You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Tray Wellington, Dallas Burrow, and More

Country and folk, bluegrass and new acoustic music all come together in this week’s edition of our new music and premiere roundup!

First up, country singer-songwriter Dallas Burrow is joined by Ray Wylie Hubbard on a brand new music video for their duo track, “Read ‘Em and Weep,” from Burrow’s upcoming September release. The song was inspired by classic gambling songs, so of course Ray Wylie was the perfect special guest to tap for the track and the country & western-styled video. Also bringing a new music video this week are Americana/folk trio The Last Revel, of Minneapolis. “Static” is about the overwhelm and confusion of new love.

In bluegrass, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers tap Jim Lauderdale for a new track, “How Small of Me.” Despite knowing each other for decades, it’s the first time Jones and Lauderdale have collaborated in the studio. Jones’ labelmates Deanie Richardson & Kimber Ludiker debut another new twin fiddle tune, this time offering their take on a Frank Wakefield classic, “New Camptown Races,” with a mighty backing band.

From experimental string band fringes we have a few stellar selections, as well. Award-winning banjoist Tray Wellington readies a new EP – set for release August 8 – with a performance video of an original song, “Man on the Moon,” continuing his creative relationship and fascination with the earth’s celestial relative. It’s jammy, expressive, and contemplative and shows a blend of many of the different styles of ‘grass he often employs. Mandolinist and composer Ethan Setiawan has new music on the way, too. His next project, Encyclopedia Mandolinnicaarrives mid-August and to celebrate, he’s shared a track featuring Joe K. Walsh called “Mount Holly.”

Finally, you won’t want to miss the return of Thompson the Fox, Tokyo’s quartet of mind-bending pickers who combine jazz, bebop, new acoustic, bluegrass, and so much more. Volume 2 of The Fox In Tiger’s Clothing – entitled TIGER – drops next month, so we’re sharing “Minute Waltz Rag,” the group’s reimagination of Chopin’s quintessential composition that’s ragtime, bluegrass, classical, and jazz altogether. Still, it’s incredibly easy to listen to – and impressive in technique and artfulness, both.

It’s all right here on BGS and, truly, You Gotta Hear This!

Dallas Burrow, “Read ‘Em and Weep” featuring Ray Wylie Hubbard

Artist: Dallas Burrow
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “Read ‘Em & Weep” featuring Ray Wylie Hubbard
Album: The Way The West Was Won
Release Date: July 18, 2025 (video); September 26, 2025 (album)
Label: Forty Below Records

In Their Words: “This song, which serves as the opening track of the album, is actually a musical sequel to a song I wrote with my good friend Charley Crockett called ‘The Only Game in Town,’ which I wrote all the verses for after he brought me a chorus and a chord progression. In that song’s third verse the narrator tells us, ‘The dealer is [his] friend and the house always wins.’ This song you might say serves as a challenge to its prequel, with the opening verse declaring, ‘I heard the dealer was your friend, I heard you know him well.’ Both, stylistically, were inspired by great gambling songs like ‘Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold’ by Townes Van Zandt and ‘Dust of the Chase’ by Ray Wylie Hubbard. It was only fitting then that Ray Wylie would sing on this tune. I gave him the whole record to listen to and this was the one he picked out to sing on. It was quite the honor to have him sing the entire second verse, since he’s always been one of my biggest inspirations and heroes. The tune opens with producer Lloyd Maines counting it off and playing a striking harmonic guitar part. As the track continues to build it is further brought to life by Lloyd’s legendary Dobro playing, and Katie Shore’s immaculate fiddle work.” – Dallas Burrow

Track Credits:
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Vocals
Dallas Burrow – Vocals, acoustic guitar, songwriter
Katie Shore – Fiddle
Lloyd Maines – Dobro, bass, acoustic guitar, producer
Pat Manske – percussion


Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, “How Small of Me” featuring Jim Lauderdale

Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “How Small of Me”
Release Date: July 18, 2025
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Jim Lauderdale and I have been friends for decades now, but this is the first time we have ever sung together on a recording, so I’m really happy about this. Meanwhile I co-wrote the song with John McCutcheon, somebody I first met when I was a teenager, and though more recently, he’s somebody who the band and I have performed with a few times at the Walnut Valley Festival in Kansas, we had never written a song together until last year, and ‘How Small of Me’ is one of our first results.” – Chris Jones

Track Credits:
Chris Jones – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Jim Lauderdale – Harmony vocal
Mark Stoffel – Mandolin
Grace van’t Hof – Ukelele
Jon Weisberger – Bass
Tony Creasman – Drums
Chris Scruggs – Steel guitar


The Last Revel, “Static”

Artist: The Last Revel
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Song: “Static”
Album: Gone For Good
Release Date: July 18, 2025
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “It’s a simple little song about how overwhelming and confusing love can feel especially in the beginning. It’s about losing yourself and everything you have just to spend time with the only person that seems to be vibrating at the same frantic frequency while everything else seems still and static.” – Lee Henke


Deanie Richardson & Kimber Ludiker, “New Camptown Races”

Artist: Deanie Richardson & Kimber Ludiker
Song: “New Camptown Races”
Release Date: July 18, 2025
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “‘New Camptown Races’ is a song that Kimber and I played together last year and it went so well we knew it was one we wanted on this record. I went to a recording from one of my fiddle heroes, Randy Howard, on this. I will admit, I did steal a few licks from Randy on this one. Love that my dear friend is with us on this track.” – Deanie Richardson

“We have long loved Frank Wakefield’s great mandolin tune ‘New Camptown Races,’ which quickly became part of the bluegrass canon when he first recorded it in 1957. We set out to create a twin fiddle reimagining of this classic Bb tune with the spirit of a high-energy late-night jam with phenomenal playing by Tristan Scroggins on mandolin, Kristin Scott Benson on banjo, Cody Kilby on guitar, and Hasee Ciaccio on bass.” – Kimber Ludiker

Track Credits:
Deanie Richardson – Fiddle
Kimber Ludiker – Fiddle
Cody Kilby – Acoustic guitar
Hasee Ciaccio – Upright bass
Tristan Scroggins – Mandolin
Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo


Ethan Setiawan, “Mount Holly” featuring Joe K. Walsh


(Click to listen)

Artist name: Ethan Setiawan
Hometown: Cornish, Maine
Song: “Mount Holly” featuring Joe K. Walsh
Album: Encyclopedia Mandolinnica
Release Date: July 23, 2025 (single); August 15, 2025 (album)
Label: Adhyâropa Records

In Their Words: “This one’s for the Fogels, at whose cabin in Vermont I spent a couple of great New Years, and who smoke the most delicious meat at all hours at festivals in the Northeast. I started to work on the tune in 2022 or 2023 up in Vermont and then finished it soon before tracking with Joe in early 2024. I finished it without a mandolin in hand, which lately has been a good exercise in letting my ear rather than my hands guide the composition. I’m playing mandola and Joe is playing octave mandolin, because we had to get in those low mandolins!” – Ethan Setiawan


Thompson the Fox, “Minute Waltz Rag”

Artist: Thompson the Fox
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Song: “Minute Waltz Rag”
Album: The Fox In Tiger’s Clothing, Vol.2: TIGER
Release Date: August 9, 2025
Label: Prefab Records

In Their Words: “Following our May release of The Fox In Tiger’s Clothing, Vol.1: FOX, we’re excited to announce the upcoming release of its sister album, Vol.2: TIGER, coming out on August 9.

“The album title is a play on two phrases from different cultures: the Japanese proverb, ‘The fox borrowing the tiger’s authority’ and the English idiom, ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing.’

“While Vol.1: FOX consisted entirely of our original compositions, Vol.2: TIGER is a collection of cover tunes. Ahead of the album’s release, we’ve just shared a music video for ‘Minute Waltz Rag.’ It’s a reimagining of Chopin’s beautiful waltz, which I arranged in two-time for this quartet. We hope you enjoy it!” – Takumi Kodera

Track Credits:
Rie Koyama – Xylophone
Takumi Kodera – Banjo
Akihide Teshima – Bass
Tomohito Yoshijima – Drums

Video Credit: Takumi Kodera


Tray Wellington, “Man on the Moon”

Artist: Tray Wellington
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: Man on the Moon
Album: Spatial Awareness (EP)
Release Date: July 18, 2025 (single); August 8, 2025 (EP)
Label: Free Dirt Records

In Their Words: “‘Man on the Moon’ is one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written. I wanted to capture how easy it is to hide struggle behind a smile and how many of us carry that weight silently. Writing has always helped me process things I hadn’t fully acknowledged and I hope it can do the same for someone else. This track was also one of my favorites for production as it’s one of the songs I feel like we really captured the feelings of the song throughout.” – Tray Wellington

Video Credit: Rob Laughter


Photo Credit: Tray Wellington by Heidi Holloway; Dallas Burrow by Melissa Payne.

Brad Kolodner’s
Gourd Banjo Journey

My gourd banjo journey began on a crisp, winter day in downtown Ithaca, New York. While an undergrad at Ithaca College early in my banjo-playing days, I stopped by the local acoustic instrument store and saw a peculiar banjo-like creature hanging high up on the wall. I was instantly hooked. It had five strings and a short drone string just like my banjo. I could play the same clawhammer style I was familiar with, but everything felt and sounded different. The instrument had an earthy, plunky, and rich tone. Besides being completely fretless and tuned a few steps low, the head was made of a gourd that smelled like dirt. Flash forward 15 years and here I’ve just released an album of solo, unaccompanied gourd banjo music called Old Growth.

These days, I play a gourd banjo built by Pete Ross, an immensely talented banjo maker who lives in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, a town full of banjo history. The first professional banjo maker in the world, William Boucher, set up shop in Baltimore in the mid-19th century. The neck of this banjo, notably the scroll-shaped headstock, is modeled after the Boucher style. In addition to being a tool for creative exploration, the gourd banjo serves as a prism into the complex history of the banjo. It’s a reliable conversation-starter everywhere I go. For more on banjo history, I encourage you to read Well of Souls by Kristina Gaddy.

While compiling this list, I was struck by the sheer variety in tone and texture possible with the gourd banjo. While the instrument connects to the early roots of old-time music, it continues to serve as a platform for innovation. Every player is unique. This list features gourd banjoists from around the world playing traditional and original material. Let’s go on a deep dive into the gourd banjo! – Brad Kolodner

“Josie-O” – Adam Hurt

Arguably the most influential gourd banjo album of our time, Adam Hurt’s Earth Tones is sublime. Cover to cover, this is a dreamy album of solo gourd banjo pieces and it’s on regular rotation at my house. Adam is one of today’s most influential clawhammer banjo players and there’s no question his gourd banjo playing, and this album specifically, introduced the gourd banjo to much wider audiences inspiring countless musicians along the way.

“Old Growth” – Brad Kolodner

The title track of my new album Old Growth is a dark, spooky tune I wrote in the depths of winter, yearning for those sun-filled summer days in the vibrant forests just north of town. I tuned my banjo extra low on this track, hence the extra mellow vibes. The title speaks to the seemingly ancient sound of the gourd while nodding to how this music continues to evolve.

“Julie” – Rhiannon Giddens

A song inspired by a conversation between an enslaved woman and her mistress during the Civil War, Rhiannon Giddens’ use of the gourd banjo is particularly poignant on “Julie.” Rhiannon is a tremendous ambassador for the banjo. She’s reframing the conversation around the history of the instrument and the role Black folks have played and continue to play in American Roots music. The early incarnations of the banjo made by enslaved Africans were gourd banjos.

“Rolling Mills” – Pharis & Jason Romero

Based in Horsefly, British Columbia, Pharis & Jason Romero build some of the most gorgeous (gourd-geous?) banjos in the world. Jason Romero built the gourd banjo he’s playing on this track. Both are immensely talented musicians who take great care in their instrument building and songcraft.

“Darling Cora” – Nora Brown

One of the most exciting young banjo players on the scene today, Nora has a deep reverence for the roots of old-time music. Her playing is absolutely sublime. She plays a gourd banjo very similar to mine also built by Pete Ross in Baltimore. All gourd banjos are handmade, which gives each one a unique sound.

“Long Hot Summer Days” – John Showman & Chris Coole

Chris Coole is a banjo hero of mine and his gourd banjo playing on this John Hartford track fits perfectly. The slinky nature of the fretless gourd truly embodies those sluggish long, hot summer days.

“Gourdness” – Arnie Naiman

Arnie is one of Canada’s finest banjo players and a clever tunesmith to boot. I first heard his playing on the compilation album The Old Time Banjo Festival produced by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer.

“Goodbye, Honey, You Call That Gone” – Jake Blount

Ok so, technically, Jake isn’t playing a gourd banjo on this track. He’s playing a fretless banjo with nylon strings which sounds an awful lot like a gourd banjo. The next incarnation of the banjo in the mid-19th century after the gourd banjo was along the lines of what you’re hearing on this track.

“Four and Twenty Blackbirds Dancing on a Deer Skin / Twin Sisters” – Teilhard Frost

Teilhard Frost resides on Wolfe Island in Ontario and is a longtime member of the band Sheesham, Lotus & Son. He set out to build gourd fiddles many years ago and now specializes in gourd and tackhead banjos.

“The Rain Done Fell on Me, Pt. 1” – Justin Golden

Primarily known as a blues guitarist and songwriter, Justin Golden plays a mean gourd banjo. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Justin is a gem of a human – and he’s been going through a real challenging time as he’s currently battling stage 4 cancer. There’s a GoFundMe for him here.

“Wild Bill Jones” – Ken & Brad Kolodner

When my father Ken and I first started making music together nearly 15 years ago, we figured the fiddle and banjo would be the core focus of our music. We soon realized the percussive nature of the hammered dulcimer and the drive of clawhammer mesh together beautifully. The gourd banjo adds yet another dimension to this unusual texture, especially when cranked up to the tempo of “fast.” That’s Ken Kolodner on hammered dulcimer, Rachel Eddy on guitar, Alex Lacquement on bass, and myself on gourd banjo.

“Western Pine” – Talise

In compiling material for this list, I came across this lovely original song by the Canadian artist Talise featuring gourd banjo. I’m excited to dig more into her work!

“Jagged Mountain Is on Fire (Gourd Banjo)” – Andrea Verga

Born and raised in Italy, Andrea Verga is one of today’s most inventive and creative clawhammer banjo players. He writes adventurous melodies; this tune is inspired by the jagged peaks of the Dolomite Mountains in Andrea’s home country.

“Ard Aoibhinn / The Hunter’s Purse” – Steve Baughman

Steve is one of today’s most influential Celtic fingerstyle guitar players – he’s also one of the most creative banjo players out there. He even plays clawhammer on guitar! This medley features a pair of Celtic tunes played on gourd and mandolin.

“Pompey Ran Away” – Clarke Buehling

Considered to be the first banjo melody officially documented, “Pompey Ran Away” dates back to the 18th century. Hailing from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Clarke Buehling is a renowned banjo player and historian who has long been an advocate for the gourd banjo.


Photo Credit: Frank Evans

BGS 5+5: The Wildmans

Artist: The Wildmans
Hometown:
Floyd, Virginia
Latest Album: Longtime Friend (out July 11, 2025)

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

Growing up in the rich and vibrant region of the Appalachian mountains, nature has always been extremely influential to everything we do. Hearing the frogs sing in the evening or when the cicadas come out and fill the air with their hypnotic mantra every few years. Nature perseveres out here and if you want to live in it you are always battling one element or another. We don’t have AC, so in the summer all of our instruments are inundated with humidity, of course bringing them outside adds to this which we do often too. Dehumidifiers help. But it’s that soft humid atmosphere that makes the forest so lush and dense out here. I think it has always taught us a lot too living in such a rural area. And I would say the musical culture of these mountains and this region of America is possibly the most impactful aspect in our work today.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Every year as kids we got to attend the local music festival in our home town, Floydfest. We discovered so much music throughout those years and specifically it was an experience we shared at Jon Lohman’s workshop porch stage when this band The Boston Boys, along with Danny Knicely and Nate Leath, invited us up to play a couple tunes on stage. It was our first time being on stage in front of a real audience and it’s one of those quintessential moments in our lives that is significant to where we are and what we are pursuing today. I think that the relaxed and inviting atmosphere that both the musicians and the audience gave to us in that moment is something that we take with us into every show we play now.

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

Ever since Mk.gee dropped Two Star & The Dream Police in the beginning of 2024, it has stayed on rotation. Whether in the tour van, headphones, or home stereo. I also have a serious soft spot for 90s R&B like SWV and Soul For Real. And D’angelo always. – Aila

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

This is such a great question and immediately it makes me think of this scene of Leon Russell playing “Jambalaya on the Bayou” in 1972 filmed by Les Blank for his film, A Poem Is A Naked Person. This is the dream pairing right here, Leon is onstage with a plate of what appears to be half-eaten ribs sitting in front of him on his piano, full of soul and groove singing this old Hank Williams song. I mean did he wipe his hands before starting the song? It’s rock and roll, it’s Leon Russell with southern bbq. – Eli

What would a perfect day as an artist and creator look like to you?

Waking up in the morning and having a hot beverage of some sort. Tea or coffee. This is a good time to write freely, reflect. Even sing a new song. Then going outside to sit in the sun for a half hour before making a really good breakfast. We are serious about breakfast as a band, sometimes all other meals can feel like a failure while on tour, especially with dietary restrictions and what not. But we always make sure breakfast is accomplished and done right.

After breakfast, we might play some music by ourselves or with each other. Giving time and space into the day for creativity and practice. Exercise is also really important to us, this would come next as we are easing into the afternoon. Into the evening we love to have friends over to share music and food, cooking together or grilling out. Good food, good people, and good music make the world go round. All of these things are what make up a “perfect day as an artist” to us. General simplicity and grounding.


Photo Credit: Magnolia Ellenburg

Watch Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Return to NPR’s Tiny Desk

From their earliest days as a duo, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings have crafted utterly timeless old-time, bluegrass, and American roots music of the highest order. Their lyrics and melodies sound as though they could have been plucked from any/every golden era of folk music on this continent, while at the same time being effortlessly forward-looking and grounded in the present. Perhaps that timelessness is why it feels so surprising that Welch & Rawlings have entered their own new era, as sceptered elders in their chosen genres and communities. The surprise being, of course, the realization that… have they not always been roots music elders?!

Last week, NPR Music unveiled a brand new Tiny Desk Concert by Welch & Rawlings, 15 years since their last appearance at the internet’s biggest smallest stage. In the roughly 20-minute performance, the pickers, singers, songwriters, and life partners perform three songs from their most recent album, 2024’s Woodland, as well as revisiting one of their all-time classics, “Revelator” – from 2001’s Time (The Revelator). Viewing 2025’s Tiny Desk Concert alongside their 2010 performance (watch both sets below), the circuitous journey they’ve taken to sage old-time veterans is obvious, apparent. But it’s still no less mystifying that two artists and creators so adept at musical time traveling have landed in this new phase of their careers right under our noses. With silver hair, wizened voices, a lifetime’s supply of grit, and a tenderness that’s begun to eclipse their fiery, razor’s edge aggression, Welch & Rawlings continue to be their generation’s epitome of modern folk troubadour-ship.

And aren’t they suited for it! “Empty Trainload of Sky,” a song inspired by their titular recording studio Woodland’s propensity for landing in the middle of catastrophic tornado tracks, hits just as hard in this context, their Tiny Desk performance released mere days before tragic and fatal natural disasters and flooding hit multiple states across the U.S. Their songs constantly bend time like this, finding resonance in specificity and universality, both. “Lawman” and “Hashtag” sound like numbers that could’ve been sourced from wax cylinder recordings – or from 9:16 short form videos ripe for virality and topically delicious. “Revelator,” then, reminds that Welch & Rawlings know that they operate from within and outside of the constructs of time, at least as far as music goes. They are perfectly at home in this wormholed medium.

Fifteen years feels like a mere instant, a split-second, in the grand scheme – and, certainly, when you consider the ubiquity and staying power of Welch & Rawling’s body of work over the decades of their career. Still, you can see and hear the age, the miles traveled, the hardships overcome, and the joys celebrated on their faces, in their voices, and in the pluck of their strings. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, with each and every note they utter, invite each of us to step outside of time. It’s no wonder that they’re thriving, at the highest of heights they’ve reached yet, as they enter their latest golden age, as roots music heroes and elders who’ve touched countless scores of us with their art.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings continue on tour now through the fall. More info here.


Read our exclusive September 2024 interview with Gillian Welch & David Rawlings here, when the duo were our Artist of the Month. 

Singing Through Dark Times:
Willi Carlisle Finds Hope in Roaming and Reckoning

We are in a moment of extreme distress. Especially, but not limited to, the formal politics of America’s dying empire. Living in its wake, it’s easy to collapse into hopelessness. Hopelessness seems reasonable, considering the criminalization of trans voices, or ICE raids, or the tariffs that wipe out hard earned income, or climate change, or any of the other myriad disasters we are in the middle of. There has to be some way forward – a full understanding of how bad the situation currently is, but also that there might be a small amount of hope; that it has been worse than this, but it has also been better.

Willi Carlisle released an album of traditional songs, called The Magnolia Sessions, in December 2024 and will release Winged Victory June 27 via Signature Sounds. Winged Victory includes original songs and covers of Utah Phillips, Richard Thompson, and Patrick Haggerty, among others. These songs are about the delicate negotiation between historical understandings, current realities, and the possibility of a progressive future; about carving out small moments of pleasure against melancholy; of building a small paradise against these impending crises.

I reached Willi Carlisle by phone on Good Friday, the saddest day of the Christian calendar. On the first Good Friday, no one thought Christ would return. I have not been a believer for a while, but I remember sermons in college which warned against racing through Friday to get to the hope of Sunday. So when I call this album a hopeful one, it is hopeful with a full acknowledgement that it might not get better. The work needs to be done with the assumption that there is no intervention, divine or otherwise.

When asking Carlisle about optimism, or about hope, he makes his choices sound purposeful, mentioning that he had been wanting to make this kind of album for more than a decade and that these two albums are “more just like musical moments that continue to say the things I want to say, as opposed to saying the things that I want to get off my chest.” This is not a manifesting energy, or an optimism despite all odds, but one which is well earned after decades of performing.

Those decades of performance tile with decades of listening, each working together mutually. Winged Victory has several moments which cross cosmic time – decades or centuries – looking backwards or seeing what is possible in the futures of our children’s children’s generations. The collection begins, for example, with the Utah Phillips standard, “We Have Fed You All for 1000 Years.” Its chorus states baldly:

Go reckon our dead by the forges red
And the factories where we spin.
If blood be the price of your cursed wealth,
Good God! We have paid it in!

This album is one of reckoning, of refusing the standard moments. In the original song, “The Cottonwood Tree,” a slow waltz, Carlisle talks about a “place where nobody lives, and everyone is free.” He is singing in first person while he plays a concertina, mentioning how he is part of nature now and how he will be part of nature in his own rotting. He is happy to die trusting people, but even after dies, even when he is buried under “the cottonwood trees,” he will be heard.

He concludes the song, believing that he will meet his friends six feet under the cottonwood tree. In a subtle moment, his friends are “the tall grasses rustling between his ears,” or the forget-me-nots in a parking lot, and maybe even other humans. Here time collapses, between the immediacy of the moment and the length it takes a body to absorb fully into those cottonwood trees.

Carlisle’s album of traditional songs, The Magnolia Sessions, has moments of this cosmic time as well – a much eerier version of “Leatherwing Bat” than the one made famous on Peter, Paul and Mary’s children’s album, as well as the last song, a version of “Jubilee,” a moment which reminds us again that the joy will come, after working and waiting.

Conversation between original tracks and new work is central to Carlisle’s practice. His reckoning, which occurs over and over again, is also about the complex matrix of listening and performing other people’s songs. When asked about the covers, he talks about working together – that he had a “strong relationship to the material…”

“I see my whole project in folk music is hearing history with all of its interpretations, its historicity, back to the lives of actual human beings. It’s time to take off the cowboy hat and put on the work gloves.”

The strength of the relationships between material, is partly due to how the original songs on this album work in conjunction with the old songs. For example, how the waltz of “The Cottonwood Tree” leads into the harder, faster waltz of the Patrick Haggerty-penned “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears.” That Carlisle includes a Patrick Haggerty song at all is remarkable, even more so that he makes it full of joy and he considers it as part of the tradition of folk and country music. It’s a cult song in queer folk circles – the mainstreaming of this work is a foregrounding of queer desire, another tradition and another culture. Carlisle sings it with horns and an accordion which sounds like a circus calliope (between this and Lucy Dacus’ “Calliope Prelude,” the instrument is having a moment).

Collapsing of time can again be seen in his version of Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing.” Also running a little quicker than the original, it’s a song about lovers who cannot be kept and immediacy about “the price you pay for the chains you refuse.” But the next song, “Big Butt Billy” – a comic riff on possibly hooking up with a non-binary server at a diner in the midwest – makes other arguments, models other kinds of hope (for an immediate pleasure).

Other versions of “Beeswing,” meanwhile, take the side of the narrator and have a misogynist tinge against the person who roams. Having these two songs back to back argues in favor of roaming and typifies desire as a kind of roaming – Haggerty wants, the Romany wants, the server wants, and at the risk of thinking he might be a little autobiographical, Willi wants. Throughout these two albums, the hunger is palpable.

Roaming is central to Carlisle’s music, not only on this album, but as a theme. Roaming through time and space, through the cosmos, and on the very real roads of California, Texas, or Wisconsin. The first thing that Carlisle and I talked about was BBQ and about Kansas City, where he is staying on Good Friday when we connect. That could be seen as a kind of metaphor – having strong feelings about a very local meat & three and about the history of a song that is brand new; having thoughts about the place where he is landing and a song that is centuries old.

Roaming is a way through this mess, through catastrophe and disaster as a way of finding community, against despair while not naively thinking things will get better without labor. This pattern of Carlisle’s interpretive skill is top notch throughout both of these albums, because of that curious hunger, that roaming, and that possibility of a way forward, even in the darkest era.

The last question I asked Carlisle was about theater – he had worked at Fringe shows in his 20s. He said that he wanted to direct or act again, especially Brecht. I keep returning to Brecht’s “Motto,” which reads in its entirety:

In the dark times, will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.

This poem was the epigraph to a book written when Brecht had moved to Denmark, escaping German fascism.

Winged Victory reveals there is great beauty in darkness, that singing itself is an act of optimism, and that exile creates its own narratives. Therein, Carlisle has found a way of singing through dark times.


All photos: Whit Stone

All Kinds of Country

Editor’s Note: Each issue of Good Country, our co-founder Ed Helms will share a handful of good country artists, albums, and songs direct from his own earphones in Ed’s Picks.

William Beckmann

Born and raised in a border town in Texas, singer-songwriter William Beckmann perfectly illustrates how Mexican folk, Tejano music, and country have always been closely intertwined. Latin folk is Americana; mariachi and Norteño are country. With Good Country like his, that connectedness feels intuitive – and obvious. Beckmann’s new album arrives June 20.


Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson

Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson, founding members of revered string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, reunite on a new old-time album, What Did The Blackbird Say to the Crow, which celebrates North Carolina repertoire, fiddle, banjo, and front porch pickin’. I’m excited to join them both – and many other special guests like Steve Martin, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and more – at the Hollywood Bowl on June 18 for a special one-night-only edition of their Old-Time Revue.


The SteelDrivers

“Uneasy listening” or “bluegrass soul,” whatever you call their style of music, the SteelDrivers are a bluegrass institution. Their new album, Outrun, is their first with Sun Records, an excellent label match for a group that combines bluegrass, blues, country, and soul with music that’s equally at home in Nashville, Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and beyond. Love this band of ringers!


Jack Van Cleaf

There’s a new sort of Americana/country/Gen Z folk brewing between social media and music cities like Nashville, Chicago, and LA – and Jack Van Cleaf is at the center of its rise. Is it alt-country? Is it contemplative bedroom folk? Is it indie rock? Is it singer-songwriter Americana? It’s all of the above. Check out his latest LP, JVC, to discover your own terms for his striking style.


Watchhouse

My old pals Andrew and Emily were a pick last year when they guested on “Pink Skies” on Zach Bryan’s smash hit album, The Great American Bar Scene. Now they’re back with a full-length album of their own, Rituals, out today! We’ve been covering and collaborating with Watchhouse for over a decade, so stay tuned for more celebrations of the new record coming soon to BGS and Good Country.


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Photo Credits: William Beckmann by Connor Robertson; Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson by Karen Cox; The SteelDrivers by Glenn Rose; Jack Van Cleaf by Joseph Wasilewski; Watchhouse by Jillian Clark.

Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert Let Their Music “Be What It Wants to Be”

Volume 4 is a beginning and end for Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert. It’s a beginning in that it’s the duo’s newest release, which means new songs, a new tour cycle, and a new round of interviews. It’s an end – “the end of an era,” as they put it – for Dead Reckoning Records, the label Kane and his bandmates in The Dead Reckoners launched 30 years ago. The independent venture grabbed the attention of other artists whose recordings they released, in addition to The Dead Reckoners’ first and only album, A Night of Reckoning, and the band members’ various other projects.

“Over the 30 years, [The Dead Reckoners] drifted into their own worlds, their own lanes,” says Kane. “Tammy Rogers and the late Mike Henderson started doing The SteelDrivers, Harry Stinson has been with Marty Stuart for years, and Kevin Welch is in Australia. For a long time, I was just putting out my solo records on the label, and then Rayna and I put our records out.

“30 years seemed like a nice, round, anniversary number to give everybody their work back, their masters back, and dissolve the company. It’s been great. I’m quite proud of the work we’ve done over the years and that it’s still a functioning label. We’ve managed to survive all kinds of digital flare-ups and breakthroughs and ways of sharing music. The company makes a little bit of money every year, but it seemed like, ‘Yeah, let’s call it a day.’ I called everyone and everybody was like, ‘That’s fine.’”

Bringing Dead Reckoning Records full circle is sweet rather than bittersweet, says Kane, “in that the label was started by an album of mine [Dead Rekoning, 1995] and thirty years later, on the same date [April 11], we released Volume 4. To me, it serves as bookends for the label.”

Gellert and Kane met at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. Their first collaboration was co-writing for Kane’s Unguarded Moments [2016] and Gellert’s Workin’s Too Hard [2017]. The following year, they released their first duo album, The Ledges, followed by When The Sun Goes Down [2019], and The Flowers That Bloom In Spring [2022]. This year brings Volume 4, which they produced, recorded, and mixed, with Kane on vocals and guitars, Gellert on vocals, guitar, and fiddle, and Kane’s son Lucas on drums.

I thought we’d start by introducing you to readers, but instead of telling us about yourselves, tell us about each other.

Rayna Gellert: Kieran is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with a long, awesome career doing all kinds of musical things ever since he was a child. The thing that other musicians immediately say about him is they comment on his sense of groove that seems to be a through line in his musical output. And he’s awesome. He’s the funnest person to write and perform with.

Kieran Kane: Musically, we are so much on the same path, and have been on the same path, for both our individual lines. But out of all the people that I’ve ever worked with, Rayna, in the same way she talks about groove when talking about me, I would have to say the same thing about her, in that it’s just so … I want to say reliable, and that sounds sort of pedestrian, but it is.

It’s like having a drummer and a bass player playing the fiddle, in that the pockets and the grooves are so strong and well established that I can drift away and they’re just there. And it’s all been unusually compatible in writing and playing and performing. We genuinely enjoy doing what we do together. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s creatively fulfilling, and all those things.

Rayna, in an interview with WYSO you mentioned there are differences in your songwriting processes. Could you tell us about those differences and how they work as a duo?

RG: Kieran’s the first person I’ve consistently co-written with. I mostly wrote on my own. I occasionally noodled around with a friend on something, but I had no consistent co-writer. I was very much a newbie to actual co-writing when Kieran and I started writing together.

He approaches songwriting from a completely different angle than I do and that makes it extra fun and adventurous. I’ve always started with some bit of lyric and melody that come at the same time together and I go from there. Kieran usually starts with some kind of instrumental riff that becomes the seed of a structure of something. Lyrics come later for him.

The combination of the way we come at a song is very compatible because it’s different. We bring different strengths to the table. I tend to be super verbose when it comes to lyrics. I spill a lot of stuff out, and he’s a great editor. He is really good at finding the key phrases, figuring out the hook, and creating a structure around that.

My background is in old-time music, so the idea of a long ballad where there’s no chorus and it’s just inspiration that goes on and on and on is totally normal to me. For Kieran, it’s like, “What’s the hook? What’s the chorus? What’s the instrumental riff that’s going to tie the thing together?” And it works together very well.

KK: I agree with that. A lot of times what I’m hearing, along with a song, is a record. So much of what we do is based on an intro, in a way, or, as she said, a little musical hook that’ll tie things down. I’ve almost never sat down with an idea about a song. It’s more like I sit down and start playing banjo or mandolin or guitar until something catches my ear and then a lyric will be a free association to get started.

With us, that’s true to some extent, as well. A lot of times we don’t know what the song is going to be about until we wade into the waters and go, “Oh, it could be this.” It seems to work. Whatever the two different approaches are, it comes together.

How is Volume 4 the next step in your journey? You’ve talked about the songwriting process. When it’s time to record, do the arrangements happen organically?

RG: His view of the song tends to be a little more zoomed out than mine. What he’s saying … he is not just thinking about the song, he’s thinking about the record – I think that’s about arrangement. That’s about, “How are the pieces fitting together here?”
It does evolve organically. We always have to decide, “What’s the instrumentation? What feels right for this? Am I playing guitar? Am I playing fiddle?” If he comes up with a riff on an instrument, usually it stays on that instrument. But we’re working with so few pieces that we make a lot of use of space, because that’s one of the biggest colors in our palette.

KK: A way for us to build things in terms of arrangements often – since, as Rayna said, there’s so few pieces – is to eliminate something, like, “We’ll drop out here, which will bring the song down,” because if we start off with the two of us singing and playing at the same time, there’s no place to go, other than to start removing things.

As I’m saying this, I realize that my mission, if there is such a thing, in writing and making records has always been about removing things, making it simpler, and cutting off all the fat, anything that’s unnecessary.

RG: One of the things that’s different about this project is, in a way, we approached the whole album sort of like we would approach a song, as in letting it be what it wanted to be.

On past albums, we approached it more like we were writing a set list for a show, where it’s, “Have we included different instrumentation? Do we have a balance of lead singers? Do we have uptempo and downtempo?” This album is structured more like the way we write a song, which is, “What does this want to be?” Regardless of instrumentation, regardless of who’s singing, regardless of whether we wrote the songs. It evolved into this little sonic package that feels like you go in there and it’s a room you hang out in for the length of the album. To me, that’s a different experience than our past records.

KK: I’ve never thought of it like that. Yeah. We’ve been writing a lot. We wrote three albums, I did an EP that we had written a couple of songs for, and Rayna did an EP that I helped out on a couple of songs and produced. So we’ve done a lot of work in the last eight years, or however it is, that we’ve been doing this. Before Volume 4, there were three albums and two EPs, which is a lot more work than I’ve ever done in that amount of time.

This record, to me, was a little bit more of a grab-back in a way. Rayna was talking about wanting to do a fiddle album at some point and I was like, “Let’s play more fiddle tunes.” So we did that and pulled some older songs that were, as Rayna was saying, “Let’s just do it.” In my mind, it’s almost cleansing in a way to have taken this “just let it be what it wants to be” approach. Now we can move on to something else … and I don’t know what that is.

Tell us about the recording process and gear choices on this album.

RG: We have a very simple home recording setup that we’ve refined over the years. We got some good mics that we like a lot a couple years ago, Soyuz mics. We use those for everything, for instruments and vocals, the same mics. We have four of those.
We have a Zoom R16 board that we can either record directly onto or use as an input into Logic for recording. It’s a very mobile rig. We spend our summers in the Adirondacks at a cabin and we do a lot of recording when we’re up there. Some of this album was recorded there and some of it was recorded here in Nashville, in our house. We can take the board with us and do a nice, clean, digital field recording.

KK: It’s a wonderful piece of gear and shockingly inexpensive. As far as instruments and things like that, this record is a departure for me in terms of guitars, because I’ve basically used the same Guild M-20 on every record and every show I’ve done with Rayna, and before that for the last twenty-five years. For some reason, on this record, I picked up a couple of different guitars that I’ve had lying around the house for years. It was like, “Let me try this song on this guitar. Oh, that’s fun.” Whether or not I would do that again, I don’t know, because the guitar I’ve used all those years I love and it’s so reliable.

There’s three different acoustic guitars for me on this record. One is a Martin 00-16 classic, an early-’60s gut-string guitar that I played on “Keep My Heart in Mind.” The other is an early-’60s D-28 that I played on “The Mansion Above.” The other guitar songs are all on the Guild M-20. Rayna played the same guitar that she’s been using, an early D-28.

Last year, I was listening to a lot of ’60s folk music. I was listening to Gordon Lightfoot, Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, and things like that, and hearing these really simple guitars where there’s no real guitar solos or anything like that. “I Can’t Wait” fits into that mold – as does “Keep My Heart in Mind,” and “Imagine That” – in that there’s no solos, but there’s a repetitive musical vein that goes through it all. It’s just two people playing guitars and singing. It’s that simple, which is something that really appeals to me.

Is it accurate to say there’s a connecting thread of faith in some of these songs?

KK: Yeah, I think that maybe is a thread through it.

RG: Not from that specific angle, but we definitely talked about hoping that people, in listening to the album, felt comforted.

KK: “I Can’t Wait,” to me, is very much is about faith – not in a religious way, but in a general sense of hope. As bad as things are right now, I remain hopeful and I keep looking towards the light. I’m aware of the dark, profoundly aware of the dark, but I don’t think that’s the end. I think there’s light as well and there’ll be more light as time goes by.

There are a couple of songs, specifically “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” and “Short Con,” that people could easily interpret as political – and they are. There’s no doubt about that. “Short Con” we look at as written from the standpoint of the Constitution. It’s like, “Why don’t you believe in me now?” There are other songs we have that certainly people have told us, “We’re not interested in your political views.” There’s a few floating around that just turn out … it’s not like we sit down and try and write about politics, or faith, for that matter. It’s just where our mental space is at the time.

You can look at these new songs as being political, but we’ve started thinking about them as being patriotic. It’s patriotic to stand up and say, “No, you can’t do that. You can’t just pull someone out of their car and throw them in a jail in El Salvador or whatever.” That’s not a political statement to me and I think for us at this point, as much as it is a patriotic statement, it’s our duty as citizens to say something. We’re given that right and we’re taking advantage of it.

And then something like “The Mansion Above,” which I wrote fifty years ago, somehow fits in there. There is a thread between those songs. So yeah, I think to see a line through of faith is good.

You’ve mentioned before that you’re doing what you call “three-day-weekend touring.” What are your upcoming “weekend” plans?

RG: Our approach to touring is very chill. We do two or three dates in a row, sometimes just one-offs. That’s our usual mode. I think the most we’ve ever done in a row is four dates. It’s all compact and it’s all about being humane and kind to ourselves.

KK: We have a good time. We have a comfortable car, I do all the driving and Rayna does all the navigating and mans the phone. I like to get onstage and play, but I don’t think either one of us wants to go, “Let’s book a month.” I look at other people’s schedules sometimes and go, “I remember doing things like that,” but I wouldn’t want to do it again.

We are gentle on ourselves. Our performances– we’ve cut that down in the sense that we don’t use any monitors onstage. We sit as close as humanly possible together and still be able to move the instruments around. Sound people really like us because sound people hate monitors. You say, “No monitors,” they rejoice. Doing it that way, if a soundcheck takes more than 15 minutes, we’re in trouble. Two instrument mics, two vocal mics, no monitors. “Can you hear us? Great. We’re done.” It makes life simpler.

RG: So yes, we do have gigs. There’s some stuff for the summer that will be posted on our website and I’m working on fall right now.

KK: And we are open to offers.

RG: Yes, we’re always happy to hear from venues!


Photo courtesy of the artist.

This Faux Paws Playlist Includes ‘No Bad Ideas’

Growing up with access to all of recorded music, it’s hard to imagine not enjoying a wide range of styles. When we all met around fifteen years ago, it was fun to see where our backgrounds overlapped and where they didn’t. Eventually, after lots of road testing, we ended up with some kind of sound to our band that is pretty unique. Our new album, No Bad Ideas, is an expression of that. It’s all over the place, but somehow not.

For this Mixtape, we set out to include music that’s influenced us as a band, inspired our playing and songwriting, or otherwise shaped us as people. Some of these are tunes that have been with us a long time, some of them we just listened to in the van while we’ve been on tour. It’s all over the place, but there’s a through line as well. No Bad Ideas in a playlist! – The Faux Paws

“TSA” – Danny Barnes

Just banjo, drums, and voice. It’s weird, sparse, beautiful, and one of those songs I’ve been coming back to for years. – Andrew VanNorstrand

“Rockingham” – The Faux Paws

This song is all about the excitement and uncertainty of moving to a new place and finding community, even if you aren’t necessarily ready for it. – AV

“Backstep Cindy” – The Freight Hoppers

July 1998. I am ten years old. I wander into the dance tent at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and my tiny little mind is blown into a thousand pieces as I experience the absolutely insane energy of The Freight Hoppers. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. This. Tune. F-ing. Rocks. – AV

“Odds of Getting Even” – Maya de Vitry

I can’t get enough of this album. Maya sounds great. Her band sounds great. The material is great. This song has a subtle message of patience and perspective that really speaks to me. Play it again. – AV

“He’s Gone” – Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms

Caleb and Reeb played for my wedding! They are true cornerstones of the amazing Pacific Northwest Americana scene and are launching a new festival this week, Orcasfest. Caleb wrote this song about his childhood dentist, who was also his best friend’s dad/second dad. – Chris Miller

“Jesus Was a Cross Maker” – Judee Sill

I am always telling people about this singular artist and I feel like her music is still pretty underground in my circles! She had a wild childhood and was caught up in the Laurel Canyon California music scene, experimenting with psychedelics and reflecting on her Christianity. The result is music that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve ever heard. – CM

“For Me It’s You” – Jobi Riccio

I heard Jobi play this song in a hotel room in Kansas City during Folk Alliance and it broke me. Like, truly deeply broke me the way only a great song can. Everyone has a dream they know probably won’t come true. I needed this song. Maybe you do, too. – AV

“15 Below” – The Faux Paws

Every time we play this, Noah makes my jaw drop – and we captured some of that on the record. This tune came to life when we were quarantined in Newport, Rhode Island, January 2022. We went to try and find a bird on the beach and it was insanely cold. – CM

“Artificial Intelligence” – Jim Lauderdale

Most of the time we spend in the van is actually listening to terrifying podcasts about the seemingly inevitable AI future. I grew up seeing Jim Lauderdale play and I appreciate how he can remain frozen in a time of “real country” while still plundering the depths of current philosophical issues. – CM

“the 1” – Taylor Swift

Noah really, really, really likes Taylor Swift. And he picked this song. And that’s all. Hope you like it. Noah really likes it. A lot. Contact Noah directly for more details on how much he likes Taylor Swift. – AV

“Straight Back” – Taylor Ashton

I love the way this song slips and slides. Smooth groove, clever lyrics, ooo-eee-ooo-eeyoo hook in the chorus.  It’s impossible to pin down. And why would you want to pin it down anyway? Just let it do its thing. Don’t worry about it. – AV

“You Are Also Them” – Jenny Ritter

I came across Jenny Ritter randomly around fifteen years ago and have been obsessed with her music ever since. We actually recorded our Backburner EP with the same engineer (Adam Iredale) on tiny Mayne Island, British Columbia. This track coincidentally has Zoe Guigueno on bass! – CM

“Unknowing” – Busman’s Holiday

I don’t have a long history with this song, but we were recently on tour in Nashville and Zoe played it for us. I just can’t shake it. You ever get the sense that a song is perceiving you just as much or more so than you are able to perceive it? I hope this song likes me. – AV

“I Didn’t Realize” – Buddy Spicher & Vassar Clements

The first music I learned to play was a mix of classic country, western swing, and contest-style fiddling from Ontario. I fell in love with twin fiddle harmonies and a tight rhythm section. Listening to these two fiddle legends riffing off of each other is such a joy. – AV

“I Just Wanna Listen to the Band Play” – Freddy & Francine

These guys (Bianca and Lee) are some of my idols, both in the way they make music and live with intention. As it seems we can’t beat the robots in the great war coming, I think the only hope for music and art is if we decide to be a little more intentional about … everything. This song is from 2020, but more relevant than ever! – CM


Photo Credit: Dylan Ladds

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Jack Van Cleaf, and More

Our second round-up of new music and premieres for the month of May is here already!

Starting us off, California bluegrass outfit AJ Lee & Blue Summit have dropped a new track, their excellent cover of a Gillian Welch classic, “Tear My Stillhouse Down,” with Lindsay Lou joining in on harmonies. Kyle Ray takes us to the beautiful, contemplative riverbanks in Kentucky with an early listen to his ripping bluegrass-y track, “River Song,” which will arrive right in time for wading season.

For a bit of old-time, the Lonesome Ace Stringband have a delightfully quirky tune, “Carpet Beetle,” with a funky visualizer video to match. Danceable, poppy, and soulful, it’s old-time that’s modern and timeless, both. Plus, you can catch a music video for “Hikikomori,” a song about emotions and isolation from country/neo-folk phenomenon Jack Van Cleaf’s new album, JVC, which is out today.

It’s all right here on BGS! You know what you gotta do? You Gotta Hear This.

AJ Lee & Blue Summit, “Tear My Stillhouse Down”

Artist: AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California
Song: “Tear My Stillhouse Down”
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Label: Signature Sounds

In Their Words: “My mom showed this song to me when I was really young and I’ve loved it ever since. I’m a lifelong fan of Gillian Welch and this has always been one of my favorite songs of hers. We’ve covered this song for years in the band and have found that audiences from coast to coast love it when we play it live. It’s a popular jam song in the campgrounds at our favorite festivals. I think of this song as Appalachian rock and roll!” – AJ Lee

“Gillian adds to the best of authentic stories from history with this song. Country music, traditional American music, bluegrass, folk – it all pulls from and sings about every real aspect of life. Death, addiction, love, poverty, fun, murder. This song is about falling prey to a cycle of creation, consumption, and distribution of a potent poison that you know only really has one way of ending. Popcorn Sutton would love this one, without a doubt.”  – Scott Gates

Track Credits:
AJ Lee – Mandolin, vocals
Lindsay Lou – vocals
Scott Gates – Guitar, vocals
Jan Purat – Fiddle, vocals
Sully Tuttle – Guitar, vocals
Sean Newman – Bass, vocals


The Lonesome Ace Stringband, “Carpet Beetle”

Artist: The Lonesome Ace Stringband
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Song: “Carpet Beetle”
Release Date: May 9, 2025

In Their Words: “John and I wrote this tune last year. I showed up with a two-part tune that was sort of like the A/B of ‘Carpet Beetle,’ but was way more note-y and pretty. Once we started playing it, it felt too ‘precious,’ at least for the mood we were in that day. We deconstructed the melody significantly, removing about half the notes in the A part, and added a bit of ugly drama. We did the same with the B part, but left the ‘prettiness’ of the melody intact. Then, we came up with a really evil chord progression for the C part. Soon, we were in paradise. Someone told us that the A part makes you feel icky, the B part makes you want to dance, and the C part makes you want to break things – I tried to reflect that in the video. We were thrilled to have Alan Mackie (bass) on this session and you can see real footage of us all recording the track live in the studio at the end of the video. The title comes from a household pest that John and I were both struggling with at the time of the composition, but that we now have under control.” – Chris Coole

Track Credits:
Chris Coole – Banjo
John Showman – Fiddle
Alan Mackie – Bass

Video Credit: Editing by Chris Coole


Kyle Ray, “River Song”

Artist: Kyle Ray
Hometown: Barren County, Kentucky
Song:River Song
Release Date: May 16, 2025

In Their Words: “‘River Song’ came to me in a quiet moment of reflection – looking back on my life, looking ahead, and doing my best to find peace in the present. Anyone who grew up in the South knows there’s always that one place you go to think. For me, it was the river. I tried to capture those thoughts and emotions in this song – what it felt like to sit by the water, surrounded by silence, and make peace with everything in my life. Just me, that river, and the Lord.” – Kyle Ray

Track Credits:
Kyle Ray – Lead vocals, songwriter
Alan Hester – Background vocals, producer
Malcolm Lyon – Banjo
Simon Holden-Schrock – Mandolin


Jack Van Cleaf, “Hikikomori”

Artist: Jack Van Cleaf
Hometown: Encinitas, California
Song: “Hikikomori”
Album: JVC
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Label: Dualtone Records

In Their Words: “I first came across the word ‘Hikikomori’ on a visit to my mom’s house.  She had something called ‘The Box of Emotions,’ a deck of cards featuring colorful, abstract images alongside definitions of obscure emotional states.  ‘Hikikomori,’ written on a black card, described a particular kind of social isolation that felt consistent with the depressive slump I had fallen into after graduating from college, which is what a lot of the record was born out of.” – Jack Van Cleaf

Track Credits:
Jack Van Cleaf – Lead vocals, songwriter
Aaron Krak – Drums
Shaker Hunt Pennington – Bass
Ethan Fortenberry – Acoustic guitar, baritone guitars, electric guitar
Austin Burns – Electric guitar
Annika Bennett – Background vocals

Video Credit: Directed by Joey Brodnax.


Photo Credit: AJ Lee & Blue Summit by Trinity Maxon; Jack Van Cleaf by Joseph Wasilewski.

Mason Via Returned to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to Record His New Self-Titled Album

After a three-year run with revered bluegrass troupe Old Crow Medicine Show, Mason Via is breaking off on his own and returning to his roots on his new self-titled, 10-song album.

Out April 25 via Mountain Fever Records, the record finds Via toeing the line between the worlds of old-time and progressive bluegrass with hints of jamgrass mixed in, no doubt an homage to his father, revered picker David Via. Via initially presented nearly 100 songs for consideration to producer Aaron Ramsey – among them a bevy of solo cuts, along with co-writes from the likes of Boy Named Banjo’s Barton Davies, and Christian Ward, the newly minted fiddler for the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin’ McCourys – before whittling the material down to a fraction of that to actually record.

The resulting songs serve as a continuation of what fans heard from Via with Old Crow, particularly the band’s 2023 album Jubilee, where he wrote or co-wrote seven of the 12 tracks – including “Allegheny Lullaby,” “I Want It Now,” and “Belle Meade Cockfight.” According to Via, many of these new songs were even written with Old Crow in mind before he made the decision to step away and release them under his own name.

“This is an album full of stuff that, for the most part, I wanted to do while I was in Old Crow but never got around to,” Via tells BGS. “That being said, I was excited to get to put them on my album because these tunes are a deep dive into who I am as a songwriter from my time spent living in Nashville.”

Ahead of the album’s release and amid a run of shows through the Midwest and Southeast with Logan Ledger, Via spoke with BGS by phone about his path to Old Crow Medicine show, how a Virginia festival changed his entire career trajectory, how he came to love co-writing after moving to Nashville, and more.

You were joined by a trio of bluegrass royalty – Rhonda Vincent, Junior Sisk, and Ronnie Bowman – on the songs “Oh Lordy Me” and “Mountain Lullaby.” What did it mean to you having them join you on those songs?

Mason Via: It was very validating, because I’ve always felt that I circled around bluegrass and navigated on the outskirts or fringe of it, so to have those torchbearers of the genre sign off on this meant a lot. I didn’t know Rhonda as well, but Junior and Ronnie are old family friends. I hate when artists have other people as features, but they’re not really featured – it defeats the purpose of it all. Because of that I really wanted to go out of the way to showcase everyone. For instance, on “Oh Lordy Me” we all take turns singing lead on verses before coming together for the chorus [with Bowman and Sisk], whereas “Mountain Lullaby” is trio harmonies the whole way through [with Bowman and Vincent].

You mentioned Junior and Ronnie being old family friends. Is that a connection through your father, who was a bluegrass picker himself?

It is, they all go way back. They used to have big pickin’ parties every Tuesday at dad’s house in Dry Pond, Virginia, that they called The Blue Room. They’d pick all day and night, with the last person left awake taking home the coveted Bluegrass Buddy Belt, a WWE-style belt, for bragging rights.

In addition to growing up around them, Ronnie also cut a couple of my dad’s songs and Junior was often around Galax and the fiddlers conventions I grew up going to, which the song “Oh Lordy Me” is sort of an homage to.

Speaking of home, you returned to Floyd, Virginia, to record this new album. After spending time in Nashville in recent years, what made you want to go back there?

Floyd is about an hour from where I grew up. I remember going to the Floyd Country Store when I was younger and playing up there and it being like a little mountain getaway, which is exactly what going back to the area to record felt like. It was a bit more secluded than when I recorded in Nashville and elsewhere previously, which forced all of us – myself, producer Aaron Ramsey and all the players – to be in it all the way from start to finish.

However, people will soon be able to hear those different approaches when I release alternate versions of a few of the songs on this album that I recorded in Nashville before this bluegrass record deal happened. Two of them, “Falling” and “Melting the Sun,” are psychedelic indie rock ‘n’ roll – think War On Drugs meets the Foo Fighters – whereas “Hey Don’t Go” is one I released alongside my departure from Old Crow with pedal steel, drums, keys, and electric guitar. We also recorded a version of “Wide Open” with similar arrangements in the same session that we’ll be releasing soon as well.

Sounds like we have a lot to look forward to!

Sticking on the topic of Floyd, I remember seeing you for the first time at FloydFest in 2019 with your band, Hot Trail Mix, which finished runner-up at the gathering’s On-The-Rise band competition that year. What has that moment – and the festival in general – meant to your music career and trajectory?

I’d just gotten out of college and was working as a substitute teacher at a military academy when the opportunity to perform in the FloydFest competition came about. I grew up going to the festival, so finishing runner-up and getting invited back to play the main stage was a moment where I started to realize I should take this more seriously. Since the next year was 2020 that show never happened, so my next time back at FloydFest was actually in 2021 when I played the main stage on Saturday night with Old Crow.

So the festival played a role in you linking up with Old Crow then. How did that opportunity come about?

Ashby Frank, a great bluegrass musician, suggested me to Donica Elliott, who worked with the band at the time, who then passed my information onto Ketch [Secor]. Eventually I got a call from him asking to come audition, so a couple weeks later I drove out there for a casual jam session where we played a bunch of old-time pickin’ tunes from fiddlers conventions with a couple of Old Crow’s songs sprinkled in. I came back and did the same thing the next day followed by [going to] Ketch’s house the day after to help move some furniture, which led to us writing the song “I Want It Now” [from Old Crow’s 2023 album, Jubilee]. I wound up getting the gig and next thing I know we’re recording an album. Even my first gig with them was the Grand Ole Opry – I was thrown into the fire, but loved every minute of it!

I had a great run with Old Crow, but the big reason for leaving the band was to pursue this album, because unfortunately you can’t do both. It feels a little like starting over, but I couldn’t be happier with where I am now. And who knows, 10 years from now I could be back in the band – the world is very cyclical like that. I saw Chance McCoy is back with them and they’ve been touring with Willie [Watson] again, which got me thinking about how the band is an ever-changing cast. We left on pretty amicable terms, so I think there’s definitely room for potential collaboration or a reunion in the future.

During your three-year run with Old Crow, what’s the biggest piece of music-related advice you learned from them?

I like to tell people that I think of my time with Old Crow as getting a Master’s degree in music. They taught me that you don’t need to play the craziest solo in the world or sing the wildest riff, you just need to be distinctly, uniquely you. I’ve been trying to lean into that more in my new material including this new album, which I think is some of my most personal material yet.

I know one thing you started doing a lot more with Old Crow that’s a regular part of your repertoire now is co-writing. What’s it been like opening yourself up to more of those opportunities lately?

When I first moved to Nashville, I’d never really co-written before, but when you get here you realize really quickly that that’s a huge part of the community there, similar to jamming with your buddies. It’s a great way to connect with friends and something I really enjoy because you don’t always get to do something like that on such a deep level. I’m also a very ADD type of person so I love the aspect of being intentional with your time and what you hope to create within it like that.

One of the people you co-wrote for this record with was Zach John King, who you first met in 2021 during your stint on American Idol. Tell me a little about your partnership with him that led to your songs “Wide Open” and “Fireball.”

We were set up to have a conversation together on camera for the show. That’s how we were first introduced and we’ve since gone on to become buddies long after Idol. When I got the Old Crow gig he reached out and said he was thinking of moving to Nashville and if he could stop by to ask me some questions about my journey and the process of going from American Idol to what I’m doing now. I was a mentor there for a second, but now it’s the other way around since he just signed a deal with Sony Music Nashville [in January]. He’s already got some songs doing well in the pop country world and is really about to take off. Connections like the one with Zach are reminders of just how small the music industry really is.

What do you hope people take away from listening to this collection of songs?

Every song is its own kaleidoscopic spectrum of emotions that I’ve felt in one way or another. I hope you can laugh and cry and dance and feel every emotion the whole way through, which I think is a trademark of a good album or show. Pairing those emotions with the feeling of what it was like for me growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains with all my influences, from rock and roll to country or the string band music that was always present during my raising, was a special experience and something I hope folks enjoy listening to over and over again.

What has music, specifically the process of bringing this new album to life, taught you about yourself?

I love how [music] takes you places, it makes you feel like an astronaut or something. You get to travel to different worlds, get outside yourself and figure out who you are. Each song is like its own barn quilt that showcases the different patchwork that holds a place in my heart.


Photo Credit: Ashli Linkous