Tag: live performance

WATCH: Rachel Sumner, “Radium Girls (Curie Eleison)” (Traveling Light Sessions)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Radium Girls (Curie Eleison)” (Traveling Light Sessions)
Album: Heartless Things 
Release Date: November 21, 2024 (video); May 10, 2024 (album)

(Editor’s Note: Over the last few weeks, BGS has premiered a new series of live performance videos from singer-songwriter and band leader Rachel Sumner. Today’s video marks the end of our series together. Watch more from the Traveling Light Sessions here.)

In Their Words: “‘Radium Girls (Curie Eleison)’ is based on a true, terrible piece of United States history – one that I didn’t learn about in any history book. It tells the story of the Radium Girls, young factory workers poisoned by the very material they were told was safe, and their courageous fight for justice. The title juxtaposes scientific progress with a plea for mercy, tying the legacy of Marie Curie to the tragic consequences of her discoveries.

“Performing this song with Traveling Light keeps the arrangement stark and intimate to let the haunting resonance of the story come through. This video is particularly special to me, because I had the chance to play a guitar that one of my songwriting heroes, Josh Ritter, has used to record many of his own epic story songs. It felt like a beautiful connection to the power of storytelling.” – Rachel Sumner

Track Credits:
Rachel Sumner – banjo, lead vocals
Kat Wallace – fiddle, harmonies
Mike Siegel – bass, harmonies

Video Credits: Engineered by Zachariah Hickman.
Filmed by Lindsay Straw.
Mixed by Rachel Sumner.
Mastered by Dan Cardinal.
Video edited by Rachel Sumner.

Photo Credit: Bri Gately

WATCH: Rachel Sumner, “3000 Miles” (Traveling Light Sessions)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “3000 Miles” (Traveling Light Sessions)
Album: Heartless Things 
Release Date: November 14, 2024 (video); May 10, 2024 (album)

(Editor’s Note: BGS is excited to premiere a new series of live performance videos from singer-songwriter and band leader Rachel Sumner. Over the last few weeks, BGS readers have enjoyed three live song performances of tracks pulled from Sumner’s latest album, Heartless Things, and performed by her touring trio, Traveling Light. Stay tuned for the final installment coming next week.)

In Their Words: “‘3000 Miles’ is an autobiographical song that traces my journey from the deserts of California to Boston, the place I now call home. Growing up, the Mojave felt confining to me and I always sensed that I’d need to leave to find myself. This song is a rambler’s road song, shaped by years of searching. However, it took the stillness of lockdown to finally finish it – when I couldn’t travel anywhere. That pause gave me the chance to look back and make sense of all the miles I’d put behind me.” – Rachel Sumner

Track Credits:
Rachel Sumner – banjo, lead vocals
Kat Wallace – fiddle, harmonies
Mike Siegel – bass, harmonies

Video Credits: Engineered by Zachariah Hickman.
Filmed by Lindsay Straw.
Mixed by Rachel Sumner.
Mastered by Dan Cardinal.
Video edited by Rachel Sumner.

Photo Credit: Bri Gately

WATCH: Rachel Sumner, “Head East” (Traveling Light Sessions)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Head East” (Traveling Light Sessions)
Album: Heartless Things 
Release Date: November 7, 2024 (video); May 10, 2024 (album)

(Editor’s Note: BGS is excited to premiere a new series of live performance videos from singer-songwriter and band leader Rachel Sumner. Over the next four weeks, BGS readers will enjoy four live song performances of tracks pulled from Sumner’s latest album, Heartless Things, and performed by her touring trio, Traveling Light. Watch the next installment here.)

In Their Words: “‘Head East’ is our next release from Heartless Things (Traveling Light Sessions). It has an extra special place in my heart, because it was the first song I ever wrote. Thirteen years ago, I moved to Boston from the Mojave Desert in California (where I grew up) and felt such a connection with the city and a feeling of possibility that I got there – a feeling I didn’t find in my hometown. This song was a plea to my younger brother to get out and find his good fortune elsewhere, just as I had.

“For this song, Kat Wallace trades her fiddle for the tenor guitar, and Mike Siegel adds a sublime third-part harmony that makes the chorus feel like heaven. ‘Head East’ has had many lives and arrangements, but this one is quite possibly my favorite.” – Rachel Sumner

Track Credits:
Rachel Sumner – banjo, lead vocals
Kat Wallace – tenor guitar, harmonies
Mike Siegel – bass, harmonies

Video Credits: Engineered by Zachariah Hickman.
Filmed by Lindsay Straw.
Mixed by Rachel Sumner.
Mastered by Dan Cardinal.
Video edited by Rachel Sumner.

Photo Credit: Bri Gately

WATCH: Rachel Sumner, “Bygone Times” (Traveling Light Sessions)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Bygone Times” (Traveling Light Sessions)
Album: Heartless Things 
Release Date: October 31, 2024 (video); May 10, 2024 (album)

(Editor’s Note: BGS is excited to premiere a new series of live performance videos from singer-songwriter and band leader Rachel Sumner. Over the next four weeks, BGS readers will enjoy four live song performances of tracks pulled from Sumner’s latest album, Heartless Things, and performed by her touring trio, Traveling Light. First in the series is “Bygone Times.” Watch the next installment here.)

In Their Words: “In May, I released my sophomore record, Heartless Things, containing ten original songs with highly lush studio arrangements (think woodwinds, strings, keys, vibraphone!). However, that’s not how these songs are heard live! When touring, I bring my string trio Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light on the road with Kat Wallace on fiddle and Mike Siegel on bass. We gather ’round a single mic and magic happens as we fill out songs that have many shifting textures and moods with just three instruments and voices. We wanted to capture this magic on film, so we spent one day in the studio re-recording the entire Heartless Things album, but as you’d hear it at a live show. And so the Heartless Things (Traveling Light Sessions) was created! This is ‘Bygone Times,’ a song about the restless moments before sleep when your mind wanders down the dangerous ‘what could have been’ road.” – Rachel Sumner

Track Credits:
Rachel Sumner – banjo, lead vocals
Kat Wallace – fiddle, harmonies
Mike Siegel – bass, harmonies

Video Credits: Engineered by Zachariah Hickman.
Filmed by Lindsay Straw.
Mixed by Rachel Sumner.
Mastered by Dan Cardinal.
Video edited by Rachel Sumner.

Photo Credit: Bri Gately

WATCH: Sarah Jarosz Performs on CBS Saturday Morning

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In December, our current Artist of the Month, Sarah Jarosz, appeared on CBS Saturday Morning with her band to perform three tracks from her upcoming album, Polaroid Lovers (out January 26). Watch all three performances right here, on BGS.

The octave mandolin in her arms is the most “traditional” touch of each of these songs. The full band sound, which is ripe with influences from Jarosz’ new home base of Nashville, Tennessee, shines under the stage lights – vibey electric guitars mingling with energetic keys and the low-end, buzzy hum of her mando.

From “Jealous Moon” to her subtle, love-laden paean to New York, “Columbus & 89th,” to the slow burning and erotic “When the Lights Go Out,” Jarosz demonstrates an ease at this point in her career, a sly smile that says she knows exactly what she’s doing, even when she’s out on a limb. It’s a confidence born of living her entire adult life in the spotlight – after all, she won her first Grammy Award when she was merely eighteen.

As NYC did on past albums, Nashville certainly oozes from the songs on Polaroid Lovers, but never in pedestrian or predictable ways, as evidenced by these gorgeous performances from CBS’ Saturday Sessions. Jarosz uses Music Row sounds, textures, and professionals – Daniel Tashian produced the album and quite a few in-demand Music Row songwriters have co-write credits on the project – not as molds in which she fits her music, but each as springboards launching her into new sonic territory, which still hearkens back to songs and tracks we now view as classic Jarosz.

Enjoy these three performances while you look forward to Polaroid Lovers’ release on January 26th – and to our upcoming Artist of the Month feature, coming later in the month. Read more about our AOTM and explore our Essential Sarah Jarosz Playlist here.

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

WATCH: The Band of Heathens, “Heartless Year” (Live)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Band of Heathens
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Heartless Year” (Live)
Album: Simple Things
Release Date: January 18, 2023

In Their Words: “‘Heartless Year’ is a song for the survivors out here juggling the flaming swords of life to hold it together. Recently we’ve all been pushed to our limits realizing we can bounce back stronger than before, and ‘Heartless Year’ is a tribute to that resilience. Our latest album, Simple Things, is an embrace of life’s excess being stripped away, and a celebration of the bare essentials – like friends and family – that pull us through the hard times. This is a recording of the song stripped of its full band arrangement, leaving you with the bare essentials.” – Gordy Quist

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen
Video Credit: Barbara FG

WATCH: Abby Posner, “The Starting Line”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Abby Posner
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “The Starting Line”
Album: Second Chances
Release Date: August 11, 2023
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “I have always been torn between being an artist and having a family, and a part of this song is about working through some of these complicated feelings. ‘The Starting Line’ is also about feeling like an outsider, and ‘falling behind’ — it is a journey toward cultivating a new relationship and new perspective with that part of myself.

“I really wanted to do a stripped-down, live version of this song, because I didn’t want it to be perfect or over produced. The rawness is an important part of the song’s overall message. I have spent a lot of time in Temescal Canyon meditating, hiking, and unplugging from the sometimes chaotic hustle and bustle of LA! This is a place that I have always been able to self-reflect and see things more clearly.

“I hope that other artists, queer people, and non-conforming/unconventional folks will be able to hear this song as an anthem for being able to let their freak flag fly, and be proud of marching to the beat of their own drum.” – Abby Posner

Photo Credit: Jeff Fasano

WATCH: Trapper Schoepp, “The Fool” (Live from Cash Cabin)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner
Artist: Trapper Schoepp
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Song: “The Fool” (Live from Cash Cabin)
Album: Siren Songs
Release Date: April 21, 2023
Label: Grand Phony (US) / Rootsy (EU)
In Their Words: “Joseph Cash filmed and photographed us throughout the sessions for Siren Songs, which was recorded at the historic Cash Cabin. From Merle to Snoop Dogg to Dolly Parton, this sacred space has had many visitors and I hoped to tap into some of that DNA they left behind. ‘The Fool’ is the first song I wrote in an open D tuning. I stumbled upon it while toying with an Irish folk song during lockdown, finding that it offered a whole new canvas to write songs from. It produced a full and vibrant sound in my lap that guided me through writing this record. As I figured out the new shapes up and down the neck of the guitar, I wrote lyrics for ‘The Fool’ from the perspective of a sage, old romantic who’s giving advice to a younger version of himself.” – Trapper Schoepp

Photo Credit: Joseph Cash

WATCH: David James Allen, “Holly” (Live Performance)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: David James Allen
Hometown: Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Holly”
Album: By The Summertime
Release Date: June 9, 2023
Label: Littleknown Records

In Their Words: “‘Holly’ is a song of drugs, dingey bars, old relationships, and backward priorities. Ultimately, it’s a song about losing an important part of your life to backward priorities, self-destruction, or naiveté, and growing up and confronting yourself in the passage of time. It’s about coming to terms with yourself and what it is you’ve lost, and reflecting on it with regret, sorrow, some nostalgia about it, but also having insight and maturity — a ‘grown-ass-ness’ of realizing things are better off now then they were then.

“In this song, the character is a songwriter who constantly prioritized every relationship they’ve been in after they hit a little success, but it sooner or later backfires. I wanted to write a song about tackling work/life balance and social-party/life balance, and in this case, it’s about a songwriter, because that’s something I know well. I feel like so many different people prioritize and occupy their minds with their work or social lives over personal relationships or family, a decision that may not always be intentional. But it does have a big impact on the ones who are left in the wake of that decision. I’m pretty self-aware of this type of work mindset because I can be a bit of a workaholic with my songwriting and creative work. I get obsessed easily — especially when I’m in the flow. I wear a lot of work hats and now being a new father and family man, I find myself regularly seeking ways to encourage a healthier balance. The social nightlife isn’t as much of a concern to me these days, I tend to enjoy being a bit of a homebody.” – David James Allen

Photo Credit: Dawson Bunnett

WATCH: Robbie Fulks, ‘Sarah Jane’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Robbie Fulks
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Song: “Sarah Jane” (Live at BSHQ)
Album: Upland Stories
Label: Bloodshot Records

In Their Words: "I wrote 'Sarah Jane' in kind of a hurry — it being the last slot to fill in the set of songs I recorded as Upland Stories. I thought the record could use one tune that was short, tender, simple, and from-the-heart. It’s about long-ago moments of young romance that flicker in your mind decades on … and when you’re traveling and far from home and less distracted by family business, they seem to flicker with a more unsettling, nigh-unstoppable intensity.

Though it’s simple, it ultimately took a while to record. We tried 25 or 30 takes with different instruments, and the master is comped from, I think, four takes. But the one I did at Bloodshot’s office was one take. See which you think is better!" — Robbie Fulks

Photo credit: Andy Goodwin