Tag: jamgrass

15 Years In, Fruition Aren’t Just a Band, They’re a Family

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

For many of us, we’re already well aware of how difficult it is to pinpoint the sonic tones and textures of Fruition. From Americana to blues, gospel to folk, the ensemble has this “kitchen sink” type of subconscious approach — one where anything goes musically, so long as it inspires and stokes the creative flame within.

On their latest album, How to Make Mistakes, the Portland, Oregon-based quintet retains that same intent, which has made the group a prized touring act in acoustic realms coast-to-coast since it first came onto the scene in 2008.

At the helm of the band is founding member Mimi Naja, a multi-instrumentalist whose swirling, carefree vocals of joy, purpose, and curiosity reside at the heart of the chemistry that gives Fruition this ebb and flow relationship with the muse itself. Always soaking in whatever you cross paths with; always radiating a deep sense of self from inhabiting of your own respective path in this universe.

Beyond the new record, Fruition also recently crossed over the 15-year mark together, after a cosmic happenstance where guitarist Jay Cobb Anderson just so happened to see Naja at a Portland open mic night those many years ago — the result being this continued journey of not only artistic discovery, but also genuine friendship.

Listening to the new album, what I like about it is in such a chaotic world we live in on a day-to-day basis, it’s relaxing. It made me, purposely or subconsciously, slow down a little bit.

Mimi Naja: Yes. That’s amazing. I love “relaxing” as an adjective. I really feel like we matured a little bit by this stage. But really, I think we just kind of relaxed. There’s a lot of half-time tempo. Just settle in and do the song. Not a lot of pumped, flashy, show-off energy, just very chill.

It didn’t seem like y’all were in a hurry. It seemed like the band was enjoying the process, being together and creating.

That’s exactly it. You’re nailing it. I’m glad that it’s coming across that way. The title, How to Make Mistakes, is pulled from a song lyric in one of the tracks. But, it’s really appropriate to the fact that it’s all [recorded] live with no overdubs. All in the same room and just in the moment. Making a record like records used to be — an actual record of people sitting in a room playing music.

What does it feel like to be with folks that you’ve played together for 15 years and to still enjoy that space?

It’s the best. And the fact that it has been so many years is why it’s easy to get there. I dabble in other side projects and I love the thrill of having to stay on your toes, when you’re getting to know someone musically and otherwise. But, it’s a real blessing to just settle in [with Fruition] — it feels like home.

Maybe even on an existential level, what does that album title mean to you?

We just believe in the beauty of flaws. And knowing when something is raw, it’s real. In a world of how we look on social media and filters and everything being polished and clean and quantized, we love the realness and the rawness. Sometimes that’s cracks in your voice or you’re slightly out of tune or whatever it is — we love that. There’s a thirst for that realness in this polished age. So, we hope it makes the ears happy in this world.

Whether it’s conscious or subconscious, your band is very elusive sonically. Is that by design or just how things evolved?

I think it’s a point of pride in the early days of, “We are here to deliver a good song in its finest form, no matter what it sounds [like].” In some ways, it’s been to our detriment, as far as a growth trajectory. From a longevity career standpoint, being elusive is charming, but it’s also hard to sell. So, in a way it was by design. But then, as the years went on, I think we hate boxes. People need boxes and we don’t have one for them. So, that’s why we’re kind of trying to cling to this Americana blanket because it works for us.

There’s such a rich tapestry of sound. I hear Delta blues, gospel, country, indie rock, and folk. I hear everything in there. But, that’s also a testament to the band’s curiosity. Y’all seem like you’re sponges just constantly soaking in influences.

For sure. And it’s what we love about ourselves individually and as a band. It’s what fuels such a richness. But, it’s a double-edged sword. That can be confusing to new fans that are just pushing play. It’s such a crap shoot on whatever two or three songs they choose to push play on throughout our pretty large discography. They could get a very different outcome. But, you know, that’s the chance we take, we love it all. That’s what makes this unique, but also confusing.

Multiple harmonies are a big part of your sound. Why is that such an important component to the band?

We just love singing, first and foremost. As a band, that’s the roots of where we began. We were a sidewalk busking band before we ever really organized. That’s just what we were doing for fun and for chump change. Back in the good old days, just busking to pay our bills. And that’s when we realized how powerful this three-part harmony was together. And that comes back to [the new album], how it feels sitting in a room together when those three-part harmonies kick in. That’s what really feels like home. It’s always to serve the song – that’s our deep love right there.

What did busking teach you about who you are as artists?

You learn to use the kind of the raucous, fast, high, long note vocals. But faster, a little more like party songs. We knew when we needed to turn it up, to turn some heads and get a couple bucks dropped. But, I learned once you’ve drawn them in, that’s when you can do what you really want, which is sing the slower, sadder, prettier things. We love it all. We love raucous rock, but we’re really quite tender artists at heart. I learned how to get attention and I learned that we do have something special. Once we’ve gotten the attention, we have it, and so then we have freedom to relax. Today’s climate makes it pretty challenging, but we believe in it and we’re just hoping for more ears, so that we can continue doing what we love.

Fruition recently crossed over the 15-year mark. What’s been the biggest takeaway for you on this journey thus far?

I can tell you that the passing of time is blowing my mind. Fifteen years sounds wild. My body doesn’t feel youthful, but my spirit still feels youthful. The road and the performing, the giving your heart up onstage and getting that back from the crowd? That keeps us young. The flying and sitting in vans doesn’t. There’s a youthful spirit that stays alive through all of this somehow. A true band is as deep as a marriage or a sibling-hood. It’s beautiful. And it’s a real testament to the music, too, because it’s cool when you see people just grow and continue to offer new shades of their music or new chapters. And, with no shade to any sort of artist or bands with hired guns, it’s very apparent that this is so different from that. It’s so much deeper. It’s a family, you know?

Photo Credit: Kaja Sigvalda

Producer Randall Deaton Makes Impressive Return to Music World

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Though Randall Deaton’s excellence as a producer and engineer has been well known for many years in the bluegrass world, he had taken a hiatus from music for nearly nine years before returning in 2024. His latest venture is both a conceptual and musical triumph. The new release, Silver Bullet Bluegrass (Lonesome Day Records), pays tribute to the great rocker Bob Seger with an all-star corps of bluegrass vocalists and instrumentalists performing his tunes reworked, bluegrass style. The lineup of performers includes Gary Nichols, Tim Shelton, Shonna Tucker, Bo Bice, Tim Stafford, Bill Taylor, Larry Cordle, and more.

The project’s origin dates back even further, as Deaton detailed during a recent extensive interview with BGS conducted via email.

“(I got the idea) probably sometime around 2009,” Deaton said. “We released records by the band Blue Moon Rising and Ralph Stanley II in 2008 and each of those records contained songs that were pulled from non-traditional bluegrass sources. Blue Moon Rising did a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Youngstown’ and Fred Eaglesmith’s ‘Freight Train,’ while Ralph II did Elton John’s ‘Georgia’ and Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Loretta.’ I brought all those songs to the artists and I was really pleased with the way they turned out. They ended up being very legitimate takes on the songs without having any of the ‘pickin’ on’ vibe. I think the first thoughts of a Seger bluegrass record came from the idea of wondering how ‘Hollywood Nights’ would sound in a bluegrass style.”

However, the project took longer to happen than anticipated. “The overall recording process took over 12 years, but that was because I took about an eight year break from music in the middle to pursue other things,” Deaton continued. “The original challenge was to track the songs without the final lead vocalist. Seger is such a great vocalist and can comfortably sing in keys that most other male singers can’t, so I had to consider which keys to track some of the songs in. Some songs I left in the original keys and just knew that those songs needed to stay right there. Other songs we dropped down a step or so in order to have more options when it came to finding the right singer. The actual studio work was pretty easy once we knew who was doing what.”

“A great deal of the tracking band was the same group of musicians that we used on a record by Jeff Parker entitled Go Parker!” Deaton continued. “Mike Bub, Stephen Mougin, Ned Luberecki, and Shawn Brock all had plenty of experience playing and recording traditional bluegrass, but they also had experience outside of that – including Mike playing with Steve Earle on The Mountain record and Stephen touring with Sam Bush. Ned is a very progressive banjo player and Shawn is simply one of the best musicians I know. Other musicians were added based on what I thought the track needed. We used several fiddle players on this record and each of them brought something special and unique.”

When asked about personal favorites from the session Deaton responded: “The first singer to agree to perform on the record was Josh Shilling of the band Mountain Heart. He did “Main Street.” He did such an awesome job on that song that he set a bar for the rest of the record. That song is definitely one of my favorites. I am also partial to that track, because Megan Lynch [Chowning] played my grandfather’s fiddle on that track. It was just an old catalog fiddle from the 1930s, but I was told that he used to sit on the front porch and play it.”

“He passed away before I was born, but somehow I ended up with the fiddle. I think it is really neat that the same fiddle is doing that signature melody on ‘Main Street.’ The last two vocals that we recorded for the record were the Carson Peters and Bill Taylor tracks. Producing those vocals and in Carson’s case the fiddle was the first time I had been in a studio in many years and I wasn’t sure how effective I would be after so much time away. I am very proud of how those tracks turned out because they made me feel like I could do this again in the future if the right situation came up.”

An interesting thing about Deaton is bluegrass wasn’t his initial musical love growing up. “When I was a kid, we listened to country music around the house,” he recalled in his bio. “I knew more about Exile than I did about The Police. I knew a little bit about bluegrass, but I didn’t really get into bluegrass until I started learning how to play guitar. All the people that I could play with around home were mostly playing bluegrass music. That’s how I really got introduced to it.”

From that early start as a guitarist, Deaton converted a church left him by his grandmother in 1999 to a studio and started focusing on engineering. That led to the creation of the Lonesome Day label, which took its name off a Springsteen tune. Their first project was by Eastern Kentucky bluegrass artist Sam Wilson. The label soon became celebrated in bluegrass circles for turning out both hits and classic albums by a host of greats. The list includes Jeff Parker, Lou Reid, Blue Moon Rising, Larry Cordle, Steve Gulley, Ralph Stanley II, Ernie Thacker, Darrell Webb, Richard Bennett, Shotgun Holler, Wildfire, Fred Eaglesmith, and more.

Deaton’s accomplishments aren’t limited solely to the music world. He’s overcome retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that affects nerve cells in the retina that causes functional failure and an inability to transmit information from the eye to the brain. But that hasn’t prevented Deaton from continuing his brilliance in the studio, nor from expanding into other musical areas as a label owner and producer. In 2011, Lonesome Day would release Sweet Nothings by Girls Guns & Glory – now known as Ward Hayden & the Outliers – which was produced by Paul Kolderie and recorded in Boston.

Kolderie would later produce Tim Shelton’s album, Jackson Browne Revisited. In 2014, A second Girls Guns & Glory project titled Good Luck was produced by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel. Prior to taking his break from music, Deaton’s label would also issue three albums by bluegrass guitar master Richard Bennett. But, by 2015, Deaton was both a bit disillusioned by some things happening in the music business and ready to do something else.

“Something else” included converting his music studio into an AirBnb, investing in short-term rentals in Eastern Kentucky, and later buying resorts in two different areas in Michigan, as well as a restaurant. Deaton also did a bit of concert promotion in the meantime. Eventually, he’d return to making music, with the latest result being Silver Bullet Bluegrass.

When asked about his favorite projects over his career, Deaton offers these selections:

“I really like the work I did with the band Blue Moon Rising. Their first record, On The Rise, was very well received and made me feel like I could make records that would find their place in the bluegrass genre. The second record I did with them entitled, One Lonely Shadow, is the record that contained ‘Youngstown’ and to me that is still probably the single best record I have been a part of. The song selection, the performances, and the engineering work of Mike Latterell are all outstanding. I am also very proud of the Ralph Stanley II record entitled, This One Is II. Again, the performances and song selections were outstanding and Mike also tracked and mixed this record.”

“We did both of these records in the same timeframe so they are kind of linked for me,” he continued. “These are consistently the two records that people still bring up to me saying that one of them is their favorite. One of my very first things that I still think guided me was my work on the record entitled Time by Lou Reid & Carolina. This was a band record and most everything on the record was done by Lou’s current band. Lou brought the song ‘Time’ that ended up being the title track to the record and it was clear to me that the song needed more than just what the band could bring.”

“We ended up using some great outside musicians,” he continued, “Such as Ron Stewart, Randy Kohrs, and Harold Nixon to get a track that was more solid. We also ended up getting Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs to sing on the track. The final track turned out great and it ended up being a #1 song on the Bluegrass Unlimited chart in 2005. The song was also a challenge, because I felt like I was pushing for greatness and the artist was taking into account other things besides the record – such as the feelings of the band (which also included his then wife) and how those considerations would always be there moving forward. I always thought that if you were going to make a record you should do everything that is possible to make it as good as it can be within the means that you have.”

Deaton hesitates to pick personal favorites in terms of artists he’s worked with, but acknowledges a few names. “That is a tough one, because I have worked with so many talented people. Since I am such a proponent for great records, I would have to say that the audio engineers that I have worked with are always very special to me. In the very beginning I worked a lot with a guy named Harold Nixon and Harold introduced me to Ron Stewart.”

“Harold and Ron were very big parts of a lot of the Lonesome Day work from the beginning through when I got out in 2015. I also did a lot of work with Mike Latterell starting in 2005. Mike is one of the best audio engineers that I know and we still keep in touch to this day. I also had the chance to work with Brandon Bell on a couple records. He is also an incredible engineer and just a great guy in the studio. Gary Nichols introduced me to Jimmy Nutt back around 2013 or so, and he has been awesome to work with on this Silver Bullet Bluegrass record. When I got back in the studio in 2023 with Carson Peters, Jimmy made me feel like it was just yesterday that we were in the studio together, not eight years ago. Jimmy and his wife Angie have also become great friends to me and my wife, Shelagh, so if there is music in my future Jimmy will definitely be involved.”

“One musician that I have known for years, but never have worked with is Shawn Camp,” is Deaton’s first response when asked about possible future collaborations. “I think he is so talented and such a nice guy that I would love to work with him sometime in the future. A lot of the singers on Silver Bullet Bluegrass I had worked with in the past. Carson Peters and Bill Taylor were great in the studio and I think they have immense talent and I would like to work with those guys sometime in the future.”

As for possibly adapting other musicians’ tunes to the bluegrass idiom, Deaton immediately cites one name. “I think it would be great to do a Bruce Springsteen record. I am a big Springsteen fan and even named my label after one of his songs. I’ve lost count of the number of [his] concerts I have been to, but it is well over 100 from 1999 to 2024.”

His first response to the final question, regarding what’s next for his label, is “I don’t know.”

“I have been really focused on finally getting Silver Bullet Bluegrass finished and released that I haven’t thought about anything else. The landscape of the music business has changed so much since I started that I am in the middle of a learning curve again. I know that I like making records and I know that I don’t need to make records in order to make money. Whatever I end up doing, if anything, I want it to be fun and I want to at least think that it may matter somehow.”

Photos courtesy of Lonesome Day Records.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Rhonda Vincent, Joy Clark, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Are you enjoying brat summer? We sure are, too, but as Teddy and the Rough Riders declare with their new video dropping today in You Gotta Hear This, “Catfish Summer” is what it’s really all about!

That’s not all our premiere round-up holds this week, either. We’ve got new videos from folks like guitarist-songwriter Joy Clark and Texan-Los Angeleno Silas Nello, and a new track has been unveiled by Americana duo Ocie Elliott, too.

Don’t miss bluegrass offerings from up-and-comers and legends, both. Jaelee Roberts brings a new single, “Between The Two Of Us,” East Nashville mainstays Greenwood Rye premiere “Down to the River,” and the Queen of Bluegrass herself, Rhonda Vincent, pays tribute to her homeland of Missouri with a song co-written by Opry star Jeannie Seely and Music Row stalwart writer Erin Enderlin. Vincent’s new album, Destinations And Fun Places, hits store shelves and digital platforms today.

To round out this edition of our weekly collection of premieres, don’t miss Moira Smiley’s rendition of the classic Jean Ritchie song, “Now Is The Cool Of The Day,” which debuted on the site earlier this week in honor of Farmworker Appreciation Day. It’s all right here on BGS and You Gotta Hear This!

Joy Clark, “Lesson”

Artist: Joy Clark
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Song: “Lesson”
Album: Tell it to the Wind
Release Date: October 4, 2024
Label: Righteous Babe Records

In Their Words: “My grandma is and was my root and when she passed, I thought about the gems she imparted to me in her 86 years of life. She’d say to me ‘Get your lesson!’ I’d sit at her table and talk to her. I came out to her at that very table. She accepted me. After she died, I sat down with my producer Margaret Becker to write, and the lyrics just rolled out; capturing the way my grandma lived her life. She taught me to treat everyone with kindness and to strive for peace while never backing down from a good fight. It’s a timely ‘Lesson’ for this country as we fight to take our rightful place in the struggle for freedom.” – Joy Clark

Video Credits: Directed and shot by Jared LaReau, Something Human.
AJ Haynes – Creative Assistant 

Ocie Elliott, “Adelina”

Artist: Ocie Elliott
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Song: Adelina
Release Date: August 9, 2024
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “‘Adelina’ is about a fictional heroine inspired by a combination of legendary musicians and personal idols –people who hone that extra something inside of them to carve their way through the barriers of the tangible world, prying doors open for others in their wake. In comparison to some of our previous recordings, the final result of ‘Adelina’ reflects the way in which it was put together – with a lot of play, compromise, reinventing, and scrubbing at the built-up grime and loose ideas to make a smooth surface for finer grit to be poured back in. To us, it feels louder, more immediate, and present. It’s a song you play when leaving somewhere – a ‘windows down, future open and ready’ kind of song.” – Sierra Lundy and Jon Middleton, Ocie Elliott

Greenwood Rye, “Down to the River”

Artist: Greenwood Rye
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Down to the River”
Album: Hideaway
Release Date: August 9, 2024 (single); August 23, 2024 (album)

In Their Words: “‘Down to the River’ was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved to Nashville in 2020 and the first original song we started playing live as we started Greenwood Rye during the pandemic as the house band for Jane’s Hideaway in Nashville. I wanted to write the quintessential song for what we were trying to do as a band. It is a fun, funky groove with a singable chorus, has a jamgrass style instrumental bridge, and plays around lyrically with some bluegrass themes. I was thinking a lot of ‘Old Home Place’ and how the narrator is blaming others for his problems. So, I came up with the idea to have a character who takes responsibility for his actions. He ‘runs off to the vineyards’ rather than the ‘taverns took all his pay.’ But there is also a level of hubris in the narrator, as he feels like he can just go ‘down to the river’ every time he does someone wrong ‘again.’

“The track features Sasha Ostrovsky (Darius Rucker, Bering Strait) on dobro.” – Shawn Spencer, guitar, vocals, songwriter

Track Credits: Written by Shawn Spencer.
Shawn Spencer – Guitar, vocals
Cat McDonald – Fiddle, vocals
David Freeman – Mandolin, vocals
Taylor Shuck – Banjo
Sasha Ostrovsky – Dobro
Larry Cook – Bass

Produced & mixed by Billy Hume.
Mastered by Pete Lyman.
Matt Coles – Additional engineering
Recorded at Compass Records.

Silas Nello, “Holy Ghost Blues”

Artist: Silas Nello
Hometown: Los Angeles, California via Dallas, Texas
Song: “Holy Ghost Blues”
Album: From West Hollywood
Release Date: August 9, 2024 (single); September 13, 2024 (EP)
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “It came to me in a dream – a sort of fantasized crossroads moment of how mankind trades this for that and we don’t realize until the deal is already done. I wrote this song at the wet bar of my then 1980s home just north of Dallas sometime in 2016.” – Silas Nello

“The video was meant as a portrait of Silas Nello. We went around Los Feliz, West Hollywood, and Wild Horizon Sound, documenting his travels like a ‘day in the life.’ We broke the fourth wall with Silas acknowledging the camera and the audience throughout the piece. What this created was an intimate moment where we’re spending time with him but he was also spending time with us.” – Taylor Hungerford, filmmaker, Silverspark Printworks

Track Credits: Written by Silas Nello.
Silas Nello – Lead vocal, background vocal, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine
Produced by Claire Morison & Silas Nello.
Recorded at Wild Horizon Sound.
Recording engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer – Claire Morison

Video Credit: Taylor Hungerford, Silverspark Printworks

Jaelee Roberts, “Between The Two Of Us”

Artist: Jaelee Roberts
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Between The Two Of Us”
Release Date: August 8, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Between The Two Of Us’ was written with my friends Donna Ulisse and Kristen Bearfield. When we got together, we agreed that we’d like to write something up-tempo and happy, and ‘Between The Two Of Us’ is the result of that session. It truly is a happy song about love lasting between two people and what you have to do to achieve that. Getting to hear this song come together in the studio was really amazing, and I am so thrilled with the end result. The musical arrangement provided by Ron Block, Andy Leftwich, Cody Kilby, Byron House, Justin Moses, Stuart Duncan, and John Gardner absolutely made this song even more special than I could have imagined! To top it off, Stephen Mougin and Kelsi Harrigill joined me on harmonies and their voices were the perfect touch to convey the message of the song. I hope y’all enjoy this love song that is filled with words of hope, joy, and encouragement.” – Jaelee Roberts

Teddy and the Rough Riders, “Catfish Summer”

Artist: Teddy and the Rough Riders
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Catfish Summer”
Album: Down Home
Release Date: October 11, 2024 (album)
Label: Appalachia Record Co.

In Their Words: “This one is about visiting my mom’s side of the family who live in Rockmart, Georgia. I was 12 or so and didn’t really wanna visit my grandma Lou-Lou that summer. But instead, my mom dropped me and my cousin off at my uncle Bubba’s house for a few weeks, and he lived in an amazing hillbilly shack on the side of a catfish pond with about ten dogs, deep in the woods. Greatest summer ever! From childhood bummer to high time.” – Ryan Jennings, Teddy and the Rough Riders

Rhonda Vincent, “I Miss Missouri”

Artist: Rhonda Vincent
Hometown: Greentop, Missouri
Song: “I Miss Missouri”
Album: Destinations And Fun Places
Release Date: August 9, 2024

In Their Words: “My Grand Ole Opry sister Jeannie Seely started writing ‘I Miss Missouri’ for me several years ago. She lost everything, including the lyrics she had written, in the Nashville flood of 2010. Fast forward to February 29, 2020, the night she made my greatest dream come true and invited me to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. We have since become close friends, and after the Opry invitation she said the lyrics started coming back to her.

“She invited Erin Enderlin and I to join her in writing the song. ‘I Miss Missouri’ was the inspiration for creating a ‘destinations’ project, with all the songs representing a destination.” – Rhonda Vincent

Track Credits: Written by Jeannie Seely, Erin Enderlin, and Rhonda Vincent.
Adam Haynes – Fiddle
Rhonda Vincent – Lead vocal, mandolin
Mickey Harris – Bass
Zack Arnold – Guitar, harmony vocal
Aaron McDaris – Banjo
Jacob Metz – Resophonic guitar

Moira Smiley, “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”

Artist: Moira Smiley
Hometown: New Haven, Vermont
Song: “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”
Album: The Rhizome Project
Release Date: September 6, 2024

In Their Words: “August 6th is Farmworker Appreciation Day, and I didn’t know that until this year. I am writing this as I sit on a hill above the rolling Vermont farmland where I grew up being a young farmworker and musician. In honor of this day, I’m releasing one of my favorite songs of all time – and the best one I know for reminding us to slow down and remember our roles as carers and tenders of this beautiful planet and the people around us. This week, I’m showering appreciation on the people that grow and tend food in my area; buying from small farmers, donating to the Open Door clinic that serves the medical needs of immigrant agricultural laborers. This gentle video hopes to slow your pace, and bring you along with me in acknowledging that farmworkers make our nourishment possible. Let us thank them.” – Moira Smiley

Read more here.

Photo Credit: Joy Clark by Steve Rapport; Rhonda Vincent by Tanner West.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Carson Peters, Jessie Wilson, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

It’s another full week of new releases and exciting premieres! Leading off our round up this time is young fiddlin’ phenom Carson Peters singing a Bob Seger classic, “Long Twin Silver Line.” Plus, don’t miss bluegrass tracks from our friends Unspoken Tradition and Meadow Mountain – the latter of whom debuted the first installment of their SkyTheory Sessions on BGS yesterday.

There’s also plenty of Good Country to find herein! Kyle McKearney is joined by bluegrass flatpicker Trey Hensley on “Lonesome,” Jessie Wilson brings us a new one, “Outlaw,” and Will Stewart & the Gold Band share a tune from their Live in Norway project. Plus, Jordie Lane brings us a new single, too.

Yesterday, Donovan Woods exclusively premiered a new Lori McKenna and Matt Nathanson co-write on BGS,. as well so don’t miss that! It’s all below and really, You Gotta Hear This!

Carson Peters, “Long Twin Silver Line”

Artist: Carson Peters
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Long Twin Silver Line” (Bob Seger cover)
Album: Silver Bullet Bluegrass
Release Date: July 12, 2024
Label: Lonesome Day Records

In Their Words: “Randall Deaton approached me with this tribute project a while back, and I loved the idea and jumped at the chance to be included with the great artists that were already on board. I grew up listening to classic rock and roll music riding in my parents’ car. It definitely helped me appreciate all styles of music and I always enjoyed hearing Seger songs. Randall had most of the track ready for me when I came in to put vocals and fiddle on it, and his ideas and choices made this song even better than I imagined. We played around with arrangements for a fiddle break in the middle, but he was the brain behind the arrangement for sure. I think (and hope) that the youthfulness in my voice and aggressive style of fiddle playing suits this song well, and gives it a nice spin. I am working up a live version with my band so we can put into our shows.” – Carson Peters

Track Credits: Written and published by Bob Seger, Gear Publishing Company
Producer – Randall Deaton
Engineers – Randall Deaton, Jimmy Nutt
Tracked at Lonesome Day Recording Studio, Booneville, KY / The NuttHouse Recording Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL.
Mixed at The NuttHouse Recording Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL.

Guitar – Stephen Mougin, Gary Nichols
Mandolin – Darrell Webb
Banjo – Ned Luberecki
Bass – Mike Bub
Dobro – Jake Joines
Fiddle – Carson Peters
Harmony vocals – Sarah Borges

Kyle McKearney, “Lonesome” (Featuring Trey Hensley)

Artist: Kyle McKearney
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Song: “Lonesome” (featuring Trey Hensley)
Release Date: April 26, 2024
Label: Kyle McKearney Music

In Their Words: “I’ve been following Trey Hensley for years and have always been a huge fan of his playing, singing, and Southern charm. I got to meet Trey at a gig in Colorado and I was blown away to learn that had been a fan of mine as well. My keyboard player James and I wrote ‘Lonesome’ with Trey in mind, hoping that he’d jump on for a shred on his flattop. I love how this song turned out and am grateful to Trey and team for their contributions. I can’t wait for folks to hear this burning two stepper!” — Kyle McKearney

“I became a huge fan of Kyle McKearney the moment I heard his music several years ago. I became an even bigger fan when I got to meet him and hear him live out in Colorado last year. I knew then that I would love a chance to work on some music with him in the future. I was thrilled when the opportunity arose for me to go up to Alberta and record with Kyle for his new song ‘Lonesome.’ As soon as I heard the song, I immediately knew this was going to be a blast… and sure enough, it was an absolutely incredible experience. Kyle is such a phenomenally talented artist, and I’m beyond honored to be included on ‘Lonesome.’ I can’t wait for y’all to hear it!” — Trey Hensley

Jessie Wilson, “Outlaw”

Artist: Jessie Wilson
Hometown: Phenix City, Alabama
Song: “Outlaw”
Release Date: May 3, 2024 (single)

In Their Words: “‘Outlaw’ depicts a universal feeling – no matter what field you are in or where you’re at in life, almost everyone has felt like they weren’t good enough and wanted to fit into a certain group at some point or another. I wrote this song about Nashville; I’ve often wondered what I need to do to be wanted in this town and the music industry. Is it about dating the right person, or changing my morals – what’s the answer? This song was written from that state of mind. It took a lot of vulnerability for me to admit that there was a time when I would do anything to fit in and gain the love of others, because deep down I was so lonely and lost. It’s typical to want to compare yourself, but you have to steer your mind away from that idea. I’ve since learned that I don’t have to change who I am and that the right people and opportunities will come to me and love me for the person I am.” – Jessie Wilson

Track Credits:

Producer – David Dorn
Acoustic & electric guitar – Tim Galloway
Bass – Tim Denbo
Drums – Matt King
B3/Synthesizer – David Dorn
BGVs – Kristen Rogers and Caleb Lee Hutchinson
Recorded at Farmland Studios.
Mixing – Mark Lonsway
Mastering – Mayfield Mastering

Will Stewart & The Gold Band, “Real Drag” (Live)

Artist: Will Stewart & The Gold Band
Hometown: Birmingham, Alabama
Song: “Real Drag” (Live)
Album: Will Stewart & The Gold Band Live in Norway
Release Date: June 7, 2024
Label: Cornelius Chapel Records

In Their Words: “Ross Parker, my longtime friend and bassist, sent me a rough demo of ‘Real Drag’ last year. I slightly tweaked the arrangement and melody and added a verse and it immediately became a staple in our live set. I get to throw in some jangle on this one, and Janet’s guitar playing compliments that in a nice way. The lyrics sort of speak for themselves, but it’s about a series of unfortunate events after a long night of being out, which seems to be a common theme in a lot of my songs, now that I’m thinking about it. It’s a combination of people and places that we’ve encountered over the years.” – Will Stewart

Track Credits:

Will Stewart – Guitar, vocals
Janet Simpson – Guitar, vocals
Tyler McGuire – Drums
Ross Parker – Bass
Recording Engineer – Harvard Soknes
Mixed by Brad Timko.
Mastered by Alex McCollough.

Jordie Lane, “The Changing Weather”

Artist: Jordie Lane
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia (Based in Nashville, Tennessee)
Song: “The Changing Weather”
Album: Tropical Depression
Release Date: May 2, 2024 (single); August 23, 2024 (album)
Label: Blood Thinner Records, under exclusive licence to ABC Music/The Orchard

In Their Words: “I had just got back to America after the terrible 2019-20 Australian bushfires when this massive EF-3 Tornado devastated our East Nashville neighborhood. Everything in my mind and body was kind of in shock about this severe weather, being so close to being hit. It scared the sh*t outta me. The song came after thinking about how people often complain about the very things that could and should be seen as a gift. Like the simple act of getting caught in the rain.

“Humans are remarkably good at denying the truth sometimes and covering it up with a bunch of other crap that we pretend is more important. We tend to just wanna get on with our lives, and not think about the scary things inside us, or with this planet we live on. This song is my take of an easy-breezy ’60s song to keep cruising along to, until the moment it’s all too late.” – Jordie Lane

Track Credits: Written by Jordie Lane.
Produced by Jordie Lane & Jon Estes.

Video Credits: Director, director of photography, editor – Korby Lenker
Aerial photography – Travis Nicholson
Producers, production designers – Jordie Lane & Clare Reynolds

Unspoken Tradition, “Georgia In Her Eyes”

Artist: Unspoken Tradition
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Song: “Georgia In Her Eyes”
Release Date: May 3, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Georgia In Her Eyes’ is a deeply personal song that I wrote in a fit of inspiration not long after meeting the woman who is now my wife. Looking through the perspective gained from 12 years together, the lyrics are even more meaningful. I’m excited that the guys in the band chose to help bring this song to life.” – Sav Sankaran, bass and songwriter

Track Credits:

Audie McGinnis – Acoustic, vocals
Sav Sankaran – Vocals, bass
Tim Gardner – Fiddle, vocals
Zane McGinnis – Banjo
Ty Gilpin – Mandolin

Donovan Woods, “Back For the Funeral”

Artist: Donovan Woods
Hometown: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Back For The Funeral”
Album: Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now
Release Date: July 12, 2024
Label: End Times Music

In Their Words: “‘Back For The Funeral’ is a story that a lot of us end up experiencing. Big life events – deaths, births, divorces – seem to pull us out of the flow of time somehow. The days around these events can feel like a dream wherein the regular rules of our lives don’t apply. People fall back onto old habits or maybe construct a new temporary-self to shield them from grief or shock. What I like best about this song is that it reflects that dream-like feeling without sacrificing clarity. It feels the way those life-dividing days feel. I wrote it with Lori McKenna and Matt Nathanson. I’m about as proud of it as anything I’ve written. I hope it’s useful to people.” – Donovan Woods

More here.

Meadow Mountain, “June Nights” (SkyTheory Sessions)

Artist: Meadow Mountain
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “June Nights”
Release Date: April 30, 2024 (single)

In Their Words: “It sometimes feels like my life is split up into eras – periods of a year or two that, upon looking back, have a distinct, overarching feeling. As I get older I’ve started to recognize when I’m on the edge of one era, moving into the next one, and I begin to get a sense of the overall color of my recent life. I had that feeling as spring moved into summer last year and wanted to document it in a song. It recounts moments in the Colorado wilderness, misadventures in love, and my abiding wish to be Sam Bush in the 1980’s.” – Jack Dunlevie, mandolin and songwriter

More here.

Photo Credit: Carson Peters by Cora Wagoner; Jessie Wilson by Sam Aldrich.

New Exhibit, “Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey,” Opens at Bluegrass Hall of Fame

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Although it will be showcased for the next two years, the recent grand opening celebration of the “Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey” exhibition at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum will go down as not only a monumental gathering of musical legends, but also an unforgettable moment in time for all involved.

“This exhibit is coinciding at a great moment for bluegrass,” says Carly Smith, museum curator. “[Jerry] funneled so many people to [bluegrass]. And a lot of present day artists — Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle — are incorporating Jerry’s style into what they’re playing.”

Located in downtown Owensboro, Kentucky, along the mighty Ohio River, the Bluegrass Hall of Fame has created an incredibly impressive and intricate ode to Garcia and his undying love of the “high, lonesome sound,” demonstrating how his indelible fingerprint on the genre is still clearly visible in this current high-water mark moment for bluegrass.

Known as one of the finest electric guitarists to ever pick up the six-string instrument, Garcia, who passed in 1995, is eternally known as the de facto leader and musical zeitgeist at the helm of the Grateful Dead. And yet, the foundation of Garcia’s playing and skillset lies in American roots music — folk, blues, and bluegrass.

Photo by Chris Stegner, courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

The exhibit weaves through Garcia’s early years as a folk musician in the 1950s, his lifelong friendship with musician/lyricist Robert Hunter, his time in a slew of acoustic outfits in the 1960s – including Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions (an early footprint of the Dead) – as well as a keen focus on Garcia’s work in Old & In the Way and New Riders of the Purple Sage.

“I cried through the entire [opening weekend] press conference,” Cliff Seltzer, the exhibit’s creative director, says in a humbled tone. “I’ve been trying to keep my composure for this weekend because it’s overwhelming.”

For Seltzer, the journey to the opening weekend has been five years in the making. A well-known former artist manager, Seltzer was touring the museum in 2019 with one of his friends and clients, Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon. With curator Smith guiding the duo through the building, the group started kicking around ideas for what to put in a then-empty gallery portion of the second floor.

Photo by Chris Stegner, courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

“We’ve always talked about a Jerry Garcia exhibit, and it just kind of snowballed from there,” Smith says. “And it was very unexpected how open Jerry’s family was with [helping] us. What I’ve learned over the last two years, really working with them, is that bluegrass was part of [Jerry] — that’s what he was doing when he wasn’t on the road, that’s what he did at home.”

For the better part of the last half-decade, Smith, Seltzer and a small crew of folks roamed America, not only in search of Garcia artifacts to display (instruments, photographs, family heirlooms), but also numerous interviews with some of the biggest names in bluegrass to share in the exhibit — each talking at-length about Garcia’s cosmic lore, larger-than-life legends, and lasting legacy.

“Every genre of music has to morph and change. New people enter the fold and introduce new things,” Seltzer said. “With Billy [Strings], Molly Tuttle, Sierra Ferrell, and others, bluegrass is bigger [now] than it’s ever been — it’s only going to continue to grow.”

David Nelson joined by Sam Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, and Jason Carter on stage at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Photo by Emma McCoury.

Way before the Dead — before any of the melodic chaos and intrinsic beauty of what that band created onstage any given night for its 30-year tenure — there was Garcia himself, simply a huge bluegrass freak who, perhaps someday, would become a member of Bill Monroe & The Blue Grass Boys.

And although Garcia would eventually swerve into the electric sounds of rock and roll and blues, he was never too far from bluegrass. There were always side projects and low-key jam sessions with a bevy of acoustic musicians throughout the early years of the Dead in the 1960s and 1970s.

Most notable of those collaborations was with mandolin virtuoso David Grisman. Through Grisman, Garcia met guitarist Peter Rowan in 1972. A former member of Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, Rowan found a kindred spirit — in sound and in attitude — with Garcia. The kismet trio would jam often at Garcia’s Stinson Beach, California, home, with Garcia plucking his trusty banjo.

“We started picking every night after supper [at Jerry’s],” Rowan says. “We went through old song books and learned a bunch of material. I remember singing ‘Land of the Navajo’ and looking at Jerry like, ‘This is really weird, isn’t it?’ He goes, ‘Keep going, man.’”

Peter Rowan speaks as Heaven McCoury looks on during the exhibition opening weekend festivities. Photo by Chris Stegner.

What was birthed from those happenstance pickin’ and grinnin’ sessions became bluegrass super group Old & In the Way. Like a shooting star in the tranquil night sky, the band — featuring Garcia, Rowan, Grisman, bassist John Kahn, and a revolving cast of fiddlers (Richard Greene, John Hartford, Vassar Clements) — would only last the better part of two years (1973-1974).

But, in it remains one of the most important and groundbreaking acts to ever emerge in the bluegrass scene. To note, Old & In the Way’s 1975 self-titled debut album went on to become the bestselling bluegrass album of all-time – until it was dethroned by the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack released in 2000.

Maria Muldaur performs. Photo by Chris Stegner.

Alongside an onslaught of beautifully touching performances (Leftover Salmon, Maria Muldaur, Jim Lauderdale, Kyle Tuttle, Peter Rowan, Ronnie McCoury, Sam Grisman Project) and poignant gatherings of artists and music lovers throughout the “Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey” opening weekend, there were also several panels taking place each day at the museum.

Of which, “Garcia: Legend & Lore of a Bluegrass Freak” featured Peter Rowan (Old & In the Way), David Nelson (New Riders of the Purple Sage), Pete Wernick (Hot Rize), Sam Grisman (son of David Grisman) and Eric Thompson (Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions).

“Old & In the Way really helped everything get bigger,” Wernick says. “It was this whole group of material that means so much to all of us in the bluegrass scene — it suddenly became something that people all over the world knew about.”

Greg Garrison, Ronnie McCoury, Eric Thompson, and Jason Carter perform. Photo by Chris Stegner.

Below are a few excerpts for that artist panel conversation:

Eric Thompson: I grew up in Palo Alto, California, kind of the nexus point for the folk world in the early ’60s. Joan Baez was from there. The Kingston Trio was from there. I got into the bluegrass guitar in [1961]. [Jerry] ended up there after he got thrown out of the Army. He got into all kinds of folk music and he would just devour a style. [He’d say], “Oh, I’m going to do that,” then two weeks later he’s got a whole repertoire. I was 15 years old and made friends with Jerry right away — it changed my life.

David Nelson: We’d go down to Kepler’s bookstore, which is an old hangout in Palo Alto. There was a section of it where you could get an espresso, sit down at a picnic table, and read a book. And there’s this guy [there]. It’s summer, so he’s got his shirt open and [big] hair. And he’s playing a 12-string guitar. Somebody comes up and says, “That’s Jerry Garcia.” We went over and pitched the idea [of jamming together]. Sure enough, next Tuesday night, we’re waiting and waiting. Then, all of a sudden, here comes the car and there’s Jerry coming up the stairs with a guitar and some friends. It started off a whole [jamming] thing at the Boar’s Head [Tavern], which just went on for months and years maybe. [Jerry] was interested in bluegrass banjo and I was interested in bluegrass guitar. I got me a banjo. Jerry said, “Oh, man, borrow my guitar. Can I borrow this banjo?” He happened to have a 1940 Martin D-18 [guitar].

The Sam Grisman Project – featuring Victor Furtado, Logan Ledger, and more – take a bow. Photo by Emma McCoury.

Thompson: [Jerry] brought some openness to the approach [of bluegrass music]. I know [so] many people, who are mostly not bluegrass musicians, who found out about [bluegrass] because of Old & In the Way. It was open and expressive and, at the same time, paid respect to what came before. It was this new, intelligent thing. And intelligence is what Garcia brought to the music, [as well as] imagination, articulation.

Vince Herman and Jim Lauderdale harmonize. Photo by Chris Stegner.

Get more information on “Jerry Garcia: A Bluegrass Journey” and plan your visit to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum here.

Photo Credit: All photos by Chris Stegner and Emma McCoury, as indicated. Courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

Sam Grisman Project Honor “Dawg Music” In Their Own Way

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

There’s something special that occurs when music is rooted in friendship and a shared mission. Perhaps no one exemplifies this better than Sam Grisman Project, founded by the youngest son of “Dawg music” pioneer David Grisman. Seeking to honor the likes of his father, Jerry Garcia & the Grateful Dead, and other musical heroes, SGP maintains a singular style and groove.

With its core iteration featuring seasoned multi-instrumentalists and songwriters Ric Robertson, Chris “Hollywood” English, and Aaron Lipp – and often featuring a host of other guests who run the musical gamut – SGP is bringing fresh authenticity, originality, and passion to the roots music and jam band scenes.

BGS spoke with Sam Grisman in early February 2024 about the origins of, inspirations, and plans for this remarkable and rising group.

What are the origins of Sam Grisman Project?

Sam Grisman: Ever since rekindling my musical friendship with the great Ric Robertson, who I’ve known since I was 14, I’ve been wanting to start a band that showcases the impact that the legacy of my dad and Jerry’s music has had on me. Ric and I started scheming on ways to make some music together and what that might look like. I figured we might have a good opportunity to play out in the live touring landscape if we paid tribute to the catalog of music that my dad and Jerry recorded together; that it could create the space for us to really do whatever we might want musically. We’re not limiting ourselves to the catalog of music that my dad and Jerry played together or individually, but we are honoring the spirit of what they did together, which was to dive into great songs that they had a shared love of.

I’ve always had a talented group of friends, going back to the time that I spent growing up at bluegrass festivals, fiddle camps, and the Mandolin Symposium. We have chemistry, and that is irreplaceable. Ric started playing music with Aaron Lipp around the time we turned 20 and he has been a part of my musical reality since then. He and Ric have developed strong chemistry, where they’ve been finishing each other’s musical sentences for years now. Aaron is from Naples, New York, about an hour away from Rochester, New York, which is where the great Chris English hails from. When Ric started making some music with Chris and telling me about what an amazing drummer and human being he is, I knew he would fit into the core of this band perfectly.

Who are you honoring with this project and why?

We’re honoring the musical heroes who influenced us the most. For me, because they provided the soundtrack to most of my earliest musical memories, that’s my dad and a lot of his friends who came through our house in Mill Valley to record. The friend who came around the most was Jerry [Garcia], but also John Hartford, Mike Seeger, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Del McCoury and Ralph Stanley.

We honor our heroes, not just my dad and Jerry. We play lots of John Hartford music and Townes Van Zandt songs. Lots of Bob Dylan’s music, some Alan Toussaint, Dr. John, John Prine, Warren Zevon, Randy Newman, and Peter Rowan.

Can you describe what Dawg music is and what you’ve learned from your father?

Dawg music is a highly evolved form of acoustic music that is a synthesis of many different genres including old-time, bluegrass, hot club swing, jazz, and funk, with elements of classical music. It’s really a sort of genre-less genre pioneered by my father. It showcases – but is not limited to showcasing – the sound of the mandolin. The instrumentation in his quintet has traditionally been one or two mandolins, guitar, upright bass, and violin, but that’s expanded over the years to include percussion and drums.

That instrumentation of percussion, mandolin, guitar and bass is what I modeled the core of this band after. I’ve learned so much from my father about music and the music business – how to treat your friends and how to honor your elders. I am profoundly grateful to have been born to my particular set of parents and I’m grateful that there are other folks who have a deep appreciation for my dad’s impact on the musical landscape. I’d like for people to also appreciate how wonderful a human he is, so this is a small way that I get to share my dad with other people. He loves everybody, he’s grateful for the support, and he can feel it.

Who are some of the musical guests that have performed with SGP, and what does that mean to SGP?

It means a lot. It’s a representation of the community that we’re a part of. We’ve brought in some of our heroes as guests including dear family friends like Lowell Levenger “Banana” from the Youngbloods, Maria Muldaur, Eric Thompson, and Peter Rowan. We’ve had my dad sit in three times, which has been an absolute honor, and we’ve had a whole slew of our guests who bring different insights and a similar passion to the project: Dominick Leslie, Alex Hargreaves, Roy Williams, Bennett Sullivan, Nathaniel Smith, Phoebe Hunt, Lindsay Lou, my dear friend Tod Patrick Livingston, Mike Witcher, Chad Manning, Wyatt Ellis, Matt Eakle (the great flute alumnus from my dad’s quintet), and more. Eddie Barbash came and played a set with us in New York. Max Flansburg, who has a similar passion for this material and highlights a different corner of the Garcia/Hunter catalog than we do, played two of our New Year’s shows with us. We also had our old-time banjo hero, Richie Stearns, on all of those gigs that weekend. We’re going to have Logan Ledger on some shows coming up, and we’ll have Victor Furtado and Nathaniel Smith in the band.

When did SGP start touring in its current iteration, and how is the experience of touring with your best friends?

We had our first run as a band in January 2023. This conversation with you comes at the end of our longest break as a band, where we’ve had the entire month of January off. We’re starting back up on February 4th in Tucson, at a festival called Gem and Jam. It’s an absolute treat to travel the country with the people I care the most about, and to make great music and memories and friends everywhere we go. It’s important to anchor ourselves and ground ourselves in the music, because there’s a lot of work that goes into being out on the road that can make you lose perspective on how special it is to be doing something that you love for a living and to be able to do it for people who love what you’re doing.

SGP is obviously celebrating and continuing a particular musical legacy, but doing so with your own flavor. What makes SGP unique?

Our branding is our individuality and our honesty. I grew up in the house where my dad and Jerry recorded all of this music and I really do enjoy playing that music with my best friends. It gives me a sense of purpose to be able to play some of that music for folks who are passionate about it. There’s definitely room in the live music space for bands who take a preservationist approach to carrying on the musical traditions and catalogs of artists that came before them. A lot of musicians try to sound like their musical heroes, but that’s not our approach. I hired my friends to participate because I love their individuality and how they play, sing, and write music. I wouldn’t want to steer them towards sounding more like Jerry Garcia or my father.

We have been influenced by listening to tons of great music our entire lives, but we try to stay true to ourselves when we’re playing, so nobody is reaching for a sound that isn’t theirs. We all enjoy injecting our individuality into this music and having the flexibility to take the material in different directions depending on how we’re feeling. It’s amazing to have such versatile friends to work with.

How does original material fit into the broader vibe of SGP?

All three of the core guys – Ric Robertson, Aaron Lipp, and Chris English – are amazing songwriters. All the time I’ve known Ric, since we were teenagers, he’s been writing great songs. He was always a great singer, but he’s become one of my absolute favorite singers on the planet. There’s a lot of his music that lends itself incredibly well to looser, more long-form arrangements, which is something that SGP has become comfortable with.

Aaron Lipp is also an amazing songwriter who writes incredibly poignant music and aphoristic lyrics. Chris English writes amazing, feel-good music – not always overtly happy, but always with a strong message. His tunes add a lot of depth to our sets and take us to a more groove or bassline-oriented place, which is really refreshing for us and our audiences. I think there’s always going to be room for original music in SGP. As much as these guys are inspired to play their own tunes, I want to play them.

You released a great EP in 2023. Is there anything else currently in the works?

We’re gonna make a full length album at some point in 2024. Over the course of the last hundred or so gigs we’ve developed a pretty good repertoire and a strong rapport with each other. I don’t think it would take very long to put some of these tunes down in the studio, but we also multitrack most of our shows and we have an archive of live music to sort through. We’re going to be putting some shows up on Nugs.net pretty soon. We have a pro-taping policy to encourage folks to come and tape the show. I share Jerry [Garcia]’s philosophy that if you bought a ticket to the show, the performance is really yours as long as you’re not charging anybody else for it. Some of those shows have made it to archive.org, which is a free internet resource where folks can listen to live music. At some point we’ll probably put together some compilations of live material and put them up on the streaming services. I think our live show is always going to be the emphasis of what we do, so it’s important to have some recorded examples out there for people to check out.

What’s in store for SGP in 2024, and what does pursuing that mean to you?

We’ve got another solid year shaping up. We played about a hundred gigs in 2023 and we’ll probably make it pretty close to that in 2024. I’m going to expand the cast of characters a little bit in 2024 and bring some other friends into the fold. I’m looking forward to introducing my new friends and audiences to my dear musical compatriots who care about this music as much as I do. I’m grateful and humbled to get to do it. It means a lot to get to honor my father every night by playing his music. We take out the mandola that he gave me for my 21st birthday, the mandola he recorded “Opus 38” on. We get to play “Opus 38” on that very same mandola for people who appreciate what’s happening, and I feel like he and Uncle Jerry are with us every night. It’s a big blessing all around.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Ben Sollee, Sideline, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

This week, BGS readers were graced by two special, Valentine’s Day-themed premieres from jamgrass supergroup The High Hawks and singer-songwriter Caroline Cotter. Plus, our old friend, Kentucky-based cellist Ben Sollee, brought us a gorgeous new performance video of a John Prine cover shot surrounded by verdant houseplants.

Below, catch up on that new music you might have missed from earlier in the week and discover brand new, exclusive premieres from bluegrass group Sideline and indie/Americana duo the Ballroom Thieves. It’s all right here on BGS and… You Gotta Hear This!

Sideline, “The Lives of the Innocent”

Artist: Sideline
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “The Lives of the Innocent”
Release Date: February 16, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “It was great getting back in the studio after over two years. There was a lot of bottled-up magic that came bursting out when we hit the first downbeat. This song fit the very definition of what Sideline is as a sound and the energy we project. It certainly enters the catalog as a blood-pumping, foot stomping, Sideline hit for the ages.” – Skip Cherryholmes, guitar

“‘The Lives of the Innocent’ was a song that was inspired by the Hibriten Guards during the Civil War that mustered in Alexander County, North Carolina. They saw heavy combat during the war, suffering a high casualty rate, and this tune chronicles what potentially could have been one of the soldiers in those ranks. Steve [Dilling] and the guys bumped the tempo a little and captured the essence of the song and the singing is just top-notch!” – Shannon Slaughter, songwriter

Track Credits:
Skip Cherryholmes – Guitar
Steve Dilling – Banjo, harmony vocal
Matt Flake – Fiddle
Nick Goad – Mandolin, harmony vocal
Kyle Windbeck – Bass
Bailey Coe – Lead vocal

The Ballroom Thieves, “Tender”

Artist: The Ballroom Thieves
Hometown: Easton, Massachusetts
Song: “Tender”
Album: Sundust
Release Date: April 12, 2024
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “We were listening to the band Watchhouse at Newport Folk Festival in 2022 and their sparse instrumentation and fluid melodies inspired us to start writing ‘Tender’ right on the spot. We learn a lot from our peers, and in this case, the lesson was about the importance of creating space for your songs to breathe so you can hear what’s happening between the notes.” – The Ballroom Thieves

Ben Sollee, “Only Love” (John Prine Cover)

Artist: Ben Sollee
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Song: “Only Love”
Release Date: February 13, 2023

In Their Words: “John Prine had a knack for folding mantras in to his songs. This song has a message that resonates deeply with my journey as a creative, father, and husband [and] that is so needed in this fitful world. ‘When love comes your way, you learn to say, I love you!’” – Ben Sollee

More here.

The High Hawks, “This Is What Love Feels Like”

Artist: The High Hawks
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado and All Points Between, USA
Song: “This Is What Love Feels Like”
Album: Mother Nature’s Show
Release Date: February 16, 2024

In Their Words: “This song sits in a slightly different world than the rest of The High Hawks’ new record. It’s a step into the mind of a hopeless romantic at a show, waiting for the band to come on with his love by his side. Sometimes the world just seems to conspire to make everything just right. This is about one of those nights. The song came out of a co-write with Chris Gelbuda, Shawn Camp, and myself one Nashville summer afternoon. I’m glad it found a home with The High Hawks!” — Vince Herman

More here.

Caroline Cotter, “Do You Love Me?”

Artist: Caroline Cotter
Hometown: from Providence, Rhode Island; currently living in Ellsworth, Maine
Song: “Do You Love Me?”
Album: Gently As I Go
Release Date: August 18, 2023

In Their Words: “‘Do You Love Me?’ is a love song, short and sweet and perhaps a bit tongue–in–cheek, echoing desperate and anxious attempts from a hopeless romantic to their new love (and the universe) to get some certainty in very uncertain territory. This anxiety and excitement come together in a fun little package, trading places depending on the day or the moment, and sometimes it’s best to laugh at the silliness of it all, and realize that attempts to know or pretend to know by reading the signs are likely futile, but if nothing else, they’re fun to sing about. I love how Fernando’s illustrations in the video bring out the whimsy, playfulness, and sweetness of the lyrics.” – Caroline Cotter

More here.

Photo Credit: The Ballroom Thieves by Meredith Brockington; Ben Sollee by Jessica Ebelhar.

LISTEN: The High Hawks, “This Is What Love Feels Like”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The High Hawks
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado and All Points Between, USA
Song: “This Is What Love Feels Like”
Album: Mother Nature’s Show
Release Date: February 16, 2024
Label: LoHi Records

In Their Words: “This song sits in a slightly different world than the rest of The High Hawks’ new record. It’s a step into the mind of a hopeless romantic at a show, waiting for the band to come on with his love by his side. Sometimes the world just seems to conspire to make everything just right. This is about one of those nights. The song came out of a co-write with Chris Gelbuda, Shawn Camp, and myself one Nashville summer afternoon. I’m glad it found a home with The High Hawks!” — Vince Herman

Track Credits: Written by Vince Herman, Shawn Camp, Chris Gelbuda

Vince Herman – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Adam Greuel – background vocals, acoustic guitar
Tim Carbone – fiddle
Chad Staehly – piano, mellotron
Brian Adams – bass guitar
Will Trask – percussion

Photo Credit: Michael Weintrob

Banjo Player Kyle Tuttle Reflects on Personal Growth and ‘Labor of Lust’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

One of the most talented and sought after banjo players in bluegrass, Kyle Tuttle’s life has been full of the highest of highs and lowest of lows in recent years, from a marriage and divorce to the surprise death of close friend and bandmate Jeff Austin to the loss of his job due to COVID and finally hitting the road as a member of Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway.

All of that and more are documented on Labor of Lust (out February 16), an 11-song expedition taking listeners on a deeply personal and sonically diverse journey of tragedy and triumph. Recorded across three separate sessions in Nashville dating back to 2018, the record also documents a significant chunk of Tuttle’s life that, despite the length of time and changes that come with it, aren’t lacking a central theme. This led him to describing the project as “a long work-in-progress,” due to how its focus shifted throughout the more than five years of bringing it to life.

“By the time it was all said and done, this was a pretty eclectic group of songs,” Tuttle tells BGS. “There’s some stuff with an electric band that includes drums and me on electric banjo, others with traditional string band arrangements and some that meet in the middle for a more jamgrass sound.”

One of the songs that bridge the gap between these two worlds of bluegrass is “Hard to Say,” a song that sees Tuttle grieving the loss of Austin, his marriage, and his job all at the same time. It’s anchored by his blistering banjo backbone with introspective lyrics like, “Knowing that it’s gone and gone for good, makes you wonder what the hell you’re waiting on?” that serve as a message to himself and anybody listening to ask the questions you need to ask, then play another one.

“Even though the music and lyrics were written over a handful of years, loss and learning to deal with it on a personal level is central to this record,” indicates Tuttle. “That being said, there’s a lot of joy within these songs too. I don’t want to make it seem like I wrote music for five years and all I experienced was misery. Loss is something we all have to deal with at one time or another, and my way of dealing with it was to write some of this music.”

Speaking by phone from his snowed-in Nashville home following a mid-January winter storm, Tuttle opened up about how he approaches being a bandleader compared to his current gig with Golden Highway, being stuck in a Bob Ross painting, choosing to work doing something you love, and more.

You’re notorious for staying extremely busy in your musical endeavors, from sitting in with folks on stage and in the studio to your stints with the Jeff Austin band, (your current gig with) Molly Tuttle, and your own compositions and projects, like Labor of Lust. With that in mind, how do you approach your own music versus being a member of someone else’s band?

Kyle Tuttle: It’s a bit different, because with my own show I’m the bandleader, along with other variables. With my shows, I play with lots of different members, I don’t have one set group of people that know my body of material super well, but rather lots of friends I can call on who all have different strengths. For that reason, when fronting my own band I’m more in the headspace of trying to wrangle all these people and variables together for a cohesive show, whereas with Molly we all have our roles that are specifically defined. One role isn’t more comfortable to me than the other, they just both require different things from me.

Is that comfort what had you leaning on friends like Travis Book, Dominick Leslie, and Lindsay Lou in the studio instead of session players?

It speaks very similarly to what we were just talking about with putting together a version of the Kyle Tuttle Band for shows. I wouldn’t use the term session player though, because even though all of these people are my friends they can also be called “session players” for their work on other’s records, because they’re all so good at what they do. I pick them very specifically based on their strengths and what they’ll bring to the music. I’ve been lucky through my years in the business to build personal connections with an awesome group of people that I can call when I’m looking to create something.

Although not an original, I really enjoy your cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Turn On The Radio” that closes the album. What drew you to that song of his in particular instead of “Coconut” or another of Nilsson’s gems?

I’m gonna have to work on a “Coconut” cover next, because that song is awesome! In all seriousness, [“Turn On The Radio”] felt like a thematically appropriate way to close this album. At the end of the day, I’m just a jamgrass stoner that plays banjo wanting to make a record that people can enjoy and have fun with. This record has some heavy undertones, so I felt like it deserved a nice ribbon on top to end it. It speaks to me big time, [about] remembering those near and dear who you’ve lost, especially if they’re an artist doing something you can hear. That sentiment of “turn on your record player, listen to my song, turn on your night light baby, I’m gone” felt like the right words to capture that feeling even though I didn’t say them, Harry did! I’ve loved the song for a while, so when I began putting this record together it immediately made sense to close it with this.

In terms of your own songs, I understand that “Trailer In Boulder Canyon” came together at two different times, similar to the recording process for all of Labor of Lust?

That’s a funny one, because as I said previously, I’m just a jamgrass stoner banjo player. First and foremost it’s a fun, feel good song about a magical place — a shitty little trailer on the side of a mountain up in Nederland, Colorado, where you don’t have to worry about any of your troubles or cares and just get to play fiddles and banjos and have fun all day. There’s a great jamgrass scene up there due to Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt basically starting Leftover Salmon up there. Years later some of The String Cheese Incident guys moved there followed by Jeff Austin, leading to the eventual forming of Yonder Mountain String Band there as well. There’s such a rich history of the music I love so much in that goofy little mountain town.

I initially wrote the chorus and first verse for the song as a goofy little ditty after it bounced around in my head for a while. I went up there when Vince put together a memorial concert for Jeff to help raise money for his family and so people could grieve together and ended up writing the second half of the song driving up the canyon road to get there. So like a lot of things on this record, part of it came to me at one point before finishing it off much later.

You’ve got three instrumentals on this record and another mostly instrumental tune in “Two Big Hearts.” What variations do songs like those have compared to ones with lyrics in the creation process?

The process is relatively the same, because no matter if I write with lyrics or melody I’m starting with some short idea and building around that nugget of information piece by piece. If it’s a melody, it’ll probably come out as an instrumental, but if it’s with lyrics it’s probably going to come out as a song with vocals. Even though it’s one track, “Two Big Hearts” is really two songs. The lyrics in it don’t come in until the second song, nearly four minutes in, but I felt that both were similar enough that they should be together and presented as one idea. I don’t think I’ll ever play one part of it without playing the other.

On “Not Quite Spring,” you’re singing about being stuck inside a Bob Ross painting. How’d that idea come about?

That’s a COVID song. I was sitting around on the couch watching a lot of Bob Ross’s The Joy Of Painting, just killing time like we all were back then. All of his paintings were titled and each episode of his show is titled after the painting he does in it. [“Not Quite Spring” is season 25, episode 3]. It’s of this spooky, huge mountain that’s covered in snow and frozen. A lot of his paintings are happy sunsets and warm things like a pond reflecting the trees around it, a stark contrast to this one that’s cold, dark and lonely, which is exactly how I felt at the time trapped inside my house.

In the album’s liner notes you allude to a life in music often being painted in glamor, when in reality it’s a consistent grind where persistence pays off. Is that message of sticking to it what you’re singing about on “Saddle Up?”

“Saddle Up” is the term I have for getting up every day and doing it again. It’s the idea that you may not have succeeded today or done everything you wanted to do the way you wanted to do it, which is what I’m touching on with the lyric, “The past can’t be where my best is.”

I feel like persistence defines my own life and career. Anyone who works in pursuit of a skill or art is always striving to get better. Even outside of that, we’re all working on our personal relationships and doing better by the people around us. Hopefully our best work, whether it be art or personal growth, is ahead of us and it’s not all downhill from here. It’s also a message I wish to impart on any listener or friend going through a rough patch to remind them that brighter days are on the horizon.

With Labor of Lust’s themes of personal growth in mind, what’s one resolution you have for yourself, music or otherwise, in 2024?

I’m actually trying to play the banjo even more, not from the standpoint of traveling and playing more shows, but just tinkering with it more in my downtime. It’s an interesting duality, tying your work to something you love. It’s a tricky thing to do because the lines between work and play are instantly blurred and made one. If it’s all work and no play it makes Jack a dull boy, so my resolution is to just keep the banjo in my hands for fun and to work smarter, not harder, which comes back to the idea that the past is not where my best work is.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

LISTEN: Armchair Boogie, “Gone in a Day”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Armchair Boogie
Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin
Song: “Gone in a Day”
Album: Hard Time & Deadlines
Release Date: January 19, 2024 (single); March 15, 2024 (album)

In Their Words: “In my experience, some of the best songs are written to completion (or almost) within a few hours of starting. That’s what happened with ‘Gone in a Day.’ When you feel strongly about the subject matter, ideas tend to flow with far less second guessing. There was no rush, but all the feelings, words, and melodies were at the ready. It also didn’t take long at all to think of adding in our friend Jeremy Garrett on the fiddle to take it to new heights. We think it’ll be just as smooth a listen as it was to put together.” – Ben Majeska

Track Credits: 

Ben Majeska – acoustic guitar, lead vocals & lyrical credits
Denzel Connor – drums, backup vocals
Eli Frieders – electric bass
John ‘Augie’ Dougherty – banjo, backup vocals
Jeremy Garrett – fiddle

Photo Credit: Dan Waterman