You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Jaelee Roberts, Moira Smiley and More

Ready for some new songs of the summer? Don’t miss these new tracks from exceptional bluegrass talents Jaelee Roberts and The Kody Norris Show, New England-based songwriters Moira Smiley and Naomi Westwater, rising country duo the Kentucky Gentlemen, and fellow Kentuckian Jeremy Short with special guest Tommy Prine. It’s all below in our latest edition of You Gotta Hear This!

Jaelee Roberts, “Love Gone Missing”

Artist: Jaelee Roberts
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Love Gone Missing”
Release Date: June 6, 2025

In Their Words: “I co-wrote ‘Love Gone Missing’ with my friend Theo MacMillan (we wrote ‘Something You Didn’t Count On’ and ‘November’ on my debut album). We were swapping around ideas during a writing session and ‘Love Gone Missing’ is the result of that and I really love it! The entire song is written from the perspective of the girl but that isn’t revealed until the last verse which gives the story a different twist. This song has hopeful lyrics about losing the person you love but knowing there’s a chance to get them back. ‘Love Gone Missing’ came together so beautifully in the studio with Cody Kilby on guitar, Andy Leftwich on mandolin, mandola, and fiddle, Ron Block on banjo, and Byron House on bass (and producing), along with Grayson Lane singing harmony. I really hope that y’all enjoy this song and the story it tells!” — Jaelee Roberts

Track Credits:
Jaelee Roberts – Vocals
Cody Kilby – Guitar
Andy Leftwich – Mandolin, mandola, and fiddle
Ron Block – Banjo
Byron House – Bass
Grayson Lane – Harmony vocal


Moira Smiley, “We Are Timeless”

Artist: Moira Smiley
Hometown: Bristol, Vermont
Song: “We Are Timeless” (featuring Shruti Ramani)
Release Date: June 6, 2025
Label: Whim Records

In Their Words: “By February, it was clear to me, living as I am in rural America, that a Pride anthem was going to be an important part of what I would sing this year, 2025. It was life-affirming to film the video with Fiona Small and finish the track in our tiny town with dancers & friends showing up in their fiercest finery and joy against the worry and cold. My friend Shruti and her fiancée Kia wrote the second verse after I shared with them my own story in verse one. We shared our personal journeys knowing that so many humans have harrowing journeys discovering our sexuality and the rules of gender as we become our most grounded and expressive selves. Queerness has shown us ALL – across the eons – that it is sacred to investigate how we express our love most fully and authentically.” — Moira Smiley

“During our first live filming session with Kai and Moira, I was reminded of Brandi Carlile’s stunning music video for ‘The Joke,’ where very real, sensitive humans lip-sync the words of the song so that we understand that this is their song too. GRATEFUL to the movers, musicians, and creators who showed up with open hearts, curious minds, and fierce authentic presence.” — Fiona Small, filmmaker

“Writing these words with Moira felt like opening a channel to something bigger than both of us — a collective memory, a song that reaches back and stretches forward.” — Shruti Ramani

Track Credits:
Written & Arranged by Moira Smiley.
Sung by Moira Smiley & Shruti Ramani.
Lyrics by Moira, Shruti and Kiarah O’Kane.
Kai Fukuda, piano; Seamus Egan & Moira Smiley, percussion & bass. Kristina Stykos & Moira Smiley, edit/mix/master

Video Credits:
Vermont Dancers (in order of appearance): Moira Smiley, Kai Fukuda, Leonore Tjia, Jacqueleen Bordjadze, Laurel Jenkins, Sonnie May Jenkins-Kent, Sophia Calvi, Leila Hon, Marek Zajac, Jenesis Artis, Fiona Small.
Co-directed by Moira Smiley & Fiona Small


Naomi Westwater, “The Empress”

Artist: Naomi Westwater
Hometown: Mashpee, Massachusetts
Song: “The Empress”
Album: Cycle & Change
Release Date: May 9, 2025

In Their Words: “As a New Englander, I’ve found that around the end of the summer, people get anxious about the days getting shorter and the cold coming in. This song is an acceptance that all seasons are sacred and so we shouldn’t fear them. It’s also a declaration of my own sacredness. Written in a field of goldenrod and inspired by The Empress tarot card, this song welcomes in the acceptance, the trust, and abundance the previous song lacked.” – Naomi Westwater

Track Credits:
Ben Burns – Drums
Cooper Evello – Percussion
Don Mitchell – Producer
Talia Rose – Seagull M4
Chris Sartori – Electric bass, upright bass
Naomi Westwater – Songwriter, producer, vocals
Dan Cardinal at Dimension Sound in Boston, MA – Mastering engineer
Andrew Oedel at Ghost Hit Recording, West Springfield, MA – Recording engineer
Philip Weinrobe at Sugar Mountain, Brooklyn, NY – Mixing engineer
Video Credits: Shot by Naomi Westwater with help from Dan Blahnik. Video edited by HipStory.


The Kody Norris Show, “Wild Mountain Rose”

Artist: The Kody Norris Show
Hometown: Mountain City, Tennessee
Song: “Wild Mountain Rose”
Album: Highfalutin Hillbilly
Release Date: June 6, 2025
Label: Rebel Records

In Their Words: “‘Wild Mountain Rose’ came to me from a great friend and fellow songwriter, Conrad Fisher. In my opinion, this song embodies the true simple essence of bluegrass music! We’ve held on to this song for a couple years now, waiting for the right time and right album. I think it fits well on Highfalutin Hillbilly and feel that this song will be around for a long time to come!” — Kody Norris

Track Credits:
Kody Norris – Guitar & Lead Vocals
Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris – Fiddle, Mandolin & Harmony Vocals
Josiah Tyree – Banjo & Harmony Vocals
Charlie Lowman – Bass
Jason Barie – Twin Fiddles


The Kentucky Gentlemen, “To Kill Me”

Artist: The Kentucky Gentlemen
Hometown: Versailles, Kentucky
Song: “To Kill Me”
Album: Rhinestone Revolution
Release Date: June 6 , 2025
Label: River House Artists

In Their Words: “This song ‘To Kill Me’ is for the fighters, the ones who’ve been dragged through hell and still come out swinging with a smile. This is about freedom from fear, from limits, from anything that tries to bury you before your time. It’s proof that we’re still standing.” – The Kentucky Gentlemen


Jeremy Short, “Let It Shine” feat. Tommy Prine

Artist: Jeremy Short
Hometown: Eastern Kentucky
Song: “Let It Shine” feat. Tommy Prine

In Their Words: “A lot of people will come and go in your life, no matter how hard you try to hold onto them. And sometimes focusing on holding on so tightly gets in the way of appreciating moments while they’re happening.

“On the road we meet a lot of really cool people, a lot of really cool, super talented artists, club owners, you name it. But then in a matter of hours you pack up, load out and head on to the next city. You always hope you’ll make it back there sooner than later, that those people will also remember those interactions, that the connections will last and they will want to come back and hang again or play another show together, that’s one of the best parts of getting out there and seeing the world. But because of the briefness of your time together, it’s also easy to get lost in thoughts of ‘Does this really matter?’, ‘Will they even remember me?’, ‘Am I just spinning my wheels?’, so when I wrote this song, I think I was really just trying to find that balance.

“Tommy is a top notch songwriter, man. I still really want to get in there and write one from scratch with him instead of him coming in as a feature on mine. Being the son of one of the greatest songwriters in the world, I’m sure it didn’t hurt – but man, he’s carving his own path, his own way, with his own style and it’s great music. I’ve been spinning his songs since way before I met him, and I’m super grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him and get to know him a little bit.” — Jeremy Short

Track credits:
Jeremy Short – Vocals, Guitar
Tommy Prine – Vocals
Katie Barker – Vocals, Bass
Ron Rite – Vocals, Guitar
Shane Diesel – Vocals, Drums
Johnathan Smith – Keys

Written by Jeremy Short
Recorded at The Pine Box (Nashville, TN)
Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Justin Francis
Mastered by Raelynn Janicke @ Infrasonic Sound Recording INC


Photo Credit: Jaelee Roberts by Eric Ahlgrim; Moira Smiley by Fiona Small

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Rhonda Vincent, Joy Clark, and More

Are you enjoying brat summer? We sure are, too, but as Teddy and the Rough Riders declare with their new video dropping today in You Gotta Hear This, “Catfish Summer” is what it’s really all about!

That’s not all our premiere round-up holds this week, either. We’ve got new videos from folks like guitarist-songwriter Joy Clark and Texan-Los Angeleno Silas Nello, and a new track has been unveiled by Americana duo Ocie Elliott, too.

Don’t miss bluegrass offerings from up-and-comers and legends, both. Jaelee Roberts brings a new single, “Between The Two Of Us,” East Nashville mainstays Greenwood Rye premiere “Down to the River,” and the Queen of Bluegrass herself, Rhonda Vincent, pays tribute to her homeland of Missouri with a song co-written by Opry star Jeannie Seely and Music Row stalwart writer Erin Enderlin. Vincent’s new album, Destinations And Fun Places, hits store shelves and digital platforms today.

To round out this edition of our weekly collection of premieres, don’t miss Moira Smiley’s rendition of the classic Jean Ritchie song, “Now Is The Cool Of The Day,” which debuted on the site earlier this week in honor of Farmworker Appreciation Day. It’s all right here on BGS and You Gotta Hear This!

Joy Clark, “Lesson”

Artist: Joy Clark
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Song: “Lesson”
Album: Tell it to the Wind
Release Date: October 4, 2024
Label: Righteous Babe Records

In Their Words: “My grandma is and was my root and when she passed, I thought about the gems she imparted to me in her 86 years of life. She’d say to me ‘Get your lesson!’ I’d sit at her table and talk to her. I came out to her at that very table. She accepted me. After she died, I sat down with my producer Margaret Becker to write, and the lyrics just rolled out; capturing the way my grandma lived her life. She taught me to treat everyone with kindness and to strive for peace while never backing down from a good fight. It’s a timely ‘Lesson’ for this country as we fight to take our rightful place in the struggle for freedom.” – Joy Clark

Video Credits: Directed and shot by Jared LaReau, Something Human.
AJ Haynes – Creative Assistant 


Ocie Elliott, “Adelina”

Artist: Ocie Elliott
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Song: Adelina
Release Date: August 9, 2024
Label: Nettwerk Music Group

In Their Words: “‘Adelina’ is about a fictional heroine inspired by a combination of legendary musicians and personal idols –people who hone that extra something inside of them to carve their way through the barriers of the tangible world, prying doors open for others in their wake. In comparison to some of our previous recordings, the final result of ‘Adelina’ reflects the way in which it was put together – with a lot of play, compromise, reinventing, and scrubbing at the built-up grime and loose ideas to make a smooth surface for finer grit to be poured back in. To us, it feels louder, more immediate, and present. It’s a song you play when leaving somewhere – a ‘windows down, future open and ready’ kind of song.” – Sierra Lundy and Jon Middleton, Ocie Elliott


Greenwood Rye, “Down to the River”

Artist: Greenwood Rye
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Down to the River”
Album: Hideaway
Release Date: August 9, 2024 (single); August 23, 2024 (album)

In Their Words: “‘Down to the River’ was one of the first songs I wrote when I moved to Nashville in 2020 and the first original song we started playing live as we started Greenwood Rye during the pandemic as the house band for Jane’s Hideaway in Nashville. I wanted to write the quintessential song for what we were trying to do as a band. It is a fun, funky groove with a singable chorus, has a jamgrass style instrumental bridge, and plays around lyrically with some bluegrass themes. I was thinking a lot of ‘Old Home Place’ and how the narrator is blaming others for his problems. So, I came up with the idea to have a character who takes responsibility for his actions. He ‘runs off to the vineyards’ rather than the ‘taverns took all his pay.’ But there is also a level of hubris in the narrator, as he feels like he can just go ‘down to the river’ every time he does someone wrong ‘again.’

“The track features Sasha Ostrovsky (Darius Rucker, Bering Strait) on dobro.” – Shawn Spencer, guitar, vocals, songwriter

Track Credits: Written by Shawn Spencer.
Shawn Spencer – Guitar, vocals
Cat McDonald – Fiddle, vocals
David Freeman – Mandolin, vocals
Taylor Shuck – Banjo
Sasha Ostrovsky – Dobro
Larry Cook – Bass

Produced & mixed by Billy Hume.
Mastered by Pete Lyman.
Matt Coles – Additional engineering
Recorded at Compass Records.


Silas Nello, “Holy Ghost Blues”

Artist: Silas Nello
Hometown: Los Angeles, California via Dallas, Texas
Song: “Holy Ghost Blues”
Album: From West Hollywood
Release Date: August 9, 2024 (single); September 13, 2024 (EP)
Label: Blackbird Record Label

In Their Words: “It came to me in a dream – a sort of fantasized crossroads moment of how mankind trades this for that and we don’t realize until the deal is already done. I wrote this song at the wet bar of my then 1980s home just north of Dallas sometime in 2016.” – Silas Nello

“The video was meant as a portrait of Silas Nello. We went around Los Feliz, West Hollywood, and Wild Horizon Sound, documenting his travels like a ‘day in the life.’ We broke the fourth wall with Silas acknowledging the camera and the audience throughout the piece. What this created was an intimate moment where we’re spending time with him but he was also spending time with us.” – Taylor Hungerford, filmmaker, Silverspark Printworks

Track Credits: Written by Silas Nello.
Silas Nello – Lead vocal, background vocal, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine
Produced by Claire Morison & Silas Nello.
Recorded at Wild Horizon Sound.
Recording engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer – Claire Morison

Video Credit: Taylor Hungerford, Silverspark Printworks


Jaelee Roberts, “Between The Two Of Us”

Artist: Jaelee Roberts
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Between The Two Of Us”
Release Date: August 8, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘Between The Two Of Us’ was written with my friends Donna Ulisse and Kristen Bearfield. When we got together, we agreed that we’d like to write something up-tempo and happy, and ‘Between The Two Of Us’ is the result of that session. It truly is a happy song about love lasting between two people and what you have to do to achieve that. Getting to hear this song come together in the studio was really amazing, and I am so thrilled with the end result. The musical arrangement provided by Ron Block, Andy Leftwich, Cody Kilby, Byron House, Justin Moses, Stuart Duncan, and John Gardner absolutely made this song even more special than I could have imagined! To top it off, Stephen Mougin and Kelsi Harrigill joined me on harmonies and their voices were the perfect touch to convey the message of the song. I hope y’all enjoy this love song that is filled with words of hope, joy, and encouragement.” – Jaelee Roberts


Teddy and the Rough Riders, “Catfish Summer”

Artist: Teddy and the Rough Riders
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Catfish Summer”
Album: Down Home
Release Date: October 11, 2024 (album)
Label: Appalachia Record Co.

In Their Words: “This one is about visiting my mom’s side of the family who live in Rockmart, Georgia. I was 12 or so and didn’t really wanna visit my grandma Lou-Lou that summer. But instead, my mom dropped me and my cousin off at my uncle Bubba’s house for a few weeks, and he lived in an amazing hillbilly shack on the side of a catfish pond with about ten dogs, deep in the woods. Greatest summer ever! From childhood bummer to high time.” – Ryan Jennings, Teddy and the Rough Riders


Rhonda Vincent, “I Miss Missouri”

Artist: Rhonda Vincent
Hometown: Greentop, Missouri
Song: “I Miss Missouri”
Album: Destinations And Fun Places
Release Date: August 9, 2024

In Their Words: “My Grand Ole Opry sister Jeannie Seely started writing ‘I Miss Missouri’ for me several years ago. She lost everything, including the lyrics she had written, in the Nashville flood of 2010. Fast forward to February 29, 2020, the night she made my greatest dream come true and invited me to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. We have since become close friends, and after the Opry invitation she said the lyrics started coming back to her.

“She invited Erin Enderlin and I to join her in writing the song. ‘I Miss Missouri’ was the inspiration for creating a ‘destinations’ project, with all the songs representing a destination.” – Rhonda Vincent

Track Credits: Written by Jeannie Seely, Erin Enderlin, and Rhonda Vincent.
Adam Haynes – Fiddle
Rhonda Vincent – Lead vocal, mandolin
Mickey Harris – Bass
Zack Arnold – Guitar, harmony vocal
Aaron McDaris – Banjo
Jacob Metz – Resophonic guitar


Moira Smiley, “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”

Artist: Moira Smiley
Hometown: New Haven, Vermont
Song: “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”
Album: The Rhizome Project
Release Date: September 6, 2024

In Their Words: “August 6th is Farmworker Appreciation Day, and I didn’t know that until this year. I am writing this as I sit on a hill above the rolling Vermont farmland where I grew up being a young farmworker and musician. In honor of this day, I’m releasing one of my favorite songs of all time – and the best one I know for reminding us to slow down and remember our roles as carers and tenders of this beautiful planet and the people around us. This week, I’m showering appreciation on the people that grow and tend food in my area; buying from small farmers, donating to the Open Door clinic that serves the medical needs of immigrant agricultural laborers. This gentle video hopes to slow your pace, and bring you along with me in acknowledging that farmworkers make our nourishment possible. Let us thank them.” – Moira Smiley

Read more here.


Photo Credit: Joy Clark by Steve Rapport; Rhonda Vincent by Tanner West.

WATCH: Moira Smiley, “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”

Artist: Moira Smiley
Hometown: New Haven, Vermont
Song: “Now Is The Cool Of The Day”
Album: The Rhizome Project
Release Date: September 6, 2024

In Their Words: “August 6th is Farmworker Appreciation Day, and I didn’t know that until this year. I am writing this as I sit on a hill above the rolling Vermont farmland where I grew up being a young farmworker and musician. In honor of this day, I’m releasing one of my favorite songs of all time – and the best one I know for reminding us to slow down and remember our roles as carers and tenders of this beautiful planet and the people around us. This week, I’m showering appreciation on the people that grow and tend food in my area; buying from small farmers, donating to the Open Door clinic that serves the medical needs of immigrant agricultural laborers. This gentle video hopes to slow your pace, and bring you along with me in acknowledging that farmworkers make our nourishment possible. Let us thank them.

“Ever since I learned Jean Ritchie’s song, ‘Now Is The Cool Of The Day,’ as an 11 year-old, it has played in my head while traveling through fields and pastures, working in my own garden, or worrying about the climate crisis. The words throughout her beautifully crafted song form and melody call on us to steward the earth (and take care of each other). Although she had that call coming from ‘my lord,’ I always felt that call coming straight from the earth itself. I love that these words urgently and gently remind us that we are tenders, not just extractors, consumers, and producers.

“American icons Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the National Farm Workers Association in the early 1960s and it became the powerful United Farm Workers union, UFW. Huerta coined the phrase, ‘Si, se puede’ (‘Yes, we can’) and has been a lifelong advocate for labor rights, women’s rights, and civil rights with her efforts resulting in legislative victories for farm workers. Chavez’s leadership brought national attention to the plight of farm workers and helped secure better wages and working conditions through strikes, boycotts and other measures.

“The official Farmworker Appreciation Day got moved to August 6th by Bill Clinton’s administration, and I’m glad that we get to percolate and act on our appreciation while in this most fruitful of seasons, August. I hope you’ll join me by giving extra love to the farmers and farmworkers whose work nourishes you!” – Moira Smiley


Photo Credit: Fiona Small
Video Credit: Fiona Small

The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 199

Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, the show has been a weekly recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on BGS. This week we’ve got everything from quirky pop hooks by Aaron Lee Tasjan to outcries about workers’ rights by the Local Honeys. Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour. 

APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY

Black Pumas – “Black Moon Rising”

As we welcome the spring, we bid farewell to our February Artist of the Month – Black Pumas. The duo, up for a total of three Grammy Awards this March with their breakout album, sat down with BGS this month to talk about Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition), and the influences that brought them together.

Terrible Sons – “What A Friend”

From Christchurch, New Zealand, Terrible Sons brings us a song this week from their newly released Mass EP. “The song looks into a life that is unravelling internally and externally, a character who struggles to communicate, someone who’s on the edge,” the duo tells BGS. “We’re really singing about being a failure as a friend, about not being there.”

Aaron Espe – “Take You Home”

February brought many great releases; Aaron Espe’s Rock & Roll Man EP is certainly no exception. As the Nashville-based songwriter told BGS, songs can mean many things to many people, all of which are valid, and shouldn’t be ruined by the songwriter explaining it to them – so best for us not to spoil this one!

Lonesome River Band – “Love Songs”

Steve Martin used to tell a joke about how no one could be sad while playing the banjo. And while the banjo strikes a happy tone, songs from the bluegrass repertoire just aren’t the most optimistic – often, they are about heartbreak, loneliness, or death. In their new single, the Lonesome River Band recognizes that we have to write about what we know – and it ain’t always love songs.

Judith Hill – “Baby, I’m Hollywood!”

For Judith Hill, “Baby, I’m Hollywood!” is a defining statement, summing up the drama, love, and pain that surrounds her life as an entertainer in an epic performance and video.

Cristina Vane – “Prayer For the Blind”

From her upcoming Nowhere Sounds Lovely, Italy-born and Nashville-based Cristina Vane brings us an old-time banjo meditation on finding levity in heavy situations, and the bonds and intergenerational burdens shared between mothers and daughters.

The Wild West – “Better Way”

Women-led upergroup The Wild West strike on uniting us all amongst the differences that divide us – touching the idea of being born with love and without hate, and calling us to find our way back to innocence, understanding, and compassion.

Aaron Lee Tasjan – “Up All Night”

This Nashville artist is no stranger to BGS. Tasjan is his own producer on his newest release Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, the most-Tasjan album that he’s released so far — quite literally. From deep personal experiences in his writing to silly pop hooks, Tasjan’s newest album is one worth hearing.

Lily B Moonflower – “Midnight Song”

One thing we’re all surely missing is community, be it local jams, concerts, or just visiting with your neighbors. From Lawrence, Kansas, Lily B Moonflower brings us a song inspired by her community coming together through music and love, and the magic that follows on the honky-tonk floor.

Spencer Burton – “Memories We Won’t Soon Forget”

From Ontario, singer-songwriter Spencer Burton joins us for a 5+5 this week – that is, five questions, five songs to go along. From favorite stage memories to a dream musician and meal pairing, our conversation with Burton is one we won’t soon forget.

The Local Honeys – “Dying to Make a Living”

Even while they’re stuck at home like the rest of us, the Local Honeys continue to get their message out to the world. While in past times they’d be touring Europe with Colter Wall or Tyler Childers, the Kentucky-based duet now sit down with BGS to talk about the problems created by extractive industries like coal mining in Appalachia, reflected in their new two-song release.

Chris Pandolfi – “Astral Plane”

From Grammy Award-winning band the Infamous Stringdusters, ‘Panda’ joins us this week on a 5+5 in celebration of his latest album, Trad Plus Presents Trance Banjo. What’s better than banjos, beats, and Stuart Duncan?

Moira Smiley – “Days of War” (feat. Sam Amidon and Seamus Egan)

With the accompaniment of Sam Amidon and Seamus Egan, Moira Smiley brings us “Days of War,” a song written after yet another shockwave of white supremacy in 2017. While Amidon sings the ‘human’ voice in this song, Smiley is the ‘bird,’ who flies and sings in spite of all.


Photos: (L to R) Black Pumas; The Local Honeys by Melissa Stilwell; Aaron Lee Tasjan by Curtis Wayne

WATCH: Moira Smiley, “Days of War” (Feat. Sam Amidon and Seamus Egan)

Artist: Moira Smiley
Hometown: New Haven, Vermont
Song: “Days of War” (feat. Sam Amidon and Seamus Egan)
Album: In Our Voices
Release Date: February 19, 2021
Label: Moira Smiley Music

In Their Words: “As I write these words for the Bluegrass Situation, I’m traveling for the first time in nine months. I’m seeing the birds-eye view that ‘Days of War’ imagines… and it’s extraordinary to see this beautiful earth today. I’m flying to my beloved California to work with Tune-Yards and write some new music. ‘I fly because I must carry on.’ ‘Days of War’ is one of three banjo-driven tracks on my new album, In Our Voices. This album returns me to my a cappella, collaborative roots and kicks up a lot of percussive dust while bowing deeply to American folk music.

“Seamus Egan (Solas, Seamus Egan Project) and I wrote the core of this song after yet another shockwave of white supremacist hate hurt more people in 2017. It evolved into this form when my old friend and fellow Vermonter, Sam Amidon, said ‘yes!’ to singing the ‘human’ voice so I could converse with him as ‘the bird’ who flies and sings in spite of all. The bird is also the voice of our inner resilience — our artistic and humanistic gifts that carry us through times of upheaval and violence.” — Moira Smiley


Photo credit: Alexandra Defurio Photography

LISTEN: Carrie Newcomer, “Shelter of the Sky”

Artist: Carrie Newcomer
Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana
Song: “The Shelter of the Sky”
Album: The Point of Arrival
Release Date: March 22, 2019
Label: Available Light Records

In Their Words: “Growing up near Lake Michigan, you learn to love expanses of sky and freshwater, so I have always felt a certain kind of homecoming under the dome of an expansive sky. No matter where I am, there is the dome, the wide arms of something always changing but timeless. Because I am a touring musician, I am often a stranger who is far from home. It is easy to get ungrounded when you travel so much. But everywhere I go, there it is again, my feet on the earth and the dome of the sky above.

“The musicianship on this album and this song is nothing less than joyous. What a delight to work with such brilliant and totally original artists — Jordan Tice, Tristan Clarridge, Alex Hargreaves, Moira Smiley, Joe Phillips and Gary Walters. Together it felt like we created something that moved and expanded like fast-moving cloud banks, opening up into solos that felt like flying.” –Carrie Newcomer


Photo credit: Hugh Syme

BGS Top Songs of 2018

Here at the Bluegrass Situation, we’re always eager to hear a new song. This year it’s likely that thousands of them drifted by, each with their own charms. Yet, rather than ranking our favorites, we decided simply to pick 10 tunes that grabbed our attention — listed here in alphabetical order. Take a look.

Rachel Baiman, “Tent City” 
Written with long, tongue-twisting lines and a laconic melody reminiscent of John Hartford’s “Gentle on My Mind,” “Tent City” replaces the former’s voluntary rambler and train yard denizen with a man down on his luck and reflecting on the ease of his descent into homelessness. It’s a strong song, elevated to greatness through spirited, flawlessly idiomatic performances by Baiman and her specially-assembled posse: Justin Hiltner (banjo), Shelby Means (bass), Tristan Scroggins (mandolin) and Molly Tuttle (guitar). “Tent City” isn’t bluegrass-flavored social commentary, it’s a socially conscious and thoroughly bluegrass song. –Jon Weisberger


Birdtalker, “Be Where You Are”
Nashville’s Birdtalker took flight when husband and wife Zack and Dani Green started writing songs more for enjoyment than with career plans. But they’ve got a career now as a breakout band with an intuitive, joyful flavor of folk rock that brings listeners into a comforting fold. “Be Where You Are” is a lushly arranged meditation on staying in the moment, a rebuke to both brooding nostalgia or anxious speculation, not to mention the great screen hole. From getting the reverb just right on the opening guitar figures to the juicy intervals in the vocal harmonies, this is among the most enchanting and centering tracks of the year. –Craig Havighurst


I’m With Her, “Hannah Hunt”
It’s been a big year for I’m With Her, the supergroup comprised of Sara Watkins, Sara Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan. Their album was an expert blend of harmonies and modern roots craftsmanship, but it’s this single (recorded at Spotify Studios) that takes their art to a whole other level. Their cover of “Hannah Hunt” will make you forget that the original Vampire Weekend version ever existed. —Amy Reitnouer Jacobs


Loretta Lynn, “I’m Dying for Someone to Live For”
Loretta Lynn and co-writer Shawn Camp go straight to the heartache on “I’m Dying for Someone to Live For,” a highlight of Lynn’s Grammy-nominated album, Wouldn’t It Be Great. By now, the lonesome whippoorwills and the weeping willows in these lyrics are as entrenched in country music history as the Coal Miner’s Daughter herself. Contributing to the pedigree: Lynn recorded the album in Johnny Cash’s former cabin, with John Carter Cash and Loretta’s daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell, handling production. For those days when nothing but a sad country song will do, you can still count on Loretta Lynn. –Craig Shelburne


John Prine, “Summer’s End”
At 72, John Prine is churning out some of the best work of his already genius-level career. Of all the tracks from The Tree of Forgiveness, however, “Summers End” is Pure Prine Perfection. It’ll make you laugh, then cry, then want to listen to it all over again. –Amy Reitnouer Jacobs


Missy Raines, “Swept Away”
Raines and producer/banjoist Alison Brown brought in the strong-women-of-bluegrass cavalry as the backing band for 2018’s International Bluegrass Music Association Song of the Year, showcasing each woman who was first to win in her respective instrumentalist category at IBMA: Becky Buller, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, and Raines and Brown themselves. Still, the song itself supersedes its virtuosic, socially-important trappings. Written and first recorded by bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis, “Swept Away” is a stunning reminder of Lewis’ artistic ingenuity, constantly creating music that all at once sounds unfathomably brand new and comfortingly timeless. Raines tipping her hat to Lewis, in this context, and then to each of her fellow first-women-to-win, is the cherry-on-top of a song that will always be a testament to the amazing women of bluegrass, in whatever form it may take. –Justin Hiltner


Moira Smiley, “Refugee”
Smiley wasn’t merely inspired by news reports to write “Refugee,” a highlight of her sparkling Unzip the Horizon album. The Vermont native drew on her global interactions with people and cultures shaped by migration and refugee experiences — particularly her experiences in refugee camps in Europe as a volunteer with the Expressive Arts Refuge organization. She even enlisted refugee residents of the so-called Calais Jungle and referenced music of medieval expulsions. “So here we are again, in a different, but related era of diaspora,” she told BGS in March. “What can we learn from the past? How can we be compassionate to each other as these big forces are hurting our brothers and sisters?” –Steve Hochman


Stick in the Wheel, “Follow Them True”
This London band may be one of the unruliest acts in the contemporary English folk scene, finding inspiration in centuries-old work songs that speak to present-day issues of class and marrying acoustic instruments with dance production techniques. Perhaps their boldest move yet is the title track to their second album: “Follow Them True” is a new song that sounds old, with a lilting, quietly majestic melody and a set of lyrics that might serve as the band’s mission statement. But it’s less about what Nicola Kearey sings and more about the way she sings it. She filters her voice through an effects pedal that she manipulates in real time, twisting and bending her voice as though the song is echoing across hundreds of years. The effect is both old and new, conjuring the past to point toward the future. –Stephen Deusner


Aaron Lee Tasjan, “If Not Now When”
I saw ALT perform previews of the songs that ultimately came out on Karma For Cheap at Nashville’s Basement East and didn’t realize how much I needed these weird guitar riffs. Led by “If Not Now When,” the recorded version of this album doesn’t disappoint. Tasjan steps away from his more countrified roots and takes it in a more cosmic, gritty direction and the results are glorious. –Chris Jacobs


Anna Vaus, “The Ground”
The first winner of the Miranda Lambert Creative Fund—which the singer-songwriter created to support women in the arts—Anna Vaus promised to be a formidable songwriter. After all, if she garnered Lady Lambert’s approval, she must have a way with words. Vaus’ debut California Kid showcases her exacting lyrical prowess, leaning into honest moments that aren’t exactly pretty, but she saves her best for last. Closing song “The Ground” opens with ponderous guitar while Vaus’ voice stretches her major moment of self-reflection taut. Laden with grace, she lays bare her penchant for messing up a good thing. “Love sure feels like flying on the way down,” she sings, twisting the final moment with a guitar riff that underscores the weight of her realization. “It ain’t the fall that hurts, it’s the ground.” –Amanda Wicks

The Giving of Voice: A Conversation with Moira Smiley

There’s a video on YouTube of Moira Smiley leading a gathering of more than a thousand high schoolers in her voice-and-body-percussion arrangement of blues great Lead Belly’s “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy.” “Sing with our outside voices!” she exhorts them. No matter where she is, she’s all about singing out, using her voice, encouraging others to use their voices, to sing out loud.

Smiley definitely uses her outside voice, and a few other voices, on her new album, Unzip the Horizon. It’s a bracingly wide-ranging set of original songs drawing on everything from her experience in chorale work to explorations of Eastern European folk music to her time as a touring singer and percussionist with boisterous pop experimentalists Tune-Yards. Tying it all together are with two traditional American songs from the repertoire of blues singer Sidney Hemphill Carter, as recorded in 1959 by folklorist Alan Lomax.

She also enlisted an impressive roster of other voices for Unzip: Leah and Chloe Smith from Rising Appalachia, English neo-traditionalist Sam Lee, folk-and-more duo Anna & Elizabeth, Seamus Egan of the Irish-American band Solas, banjo innovator Jayme Stone, and participants from the Calais Sessions — a recording project with international musicians working with refugees, many of them unaccompanied children, living in hardship of the Calais “jungle,” a makeshift encampment in France.

And then there’s Tune-Yards’ life-force, Merrill Garbus, partnering on the rhythm-forward “Bellow,” which serves somewhat as the album’s mission statement: Please don’t give up. Please don’t hide your voice. So many people did not have that choice.

Smiley has lived by those words, taking seemingly every opportunity to explore musical and cultural avenues. In addition to her work with Tune-Yards, Solas, Stone, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, she’s been featured on jazz pianist Billy Childs’ acclaimed tribute to Laura Nyro; studied and sung music ranging from the compositions of 12th-century abbess Hildegard Von Bingen to 20th-century sonic revolutionary Karlheinz Stockhausen; and sought and shared songs and sounds in such spots as a rural Ireland, rural Appalachia, and refugee camps in Europe, where she has volunteered with the humanitarian organization Expressive Arts Refuge.

And for more than a decade, women’s ensemble Moira Smiley & VOCO has mixed scintillating vocal harmonies with innovative use of various acoustic instruments and body percussion, their 2014 album, Laughter Out of Tears, diving into songs from Scandinavia, the Balkans, and Appalachia, along with originals inspired by those traditions, a Robert Johnson tune, and a moving version of Woody Guthrie’s ever-poignant “Deportees.”

All of that is artfully integrated into Unzip the Horizon, the work of a significant talent finding new possibilities in her voice, literally and literarily. Or as she and Garbus sing on “Bellow”: You ask me why I sing softer now. Did the world beat me down? This is the way we call the unknown, lift the veil to the other side.

There’s a word that’s in the lyrics of at least four songs on this album: broken. Do you see singing, music as a way to repair breaks in the world?

First of all, I love the word “broken.” And I love the idea of it because, from decay and brokenness, always come the new things. But also it’s that reminding ourselves to look around and see all the ways we’re broken. We’re often pushing forward, trying to ignore what’s broken. I’m interested in the compassion of noticing the broken and, yeah, trying to heal it — and realizing that some of it we can never heal.

And music has a role in that?

I think so. Sometimes I think music is just child’s play and has no power. But when I look out at a group of kids that are moving together, singing, as I do with all this chorale stuff, and feel that pride and joy, that’s palpable. Music does have a way of lifting us up together. That’s obvious, right? I don’t know if it changes the world. I feel super-cynical about it, but also hopeful that I’m making a difference.

It’s about giving voice to people’s stories.

It’s true. There’s a lot of evidence in the traditional songs that you make a difference with the singing. Some of the Balkan songs, a lot of Bulgarian songs are about lamenting the role of a woman — that she’s powerless to say where she goes and who she loves. The songs express the powerlessness and, at the same time, acknowledge the roles of the woman and also empower her.

And music has been a force for overcoming oppression — the “Singing Revolution” in Estonia, the role the rediscovery of folk music helped restore national identity in Hungary and elsewhere as they broke from Soviet domination.

As a force against colonialism, it can be very powerful, and that’s across the board. I was just reading Maria Popova. She does Brain Pickings, every week sends out a collection, writes articles with tons of literary references, everything from Zadie Smith to Camus. She’s incredible. She was talking about how Zadie Smith speaks of “othering,” and the relationship of the “other” to us.

I just wrote another song that talks about anger and fear being in the same room and the polarization we see in our country — anger in the other side because you fear the other side because you don’t understand the other side, which creates a cycle.

What did Merrill Garbus draw from you in your Tune-Yards stint?

She drew on the whole spectrum of my voice and also my physicality, which I loved. I was dancing every night! The percussive aspect of her music got into my bones. The interest I had in body percussion, got to play around for a couple years with her and using the fullest voice was such a pleasure. We were singing at the top of our lungs and dancing, percussively, behind her.

Did you write songs on the album thinking about who would sing and play with you, or did you write first and invite guests after? For example, “Wise Man” sounds tailor-made for Sam Lee.

In that case, the song came first, but I really wanted Sam to sing with me on the album. The song came a while ago and when I was thinking of it — a love story, really — I wanted it as a duo with a man’s voice and thought he would be perfect. I adore Sam.

And “Dressed in Yellow” with Anna & Elizabeth?

I always knew I wanted to have them. I wrote “Dressed in Yellow” on the tour bus with Tune-Yards and always heard Anna & Elizabeth singing those responses. It was really shortly after the creation of the song that they came to mind.

The song sounds like a mix of American “shape note” singing and the playfulness of the kind of things June Tabor and Maddy Prior did with English folk songs in their Silly Sisters duets.

Oh, yeah, totally. It’s in the shape of a child ballad [from England], like “The Devil’s Nine Questions.” [She sings some of it] It’s kind of that ballad form, with the statements and responses, and I threw in a little bridge at the end.

And then Leah and Chloe Smith for Rising Appalachia along with the Calais Sessions performers on “Refugee?”

When I was singing “Refugee,” I forget how the time-line went, but [Leah and Chloe and I] were in touch. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, but were talking about getting together to do something, and that made me realize they’d be perfect, with their social consciousness right out front.

The other parts, with the Calais Sessions, they were doing really powerful, well-regarded work in the Calais Jungle, respected musicians. I had [Anglo-Nigerian percussionist] Sola Akingbola in a friend’s living room with a Kurdish percussionist, Rekan Ibrahimi. Sola is from the band Jamiroquai, and went to Calais to work with the Calais Sessions. That’s a really cool bunch of musicians and they released a beautiful album, too. Everything from Eritrean church songs to Kurdish folk.

You have worked with refugees, yourself, so the inspiration for the song is personal.

I’ve been for the last couple of years going with a group of Americans to teach music, bring medical supplies, volunteer at refugee camps in Europe. It’s called Expressive Arts Refuge. I was invited by Betsy Blakeslee, who has spearheaded this throughout the world. She also worked in the Bosnian war in the ‘90s. She’s interested in using the arts to help others.

When we were in the Calais Jungle, and then were in Athens last summer, there were a lot of Arabic-speaking people there. They also speak their own languages, but Arabic is spoken across cultures, and I came to realize what a vast and ancient music culture that is — and how modern it is. I recorded a lot of young Arab rappers, fully fledged hip-hop artists, but they were also playing ouds and sazzes and all mixed together. That was an eye-opener back into some of the early music work that I’ve done, music from Spain in the 1400s and what happened after that [the expulsion of the Arabic, Moorish and Jewish people]. So here we are again, in a different, but related era of diaspora. What can we learn from the past? How can we be compassionate to each other as these big forces are hurting us and our brothers and sisters?

Do you see yourself as a musicologist or folklorist?

Roughly. I have long worshipped that role, the ethnomusicologist, song collector, for sure. I’ve done it, but I wouldn’t call myself anything official.

But you’ve made a point of seeking out singers and songs all over the world, so you are doing that.

Sitting in a field with the Ethiopian musician Seleshe Damessae, that was one of the earliest mind-blowing experiences for me. Literally, sat in a field in the shade of this tree and he just said, “Okay, I’ll give you some songs.” That was years ago … could have been 18 years ago. Those experiences — in kitchens, at the end of a concert, at a party — that’s where the business is. That’s where the magic happens.

You have the two songs on this album that come from the Alan Lomax archives — “Worried Now,” which is a fairly well-known song, and “Leather Britches,” which is probably less familiar. You play around with both of them in your own distinctive ways.

That comes partially because of this long-time project with Jayme Stone, searching around the Alan Lomax collection. The global jukebox is what Alan named it, and you can look it up at culturalequity.org. Enormous resources. Those two songs are from stumbling around on there. She [Sidney Hemphill Carter] sang whatever she could remember, some blues. And Alan said, “Do you have any songs from when you were a kid?” That’s what came out.

There’s a fiddle tune called “Leather Britches.” When I first brought this song out, I performed it with body percussion and singing for a long time in concerts. It was kind of an outlier for this album, but it’s me playing around — prepared piano and putting weird stoppers on the banjo, more fun and experimental.


Photo credit: DeFurio Photography