Tag: Nashville

LISTEN: Bill Filipiak, “Conesus Lake”

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Artist: Bill Filipiak
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Conesus Lake”
Album: Medicine I Need
Release Date: October 1, 2021

In Their Words: “I don’t think it’s any secret that our lives can quickly become overwhelming. The blues are all around us and can hit us at any time for a multitude of reasons. The past year in particular has been hard on everyone. We’ve all had to deal with unprecedented stress. It’s left so many of us mentally and physically spent. When life becomes overwhelming like that, we all need a place we can go that soothes our soul. For some it’s the beach, for some it’s the mountains, for me it’s Conesus Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York.

“Conesus Lake has been an oasis for me for 12 years now, and when I’m struggling with something, that’s where I go to recharge and clear my head. It’s like a baptism, a rebirth, a natural state of solitude that serves as a medicine. In the song, I’m singing about a specific place, but really Conesus Lake is a state of mind — that place you go when you need to look inward, put things behind you and start with a fresh perspective. And when you find that place, it becomes possible to take a piece of it with you, to help you cope with life’s pitfalls until the next time you can return to your own Conesus Lake.” — Bill Filipiak

Photo credit: Kristi Filipiak

WATCH: Johnnyswim, “Devastating”

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Artist: Johnnyswim
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Single: “Devastating”
Release Date: August 25, 2021

In Their Words: “As a married duo it’s easy to write songs about the pleasures of love and romance, but in ‘Devastating’ we explore the depth of love that at its best, isn’t just sweet, but, if all goes right, will be touched by some level of tragedy and hardship. This ‘ring on my finger and a tag on my toe’ kind of love is the soul of the song. Love can be pretty, but if you’re lucky, it’s devastating too.” — Abner Ramirez, Johnnyswim

Photo credit: Chloe Eno

LISTEN: Mike Younger, “Killing Time”

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Artist: Mike Younger
Hometown: Halifax, Canada/Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Killing Time”
Album: Burning the Bigtop Down
Release Date: August 27, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Killing Time’ is a sideways glance at another time and the dreams and people of that time. I had survived the Hall Of Horrors which was the street/squatter experience in New York City in 1992/1993 — and I’d lost more than a few pals along the way. The lyrics take comfort in the remembrance of past friendships forged in the fire of struggle, but swept apart like grains of sand. … I’ve always been deeply affected by the struggles faced by our disenfranchised communities. I greatly admire those writers and creative people in general, who, through their work, have lent their voices to the struggle for equity in our society, like John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, and others. Artists have nothing to lose by speaking their truth, and doing so unapologetically, especially these days. That’s what I strive for in my work. There are enough great songs about pickup trucks already.” — Mike Younger

Photo credit: Michael Weintraub

LISTEN: The Grascals, “Maybelle”

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Artist: The Grascals
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Maybelle”
Album: Up All Night
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “It’s very rare when looking for a song that you find exactly what you’re looking for. This was the case with ‘Maybelle!’ The song sounds like it came from deep within the mountains. From the haunting words to the clawhammer banjo and fiddle, this song will grab your attention.” — John Bryan, The Grascals

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

BGS 5+5: Darrin Bradbury

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Artist: Darrin Bradbury
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Artvertisement

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

It’s not from being on stage, but this one time, my tour manager Josh and I broke down an hour outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, on the way to opening for Robert Earl Keen. The van just up and died. We were on the side of the highway wondering what to do when we called AAA. It turned out that we were just below the amount of miles that AAA would tow — making our arrival to open for Robert Earl Keen, pulling up right behind the tour bus in a tow truck, jumping out of said tow truck, running on stage, plugging in and playing.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

Unfortunately, I find that often characters hide behind me, making me speak for them as they cower behind me, quite frankly it’s exhausting. I wish they’d just speak for themselves, I just keep collecting them, as voices in my head.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show

Before every show I’m usually pretty antsy. Offstage I’m fairly introverted. One of my best friends from back in New York wrote this song about a decade ago on a road trip we were on through the Midwest called “Moon in the Blue Sky.” I always find a quiet spot to sing it to myself.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

Abstract expressionism, gestural painting, de Kooning, Pollock, Picasso, as well as authors Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Bukowski, John Fante. I also dance when no one’s looking.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

Every song is the toughest, roughest, most pain in the ass, shit kicker, tooth knocker, sock rocker, and you don’t always win.

Photo credit: Weston Heflin

LISTEN: Andy Peake, “Hip Replacement”

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Artist: Andy Peake
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Song: “Hip Replacement”
Album: Mood Swings
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Label: Biglittle Records

In Their Words: “A friend of mine was talking about needing a hip replacement and I immediately locked into the double meaning of the term. The music for the song was inspired by an often-heard melodic hook found on some of Miles Davis’ and other popular jazz compositions of the ’50s and ’60s. Lay that hook on top of a salsa rhythm and spice it up with some Middle Eastern modal rock guitar and you have a danceable international flare that is uniquely American. Regarding the lyrics/theme… Sometimes as we get older, we get set in our ways — and may need a jump start. ‘Hip Replacement’ is intended as a poetic, virtual set of jumper cables.” — Andy Peake

Photo credit: Karen Leipziger

WATCH: Side Pony, “Bad Ideas”

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Artist: Side Pony
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Bad Ideas”
Album: Lucky Break
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Mule Kick Records

In Their Words: “This tune was actually inspired by a person in our life who had nothing but poor suggestions to offer us and it’s a discussion as to whether the fallout is worth it. But it morphed into a celebration of our own bad ideas, which are decidedly more fun. Except our latest bad idea, which was to make our own Laverne & Shirley-esque sitcom for the music video collaboration with East Nashville filmmaker Scot Sax.” — Alice Wallace, Side Pony

“Yeah, that’s one song I’m glad we got out of idea land and into tangible form. Getting those impulses down on paper and embedded in an Alt-C rock stomp can be better than embedding them into your personal life. If you can’t beat your bad ideas, join ’em!” — Caitlin Cannon, Side Pony

Photo credit: Adrienne Isom

WATCH: Tim Easton, “Speed Limit”

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Artist: Tim Easton
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Speed Limit”
Album: You Don’t Really Know Me
Release Date: Aug 27, 2021
Label: Black Mesa Records

In Their Words: “My friend Tree Butcher said the opening line in a sentence and I just wrote it down. It became a song very quickly and it’s the first tune where my daughter helped sort out some lyrics as well. Both my mother and father make an appearance in this one, so the family theme is established further. This is a healing song that is played with a lot of energy to remind you to slow down. The chorus lyric ‘when the pain of staying the same outweighs the strain of making changes’ is an inner rhyme sequence of pain, stay, same, weigh, strain, make, and change — seven rhymes in just 13 words. This is something I learned from listening to hip-hop, or something I was reminded of by listening to hip-hop. ‘The worst enemy I ever had is the one inside my head’ is a notion I got from the poet Gregory Corso who said that the worst critic he ever had was himself.” — Tim Easton

Photo credit: Robby Kline

WATCH: Larkin Poe & Nu Deco Ensemble, “Every Bird That Flies” (Live in Concert)

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Artists: Larkin Poe & Nu Deco Ensemble
Hometown: Atlanta, now Nashville (Larkin Poe); Miami (Nu Deco Ensemble)
Song: “Every Bird That Flies”
Album: Paint the Roses (Live in Concert)
Release Date: September 17, 2021

In Their Words: “Before we could even speak in full sentences, our introduction to the language of music began with classical violin and piano lessons; ever since then, music has been the bedrock upon which we’ve built our lives. Over the years we have drawn inspiration from a wide range of genres, but it has always been a dream of ours to find a way to honor our classical upbringing. Paint the Roses was born out of a fortuitous, one-night collaboration with Nu Deco Ensemble. In hearing our Roots Rock ‘n’ Roll repertoire reinterpreted through an orchestral lens, it felt like a creative circle was being completed; we wanted to share the performance on a grander scale and, thus, our first-ever live album came into being. We are deeply indebted to Sam Hyken for writing such incredible orchestra arrangements and also to Jacomo Bairos for conducting such a magical evening of music.” — Rebecca and Megan Lovell, Larkin Poe

“During the challenging times of this past year, music served the critical purpose of connection to one another. Among those valuable connections was our first collaboration with the amazing duo Larkin Poe and the live album that resulted from it. ‘Every Bird That Flies’ was a song that we immediately knew had to be a part of this collaboration. One of our favorite moments of production week with Larkin Poe was watching Rebecca and Megan’s faces when they first heard how massive the lap steel solo section of this combined with an orchestra.” — Jacomo Bairos and Sam Hyken, Nu Deco Ensemble Co-Founders and Artistic Directors

Photo credit: Alex Markow

WATCH: Adia Victoria, “Magnolia Blues”

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Artist: Adia Victoria
Hometown: Campobello, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Magnolia Blues”
Album: A Southern Gothic
Release Date: September 17, 2021
Label: Canvasback

In Their Words: “In an unpublished manuscript in 1933, William Faulkner spoke on the Southerner’s ‘need to talk, to tell, since oratory is our heritage.’ After a year spent in my room in Nashville, I wondered what stories I had to tell.

“Often the only view of the South beyond my window was the magnolia tree in my backyard. It blocked the rest of the world from my sight. I limited my gaze to its limbs, its leaves and the obscene bloom of its iconic white flower.

“The magnolia has stood as an integral symbol of Southern myth making, romanticism, the Lost Cause of the Confederates and the white washing of Southern memory. ‘Magnolia Blues’ is a reclaiming of the magnolia — an unburdening if its limbs of the lies it has stood for. This song centers the narrative of a Black Southern woman’s furious quest to find her way back home to the South under the shade of her magnolia.

“‘Magnolia Blues’ is an ode to Southern Black folk — too often hemmed out of what we mean when we say ‘Southerner’ — and it is also an ode to the South itself. To rescue it from — in the words of William Faulkner — ‘a make believe region of swords and magnolias and mockingbirds which perhaps never existed.'” — Adia Victoria

Photo credit: Huy Nguyen