Tag: Nashville

WATCH: Golden Shoals, “Ain’t No New Orleans”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Golden Shoals
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Ain’t No New Orleans”
Album: Treading Water/Ain’t No New Orleans (Single)
Release Date: November 4, 2022

In Their Words: “I think New Orleans is the most important city in the US. It’s the birthplace of jazz, essential to the blues, and is one of the few places where chaos and spontaneity still thrive. It’s below (rising) sea level, and constantly sinking because of the way it was built by the first colonizers and those who came after. For me it’s a place where I get pushed out of my comfort zone, and learn about life, humanity, and American music. I don’t think the people in power are very concerned with protecting a place like this, or the people in it (the response to Katrina point to that fact). I tried to express all of this in four verses and an anthemic chorus. Hopefully the video, made up entirely of public domain clips from archive.org, reinforces these points. Hopefully things will change before the next Katrina happens.” — Mark Kilianksi, Golden Shoals

Photo Credit: Mike Dunn

WATCH: Charlie Treat, “Swimming in November”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Charlie Treat
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Swimming in November”
Album: Into the Wild Mystic Mountain
Release Date: November 18, 2022

In Their Words: “An autobiographical tale of unlikely lovers from opposite backgrounds brought together by a motorcycle and a shared glimmer in their eyes to do something wild and strange. Based on actual events November 7, 2020, Wartrace Creek Park on Cordell Hull Lake, Gainesboro, TN. This is the most honest and real song on the most honest and real record to date. Danger, discomfort, taking chances, the enormity of love — it’s all in there, fused together by the ancient alchemy of hot and cold, dark and light, north and south. Video by Jesse Weeden, done in one take, Bells Bend Park, Nashville.” — Charlie Treat

Photo Credit: Taylor Ann Bogner

LISTEN: Carolyn Kendrick, “Break of Day”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Carolyn Kendrick
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Break of Day”
Release Date: November 4, 2022

In Their Words: “During the time of a cross-country move, I started waking up uncharacteristically early, feeling a lot of apprehension about what my future would look like. I wrote ‘Break of Day’ very literally at the break of day, early in the morning on one of those anxious mornings. Writing this song was one of those magical meditative moments where everything that has been simmering in the subconscious comes to the forefront and flows out all at once. It’s vulnerable to admit your fears, hopes, joys and frustrations held in life, especially to yourself. This song is near and dear to me, in that writing it unlocked my ability to be honest with myself. Recording ‘Break of Day’ was a joyous occasion, with some of my oldest friends and musical colleagues in a gorgeous studio in rural Maine. I think the intimacy and solitude of the recording process lent itself to the song beautifully.” — Carolyn Kendrick

Photo Credit: RedLineRoots

WATCH: Sunny War, “No Reason”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sunny War
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “No Reason”
Album: Anarchist Gospel
Release Date: February 3, 2023
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “I feel like there are two sides of me. One of them is very self-destructive, and the other is trying to work with that other half to keep things balanced. Everybody is a beast just trying their hardest to be good. That’s what it is to be human. You’re not really good or bad. You’re just trying to stay in the middle of those two things all the time, and you’re probably doing a shitty job of it. That’s ok, because we’re all just monsters.

“This album represents such a crazy period in my life, between the breakup and the move to Nashville and my dad dying. But now I feel like the worst parts are over. What I learned, I think, is that the best thing to do is just to feel everything and deal with it. Just feel everything.” — Sunny War

Photo Credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

LISTEN: Tommy Alexander, “Something Light”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tommy Alexander
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Something Light”
Album: Feelings
Release Date: October 28, 2022
Label: Fluff and Gravy Records

In Their Words: “I needed one more song for the record and I wanted it to be an easy going country number. The concepts I was working on were all about light and laid back moods but I couldn’t pin down anything specific that kept me interested. Then, thinking out loud, it came out: ‘Something light to lift the mood. Something soft, we’ll get there soon.’ Then we were off to the races. Ironically the song ended up being a narrative about the overall mood of a song I was trying to write. I wanted a song that was about the lighter side of life. I don’t have to tell you twice things can get pretty heavy. So… Here’s a song dedicated to keeping things light (whenever possible). Cheers.” — Tommy Alexander

Photo Credit: C. Bruce

WATCH: Katie Cole, “One More Time”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Katie Cole
Hometown: Living in Nashville; born in Melbourne, Australia
Song: “One More Time”
Release Date: October 21, 2022

In Their Words: “I have written my fair share of love songs and painful songs of heartache and loss. ‘One More Time’ is really a softer nod to breakups. Sometimes the passion you share isn’t enough to keep the fire going. Sometimes you are just walking different paths and can’t meet in the middle. It’s really about being brave enough to admit that no matter how much you love someone, if you know it won’t last then you should say goodbye. That way, you are cushioning the fall of what is inevitable. But it still doesn’t make it easy.” — Katie Cole

LISTEN: Justin Hiltner, “1992”

Posted on by Editor

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

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

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

Justin Hiltner · 5 – 1992

Photo Credit: Laura E. Partain

LISTEN: Joy Oladokun with Chris Stapleton, “Sweet Symphony”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Joy Oladokun with Chris Stapleton
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Sweet Symphony”
Release Date: September 23, 2022
Label: Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records

In Their Words: “‘Sweet Symphony’ is a song I wrote about the love that I got to witness my parents share as a kid. It’s about the vulnerability, the fear, and the ups and downs that come from loving someone. Showing all of yourself so that someone else can accept and celebrate you is what it’s all about. I’m excited to have Chris Stapleton on this song not only because he has one of the most iconic voices on the planet, but also, he’s just an incredible songwriter, artist, and instrumentalist. I feel very lucky and honored that he wanted to be part of this song.” — Joy Oladokun

Photo of Joy Oladokun: Sophia Matinazad. Photo of Chris Stapleton: Becky Fluke

A Bluegrass Family Reunion at AmericanaFest: Photo Recap

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Ahh it was good to be back at AmericanaFest this year. While last year’s conference felt a bit lighter than normal years, with the pandemic bringing a tentative air, 2022 felt like a bit of a family reunion as we came back in full swing, especially as BGS gathered through the week with so many of those closest to us to celebrate our 10th year. After all, BGS is nothing without our community. BGS is the community! Take a look at the gallery below for a photo recap of our week in Nashville.

We started things off on Tuesdat at a packed Station Inn for a night of bluegrass with Jason Carter and Friends, featuring special guests like Ronnie and Rob McCoury, Michael Cleveland, Ketch Secor, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Shelby Means, Kyle Tuttle, Vince Herman, and David Grier.

Wednesday brought a happy hour at the City Winery Lounge ahead of the Americana Honors and Awards that evening, as we officially celebrated 10 years of BGS (featuring a ton of birthday cake – thanks to the Cupcake Collection!) and an afternoon of music from Rainbow Girls, Willie Watson, and Kyshona.

Finally, on Friday we gathered at the Basement with our friends at Nettwerk Music Group and Taylor Guitars, with performances from Lullanas, Phillip LaRue, Brooke Annibale, Mark Wilkinson, Old Sea Brigade, and Bre Kennedy.

Photos by Steve Lowry

LISTEN: Mya Byrne, “Autumn Sun”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Mya Byrne
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Song: “Autumn Sun”
Release Date: September 8, 2022
Record Label: Kill Rock Stars Nashville

In Their Words: “‘Autumn Sun’ was written in Berkeley, California, right after the tragic Paradise wildfire smoke cleared. That morning, the harshness of the late autumn light that had been filtered by fire completely changed, buffered and diffused by really tremendous clouds and some kind of refraction. It was the first clean air day, and turned into a very pretty afternoon. My housemates and I all said the same sorts of things about how beautiful and different the light had become as the entire Bay seemed to take a collective deep breath outside for the first time in weeks, and I wrote the song in about an hour on my back porch, a snapshot of the day and a reflection of how seasons of change change us.

“It seemed really appropriate that was gonna be the song that launches this new label — Nashville is changing, and this song is literally about that moment when you know things are about to be different, but you don’t exactly know how — yet. You just know that it’s happening. I believe in Slim Moon, and all the work KRS has historically done to support the cutting edge of music. To have been asked to be the very first artist to release on Kill Rock Stars Nashville both is an honor and demonstrates their commitment to trans women and other marginalized artists being firmly centered in Nashville, in the Americana and country community. This is also exemplified by my longtime friend Aaron Lee Tasjan recording it — he wants to use his skill set and big heart to try to move the needle for me and for other trans people. I really believe Nashville is rising to meet this moment with us.” — Mya Byrne

Photo Credit: Lauren Tabak