Tag: justin hiltner

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Bronwyn, Sophie Wellington, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Welcome to our weekly collection of new music! You Gotta Hear This…

First thing today, you should know it’s a bluegrass-rich week in our roundup – which we love! The Binoculars start us off on a strong bluegrassy foot with their cover of “Lorene,” a Louvin Brothers song that will be included on the duo’s upcoming album, Double Whammy, out July 17. Like the Louvin Brothers themselves, the Binoculars do a great job of bridging rootsy sonic territories, country, bluegrass, old-time, and more. For a taste of bluegrass gospel, we’re celebrating the release of Eighteen Mile’s new album, Peace Be Still (out today), with the title track, written by vocalist and guitarist Jack Ritter. It’s fresh, modern bluegrass built on faith and tradition.

We’ve got several great fiddlers represented in our list today, too. A huge – and still-growing name – on the current bluegrass and jamgrass scene, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, is dropping her surname for a new era under a mononym, Bronwyn. Today, Bronwyn announces her upcoming album Rattlin’ Bones, her first LP under the new name, which will release in August. We’re sharing the track from which the LP draws its title, “Sticks and Stones.” It showcases the growth in Bronwyn’s songwriting over time – and features Darrell Scott. Plus, if you’re familiar with fiddler Libby Weitnauer, she’s now releasing music under the artist name Libby Dale. “Empty Tank,” which came out yesterday, is indie Americana with a Gothic, Appalachian undertone and excellent rootsy touches. Dale’s songwriting is impeccable and the production is built on a fascinating blend of roots styles.

An old-time and Americana favorite, Sophie Wellington, has unveiled a new single and video, “Scolding Wife.” Wellington has a new album coming in early July. This track and video showcase her unique, multi-hyphenate approach to music-making; it’s a simple, stripped-down arrangement featuring only guitar and percussion – provided by dance. It’s lovely and entrancing, no matter how basic or elemental in its construction. Singer-songwriter Kate Waters has a new song out this week, too. “Words” arrived on June 10, juxtaposing steel guitar, mandolin, and acoustic guitar in a folk-meets-string band-meets-Americana sound. It’s a contemplative lyric that searches inward and outward for the right thing to say.

You’ll enjoy the music video for the title track of Dailey & Vincent’s album, A Beautiful Life, released today. This feel-good song is the duo’s special way of sharing what they’re grateful for. We’re also thankful that Bill Anderson and Jon Randall (who co-wrote “Whiskey Lullaby”) teamed with Carrie Underwood to write it. And our own Justin Hiltner (editor of BGS and Good Country) and Jon Weisberger (BGS contributor) are back on the site again – for the first time since 2022 – as musicians and artists, rather than writer or editor. Hiltner & Weisberger just announced they’ve signed with Mountain Home Music Company to release music as a duo again. “Marinda” is their first single with Mountain Home, a song about a woman in California built on low-tuned long-neck banjo and an all-star band – that includes Libby Dale (Weitnauer) on fiddle, by chance, as well. We hope you enjoy the track and don’t mind the BGS team’s bias, we think these guys are pretty okay and, yeah… maybe, just maybe, You Gotta Hear This, too!

There’s plenty of bluegrass, Americana, old-time, and more to enjoy. Get scrolling and get listening– You Gotta Hear This!

The Binoculars, “Lorene”

Artist: The Binoculars
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Lorene”
Album: Double Whammy
Release Date: July 17, 2026
Label: Jalopy Records

In Their Words: “As huge fans of the Louvin Brothers, it’s hard to resist covering all of their songs. ‘Lorene’ really stood out to us, as a secular number and with a letter-writing theme! We both frequent the postal service for transmitting love letters and postcards. There is a spirit in handwritten letters that just can’t be replicated in a text or in the vacuum of social media. We find the lyrics strike an even more dynamic chord in these modern times, where rejection can be felt in a single swipe, and the appetite for approval and response is insatiable and aggressive. This song transports us to a slower more ponderous time, when that ache of not knowing your lover’s position gnaws at your heart. You can feel those empty mailbox blues.” – The Binoculars

Bronwyn, “Sticks and Stones”

Artist: Bronwyn
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Song: “Sticks and Stones”
Album: Rattlin’ Bones
Release Date: June 12, 2026 (single); August 14, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “‘Sticks and Stones’ started coming to me a couple years ago as I was lying awake in the middle of the night, rolling down the road on the bus. It was a rough ride through the mountains, enough to rattle your bones, and some lines from the chorus started banging around in my head as I was drifting in and out of sleep. The chorus is the heart of this devil-may-care traveling song: ‘Sticks and stones/ Burning down the highway/ Rattling bones/ I don’t need no heartache/ I’ve been gathering a whole lotta sticks and stones…’

“‘Sticks and Stones’ has a hard-won swagger to it, a feeling borne out of years of being on the road as well as the requisite slight romanticism of it that keeps me going. That feeling is clearly heard in the last verse— ‘Heard a guy on a record singing walk that line/ He was saying what I’ve been thinking all my life/ Turned it up loud enough my truck began to shake.’ It’s self-sufficient, self-aware, and a little bit pissed off.” – Bronwyn

Track Credits:
Bronwyn – Fiddle, lead vocal, songwriter
Darrell Scott – Harmony vocal
Harry Clark – Mandolin
Bryan Sutton – Guitar
Frank Evans – Banjo
Jeff Picker – Bass

Dailey & Vincent, “A Beautiful Life”

Artist: Dailey & Vincent
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “A Beautiful Life”
Album: A Beautiful Life
Release Date: June 12, 2026
Label: Pillar Stone Records

In Their Words: “There are songs you record because they’re great songs, and then there are songs that become part of your story. ‘A Beautiful Life’ became that song for us. It captures so much of what we believe – that even through life’s challenges, we have so much to be thankful for.” – Jamie Dailey

“This song became the title track because it perfectly reflects where Jamie and I are today. We’ve been blessed beyond measure, and this lyric serves as a reminder to never take those blessings for granted. It’s a celebration of faith, family, friendship, and the gift of life itself.” – Darrin Vincent

Track Credits:
Greg Morrow – Drums
Craig Young – Bass
Seth Taylor – Acoustic guitar
Andy Leftwich – Fiddle, mandolin
Michael Rojas – Piano
James Mitchell – Electric guitar
Jamie Dailey – Lead vocal
Jaelee Roberts – Harmony vocal
Darrin Vincent – Harmony vocal

Libby Dale, “Empty Tank”

Artist: Libby Dale
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Empty Tank”
Album: Freehand
Release Date: June 11, 2026 (single)

In Their Words: “‘Empty Tank’ was inspired by recordings like Lucinda Williams’ ‘Crescent City’ and Emmylou Harris’ ‘Leaving Louisiana’ – both twisted anthems for less-than-perfect places. It’s an airing of grievances and a love letter for my life in Nashville. Pothole-riddled streets, the music industry rat race, and summer heat are certainly prominent characters, but so are good dances and a great band. Producer Thomas Bryan Eaton helped me bring this track to life with a fantastic rhythm section (Chris Gelb and Jonathan Beam) and the GRAMMY-winning mixing chops of Justin Francis. All parties mentioned brought the relentless groove and thunk I had envisioned for the song. ‘Empty Tank’ is the second single off my debut LP, Freehand, due in October of this year.” – Libby Dale

Eighteen Mile, “Peace Be Still”

Artist: Eighteen Mile
Hometown: Upstate South Carolina
Song: “Peace Be Still”
Album: Peace Be Still
Release Date: June 12, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Peace Be Still’ on the better side of a bad year. While the tune was there, I struggled to find words that could convey my testimony throughout the song. The more I thought about my testimony and walk with Christ, the words came quickly and became what you hear today. I wanted this song to not only be a personal testimony of God’s grace and mercy, but a message to those who are struggling that my Lord and Savior can provide peace that is beyond all understanding. I’m so honored and never would have thought that a song I wrote would become the title track of our first album with Mountain Home. I’m so thankful to my friends for choosing it.” – Jack Ritter, lead vocalist, guitarist, songwriter

Track Credits:
Jack Ritter – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Hallie Ritter – Upright bass, harmony vocal
Carson Aaron – Acoustic guitar, harmony vocal
Savannah Aaron – Fiddle
Steve Pettit – Mandolin
Rob Ickes – Resonator guitar

Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger, “Marinda”

Artist: Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee & Brevard, North Carolina
Song: “Marinda”
Release Date: June 12, 2026
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “On a mountaintop in Western North Carolina I met a fabulous woman named Marinda. ‘Like Miranda, but with the letters swapped,’ I think she told me. She’s a great cook, made us a delicious lentil salad. Then she told me where she was from: Marin County, California. I couldn’t believe it. Marinda from Marin.

“There are so many bluegrass songs that take their titles from women’s names, I guess it was time Jon and I added such a track to our catalog of co-writes. I love how this one turned out, evoking iconic and familiar images of California and singing praises to a powerful, entrancing woman. She may be a fictionalized version of my friend Marinda, but her inspiration comes all the way through. I love the long-neck, low-tuned banjo here and the way the fiddle, banjo, and mandolin all join in together on the melodic hook. When I’m missing the Bay Area – or Marinda’s lentil salad – I play this tune.” – Justin Hiltner

Track Credits:
Justin Hiltner – Banjo, lead vocal, songwriter
Jon Weisberger – Upright bass, harmony vocal, songwriter
Seth Taylor – Acoustic guitar
Libby Weitnauer – Fiddle
Jenni Lyn Gardner – Mandolin
Wendy Hickman – Harmony vocal

(Editor’s Note: Justin Hiltner is the editor for BGS and Good Country, and Jon Weisberger is a former contributor to BGS.)

Kate Waters, “Words”

Artist: Kate Waters
Hometown: Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Taos, New Mexico
Song: “Words”
Album: Some Comfort
Release Date: June 10, 2026 (single); August 21, 2026 (album)

In Their Words: “This is the oldest song on the record, from my earliest stages of songwriting as an adult. I was wrestling with why I felt intimidated by writing lyrics, like words couldn’t ever fully capture what I wanted to say. I mean, that’s why I’m a musician, truly.

“The sentiment still holds true – words can do a lot, but they also fail a lot of the time. We see it so much these days, politically speaking – people talking past each other and never truly understanding one another. I’m a music therapist, and as someone who’s worked professionally with nonspeaking people for most of my professional life, I know how important it is to tune into other aspects of communication and human connection.” – Kate Waters

Sophie Wellington, “Scolding Wife”

Artist: Sophie Wellington
Hometown: Staunton, Virginia
Song: “Scolding Wife”
Album: Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still
Release Date: June 8, 2026 (single); July 10, 2026 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “This fiddle tune has complex phrasing and tells an intriguing melodic story. Marion Reece, the source fiddler for this tune, plays this in calico tuning (AEAC#) which give it haunting, suspended quality. While I can’t remember where I first learned this tune, I fell in love with it again in 2025 when playing it with Sally Jablonsky and Stefan Amidon at Cascade of Music and Dance, a social dance camp run by Country Dance & Song Society. We played this tune late into the night, locking in with one another and allowing the space to breathe and the notes to sing. For me, old-time music shines brightest in my friendships and shared memories of playing. I’m fascinated with how to best adapt this music for guitar, allowing it to feel fluid and free on that instrument.” – Sophie Wellington

Track Credits:
Sophie Wellington – Guitar, percussive dance

Video Credits: Pat Piasecki and Chris Dempsey, with special thanks to Barbara Hauser.

Photo Credit: Bronwyn by Alexa King Stone; Sophie Wellington by Pat Piasecki.

NEWS: BGS Announces New Brand, Good Country

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

BGS is proud to announce the launch of a new brand in 2024: GOOD COUNTRY. By this point, you may have seen or heard mentions of Good Country on our site, at our events, and on our socials feeds as we prepare this exciting new expansion for our readers and fans.

Launching in mid-January 2024, Good Country is a curated, bespoke email newsletter that will highlight all good country from across the roots music landscape. Every other week, GC will deliver high-end country music reporting, long reads, playlists, videos, and exclusive content from your favorite country artists direct to your email inbox. As you scroll, you’ll dive into the deep and broad world of Good Country, from gritty and raw Americana to glitzy and glamorous radio hits, from bluegrass supergroups to southern rock ensembles and swampy string bands. Sign up for Good Country now.

“Good Country is a brand new horizon for BGS,” says managing editor Justin Hiltner. “But, at the same time, it’s nothing more than a reinforcement of our values as a media company and roots music community. Country – like its family members bluegrass, folk, and Americana – is more than just music, it’s a lifestyle, an identity, a way of being. There’s so much good country being made out there right now and we know our audience agrees. Whatever ‘good country’ means, you’ll know it when you hear it. And you’ll hear plenty of it in this newsletter!”

Each issue of Good Country will center features, think pieces, and interviews penned by the best writers and thinkers in country music highlighting not just the biggest names in the genre, but new and upstart artists as well. Exclusive newsletter content will live alongside deep dive playlists, sonic explorations, and thoughtful examinations of what country is, who makes it, and to whom it can belong – everyone.

BGS co-founder, actor, activist, and musician Ed Helms, will be featured in each issue as well with “Ed’s Picks,” artists and bands selected by Helms himself, direct from his own listening.

“From the very beginning, BGS was forged on a foundation of celebrating the full spectrum of roots music fans and artists,” explains BGS co-founder Amy Reitnouer Jacobs. “This community has never been one thing, nor has it been static. It’s a diverse, expansive, and ever-changing art form. The same can and should be said for country music. And that’s why now is the perfect time to create a more representative media landscape. It’s time for Good Country.”

Good Country’s first issues will feature music, art, and content featuring Zach Bryan, Sierra Ferrell, Amanda Fields, Veronique Medrano, Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, Vincent Neil Emerson, Brittney Spencer, and so many more. No matter your entry point to this music, with our new brand and newsletter you will find endless Good Country to enjoy. Interact with content in your email inbox, on our website, and on our social media – wherever you are, Good Country will meet you there.

Good Country isn’t about deciding what is or isn’t good country music. Good Country is a place. It’s a way of looking at the world, a way of enjoying music. If you think it’s good and you think it’s country, then you’ve found Good Country.

Sign up now to be one of the first readers to receive Good Country direct to your email inbox. And, begin your exploration of Good Country with our BGS Class of 2023: Good Country year-end list.

Photo Credit: Zach Bryan by Trevor Pavlik; Vincent Neil Emerson by Thomas Crabtree; Sierra Ferrell by Bobbi Rich.

BGS Receives IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

(Editor’s Note: On Thursday, September 28, 2023, BGS contributor, musician, songwriter, and bluegrass industry leader Jon Weisberger presented BGS with IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award at the organization’s annual business conference. Below, enjoy Weisberger’s award presentation speech, adapted for print, and photos from the Industry Awards luncheon.)

The International Bluegrass Music Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award was created as the organization’s first honor, just a year after its 1985 founding. Among the first recipients were Bill Monroe, gospel songwriter Albert E. Brumley, and (now-BGS contributor) Neil V. Rosenberg.

After 1991, when the Hall of Honor (now the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame) was established, the DAA became a way to recognize a variety of accomplishments — a lifetime of achievement for many recipients, but also activities taking place in more compressed timespans, as when the Coen Brothers and T Bone Burnett were recipients in 2001 for the singular act of creating the film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and the accompanying soundtrack album. And while most of the recipients are people, some are entities, like WSM’s Grand Ole Opry (2000), the Station Inn (2003), and Bluegrass Unlimited magazine (2016).

Country Gongbang, of South Korea, perform during the IBMA Industry Awards Luncheon. (Photo by Rob Laughter)

Either way, the award criteria direct the selection committee to consider those who “have fostered bluegrass music’s image with developments that will broaden the music’s recognition and accessibility.” Further, the award criteria state, “Their contributions should be unique given the relative period of time in which they were made and should embody the spirit of one who pioneers or opens new possibilities for the music.” These are descriptions that fit the Bluegrass Situation perfectly.

Having celebrated its 10th anniversary just last year, this site contains an extensive amount of material that recalls a multitude of highlights from that first decade. So rather than recount them, I chose, when presenting the award—an invitation for which I’m deeply grateful — to recognize what Ed Helms, Amy Reitnouer Jacobs, their dedicated staff and many contributors have done to broaden the music’s recognition and accessibility and open new possibilities for the music is to look at why these things are important and how they have met the challenge.

For more than 50 years, bluegrass music has been dependent, for the renewal of its audiences and of its musicians, on exposure beyond its cloistered garden. From The Beverly Hillbillies through the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Circle album through the mainstream success of Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss to O Brother and, more recently, artists like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings, our music has needed not only community-building institutions that cater to those already familiar with it, but a plethora of vehicles that expose new audiences to this music.

BGS executive director Amy Reitnouer Jacobs reacts to Jon Weisberger’s DAA presentation. Justin Hiltner, managing editor, looks on. (Photo by Willa Stein)

This is how many people, including many in the IBMA, first became aware of bluegrass, and in the past decade, no one has done more to introduce this music to new audiences than the Bluegrass Situation. By covering the broad range of roots music under its “bluegrass” rubric, and by insisting on presenting the full range of bluegrass music and musicians in all their diversity, the Sitch has invited hundreds of thousands into the fold — and the same is true of the events the Bluegrass Situation has organized and sponsored.

Indeed, one of the Sitch’s distinctive contributions has been its dual role as a chronicler of the broad array of bluegrass and related musical artists and as a presenter, bringing the artists and the music they make directly to audiences. Especially through its curated stages at major music festivals, the Bluegrass Situation has introduced thousands — tens of thousands by now — to artists like bluegrass Hall of Famers Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury, and Sam Bush.

Amy Reitnouer Jacobs speaks to the Industry Awards Luncheon audience. (Photo by Dan Schram)

In this way, the Sitch has spent more than a decade devoted both to the important work of bringing a wide variety of roots music to audiences across the country and around the world, and to the important work of bringing the whole array of bluegrass artists, from Larry Sparks, Junior Sisk, Michael Cleveland, and High Fidelity to the Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Molly Tuttle, and Billy Strings to the attention of those attracted to the Sitch’s website and events by its coverage and presentation of all the other roots music artists within their purview. So, someone who visits the site to read an Allison Russell feature has an opportunity to learn about Lynn Morris, while another who attends the Bourbon & Beyond festival to see The Black Keys might have their ear caught by the sound of Dan Tyminski or The Cleverlys performing on the Sitch’s curated stage.

These are the kinds of connections — and the kind of day in, day out, year in and year out work — that, in the words of the Distinguished Achievement Award criteria, “broaden the music’s recognition and accessibility.” These are the ways in which bluegrass is able to draw in new generations of fans — and new generations of musicians and industry activists, too. For more than 10 years, now, Ed Helms, Amy Reitnouer Jacobs and the Bluegrass Situation have been doing the work, and all of us in the bluegrass community have benefitted from their efforts. It gave me great pleasure to present them with this award.

L to R: Justin Hiltner, Amy Reitnouer Jacobs, Jon Weisberger at the 2023 IBMA Industry Awards Luncheon. (Photo by Willa Stein)

Photos by Rob Laughter, Dan Schram, and Willa Stein as noted; Lead image of Hiltner, Reitnouer Jacobs, and Weisberger by Dan Schram; All photos courtesy of IBMA.

Nashville’s Queerfest Returns for Its Second Year

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

On August 11 and 12 Queerfest returns to Nashville, Tennessee, after its first in-person event in 2022 was named Nashville Scene’s Best New Music Festival. The multi-venue festival and celebration of queer folk, roots music, and indie will take place at three popular Nashville music venues – the 5 Spot, Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, and the Basement East – and will feature over eight hours of programming from LGBTQ+ identified musicians from across the genre landscape. (Full lineup and schedule below, tickets available here.)

In anticipation of this year’s event, we spoke to festival founder, community builder, singer-songwriter, and BGS contributor Sara Gougeon, founder and director of Pineworks Creative, about Queerfest, its growth, and why queer-centered communities are so vital, not just in Music City but in the music industry in general.

Congratulations on your second in-person Queerfest and your third ever! What are you looking forward to during this year’s festival?

SG: I’m so stoked about the lineup and the community. There are SO many phenomenal LGBTQ+ artists on this year’s lineup. And I’m so excited to bring the community together again in a way that supports queer music, artists, and organizations. I’m really looking forward to soaking up that energy.

Are there particular artists on the lineup you’re excited to have this year? Who are some of the artists and bands you think the QF audience will be most excited to discover?

I’m honestly excited for the lineup as a whole. As a songwriter and musician myself, I’m very particular about the artists and bands that I chose to book. If I had to choose one stand out band, it’d be The Collection. Their live show has this electric live energy and they also just seem so genuine. I’m stoked to be booking them. I love highlighting great music all around – regardless of how big the artist is. Sydnee Conley and Dani-Rae Clark are two up-and-coming artists who might not be as well known and their music blows me away. And Great Aunt who is coming all the way from Australia!

Liv Greene (center) performs with Jobi Riccio (right) and Christine Wilhoyte (left) at Queerfest 2022

How would you describe the growing and blossoming queer music scene in Nashville, and more broadly, in the music industry as a whole?

What an interesting question. There’s been so much growth and acceptance within the industry. I’m always blown away by how many phenomenal queer artists there are in Nashville. The industry as a whole is definitely seeing more artists come out.

It’s actually incredible to talk to artists who are a few generations older about that growth. I’ve heard stories from artists who were kicked off their label after coming out. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of history of that sort. But it’s been so incredible to build spaces, highlight queer music, and watch the industry become more inclusive in many ways.

Why do you think it’s so important to create and hold spaces like Queerfest for LGBTQ+ musicians, artists, and fans?

I decided to start Queerfest because of a personal need. I couldn’t find community spaces. And I was surprised that there weren’t places highlighting queer artists. And yet I noticed that there are SO MANY phenomenal queer artists, and so many queer people in general looking for inclusive spaces.

Queerfest and BGS have partnered on a column, Out Now, which was also created to hold space for LGBTQ+ folks in music. Who is on your wishlist to interview for Out Now? Is there anyone you dream of booking on a future Queerfest?

Oooh! I am so excited that we started Out Now! I’d love to interview Katie Pruitt and Joy Oladokun. Oh, and she’s definitely more in the popular music genre, but it’d be amazing to feature Fletcher one day.

And there are so many other artists: Becca Mancari, Jaime Wyatt, Shelly Fairchild, Palmyra, Aaron Lee Tasjan, SistaStrings, Leith Ross, Corook, Shelly Fairchild, Olive Klug.

And these artists who played the 2021 virtual festival: Mary Gauthier, Jaime Harris, The Accidentals, Izzy Heltai.

I’d love to have all of these acts both in-person and on Out Now!

Carmen Dianne (right) performs with band at Queerfest 2022

Do you have any advice for queer folks out there trying to find community and belonging in Nashville and in music?

Come to Queerfest!! But also, there are a lot of pockets of queer community/events/organizations popping up. Check out Outdoorsy Queers – I founded this community group with friends. We host hikes, climbs, park days, roller skating hangs, and more!

Other ways to connect with queer community in Nashville:

Queer Book Club
RNBW
QDP (Queer Dance Party)
Nashville GSA
Inclusion TN (They are working on developing a community center)

QUEERFEST 2023 FULL SCHEDULE:

Friday, August 11

Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge
6:00-8:30 pm
Featuring: JB Somers, Sydnee Conley, Gina Venier, Dani-Rae Clark, Justin Hiltner

Saturday, August 12

The 5 Spot
3-5 pm
Featuring: Olivia Rudeen, Summer Joy, Great Aunt

The Basement East
Doors: 6 pm
Show: 7-11 pm
Featuring: Julia Cannon, Madeleine Kelson, Skout, Marielle Kraft, The Collection

All Photos: Andrea Schollnick
Graphic courtesy of Queerfest, Sara Gougeon.

BGS Announces Behind-the-Scenes Staff Changes

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

On the heels of being awarded IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award, the BGS team is excited to announce a few staff changes in our organization that took effect earlier this summer. Our incredible Managing Editor of 4+ years, Craig Shelburne, was recently offered an opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime project – more details to come – and consequently has had to end his time with BGS. While we miss him dearly, with his unending dedication to and love of roots music, his singular journalistic perspective, and his legendary puns lighting up our lives, we are so thrilled for him in this next chapter of his career and the entire team wishes him the best.

With Shelburne’s departure, we are absolutely delighted to have longtime BGS team member Justin Hiltner back in the fold, now acting as our Managing Editor. Justin Hiltner is a queer and disabled banjo player, songwriter, and music writer known from Peabody Award-winning podcast Dolly Parton’s America. He recently completed a national tour of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning revival of Oklahoma! and played banjo and guitar for a limited run of the musical Bright Star at the Miracle Theatre in Miami. His debut solo album, 1992, was released in December 2022 and was a Best of 2022 selection by NPR Music, Slate, and more. (We covered the project here.) Hiltner has been nominated for Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year, Momentum Industry Involvement, Writer of the Year, and Collaborative Recording of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). In 2016 he co-founded Shout & Shine, a showcase, column, and video series celebrating representation and inclusion in bluegrass with BGS before going on to become our social media director and, later, Digital Brand Director. He also helped found – and currently sits on the board – for Bluegrass Pride, a non-profit with a mission of uplifting LGBTQ+ folks in roots music, and recently he served on Folk Alliance International’s Cultural Equity Council.

Lonnie Lee Hood, BGS Social Media Editor

In addition, we’ve also had the joy of recently adding Lonnie Lee Hood to our team as our Social Media Editor. Lonnie is a journalist and writer located in Middle Tennessee. They are currently working on their debut book, Redneck Revolution, with the West Virginia University Press. They live with their potbelly pig and look forward to building a small, sustainable homestead in the mountains.

Former BGS media director and executive assistant Shelby Williamson has also moved into a new position within our staff, stepping into the newly created Creative Director role. Williamson has overseen many aspects of BGS’ outward facing brand over the past handful of years, from our Instagram channel and email newsletter to the ever-expanding BGS Podcast Network, leading production and development of shows such as Harmonics with Beth Behrs and Carolina Calling. As Creative Director, Williamson will oversee a visual branding refresh coming to BGS soon and will also co-edit a new country-geared vertical within the BGS brand with Hiltner, to be announced soon.

Rounding out the BGS staff are co-founder and executive director Amy Reitnouer Jacobs and web and audience development expert Joe Klingl, in addition to our BGS family of contributors, writers, and creatives. Our team is already enjoying this latest evolution of BGS and we’re excited to continue connecting with our community in this new chapter.

 

MIXTAPE: The Women in Roots Music Who Inspired Justin Hiltner’s ‘1992’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

For the past eight or so years I’ve been making this joke that we (the music industry) should “Give women Americana.” As in, if we gave the entire genre — and bluegrass and country and old-time and folk, for that matter — to women and femmes and non-men, I wouldn’t so much miss the men and the music would certainly be well cared for and well set up for the future. 

My point, as I continue to make this joke year after year to many puzzled reactions, is that women and femme roots musicians have and will always be my favorite artists, creators, songwriters, and pickers. As I crafted my debut solo album, 1992 – often with incredibly talented women like producers and engineers (and pickers) Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, mastering engineer Anna Frick, photographer Laura E. Partain – the music that inspired, informed, and challenged me most through this release was all made by women. (Ask me sometime about my monthly Spotify playlist, Don’t Need No Man.)

When BGS approached me to make a Mixtape to celebrate 1992, I knew I had to share some of the women who helped me realize, musically, artistically, socially, emotionally, that there could be a home for me in bluegrass, largely because they had created such a home exactly for me. Here are a few of my bluegrass, old-time, and country inspirations, all of whom have filtered into this album in one way or another. – Justin Hiltner

Ola Belle Reed – “High On the Mountain”

1992 was tracked in Ashe County, North Carolina, in a little town called Lansing nestled into the Blue Ridge Mountains, right where Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina meet. I love it out there on the mountain, in the wind, in the clouds, on the rocky little road cuts and switchbacks through the hills. Lansing also happens to be the hometown of a legendary Appalachian musician and bluegrass forebear, Ola Belle Reed. A banjo she once owned and had signed hung on the wall beside me while I tracked every song. I definitely see my album as stemming from the lineage of Ola Belle, humbly and gratefully.

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer – “Hold Each Other Up”

I’ve been so lucky to collaborate with folk icons, Grammy winners, and children’s music legends Cathy & Marcy in so many different contexts and scenarios, every single one delightful and fulfilling. They’re amazing mentors and encouragers and while we recorded 1992 we had to take the chance to channel their amazing attitudes and worldviews into a COVID-inspired (or -instigated) track, “Hold Each Other Up.” I love getting to pick and sing with these two, and their engineering, production, wisdom, and guidance all made this record possible.

Laurie Lewis – “I’m Gonna Be the Wind”

Long before I ever got the chance to tour and perform with Laurie Lewis she was a hero of mine, someone I looked up to and knew would be a bluegrass legend and stalwart who could or would accept me for who I am. Turns out, often in bluegrass, it is okay to meet your heroes, because when we met and I got to work for her, it turned out I was absolutely right. Her writing style, her artistic ethos, and the way she infuses pure bluegrass energy and her personality into everything she does reminds me I can be who I am, play the music I play, and write the way I write. This song picks me up whenever I’m down and gives me self-confidence and optimism when I need it most.

Alice Gerrard & Hazel Dickens – “Mama’s Gonna Stay”

I never had the honor of meeting Hazel before she passed in 2011, but Alice Gerrard and I have become friends over the past six years and honestly, if 17-year-old Justin knew he’d become friends with this Bluegrass Hall of Famer, he’d die. We happen to share a birthday, too. Alice is a gem, a trailblazer, an unassuming and unrelenting activist and organizer and community builder. She inspires me in all of the above, but especially in her willingness, across her entire career, to write music about things no one else was writing about. This song, which Laurie Lewis turned me onto (she performs it as well), is a perfect example.

 

 

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Elizabeth Cotten – “Wilson Rag”

Playing shows and recording totally solo is often terrifying. Especially as a bluegrass banjo player used to playing in five-piece lineups. It took many years and lots and lots of practice time and experimental shows to figure out how exactly I wanted to arrange songs, build shows, create and ride a storytelling arc during my shows, guide an audience, and do all of that confidently with just a voice and banjo. Artists and pickers like Elizabeth Cotten gave me frames of reference for what I was doing that felt solidly bluegrass, but still building a show and sound that feels fully realized and not lacking for being minimal.

Missy Raines – “Where You Found Me”

Missy Raines is another hero of mine that I feel so lucky to now call a friend. Despite coming from different generations and very different circumstances we have so much in common. It just sometimes astounds me that we can have seemingly endless conversations around if bluegrass (or country or roots music) are accepting and open; meanwhile one of the winningest pickers in the history of bluegrass and the IBMA – that is, Missy Raines – has always been both accepting and open. Who needs the sexist, homophobic, womanizing, problematic elements of bluegrass when you have absolute badass legends like Missy!? I once covered this song for a “Cover Your Friends” show and it continues to devastate me to this day.

Caroline Spence – “Scale These Walls”

When I first moved to town, Caroline Spence was one of maybe four or five people I knew in all of Nashville. We spent a lot of time together in those early years, back in 2011 and 2012, and pretty soon after that we wrote a song together, “Pieces.” We both loved it a lot, performed it here and there with different lineups and bands, but it never landed on a record ‘til now. “Scale These Walls,” from Caroline’s most recent album, is constantly stuck in my head. I love how it showcases her jaw-dropping skill for writing dead-on hooks that feel so organic and never corny. I love this song.

Molly Tuttle – “Crooked Tree”

Molly Tuttle and I wrote “Benson Street,” a track off my new album, together about five or six years ago. It’s a cute little number about longing told through the lens of an idyllic Southern summer. I love every chance I get to make music or write music with Molly. She’s a constant source of inspiration for me and proof positive that you can be a proverbial crooked tree in bluegrass and still carve a pathway to success. Plus, she’s another great example of a picker who can command an entire audience totally solo. Trying to steal tricks from Molly Tuttle? Couldn’t be me.

Rhiannon Giddens – “Following the North Star”

Rhiannon Giddens is the blueprint. When I think about my artistic future and the way I want to be able to glide between media, between contexts, between areas of expertise and subject matter, between pop and roots and so many other musical communities, I think of Rhiannon. The way she has built her career around her artistic and political perspective, so that no matter what she does it feels grounded in her personality and selfhood is exactly how I want to be as an artist and creator. Plus, I always want to be as big of a music nerd and as big of an old-time nerd as her. 

Maya de Vitry – “How Bad I Wanna Live”

Maya is one of those writers and musicians who just makes me feel seen and heard and understood, and I know I’m only one in a huge host of people who would say the same. The vulnerability and transparency in her writing and the emotional and spiritual availability within it are astounding. Plus, she’s almost always, constantly challenging herself to consider the ways she creates and makes music outside of consumerism and art as a commodity. I moved to Nashville to be challenged, musically and artistically, by those around me and I feel so lucky to have Maya around me and a member of my community.

Courtney Hartman – “Moontalk”

Courtney Hartman’s “Moontalk” makes me feel like every single song I’ve ever written about the moon is good and right and allowable. (We both have quite a few songs about the moon, actually.) “Moontalk” feels like Mary Oliver incarnate in bluegrass-informed picking and singing. It feels meditative and contemplative, but not timid or insular – something I’m always trying to accomplish in solo contexts. I’m constantly inspired by Courtney and the way she centers community building in her music and life. She’s another one who, though she thrives performing and making music solo, you know that music came from a multitude of folks pouring through her.

Dale Ann Bradley – “He’s the Last Thing On My Mind”

I thank a few artists who have inspired and influenced me in a huge way in 1992’s liner notes and Dale Ann Bradley is one of them. I feel like I am constantly ripping off and (poorly) mimicking her vocal runs, phrasing, licks, and delivery. I think she might have the best bluegrass voice of all time, or at least it’s very very high up on the list. When I first moved to town I worked as an intern at Compass Records and just getting to be a small part of the team that worked a handful of her records meant so much to me.

Lee Ann Womack – “Last Call”

Lee Ann Womack is another who I thank in the album’s liner notes, another who I emulate vocally as much as I can get away with. I used to wear out this track and this album, Call Me Crazy, listening on repeat over and over. When I found out this song was co-written by an openly gay songwriter, it rocked my world. I already heard so much queerness in LAW’s catalog, and this confirmation came at a time when I needed to feel like I was given permission to exist in bluegrass, country, and Nashville. I know now that no one needs that permission, but it was critical then.

Linda Ronstadt – “Adios”

During the 1992 recording session I recorded a solo banjo rendition of this song, one I’ve been performing for years at shows. It means so much to me and Linda’s performance is stunning in its power and tenderness, a combination I’m often striving for. I hope to release it some time soon as a single, then again on a deluxe vinyl edition of 1992. It will not be the last time I pay tribute to Linda and her incredible career and catalog – plus, she is a huge bluegrass fan! It just makes sense to me.

Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt – “Wildflowers”

When I had the pleasure of being a guest on the hit podcast Dolly Parton’s America, I sang this song and “Silver Dagger” among a few other from Dolly’s catalog that I felt had queer under/overtones. The response to my on-air picking was enormous, and there were immediate demands to release my versions of the songs. Cathy, Marcy and I recorded “Wildflowers” together during the 1992 sessions and it’s one of my favorite tracks that resulted from that week on the mountain. It’s gotten quite a lot of play, which I’m so grateful for, and always gives me an opportunity to talk about Trio and Dolly and how the story in “Wildflowers” parallels many a queer journey. It’s the perfect track to round out this Mixtape and I thank you for reading and listening along.

Photo credit: Laura E. Partain

LISTEN: Justin Hiltner, “1992”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Justin Hiltner
Hometown: Newark, Ohio; now, Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “1992”
Album: 1992
Release Date: December 9, 2022

In Their Words: “The title track for 1992 was inspired by survivor’s guilt. At the time I began writing it, I was reading And the Band Played On and spending a good amount of time studying the movement for queer rights in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. It dawned on me that I wasn’t born after the HIV/AIDS epidemic, I was born into it. And almost certainly there were gay men and queer folks dying of HIV in the very same hospital where I was born. If I had been born a mere ten or fifteen years earlier, there’s a good chance I would have died, too. We lost so much, an entire generation; we lost so many precious, incomparable, irreplaceable souls to HIV.

“When I was diagnosed with cancer and when the COVID pandemic hit, the meaning in ‘1992’ was further unspooled and complicated. While public officials touted HIV as a learning experience that would help fight COVID, I couldn’t help but feel immense anger and pain. HIV, like COVID, is not over. HIV infection rates are on the rise in many parts of the world and in the U.S., especially the South, my home for the past decade. While society races to leave COVID in our rearview — prematurely — endangering so many folks, we forget that we did the same thing with HIV, except with an even greater degree of cruelty, inhumanity, and callousness. We haven’t learned a single lesson. That’s what ‘1992’ is about.” — Justin Hiltner

Justin Hiltner · 5 – 1992

Photo Credit: Laura E. Partain

LISTEN: Bluegrass at the Crossroads, “Cricket” (Feat. Gina Furtado)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Bluegrass at the Crossroads
Song: “Cricket” (written by Jon Weisberger and Justin Hiltner)
Album: Bluegrass at the Crossroads
Release Date: September 23, 2022
Label: Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records

In Their Words: “Justin Hiltner brought this song’s idea and first verse — inspired by watching his cat, Porkchop, playing with a wounded cricket — to a co-writing session in the fall of 2020. I was reminded instantly of the old fiddle tune, ‘Cricket On the Hearth,’ and that put us in an old-time mood that dictated the lyric’s ‘countdown’ format and the music’s structure, with its instrumental-only second part. A few months later, when I started looking at material for the third of our Bluegrass at the Crossroads collaborations, I remembered the song and thought its lyrical whimsy and musical flavor would fit Gina Furtado well. Thanks to her fine singing and some great playing by the entire group — Gina, Chris Davis of the Grascals, the Travelin’ McCourys’ Cody Kilby, Sav Sankaran from Unspoken Tradition and the always amazing Andy Leftwich — it turned out to be one of my favorite tracks from the whole project.” — Jon Weisberger, producer

“When Jon Weisberger told me that he and his co-writer, Justin Hiltner, thought I’d be a good fit for singing ‘Cricket,’ I was very flattered. There is a gleeful obstinance in the mood and lyrics that really cracks me up, and I can absolutely relate to that sentiment. It was super fun recording this one, especially with such a great band lineup!” — Gina Furtado

Crossroads Label Group · 10 Cricket

Players: Chris Davis – mandolin; Gina Furtado – banjo, lead vocal; Cody Kilby – guitar; Andy Leftwich – fiddle; Sav Sankaran – bass
Photo Credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger, “Walking Into Gloryland”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Justin Hiltner & Jon Weisberger
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee, and Brevard, North Carolina
Song: “Walking Into Gloryland” (featuring Ashleigh Caudill, Wendy Hickman, Corrina Rose Logston, Darren Nicholson, and Laura Ray)
Album: Room at the Table
Release Date: May 27, 2022

In Their Words: “Jon and I both adore bluegrass gospel, so when we began brainstorming our next release together the idea for a gospel project was a true lightbulb moment. We pulled a few songs from Jon and Ashleigh Caudill’s co-write catalog, wrote a new one together, and selected a couple of traditional hymns that I grew up singing. We love to treat music-making as an exercise in community building as well, so we tried to think outside of our usual circles to gather the pickers and singers for this set of songs. We’re so proud of the result and even more proud of the message in this EP!” — Justin Hiltner

“We’ve always firmly believed that bluegrass is for everyone. With this EP, we want to make the point that all of bluegrass is for everyone — bluegrass gospel, too.” — Jon Weisberger

Justin Hiltner · Walking Into Gloryland

Photo credit: Jammer Hiltner Photo

BGS Top 50 Moments: Shout & Shine

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

It was late 2016 when the world first learned of North Carolina’s HB2 – the “bathroom bill” – prohibiting trans folk from using bathrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. The International Bluegrass Music Association was having its conference in Raleigh that autumn, and we at BGS were feeling restless about wanting to do something at the conference to create a safe space for marginalized artists who were already not feeling welcome at the annual event. And thus the first ever Shout & Shine was conceived and held at the Pour House in Raleigh on September 27, 2016.

In the years since its inception, Shout & Shine has taken on multiple forms – from a one-night showcase, to a day-long stage, to an ongoing editorial column and video series on the BGS homepage, Shout & Shine continues to create a dedicated space for diverse and underrepresented talent in the roots music world.

“Shout & Shine began with a simple mission, to create a space for marginalized and underrepresented folks in bluegrass to be celebrated for who they are, unencumbered by their identities,” explained Shout & Shine co-creator Justin Hiltner. “Since 2016, it’s grown into so much more but above all else, it continues to be exactly what we created it to be first and foremost: a community. Our Shout & Shine community demonstrates that these roots music genres are for everyone; they always have been and they will be in the future, too.”

Past lineups have included Amythyst Kiah, Nic Gareiss, Kaia Kater, Alice Gerrard, Jackie Venson, Lakota John, The Ebony Hillbillies, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Yasmin Williams, and many more.

You can read about the first Shout & Shine event from 2016 here and more Shout & Shine video sessions and features here.