Tag: Jimmy Fallon

BGS Wraps: The Rootsiest Time of the Year

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In our eyes and to our ears, there’s no better family of musical genres to usher in the holiday season than roots music. Bluegrass, Americana, old-time, country, blues, and beyond – they’re all perfectly suited for the coziest time of year, for togetherness, for parties and gift-giving and cookie icing. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Winter Solstice – or even if you feel like opting out of the ruckus altogether – there is roots music for you.

Each year, we like to share our picks for the rootsiest time of the year in BGS Wraps, a weekly collection of songs, videos, albums, shows, tours, and events that celebrate the season. We share a few of our favorites, mostly brand new but often classics and timeless selections, too. Plus, we collect all that we can into a running playlist so you’re ready when the family or party hands you the aux cable.

We hope you enjoy BGS Wraps and tune in the next week as we continue our series celebrating the holiday season. (Catch up on week one here. And check out week two here.)

Merry Happy Whatever, The Doohickeys

Country duo the Doohickeys go fully original with their brand new Christmas EP, Merry Happy Whatever. Their trademark wit and humor are evident across the project’s five songs – including gut-busters like “Santa Needs A Beer” and “Santa Is A Stoner.” (Does Santa need a breathalyzer, as well?) On the EP’s title track, the delightfully crowd-pleasing and all-encompassing “Merry Happy Whatever,” Haley Spence Brown and Jack Hackett are joined by the Wolves of Glendale, with rich background vocals and holiday winds and brass to accomplish that full-tilt holiday sound. And a merry happy whatever to you, too!

A Cherry Valley Holiday, Carter Faith

A favorite of ours from the mainstream country space, Carter Faith released an excellent A-side/B-side holiday single this season, pairing “Nothin’ For Christmas” (featuring William Beckmann) with “Please Come Home For Christmas.” Packaged as a two-song collection titled A Cherry Valley Holiday, both tracks are perfectly suited for your countriest Christmas playlists. Faith’s duet with Beckmann showcases how both artists keep tradition alive while still looking to the future. You may be reminded of iconic duets like Lee Ann Womack with George Strait or Dolly Parton with Kenny Rogers. The holiday cheer doesn’t stop there, either, Faith recently joined Jimmy Fallon himself on “Ugly Sweater,” a funny seasonal track produced by Dave Cobb that the pair unveiled together on The Tonight Show. Between the Christmas singles and “Ugly Sweater,” there’s a country holiday flavor for everyone. Carter Faith does it all.

“Christmas in Yuma,” Cameron Knowler

One of our favorite albums of the year was released by guitarist, archivist, writer, and composer Cameron Knowler (who sometimes writes for BGS, too). CRK was released in April and, being set in the desert in and around Yuma, Arizona, the project feels properly warm and sunny, painting sonic pictures of red rocks and cactuses and blacktop baking in the sun. If that doesn’t sound properly Christmas-y to you, take a moment to inhabit the album’s lead track, “Christmas in Yuma.” A gorgeous prose poem set to sparse, textural guitar, the text was written by Knowler but is read by his friend and fellow Southwesterner, Jack Kilmer. It’s a truly stunning beginning to the project and we’ve been holding onto it all year for just this occasion. It may not be the most sing-along ready track of the holiday season, but its transportive feelings of nostalgia, grief, longing, and pain at seismic transformations – or at cloying, gluey stagnation, or both – are altogether more than perfect for the holidays.

“Christmas Love Song,” Willie Nelson

If the only present any of us received this year was a “Christmas Love Song” from Willie Nelson, well, that would feel like a pretty complete holiday season, wouldn’t it? With just one simple offering, every “need” could be checked off our wish lists. Written by fellow legend Bill Anderson (with help from Bobby Tomberlin and Marv Green) and produced by fellow legend Buddy Cannon, “Christmas Love Song” includes plenty of Nelson’s signature charm, whether in his languid phrasing or his tasteful nylon-string licks on his trusty guitar, Trigger. In the lyric itself Nelson is remarkably humble about his holiday offering: “It ain’t a lot, but every word of it’s true/ It don’t sparkle or shine/ But it’s one of a kind…” For all of us who’ve received this holiday gift from the legendary Willie Nelson, it feels like more than enough. And we will certainly cherish it.

“Oh, It’s Christmas,” Sage Palser and Prairie Wildfire featuring Danny Paisley

New bluegrass holiday hits are all too rare, so we relish them when we find them. This release from 2024 is a great example, cheery sleigh bells giving way to burning bluegrass that will warm the winter right out of your heart. Sage Palser joined Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass on a recent single that ended up on Paisley’s most recent album, Bluegrass State of Mind, and their knack for collaboration is showcased on “Oh, It’s Christmas,” as well. Paisley and Palser sing in duet while backed up by Palser’s band, Prairie Wildfire. This one has got us in the mood for Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas. It’s the perfect bluegrass track for some cinnamon bread and roller coasters.

“Office Christmas Party,” Brittany Ann Tranbaugh feat. Carsie Blanton

Ah, at long last, a tribute to everyone’s favorite events of the holiday season – the dreaded office Christmas party. From Brittany Ann Tranbaugh and Carsie Blanton, “Office Christmas Party” is silly and light-hearted, but with a message direct from Ebenezer Scrooge’s counting house employees: Sure, gifts of appreciation from our employer at this time of year are appreciated, but we’d much prefer workers’ rights, collective bargaining, and a living wage. Enjoy the free beer, cookies, and pizza at your corporate party, of course – and commiserating with our coworkers is solidarity, whether they know it or not – but focus on what will really bring the reason for the season into focus. A union! Tranbaugh and Blanton continue to showcase their penchant for making mission-focused music that’s also fun, engaging, and joyous.

“Where My Heart Is,” Randy Travis

Thanks to technology, AI, and contributions from vocalist James DuPré, Randy Travis “got his voice back” last year and began releasing brand new music featuring the low, smoky, dulcet tones for which he was adored. It’s one of the more interesting use-cases of AI in music, leveraged to give an artist their agency back instead of stealing it away forever. Travis’ pair of singles with his new AI-enabled voice are well-executed for what they are, but a newly released from-the-vault track like “Where My Heart Is” still reaffirms the ineffable in his hitmaking voice that we won’t ever get back. Even the best AI just cannot compare. “Where My Heart Is” was recorded prior to Travis’ fateful 2013 stroke that would render him unable to sing. It’s a lovely, heartfelt track that falls in perfect step with his beloved holiday albums An Old Time Christmas and Songs of the Season. We’ll take any/all Randy Travis songs we can get, but this one feels extra special.

Christmas with el Twanguero, Twanguero

Spanish guitarist Diego Garcia is Twanguero, maker of one of the finest holiday collections to be released this year, Christmas with el Twanguero. Recorded entirely to analog tape, the album of instrumental renditions of holiday favorites is tasteful, warm, and cozy. It would fit just perfectly bookended by Vince Guaraldi Trio and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings. It’s understated in its execution, relying on retro vibes and sounds to do the heavy lifting holiday pomp and bling would normally bring on such a project. For an album centered on the guitar, it never feels like it has to rely on showboating or hot licks, instead leaning into familiarity to bring us something that feels refreshing and new. It’s cinematic and lush, but down to earth and intimate, too. Plus, the album supports El Patojismo, a school of arts and social transformation based in Jocotenango, Guatemala, fostering education and creativity within its community. All around, it’s a lovely holiday discovery.

Peace, Love, and Cowboys (Holiday Edition), Lainey Wilson

Not sure if or when we’ve ever enjoyed such a holiday treat as this! Lainey Wilson returns to “Peace, Love, and Cowboys” from the deluxe release of her 2024 hit album, Whirlwind, to offer us a lovely holiday rewrite of the track. Retooled for the season, the message of the song resonates all the same – we need more hippie cowboys, cowgirls, and cowbabes, this time of year and beyond. The Christmas EP also includes a duet with Bing Crosby himself on “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” – Wilson can get anyone on a feature! Plus, she revisits a prior holiday single, “Christmas Cookies;” she also includes instrumental versions of each number, if you happen to have a word-free playlist that needs new transfusions of seasonal songs. We love the way Wilson approaches country music, and this little collection shows the creativity and outside-the-box-thinking she brings to the table.

Lead Image: Randy Travis by Marisa Taylor; Carter Faith by Bree Marie Fish; The Doohickeys by Jesse DeFlorio.

Watch Steve Martin & Alison Brown Perform on The Tonight Show

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Last week, Steve Martin & Alison Brown brought a star-studded bluegrass band to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to celebrate their brand new duo album, Safe, Sensible and Sane. Released via Brown’s Compass Records on October 17, the album showcases a mighty roster of pickers and special guests as well a packed slate of original tunes and songs co-written by Martin and Brown. For their Tonight Show appearance, they burn through the LP’s closing track, “Let’s Get Out of Here,” a perfect selection to close out the late-night television show.

On the album, Martin’s dancing clawhammer banjo and Brown’s confident three-finger style on the number are bolstered by Sam Bush, Trey Hensley, Stuart Duncan, and Todd Phillips. But for their live TV appearance, they tap an equally astounding group of players, bringing along Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Sierra Hull (mandolin), Michael Daves (guitar), and Brown’s husband and business partner Garry West (bass). The tune demonstrates the special – and often tricky – stylistic dialog Martin and Brown accomplish with ease, blending frailing old-time with Scruggs-style bluegrass. The melody is especially suited to both approaches, danceable and driving at the same time. It’s something of a hallmark of the pair’s work together across the years, and especially this new recording.

As viewers can attest watching their performance of “Let’s Get Out of Here,” the music of Safe, Sensible and Sane is excellent, engaging, hilarious, and heartfelt. All qualities that have attributed to its debut last week at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Bluegrass Album Chart. Need more of this duo? BGS co-founder, actor, comedian, and banjoist Ed Helms, recently had a lovely in-depth chat with both Martin and Brown about the album, three renowned banjo stylists in conversation. Read that feature interview here.

 

 

Margo Price’s Best Late Night TV Appearances

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

When Margo Price took the stage at Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week to promote her excellent new album, Hard Headed Woman, and to perform its lead single, “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down,” she had no idea she could end up being the final musical guest on the long-running and beloved late-night television show. It’s no surprise, though, that she had written and picked to perform such an apropos song for the moment – and for what would become the final musical performance on Kimmel ever. Across her many late night TV appearances, from Saturday Night Live to Full Frontal with Samantha Bee to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Price never edits, pulls punches, or worries about “acceptability.” She brings her brash and bold outlaw trappings with her wherever she goes.

Late-night television may just be entertainment and may not seem incredibly important in the grand scheme. But as these platforms are canceled or removed – for financial reasons, or due to the ever-shifting landscape of television and show business, or due to the current crackdown on free speech and expression – roots, country, Americana, and bluegrass artists are losing strikingly valuable opportunities to reach new audiences and bring their art to millions and millions of viewers (and potential new fans) around the world. Both Kimmel and Colbert especially are obvious admirers of roots bands, artists, and musicians, often showcasing more country, bluegrass, and folk performers than their competitors in the space. Their cancellations amount to an immeasurable loss for working artists – and not just the superstars – of roots music.

Though these shows and stages with their far-flung, global reach are becoming even fewer and further between, and the working class and anti-establishment messages of Good Country like Price’s won’t be as common or frequent on late-night television as a result, the messages in the music will remain as prescient and topical as ever. In moments like these, we need more hard-headed women like Margo Price.

Below, enjoy a few of our favorite moments when Margo Price brought fire and brimstone, grit and gristle, twang and charm to these popular late-night television shows.

“Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down” – Jimmy Kimmel Live (2025)

The lyric change heard ’round the world? Margo does such a great job of making music of and for the moment. “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down” is just one song from her latest album, Hard Headed Woman, that speaks to the tumult and turmoil through which we are all living. That’s what country music is for, after all. Johnny Cash was never the only star in the genre to flip a middle finger at “the man.” Maybe Margo didn’t know that’s what she was doing… (she absolutely knew, and always has).

“Hurtin’ (On the Bottle)” – Saturday Night Live (2016)

A huge moment in her career, Margo made her SNL debut in 2016, bringing her contagious Loretta-inspired and rock-fueled traditional country to one of the biggest and most mainstream stages there is today. Her huge hit at the time, “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle),” sounded just as good and just as compelling on the stage of SNL as it did on the album.

“Stone Me” – Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (2020)

This is what we mean when we say Margo Price has never backed down, pulled punches, or censored herself. If she were to appear on another late-night TV show, say, next week and perform “Stone Me” as she did on Full Frontal in 2020, the chorus would ring as true and righteously as ever: “Love me, hate me/ Desecrate me/ Call me a bitch, then call me baby/ You don’t know me/ You don’t own me/  Yeah, that’s no way to stone me…”

The signature agency and autonomy that are present through all of her work are on full display here – just like on Kimmel with “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down.”

“Since You Put Me Down” – Saturday Night Live (2016)

Margo Price will not be put “in her place.” Folks have tried and tried again, but it seems like oppositional energy fuels her. Now that is outlaw country.

For her second song selection for her SNL debut, she performed “Since You Put Me Down” with floor-length fringe and a perfect two-stepping back beat. She sticks it to the man yet again, with the speaker in the lyric saying her piece, claiming her space, and seeking justice.

“Lydia” – The Daily Show (2023)

If agency and autonomy are two of the most tangible through lines in Price’s songwriting, working-class issues would be right up there among them as a frequent topic and source of inspiration. On the surface, “Lydia” may seem like a traditional “sad ass” country story song, but the issues informing the lyric’s contours are very clearly why she brought this song to The Daily Show. Speaking about gentrification, healthcare, substance abuse, hardship, and societal and community neglect, Price finds authenticity in avoiding manicured, polished, and sanitized narratives. She’d always rather speak to real people about real issues.

“Four Years of Chances” (How I Wrote That Song) – The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (2016)

When she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Price participated in a “How I Wrote That Song” segment describing the process by which her original, “Four Years of Chances,” came to be. She always uses her television appearances to platform songs that talk about real life and about women’s issues; Margo effortlessly turns the tables on so many country tropes and leverages those expectations to surprise and engage.

“A Little Pain” – The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2017)

“A Little Pain” from 2017’s All American Made opens with the lyric, “I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep/ Too many obligations I’m trying to keep/ Gotta please everybody except for myself…”

Yet, as we’ve seen from each of these television performances, Price doesn’t seem terribly concerned with pleasing anyone except herself. It’s within this paradox that we find perhaps the chief source of Price’s power. Like all humans – especially women and many other marginalized folks living through a white- and cis- and male-centric world – she experiences the insecurities, doubts, and trials that we all face. But instead of letting them put her down or keep her down, she still digs her heels in, takes up space, and says her mind.

That’s about as country as it can get, right there. While none of us are sure what the future holds, perhaps we need more of this kind of art and music on late-night television and not less.

Photo Credit: Yana Yatsuk

Zach Top’s TV Debut

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

If it seems like Zach Top has been everywhere lately, it’s because he has. Not only because he and his band are staring down a packed summer full of tour dates all across the country, but he’s also coming off of his first Academy of Country Music Award win – snagging the New Male Artist of the Year trophy while also being nominated for Album of the Year – and then immediately turning around to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The appearance was his late night television debut, after his stunner of a traditional country album, Cold Beer & Country Music, was released to widespread acclaim – from critics and audiences alike – just over a year ago in spring 2024. The project continues to build momentum and gain thousands and thousands of new listeners for the picker-songwriter-upstart.

Top and band performed “I Never Lie” on Fallon, certainly the viral hit sensation of Cold Beer & Country Music. Shortly after his television appearance, the track, which is already RIAA certified Platinum, topped the country charts, becoming the number one country single in the country (and Canada) according to Mediabase. It’s Top’s very first number one.

“I Never Lie” is a classic yet modern take on a well-known country songwriter trope, the “of course I’m not lying” or “opposite day” type of rhetorical device that’s been employed by country artists and songsmiths since the genre began. Top’s spin on this iconic sort of country song setup is almost divine in its execution, as evidenced by his audiences – from humble honky-tonks to packed rodeo arenas – shouting along with the song at the tops of their lungs each and every time it’s performed.

This will surely not be the last television appearance or country award for Top, who leverages his bluegrass family band upbringing and longtime idolization of heroes like Tony Rice and Keith Whitley to craft a style of Good Country that’s forward-looking and timeless at the same time. With a wink, a smile, a first-rate mustache-mullet combo, and a “Zach Top Hop,” this still-fresh country superstar is sure to continue making an impact all across roots music well into the future. From country to bluegrass and back again.

We hope you enjoy Zach Top’s performance of “I Never Lie” on The Tonight Show. Don’t forget to make your plans now to catch Top and his incredible band on their mighty summer tour, too.

Read our 2024 exclusive Good Country interview from with Zach Top here.