Sad Songs & Storytelling

As an artist who believes the sad songs of the world could be a little sadder, of course there’s a haunting beauty to the work of Ken Pomeroy.

With her debut album, Cruel Joke, the 22-year-old Oklahoma-born Cherokee Nation member gives fans a gorgeous tribute to inner unease rooted in the wisdom of her own hard times. Pairing a feathery, lilting vocal with an earthy folk sound – plus metaphoric themes filled with animals and the lessons of nature – she looks back on a difficult upbringing, turning tears into sonic transcendence.

Pomeroy’s “Wall of Death” was featured in the 2024 film Twisters, and she’s been on the road with everyone from Lukas Nelson and Iron & Wine to American Aquarium and John Moreland. Good Country even featured the track “Cicadas” back in 2024. But with Cruel Joke, the world finally gets a full look at a “deep feeling” talent on the rise.

Speaking from her home in Tulsa, Pomeroy fills us in on the making of her debut album and an origin story with no punch line.

For folks who don’t know, tell us a little bit about where you’re coming from. You grew up in Oklahoma and you’re part of the Cherokee Nation, right? Does that show up in the tunes?

Ken Pomeroy: Oh, yeah. I never really tried to put it in anywhere. I think it just fits in naturally with how I write music in general. There are a lot of themes of nature and traditional storytelling elements that I include – animals and things of that sort – that I think carry through just naturally. And storytelling is such a huge part of pretty much every tribe, and specifically the Cherokees are huge storytellers. So I don’t think it’s a coincidence I’m writing songs and telling stories.

No, I bet not. I love the way you’re able to use animals. It seems like a great way to talk about yourself or other people, but through metaphor. Does [the use of animals] make that a little bit easier?

Absolutely, yes. I think kind of assigning someone something, it makes it 10 times easier, not so direct.

Like an artful way of saying something that’s hard to say?

Yes, absolutely.

Tell me a little about where your sound comes from. So many moments on Cruel Joke are hushed and haunting. What did you grow up listening to? Where did you pick up music?

Well, honestly, I’ve been playing music and writing for longer than I haven’t been. I really got started from hearing John Denver when I was 6 or 7 years old. That was the start. I wanted to do that and I wanted to make people feel like he made me feel at that moment. It was like a third eye opening about maybe I could do this. And the album, when I sit down and write a song, I am not thinking about production really. I just kind of write the song, me and my guitar, and then that’s the song. My partner, Dakota McDaniel, produced most of the record. It’s such a natural working. … It’s been so easy getting to the right final form of the song with Dakota and I’m really thankful that that worked out. For the record, we were listening to Big Thief and Buck Meek and Jake Xerxes Fussell. Jake was a huge inspiration with the instrumentation we used. It was a very steel-heavy approach.

I can hear that for sure.

It’s called Cruel Joke. What do people need to know about this album from your perspective?

I think from the beginning, with any of my music in general, I just don’t want people to feel alone in anything. I am a real deep feeler, so sometimes I feel like it’s just the tip of the iceberg with sad songs in the mainstream. I feel like they’re not as sad as they could be. I try to make people not feel so alone in those really deep feelings, just because I’ve kind of had to feel that.

Your songs definitely cut pretty deep, emotionally. Have you always been the type of person to root around inside yourself and stir things up?

Oh, yeah. Yes. I grew up very quickly and I had a lot of adult-sized feelings as a kid that I didn’t really know how to deal with. And dealing with these unresolved childhood feelings later on is not for the weak. I feel like everyone goes through it, and I’ve really always tried to stay in touch with just how I’m feeling, or what goes on in my head. Songwriting is how I feel like I do that.

You’ve had some big things happening, like with Twisters and being on the road with John Moreland. How do you feel about today’s appetite for the music you make? Are we ready for another folk revival?

That’s a great question. I really think we are in for a new wave of music, just because I feel like going country is as popular as anything right now. Everybody is going country, which can be a little disheartening. It’s not super genuine on some fronts, but I’m really excited for people to explore the genre and I hope people who explore the genre take a deep dive on where it comes from and who were the pioneers, because it has so much history. I feel like country and bluegrass and folk music have so much history.

I read that you wrote one of these songs at 13, right? Does it still speak to you or still feel true?

Yeah, totally. It’s “Grey Skies.” I remember that being the first song I was ever proud of and I think that’s really special to have still around. Even though I might get tired of it, I have to remember my 13-year-old self was proud of it. But yeah, that was also the first time I feel like I really found “my thing” with writing. I included a lot of imagery with nature and animals and that was the first time I was like, “Maybe this is kind of my vein.”

Tell me about “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothes.” This one is a love song, but which person is the hidden wolf?

Oh, gosh. … Everyone laughs, because I say it’s a love song and then it’s called “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothes.” So it’s kind of like, “Well, is it?” But it definitely is. The person I’m writing to is a protector of some sorts, can see through all of the bullshit in the world that maybe I can’t see sometimes, and has my best interest. Whenever this wolf, whoever or whatever it may be, when the dark parts of life come around, this person can kind of clear through it and say, “You’re just a dog. Just get out of here, shoo.”

That’s interesting. How about “Coyote” with John Moreland? You guys toured together and I love the idea of looking at yourself like a coyote, sort of scared of the world. Why do you feel that?

I actually asked John to be a part of this before we started touring together and it was a huge deal for me, because I’ve been a fan of him for so long. I went out on a limb and texted him like, “Hey, I have this song and totally chill if you don’t want to do it, but I figured I would just stick my arm out and ask if you wanted to be a part of it?” And I think that he just said, “Yeah.” And I was like, “Okay, cool.” So that was a really cool thing.

That song was– so, my mamaw gave me the name [ᎤᏍᏗ ᏀᏯ ᏓᎶᏂᎨ ᎤᏍᏗᎦ], which means Little Wolf, but she called me Coyote. That was a big thing, because coyotes are not the greatest omen at all. They’re kind of like the trickster. So I grew up a little bit and remembered that that was my nickname and I was not happy with myself at that point. I think it was two or three years ago. I was just like, “Man, I need to do something different, because this is not who I want to start being or get on this path. I just don’t feel comfortable in my skin.” So I wrote a song. I wrote the song “Coyote” kind of being all right that I can be the coyote and also be the person I wanted to be.

Did it help?

Yeah, absolutely. I think so.

That’s good. How about “Cicadas.” This is one of the most energetic songs, in my opinion, and it’s got this line in there about the cicadas crying out to you. Why were they crying to you?

“Cicadas” was actually the first song that we recorded when we started the record. We weren’t even sure if we were going to do a record, but after that song, [we knew]. It was such an experience, because the ending of the song, when it kind of goes back and forth, that was a total accident. I did not mean to do that, but beautiful things kept happening in this song just completely by accident, so it was a really great sign of reassurance that we were doing something in the right direction. I was so, so worried. I had been working on my music for a bit, and I was like, “Man, I really hope this is the one.” … I wrote that song as I was about to turn 20 years old, and cicadas were always a constant in my childhood. That was one of the only constants that I just knew 100 percent they were going to be there every summer. And I wanted a reminder of that a little bit, just to maybe prove to myself, that there was something stable.

Innocent Eyes” is such a beautiful track about, I guess, looking back on life with clarity. When you look back, what does the story look like?

Yeah, so “Innocent Eyes” is totally about taking off the rose-colored glasses. Looking back at some of the things you had gone through growing up, or even looking at your parents in a different way. Growing up, it’s really difficult to just see parents as people. “Innocent Eyes” is when you’re a kid, you think your parents can do no wrong and they’re there for you and that they want everything the best for you. And then you grow up and you realize they’re just people. They’re just people that had a kid. And in my case, I was a complete accident and kind of a product of something very quick, and so I was not necessarily meant to be here. And the two people that brought me here did not love each other whatsoever. And so I looked back at that wondering how that shaped me a little bit. And I think that’s where the song started.


Photo Credit: Kali Spitzer

MIXTAPE: Denison Witmer and the Meaning of “Home”

What does “home” mean?

Answering this question became one of the main themes in my lyrics over the last several years – especially on my new album, Anything At All. After touring consistently for the first 15-20 years of my music career, I finally bought a house in South Philadelphia. Ten years later, my family and I relocated to my hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Before moving back to Lancaster, most of the places I lived felt kind of like a coat rack. Sure, most of my belongings were there, but I knew I’d be traveling again soon – things that felt centering or “home-like” to me existed outside of the confines of a space.

My current life is a lot different than that time. Now I am a husband, a dad of two young kids, a carpenter, and a part of my local community. I spend a lot of time trying to build a comfortable and consistent home life for myself and my family. My idea of what a home means is changing yet again. I’ve compiled a few songs that encompass the various meanings of “home” to me. – Denison Witmer

“Homesick” – Kings of Convenience

I think this is one of the best opening tracks on any album. The way the two guitars immediately start walking down the scale is captivating. My favorite lyrics are the last few: “A song for someone who needs somewhere to long for/ Homesick because I no longer know where home is…” It makes me think about the many days I’ve spent in headphones traveling in trains or tour vans, leaning my head against the window and listening to music that made me feel at home.

“Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War” (Original Acoustic Demo) – Paul Simon

I put this song on almost every mix I make. This is Paul Simon at his finest – just him and a guitar. In this story we follow Rene and Georgette Magritte as they reflect on the differences between their time in New York City and their lives in Europe during WWII. Ordinary moments like opening dresser drawers or window-shopping trigger memories of home.

 “Just A Song Before I Go” – Crosby, Stills, & Nash

Starting with a crash cymbal and leading right into a fuzzy guitar riff, this song has an instant warm vibe. I’ve always loved the way Graham Nash leans into writing about his life as a musician/songwriter. There’s a risk that it might not be relatable to a wider audience, yet he always finds a way to make the feeling universal. The lyrics “When the shows were over/ We had to get back home/ When we opened up the door/ I had to be alone…” connect deeply with me.

There were a lot of times on tour that I felt like I was turning into a ghost – passing through towns and people with no real sense of deeper connection or longevity. No real sense of home. Sometimes weeks would pass with mostly small talk and I would lose sight of who I was. Finally getting home, dropping my bags, closing a door behind me, and spending a week alone in silence was just what I needed to recoup.

“In Tall Buildings” (Live) – Gillian Welch

A lovely song written about returning to and centering your life around the things that really matter to you. I love the lyrics “When I’m retired/ My life is my own/ I made all the payments/ It’s time to go home/ And wonder what happened/ Betwixt and between/ When I went to work in tall buildings.” It’s a beautiful reflection on the things that we leave behind either knowingly or unknowingly when we get swept up in the paths our lives take. Gillian Welch’s vocal delivery is always beautiful. The way she can take any song and filter it through her own style with honesty and sincerity is incredible.

“A House With” – Denison Witmer

Yes, adding one of my own songs here. It fits with the theme. Mid-COVID lockdown, my wife and I got really into two things: birding and plants. We did everything we could to get birds to visit our yard. We did everything we could to green the outside and inside of our house. This led to hanging bird feeders all over the place and planting everything from shrubs to trees to lots (and I mean lots) of indoor plants.

This song started as kind of a joke. I often walk around my house playing a small classical guitar and making up goofy songs to make my wife and kids laugh. This song started that way — I was watching the birds on our feeder and naming them as I saw them, then I went from room to room naming the plants we have in our window sills. I recorded an iPhone voice memo and forgot about it. I’m not sure what motivated me to share it with Sufjan (who produced my new album and this track), but I think it was because I knew he is a fan of concrete nouns and words that are interesting phonetically. He ended up choosing this from the batch of demos I presented to him. I am glad he did, because it’s one of my favorite songs on the album.

Sufjan didn’t like the original lyrics of the last verse… I remember him saying, “In the first two verses you are telling us what you are doing and how it fills your heart, but you never tell us why. You should try to answer that question for yourself.” I rewrote the ending and it was at that moment that things clicked into place for me.

“Take Me Home, Country Roads” – John Denver

You can’t really go wrong with the earnest nature of John Denver. I love the lilting quality of this song – lyrics about longing juxtaposed against the happy upbeat sound. It’s a love song to a place. I have a lot of respect for John Denver, because he was always unapologetically himself. He talked about how he wanted to not just entertain people, but also touch them. I think he understood the magic of music and connection. Listening to John Denver also makes me think about my dad because he was his favorite musician.


Photo Credit: Lindsay Elliott

GC 5+5: Ken Pomeroy

Artist: Ken Pomeroy
Hometown: Moore, Oklahoma / Tulsa, Oklahoma
Latest Music: “Cicadas” (Single)

Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?

John Denver is the reason I started playing music. When I was 6 years old, I heard “Leaving on a Jet Plane” for the first time. The feeling that the song gave me as a kid changed my life. I think that was the first time I became conscious of how music made me feel. I loved the song so much that I had my mom, Wendy, burn a CD with it 18 times in a row, and I would listen to it every single night for years to fall asleep.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

This moment is closely associated with the story of John Denver. As I mentioned, after hearing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” for the first time, I was inspired to find a way to evoke the same emotions in others as I felt when I heard his song. My dad has been in a band since I was a kid and he really introduced me to music. Both my parents have always been very supportive of my music career. Sometimes, I joke that I didn’t choose to be a musician and that this life chose me, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I have a strong desire to express deep emotions through writing. My only goal in music is to evoke emotions in someone through my writing; anything.

Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?

I truly appreciate and enjoy the concept of music genres. Personally, I feel like I gravitate towards being a folk singer, but I draw inspiration from a variety of influences. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have had a significant impact on the way my partner and I, who is also the producer of our upcoming album, approach our music. We were mainly inspired by Gillian and David, as well as Jake Xerxes Fussell. We often joke that we could tour with a very traditional country band or with a highly indie group and still fit right in, bringing a touch of twang to the mix.

What’s one question you wish interviewers would stop asking you?

I often get asked about my songwriting process, and to be honest, I find it difficult to explain. While I love discussing my approach to songwriting, including lyricism, phrasing, and the darker themes I explore, the actual process is quite messy. Sometimes I don’t even understand my own process. I also struggle with the question of whether I start with chords or lyrics first because, truthfully, I have no idea.

What would a perfect day as an artist and creator look like to you?

I envision myself camping by the lake on a sunny day, with guitars in hand. Nature is a big inspiration for my writing.


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Photo Credit: Cassidy Mandel

WATCH: Meadow Mountain, “Count Me In” (SkyTheory Sessions)

Artist: Meadow Mountain
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Song: “Count Me In”
Album: June Nights
Release Date: May 22, 2024

(Editor’s Note: Over the last four weeks, Colorado-based bluegrass band Meadow Mountain has premiered a series of exclusive, live performance videos of tracks from their just released album, June Nights. This is the final installment of their SkyTheory Sessions. Find links to the full series below.)

In Their Words: “I originally conceived of this song as a ‘rewriting’ of ‘Rocky Mountain High’ by John Denver. The first lyric from ‘Count Me In’ is: ‘Twenty-seven came and went like a storm, hanging on by the songs I wrote on the day that I was born,’ which is an homage to Denver’s lyrics: ‘He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before.’ From there, the song took on its own life. It is a celebration of life in The Rocky Mountains. You want to go play up in the talus fields and by the ice cold mountain lakes? ‘Count Me In.'” – Summers Baker

Track Credits: Written by Summers Baker


Photo Credit: Video still by Erik Fellenstein

Video Credits: Videography – Erik Fellenstein
Lighting – Payden Widner
Mixing – Vermillion Road Studio

BGS Wraps: Aaron Bibelhauser, “Christmas for Cowboys”

Artist: Aaron Bibelhauser
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Song: “Christmas for Cowboys”

In Their Words: “‘Christmas for Cowboys’ was penned by Steve Weisberg, long time sideman with John Denver. In much the same way art derived from feeling lonesome and blue can provide comfort and warmth, this song has always given me a sense of peace through the holidays. For so many, the Christmas season is highlighted by family gatherings, celebrations, and togetherness. The past few holiday seasons have taught me to appreciate all of the gifts surrounding me, including those that aren’t so obvious. The sight and sound of falling snow, the stillness and solitude of winter, the simplicity of Mother Nature, and how sacred it feels, just to be alive. Merry Christmas!” — Aaron Bibelhauser

LISTEN: Micah P. Hinson, “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas”

Artist: Micah P. Hinson
Hometown: Abilene, Texas
Song: “Please Daddy, Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas”
Album: I Lie to You
Release Date: December 2, 2022
Label: Ponderosa Records

In Their Words: “‘The warmth of my childhood Christmas’ lives inside this song, and inside that whole John Denver Christmas album, with the blue painting of snow-topped mountains; my mother and father putting it on the record player every year. My memory serves perfectly the flashing lights and singing and stories and being humans and family out in West Texas, where the hills were barely hills and the mesquite trees protect no one and nothing. At least when I was a much younger boy, the snow would come sideways on the sharp winter winds that cut through my hometown.

“John Denver played on the phonograph as we’d take out the ornaments, glass and carved wood and the reds and greens, finding places for them on the branches, looking out the window to flashing lights on the houses across the alley. It was Magic. Looking back, those days when we still had seasons and by the grace of the gods, there wasn’t much to worry about. There were blankets on the bed and it was all a strange innocence in the midst of a wild world. The shields and walls that surrounded me there in my youth were all serving as well-placed and well-timed distractions from my true realization of those who did not have what I had, and where those winter days were not Magic, but fierce and wicked.

“And, listening to the words of this song, as if I couldn’t hear properly as a boy, where the song has brought jokes and laughs, it brings with it that side of reality, where Christmas lights have not warmth, but concern, and where presents were but a thing of movies and fiction.” — Micah P. Hinson


Photo Credit: Natalia Andreoli

25 Years After His Death, John Denver Leaves a Far Out Legacy

In the fourth episode of the new FX thriller, The Patient, a therapist played by Steve Carell wants to soothe a fellow prisoner while they are being held captive by a serial killer. So he sings this:

“Almost heaven, West Virginia/Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River/
Life is old there, older than the trees/Younger than the mountains, growin’ like a breeze.”

The song is “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver.

The choice makes sense. His music is timeless, earnest, comforting and certainly underrated by critics during his lifetime. These are qualities that made Denver, our BGS Artist of the Month for October, one of the most successful stars of the 1970s and also a bit of an outlier in popular culture.

“I’ve been a fan of John Denver since my very beginning love of music,” said Jason Ringenberg of Jason & the Scorchers, a country rock band as hip in the 1980s as Denver wasn’t. “John Denver’s greatest hits on 8-track was the first recorded music that I purchased with my own money.”

The Scorchers even performed “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

“It was sort of a joke for the other guys, but I was serious,” Ringenberg said. “In fact, record companies and publicists and managers told me I shouldn’t talk about John Denver in interviews as an influence.” He did so anyway.

This year, the 50th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain High album is a good opportunity to reassess the legacy of Denver, who died in 1997 at 53 years old. The album has been reissued by Windstar Records on blue vinyl to mark the occasion.

Released on September 15, 1972, Rocky Mountain High was Denver’s first Top 10 album. The title song was written while Denver was camping in the Rocky Mountains during the Perseid Meteor Shower. It was declared the second state song of Colorado in 2007. The title cut is the only hit from the album, but half a century later, it’s more than worth a listen. Besides leading off with one of Denver’s best-known hits, it features thoughtful interpretations of songs by The Beatles (“Mother Nature’s Son”) and John Prine (“Paradise”) and concludes with “Season Suite,” a stellar five-part composition about nature, Denver’s favorite topic.

“I have been looking up video of John talking about the Rocky Mountain High album,” said Amy Abrams of 7S Management, the company that oversees Denver’s entertainment career for his estate. Denver was “a really curious, thoughtful person who had a lot of heavy issues on his mind and really wanted to see good in the world,” Abrams said. She pointed out that “Prisoners,” a Denver song on the Rocky Mountain High album, was about prisoners of war during the Vietnam War when it was a controversial conversation to be having.

“There’s John on the Johnny Carson show talking about his anti-war status,” she said.

Denver was a folk singer who took that genre to a much larger audience. Early in his career in 1965, he replaced Chad Mitchell in the Chad Mitchell Trio — later called Denver, Boise and Johnson — folkies known for protest songs like “The John Birch Society.” He then placed one of his earliest compositions, “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” with celebrated folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary.

Denver was also a skilled 12-string guitarist who played Yamaha custom L-53 steel-string acoustic guitars on many television and concert performances. He presented a “cheerful and optimistic” persona, Abrams said. “That was not perceived as cool,” she added.

How uncool? How about this? Denver, a socially conscious artist about the environment, hunger, war and other issues well before it was commonplace, was turned away when he asked to take part in the “We Are the World” benefit recording in 1985.

“That really did hurt John Denver,” said Chris Nole, a keyboard player who toured with Denver in the latter part of his career. “Some of those flavors of the year (on ‘We Are the World’) had moved on from guys like John. Little did they know he was going to be around for a while and had a lot to offer.”

Another example: When Roy Orbison died in 1988, Denver asked musician Jim Horn, who played with both Denver and the Traveling Wilburys, to inquire about replacing Orbison in the supergroup, which had George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra as members.

“I mentioned it to (Harrison), but their style of playing and singing was totally different,” said Horn, who toured and recorded with Denver for 18 years. Harrison said he would think about it, but the call never came.

Instead, Denver did projects like a Christmas album with The Muppets. He appeared in network television specials doing goofy skits and was known for his “Far out!” catchphrase. He also guest-hosted The Tonight Show several times and did a successful movie with George Burns, Oh God!, that further spread the dorky image.

“When he was going through that ‘Far out!” phase, I think he was trying to do what management wanted him to do,” said Stephanie Horn, Jim Horn’s wife and a friend of Denver. “They were trying to get movies and TV shows and so forth. I think that was not really him. He was doing a bit. But he got to the point that it constantly stuck with him.”

The focus on television was partly a path around U.S. radio programmers, who resisted playing Denver’s records for a time after his 1971 breakout hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” That strategy sustained his visibility at a time when his music had fallen out of favor. In May, Lyle Lovett told Forbes, “To hear John Denver play, to see John Denver on his television specials in my high school years, stand on national TV and play a song with just his guitar, and for it to sound complete and beautiful and emotional, that was important to me.”

However, Denver became a punch line to rock ‘n’ rollers. Denny Laine of Wings took a shot at him on the Wings Over America live album and Denver was one of the victims of Pete Townshend, famous for withering interviews.

“Just because you’re happy, it doesn’t mean you become John Denver,” Townsend said in an interview with Rolling Stone published in 1982. “If you’re unlucky enough to be born John Denver, there’s not much you can do, really.”

Sometimes lost in all of this was his commitment and skill as a vocalist, guitarist, performer and songwriter. His fans knew, and helped him earn seven multiplatinum, 13 platinum and 20 gold albums. As a writer alone or in collaboration, Denver wrote a string of classics: “Annie’s Song,” “Leaving On a Jet Plane,” “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” “Back Home Again,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (written with Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert), and “Rocky Mountain High” (written with Mike Taylor).

A song that probably didn’t get enough attention from the Rocky Mountain High album is “For Baby (For Bobbie),” Ringenberg said. The song was first performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio when Denver was a member.

“That could be a song to your lover or it could be a song for your child,” Ringenberg said. “It could be about God.”

Ringenberg said he ranks Rocky Mountain High as Denver’s second-best album, behind Windsong (1975), which had a hit single inspired by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, “Calypso.” Back Home Again (1974) is a close third, in his estimation.

“There is a whole plethora of other records, but those three were just brilliant pieces of work,” he said. “Anyone that doesn’t hear that, they’re just letting their own prejudices get in the way. It’s fantastic music, really beautiful.”

Nole, Denver’s keyboard player, said, “He was a gentle man coming from the folk scene. He carved out his own genre. There’s folk artists and there’s pop artists, but is there another pop-folk artist?”

The Wildlife Concert, a live album and television special in 1995, was a turning point, Nole believes. The show featured a more mature and nuanced vocalist and performer. Denver, whose tenor voice had deepened slightly and gotten better with age, had also ditched his trademark granny glasses and boyish haircut.

“With The Wildlife Concert, he was starting to be recognized for the American icon that he was,” Nole said. “He was feeling like there was a future again.”

Denver was on the verge of a career resurgence when he died, Nole believes. An experienced pilot, Denver crashed his small plane into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California, on Oct. 12, 1997. The cause may have been a mishap when he attempted to change fuel tanks.

Who knows what music he might have made with two or three more decades to work with? That wasn’t to be, but Denver’s talent and especially his songs may have finally outlived the image.

“Those melodies hold up,” Nole said. “They’re beautiful and they’re ingrained in our psyche. … John had God-given talent and it can’t be explained.

“John was a miracle.”


Photos Courtesy of the John Denver Estate

Artist of the Month: John Denver

An unlikely entertainer, John Denver connected with millions of listeners at the peak of his career in the 1970s. Never fully stepping away from folk music even as he crossed over to the pop chart, Denver also left a significant mark on country music into the mid-1980s. It’s been 25 years ago this month that Denver perished in a plane crash, yet his music lives on in compositions like “Annie’s Song,” “Back Home Again” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” With his warm tenor and his gift for setting a scene in song, he encountered compositions like “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and soon made them his own. (The back story of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” would fit perfectly into a biopic of Denver’s life, should one ever get made.)

Denver was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996 and became the inaugural inductee into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2011. (An induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame has so far eluded him, despite winning a CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1975.) Even as his profile diminished in the late ’80s and early ’90s, his music continued to transcend generations, perhaps due to his friendly persona and easy-to-remember songs. His sole Grammy Award is for a 1997 children’s album titled All Aboard!, which was released just two months prior to his death.

One of Denver’s most beautiful and melancholy songs, “Rocky Mountain High,” became the second official state song of Colorado in 2007. Inspired by watching the Perseid Meteor Show while camping in the Rocky Mountains, Denver co-wrote the classic character study with his friend Mike Taylor. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of that single and its namesake album, Governor Jared Polis announced the newly-renamed Rocky Mountain High Trail, located in Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Golden.

“Here in Colorado, we’ve always known that our majestic mountains, our bright blue skies, our starlit nights and our forest and streams were the stuff of legends—but John Denver made them the stuff of song lyrics, too,” says Polis. “And not just any lyrics, but world-famous lyrics that span genres and generations.”

We’re equally proud to reveal John Denver as our BGS Artist of the Month in October. With sunshine on our shoulders, we’ll be sharing our favorite songs, stories, and videos from this legendary artist in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, enjoy our BGS Essentials playlist for John Denver.


Photo courtesy of John Denver’s Estate

WATCH: William Fitzsimmons, “Annie’s Song” (feat. Abby Gunderson)

Artist: William Fitzsimmons
Hometown: Jacksonville, Illinois
Song: “Annie’s Song” (feat. Abby Gunderson)
Album: Covers, Vol. 1
Release Date: November 4, 2022
Label: Nettwerk Records

In Their Words: “My mom had a double vinyl for one of John Denver’s live albums, and I remember her playing it over and over again. I often held the vinyl as a young kid, and I loved the feeling. To my recollection, ‘Annie’s Song’ is the first song I ever heard. For me, it’s instant nostalgia. I go right back to our living room and can feel our house. My mom and I sang John Denver songs together as I got older. What a cool tune to have as a first musical memory.

“Once the global pandemic arrived, I found myself at home with time and a basement studio. I needed something to work on, so I just started doing covers. I didn’t even make a list; it was just a way to keep from going crazy. It was self-therapy so that I wouldn’t lose my mind. However, it ended up one of my favorite periods of being a musician. … I just wanted to do songs that meant a lot to me for varying reasons. I share some of the songs with other people. Some of the songs remind me of my childhood. Some of the songs are low-key messages to individuals from my past—and they’re not necessarily positive. Some of the songs are just pure joy. Ultimately, they are all songs I love and respect from artists I think are incredible.” — William Fitzsimmons


Photo Credit: Erin Brown

Yamaha Guitars Have Guided These Musicians to Their Unique Sound

Yamaha is on a never-ending pursuit to inspire players to find their unique sound and express their own distinctive, individual musical art. The original FG180 became a bestseller in America, setting a foundation for the development of the L Series and the A series, as well as the FG Red Label series in 2019.

Yamaha leverages their second-to-none technology and traditional luthier craftsmanship to offer high-end acoustic guitars that rival other premium guitar manufacturers. In fact, Guitar Division said of Yamaha, “Their high-end professional grade guitars are made with attention to detail, and even down to their midrange and beginner series you will see quality at least as good as any other popular brand.” Meanwhile, Sixstringacoustic.com observed, “Throughout its history the company has been dedicated to providing novices and professionals with the high-quality guitars, without being too much of a hit on their wallets.”

There may be a number of artists you never knew played a Yamaha Guitar. Since the 1960s, Yamaha acoustic guitars have influenced and inspired many top musicians.

Designed to John Lennon‘s exacting standards in 1977, his custom CJ52 is constructed with a red dragon inlaid on the black body of the guitar. According to Guitar World, “The inlay work employed a traditional Japanese technique called Maki-e, a style of inlay not usually employed on musical instruments because it requires the use of a high-humidity steam kiln that wreaks havoc on the music-making properties of wood. Yamaha’s custom guitars builders found a way to pull it off, creating the dragon from a drawing by Lennon himself. The instrument is the most expensive Yamaha guitar ever made.”

Lennon formulated the idea of that guitar after playing Paul Simon‘s Custom CJ52. Jimmy Page toured with a CJ52 from the 1975 Led Zeppelin World Tour to the 1998 Page/Plant “Unledded” Tour. In addition his own fondness for the Custom CJ52, John Denver often performed with his beautiful L-53 throughout the 1970s (check out that beautiful Yamaha headstock in the video above) Bruce Springsteen‘s CJ52 from 1987 became part of his musical identity at the height of his popularity.

Yamaha made American music history as “Country Joe” McDonald played an FG150 on stage at Woodstock (you can glimpse it briefly around 1:26 in the video below). James Taylor incorporated his L-55 Custom and FG2000 into his exceptional albums and tours in the 1970s.

Yamaha’s current cache of artists is no less diverse or impressive. The acclaimed singer-songwriter Butch Walker, who plays an FGX5, was named by Rolling Stone as Producer of the Year in 2005. He speaks about his producing guitar in this video interview. In addition, David Ryan Harris is an accomplished solo artist and guitarist who tours and records with John Mayer using his Yamaha FSX5. He showed off the Yamaha A5R ARE in a series of videos for the brand.

Yamaha continues to capture the imagination of rising artists, including The Arcadian Wild’s Isaak Horn and Stillhouse Junkies’ Fred Kosak. Don’t miss our Yamaha x BGS Artist Sessions with both bands below.

Yamaha is not finished with their never-ending pursuit of the masterpiece. Senior luthier Andrew Enns in Yamaha’s Calabasas, California, custom shop is teaming up with the master technicians in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop even more advanced acoustic guitars that will soar to even greater heights. The bluegrass community eagerly awaits their next level guitars that are expected to set a new standard of tone, quality, and playability.

Singer-songwriter Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! and the Devouring Mothers, who plays a Yamaha LL16 and CSF3M, said in a recent interview with the brand, “I believe every guitar has a soul; not quite a consciousness but pretty close to it.”  When it comes to beautiful custom instruments, we couldn’t put it better ourselves.

Discover more about Yamaha Guitars and their custom shop at YamahaGuitars.com