Artist:Lily Kershaw Hometown: Los Angeles, California Latest Album:Pain & More Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): My family calls me Lou or Lulu
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
Hearing Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” for the first time. I was 8, in the back seat of my parents car, and the world just stopped. I wanted to write like them.
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
The toughest time I’ve ever had writing a song was on a song of mine called “Depreshmode.” I initially wrote it in less than 30 minutes, but it ended up taking me 18 hours (I tallied!) to get it into its final shape. About halfway through those 18 hours I thought something inside me had broken. I was like, “Am I ever going to write again?” I did, of course, write again and I am super happy with and proud of the final shape of “Depreshmode.”
What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?
Just finish the song. You can always go back and edit. You can go back and edit for 18 hours if you want, but you can’t edit something that doesn’t exist. So just finish it.
Does pineapple really belong on pizza?
Yes, but not with ham. If you’re going to add pineapple to pizza, let it be the only topping. Now I want pizza!
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
I really love the song “Mary On A Cross” by Ghost. It was my most-played song a couple years ago. I was also surprised to find this out! I kind of think of it as rock opera, but the internet has called their music things like black metal and doom metal. I think most people, myself included, would be surprised to know how much I love it!
This week, BGS readers enjoyed two brand new, exclusive sessions – one from our friends at Yamaha Guitars featuring JigJam guitarist Jamie McKeogh and the other featuring songwriter/filmmaker Scott Ballew, direct from last summer’s Rootsy Summer Fest in Falkenberg, Sweden.
But that’s not all, we also have a handful of excellent track premieres from songwriters and musicians like Louise Bichan, Alaina Stacey, and Lily Kershaw. It’s all right here on BGS and, honestly, You Gotta Hear This:
Louise Bichan, “Coldstream”
Artist:Louise Bichan Hometown: Orkney, Scotland will always be home, but for now it’s Cornish, Maine Song: “Coldstream” Album:The Lost Summer Release Date: March 4, 2024 (single); April 5, 2024 (album) Label: Adhyâropa Records
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Coldstream’ for my aunt and uncle and all of my cousins in Aberdeenshire, in the northeast of Scotland. Uncle Syd grew up playing the fiddle, but it was never cool at the time – he hid the fact that he did! Nowadays, he writes songs and plays a lot of tenor guitar, among other things, and it’s always a joy to visit Aberdeenshire and play a few tunes with him.” – Louise Bichan
Track Credits: Louise Bichan – fiddle Ethan Setiawan – mandolin Brendan Hearn – cello Conor Hearn – guitar Produced, engineered, and mixed by Ethan Setiawan. Mastered by Peter Atkinson.
In Their Words: “This is the first song I wrote with my now bandmate and writing partner, Sam Gyllenhaal. First co-writes are sort of like first dates: You go in with hope & expectations and sometimes you find true love, and sometimes it crashes and burns and becomes a great story to tell later. Luckily, I found true songwriter love with Sam. I was trying to create new starts and say yes to new things, so I went into our first write and opened my heart to the possibility of a new beginning. Sam met me there 100%. I think it came out in this song – the desire to make a fresh start, to have a do-over, and to be the best version of yourself that you can be. Of course, you can’t go back in time. With every epiphany comes the mistake that gave it to you in the first place.” – Alaina Stacey
Track Credits: Written by Alaina Stacey & Sam Gyllenhaal. Alaina Stacey – Vocals, background vocals Josh Hunt – Drums & percussion Todd Lombardo – Acoustic guitar, high strung guitar Matt Pierson – Bass Dustin Ransom – Keys, background vocals Evan Redwine – Electric guitar, programming, engineer, mixing, producer
Video Credits: Tiffany Roberts – Female lead Caleb Shore – Male lead Directed, Produced, Edited and Colored by Rob Bondurant.
Lily Kershaw, “Americandream”
Artist:Lily Kershaw Hometown: Los Angeles, California Song: “Americandream” Label: Nettwerk Music Group
In Their Words:“As I started to resurface from years of prolonged depression in my 20s, a friend one day was telling me about her American dreams. When she asked me what mine were, I told her I didn’t have any. She couldn’t believe that I didn’t have dreams of things I wanted to do in my life. I mean, I loved writing music and sharing it with people, but after battling with depression for so long, there was no place I wanted to go or thing I wanted to do. I had sort of given up. I wrote this song after having this conversation with her that very night. I was in the midst of recording my upcoming album, so I brought it in the next day to the studio finished, and it fit the album perfectly. I love the optimism at the end. I was really singing that to myself… the idea that it’s not too late, and I can still have dreams and live them.” – Lily Kershaw
Yamaha Sessions: Jamie McKeogh
It was early fall when we met with JigJam guitarist Jamie McKeogh just outside of Nashville, Tennessee to capture this brand new, exclusive Yamaha Session.
For his first selection, McKeogh picked up his gorgeous custom Yamaha acoustic guitar and performed “Streets of London,” a song written by Ralph McTell and popularized in bluegrass circles by Tony Rice. McKeogh laughs as he plays through a handful of takes of the tune, trying to remember the order of the verses and hoping he’ll do Rice and McTell justice with his slightly Celtic-infused rendition. His voice is warm and cozy, accompanied by free and tender transatlantic flatpicking that references Rice as often as it explores brand new sonic territories. “Streets of London” shines with McKeogh’s – and JigJam’s – classic treatment, processing American roots music through a Celtic and Irish bluegrass lens.
Last summer in Falkenberg, Sweden, videographers from I Know We Should shot a series of gorgeous sessions during Rootsy Summer Fest ’23, peeling off from the festival with artists from the lineup to capture intimate recordings of fleeting live performances. For the latest in our Rootsy Summer Sessions series, singer-songwriter and filmmaker Scott Ballew performed two songs on the banks of the Ätran overlooking the historic Tullbron bridge and fly fishermen stalking their quarry in the fast flowing water.
“Alright, I’ll try a river song…” Ballew says, introducing an original with a perfect subject for the setting. The selection is “Tent Song” from his 2021 critically-acclaimed debut album, Talking to Mountains. He continues with “Blue Eyes,” from 2022’s follow up to Talking toMountains, entitled Leisure Rodeo.
“I decided to make a mixtape of the songs that inspired me to write music. It is always good to return to the reason you started something, especially if you find yourself lost in the middle or far from the start and you need to anchor back to where you began. It’s like going home to reground, rejuvenate, and revitalize! Luckily music is a portable home on our phones these days so I can always dive back in whenever I need to. I hope you enjoy my Mixtape!” — Lily Kershaw
Simon & Garfunkel – “The Sound of Silence”
I chose this song to begin with because it was the first song I heard that made me want to write music. I remember the first time I heard it the world felt like it stopped and an immediate desire to create a song arose in me.
Joni Mitchell – “Cactus Tree”
I’ve been listening to Joni since I was a kid, and this song of her’s in particular made me want to write. I love that she is talking about a woman who would be deemed as “complicated” just because of her desire to be untethered and free, but Joni made her seem so alive and well and glamorous. I remember wanting to be like the woman she sang of.
“He can think her there beside him He can miss her just the same”
How brilliant is that lyric?!
Leonard Cohen – “Chelsea Hotel #2”
I have covered this song at the majority of shows I’ve ever played live. Cohen wrote this about Janis Joplin. These particular lyrics break my heart:
“Ah but you got away didn’t you babe You just turned your back on the crowd You got away I never once heard you say I need you, I don’t need you”
Crosby, Stills & Nash – “Helplessly Hoping”
I went through a very dark season in my life and the first thing I would do when I woke up in the morning during that time was listen to this song. It would make me feel better even if only for a fleeting moment. I always hope that the music I write can bring comfort to anyone who needs it.
Bob Dylan – “A Simple Twist of Fate”
“People tell me it’s a sin To know and feel too much within”
I deeply relate to these lyrics.
Joan Baez – “Diamonds And Rust”
Joan actually wrote this song about Bob Dylan. The poetry is next level!
“Well you burst on the scene already a legend the unwashed phenomenon The original vagabond You strayed into my arms And there you stayed temporarily lost at sea The Madonna was yours for free Yes the girl on the half shelf could keep you unharmed”
Cat Stevens – “The Wind”
This song always re-grounds me and connects me back to my heart and my goal to write music and tell stories from my heart.
Elliott Smith – “Between the Bars”
This is another song I love to cover live and have done so often. I love and relate to this passage of lyrics in particular:
“People you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore That push and shove and won’t bend to your will I’ll keep them still”
Nico – “These Days”
I love a woman simply speaking about where she is at in that moment of her life. It is honest, poetic, simple, and profound.
“I’ve been out walking I don’t do too much talking these days These days These days I seem to think a lot about the things I forgot to do”
Sufjan Stevens – “Chicago”
This song brings me life. I feel so many things when I listen to this song. It definitely connects me back to my heart and to the place in me that wants to write music.
Now comes the part of my mixtape that is solely a Simon & Garfunkel appreciation section. Here are some of the lyrics that have most inspired me to write!
Simon & Garfunkel – “The Boxer”
“I am leaving I am leaving but the fighter still remains”
Simon & Garfunkel – “The Dangling Conversation”
“In the dangling conversation and the superficial sighs The borders of our lives
And you read your Emily Dickinson and I my Robert Frost and we note our place with book markers that measure what we’ve lost”
Simon & Garfunkel – “The Only Living Boy in New York”
“Half of the time we’re gone but we don’t know where And we don’t know where”
Now these next two songs are ones I have written. They show the side of what the inspiration from the songs thus far have lead me to create!
Lily Kershaw – “Now & Then”
This is a simple honest folk song about the complicated nature of love and how it changes over time.
“Remember the rooftop parties Remember the friends Remember the way I love you now and the way that I loved you then”
Lily Kershaw – “Darker Things”
This is another of my more acoustic, stripped songs. In it I worry about someone I love very much and how they are hurting and in return hurting themself.
“And you say you hate the way your mind makes you feel about all the darker things in your life I feel you now I can feel you”
I hope you have enjoyed my mixtape of the songs that inspired me to write music!
Photo credit: Lindsey Byrnes
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