Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, known as Viv & Riley, dive deep into the nuances of old-time music, their folk influences, and the process behind their album, Imaginary People. The duo, who met at a music camp in Port Townsend, Washington, trace their roots from Riley’s disciplined musical practice to Viv’s intuitive approach. The two found inspiration from growing up in the Seattle area listening to KEXP to living in Portland, Oregon, to their current home in Durham, North Carolina. Drawing on their experiences at fiddlers conventions and music camps, Viv & Riley reflect on the transformative power of collaboration and the vibrant community that has shaped their unique sound in their duo as well as their other band, The Onlies.
As they share insights into their songwriting process, the episode unravels the intricate layers of Imaginary People, delving into the harmonious blend of indie roots and experimental production that defines their latest release. With a nod to their eclectic influences, including the supportive atmosphere of Durham, North Carolina, the duo discusses the evolution of their sound under the guidance of producer Alex Bingham from Hiss Golden Messenger, who produced their latest album.
Many things contribute to the most memorable recording projects, but according to genre-hopping bluegrass band Town Mountain, there’s nothing quite like working on hallowed ground.
For their new six-song EP, Dance Me Down Easy: The Woodstock Sessions (out January 18), the band had an unexpected chance to record at the upstate New York home/jam space/studio of roots music legend Levon Helm – and they wisely jumped at the chance. Produced by Justin Francis, the equally unexpected set finds Town Mountain tapping the spirit that made Helm and The Band so inspiring, leading to a uniquely funky addition to their catalog.
Built around deep-pocketed, deep-cut covers of tracks by Helm, The Kinks, J.J. Cale, Dire Straits, and The Rolling Stones, Dance Me Down Easy is filled with homespun soul and helps connect the dots between normally separate musical worlds. And as mandolin playing primary songwriter Phil Barker says, it wouldn’t be the same without Helm’s spiritual presence.
“It’ll be tough to top as far as a studio vibe, that’s always a big thing for us is the space we’re recording in,” Barker says. “It’s got to be an inspirational thing, and this place had inspiration for days.”
Speaking with BGS from the band’s hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, Barker did his best to describe a spur-of-the-moment, three-day musical getaway that turned into a bucket-list experience, and gave an already-adventurous band new license to rock.
This seems like the type of project where y’all got to let off some steam and have a little fun. Was it time for a change of pace?
Phil Barker: Well, our label New West was talking to us about recording some cover tunes [to] tie it over to our next record… and we had a show booked at Levon’s Barn, which was our first time playing there. From the other people we’d talked to, we knew this was going to be nothing but vibe and our routing worked out where we had a couple days at the end of the tour. So it was like, “Why don’t we just go back to the barn and hang out there for a few days?” …It was the perfect space to do this. No high pressure situation. It’s just like, “Let’s cut loose and have fun on songs that we enjoy.”
For people who might not know, what does Levon Helm’s barn represent in roots music?
For me, it’s kind of like one of the epicenters of the whole Americana genre. He had such a great way of bridging rock and roll with funk and country and traditional American music. And him as a musician in the bands that he was in, he was such a huge influence on everybody. This place was his spiritual center, where he would come and all the parties he would have there. All the creativity that happened in this space has just kind of generated this buzz within itself, and the word just spreads. Everybody we’d talked to was like, “Oh man, you’re going to love it there.” And we’ve told everybody since then like, “You got to go, man. You got to go there.” So any fan of music and traditional American music in particular, it’s a one of a kind of experience and we’ve always had it on our bucket list to go play. I’m so glad we got to do some recording there as well.
I knew there were jams held there, but I didn’t realize it was a full recording studio as well.
We talked to a lot of folks up there and the story goes that Levon decided he wanted to bring the party to him, he wanted to bring it to his space. So he created this barn literally on the back of his house. If you go through the back wall of the barn performance area, it’s his kitchen. So it’s literally his house and this beautiful property with a nice lake and all these woods. I mean, if you create a space like that and people are already playing music in there, they’re going to want to record. So there’s no fancy infrastructure for recording – it’s just a barn and there’s a couple baffles you can roll around, not isolation booths or anything – but it’s meant for a community kind of performance.
Take me through the first moment of walking in there. What did it feel like?
It’s like being in a church. Everybody just started walking around seeing all the spaces, and you go downstairs and there’s just endless Levon memorabilia on the walls. All these amazing pictures, all these random artifacts you’ll see nowhere else, and you can just feel all the creative energy that has happened in this space and it’s really kind of like buzzing. It was a really moving experience, honestly.
You’ve said that Levon had things figured out, musically? What do you mean by that?
Man, he just knew where the pocket was supposed to be. …It’s like he knew how to connect with the soul of any kind of music, and how it would connect with people.
Is that why you picked the songs you did? They represent a pretty wide swath of rock and roll.
It’s always a challenge to come up with cover tunes and we went through a bunch of ‘em. If it was meant for your band, I feel like you’ll know in the first couple of times you sit down together and play it. …We were open to every genre. Any suggestion was something we would try out if somebody was felt passionately about it. It just so happened that the ones that were working best with us in this particular situation, were more from the rock genre.
Town Mountain as a band has always had a bunch of that influence anyways, right?
Oh, absolutely. We had a Jay Farrar tune on the first record, so it’s always been on something we’ve embraced and not been afraid of.
“Dance Me Down Easy” ended up being the title song – one of Levon’s, but not The Band’s. Why did you pick that and not “Cripple Creek” or “The Weight” or something?
We wanted to pay a little homage to the stuff Levon did outside of The Band. That one’s from one of his killer solo records and something maybe people haven’t done as much. And honestly, it’s just fun to play. It’s like a funky dance tune that we don’t really do. We wanted to highlight that Levon was so much more than The Band, both as a musician and a person. So it was a natural fit.
The Kinks’ track “Strangers” really stood out, too. How did that get in the mix?
That was one of my picks. That song, I’ve just listened to it for years and I’ve always gravitated towards it. I’ll go through these phases where it’ll be on my Spotify mix and I’ll repeat it for literally 10 or 15 times in a row. I can just listen to that song forever because it really resonates with me. I love the writing and I love the feel, it’s really unique and I wanted to give it a little more country-rock vibe.
Did any of them surprise you with how they turned out?
Probably “So Far Away.” When we originally thought about that tune, it’s just like Dire Straits is so iconic and they have this laid-back vibe. It’s such a perfect fit for that tune. But at the same time, the lyrics are so country and we thought it would definitely fit with a pedal steel behind it. We kind of gave it a little bit of a Cajun swing feel.
Is this experience going to stay with you guys? Is the vibe something you’re able to take with you on the road?
That’s a great question. Hopefully we’ll incorporate it into more of the rest of our material, and find a way to tap into that. It’s a very space driven thing, so hopefully we can keep that in mind and let it guide our way in the future.
Artist:Beta Radio Hometown: Wilmington, North Carolina Song: “This One’s Going to Hurt” Label: Nettwerk Music Group
In Their Words: “This is the first song we’ve ever co-written with someone (Henry Brill) and I would’ve never written this song on my own. The main line is so direct and I think a lot of my songwriting is dancing around an idea versus saying it plainly. This time, for this song in particular, it felt more appropriate to be clear and to the point about the message.
“It’s mainly a song about reckoning and about realizing that you can’t stand on a fence for so long. The first line, ‘Unrolling on the road,’ is an idea that expands on that feeling, of being away from your own center, out on the edges of your known reality, on the periphery and not at home.
“‘This One’s Going To Hurt’ is about letting something that’s been making you sick die. Because whenever something dies, then there’s space for something else to be born. But knowing that in that process, suffering and pain will be your companions.
“There are also themes of traveling, which was a big part of writing the record and a big part of my life in general at the time. I did a lot of moving around from place to place.” – Beta Radio
It’s that time, when music writers everywhere are thinking and writing about the best of the year’s music, blurbing away for year-end round ups. (Speaking of, our BGS year-end picks will be unveiled next week.) While it’s right to view ranking, commodifying, and objectifying music with a degree of skepticism, there is certainly something constructive and generative about reflecting on the songs, albums, and performances that have stuck with us throughout a year. It’s especially illuminating when certain music immediately jumps out from the rest, requiring no particular organization or intention to be a constant presence throughout a year or to be remembered among the cream of the crop.
Tray Wellington Band’s cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” is one such song. When the group performed it earlier this year at FWAAMFest in Texas, it wasn’t the first time I had heard their rendition, but it was the first time I noticed an audience hearing it themselves for the first time. I was struck by the reactions, in a non-bluegrass audience they varied from utter shock to outright glee – even other bands and artists on the lineup were beside themselves, as Tray Wellington Band laid out their one-of-a-kind cover of such a recognizable melody. Later this year, I saw TWB perform again at Earl Scruggs Music Festival in Tryon, North Carolina, and yet again, down the road a handful of weeks later at IBMA’s Bluegrass Live! festival and conference in Raleigh. Each time, regardless of the audience’s starting point or their baseline understanding of bluegrass, of the banjo, of cover songs such as this, “Pursuit of Happiness” would generate electricity in the crowd.
There’s a reason why hearing a North Carolina-born, Raleigh-based (via east Tennessee) Scruggs-style banjo player’s take on “Pursuit of Happiness” reminds of Reno & Smiley performing Johnny Cash and Elvis hits and Flatt & Scruggs recording buckets of Bob Dylan songs. This is a tradition in bluegrass as old as the genre itself. Executed as artfully as this, it has the potential to bring countless new fans of string band music into the fold. That “Pursuit of Happiness” retains its impact, no matter the audience – thanks, in large part, to this band’s remarkable musicality as an ensemble – at bluegrass festivals, African American music festivals, or even in Earl Scruggs’ home county, speaks to that ineffable quality of this music that we all hold so dear. Sometimes, a bluegrass song just grabs you and it won’t let go. “Pursuit of Happiness” is destined to grab more than its own share of ears, and Tray Wellington and band deserve it and then some, for bringing this track to the world.
One of the great voices of American song, Nina Simone was a definitive voice of 20th century American music. Her voice, music, and legacy all continue to resonate today, more than two decades since Simone’s death at age 70. She remains a guiding star for multiple artists across styles and genres – including Jaki Shelton Green, Poet Laureate of Simone’s native state of North Carolina. In an in-depth chat, we go deep about the art and inspiration Simone left behind.
Subscribe to Carolina Calling on any and all podcast platforms to follow along as we journey across the Old North State, visiting towns like Durham, Asheville, Shelby, Greensboro, and more.
Music featured in this episode:
Nina Simone – “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” Nina Simone – “Sinnerman”
Photo of Nina Simone by Stroud Productions, courtesy of the Nina Simone Project
Artist:Sully Bright Hometown: Forest City, North Carolina; currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Dark” Album:Darling, Wake Up Release Date: October 13, 2023
In Their Words: “‘Dark’ is a special song for me. It’s about my struggles with mental health, specifically Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The song tells my journey of learning how to see the light shine through the window; how to push past and break through the darkness of your own bedroom.
“In the video, I got the chance to sing it in a dark room with a window.” – Sully Bright
Photo Credit: Wonderfilmco Video Credit: Seth and Jenna Herlich, Wonderfilmco
Artist:Sully Bright Hometown: Forest City, North Carolina; currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee Song: “November” Album:Darling, Wake Up Release Date: October 13, 2023
In Their Words: “‘November’ is a song I wrote about being away from something you love. It’s about wishing for ‘November’ to come soon, whether that be the actual season of fall or someone. ‘Please come around this year, don’t make me wait any longer. I hope to see you soon, I hope to see you soon.’
“In the video we captured, I got the chance to sing the song on an old cabin porch in Roan Mountain, North Carolina. If you listen closely enough, you can hear a woodpecker. Be sure to check back in two weeks for the last video!” – Sully Bright
Photo Credit: Wonderfilmco Video Credit: Seth and Jenna Herlich, Wonderfilmco
Acoustic Syndicate is one of the best acoustic rock and Americana bands on Earth. Fronted by Steve McMurry, the band’s music leans toward themes of sustainability, social justice and quality of life and they’ve built a loyal following over the last 30 years. Steve takes us on a musical journey filled with inspiration and tradition in this episode, and he is as down-to-earth as they come; he still farms the land his ancestors first tended over 200 years ago near Shelby, North Carolina, and we get together every Thanksgiving for a hometown holiday jam in Brevard where I get absolutely blown away by the gravity of this musical titan. As a third-generation folk performer, Steve, in our interview, reveals the deep-rooted sources of his creativity, from legendary Americana influences to the tight-knit musical family that nurtured his sound. I was honored he agreed to join us for an episode of the Happy Hour and I know you’ll love his story and his insights and humility.
This episode was recorded live at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 19, 2021. Huge thanks to Steve McMurry, Mike Ashworth, and Mike Guggino.
Timestamps:
0:06 – Soundbyte 1:00 – Introduction 2:24 – Bill K. Introduction 4:00 – “I Will Lead You Home” 6:52 – “Beauty In The Ugliest Days” 10:44 – Interview 1 26:45 – “Sweetest Breeze” 33:51 – “Rainbow Rollercoaster” 40:00 – Interview 2 50:25 – “Sunny” 57:18 – “Song For Myself” 1:03:26 – Outro
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 is the best of the interview and music from the live show recorded in Asheville and Brevard, North Carolina.
The Travis Book Happy Hour Podcast 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.
Artist:Hannah Kaminer Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina (technically Black Mountain, North Carolina) Song: “Heavy on the Vine” Album:Heavy on the Vine Release Date: November 17, 2023 (single); January 5, 2024 (album)
In Their Words: “Over the last few years I started gardening and going to the community garden to learn whatever I could. One day in late summer I showed up and the gardener in charge told me we had to take out all the tomatoes and summer plants. I was stunned because all of those plants were still going strong, in full bloom. She gently let me know that it was time: If we did not take the summer plants out, there would be no fall planting and no fall harvest. Pulling the tomatoes out was a spiritual experience – letting go of one thing so another could grow – but it’s a lot harder when it’s not just tomatoes that you have to let go of. This song is about those moments when your vision narrows and you realize that only a few things in life are actually important, and you find yourself bargaining with the universe for the one thing you want but can’t have.” – Hannah Kaminer
Track Credits: Hannah Kaminer – vocals, guitar Kevin Williams – keys Ross Montsinger – drums Melissa Hyman – bass, harmony vocals Jackson Dulaney – pedal steel
Photo Credit: John Dupre Video Credits: Produced by Old Home Place Recordings Director – Aaron Stone Audio Engineer – Mike Johnson Photography – John Dupre Executive Producers – Tim & Susan Griffin
After two decades in The Infamous Stringdusters, the Grammy-award winning neo-bluegrass band, Travis Book releases his rock Americana debut: Love and Other Strange Emotions. That’s not to say that Book, who thrives on collaboration, got here on his own. The Colorado musician (now residing in Western North Carolina), was raised by parents who went out their way to ensure that young Travis respected music and had access to instruments. His mother bought him his first bass guitar and his dad allowed him to buy Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik (even though it had a parental advisory sticker on the cover). As Travis went off to college in Durango, Colorado, he found a supportive and vibrant bluegrass scene where he encountered future members of Greensky Bluegrass (Anders Beck), Leftover Salmon (Andy Thorn) and the Jon Stickley Trio. Those musicians would form their first bluegrass band Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band, which has just reissued a remastered version of their album Cabin in the Hills.
In our conversation, Travis talks about his brief time in Nashville, after he auditioned for The Stringdusters and got the gig as their upright bass player and vocalist. Spoiler alert: he felt very intimidated. We get into why he loves collaborations so much and has chosen to create his variety show turned podcast, The Travis Book Happy Hour, into an engine for unique performances with guests like Lindsay Lou, Jim Lauderdale, Sierra Hull and many more. The Happy Hour, which started in Spring 2020, was first set without an audience, which made Travis let go of his attachment to their reaction using wisdom borrowed from Eastern philosophy. He also explains how he is romantic, yet practical in everything he works to accomplish. Travis is a literal ray of positivity, so if you’re having a bad day, I promise that this conversation’s gonna lift you up in a seriously not-cornball way. TRAVIS!
Photo Credit: Seyl Park
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