LISTEN: The HillBenders, “Take On The World (Give ‘Em Hell!)”

Artist: The HillBenders
Hometown: Springfield, Missouri
Song: “Take On The World (Give ‘Em Hell!)”
Release Date: September 29, 2023

In Their Words: “‘Take On The World (Give ‘Em Hell!)’ embodies the age-old tale of a directionless, troubled soul. We’ve all been there in one way or another. Maybe doing things you ought not be doing just for the excitement of doing it. But then comes along someone that shows you how much more there is to life. It’s almost like you’ve turned into a completely different person after falling in love with them. Like you’re under some sort of spell of theirs. And all of a sudden, all that trouble doesn’t seem as fun anymore. How long it lasts is maybe for another song.” – Mark Cassidy, banjo

“The tune was recorded at Red Rock Studios in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, while having a rare day off on tour. Primarily used to record jazz music, the studio had a beautifully organic design nestled in the quiet rural countryside. We asked Jeremey Garrett (of the Infamous Stringdusters) if he would lay some fiddle down on the song and he cut some buttery tracks at his studio, including a twin fiddle part that made the final mix. Jeremy is a great cat and his involvement really elevated the song as a whole. Since adding our new drummer, John Anderson, we have explored all sorts of new musical possibilities — but it was nice to return to our bluegrass roots on this number.” – Jim Rea, guitar


Photo Credit: Robert Crook

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Join a Stunning John Anderson Tribute Album

Upon hearing the upcoming tribute album to his remarkable career, John Anderson simply had this to say: “Listening to everybody do their own takes on the songs shows how the songs really come through. And I thought to myself, ‘You might have been young and foolish back then, but you sure did pick some good songs.’ It’s very gratifying to know that some things really do not change, and a great country song remains a great country song. Any one person on the record would be a real tribute, but all of them together? It’s a pretty big deal for me personally.”

Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson comes out in August via Easy Eye Sound. Produced by Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson, it features a plethora of artists giving their renditions of selections from Anderson’s rich catalog. Auerbach explains, “We weren’t trying to piddle around and make the normal tribute record. It had to be the best singers with the best songs and the best arrangements, and they had to come into the studio. This wasn’t like, ‘Mail me the song, and we’ll put it together.’ I think it makes this record unique. I don’t think most tribute records are done like this. I think that’s why it sounds like a cohesive album. It feels like an amazing mix tape.”

The lineup speaks for itself. The roster of artists paying homage includes John Prine, Brent Cobb, Tyler Childers, Luke Combs, and more. To build anticipation for the album, Easy Eye released Gillian Welch & David Rawlings’ track early. Although they don’t appear in the video, they do give an inspired performance of “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories” over footage of scenic desert landscapes and historically rich communities that inhabit them. The single sets the table beautifully for what promises to be a stunning tribute to a legendary singer. Watch the video below.


Photo Credit: Henry Diltz

Dale Ann Bradley Shares a Message of Grace on ‘Things She Couldn’t Get Over’

Dale Ann Bradley, a five-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, is back with an album of poignant, inspiring, and moving songs about the disappointments, the shortcomings, and the hopes that mark our journeys together. The self-produced Things She Couldn’t Get Over features Bradley’s crystalline and sometimes tender, sometimes soaring vocals on songs that ponder ways we can see each other’s humanity clearer and how we can take care of each other better.

Things She Couldn’t Get Over is Bradley’s first solo album since her departure from Sister Sadie, the reigning IBMA Entertainer of the Year. BGS caught up with the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame member about gathering these new songs, bringing back an old favorite from the days of Hee Haw, and relying on grace to guide her.

What’s the story of the album?

DAB: It all happened pretty fast, given the times we’re in. I started thinking that it was time to do another album. So, I started writing about the end of July last year. I called up Aaron Bibelhauser and we co-wrote some songs; he is such a great writer. I also started looking at some songs that other writers had sent to me. In October we went in and laid down the tracks. All the songs that ended up on the album were speaking to my heart; they were songs about tough times, and the album took the theme from that. The songs speak to the courage to keep going, the courage to have strength and faith and to follow your dreams.

“Yellow Creek,” which John Anderson made famous — and I was so happy to have a John Anderson song on the album — is a defining one of pain and endurance, being about the removal of Native Americans from their land. The songs on the album are about going through life regardless of circumstances. We know that we’re all imperfect. To be able to walk in someone else’s shoes brings empathy.

“Lynwood” is a touching song that raises important questions.

David Morris has been awfully kind to send me songs. This was just a little demo where the writer was sitting in his living room singing. On the first listen I thought that it’s a story that’s more picturesque than I had ever heard. When I listened again, I thought that this a story that needs to be told and heard. This song is about a Vietnam veteran and his struggles to readjust to society. Everywhere you go there are veterans that are struggling and they shouldn’t be.

You have an exceptional ear for finding songs. Can you talk about your process for selecting songs?

Well, there are some songs that have been with me for a long time, since I started playing bluegrass. When I am listening to a song, I’m listening for songs with a message. They need to say something that might make a difference. When I write a song, I want to explain how I’m feeling myself. If a song helps me, it might help others.

What about “Lost More Than I Knew”? How did that song make it onto the album?

Writing that one kind of kicked in the charge of putting the album together. You want to be the first responder to help people. Not only did they lose the situation in which they found themselves, but they also lost their pride. I got stuck on this song and contacted Aaron, and he got me back on track.

Why did you choose “L.A. International Airport” for this album?

That came along after I had chosen the other songs for the album. It’s a song I loved as a little girl and watching Susan Raye sing it on Hee Haw. It’s a sad song in its way, and it fit in the album in a perfect way.

Talk a little about the title track for the album.

This song’s about a girl I went to high school with. She had mental illness. It was an obsessive-compulsive disorder, but back in 1979-1980, nobody knew what to call it. She would walk out of class and roam the halls. She was really funny, too, but people just left her alone. I saw her again later in life after I had moved back to Kentucky, and she had declined a good deal. Her story just found its way to me. This needs to be spoken about and sung about. If we can reach out to somebody in need, give them a smile or a cup of coffee and recognize their needs, we can get over this together. If you have the boldness to call yourself a Christian, then you’re asked to reach out and help others.

You have a way of singing about the Lord without being sanctimonious. How do you achieve that quality?

Honey, we do not need to be high falutin’ about ourselves. [Laughs] Anybody and anything that come our way come by grace. When we look around us, we see things that need to be done — like taking care of each other — that we should have been doing all along.

The final song on the album, “In the End,” is very moving.

The night before we were going to record this song, Debbie and Steve Gulley were going to come down to Nashville to sing harmony on the song the next day. Debbie called me to say that Steve was very sick and that she was taking him to the hospital. She called me later to say that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and it wasn’t too long after that he died. I had sung a scratch vocal on the song, and I left it there because I couldn’t sing it again. Some people call this a “come to Jesus moment,” but that night Jesus came to me. What matters is that what you leave behind is good; that’s true spirituality. We’re not here forever. All this hoopla and things that do not make any sense are unimportant in the end. That’s true spirituality to me.

What do you hopes listeners will take from the album?

I hope it’ll bring some courage. I hope it’ll bring some empathy. I hope it will encourage people to think a little before they judge. You know, if you see a fellow human being needs a sandwich, just get her one. We’re all broken; we just don’t know it.


Photo credit: Bonfire Music Group

After Nearly Dying, John Anderson Adds ‘Years’ to His Life

Over the past few years, country crooner John Anderson’s inimitable voice escaped him after suffering health issues and brushes with death. Through the creation of his new album, Years, he found it again.

In the album’s opening song, he opines, “There were people placing bets that I’d be dead and gone/But I’m still hanging on.” Although he does not disclose details, he does concede that the illness affected his hearing and, in his words, “I had nearly died a couple of times.” Listening through the album produced by Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson, it is clear that now Anderson is doing more than just hanging on; he’s creatively thriving. He tells BGS what it was like getting back in the studio, how he’s spending his time amidst the pandemic, and his feelings about making music these days.

BGS: Tell me a little bit about how Dan Auerbach came into your life.

Anderson: Actually we were introduced through a mutual friend by the name of Jeremy Tepper. He does a lot of work for Sirius/XM Radio. We’ve been friends a long time and he called me one morning and said, “I was with this guy the other day and we were talking about you and I would really like you to get together.” I said, “Well sure, I’m really not doing much these days.”

He asked if he could give Dan my number and I said, “By all means, give it to him!” The next day or so I got a call from Dan and we ended up setting up a meeting to get together and talk. Originally mainly just to talk about writing some songs together. At the time he was busy producing some other acts. I thought they might need some material and I thought I might help them write some.

What was your writing process like for this record? I’ve read you had some surprise co-creators on this one. What was that like?

We did. It was great. Looking back, I have to thank Dan and Dave Ferguson (aka Fergie). They were both involved in setting up the writing appointments. As it turned out, I got to write not only with some heroes, but some great old friends. It was really a joy. Writing these songs was a real pleasure for me. And it was at a time when I really needed to do some writing and get some music out of me. I’d been sick for a couple of years and hadn’t been able to do much writing or performing. At this point, I was recovering and really wanting to get back into my music.

This was all really good for me as far as writing the songs. We wrote for a couple of days, then the recording part came up. I remember saying, “Boys, I don’t know. That’d be great, but I’m really not sure I can do it.” I think it was Fergie who said, “We think you can.” I looked at him real serious and said, “Really?” And they both nodded. There wasn’t a lot said. It was a pretty solemn time there. I remember saying, “Well, if I do it, I’m going to treat it like it is the last one I’ll ever do.” Just because I was in that frame of mind at the time, mostly due to physical health reasons.

What was the moment like when you stepped up to the mic for the first time?

For me, singing is really something I’ve, thank the Lord, never really had to think about it, when it is time to step up to the mic. I do spend a lot of time thinking about singing, mind you. Most of my life I’ve walked around humming a tune. And maybe humming it a different little way. But when it is time to go into the studio or when I step up to the mic, I’m kind of on autopilot. I’m mainly trying to deliver the song, whatever the song is.

That certainly comes across in your singing.

Well, thank you. I want it to be real, in every kind of way. I’ve been a real stickler for that through my career. Sometimes you pay a price for that and sometimes it doesn’t turn out as good as you thought. On the other hand, when it is all over you can be proud of doing your own thing.

When you had those songs together, what was the recording process like? Did you cut them all at once or piecemeal?

We went in like three or four days one week and then we took a little break. I don’t even think we took a week break. We cut Monday through Thursday it seems and then took the weekend off and showed back up Monday. We had about 20 songs to choose from that we’d written over the previous months. I’ll always recall that as a really good time in my life. It really helped me to heal up. Even to the point today, I almost forget I was ever sick.

That’s so great.

It’s a blessing, is was it is. It took a lot of praying to get it. And now I am, and have been, well enough long enough that now the music is back on autopilot. I just do it all the time.

There’s a heaviness on this record as it deals so pointedly with mortality. On the flip side, it explores the simple pleasures in life and these elements really balance the record. Can you tell us some of the simple pleasures you are finding in life in these strange times?

I kind of found them a bit earlier through the songs and doing this record in a time when yeah, I had nearly died a couple of times. So, mortality is certainly in some of these songs, as far as my influence on them. Now there again, I can’t take the credit for any single song on the record because we had a lot of great help writing them. But my influence is a lot about mortality and the part in the songs about being thankful. That was kind of where I was at the time.

And you know what? As far as the situation right now and playing shows. … That’s been probably the biggest part of my life ever outside of my family has been going and playing the music to the fans. That’s pretty much all I have dealt with for the last fifteen years. As I’ve not been actively in the recording business, my live shows are what mean the most to me. It is a little bit difficult not knowing if or when or how we’ll be playing again to crowds. That’s been on my mind.

On the other hand, I feel very blessed to still feel healthy and have a great outlook. I’m still trying to write and sing most every day and doing a lot of gardening work and doing a lot of fishing. Fishing and gardening is what I’ve been doing and trying to play with my grandchildren. You have to save up energy to go do that.

How did the collaboration with Blake Shelton come about?

Blake is an old friend. I was a fan of Blake’s when I first heard him and then come to find out, he’s told people I was one of his biggest inspirations. At the time, when we were recording this record, low and behold we got a call from Blake’s people asking if we’d be interested in going on tour with him. For me, I did have to cancel tours previously on account of my hearing was nearly gone at the time. I didn’t have a working band. I hadn’t been on the road in a while.

I told them I didn’t have all that together and they said it was just for a few songs a night and his band will back you up. I said, “Really? That’d be a real treat. That’s like chocolate cake.” So it did work out and about the time the tour worked out we were finishing some of the tracks on this record and I said, “I’d love it if Blake could come in and sing with me on this.” We asked him and he was very gracious and did. Not only that, he invited me on the tour the next year also. Blake Shelton is a true hero of mine at this point. The tour was called Heroes and Friends and he’ll always be one of my heroes.

Do you ever revisit your old records? With all you’ve been through, do you view those songs in a different light?

Oh, I do. And I have been lately. That’s part of what I’ve been doing in this solitary time. What’s really been going through my mind lately are some of the songs that I thought were just as good as anything that I had ever written but really nobody got to hear them. Maybe I have twenty of them. I’ve been thinking about going in. It’s strange that you’d mention old stuff, and I’m talking about even from the time I was a teenager. Just things that I might go in and work on. Mainly just to pull it together and have that piece of work together, those songs. I’m thinking about that lately.


Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: John Anderson, “Tuesday I’ll Be Gone” (Feat. Blake Shelton)

Artist: John Anderson
Hometown: Smithville, Tennessee
Song: “Tuesday I’ll Be Gone” (Feat. Blake Shelton)
Latest Album: Years
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Label: Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “I’m super excited about the new song with Blake. It was a dream to record with him at Easy Eye Sound. I also can’t wait to see everyone on the upcoming Friends and Heroes tour with Blake. I know it’ll be a great time as always!” — John Anderson


Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

WATCH: John Anderson, “Years”

Artist: John Anderson
Song: “Years”
Album: Years
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Label: Easy Eye Sound

In Their Words: “My life has been a true blessing. I could have never dreamed to have lived as happily and as well as I’ve lived all these years. And if I passed away tomorrow, all the folks that knew me well could say, ‘Well, boy, he sure lived like he wanted to live.'” — John Anderson


Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen