Reader, I’ve been a musician my entire life, but I must admit I am decidedly green for a music writer. This fact is due in no small part to my young age and by a proper count, my years spent as “journalist” are fewer than a decade. At the end of 2019, as my colleagues were considering the past ten years’ worth of music in hindsight, I realized for me that period of time’s soundtrack was far foggier. To my present self, my memory seemed shockingly barren. The crux being, I suppose, that I hadn’t consumed much music then, and I wrestled with the intention of recalling albums that were significant — culturally or otherwise.
Except one album, 2011’s The Goat Rodeo Sessions by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile (and guest Aoife O’Donovan). I had just moved to Nashville, and I remember making a special trip to the FYE in Midtown to buy the album on release day. Out of a decade’s worth of music, that record has rightly been considered among the best — even in my own pothole-filled memories. “Here and Heaven” remains one of Chris Thile and Aoife O’Donovan’s greatest creative feats, but alas, this is Tunesday Tuesday. And this is not 2011.
Sorry to bring you back to our appalling present, but it’s 2020. And, as if this virtuosic quartet (plus O’Donovan) read all of our collective minds, remembering their album-of-the-decade… Voila! They’ve given us Not Our First Goat Rodeo. And on it, this gorgeous, lilting, Dickensian-folk string quartet, “Voila!” Yes, a string quartet, with Thile setting down the mandolin to play “twin” to Duncan.
For a sophomore album, of course this ensemble feels veteran. This is not their first time riding these goats in this arena. This outing feels more ornery, more confident, brash, and joyously off-kilter. Where these world-class musicians and improvisers have aged since 2011, like this writer, those years have clearly manifested themselves here through a musical wink and a smirk, rather than a frown. Which is reason enough Not Our First Goat Rodeo will probably still be with us ten years on, too.
Sierra Hull has a well-established reputation as one of the most talented mandolin players and multi-instrumentalists of her generation, and her gripping new album, 25 Trips, is a look at her life as a musician in her mid-twenties.
The lyrics examine the changes she’s experienced in the past few years, such as getting married or watching loved ones age, as well as the attempt to process these changes in real-time. Meanwhile, she reflects the experimentation of her live show with electric guitar, drums, and synths — instruments not commonly associated with someone who’s won three awards for IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year, which she won consecutively after her most recent prior album, 2016’s Weighted Mind.
“What ultimately ended up being really fun about making this record is that it embraces the things that I like about creating music from multiple angles,” she says of 25 Trips. For the first time Hull enlisted producer Shani Gandhi, who helped shape the album’s diverse production styles — from stripped down tracks with just guitar and vocals, to familiar bluegrass arrangements, to songs with fuller production than those found on her first four albums.
Just before beginning her most recent tour, she spoke to BGS by phone from her home in Tennessee.
BGS: Your albums have often showcased a wide range of influences, but this feels a little different sonically. The electric guitars, drums, and arrangements create a really nice ambience for the material. Was it something you planned from the beginning? Or did those choices reveal themselves over the process of recording?
Hull: I think a little bit of both. Part of my choice to use Shani Gandhi as the engineer and co-producer was that I wanted to have a partner in making this record that would be able to help me achieve some of the things I wanted to do sonically. I knew that I wanted to use the studio a little bit more this time around. My past projects were recorded and presented in a way that I could go out and play the exact same thing live. I didn’t want to worry about that this time around.
I just wanted to make a record and be open to experimenting in the studio more and being able to play multiple instruments myself and layer harmonies and do things like that that, you know, I can’t go out and do live. I can’t play three instruments on a song live. I can’t have four of my voices going. But in the studio, that’s part of the fun. So some of it was planned, in that I thought Shani would be a great person to work with for the kind of experimenting in the studio.
We definitely didn’t go into making this record knowing exactly what it was going to be from the beginning. When we first recorded songs like “Escape,” there were no drums at all. And then we decided to add them at the end and it changed the vibe in a way that I really loved. We did try to be deliberate about things though because adding something like drums can really take something to a different place.
I do feel like we were very cautious about the way in which we presented them alongside the songs that didn’t have drums, because I didn’t want that on everything. We definitely felt like some of the songs could be lifted to a different place that would be really rewarding with that element. But, you know, something like “25 Trips,” adding drums to that, we really went back and forth on like what the vibe of that should be.
Did making this record feel different than your previous records?
Yes, this is the first time with, well, a couple of different things. This was my first time co-producing with a peer, with Shani, you know, someone so close to my own age, but also working alongside a woman. In general, the whole experience felt quite different than the making of my previous albums just based on that. All the people that I’ve worked with on my previous albums have been really wonderful people to work with and have always really respected what I’m trying to say and accomplished as an artist. But in this case, it really felt like there was more room to take the reins in a different way, which is also a little bit scarier.
When you’re working alongside somebody like Béla [Fleck, who produced Weighted Mind] there’s a comfort in knowing, “Cool, Béla likes this, so let’s do that.” There’s a confidence in being able to rely on somebody that you have that kind of respect for. And Shani and I had equal respect for one another. But it also felt like we weren’t leaning on some iconic person to give us the thumbs up, you know what I mean?
There is a certain amount of trusting yourself and trusting your own instincts, which takes a little extra confidence to do. And that’s kind of scary but there was a freedom in that, too. With Shani, I know she’s got amazing ears and I know that we seem to work really great together. So I had to trust my instincts a little more. The whole experience was just really fun and pretty laid-back in a way that I really loved.
How did you end up deciding to work with Shani?
I had been considering a lot of different people but the more I started thinking about it the easier it was to make that decision because it felt like we connected so much from the beginning and she’s such a great personality in addition to just being a great engineer. I knew it would be a fun atmosphere to make a record in and that’s important when you’re trying to take on something that is a lot of work.
Plus, it felt like it would be a different experience to actually work with a young woman who is totally awesome at what she does. There was something really exciting about that. I’ve had wonderful experiences making all of my records but the female hang is just different.
One theme of this record seems to be the idea of time passing. Was that part of the inspiration for the album?
I think most people can relate to the feeling of time passing quickly. When you think, “Wow, this is an amazing moment! I really want to be able to enjoy this.” A song like “25 Trips” is kind of about that and that feeling of, “If I blink, I’m gonna miss this and I don’t want that to happen. I want to be in the moment and be present and really enjoy it.” But a song like “Less” relates more to the feeling during the times where you’re going through a particularly frustrating moment and you’re kind of looking ahead to whatever’s next.
As a mandolin player myself, I was naturally drawn to the great mandolin playing on this record. But I think these songs do a great job of highlighting your talents as an instrumentalist, a vocalist, and a songwriter. Was that balance deliberate or just a natural expression of your musical identity?
I love being an instrumentalist and it’s a huge part of who I am as a musician, but singing and songwriting has really been at the forefront of what I’ve connected to a lot in recent years as an artist. When I think about going in and making my own albums, I’m not really trying to put in a sort of virtuosic musicianship at the forefront of it. I’m just trying to play songs that I feel connected to, and figure out how can we present those in a way that really feels like it’s about embodying all the things that I am as an artist.
Sometimes that might be something really simple like “Ceiling to the Floor” or “Everybody’s Talking.” I think, from a songwriting perspective, because I like to write both instrumental music and lyrics, sometimes those two things collide. A natural balance occurs sometimes. But I don’t think there is a deliberate balance while writing the song. I’m always just trying to honor the song and play what seems appropriate.
However, I wrote a bunch more songs than what we ended up being able to put on this record. So the more deliberate balancing came from taking all the songs I’ve written over the past few years and trying to put together a collection that hopefully shines light on all those different facets of who I am musically.
Impossible combinations. Hawktail makes them seamlessly, time and again, with their effortless-while-labyrinthine brand of instrumental string band music. Their brand new album, Formations, is their first conceived and executed wholly as a four-piece. Mandolinist Dominick Leslie joined the lineup of Paul Kowert on bass, Brittany Haas on fiddle, and Jordan Tice on guitar after Hawktail developed most of Unless, their debut, as a trio. Confidence and ease permeate the new record, along with a palpable sense of intense listening and a feeling of space, openness, and synchronization. With virtuosos such as these it’s hard to imagine that they could possibly grow closer, become tighter, more enmeshed — but it would seem after little more than a year these four certainly have.
Tice introduces “Padiddle,” Formations’ penultimate track, combining a bouncy, folk-rock inflected melodic hook with a smoldering, bluegrass-born conviction. An all too rare pairing in string band music, these modern, impetuous musical ideas don’t always emulsify with age-old, dyed-in-the-wool techniques. With each of the six originals on the record (and, of course, the Väsen cover, too) Hawktail are, as always, daringly inventive. But on Formations they’re distinctly proud to be catchy as well, flirting playfully with pop while still constantly reinforcing the deep roots of their collective pedigrees in fiddle music, old-time, bluegrass, and plain ol’ pickin’. An overarching impossible combination coloring the entire collection of tunes must be this: That something so timeless is also remarkably contemporary.
Artist:Ben Krakauer Hometown: Black Mountain, North Carolina Song: “Heart Lake” Album:Heart Lake Release Date: December 17, 2019 Label: Blue Hens Music
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Heart Lake,’ along with the rest of the tunes on this album, with these particular musicians in mind. ‘Heart Lake’ was my attempt at a fiddle tune, which morphed into something different by the time I finished writing it. Like John Hartford’s string band records, it shifts in texture every 16 or 32 bars. It’s named for one of my favorite places, near Mt. Shasta, California. Featuring Duncan Wickel on fiddle, Nick Falk on drums, and Dan Klingsberg on bass.” — Ben Krakauer
Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Stickley leads one of the most sonically innovative, shreddingly mind-expanding, and confoundingly impossible-to-categorize acoustic groups, the Jon Stickley Trio.
Host Z. Lupetin spoke with Jon in a hotel bathroom a while back to hear his side of his guitar hero story. Listen for an exclusive acoustic performance from Jon at the end of the episode.
Music made by Keller Williams, but without his whimsical, sideways, and often silly songwriting perspective might seem like a counterintuitive concept for a record, but Sans, his latest album, leans into just that concept, featuring nine purely instrumental tunes. Williams inhabits an equal parts entrancing and perplexing center of a Venn diagram that includes among its constituent circles bluegrass, jamgrass, musical humorism, satire, and instrumental prowess that combines flatpicking sensibility with Phil Keaggy-style ingenuity and song structure. It’s as if you dumped every single goddamn flavor of M&Ms candy you could find into one giant bowl and dared listeners to try their luck and grab a handful that made sense.
Of course, a handful of delicious, if not suspiciously harlequin, sweets will almost always excite glee, and “M&Ms,” a frenetic guitar/percussion/arco bass bounty unto itself most certainly does. It’s a kaleidoscope; a frenzy; a nearly perfect distillate of Williams’ singular personality, so potent that you almost don’t miss his lyrics — especially given the marked lyricism of the interplay between the looped guitar tracks throughout. The ebb and flow of the arrangement cast a wide array of colors and shades, each sugary scoop different from the last, but just as delicious; the “M&Ms” flavors in this bowl are not peanut, or pretzel, or classic, they’re trance, dance, jam, fingerstyle, loop station, foot-tapping, harmonic-plucking, sternum-vibrating bass, and many, many others as yet to be named. It deserves a taste.
Artist: David Benedict Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts Album: The Golden Angle Release Date: October 26, 2018
In Their Words: “The Golden Angle has been a dream project of mine for some time now. Ever since moving to Boston to join Mile Twelve two years ago I’ve been inspired musically. This album is the product of that inspiration. My hope is that the compositions on this record hit that right balance between modernism and tradition. I’m so honored to have gotten to work with all of the amazing people who have worked with me to bring this project to life. Hope you enjoy!” –David Benedict
Instrumental music is sometimes approached with hesitation: Will it move me as much as a song with lyrics? Will it be catchy or interesting? And will it be — crime of all crimes, no doubt — boring? Thing is, to those really listening, songs without words can be transporting in ways that others can’t. They force you to let something more primal take over your emotions and to become in touch with those deeper senses that pick up on the subconscious: The strings of a guitar can speak just as much as a string of sentences, but it can often be in code. You have to surrender yourself to the language of the instrument, and then let the message float — or riff — its way on in.
Steelism — guitarist Jeremy Fetzer and steel guitarist Spencer Cullum, Jr. — made lyrics seem almost extraneous on their debut LP, 615 to Fame, which stood alone as one of the most creative, virtuosic endeavors into the instrumental canon of late, never borrowing too heavily from the intellectual column in favor of fun. On 615 to Fame, the duo certainly earned the right to proceed forever without the help of singers, which is part of what makes the follow-up, Ism, so enjoyable: When lyrics are an addition, not a necessity, they take on a whole new magic. And “Lonely Game,” featuring vocals from Jessie Baylin and Andrew Combs, is indeed magical. Baylin and Combs (who wrote the words to Fetzer and Cullum’s music) are two of the best vocalists around — not only in their capabilities, but in sheer, gorgeous tones — and their push-pull around Steelism’s freewheeling playing is the perfect fix to something that was never broken to begin with. “Love gone wrong’s a lonely game,” Baylin and Combs sing together, before a solo meanders away to tell the rest of the story.
Touring artists spend so much of their time on the road that they, inevitably, find all the best places to eat, drink, shop, and relax. Want to know where to find the best burger, beer, boots, or bunks? Ask a musician. Better yet, let us ask them for you.
Name: NewTown Hometown: Lexington, KY Latest Project:Harlan Road
Record Store: Grimey's New and Pre-Loved Music in Nashville, TN
Driving Album: Alison Krauss and Union Station, So Long So Wrong … because it is so "driving."
Gear Shop: Carter Vintage in Nashville, TN. It's like looking in a museum of hand-crafted instruments and boutique gear.
Music Festival: ROMP … One of the best lineups ever!!!
Backstage Hang: The Musicians Against Childhood Cancer Festival … Awesome food and drinks
Venue: Willie's Locally Known in Lexington KY. They have incredible barbeque and an amazing stage and atmosphere.
Day Off Activity: Wandering, sleeping, eating. We love to wander around new places and find new places to eat.
Coffee House: Bongo Java in Nashville, TN … best cup of espresso in Nashville!
Highway Stretch: Interstate 40 East past the gorge in Asheville, NC. It is beautiful scenery.
Dive Bar: Dick's Den in Columbus, OH … Really good Tuesday night bluegrass jam session.
Airport: Denver, CO … conspiracy theories……….
Tour Hobby: “Guess the Musician” … Listen to four seconds of a solo and try to figure out who is playing it.
Artist:Yves Lambert Trio Hometown: Montreal, Quebec Song: "Karabin" Album: Laissez courir les chiens Release Date: June 24 Label: La Pruche Libre
In Their Words: "'Karabin’ is the name of a dog, and the dog is a metaphor to express our servitude. In an era where everything is regulated, formatted, and standardized, the dog is faithful, but is still captive, just like the exploited citizens manipulated at the service of industrial totalitarianism.” — Yves Lambert
Photo credit: Josue Bertolino
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