Artist: Tray Wellington Band Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina Song: “Moon In Motion 1” Release Date: September 1, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I often equate music and nature as one in one, as music is a constant movement that is always progressing forward through time. With this idea in mind, I thought one thing that always moves around us, like music, is the moon. I thought what a better way to progress in my music than channel this idea of continuous movement? That’s where the idea for ‘Moon In Motion 1’ came from, and the song is meant to convey these emotions. This is the first part of a three part movement that will be on my upcoming album.” – Tray Wellington
Artist:Sister Sadie Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Willow” Release Date: August 25, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “When I first heard ‘Willow’ I could hear us doing it. I could hear Jaelee slaying this tune, vocally. I could hear this funky groove that came to life in the studio. It’s got a deep pocket and has been a crowd favorite on tour this summer. This Ashley McBryde-penned tune has become one of my favorite Sadie songs EVER!” – Deanie Richardson
“Sister Sadie is the best thing that ever happened to this song. I wrote it on an afternoon where damn near everything was going wrong. Deanie and the girls tore it UP and gave it the best life a song can have! Jaelee Robert’s voice could sing somebody back to life, I swear.” – Ashley McBryde
“When I first heard ‘Willow,’ I knew it would absolutely fit Jaelee’s voice — and boy, was I right! What an incredible song that was written by Ashley McBryde! The energy in the studio when we cut it was palpable. When we play a show now, I can’t wait ’til we get to ‘Willow’ in the set. It’s as much fun to perform live as it was to record it! It rocks!” – Gena Britt
Artist:The Grascals Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “I Go” Release Date: July 28, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I sat down at the dinner table with one of my best friends, Darren Nicholson, (I work at a recovery treatment center in Asheville, North Carolina, often and I stay with Darren and his wife while in town) back in February of this year with the intention of writing our first song together. ‘I Go’ is the result of that writing session. The song ‘I Go’ comes from a previous vantage point and paints a picture of a darker time in both of our lives. Since Darren and I are now both in recovery together, we bounced some ideas off of each other from our personal journeys… combined with a little fiction that was easy to create from our past intoxicated minds. I feel like the story we came up with is one of my favorite songs I’ve written to date and I’m really glad that it was with Darren.
“‘I Go’ is a catchy melodic, up-tempo tune with an edgy, dark, true-life subject that many choose to avoid. However, we decided to face it head on and The Grascals took it and made it their own – OUR own. I am so excited to be back in this band and creating music with my friends again, and I’m thankful that we are the ones telling this story.” – Jamie Johnson
Artist:The Cleverlys Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Creep” Album:Solid Butter Release Date: July 28, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “The audience is loving ‘Creep’ in our live show. Starting with the initial recognition of the iconic Radiohead tune and the irony of us doing it — classic. The 3/4 timing gives it a fresh sound and sets it apart from other covers of the song, but the shining moment comes when Haggis sings the bridge. There’s a point, when he hits and holds out the last note, that the audience explodes, sometimes even giving him a standing ovation in the middle of the song. It’s a chill pimple moment for sure.” – Dr. Digger Cleverly
Artist:The Chuck Wagon Gang Hometown: The current members are pretty scattered, but The Chuck Wagon Gang originated in Fort Worth, Texas Song: “I Will Not Cry Today” Album:Come Go With Me Release Date: June 30, 2023 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “Our main focus for this Chuck Wagon Gang recording was to find new songs. We had received several from writer Tami Pockstellar, who had written ‘Two Gardens’ from our previous project. Tami’s lyrics and melodies capture the freshness we were searching for, and ‘I Will Not Cry Today’ is a perfect example. It was challenging but fun to add this exciting bluegrass-styled song. I really believe these lyrics will be uplifting to listeners because they encourage us to keep pressing on, no matter the situation we find ourselves in.” – Shaye Smith, The Chuck Wagon Gang
“’I Will Not Cry Today’ was a great opportunity to feature The Chuck Wagon Gang as a trio and bring in some bluegrass-styled accompaniment, which the group wanted to feature on this album. The bluegrass world has always had a kinship with the music of the original Chuck Wagon Gang and it was special to be able to blend the two worlds together on this new song for the Gang.” – Jeremy Stephens, producer
Ask any fan of bluegrass, and part of what inspires their love is the experience of feeling the music.
The reverberations of wood and string. Thick harmony hanging in the air. That magic interplay of creative spirits trading instrumental breaks back and forth without speaking a word. Until now, you could really only get that in a live setting. But with Dolby Atmos, we’re getting closer than ever to capturing it.
This new spatial audio format is slowly changing the listening experience – and for once, bluegrass music is at the forefront. Labels like Crossroads Music Group – which includes Mountain Home Music Company and Organic Records – are recording and mastering their music with Dolby Atmos, and platforms like TIDAL are fully onboard, adopting it for their “Bluegrass: Dolby Atmos” playlist.
It’s a win-win, really. Fans get that full-bodied, textured-listening experience – and artists love it, too. According to them, bluegrass is particularly well suited to the spatial-audio revolution.
“It’s perfect because of the organic nature of the music,” says Darren Nicholson (formerly of Balsam Range), who is featured on the TIDAL playlist. “It feels like you are standing in the middle of a jam session in the living room.”
“As a listener of bluegrass music, it feels groundbreaking to listen to the genre in Dolby Atmos,” adds Jesse Iaquinto of Fireside Collective, praising how the Bluegrass: Dolby Atmos playlist highlights bluegrass’s “depth” – with all its tone and timbre included.
In fact, artists like Jeremy Garrett of The Infamous Stringdusters say bluegrass is “prime candidate” for new tech like Dolby audio.
“Bluegrass music in particular is very dynamic and has great sonic separation built in by nature of the instruments usually involved,” he explains. “The extra space gives it the breathing room the music needs to really ‘pop’ for a recorded music listening experience.”
That was the idea for TIDAL’s Editor-in-Chief, Tony Gervino, too. He calls bluegrass “one the most dynamic and vital branches within today’s country music,” and notes that “as the Bluegrass sound itself expands, so do the listening possibilities for its fans.”
He and his team created the Bluegrass: Dolby Atmos playlist to celebrate that very expansion. They ended up with an expert-curated lineup which includes artists from across the bluegrass spectrum, from Lonesome River Band and Balsam Range, to Unspoken Tradition, Benson, The Grascals, The Cleverlys and more. Many of them are also part of Crossroads Music Group.
To them, the magic is in the way Atmos recording makes each listener feel surrounded – even through tiny computer speakers. You don’t just hear the notes, you hear the way each musician and their instrument play off one another, and how it all blends together.
Before now, that has never really been captured in recorded music – not even bluegrass, with its intricately woven textures and overlapping parts. So for Iaquinto, this new playlist is especially gratifying.
“With no drums or percussion, bluegrass musicians are always playing subtle but intricate parts,” he explains. “These can go unheard on other forms of audio, but with spatial audio, they are brought to the forefront.
“The vocals are brightened up and colored in a way that finally gives the recorded songs the respect and focus they deserve,” he goes on. “As someone who loves acoustic music, I am extremely happy with the level of quality provided by Dolby audio.”
For artists like Nicholson, the appreciation is perhaps more simple. Calling Dolby Atmos the “ultimate experience,” he praises the way fans can finally sense the attention to detail bluegrass musicians put into their work – a labor of love he likens to crafting “an amazing bouillabaisse.”
You might not know what’s in it, but you know it’s delicious.
“I’m proud of it. I’m proud for listeners to hear it,” Nicholson says, speaking of his music being recorded in Dolby Atmos, and placed on playlists like TIDAL’s Bluegrass: Dolby Atmos. “It is the way to enjoy the music with the utmost clarity. It’s a completely unique listening experience. Whether the average listener knows why, they do know that something is different. And in a good way.”
Editor’s Note: This post is sponsored by Crossroads Label Group.
North Carolina musician Tray Wellington is fresh off a nomination for this year’s IBMA New Artist of the Year, following the release of his full-length debut album Black Banjo. Still in his early 20s, Wellington pulls from a myriad of influences — on his latest album he cites jazz as the major influence of his progressive bluegrass style. Many other banjo players of this younger generation are using the influence of genre and blurred genre lines, adapting and subverting narrative and traditions, and utilizing sheer unrestrained creativity to operate outside the traditional confines of the instrument.
In honor of BGS Banjo Month, Wellington gathered a collection of current artists who are thinking outside the box, creating their own voice on the banjo in new and innovative ways, and striving to make the banjo a better-known and appreciated sound.
A few short weeks ago the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina, were once again filled with bluegrass lovers at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass conference and festival. Banjoist and Momentum Award winner Tray Wellington was everywhere to be found during the festivities — performing, hosting this year’s Momentum Awards luncheon, and playing a main stage set at the Red Hat Amphitheater. This is remarkable because if you had looked for Wellington at IBMA just a few short years ago, you might not have run into him except on the youth stage or in the halls, jamming.
Catapulted by his prior work with the talented young band Cane Mill Road, his studies at East Tennessee State University’s bluegrass program, and a stable of accomplished and connected mentors and peers, Wellington went from a newbie to a seasoned veteran faster than a global pandemic could subside — and during it. Efforts for better and more accurate representation in bluegrass have contributed to his momentum (no pun intended), but above all, his talent and his envelope-pushing approach to the five-string banjo are the root causes of his mounting and well-deserved notoriety.
Last year, during World of Bluegrass, Wellington performed as part of our Shout & Shine Online virtual showcase. For 2021’s edition of the biggest week in bluegrass, we connected via phone after the conference to talk about these leaps and bounds in his career, the ever-increasing tempo of his music-making and performing, and what’s coming up next for the young picker. We also discuss why making the bluegrass community more inclusive is so important — and how his own progress in the industry over a few short years reinforces that point.
BGS: You were so busy at IBMA this year! Let’s start there — can you talk a bit about the growth that you’ve experienced over the past few years? Because this year you were everywhere and doing everything in Raleigh!
Tray Wellington: [Laughs] Yeah, it was kind of a crazy week! It was a lot of new things, like you said, that I’ve never done before. But I think it really opened me up to a lot more ideas of what I can do in the music industry. I started out the week going to the business conference and then on Wednesday I hosted the Momentum Awards. And that was kind of a crazy thing for me, you know, I’ve never done anything in that regard, as far as hosting a whole awards show. I got asked to do it and I was kind of nervous about actually doing it. I remember getting up there like, “Dang! I can’t back out now!”
It’s a cool experience! Especially when people come up to you afterwards and tell you you did a good job. It makes you feel good about your progress over the last couple of years and I’m glad that people put faith in me and thought I would do a good enough job at it so they did ask me to do it.
You’re going from being an instrumentalist, a sideman, and a technician of the instrument to being a frontman and a recording artist. I wonder how that shift has felt to you? How does it feel to be in charge and “guiding the ship?”
It’s been a really weird experience. Before, when I was just being a sideman, I had a great time with that, because it did open me up to a lot of different types of music and getting to learn a lot of music. But that’s something I still try to do with my band now. I try to incorporate those ideas from my band members, because I did learn so much [when I was in other bands]. I think the most important thing in a band is hearing other people’s perspectives. I love the other band members bringing songs to me and being like, “Hey, can we do this?” Working up their music [is just as important] as working up my music and the arrangements for my stuff.
There have been people who do great front work who choose all of the material for their bands — I’m not saying that doesn’t happen. I just think that when I’ve seen bands that really get along and take each other’s musical perspectives in, it’s been a much more natural and calm feeling. Versus the feeling of, “Oh, somebody messed something up!” That was something I felt more when I was a sideman, I was so serious. It’s good to be serious, but it’s also good to stay relaxed.
To me, you have a very traditional approach to banjo playing while at the same time, you don’t necessarily seem too concerned with what is or isn’t bluegrass. Can you talk about what musically guides you and inspires you as you’re playing more in the bandleader headspace? How do you want to sound and why do you want to sound that way?
It’s interesting that you mention that, because most of the time I usually get feedback that I’m more of a progressive musician, like 95 percent of the time. So it’s interesting that you say that — I love everybody’s observations. I would say, when I was playing with Cane Mill Road I definitely had more of a traditional approach to the banjo. I still get a lot of my attack from that. When I’m thinking about music, though, I love all forms of music and I want to play all forms of music. That’s something I really try to do. I try to incorporate sounds from jazz — I studied jazz a little bit in college. That was a big thing for me, taking in those sounds and inspirations. As well as taking from other forms of music, because that’s the way the genre grows.
I’ve been really getting away from trying to sound like anybody, necessarily. That’s been my big thing. I want to be one of those musicians that tries to make my own voice on the instrument overall and gives my own ideas to it. A lot of that came from studying different players, like Béla Fleck and Scott Vestal and Noam Pikelny. Not just studying them, but studying the old school kind of stuff as well.
You just took IBMA by storm, you’re signed to Mountain Home Music Company — so much is coming down the pipeline for you it almost feels like too big of a question to ask, but I have to ask: What are you excited about? What are you looking forward to as you just finished this really busy, business-y week?
There’s a lot of stuff going on! It’s something I’m still thinking about myself, like what is my next major step? What’s the next move? That’s something I think a lot about. I’m looking forward to getting out and playing music live again next year. I’m playing more music live this year, but not as much with the pandemic. It’s slowed everything down. I’m also looking forward to getting into the studio at Mountain Home and recording — well, finishing my album. We’ve got some stuff recorded, but we’re kind of in the process of planning and trying to finish that project. I think it’s going to be really fun. I’m really trying to get away — not to like, disagree with what you said earlier! [Laughs] — but I’m really trying to get away from people perceiving me as more of a traditional player.
You’re trying to sound like Tray Wellington.
Exactly. I’m trying to branch away. I’m more drawn to the modern sounds, so when I present this new album I am wanting it to be more of an eclectic kind of thing.
I’m also excited about this upcoming performance I did for CNN on W. Kamau Bell’s program, United Shades of America with Nikki Giovanni. We did it at the Highlander Center, which is a historical civil rights school [in East Tennessee]. We went up there and I got to sit with Kamau and Nikki and a lot of great organizers from the area and get to play music for them. It was super fun. I’m wanting to do more stuff there in the future. It’s such a historic place. It’s crazy, before this shoot I didn’t know what the Highlander Center was and I grew up an hour and twenty minutes from there. The government of Tennessee hates the Highlander Center for their work there. It’s such a taboo thing to talk about in East Tennessee. I had never heard of it. They gave me a whole tour of the place and told me a ton of the history and I was like, “I’ve never even heard of this!” They had a building burnt down like two years ago by white supremacists.
I know!! And this is after the state and the KKK trying so many times to run them out. It’s shocking so few people know about it, but that’s all by design. I’m so glad to hear you’re connected there! Especially with the current movement for inclusion in this music, it makes so much sense to partner with an organization like the Highlander Center, which is based in the home region of these musics and has always been a leader in the fight for justice.
Yeah, absolutely. With diversity and inclusion in bluegrass, there needs to be more focus on it. Because the typical bluegrass fan base is white people, no matter what walk you’re from. It’s a lot of white people and white men, just to be honest. I think it’s one of those things where, if you want to get outside people into the music you need to encourage people who are of diverse backgrounds that this music can be inclusive. That’s the way that you move towards more people doing it. There have been a lot of factors that have contributed to this. The biggest problem I’ve seen is not a whole lot of nationwide outreach. There are a few great programs, like Jam Pak in Arizona by Anni Beach, she’s doing great work right now.
We just interviewed Fair Black Rose, of Jam Pak, for the other part of our special IBMA Shout & Shine coverage!
That’s great work they’re doing there! It’s a band of all diverse people from all walks of life. That’s such a great thing to see. I listened to one of their sets and I thought, “This is such a great thing.” Even when I started music I didn’t see anything like that at IBMA. It was such an interesting thing, despite the pandemic and this being a pretty low-attended year of World of Bluegrass. This was the most diverse year I’ve ever seen. … I remember going to IBMA five or six years ago for the first time and looking around and being like, “I’m the only person of color here.”
It’s that way at a lot of bluegrass festivals I go to — which is crazy, cause if you think about it, this is the International Bluegrass Music Association. There are supposed to be people from all over, as well. I’m not talking bad about IBMA, but I think the biggest need is more outreach. To people of color, but the LGBTQ+ community, too. Sometimes it’s a difficult thing to do, it can be easier said than done, but definitely I think it can be done, because other music forms have done it. For years! And they’ve had very big success. I think it just takes that initiative and drive to do it.
Artist:Chris Jones & The Night Drivers Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Groundhog’s Retreat” Album:Make Each Second Last Release Date: October 15, 2021 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “Instrumentals I write are often ones that would serve as song melodies, too, if they had words, and that’s the case here. I wrote it on the guitar, but envisioned it as a mandolin tune, so I wanted to bring in Mark Stoffel to join in the composition and take it in that direction.” — Chris Jones
“Chris presented me the idea for an instrumental co-write on ‘Groundhog Day,’ which is an important day in the Stoffel household because we get to watch our all-time favorite movie. Need I say the title? In any case, I loved the melody and the structure of the tune …. and to be honest, I didn’t have to add much to it, just a few minor tweaks. But I do take full credit for the title!” — Mark Stoffel
Artist:Unspoken Tradition Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina Song: “Irons in the Fire” Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “When Unspoken Tradition first started playing in an organized way, we came up with the slogan, ‘Working Class Bluegrass.’ We’ve all held full-time jobs the whole time we’ve been together and I think we’re all proud to be workers, providers, and family men. I also think it means we can all relate well to the message of ‘Irons in the Fire.’ To me, this song is about trying to find solace in the grind; being able to separate the headaches that come with hard work from the purpose and product it provides. This song reminds me of all the hard-working men and women in my family who came before me, who directly or indirectly affected my quality of life. Every time we perform this song, I can see their faces. Songwriters Aaron Bibelhauser and Steve Guenthner really outdid themselves with this song and I’m thankful we had an opportunity to record it. We shot the video in a blacksmith shop on the campus of Warren Wilson College. It was hot and the whole place looked, smelled, and felt like hard work, if work ever had those characteristics. It was the perfect spot to capture the theme of ‘Irons in the Fire’ and the energy there made us all dig into the recording process even more.” — Audie McGinnis, Unspoken Tradition (vocalist and guitarist)
Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither
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