Tag: Nashville

LISTEN: Maia Sharp, “Things to Fix”

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Artist: Maia Sharp
Hometown: Nashville, TN (originally Los Angeles, CA)
Song: “Things to Fix”
Album: Mercy Rising
Release Date: May 7, 2021
Label: Crooked Crown

In Their Words: “When I moved into my place in Nashville in 2019 (from California where I had lived all my life) there was, of course, a list of things to fix or upgrade or just tailor to my taste. This was all while I was trying to process the end of my 21-year marriage. I knew there were things I said that I wish I hadn’t and things I should’ve said that I didn’t. I wasn’t sure how to fix that yet so instead I painted a room and then another room, I replaced locks and hinges and repurposed picture frames, you get the idea. I brought this situation as a song idea to my co-writer, Noah Guthrie (who has a great version of the song on his new album) and we saw it all the way through. Eventually I did get to say the better things to my ex and we are lifelong friends but in the meantime I had the cleanest house ever.” — Maia Sharp

Photo credit: Emily Kopp

Artist of the Month: Allison Russell

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Allison Russell has already made an exceptional impression in roots music — first in the duo Birds of Chicago, then as a member of Our Native Daughters. Now with her new album Outside Child, she’s putting her own story front and center. Whether she’s singing in English or French, Russell’s voice feels like satin, comfortable and cool. Yet she weaves some of the most painful memories of her formative years in Montréal into the fabric of her Fantasy Recordings debut.

Special guests on the album include the McCrary Sisters, Ruth Moody, Erin Rae, and Yola. Upon revealing the project, Russell wrote, “This is my first solo album. It is acutely personal. It was hard for me to write, harder still to sing, play, and share. Also a relief. Like sucking the poison from a snake bite. Thanks to the supreme empathy, musicality, kindness, sensitivity, and humour of each artist who brought these songs to life with me, the recording process became — by some mystical alchemy –joyous and empowering…. Eased by loving communal laughter as much as shared tears.”

Specifically pulling from the childhood trauma she experienced at the hands of her stepfather, she adds, “This is my attempt at truth and reconciliation and forgiveness — a reckoning and a remembrance. This is my attempt to be the hero of my own history, despite the shame that has been my closest and constant companion all these years.”

We are proud to present Allison Russell as our BGS Artist of the Month for May. In the days ahead, look for a new performance video, an exclusive interview (read part one here)(read part two here), and a sleek style shoot with this singular artist, who now calls Nashville home alongside her partner JT Nero and their young daughter. Discover more of her musical journey with our BGS Essentials playlist.

Photo credit: Marc Baptiste

BGS 5+5: Sunny War

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sunny War
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Simple Syrup
Personal Nicknames: Syd

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

That’s a tough question for me… I would have to say I was probably most moved by Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten. I really started getting into old blues when I was 13, and that’s when I first discovered Elizabeth Cotten. When I learned that she was around my age when she wrote songs like “Freight Train” I was very inspired. Just a couple years after learning to play “Freight Train” I actually started hopping freight trains! So the song has become even more meaningful to me over the years as well as her extremely unique guitar style.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory from being on stage was when Aroyn (my bassist) and I played with a new drummer at Live Oak Music Festival in San Luis Obispo. We only managed to get one rehearsal in and the whole performance was a bit of a gamble. The drummer was a friend of mine who we asked to play just a few days before the gig. With such short notice we had to totally wing it and ended up playing the most aggressive version of my songs… ever! But the crowd loved it and we had a great time. On stage it felt like a disaster, but afterwards the audience let us know they really enjoyed how chaotic it was.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

I have wanted to be a musician for as long as I can remember. However, I didn’t realize I wanted to pursue music professionally until I was about 23 years old. I had four roommates at the time, a full-time minimum wage job at a mall and no college education. I was so busy working at the mall I had no time for music. I knew that the only way I could afford to be a musician was to either get a degree or figure out how to get paid to play music. I busked on the streets for many years, but slowly broke into the club scene and started touring.

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

Before a show my biggest ritual is running through my entire set a couple times. I don’t rehearse vocals but I always rehearse my guitar parts. My guitar style is so silly that I struggle a lot with remembering how I originally played certain songs.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

I would pair Nina Simone with black eyed peas, rice and cornbread. Cos that meal is church and so is Nina. Southern Blacks have been eating that meal religiously to welcome the new year since long before my grandma made it for me and my cousins, and Nina has a way of giving me a “fresh start” with every listen.

Photo credit: Randi Steinberger

LISTEN: No-No Boy, “Gimme Chills”

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Artist: No-No Boy
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Gimme Chills”
Album: 1975
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Release Date: April 2, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Gimme Chills’ is a laundry list of proper nouns from Filipino history working backwards from Duterte, ISIS, Marcos, Admiral Dewey, the Americans, López de Legazpi, the Spanish, and all the displacement, westernization, mixing, death, love, survival, and living which surround those heavy words. If you simply Google every one of those names, you’ll get a pretty good history lesson. A while back, one of my students called ‘Gimme Chills’ a ‘fucked up love letter to the Philippines’ — well put. When I sing it, I picture myself fronting one of the early 20th century Filipino transpacific cruise ship bands who helped spread jazz, blues, country and other sonic styles of their occupiers across Asia. Closest I ever got was a beautiful, one-night-only jam session with three of Providence, Rhode Island’s finest Filipino American musicians Marlon Battad, Jeff Prystowsky (Low Anthem) and Armand Aromin (Vox Hunters). It was January. It was New England cold. We played this song. Chills twice over.” — Julian Saporiti, No-No Boy

Photo credit: Diego Luis

BGS 5+5: Zach Schmidt

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Artist: Zach Schmidt
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Raise a Banner
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Schmidty is kind of a birthright when your last name is Schmidt, you are going to be called it whether you like it or not.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

If I have to pick just one, without a doubt I would say Guy Clark. I have loved his music as long as I can remember. Sometimes I feel like it has always been a part of me. Every time I listen to him I hear something I have never heard before. The songs tend to evolve over time for me. Over the years I have studied his words in written form, learned his songs, and listened countless times. I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to Guy Clark and his music has absolutely changed my world in a dramatic way.

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

I try to draw inspiration from everything that I encounter but literature and film certainly inspire my writing in a significant way. The song “I Can’t Dance” from this album was written right after I saw the movie Manchester by the Sea. I won’t try and spoil it for people who have not seen it, but the house fire scene absolutely wrecked me when I saw it. Facing loss and working through it is something we all can relate to, especially after a year like 2020 and the way that movie portrayed the protagonist was so beautifully heartbreaking.

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

I think when I try to co-write with someone I don’t know very well. That is something I didn’t know anything about when I moved to Nashville and something I reluctantly tried. Trying to force out a song for the sake of time or a sense of accomplishment is brutal. These days I don’t mind writing with friends but I always need some time to work into my own creative flow.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

I will make any excuse to spend some alone time with Mother Earth. Being alone out in the woods is one of the best ways to clear your head. I love to hike and mountain bike any chance that I can. I also find myself digging through the trash and recycling a fair amount to sort what belongs where. We have to take good care of this place.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Since I was talking about Guy Clark earlier I will stay with him. As he says in “Lone Star Hotel”: “Give me greasy enchiladas and a beer to wash it down.”

Photo credit: Curtis Wayne Millard

LISTEN: The Rose Petals, “They Say You Loved a Good Man”

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Artist: The Rose Petals
Hometown: Nashville / Seattle
Song: “They Say You Loved a Good Man”
Album: American Grenadine
Release Date: April 23, 2021
Label: Envoy Records

In Their Words: “This song is about Calvin Coolidge, who served as president from 1923 to 1929, apologizing to his wife, Grace, for his shortcomings as a husband. Grace and Cal were an unlikely pair, and her friends found the match quite unbelievable. She was warm, friendly, outgoing, gregarious, and cheerful. He was quiet, austere, deliberate, uncommunicative, and sometimes glum. The Coolidges lived happily together for twenty-eight years, but when Grace was asked, toward the end of her life, how she had come to marry her husband, she said, ‘Well, I thought I would get him to enjoy life and have fun, but he was not very easy to instruct in that way.’

“So, really this song is about regret. It’s about living your life with the best intentions yet still falling short of expectations. Musically we wanted to tap into that wistful vibe, so we borrowed a bunch of tricks from some of our older influences – acoustic 12-string from The Byrds, synthesizer from the ’80s records of Bruce Springsteen, and some Beach Boys harmonies to top it off at the end.” — Peter Donovan, The Rose Petals

Photo credit: Dan Destiny

Harmonics with Beth Behrs: Margo Price

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

It’s Americana April here on Harmonics, and this week brings a conversation with one of host Beth Behr’s all-time favorite artists — Americana or otherwise — Nashville’s very own Margo Price.

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This past year may have temporarily pulled Price off the never-ending road of touring, but that doesn’t mean the pace has slowed down; being a mother is a never-ending rush of another kind. She and Beth talk about this time spent at home, from spending time with her children and attempting to instill in them a respect for the earth and for others, to navigating the complexities of a songwriting relationship with her husband, singer-songwriter Jeremy Ivey.

Price also shares her feelings on becoming the first female artist on the board of Farm Aid (a full-circle, bittersweet moment after her family lost their farm when she was young,) the advice she’s gleaned from the greats like Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, working with longtime friend Sturgill Simpson as the producer on her latest album That’s How Rumors Get Started, and so much more.

Hear our first installment of Americana April with last week’s episode featuring Fiona Prine, and stay tuned next week for a conversation with singer-songwriter and poet Courtney Marie Andrews.

Listen and subscribe to Harmonics through all podcast platforms and follow Harmonics and Beth Behrs on Instagram for series updates!

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LISTEN: Zack Joseph, “Keeping Me Sane”

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Artist: Zack Joseph
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (via upstate New York)
Song: “Keeping Me Sane”
Album: Keeping Me Sane
Release Date: April 16, 2021

In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Keeping Me Sane’ while I was in the midst of a serious long-distance relationship. When loneliness and uncertainty would take hold, I’d turned to my vices to cope (whiskey & Coke, beverage of choice) and to serve as a distraction from my overactive imagination. It would feel like I was going insane — something I think most of us can relate to in navigating new relationships. In this instance though, the knowledge that my partner was out there thinking about me was enough to pull me through and keep the crazy at bay… or, ‘keeping me sane,’ if you will. While this song was recorded well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, its meaning has only been amplified. Every person on this planet has now experienced the loneliness and struggles of being separated from a loved one. Let this song serve as a reminder that someone out there is thinking of you — a little something to carry you through these tough moments until you’re reunited.” — Zack Joseph

Photo credit: Ali Miller

LISTEN: Alex Heflin, “Guest Room”

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Artist: Alex Heflin
Hometown: Los Angeles, California // Morgantown, West Virginia
Song: “Guest Room”
Album: Room for Everyone
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Label: Hat Full of Rain Records

In Their Words: “Room for Everyone as an album was intended to highlight that inclusivity in both genre and personality always adds interest and excitement to a medium. ‘Guest Room’ is meant to represent the core of this message. In a somewhat nontraditional band setup, the mandolin is the focal point of this upbeat ‘Nashville funk’ tune. I played mandolin and guitar on this track and I was lucky enough to have Nick Campbell (bass), Jordan Rose (drums), and Swatkins (keys) fill out the rest of the song. I originally got the idea to write a tune in this style after hearing Chris Thile play with the Fearless Flyers. That idea sat in the back of my head for more than a year before I sat down to write what would become this song. From there I recorded the mandolin and guitar and the rest is history!” — Alex Heflin

Photo credit: Caitlin O’Connell

WATCH: Annie Moses Band, “In My Grandpa’s Pulpit”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Annie Moses Band
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “In My Grandpa’s Pulpit”
Album: Tales From My Grandpa’s Pulpit
Release Date: April 16, 2021
Label: Gaither Music Group

In Their Words: “My grandpa was a larger-than-life man. His life was the backdrop for the project, Tales From My Grandpa’s Pulpit. D. Riley Donica was a crack shot, expert horseman, bush pilot, armchair historian, a deputy sheriff, and the preacher at the same mountain church for 50 years. He grew up in a place riddled with violence. He lived through the murder of his father and, many years later, his stepfather. In the prime of his life he was responsible for having a sheriff brought to the area to help with the issues of crime. The sheriff was murdered within a week, leaving behind a widow and three young children. There was an eye witness to the murder, but no one would testify out of fear. The killer was a known quantity and hired by a crime boss that ran all manner of illegal filth between four states — Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. Their headquarters was a place called Dogpatch and it sat right where these four states met and only a couple of miles from my grandpa’s brand new church house.

“So Grandpa picked a fight with the bad guys by writing in his weekly newsletter and preaching against the silence and cowardice of the community that allowed a safe haven for these murderers. One week later the new church house was burned to the ground. The close of this story involves a few steely-eyed, Clint Eastwood-style confrontations, the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation and the murderer being convicted and put in prison, because my grandpa was courageous. Through the years he became known as a minister of the gospel who taught with his Bible on top of the pulpit and his gun on the shelf below. He frequently and famously said, ‘It ain’t right to do nothing when something ought to be done.’ The song ‘In My Grandpa’s Pulpit’ is a snapshot of his story.” — Annie Dupre

Photo credit: David Bean