Holiday Benefit Concert (December 11, Nashville, TN)

A heavenly host of our bluegrass buddies will be convening at the World Famous Station Inn in Nashville on December 11 to raise funds for the IBMA Trust Fund and the IBMA Foundation. The lineup – anchored by house band Missy Raines & Allegheny – features a wide swathe of artists and community members from reigning IBMA Award winners to acclaimed songwriters to exciting up-and-comers. Holidays in Nashville are truly incomplete without a visit to a festively decorated Station Inn.

Irene Kelley and the Kelley Family, The Kelley Family Christmas

Staying with bluegrass for another moment, venerated bluegrass songwriter Irene Kelley has brought along her two talented daughters, Justyna and Sara Jean – both successful artists and songwriters in their own right – for a cozy and comforting album of holiday classics, Kelley Family Christmas. The project benefits Patio Records’ Healing Gardens initiative, with a goal of raising funds to build healing gardens at hospital treatment centers. It’s a lovely family-centered album that showcases how much great music runs in the veins of the Kelleys. 

Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves, “Maybe This Christmas”

If the holidays make you blue, you’re not alone. There’s plenty to enjoy in this tune of Christmas misery from Paul McDonald & the Mourning Doves. “So maybe this Christmas folks will just leave me alone,” he sings, plaintively. “And quit asking how I’m doing without her and if I’m ever going to let that girl go.” There’s a delicious quality to holiday melancholy and that’s on full display here, in this languid and loping alt-country holiday song of lost love.

Mr Sun, Mr Sun Plays Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite

We’re big fans of the bluegrass, old-time, and new acoustic tradition of artful and virtuosic cover albums. Here, Mr Sun bring the form to its highest level, synthesizing and transforming Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite into compositions fitting of a four-piece, ostensibly bluegrass string band. We premiered a track from this collection, “Shovasky’s Transmogrifatron (Ballet Snow Scene),” earlier this week, so we can guarantee Grant Gordy, Joe K. Walsh, Aidan O’Donnell, and Darol Anger’s rendition of this classic record will make your jaw drop – and your toe tap!

Jamie O’Neal & Ty Herndon, “Merry Christmas Baby”

Pop country is often good country too, and this collaboration from Jamie O’Neal and Ty Herndon demonstrates how artful the format can be – that ear-grabbing chromaticism in the melody of the first line, for instance. “Merry Christmas Baby” is another holiday lament, but packaged in a radio-ready production style that belies the loneliness in the lyrics, co-written by O’Neal and Allen Mark Russell. If this track came on the local Top 40 country station, none of us would be complaining. Merry Christmas, BGS readers – wherever you are!

Jon Pardi, Merry Christmas From Jon Pardi

We can’t believe just how perfect this intro is played on pedal steel and, despite the fact that we don’t think Jon Pardi could hit Mariah’s whistle notes, his rendition of this quintessential holiday smash hit is ideal for Christmas boot scootin’. Pardi is a definitional example of timeless country traditions packaged for the mainstream. His entire holiday album, Merry Christmas From Jon Pardi, is a heavy dose of joy, fun, and delight executed with flawless old country musicality. Twin fiddles on “All I Want For Christmas?” Yes, a thousand times, yes.

Wynonna, “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem”

While we argue over which modern version of this track is the exemplary version – The Judds’ or Patty Loveless’, of course – the holiday season is the perfect time to hold our fond memories of Naomi while we celebrate how Wynonna and her husband/producer Cactus Moser pay tribute to 1987’s Christmas Time with The Judds with this new iteration of “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem.” No matter who sings the song, its bluegrass bones and Stanley Brothers touches are obvious, and we adore how simple and unpretentious this recording by Wynonna and Cactus is.

Our Classic Holiday Album Recommendation of the Week:
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, It’s a Holiday Soul-Party

We miss Sharon Jones desperately. Each year, when the holidays roll around, we go back to our (now classic) Non-Crappy Christmas Songs playlist and, in general, try to remind ourselves just how much actually good Christmas and holiday music exists out there. As we do, this album from Jones & the Dap Kings is one of the first to come to mind. It’s iconic, it’s traditional, it’s far out, it’s comforting, it’s surprising, and it’s effortlessly inclusive in its scope and its sonics. We come back to this record year in and year out, so it’s a perfect first pick for our Classic Holiday Album Recommendations.

More BGS Wraps are coming your way next week!

Photo of Jon Pardi: John Shearer
Photo of Wynonna: Eric Ryan Anderson
Photo of Brandy Clark: Victoria Stevens

LISTEN: Mr Sun, “Shovasky’s Transmogrifatron” (from Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Mr Sun
Hometown: Portland, Maine / Nashville, Tennessee / Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Shovasky’s Transmogrifatron” (Ballet Snow Scene)
Album: Mr Sun Plays Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite
Release Date: December 1, 2023
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “Everybody’s familiar with the Nutcracker Suite, but there’s this really beautiful recording of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of it – it was a really joyful, playful reimagining of this classic piece… It was an easy idea to propose, not fully appreciating the amount of time it would take to do it. Luckily, everyone in the band brings a tremendous skill set to the project.” – Joe K. Walsh, mandolin

“They basically said, ‘We’re gonna take this essential seed of an idea, but we’re gonna play it like us.’ And we’re doing the same thing – we’re playing it like Mr Sun, without doing anything too verbatim. It’s all about being ourselves. That’s the impression you get from Ellington, and that’s a thing we very much are: Ourselves.” – Grant Gordy, guitar

“It sounds simple, ‘Let’s just play this big band arrangement with four stringed instruments.’ In practice it’s been a little more complicated!” – Aidan O’Donnell, bass

“Duke Ellington of course was volcanically creative. He was one of the most creative musicians ever. He was beyond category. Melody, harmony, and rhythm – if you can put those things together in a way that reaches people, it’s gonna be successful in a way that means something.” – Darol Anger, fiddle

Photo Credit: Dylan Ladds
Video Credit: Brian Carroll, Dos Gatos Filmworks

BGS Wraps: Nathaniel Rateliff with Elle King, “Xmas to Forget”

Posted on by Editor

Artists: Nathaniel Rateliff with Elle King
Single: “Xmas to Forget”
Release Date: December 23, 2020

In Their Words: “Elle and I had been talking about working on a couple of tunes and doing a version of one of the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers Christmas songs. But as we were working on it we decided it would be fun to write our own. Joseph (of the Night Sweats) said we should write a Christmas to forget in reference to how hard this year has been for everyone so we ran with the idea.” — Nathaniel Rateliff

“Well, considering it’s been a pretty tough year and the big ‘togetherness’ theme of the holidays is less than ideal, we thought the best way to communicate that was through song. And if we’re all ending out the year in flames, let’s do it laughing. Here’s to a Christmas to forget.” — Elle King

Editor’s Note: Proceeds generated by the single will benefit The Marigold Project, Rateliff’s foundation supporting community and nonprofit organizations working for economic and social justice. The Marigold Project is proud to support Food Research & Action Center, which is the leading national nonprofit organization working to eradicate poverty-related hunger and undernutrition in the United States.

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.

BGS Wraps: Lydia Loveless, “Merry Christmas”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Lydia Loveless
Single: “Merry Christmas”

In Their Words: “I wanted to try my hand at a holiday song. Every year I intend to write one and give up. This year, the only thing I feel like I have any control over is my creativity — so it seemed like now or never. One of the things I have missed most is making music with others, so I asked my bandmates George (Hondroulis) and Todd (May) to add to it. It was a little spark of joy in a super bummer season.” — Lydia Loveless

Editor’s Note: “Merry Christmas” is available exclusively via Bandcamp, with all profits benefiting Mid-Ohio Food Bank.

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.

BGS Wraps: The Lumineers, “Silent Night”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Lumineers
Single: “Silent Night”
Release Date: December 18, 2020

In Their Words: “Venues have gone silent all across the country and world because of the pandemic. Hope is on the horizon, and we believe we’ll be playing again in 2021. But independent venues need our help to survive that long. Don’t let the venues remain silent forever – SAVE OUR STAGES. When you stream our song ‘Silent Night,’ all proceeds will go towards supporting the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).” — The Lumineers

Editor’s Note: For an entire year, all proceeds from streaming “Silent Night” will benefit NIVA, helping save some of the music industry’s most important independent stages. The video aims to raise awareness of the severe challenges that venues across the nation are facing during COVID-19. “Silent Night” highlights the fact that venues across the country have gone completely silent due to the pandemic.

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.

BGS Wraps: Lullanas, “Blue Christmas”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Lullanas
Album: Christmas Together (Wherever We Are)
Song: “Blue Christmas”
Release Date: December 4, 2020

In Their Words: “The lyrics to ‘Blue Christmas’ hit a little harder this year (2020). We know many people won’t be having their typical gatherings, and chances are, a lot of us will be feeling blue missing someone. We grew up on Elvis’s version of ‘Blue Christmas’ and couldn’t help but put our own spin on it. We also perform this song every year at the Christmas Village in Philadelphia, so recording this song brought back the warm feeling of live music to us.” — Atisha and Nishita Lulla, Lullanas

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.