What picker doesn’t dream of a bluegrass jam meet-cute? For Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz, a fateful inauguration day jam in 2009 not only introduced each to their lifelong beloved, but also sowed the seeds for a renowned roots duo – Watchhouse.
In a radio interview with WNCW, Marlin recalls the pair’s chemistry felt immediately apparent, with Frantz’s harmonies lending new life to The Carter Family standard “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” one of Marlin’s jamming mainstays at the time.
The North Carolina-based duo got right to work, gigging across the backyards and front porches of their Chapel Hill community. Both multi-instrumentalists and vocalists in their own right, Marlin took on the role as primary songwriter/guitarist/banjoist/mandolinist/vocalist, with Frantz augmenting via fiddle/vocals/guitar throughout their articulate arrangements.
By 2011, the pair had released two full-length albums, Quiet Little Room (2010) and Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger (2011) under the name Mandolin Orange. Though they would later outgrow the moniker, Mandolin Orange utilized just two instruments to primarily sculpt the duo’s sound – the mandolin and the orange fiddle. With lyrical depth and sensitive instrumental synastry, they established themselves as adept songweavers in the roots scene.
The year 2013 saw the pair signed to Yep Roc Records, a celebrated North Carolina label, starting a distinct shift in their visibility and distribution. Their debut release under the new label that year, This Side of Jordan, earned attention from an expanding national audience, with NPR deeming the record “effortless and beautiful.” They would go on to release three more albums with Yep Roc before shedding the Mandolin Orange title in 2021. Having conceived of the name Mandolin Orange in their early twenties, Marlin remarked that the shift to Watchhouse signaled leaning into intentionality, as the two had “long been burdened by the dichotomy between our band name and the music we strive to create.” As their palates developed, the sense of intimacy in Marlin’s songwriting ripened over time. Their 2019 release, Tides of a Teardrop, an album brimming with tenderness, honesty, and grief, reckoned with Marlin’s mother’s early death.
Propelled to rename the project with similar authenticity, the name Watchhouse emerged after a year of percolating during COVID quarantine. Their subsequent self-titled album, Watchhouse (2021), centered a sonic expansiveness that reached past the confines established and upheld by their moniker of old. Additionally, the duo gained full creative control as their own label, Tiptoe Tiger Music, released the record, partnering with Thirty Tigers for distribution. Layered with novel tones that veer into the vicinity of pop, Watchhouse maintains its makers’ telltale warmth and intimacy while dressing the project in a new glow.
Notably, many of these evolutions occurred in tandem with the birth and growth of Marlin and Frantz’s daughter, Ruby, who was born in late 2018. When asked by BGS back in 2021 about the influence becoming a parent has had on his songwriting, Marlin responded, “I would love to help pave a safe path for my daughter and hopefully inspire some of our listeners to be kind and open up a kind world for her to go into. And that’s made its way into my perspective even in songs where I’m not talking about it.” The songs grapple with a wide range of muses, from parenthood to life during climate change, remaining buoyant despite the weightiness of it all.
That tenor of pondering accompanies Watchhouse into the release of their 2025 album, Rituals, which entered the world on May 30 via Tiptoe Tiger Music/Thirty Tigers. The provocative 11-track collection, true to the duo’s thematic strengths, interrogates the circular nature of humanity, inspecting the relationship between steadfast, cyclical ritual and ever-evolving change.
Of the title track, Marlin states in the song’s press release, “When my circumstances change, who I think I am changes, and then my established rituals and patterns no longer serve me. This song is a leap of faith, a message to anyone feeling like they are struggling to leave a former self behind. We cement ourselves through constant sharing and projection, and it feels like it’s in direct conflict with staying present and evolving. ‘Rituals’ is a song of empathy, both for myself and for others – an acknowledgment of the celebrated nobody in us all.”
Throughout the album, Marlin’s songwriting investigates these themes, brought to life by a stunning range of vocal and instrumental performances, from harmonium to pedal steel to drum kit. Frantz and Marlin strike a vocal blend as warmly entangled as ever; listening to the two sing in harmony feels akin to being mesmerized by a crackling campfire dancing beneath the starlight. Frantz even graces listeners with a rare display of lead vocals on the track fittingly called “Firelight.”
In 2019, following the release of Tides of a Teardrop, Frantz told The Boot, “I like to play more of a supportive role, as someone who’s not doing much of the songwriting and someone who likes to sing harmony more so than lead. It’s always been what I’ve gravitated to – trying to complement the song as honestly as I can without taking too much ownership over it.”
“Firelight,” therefore, feels like a glimmering gem, a highly yearned-for showcasing of Frantz’s lilting vocals. Her timber and sway sift thoughtfully through Marlin’s lyrics of memory and connection, further infusing the album’s universe with a soft haze of timelessness.
The album art adds yet another dimension to these motifs. Its subtle depiction of domestic ritual (clotheslines, coffee machines, mugs, pots, etc.), emulates the familiar tenderness with which Watchhouse posits their profound inquiries. Reckoning with the simplicity of this imagery provokes listeners to explore the songs’ ponderings in the mundane alongside the larger overarching picture. Grown with an immense deal of care and attention, Rituals is a sonically transcendent record that begets deep inner stirrings within its listeners.
With Watchhouse presently in the midst of their album release tour, the entire BGS team is simply elated to name this dynamic pair our Artist of the Month. For all of June, we’ll be resharing articles, interviews, and music from the incredible duo from the BGS archives as well as bringing you a brand new, exclusive interview with Marlin and Frantz and a special edition episode of Basic Folk featuring Watchhouse as well. Check out our Essential Watchhouse Playlist below and, if you’re lucky, catch these wondrous performers on the road this festival season!
Artist:Blue Cactus Hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina Latest Album:Believer Personal Nicknames: Steph and Mar
If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?
“Slow and steady, always be on the rise.” I used to think I wanted to “make it” and I worked so hard at that, that it almost broke me, literally. I had stressed myself to the point that my mental stress had begun to manifest physically as various chronic health issues. I want to be a successful musician, which means for me that I am constantly making the music I want to create and not restricting myself to any specific rules or genre limitations. Once you “make it” there’s really only one place to go from there and so many artists have shared that their least happiest times were when their career was at its peak. I want to always be climbing, up and up, constantly evolving and learning new things about myself and abilities. – Steph
What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – inform your music?
I’m a perpetual hobbyist at heart and am always dabbling in some form of visual art – from film photography and cyanotype to linocut print-making and botanical dyeing – I find that having these other forms of art keeps me curious and inspired, which in turn feeds my inner-songwriter. When I look at my calendar, so much of my life feels planned out and I savor the mystery and surprise of what the film will reveal when it’s developed or how one print will vary from another when I lift the paper. It’s become essential for me to make art for myself that is separate from the business of making music and it’s taught me to embrace the happy accidents of art and re-framed my relationship with perfectionism. – Steph
Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
We have a deep love and respect for country and folk music, which is a sort of foundation for the music we make. There’s a bit of psychedelia and art rock swirling around, too, which seems to move us toward alt-country and cosmic country. We aspire to create songs that are strong enough to exist in varied genres, they just happen to be delivered in our vernacular. – Mario
If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?
Working in music has meant that I’ve also needed some other work to help pay the bills and I’ve been very fortunate to have been an instructor at a local outdoor nature program near our home in Chapel Hill, working with kids. I grew up in a very rural part of Catawba County, in the foothills of North Carolina, and was always out playing in the woods, building forts, and climbing trees. This work has kept me grounded and saved me from burnout. I suppose I’d just keep doing more of it if I changed career paths. – Steph
Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?
I’m thinking comfort food: meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans paired with Roy Orbison. In particular, the album Crying. – Mario
Casey Driessen is simply one of the most inventive fiddlers on planet earth. I first saw him perform in his trademark red shoes with Tim O’Brien and have had the honor of performing with him in Woody Platt’s backing ensemble, The Bluegrass Gentlemen.
Casey is friendly and open-minded, but I get the sense he doesn’t suffer fools and I was admittedly a little intimidated going into this session. I knew that I’d be stretched musically and I really was. However, he and River cultivated a musical situation where presence and attention were all that was needed. We shared an unforgettable night of music that reminded me what Tuesday’s at 185 King Street are all about.
This episode was recorded live at 185 King Street in Brevard, North Carolina, on December 3, 2024.
Photo Credit: Ken Voltz
Editor’s Note: The Travis Book Happy Hour is hosted by Travis Book of the GRAMMY Award-winning band, The Infamous Stringdusters. The show’s focus is musical collaboration and conversation around matters of being. The podcast includes highlights from Travis’s interviews and music from each live show recorded in Brevard, North Carolina.
The Travis Book Happy Hour is brought to you by Thompson Guitars and is presented by Americana Vibes and The Bluegrass Situation as part of the BGS Podcast Network. You can find the Travis Book Happy Hour on Instagram and Facebook and online at thetravisbookhappyhour.com.
From the onset of the Chatham Rabbits‘ new record, Be Real With Me, the North Carolina-based husband and wife duo are at a crossroads of sorts.
On one hand, its opening track, “Facing 29,” is filled with the despair of growing older, but on the other it also relishes in the wisdom and knowledge that comes with making it another year around the sun, as one half of the pair Austin McCombie sings of “Grabbing 30 by the strap of his boots.”
That relationship with age, the maturity that (typically) accompanies it, and the people that come and go along the way are a constant through line of the album in what Sarah McCombie describes as a journey of self discovery. “This is very much a millennials record,” she says.
Their fourth album, Be Real With Me is the duo’s most personal and vulnerable yet, a touch that’s already resonated well for them through things like 2020’s COVID-inspired 194-show Stay At Home Tour and an appearance on PBS’ limited series On The Road. “I strongly believe that putting the fans first, instead of the industry or the mystique of being an artist, has been what’s carried us to where we are now and keeps us motivated,” Sarah asserts.
The album is also set to be their most sonically diverse to date, with drum machines, synthesizers, pedal steel, and other new layers being brought into the mix. Ahead of its release, we spoke with the McCombies about the varying means of growth and evolution within it, how a pen pal inspired one of its songs, the family farm that keeps them grounded when not touring, and more.
You mentioned this being a very “millennial” record due to the heavy themes of growing up and growing away from certain people or things. Are there any other big themes that help to tie these songs together?
Sarah McCombie: Another thing that came up a lot when I was writing the songs for this record is the way we often tell others we’re doing the best we can even when we’re not, which is the case on songs like “Collateral Damage” and “Gas Money.” Sometimes you’re just completely maxed out with nothing left to give a situation other than just being a hindrance to yourself.
I thought about that a lot on “Matador,” which I wrote from a place of repeating the patterns of trusting people too fast or getting into situations that aren’t healthy, ignoring red flags along the way. Looking back, if I slowed down or was more mature I never would’ve found myself in those situations in the first place.
It all ties into the overarching theme of growing up, looking yourself in the mirror, and having these real, maturing moments. Sometimes we have to go through tough experiences to come out the other side. Where we’re at now, in our late 20s and early 30s, is when you typically come to grips with a lot of that and being real with yourself, like the album title suggests, so you can move forward in an authentic way.
Speaking of moving forward in an authentic way, your song “Gas Money” came about through an organic exchange with a longtime fan of the band that has evolved into your close pen pal. Care to explain?
SM: In the past, I’ve overcommitted or maxed myself out with friendships due to music, moving, or other circumstances that I can no longer be there for in the way I used to be. So when my pen pal Eve, who’s going to be 87 this year, sent me one of her letters containing a card with an orange sticky note with a $20 bill on it that said “for gas money for the long road home,” I knew I had to get it in a song. It’s such a cool line that reminded me of Patty Griffin’s “Long Ride Home” and turned into a story about wishing you could give more or that a friendship could be more, but you’re just maxed out at your current life stage and cannot possibly give more to that relationship.
Whether it’s pen pals like Eve or just the personal way you interact with your fans in general, it seems like both have gone a long way in pushing your career forward, in some cases almost more than the songs themselves.
SM: I couldn’t agree more. We draw so much inspiration for our music from our fans. None of what we do would be possible without them keeping us going. In addition to “Gas Money,” there’s a song on our 2022 record called “You Never Told Me I Was Pretty” that a fan also inspired.
Regarding “Gas Money,” I think there’s also a beauty in not wanting to over promise and under deliver in a relationship while still wanting to make a connection or stay in touch. And what kinder thing [is there] to do than pop a $20 in the mail in a letter to say, “Hey, I’m reaching out because you mean something to me”? I remember sending Eve the press release for the song when it came out to let her know how she inspired the chorus and to invite her to our next show in Charlottesville near where she lives. She got back to me saying she’d love to, but she’s already committed to a date that night. I thought it was so sweet how she let me down respectfully and had her boundaries about it, because that is something that’s a big part of this record as well.
Another big part of not just this record, but your lives as a whole is the family farm you live on in North Carolina. Mind telling me about that and how your work on it inspires and informs your music?
SM: The farm has been in my family since 1753, but we bought it from my grandfather a couple years ago, right before he passed away. It used to be 640 acres, but is 65 now; we still own the original cabin and home site, horses – it’s like its own entity.
It’s taught me that working really hard feels really good on a blood, sweat, and tears level. Moving fences, hauling water, and other physical work feel great to accomplish, but so do the aspects of planning ahead and working with others to build a vision. It’s very similar to how we collaborate in the band with other musicians or with graphic artists and other creatives. On that note, we work with another couple who are Angus beef farmers to help keep up our property, because it’s so much land and we’re gone so much of the time. No matter what though, the intentional behavior of putting time and effort into something, whether that be our land and the farm or songwriting and interacting with our fans, is definitely a place where you reap what you sow.
In addition to what we’ve already discussed about the record’s themes of growth, I’ve also seen you describe this project as a “new chapter” for the band. How so?
SM: We’re writing a lot more about ourselves and present-day experiences and less about older stories from our family. I went through a big phase earlier on writing Civil War-era ballads, but now we’re getting more comfortable being vulnerable with our fans and writing about our relationships and what we’re individually going through, which is huge.
Sonically, we’ve had the pleasure of working the last two years with Ryan Stigmon, an incredible pedal steel player who now tours with Zach Top. Getting to play with the pedal steel and its ambient sounds overlaid on guitar and banjo was really fun, new, and different for us. We also brought in a keys player on this record and have been touring with one as well. And “Gas Money” is an example of where we used a drum machine for the first time. We were taking a lot of ’90s pop influence from artists like Robyn and Annie Lennox. It’s led to us becoming more aware of how people are coming to see our shows and like our music because of the song, not because of the genre. We don’t care about labels, we just want to write what feels good.
Another new route y’all take on this album is with the song “Big Fish, Small Pond,” the band’s first instrumental. What led to its creation?
SM: Austin came up with the melody and we tracked it completely live in the studio, Small Pond, that we named the song after. We had an octave mandolin, banjo, guitar, and upright bass on it that we jammed on after popping gummies one night sitting around our microphones. It was around midnight or so and we got into this state and played through it a bunch of times until we got the right take.
It never had any lyrics – an instrumental is just something Austin and I had always wanted to try. We both typically just get by playing our instruments and take much more pride in our songwriting, but we still wanted to try our hand at it and challenge ourselves to place in the middle of the record that would be a breather – or intermission – from everything else we’re singing about.
Since you just mentioned that song being like an intermission, tell me about the song sequencing and how that’s helped to shape this record?
Austin McCombie: We’re really diligent about the song order. It’s not a perfect chronological order, but it does start with the first song written for this record, “Facing 29,” which helps to set the tone of getting older. As the record goes on, we also strategically placed the instrumental in the middle as a breather followed by some heavier songs like “Did I Really Know Him,” “One Little Orange,” and “Pool Shark’s Table.” It was a fun way to show how after all this reflection, we can still look in the mirror and acknowledge that we’re young, have problems, and may not be ready to change it all yet. Sometimes you have these heavy conversations where you leave trying to work on yourself and other times you table things because you aren’t ready for it, and that’s fine too.
What has the process of bringing Be Real With Me to life taught you about yourselves?
AM: It’s pushed me to realize I have more musical ability than I thought, in terms of co-producing and playing so many different instruments. In our genre you have the Andrew Marlins and Billy Stringses of the world and other folks who absolutely rip, but Sarah and I don’t really fit into that category. While that’s still true, it’s been fun to push ourselves with this record, which has given me more motivation to continue leaning into our songwriting in a deeper, more meaningful way than just a fun story about our family members. There’s still room for that, but clearly the magic is happening for us when we dig deeper.
SM: It’s taught me how to confront things I’m uncomfortable with and to not hold back as much. For instance, the song “Collateral Damage” starts with me singing, “I want my freedom and I want a baby.” It makes me cringe just saying it, but that song and phrase has wound up being a big talking point amongst fans and one of our most well-received songs during shows.
What do you hope others take away from listening to this record?
SM: I hope this record feels relatable to people in our age demographic and others wanting to look back on that time in their own lives, serving as a reminder that we’re all just trying to figure things out. It may be difficult, but if we can be real, honest and vulnerable with each other then it will ultimately help us be in a better place.
Two of the world’s preeminent experts on folk, old-time, and string band traditions (and on Black folks’ seminal contributions to these art forms), Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson have announced they are reuniting on a brand new album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (set for release April 18 on Nonesuch Records). The project will feature 18 traditional North Carolina fiddle and banjo tunes tracked live and in remarkably simple settings, captured entirely outdoors and accompanied only by the wind, the rustle of the foliage, and the singing of nearby birds.
With the announcement, the pair have released a live performance video of “Hook and Line” (watch above) that was recorded at the home of Joe Thompson, their late mentor and a vital roots music forebear in the Black string band tradition’s modern iteration. What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow was tracked in meaningful locations such as this, tying this body of music directly back to the land, the locales, and the people that birthed it.
Giddens, a MacArthur “Genius” and two-time GRAMMY Award winner and 11-time nominee, and Robinson, a fellow GRAMMY winner, thought leader, botanist, and ethnomusicologist, were both founding members of the incredibly important supergroup the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The string band would end up defining the early 2000s era of old-time music, making a huge mark in Americana circles and spawning multiple generations of Black roots-and-folk musicians after them.
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, even from just this first glimpse, promises to be a natural extension of the many ways Giddens & Robinson continue to expand our roots music discourses, broaden our understandings of the people and places that birthed these sounds, and will do so in a format that’s charming, passionate, warm, and ultimately endlessly danceable.
Catch Giddens & Robinson on tour with Dirk Powell and more beginning in April 2025 and continuing through the summer. And, don’t miss Giddens’ inaugural Biscuits & Banjos festival to be held in Durham, North Carolina, at the end of April.
Music is all about moments. It’s a fact we tend to lose sight of, forest for the trees, despite the fact that music can only exist in this, the present moment. Each pluck of a string, each breath of a voice, each lick, hook, and improvisation – no matter how practiced or free – is but a mere moment.
As we all rewind the calendar year to relive the last twelve months and all of the turmoils and triumphs they held, we asked our BGS contributors to reflect on which musical moments they experienced this year that were most memorable, most moving, and most transportive. Which musical moment would you return to, if you could? Which musical moment returns to you, again and again and again?
Our year-end lists are not intended to center on superlatives or “bests;” we don’t so much care about what “should” or “shouldn’t” land in one of these collections. Curation of this sort is never truly objective, so why pretend it is? Instead, we hope our writers and our readers will be able to demonstrate and appreciate that music is never about measuring or comparison, metrics or accomplishments, accolades or awards. Music is about moments – and about wholly inhabiting those moments, together.
Below, our first-rate writers, thinkers, and contributors share the musical moments from 2024 that impacted them most. From Beyoncé galloping through our hearts with Cowboy Carter to intimate, people-first festivals like Laurel Cove Music Festival in Kentucky. There’s also music from harlequin creators like American Patchwork Quartet, Kaia Kater, and Rhiannon Giddens alongside memories of the late Dexter Romweber and the strength of mutual aid and community solidarity in Western North Carolina post-Hurricane Helene.
2024 held so many intricate, ineffable, one-of-a-kind moments, good, bad, ugly, and gorgeous. We hope you’ll take a second to recall your own most memorable musical moments of the year while we share ours – and while we all look forward to many more in the year to come.
August 20, 2024 – Chris Acker and Dylan Earl at Folk i Storgata, Oslo, Norway
Photo by Dana Yewbank taken at a show by Chris Acker and Dylan Earl at Folk i Storgata in Norway.
While this doesn’t quite fit any stereotypes about Scandinavia, black metal, or Viking-inspired neo-folk, Norway has a thriving Americana music scene that welcomes and celebrates even lesser-known American folk and country artists. Chris Acker and Dylan Earl are two of these undersung artists, both represented by Nick Shoulders’ record label Gar Hole Records out of Arkansas. This past summer, Acker, Earl, and I all coincidentally ended up in Oslo, Norway, at the same time, where the pair put on an intimate, inspiring, and tightly-packed show for a crowd of about 30 people in a tiny bar with pink walls. They bantered with the audience, backed each other up on a few songs, and even spontaneously formed an unrehearsed superband with the bar owner and their Norwegian opener – and they were damn good. Acker and Earl are both deeply thoughtful musicians who use their power and presence as men on stage to question the status quo of “good ol’ boy” country and stoic male musicality. Their candidness and subversive humor drew the room together that night with a sense of camaraderie, safety, and concentrated joy. – Dana Yewbank
Act Now! A Paperface Zine Benefit Tape for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
A harrowing statistic from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reports that as of March 2024, the number of children killed in Gaza over a mere five months (October 2023 to February 2024) surpassed the number of children killed in global conflict over the four years prior, combined (2019-2022). As of December 2024, we are a year and two months into the ceaseless genocide being waged against the innocent civilians of Palestine and the horrific violence only continues.
I salute everyone who has waged resistance against genocidal powers, be it contacting senators, galvanizing communities to action, participating in rallies, or, in this instance, artists and musicians who have used their platform as an act of protest. Paperface Zine, a blog that writes and interviews an eclectic mix of underground artists, spearheaded this collection of tunes in an effort to express solidarity with Palestine and raise funds towards the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. This Benefit Tape is a shining example of how most any skill can be mobilized to support greater communities; creativity and care forever go hand in hand. – Oriana Mack
American Patchwork Quartet, American Patchwork Quartet
American Patchwork Quartet have pieced together one of the best albums this year. Don’t take our word for it: they’ve been nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Folk Album. That’s the moment we want to celebrate. With all due respect to the other nominees, it’s exciting to see a brand new project get recognized so quickly – particularly one that colors outside the lines like APQ. The quartet add a number of global influences to traditional American songs: a guitar solo here, a sitar there, and a fine sprinkling of tabla make the quartet live up to their name. Now, especially, we need statements that American traditions were born of a tapestry of European, African, and Indigenous cultures that continue to be built upon by everyone who chooses to make this place a part of their own quilts. – Rachel Cholst
September 26, 2024 – Asheville, North Carolina’s Music Scene and Hurricane Helene
On the night of September 26, Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina with unprecedented rainfall and flooding. What resulted was a tight-knit area completely decimated and utterly distraught by the destruction of numerous communities. The current death toll for the state sits at 103, with many others still missing.
Beyond the cultural, economic, and unbelievable physical devastation to Asheville and surrounding towns, the city’s vibrant and world-renowned live music scene was brought to its knees – a radio silence that lasted several weeks, with numerous unknowns lingering for certain storied venues. But, with great resolve and a steadfast attitude of helping your friends and neighbors, the vast music community in Asheville and greater WNC came together with countless benefit concerts and fundraiser album compilations (Caverns of Gold, Cardinals at the Window) — an effort that remains at the forefront of the region’s recovery that will take years, if not decades, to return to normalcy. – Garret K. Woodward
Beyoncé, “Jolene”
Country music is for everyone and there is something fascinating about an album which ends up in the territory between categories. Beyoncé is a great singer, and has been flirting with country for a very long time; she has the chops to sing “Jolene” better than Dolly. So, when she sings that she’s “still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisiana,” she is making a series of arguments: that country exists in response songs; that the other woman should be given the mic; that the landscape mirrors the territory; and that the gatekeepers should be torn down, like the walls of Jericho. – Steacy Easton
February 4, 2024 – Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Luke Combs released his version of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” in 2023, but it was his performance with Chapman on the 2024 GRAMMY Awards primetime telecast that rocketed the song from country radio back into the mainstream zeitgeist. Where Combs’s recording highlighted the song’s working-class vibes, seeing him perform it alongside its (Black, queer, female) writer gave the song’s legacy even greater heft. “Fast Car” was always a song about women carrying more weight than any single human can; about the urgent, nagging desire to flee toxic cycles; about how fleeting freedom can sometimes feel. For better or worse, all these things became emblematic of 2024. – Kim Ruehl
Rhiannon Giddens
You would be hard-pressed to cite anyone in any genre who had more memorable musical moments in 2024 than the superb vocalist, composer, and instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens. Her writing brilliance was showcased through the Silkroad Ensemble group and project. Her arrangements of folk songs were part of their landmark American Railroad tour program along with commissioned pieces from jazz artist Cécile McLorin Salvant and film composer Michael Abels, as well as fellow Silkroad artists Wu Man, Layale Chaker, Haruka Fujii, and Maeve Gilchrist. Giddens was featured on banjo and viola on the hit single “Texas Hold ‘Em,” part of Beyoncé’s huge Cowboy Carter LP. Giddens added another GRAMMY nomination for Best American Roots Performance with “The Ballad of Sally Anne” from the excellent compilation My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall, too. Hard to believe there’s any ground left to cover for the MacArthur Genius and Pulitzer Prize winner, but Rhiannon Giddens continues to stun and surprise audiences with everything she does. – Ron Wynn
November 14, 2024 – Zachariah Hickman’s Power Outage Party! at Club Passim, Cambridge, MA
Not sure how bassist and music director Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray Lamontagne, Barnstar!) pulls off his many acts of mischief, but the Power Outage Party! shows are the most creative, beautiful, and emotional musical experiences around. Presented in mid-November by Club Passim, the shows featured a collective of musicians (including members of Della Mae and Session Americana) and guests (this year including Taylor Ashton, Mark Erelli, and Kris Delmhorst) performing without any power in the historic 100-seat club in Harvard Square. The band is lit with camping lanterns and tea lights. The audience is shoehorned in so tight (I was nearly sitting on the cello players’ lap) that you can’t help but feel a part of a very special community. Every time I go, I carry the experience and inspiration with me as we all work through the darkest part of the year. – Cindy Howes
February 24, 2024 – Kaia Kater, “In Montreal” at Folk Alliance International
One of my favorite and most memorable musical moments of the year occurred at Folk Alliance International, where Kaia Kater and her band performed tracks from her brand new album, Strange Medicine, at BGS’s private showcase. In a small hotel room with a handful of audience members, Kater began “In Montreal” with her looping, cyclical, trance-like clawhammer banjo groove. I was immediately transported, immediately grounded, gently – and forcibly – brought to the moment. I still experience the same visceral sensation each time I hear this track begin, the old-time banjo hook leaving and rejoining the beat deliciously, sketching out an expansive pocket. This night, in cold Kansas City, Kater was joined by flutist Amber Underwood (AKA Flutienastiness), who was even further transportive and dreamy in her interpretations of the track. It was a transcendent song, a daring banjo-flute dialogue, a mind-blowing mini set, and a perfect harbinger of what Strange Medicine would cure and balm. – Justin Hiltner
June 7-8, 2024 – Laurel Cove Music Festival
The gem of a festival located just north of the Cumberland Gap in Pineville, Kentucky, has fostered several special moments in recent years, but none come close to matching the memories from Wyatt Flores and The Red Clay Strays headlining sets there this past June.
The first came when Flores’ mics were cut off before an encore, leading to his band sitting atop the speakers lining the stage for a crowd sing along to Tyler Childers’ “Lady May” that to this day still gives me goosebumps. But if that wasn’t enough, The Strays topped it the following night when their show turned into an impromptu baptism after people in the crowd began jumping into the shallow pond surrounding the stage during a performance of their hit song, “Don’t Care.”
Both occurrences were pure magic from two of the year’s hottest country-adjacent acts in an intimate setting with only 1,500 people in attendance, showing that even in the age of corporate mega-festivals the best things still do come in small packages. – Matt Wickstrom
Though he was never top of the pops – or even on the charts at all, either solo or with Flat Duo Jets – wildman proto-rockabilly guitarist John Michael Dexter “Dex” Romweber was still an inspirational icon in the roots-rock world and a key influence on major bands like White Stripes and Black Keys. Romweber was just 57 years old when he died from a cardiac event this year, a shocking event that inspired a worldwide outpouring of tributes that went on for days. Maybe the best of all came from Jack White, who was always wide open about the depth of Romweber’s influence on White Stripes. Writing on Instagram, White proclaimed that Dex “was the type that don’t get 3 course dinners, awards, gold records and statues made of them because they are too real, too much, too strange, too good.” That’s the truth. – David Menconi
July 27, 2024 – Langhorne Slim, “We the People (Fuck the Man)” Live at the BGS Jam at Newport Folk Festival
While putting together the set list for the BGS Late Night Jam, “A Bluegrass Situation,” at Newport Folk Festival back in July, our old pal Langhorne Slim suggested a new tune he had just written. Would the house band be willing to learn it for this special occasion? In the words of our jam host and BGS co-founder Ed Helms, the song was an “instant Newport Classic.”
Slim’s new tune, “We the People (Fuck the Man)” – later released on streaming platforms just before the election – echoed through the Pickens Theatre that Saturday night and immediately got the audience on their feet. Its lyrics are as timeless and rallying as any Guthrie tune, but amidst all the declarations against greed and polarization there’s an optimistic plea in the chorus:
So let us love our neighbors Protect the land Look our brother in the eye When we shake his hand It’s been this way a long time It’s hard to understand The time has come for everyone We the people, fuck the man
In these tumultuous times, Slim gave us words (and a performance) we shouldn’t soon forget. – Amy Reitnouer Jacobs
Sam Williams & Carter Faith, “‘Til I Can Make It on My Own”
Sam Williams and Carter Faith drape their fringe-laced voices over Tammy Wynnette’s “‘Til I Can Make It on My Own.” While honoring the song’s 1976 roots, the two rising stars spin their own lonesome and delicate performance that seems to transcend time and place. “Lord, you know I’m gonna need a friend,” they sing, trading stunningly confessional lines and background harmony. “‘Til I get used to losing you/ Let me keep on using you, ‘til I can make it on my own.” Through a honeyed, emotionally resonant arrangement, Williams and Faith demonstrate exactly why they’re among the best of today’s new crop of talent. – Bee Delores
Yasmin Williams, Acadia
The guitar is perhaps the most ubiquitous instrument in the modern world, making it even more notable that a picker like Yasmin Williams could still stake out fresh territory on the instrument, finding and championing her own truly original sound and approach. Acadia is a masterwork, breaking still new ground after Williams’ incredibly successful 2021 album, Urban Driftwood. While Acadia isn’t exactly a reinvention for the picker-composer-innovator, it does limitlessly expand the acoustic universe she’s been fleshing out since releasing her debut, Unwind, in 2018. That’s a fairly short runway for a creative to accomplish so much, especially given Williams seemingly treats her guitars as brand new devices each time she picks them up to compose. The results are often bafflingly, jaw-dropping, and dramatic – but always musical and ceaselessly inspiring. – Justin Hiltner
Photo Credit: Tracy Chapman live on the 2024 GRAMMY Awards; Kaia Kater by Janice Reid; Langhorne Slim with Ed Helms at Newport Folk Festival by Nina Westervelt.
This week, our premiere roundup is full of brand new music videos and performance videos for your viewing pleasure.
Fiddler and composer Hanneke Cassel kicks us off with an exciting, dance-ready remix of “Dot The Dragon’s Eyes” that celebrates the 10th anniversary of her album by the same name. Then Zoe & Cloyd bring a touching and heart-wrenching number, “Linemen,” inspired by their experiences in Asheville post-Hurricane Helene and set to stunning footage of the flooding’s destruction.
Don’t miss two sessions, too! Judy Blank continues our special encore series of Rootsy Summer Sessions captured earlier this summer with a two-song performance from Falkenberg, Sweden. And the hilarious troubadour Robbie Fulks shares “I Just Lived a Country Song” during our inaugural Good Country Goodtime variety show held earlier this fall. We’re so excited to bring you clips and sessions from that special show while we look ahead to more Goodtimes in 2025.
It’s all right here on BGS, and You Gotta Hear This!
Hanneke Cassel, “Dot The Dragon’s Eyes” (Eric Wright Remix)
Artist:Hanneke Cassel Hometown: Somerville, Massachusetts Song: “Dot The Dragon’s Eyes” (Eric Wright Remix) Release Date: December 6, 2024
In Their Words: “I released my tune ‘Dot The Dragon’s Eyes’ on an album by the same name in 2013. I was trying to think of a way to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the album and realized 2024 was the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Lunar calendar. I had been wanting to work with Eric Wright (cellist from the acoustic string band, The Fretless, and member of the electronic band, Speaker Face) so I asked him to do a dance remix tune.
“From 2002 to 2012, I traveled to Shanghai every spring as a retreat – to visit friends, play fiddle at migrant schools, orphanages, and other events, and to perform a concert in the Shanghai Arts District. These were transformative years for me – personally and musically – and after one visit I wrote the tune ‘Dot The Dragon’s Eyes.’ The title comes from a Chinese story that describes putting the finishing touches on something (dotting the eyes!) to bring it to life. The music video that goes along with this remix attempts to paint a picture of one of those days in Shanghai – complete with dumplings, karaoke, walks in the park, and more.” – Hanneke Cassel
Zoe & Cloyd, “Linemen”
Artist:Zoe & Cloyd Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina Song: “Linemen” Release Date: December 6th, 2024 (video)
In Their Words: “‘Linemen” was born from an honest, immediate experience. After 16 days with no power in our neighborhood following Hurricane Helene, we heard that linemen had been up on the narrow, washed out, backside dirt road near our homes assessing the situation. This road is still the only way into our neighborhood after flooding destroyed our bridge over Cane Creek on September 27. On the night of October 12, there was much anticipation and anxiety regarding the feasibility of power restoration amid so much damage. Our neighbor down on the creek, Doug Norton, a songwriter himself, sent us some lyrics that came to him after a ‘muse visit.’ We were all ‘sharing the same moment,’ to quote Doug. From his words, we were inspired to create this song.” – John Cloyd Miller
The Good Country Goodtime: Robbie Fulks, “I Just Lived A Country Song”
On September 27, Good Country and BGS debuted our brand new variety show, the Good Country Goodtime, at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles. The inaugural show, hosted by country and bluegrass singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks, featured comedy, country, and performances by musicians Victoria Bailey and Aubrie Sellers, comedian and actor Kurt Braunohler, and our all-star Goodtime house band led by the Coral Reefers’ Mick Utley.
Dynasty Typewriter is one of LA’s premier spaces for comedy, music, podcasts, improv, and so much more. The very first Good Country Goodtime was captured by the venue’s state-of-the-art cameras and we’re so excited to begin sharing exclusive sessions pulled from our debut edition of the show with our readers and fans. To kick off the new series, we’re highlighting our impeccable host for the evening, Robbie Fulks.
While much of the U.S. – and really, much of the Northern Hemisphere – has been plunged into the frigid throes of winter, let’s stroll back to balmy summer and to Falkenberg, Sweden. During Rootsy Summer Fest ’24 our videographer friends at I Know We Should were once again on hand to capture a few special live performances of artists and musicians from the festival lineup. Earlier this year, we featured an entire series of sessions from Rootsy Summer Fest ’23 (view those videos here), so we’re especially pleased to bring you these special encore performances captured this August.
For our latest session, we’re excited to introduce our BGS audience to indie-folk artist Judy Blank. Born and raised in the Netherlands – though now based in Nashville, Tennessee – Blank has her own sort of transatlantic style, combining textures and tones from Music City, Los Angeles, Europe, and beyond. Pop sensibilities combine with a raw earthiness that feels authentic and grounded, while simultaneously polished and highly conceptualized.
Chris Eldridge and I met when I stepped off of an elevator with my bass at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s convention in 2004. The Infamous Stringdusters were forming in Nashville at the time and they needed a bass player for the jam that night and, it turned out, for the band in general. We spent the first two years of that band traveling and making music together and Chris is still one of my favorite musicians and humans. A member of Punch Brothers and Mighty Poplar, he’s also made a couple great records with guitarist Julian Lage and plays in a duo with his wife Kristen Andreassen. Our conversation started when he arrived at my house and didn’t end until he pulled out of the driveway the next day, but we’ve captured some of the best parts here for the podcast.
This episode was recorded live at 185 King St in Brevard, NC on November 12, 2024
Photo Credit: Laura E Partain
Editor’s Note: The Travis Book Happy Hour is hosted by Travis Book of the GRAMMY Award-winning band, The Infamous Stringdusters. The show’s focus is musical collaboration and conversation around matters of being. The podcast includes highlights from Travis’s interviews and music from each live show recorded in Brevard, North Carolina.
The Travis Book Happy Hour is brought to you by Thompson Guitars and is presented by Americana Vibes and The Bluegrass Situation as part of the BGS Podcast Network. You can find the Travis Book Happy Hour on Instagram and Facebook and online at thetravisbookhappyhour.com.
I had heard of Caitlin Krisko, but I’d never really heard her until she took over the stage at the Floydfest Buffalo Jam a few years ago. I’d finished up my part of the show and had headed out into the crowd to unwind and watch the proceedings. Every time Caitlin stepped up to the mic the ensemble struggled to match her soul and intensity. It wasn’t even fair, really. She owned that show that night and she owned the interview and music during the Happy Hour, too. It was Caitlin’s show, Aaron and Tommy and I were just along for the ride!
This episode was recorded live at 185 King St in Brevard, NC on August 13th, 2024.
This episode is brought to you by Thompson Guitars and is presented by Americana Vibes and BGS as part of the BGS Podcast Network.
Photo Credit: Aaron Austin
Editor’s Note: The Travis Book Happy Hour is hosted by Travis Book of the GRAMMY Award-winning band, The Infamous Stringdusters. The show’s focus is musical collaboration and conversation around matters of being. The podcast includes highlights from Travis’s interviews and music from each live show recorded in Brevard, North Carolina.
The Travis Book Happy Hour is brought to you by Thompson Guitars and is presented by Americana Vibes and The Bluegrass Situation as part of the BGS Podcast Network. You can find the Travis Book Happy Hour on Instagram and Facebook and online at thetravisbookhappyhour.com.
After over 20 years behind the wheel of Western North Carolina-based bluegrass and roots band Steep Canyon Rangers, founding member Woody Platt is forging a new path ahead as a solo artist with his debut album, Far Away With You.
Released on October 11, the 10-song project sees the GRAMMY and IBMA Award winner teaming up with a variety of collaborators – from the North Carolina writers whose songs litter the collection to guest spots from legends like Del McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, and Darrell Scott. The album also showcases covers from Georgia bluesman Blind Willie McTell (“Broke Down Engine”) and rockers Kings of Leon (“Beautiful War”) that showcase Platt’s ability to take songs from far outside the bluegrass space and capture them within it, casting these familiar tales in an entirely new light and making them new all over again.
“This album is a big step for me,” Platt tells BGS. “When I left the Steep Canyon Rangers, it was only to slow down and be home more. I didn’t really have a plan to make a record or to have any sort of solo career, but when you spend half your life on the road and playing music, it just becomes a little bit of who you are.”
That big step has come with even bigger adversity in recent weeks as Platt has joined others in recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene pounded his home region. While his property and most of the city of Brevard were spared catastrophic damage, countless other communities nearby were not. Though recovery will likely take years, Platt is determined to help for the long haul with both power tools and his baritone bluegrass bops.
During a break from hacking away at a fallen tree with his chainsaw to get a neighbor’s bridge reopened, Platt spoke with BGS about the mixed emotions leading up the release of Far Away With You, how Western Carolina informs his music, his song selection process, and how fatherhood has impacted his outlook on music.
What’s it been like for you balancing promoting and preparing for an album release while simultaneously helping your community recover from Hurricane Helene?
Woody Platt: I’m not going to lie to you, I’m conflicted. This is the first time I’ve ever focused on a record that is a solo project with my name on it. With that comes a general sort of concern, anxiety, and excitement, and I’m proud of it, but at the same time I’ve been conflicted about trying to promote something that’s so singular and personal during this huge storm event that’s got so many people in such a bad situation.
Originally, I thought there’s no way the album release show can go on, but when you think about it a little bit more, you realize that music is a great way to bring people together, create a healing environment, and use it as a platform to continue to create awareness and raise money. There’s so many benefit concerts and there always has been, but that just gave me some peace of mind that if we can transition this into being less about the album and more about the community at large and the health of the community, these two things can coexist in a really good way. Being further and further away from the storm and as more people are getting power back, I think it’s a good chance for people to come together and contribute to a greater sort of healing process.
Aside from the pivot to the release show turning into a benefit, what do you hope to accomplish with Far Away With You?
The reason I first started playing music was to play bluegrass music, so this album for me represents a return to my roots. I never stopped playing bluegrass music, but when I was with the Steep Canyon Rangers we evolved and developed more of an Americana sound, so this [album] has been a good way for me to get back to basics and playing the music that originally got me fired up about creating a band and performing in the first place. Also, there’s a lot of great songwriters here in my home community, including my wife Shannon [Whitworth], which has allowed me to tap into some of the local talent to put a spotlight on them as well.
Do you see yourself getting back on the road for any tours or solo runs in support of this record or anything else you may do in the future?
I see shows always on my calendar, but tours, not so much. I don’t envision long runs of shows, but I do see myself playing a festival here, a concert there. I’m also doing a fair amount of work with Shannon, which is sort of separate from this. Between the two, I feel like I’m actually playing more music than I thought it would be. I didn’t have any expectations of what was next after years of touring, but every time I look at my calendar I have some work to do. It’s all been really organic. I’m not out there chasing it or pushing it very hard, but if an opportunity presents itself then I’m usually pretty willing to take part in it.
As you just mentioned, most of the songs on the album are penned by other songwriters. How do you go about deciding what work from others to incorporate into your shows, or in this case, an album?
I’m really drawn to songs, melodies, and just the feel of a composition. I didn’t start this project with a goal to find the songs just within this community, but when a song speaks to you, it speaks to you. Because of that, there was no real roadmap of what the final 10 songs would be. I just went with my gut and the songs that meant something to me or moved me for one reason or another, and this is where I ended up. It was only when looking back on them at the end that I realized that most of them came right out of Brevard.
I was so lucky when I was with Steep Canyon Rangers to be in a band with some really great songwriters. It set the bar pretty high for what I look for in a song, leading to this album where every song is one that I love to play and sing.
From songwriters to nature, how do the mountains of Western North Carolina inspire and inform your music?
We live in such a beautiful place. One of my favorite things about it is all the water. It’s no secret that I’m a lifelong, serious fly fishing angler and I get in the river a lot, like more than most. There’s a real sort of music to the river, so when I’m in the water there’s a lot of inspiration that washes over me. There’s a lot of sounds and what you see is not what you hear and the way it surrounds you is all very inspiring and helps to clear my mind. It’s always been a way for me to reset, which leads to loads of creativity and inspiration.
That’s interesting you bringing up water, because I agree it can be peaceful and relaxing, but as we’ve seen it can also be powerful, destructive, and deadly. Quite the duality.
That’s very true. I just spent the morning in the river with some other guys trying to clear a neighbor’s bridge. Right now the rivers don’t feel as peaceful as they have. There’s a lot to be done, but it’s amazing how rivers can heal themselves and how water can be healing in general.
Sticking with that concept of duality, I can’t help but get a similar sentiment from the song “Like the Rain Does,” which lyrically plays out like a love story (“you’ve got me falling like the rain does”), but is also flexible and ambiguous enough to tie into the recent storms y’all have experienced.
I absolutely love that about music. A song might be written for one particular perspective, but the listener might take it in a totally different direction based on personal experience or, like you said, a recent natural disaster that can sort of change what a song means to you. I’ve always liked that about songs and feel that many of the songs on this record have that sort of ambiguity and openness to interpretation while others are more direct.
Another song I’ve really enjoyed is “Walk Along With Me,” an original of yours that combines your life at home as a father with your love of music. How did it come about?
“Walk Along With Me” was one I wrote in 2015 shortly after our son was born. Shannon and I would work different shifts and I would put our little boy in a Moby [Baby] Wrap on my chest, staying up real late with him while she got some uninterrupted sleep, sort of like a night shift. I wound up writing a lot of songs with this classical guitar nestled against his back, which was really inspiring, because I’d never really thought of myself as a songwriter. I was a part of a lot of song creation, but not as a first writer of songs.
With this one in particular, I was emotional about all of the sudden becoming a father, so I thought about my life and the experiences that I’ve had and how that translated into how I would be as a father. And, how close I would keep my child or how far I would let them go, the ebb and flow of wanting to keep your arms around them and be by their side while also realizing that they’ve got to blaze their own trail. Being a father is ultimately what led me to slowing down my touring. It really changed my whole life, having a son and starting a family and that song is just one example of how I felt about it at that time.
Given that your son is eight years old now, has he started catching the musical bug himself yet?
He really is. Just this morning he was getting ready for school and he had his own music on in his room. He’s also been singing a lot and is getting quite good on the drums. He takes drum lessons from [Aquarium Rescue Unit and Leftover Salmon’s] Jeff Sipe here in town. We were at a little jam not too long ago and he found a cajon and next thing I knew he was a part of the jam and was holding it down pretty well. We’ve tried not to push music on him, but I think just being around these rehearsals at the house and these shows that we play is causing it to seep into his bones.
You’ve mentioned your wife Shannon a couple of times now. What does it mean to you to not only have her by your side for encouragement, but also to lean on as a songwriting partner?
It’s wonderful. She’s super creative [and] also a painter in addition to being a multi-instrumentalist, a songwriter, and a great singer. We play and write a lot together now, but when she was touring with her solo band or with The Biscuit Burners and I was touring with Steep Canyon Rangers we’d oftentimes just put our instruments by the door and not get them out when we got home. We were working so hard with our other groups that when we got together, we were just hanging out. Now that we’re both not playing as much we’re doing a lot more together. It’s been a lot of fun to write together and have her as a good sounding board, and vice versa. We’ve come to a really good place of musical compatibility and creativity.
What has music taught you about yourself?
I was never naturally made for this type of thing. For a long time I didn’t even realize that I had the talent and the capability to carry a show. Because of that, I usually show up over-prepared – I’m not the kind of guy that can just show up and jump on a show, I have to be studied and be ready. That preparation and drive to be good has helped to keep me humble and honest about it. I’ve always felt like at any minute this could all go away. It’s not only aided in keeping my head down and staying focused, but it’s also kept me playing and enjoying music for all the right reasons.
Photo Credit: Bryce Lafoon
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