Tag: Nashville

BGS 5+5: Cordovas

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Cordovas
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Album: Destiny Hotel

Answers by Joe Firstman, Toby Weaver, and Lucca Soria of Cordovas

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

I always felt like I was an artist or working towards being one. So all I had to do was do it, not “become it.” — JF

I was around 7-8 years old and swinging on the swing set in elementary school. I was thinking about a song that I liked and at that time I had the feelings that I would like to play that song for people. I watched my dad and his friends play music as a child but it was at that moment I decided I would like to get a guitar and learn how to play. — TW

Feeling that feeling of “we’re doing something” as a kid in my friend’s basement trying to play some songs together. — LS

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

We spend a lot of time in the desert in Baja. Most of our mornings at the beach waiting for the surf. Checking the waves. Feelin’ the desert. Waiting for songs. Sunsets are also magnificent. There’s a lot of power and the light is changing. — JF

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

As far as living artists go, it would be Roy Bookbinder as he has personally learned from the great masters of the blues and has his own interpretation of their works as he performs them and written songs in that style. I got to meet Roy at a guitar clinic in 1998 and it was very inspiring. — TW

Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead. Hearing how Dylan writes made me want to emulate that. The Dead are like lifelong teachers, I learn something about playing music every time I listen to them. – LS

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

This is a writing technique. When we insert the word “I” into the sentence, the line, and the composition takes on an entirely new feel and tone. To make things universal often times we use the term “you” when we mean “I,” but I found that usually these are interchangeable in that the story would not suffer either way we did it. It could be a subtle thing, but being aware of the power of “I” is important. There used to be this drunk acting coach at the bar I went to in Hollywood, La Poubelle. He would always try to get everyone to have a conversation without using the word I. — JF

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

Lately, I have been reading spiritual guides and literature that feeds the mind and soul as well as biographies and autobiographies. The concepts outlined in these works have contributed to the lyrics I have written for our Destiny Hotel album, specifically the ego. — TW

As a teenager I was shown the work of Whitman and Ginsberg by a great teacher who explained that vein of American poetry. That exposure definitely fueled the writer fire. — LS

Photo Credit: Joseph Ross

Harmonics with Beth Behrs: Episode 7, Mary Gauthier

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Singer, songwriter, activist, and all-around badass Mary Gauthier joins host Beth Behrs on this episode of Harmonics. The two talk about why superheroes are so often adoptees and orphans (and vice versa), the power of songwriting for veterans of the armed forces, her last live show immediately before the shutdown, and so much more.


LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • AMAZON • POCKET CASTS • MP3

Mary Gauthier’s name is spoken with reverence in songwriter circles. She’s won countless awards from organizations like the Americana Music Association, GLAAD, and Folk Alliance International, and was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards.

A Louisiana native, Gauthier has been releasing her own music for over twenty years, but her 2019 record Rifles & Rosary Beads brought a whole new level to her art, when she collaborated with the Songwriting With Soldiers project to put wounded veterans’ stories to song. 

 

LISTEN: Cf Watkins, “White Nights”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Cf Watkins
Hometown: Westfield, North Carolina (Currently in Nashville, Tennessee)
Song: “White Nights”
Album: Babygirl
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Label: Whatever’s Clever Records

In Their Words: “‘White Nights’ is based off of one of my favorite Dostoevsky short stories. On this album, I was trying to explore shifting the way I write music and, in a sense, share myself. I felt a lot of my music was coming from a place of my own longing, unrequited love, and heartbreak. Though I think all of those topics are worthy of our time and attention, I felt, as a woman especially, it was important for me to explore and show my strength as well. I started by simply shifting the focus from myself, and writing songs about something outside of myself. This was one of the first songs to come from that effort. I am singing from the male perspective, who has unrequitedly fallen in love with the female character. There was something very powerful for me to recontextualize romantic longing — to sing the male voice, and to have it honoring the power and magic of a woman.” — Cf Watkins

Photo credit: Griffin Hart Davis

LISTEN: Yola, “Hold On”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Yola, with Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby on backing vocals, Sheryl Crow on piano, and Jason Isbell on guitar
Hometown: Bristol, England
Single: “Hold On”
Release Date: October 9, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Hold On’ is a conversation between me and the next generation of young black girls. My mother’s advice would always stress caution, that all that glitters isn’t gold, and that my black female role models on TV are probably having a hard time. She warned me that I should rethink my calling to be a writer and a singer…. but to me that was all the more reason I should take up this space. ‘Hold On’ is asking the next gen to take up space, to be visible and to show what it looks to be young, gifted and black.” — Yola

Editor’s Note: A portion of profits from sales of the track will be donated to MusicCares and National Bailout Collective.

Photo credit: Joseph Ross

Harmonics with Beth Behrs: Episode 6, Allison Russell

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Allison Russell is one half of acclaimed roots music duo Birds of Chicago, with her husband JT Nero, and a member of Americana supergroup Our Native Daughters.

Powered by RedCircle

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • AMAZON • POCKET CASTS • MP3

Editor’s Note: This episode contains intense and honest descriptions of trauma that may be triggering to some listeners. While there is nothing directly explicit in the content, listener discretion is advised.

Born and raised in Quebec, Allison Russell survived a traumatic childhood, teaching herself various instruments as a way to cope before eventually finding her voice within the Vancouver music scene. On this episode of Harmonics, Russell talks with host Beth Behrs about those traumas, the healing power of music and artistic community, the history of the banjo, the intersectionality of the honest conversations currently being had in our culture, and much, much more.

In addition to her career with Birds of Chicago, Russell is one quarter of Americana supergroup, the Grammy-nominated Our Native Daughters, with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, and Leyla McCalla, and is preparing to release her first solo album. She and JT Nero live in Nashville with their daughter.

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

 

The String – Elizabeth Cook

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Elizabeth Cook was welcomed with celebration into the Nashville country music fold in the early 2000s, because of her charm, her fascinating story, and her bracing traditional country songs and songwriting.


LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS

Cook has become an Americana star in the intervening years, but she had some rough times in the 2010s. Now back with an album, Aftermath, she’s on solid ground and reflective about a creative life with ups and downs. While Cook has played the Grand Ole Opry more than 400 times, Jeannie Seely has been on the show steadily since 1967. We catch up with the beloved veteran as she releases An American Classic at 80 years young.

WATCH: Suzi Ragsdale, “The Ending”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Suzi Ragsdale
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Ending”
Album: Ghost Town
Release Date: October 9, 2020
Label: CabaRay Records

In Their Words: “Can anyone accurately predict the future? Of course not. Not even the chief meteorologists get it right. With the exception of fictional books and films when you might, like my ex-husband in this song, skip to the last chapter to get answers, we’re all kinda just wingin’ it. More and more I’m becoming a fan of focusing on the present moment unfolding instead of pinning anything on the final result. ‘The Ending’ is a four-minute musing on how my life might have been different had I known the outcomes of life’s loves, dramas and situations … and how ultimately, I’m happier not knowing and having the world of possibilities remain open to me and to everyone else.” — Suzi Ragsdale

Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins

LISTEN: Caitlin Canty, “Where Is the Heart of My Country”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Caitlin Canty
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Single: “Where Is the Heart of My Country”
Release Date: September 30, 2020
Label: Tone Tree Music

In Their Words: “‘Where is the Heart of My Country’ first sparked for me as I flew home from California and spent most of the flight gazing out the window. At 30,000 feet, the rivers and roads looked like the flowing veins and arteries of our country. The patchwork of quilted farmland and tight-knit cities drove home how connected we truly are as Americans, despite the fractured state of our nation.

“At the time, I’d been trading off between scrolling angrily through the news and reading Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory, which likely helped direct my rage and sadness into this song. I was aching over our country’s growing division, disheartened by the people stoking the flames and inspired by strong voices raised in protest. I was thinking about the many chapters of America’s past and wondering where our story goes from here.

“To record this song in the early months of the pandemic, Noam Pikelny and I set up a makeshift studio at home with borrowed gear. I was eight months pregnant when I tracked my part; standing up, guitar slung to the side, the baby monitor as a talk-back mic. I am so grateful for the beautiful contributions from the band of Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, Noam Pikelny, and Andrew Marlin. The microphones are now torn down and the room where I sang ‘Where is the Heart of My Country’ is a nursery. I hope by the time my son is old enough to understand the refrain, its sentiment will seem like a relic of the distant past.” — Caitlin Canty

Photo credit: Laura Partain

BGS 5+5: Thomm Jutz

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Thomm Jutz
Hometown: born in Neusatz/Germany, living in Nashville, TN
Latest album: To Live in Two Worlds Vol.2
Personal nicknames: TJ

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

At this point in my life, I’d have to say that Norman Blake has influenced me the most. Not just as an instrumentalist, but also as a songwriter. When he started writing original material in the early ’70s he came out of the shoot with a distinctive songwriter’s voice. Unlike Kristofferson, Hartford, and Dylan, all of whom he had worked with, Blake’s focus was not on his inner world but on the old rural America that he’d grown up in. He applied his huge knowledge of railroad history to his writing. His songs were based on local characters that he’d grown up with or places that were meaningful to him. I like to write about historic events or characters from the past and I owe the inspiration for that to a large part to the great Norman Blake.

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

Literature has a great influence on my music. I read all the time. I try to keep something historical, a story and something philosophical or inspirational going at all times. The more I read, the more I write. Sometimes images from books come to me after years and I start writing about them. I also love to read cookbooks. In recent years I’ve really been into the novels of North Carolina writers Ron Rash and John Ehle.

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

When I was eleven years old I saw Bobby Bare on TV. He hit me square between the eyes with his singing, the way he held the guitar and his cooler than cool attitude. My soul connected with the archetype of the wandering minstrel at that moment and has not let me go since. I never felt like I wanted to do anything but a musician and songwriter. I got to work with Bare a couple of times. He was every bit as great as I wanted him to be.

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

I can’t say that I struggle too much with songwriting. I believe that if you have a good idea and put in the time and co-write with the right people, your craft should make it possible for you to at the very least come up with something decent every time. One song idea that I had and didn’t know how to approach for over a year was for a song called “Help Me to Hold On” that I co-wrote with Milan Miller and that was recorded by Balsam Range. Every morning when I walked with my dog that idea was in my head, but I couldn’t some up with an angle to approach it. I still remember where I was out here by Percy Priest Lake when all the pieces came together. We wrote it the following Saturday and it didn’t take more than an hour to get it done.

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

I listen to a whole lot of Norman Blake’s music when I’m cooking dinner with my wife every night. Another really good pairing is when my friend and fellow songwriter Jefferson Ross comes to visit from Atlanta. We stand around the kitchen or the grill with a beer, cook together and talk about books, music and vintage guitars.

Photo credit: Jefferson Ross

WATCH: Justin Wade Tam, “Paradise”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Justin Wade Tam
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee, via San Diego, California
Song: “Paradise”
Release Date: July 24, 2020
Label: Soundly Music

In Their Words: “I wrote this song with my friend Daniel Ellsworth about the subjectivity of paradise. We often get caught up in staring at idealized photographs on social media and forget that there can be beauty in the everyday, no matter where we are. Maybe paradise is more a state of mind than an actual physical location. So when Luke Harvey (Moss Flower Pictures) and I set out to make the music video, we wanted to convey that people all over the world have their own versions of paradise, and that is lovely: so many people and so many paradises. To help with the concept, friends from Chile, France, Iran, and Russia translated the lyrics into their respective languages. I’ve met each of these friends through music and touring over the years, and it’s wonderful to have their friendship reflected in this project. Luke set the translated subtitles and music to old film vignettes, capturing and challenging our perceptions of paradise.” — Justin Wade Tam

Photo credit: Annelise Loughead