Tag: Old-time

For the First Time, Willie Watson Uses Original Songs to Tell His Own Stories

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Willie Watson has been a solo act for well over a decade, since leaving Old Crow Medicine Show way back in 2011. And while he’s put out records since then, in many ways his self-titled third release marks a new beginning. A lot of that comes from the fact that it’s Watson’s first solo work with original material, following two volumes of Folk Singer albums drawing from The Great American Folk Song book.

Watson worked with a co-writer on the original songs on Willie Watson, Morgan Nagler from Whispertown 2000, and the results sound like the sort of songs you’ll hear traded around folk festival campfires for years to come. The co-production team of former Punch Brothers fiddler Gabe Witcher and Milk Carton Kids guitarist Kenneth Pattengale capture the tracks in spare, elegantly understated arrangements with the spotlight firmly on Watson’s voice.

The album begins with a literal trip down to hell on “Slim and The Devil” (inspired by 2017’s white supremacist riots in Charlottesville, Virginia) and ends with “Reap ’em in the Valley,” an autobiographical talking gospel about Watson’s own long, strange trip. In between are songs about love, fear, the occasional murder. One of them is another cover, Canadian folkie Stan Rogers’ stately “Harris and the Mare,” and you’ve never heard a song that’s both so beautiful and so horrific.

BGS caught up with Watson on the eve of his album’s release.

So after so many years playing old folk songs, what got you into writing your own?

Willie Watson: I’ve always written songs, but never thought of myself as a “real” songwriter, like Gillian Welch or Dylan or Ketch [Secor]. That just didn’t seem like what I was engineered toward. I wanted to be that kind of songwriter, but told myself I didn’t measure up. So I got into traditional music. When I’d get together with friends at parties, I’d be more likely to sing songs that were traditional or someone else’s. Being in Old Crow was great, because I got to write with other people, mostly Ketch. Co-writing was easier on me.

Once I found myself on my own, I was very scared to write by myself. Being completely responsible for everything is scary and for whatever reason I could not bring myself to do that. Now I understand that no matter how simple, complicated, mature, childish or anything else I put into a song might be, it’s okay. I don’t have to tear apart and criticize, say terrible things about it before I’ve even written it down on the page. Left on my own, that’s typically what I’d do. It’s only now at age 44 that I can get past that. What a long road.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

“Roll On” when I was 15 or 16. It was wintertime at my house in Watkins Glen, late one night when everybody else was asleep. I went out to smoke in the back yard and it was quiet. As I looked at the nighttime winter sky, I had this story come into my head about a cowboy in an old town. I wrote the words out quick, almost as I would have been playing it. Just looked up at the sky and thought of it and it washed over me fast. It was a pretty powerful first song, but I ignored it and have the most regret about that. For whatever reason, there was something in my life that made me not give it enough credit.

How did you connect with your co-writer, Morgan Nagler?

She’s a great songwriter who has made a few records, does a lot of co-writing with people you know. You’ve heard songs on the radio that she co-wrote. I was afraid to sit down on my own and write, and Dave Rawlings said I should call her. I was apprehensive about presenting ideas and words and parts of myself to a person I didn’t know, but it was immediately fruitful. The first day, four hours later we had a song I really liked, “One To Fall” – it’s on this record. That we came up with something I felt strongly about right a way got me fired up, so we kept going. Every time we got together we wrote a good song.

What was it like to appear in the Coen Brothers movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs?

It was amazing. They had me audition for another movie I did not get the part for, but they already had me in mind for the one after that. But it was terrifying. Little cameras scare me enough and the big gigantic ones are even scarier. Like a gigantic eye and you’re not supposed to look at them even when they’re right in your face. I’m no actor. I knew my lines, but did not know what to do. I called Joel [Coen] a month before to ask if there was anything he could tell me to prepare me. “The only thing I’ll tell you is your first instinct is probably right,” he said. Which didn’t help at all. On-set, I was still scared. I had to learn to get on the wrong side of the horse because of the camera shoot, which was awkward. So I was not knowing what to do until they took me to wardrobe. Once I had on the costume and the hat and looked in the mirror, I suddenly knew exactly what to do. When I saw how I looked, it all made sense: Just go out and be Clint Eastwood.

Fear, even terror, seems like a recurrent theme in your life as well as your work.

It’s a recurring thing for every human, if they’ll admit it. It’s so freeing to admit I don’t know what’s going on, I’m scared, I need help. So much of the time I’ve done the opposite and gotten nowhere. The only person making my life hard was me. Touring with different people, I see them get into stressful situations and I think, “It must be hard to be them today.” I was just like that for a long time, tearing through things everywhere I went. I was afraid and my way of dealing with that was to try and control things. A lifetime of that proved disastrous.

I got to the point of trying other things and eventually learned about humility. That started me changing and growing and recognizing that the only reason I made my life so hard was being afraid of everything. It’s so risky doing this and I am scared of it. I’m apprehensive about even saying that. The public wants you to be confident onstage and I am that. Sometimes not, though. It’s hard to put it out there and not be afraid. I’m gonna cry a lot in front of people onstage, and that’s brave and good for me. This record is me understanding that there’s power in those uncomfortable moments, and embracing them. There’s a lot of healing in being able to go ahead and do that.

Who are you dancing with in the video to “Real Love”?

That’s my wife Mindy and the song’s about her. Once we got together, it went quick with us. But there was not romantic interest when we met, we were just working together. She’d quit her job as a fast fashion designer wanting to do something fun, cool, more fulfilling. A mutual friend was trying to get us together, knowing she was interested in getting into denim work and that’s what I do. The friend knew I needed help. So she started as an apprentice, got good fast, and we ended up working together. For a year we sat and sewed together and became best friends, she’s the best I ever had.

I was careful about that relationship, didn’t want to ruin it. So that song’s about how it started and what it meant, how true our love feels. It outdid everything else I’ve experienced my whole life. It shows how every other relationship I’ve ever had, I wanted the wrong things and, I daresay, they all wanted the wrong things from me, too. It went both ways. I’m not even talking about romantic love. It ends up being about everyone in my life. The story of my love life is the story of my life, love in all its forms. It’s a bold statement that she is the only real love in my life so far.

How did you come to know Stan Rogers’ “Harris and the Mare”?

I’m a Stan Rogers fan and that song comes from Between The Breaks, a live album recorded at McCabe’s in Santa Monica. I was thinking, “Do I want to put this on a record with my songs?” I’d written simple rhymes, couplets that are almost kinda childish – and I’m gonna put them next to a well-crafted song by a master songwriter? But Kenneth and Gabe had heard me sing that one at shows for a while and really wanted it on tape, and I guess I did, too. And after the recording came out so awesome, how could it not be on the record? I found out it did tie into my life. We made this record and I was unsure if any of it made any sense. Once it was sequenced and I lived with it for a month or two, it came into focus. That’s a violent song about a man who doesn’t want to be angry and violent. And I’ve been that man in my life. I relate to this guy.

The other cover, “Mole in the Ground” – did you know that one from Anthology of American Folk Music?

Yes. I love Bascom Lamar Lunsford, he’s so weird and interesting to listen to. Those old recordings, I can’t listen to a lot of Carter Family or Blind Willie McTell. Three or four songs and I don’t want to hear more. But Bascom, I can listen to a good 30 minutes and that says a lot. Like “Harris,” that was a big puzzle piece where I was unsure how it would fit. What made it were the string arrangements. That tied it in with “Harris” and “Play It One More Time.” Gabe directed the string arrangement, but let them find their own way. It was a cool every-man-for-himself arrangement.

The closing song, “Reap ’em in the Valley,” really tells a lot about how you came to be who and where you are, describing an early encounter with a singer named Ruby Love.

I’ve always talked too much at my shows. But being alone onstage, I had to find ways to make it more interesting. Switching from guitar to banjo is a great tool in the arsenal, but people still got bored of that. Folk singers traditionally tell stories and lead sing-alongs. So I learned how to talk to people in a real personal way about mundane things, relating our lives to find common ground rather than tear each other apart. Just me up there, whether it’s in front of 15 or 50 or 1,500 people, it becomes a battle if it’s not working. Me against them. Sometimes it was a disaster, when I was not speaking from experience or the heart, places I knew. But once I started telling stories about me simply walking down a country road, they’d perk up and listen. So I became a storyteller. I figured I’d put one on this record, and that was one Kenneth and Gabe really wanted me to do.

I hope it translates. It’s my experience of looking back at evidence of what I call God in my life, how you can’t deny it. What I am now, Mr. Folksinger. That’s what people recognized me as, the place I ended up. It could have gone differently, but this is what I’m here for. Those impactful moments. I didn’t think much about Ruby Love over the years, until I started thinking more realistically and honestly the further I got from it. Meeting Ruby Love when my heart was so broken and how that felt, that’s what I never forgot about that night.

That’s the thing that stayed with the picture of it all, like a scene in a movie. That’s what vivid memories look like, movies. All that imagery rattling around my head. I relate a lot of that to the nature of God and God’s power in my head. It goes hand in hand with the moon and lake and sky, and how the moon affected Ruby Love. What Ruby Love did for that party and what the orchard did for his guitar.

Photo Credit: Hayden Shiebler

Ruination & Revival: Our Exclusive Interview with Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In the catalog lore of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, it’s April 14 that’s known as “Ruination Day”— the historically resonant date marking the “Black Sunday” of the Dust Bowl, the Titanic’s sinking, and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Themes of hard times and disaster have long floated throughout the duo’s music, but they found themselves facing catastrophe with new urgency on March 2, 2020, when a tornado laid waste to their Woodland Studios in their home city of Nashville.

That studio, which the duo took over in 2001, has the unusual distinction of being hit by three separate tornadoes over the years: it’s an unassuming icon of ruination and revival that’s withstood decades of change in personnel, technology, and weather. It became foundation and the namesake for August’s Woodland, a collection of new, original material from Welch and Rawlings after two deliciously deep archival releases and a set of covers titled All the Good Times (Are Past & Gone).

Having rescued their tapes, guitars, and other equipment from calamity, throughout 2020 Rawlings and Welch set about rebuilding Woodland around its original mid-century imprint. The creation of the record and the reconstruction of the studio became two spiritually intertwined processes, the rooms rechristened with songs that excavate the nature of change; Rawlings wrote violin, cello, and viola parts that friends laid to tape in the room he’d restored to its 1960s-era use for recording strings.

Even with the substantial building project, the extended pandemic circumstances offered ample time for writing new material together and the duo amassed dozens more tunes than they could ever release as one record. They ruminated on making a double album for a while. “We had so many songs kicking around because we didn’t want anyone to feel shortchanged if we were both singing,” Welch says.

A single-album concept instead snapped into place around “Empty Trainload of Sky,” which opens Woodland with Welch’s reflections on an unsettling optical illusion. The two tussle with loss and weariness across the record, gesturing at questions of how to keep moving through life’s seasons without hammering into any hard answers. Woodland feels like a statement of renewal and endurance from Welch and Rawlings, the sort of subtle roll forward that’s set them apart from other songwriters for so many years. The musicians spoke with BGS about their new material, old ideas, and what they still feel like they have left to do.

Prior to Woodland, the two of you had spent a lot of time working with your archival material for the Boots releases in 2020. What was the relationship you had between spending so much time working with this older material and then focusing your attention on a new record?

Gillian Welch: Not to put the Lost Songs stuff down, because I’m really happy that we, one, saved it from the tornado, and two, at that point, decided, “Why did we save this? Do we think it has value?” We decided yes, so we put it out. We haven’t given people a lot of opportunities to connect the dots between our albums. Years tend to go by, and I don’t know if they think we’re just on vacation or what, but we’re always writing. I’m happy that stuff’s in the world now.

I still stand behind our decision to not make an album out of that stuff. We’re really album-oriented artists,and if we can’t find a narrative that at least we understand, then it’s not an album. Sometimes people will put out a record and four or five years later, maybe they’re playing one song off it, maybe two. Traditionally, if we put it out, we’ll keep playing it, so we really have to like the song a lot.

So, did that archival material influence this record? Honestly? No. It just reinforced our yardstick, the filter we have in place, like, are we making a record? And the answer for all those lost songs was, “No, we’re not making a record.”

David Rawlings: We were working on some of the songs in late 2020, early 2021, but in general, they are not close in my mind. A lot of the stuff either took more final shape afterwards, or a few of the songs were kind of in shape before. But boy, working on those 50 songs was an awful lot and didn’t leave a lot of space for other things around it. It was really important, because that was one of the first things I was able to do here at the studio as I started to bring it back to life, post-tornado.

You’ve talked about having enough material to make a double album, how did you narrow everything down to the 10 songs that made the cut? What did you feel held these together?

GW: They seemed, in a way, to address the present moment. They were the most clearly about now and because of that, they seem to all fit together. Even though there’s plenty of contradiction within the album, there are these crazy undercurrents of loss, destruction, resurrection and perseverance; sadness, joy, emptiness, and fullness. It’s ripe with contrast. That’s just how we were feeling.

DR: There were different ideas, but I didn’t realize there was that large of a group, that there was the collection of 10 songs that felt like they amplified each other. I think all of the records that we’ve made that feel the best to me, one song sort of affects the way you think of the next and the whole album has a feeling that you’re not going to get if you just listen to your three favorites. I think that that feeling is heavier, or better. That, to me, is the benchmark of what you’re aiming for when you’re trying to make a record. One hopes that these other songs – one that you love for this reason, or that reason – that they eventually fall into some group like that. Or maybe we just start putting out singles.

Gillian, to what extent did everything you went through with the tornado recovery change your relationship with the natural world?

GW: I’m not sure that it did. I’ve always been really comfortable with the fact that there are things larger than us that are out of our control. It’s always sort of been a great relief to me, because I try so hard to navigate and control the things I can. Dave and I are such perfectionists. I don’t know how else to put it, except that it’s a great relief to just give it up for the things that are completely beyond your control. So I don’t worry about it really. The weather is going to be what it’s going to be. Woodland’s been hit by three tornadoes. Every tornado that’s come through Nashville has hit Woodland, but it’s still there. So I think I’m just not going to worry about it.

How do you feel like you both still challenge each other?

DR: Well, I think it’s the same as it ever was. If there’s something that doesn’t hit one of us right about something we’ve written or played, we will eventually come into agreement about that. I think we have a kind of way of taking what the other does, seeing what’s good about it and what isn’t. And that kind of ping ponging back and forth with thoughts, ideas, structures, and everything is what leads us to the stuff that we end up liking the best, and, more importantly, that other people respond to the most.

GW: I think we’re both still completely committed to trying to write better songs. It’s really interesting, because decades go by –we’ve played so many shows, and your voice changes. It just happens with the miles and it doesn’t have to be for the worst. There are things we can do now that we couldn’t do when we were kids, and certainly there are things that we can’t do now that we did in our early 20s. But I’m just so glad that there’s still a lot to explore. Musically, topically – I definitely don’t feel stale or tired of this. I feel like we both have a crazy sense of adventure.

What are some of those things that you feel like you can do now that you couldn’t do when you were younger artists?

GW: I feel like I’m able to listen while we play now, in a more elevated way. I can both listen to the smallest nuances of what I’m playing and singing and I can listen to what Dave’s playing and singing. I can make all these micro-adjustments to our four instruments, but at the same time, I can hear the sum of what we’re doing. I can also just listen to the whole sound and adjust for the whole thing. I’m not sure I used to be able to do that, or it didn’t occur to me to do it.

It sounds like a mixing board of the mind.

GW: Yeah, it’s like that! There are things that I admire so much in other musicians and sometimes I can see little echoes of that stuff that I like in our music, that we’re now able to do.

Whatever happens, at the end of the day, Dave and I are always pretty confident in, “Well, we did our best.” We really don’t slack off. If we missed the mark, whatever. You’ve just got to say, “We really tried.” It’s very exciting to feel like we’re getting closer to the music that inspired us to do this in the first place. We have a couple songs that I know came from my deep love of Jerry Garcia’s music and the Grateful Dead.

Sometimes, when we’re sitting playing in the living room, we’ll hit a passage and I’ll think, “Oh boy, Jerry really would have liked that.” That’s a good feeling, and that’s always been a great motivator – to try to do stuff that you think your idols would approve of. “Barroom Girls” got written because I thought Townes [Van Zandt] would like it. He was showing up at our gigs and stuff, and so I wanted to write a song that I thought Townes would like.

David, when Nashville Obsolete came out, you talked about this idea of keeping a place for old ways of doing things when the rest of the world has kind of pushed them aside. The last few years have had so much change, so fast – how has that idea developed for you?

DR: All of this equipment [in Woodland], almost none of it is new. It’s all the same stuff. It’s taking it a step further and maybe optimizing it for our own purposes. We’re still cutting on two-inch tape, mixing to quarter inch tape, and going through all analog equipment. The final step of going digital is the very last thing that happens. It’s not a museum, in the sense that I use a computer system – we’ve designed a bunch of DTMF code and different relays and stuff to run a lot of the equipment that we’re using. I will use modern technology in any way that I can that doesn’t touch the audio, in order to have things reset to where they are, or to have the lacquers cut with a particular precision. I will design whatever I need to in that department.

So, the goal is never for it to be a museum. The goal is always, how can you make the best sounding art? How can you do any of the stuff as well as you can? It feels the same with songwriting and music. There are modern songs that I admire so much, that you look and go, “How is that put together?” There’s stuff that goes back to the dawn of recorded music, from the late ’20s and ’30s that I think the same thing of. You just look around and cast your net at what moves you and what touches you, and then try to use those things as a jumping off place to contribute yourself.

At this point in your career, what do you still want to do that you haven’t gotten to do yet?

GW: I could say something quippy, like I still want to write a song as good as “Me and Bobby McGee” or “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain.” I still want to write a song that people will be singing for a long time. I still keep trying to do good work. Each song that we write is something that hasn’t existed before. So each time we start a song, I want to fulfill that inspiration.

So, you know, it’s like breadcrumbs— “Oh, I haven’t done that,” and you take another little step forward. Where will it ultimately lead? I have no idea. I’m sort of inching forward. Dave and I have never really had a grand plan. We just keep wanting to make music, so that’s what we do.

DR: I just always think that I want to get good at this. I really love the process of writing and performing in front of people, and have since the very first time I was able to get up on stage and play guitar. That was winning the lottery. When we started writing our own material and having people respond to it, there’s nothing really better. It’s a question of longevity, how long can we keep doing things and keep thinking of things that people feel are meaningful in their lives? How long can we stay relevant?

I don’t think that I’ll ever have a feeling of arrival. It’s all pushing forward. How can I play guitar better? How can we write better songs? How can I sing better? How can we record things better? It’s the learning that’s fun, it’s not even necessarily about getting better. It’s about wanting to explore and the pleasure in that process and the doing of it. I’m not real goal-oriented, there’s never been a statue I wanted to win. We’ve gotten some lifetime achievement awards over the past few years, and I’m like, “Are you kidding? We’re just starting to do this! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” It’s not memoir time, and it never will be.

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

These Berklee Students Helped Create Ensembles for Women and Non-Binary Folks

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

“Bluegrass music is a truly American artform. It reflects the culture and the time in which it’s created, and as with many traditional artforms, a preservationist stance is held on a pedestal. Bluegrass music’s history is very gendered, and when this happens, the music can’t reach its full potential.”

My teacher Laura Orshaw told me this.

There has been no shortage of amazing women bluegrass musicians to come out of the roots department at Berklee College of Music. Gillian Welch, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and on and on. I’m going into my senior year at Berklee this fall as a mandolin principle, and one of the reasons I went to Berklee was how inspired I was by these women and their music.

Towards the end of my sophomore year, my friend Katelynn Casper – a brilliant bluegrass fiddler – came up with an idea. She wanted to start a bluegrass ensemble of all women and non-binary folks. Katelynn approached Matt Glaser, the artistic director of the American Roots Music Program, about helping us create a class in which we would study and perform in a group. Excited by the prospect, he brought in Laura Orshaw (the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys) to be our mentor. In the past few years, there had been a strong influx of women who came to Berklee and wanted to play roots music, so it didn’t take us long to find people who wanted to join the project.

The ensemble started in October of 2023 with about 12 members, enough for us to break into two ensembles. I got to be in both groups, in one as mandolinist and the other as bassist. Our focus between both groups was to play music mostly written by women who we looked up to and were maybe overlooked.

Through the course of our year together, we moved through a catalog of songs and tunes written by our heroes and then delved into original material. We wrote songs and tunes together and on our own and fleshed them out as a band. It was an empowering experience to be a part of and it was beautiful to watch my friends explore a new kind of confidence in their music.

This past April, the American Roots Music Program sent all of us down to Washington, D.C. In June of 2022, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage opened up an exhibit entitled Music HerStory: Women and Music of Social Change. Laura had caught wind of the exhibit and wanted us to visit, so we could witness its content and impact. The exhibit explored many women who were significantly overlooked in music, but yet the world would have been drastically different had their music not been a part of it.

We heard and read stories of when Loretta Lynn put out “The Pill” and how much of an uproar it caused; stories of how Elizabeth Cotten had to put her music on hold to raise her children and didn’t come back to it until she was in her 60s, putting out “Freight Train” and “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” and still was not given much credit.

Walking through the exhibit, I couldn’t help but think about all the different musical influences I have and how so many of those influences were inspired by these women, but how that was never really talked about.

On the same trip, we also got the privilege of going to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and learning about some of the history of their record label and how it came to be. When we were checking it out, both ensemble bands did a little recording in the archives to commemorate the trip. Playing our originals and covers written by powerful women was an incredible experience. We were surrounded by original recordings and records that made bluegrass and old-time what it is now and some of the music that brought each of us to the genres to begin with.

While we were down in D.C., we also got the chance to hang out with Kimber Ludiker (fiddle) and Avril Smith (guitar), two members of Della Mae. In both groups, the inspiration from Della Mae was so apparent – we all learned many of their songs. Getting to stand up and play their songs with them was a mind-blowing experience.

Taking part in this project has been such an inspiring experience. As a kid who grew up in the bluegrass and old-time world, there weren’t always a lot of women to play music with, so to get the opportunity to dedicate time each week to just sit down with a group of deeply passionate women and non-binary folks who are also such remarkable roots musicians was an indescribably moving experience.

A common conversation amongst us during that time was how freeing and comfortable it felt to play music in a setting like this. Whether or not you think about it, music as a whole is an intensely male dominated world – and bluegrass isn’t any different.

“Here’s a question that crossed our minds every week,” Laura said. “‘What would bluegrass be like without patriarchy or bias?’ The answer comes through music, not essays, and this project certainly chipped away at our goal.”

Being in this ensemble, I learned a lot about myself. Being surrounded by a community of women and non-binary folks playing music taught me a lot about my confidence as both a person and a musician. Being in that environment gave me an amazing place to explore.

“When Matt [Glaser] asked me to be the curator of this project, I couldn’t have guessed how impactful and enlightening it would be for me. Working in an all-women and non-binary band filled a void for all of us – creatively, academically, and socially,” Laura continued. “Students shared experiences of the not-so-glamorous parts of working in a male-dominated field. They studied the music and songs of their heroes, who sometimes got overlooked in other classes and ensembles. They wrote songs, arranged music, and tried on different leadership roles in the band.

“But most of all, they encouraged and inspired each other to be better musicians. The mutual dedication and enthusiasm were palpable in every rehearsal.”

It’s been an experience of a lifetime to learn the music I love with a group of women who want to push the boundaries of the genre. To sit with a group of people who understand the intricacies of being a woman or gender non-confirming person playing bluegrass – or even music in general – was a very comforting experience. We all grew so much as people and musicians.

Photos courtesy of Emma Turoff. Lead image: Ensemble, No Man’s Land. Inset image: Ensemble, Ain’t That Just Like A Man.

Artist of the Month: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are ubiquitous in American roots music. The life and musical partners have spent nearly 30 years defining and redefining what it means to be prolific bluegrass, old-time, and Americana inhabiters and masters. Now, with the release of Woodland, their first studio album in four years, it seems they’re entering a new phase of their illustrious and storied careers – one where their pace and positioning have changed, somewhat. Or perhaps, solidified.

Since 2020’s All the Good Times, Welch & Rawlings have not exactly receded into hermitage. They appear regularly as track features on others’ recordings, they released dozens and dozens and dozens of demos on several Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs albums, they perform regularly and make appearances on all star lineups, at ceremonies, and on tribute shows in and outside of Nashville. Yet, as with many artists responding to a post-COVID world, their artistry seems to be taking an intentional shift toward slowing down, acting with renewed purpose, and focusing on storytelling, canon-crafting, and legacy-building. But certainly not for ambition’s sake alone.

It makes perfect sense, then, that Woodland chooses the pair’s East Nashville studio as its focal point, the fertile soil from which this verdant collection of songs has been cultivated and through which they’ve been channeled. It’s a thread easily traceable across all of their work together, and separately as solo artists: To ground their music in reality and in their own everyday. For a pair of musicians who have inspired countless emulators and acolytes, it’s remarkable to watch them both remain committed to truth and simplicity, and to authenticity not as social currency, but as demonstration of selfhood and agency.

Welch & Rawlings are legends, roots superstars. At this point in their careers, we are viewing their brand identity’s realtime shift toward longevity, striding confidently into their nascent roles as Americana elders. Who could possibly be better poised for this new era? Woodland, as nearly all of Welch & Rawlings’ outings over the past decade, seems to say these two global stars would really, truly be okay if the music industry shuttered once more or if they never stepped foot onto a stage in a 3,000-seat theatre again. These are creators in this business for themselves – though never self-serving. The tableaus and dioramas on Woodland, iconoclastic and archetypical Welch & Rawlings, are never small, but they are often minute. Nuanced. Detailed.

This is Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, after all. Surrounded throughout their long-running heyday by roots-infused, vest-wearing celebrities and bands like Mumford & Sons, Punch Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and many more, they’ve time and time again refused to allow their own art to be enveloped or eclipsed by Americana-as-costume, or to devolve into millennial “shabby chic” as an aesthetic, or to revert to Pinterest-style, cottagecore performances of wholesome, American values to make a living. They even rose above the reflexive pigeon-holing following the massive success of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, using the soundtrack and tour’s enormous gravity for a slingshot assist into the stratosphere, rather than finding themselves in a limiting though profitable niche.

They started their careers as many folk, bluegrass, and old-time singers do – putting on “poverty drag” to signal their commitment to these songs and sounds, slumming it and road dogging while building their business bit by bit, paying their dues, worshipping at the feet of bluegrass and Americana forebears. Over time, Welch & Rawlings shifted from being simply performers of these aesthetics to being residents and artisans within these traditions. Apprentices become masters, pupils become professors. And, now, they themselves are the forebears building standards and models for new, oncoming generations just as Ralph Stanley, John Hartford, and so many more did for them.

Woodland isn’t exactly a turning point, but Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are certainly entering a new era. While so much of what we know and love about this duo remains remarkably consistent across their music and releases over time (even going all the way back to Revival in 1996), this project reveals that only now, 30-some years since they began their journey in music, could Welch & Rawlings actually become the authentic Americana stalwarts that they’ve always strived to be. They’ve been dressing for the job they want the whole time, gradually becoming one with the characters that first stepped on stage those decades ago. Their catalog is a gradient, a line graph of growing and becoming, rising above theater and performance to a place of intimate self expression and respectful, expert mastery. However forest-for-the-trees it feels to state, these are no longer just the traditions they love, these are their traditions.

Below, enjoy our Essential Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Playlist. And, if you want more, you can return to 2017, when Welch was our Artist of the Month at the time of her Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg release – and  revisit our Essentials Playlist from that time. Later in September, we’ll have an exclusive AOTM interview feature with both Gillian and Dave, so stay tuned as we celebrate Woodland all month long.

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

MIXTAPE: Walton Goggins’ Oldtone Music Festival Playlist

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

We want to share some things that bring us joy. Oldtone Music Festival is an intimate roots music festival with camping and dancing that we’re happy to curate and support as producers. It takes place on a staggeringly beautiful hilltop on a working family farm in North Hillsdale, New York, about 90 miles away – and a world away — from New York City on September 5-8, 2024.

Oldtone gathers musicians and fans of many genres of traditional North American roots music, including old-time, bluegrass, Cajun, Zydeco, conjunto, honky-tonk, and so much more. This playlist gathers the best and brightest artists that are playing the 2024 festival. We’d love all roots music lovers to join us, but whether you can make it or not, you can get a taste here! – Walton Goggins, Executive Producer, and Trevor Roush, Executive Producer and General Manager, Oldtone Music Festival

“I’m Gone” – Kiki Cavazos

Kiki Cavazos is a very special songwriter from rural Montana who’s making her debut at this year’s festival. She rarely plays live – we mean, really, really rarely – so we’re excited to have her joining us for Oldtone! So many musicians have told us that they would have come to Oldtone just for the chance to see Kiki, even without the rest of the amazing lineup and beauty of the location.

“Less Honkin’ More Tonkin'” – The Deslondes

This will be The Deslondes’ second year playing the festival and this song is from their new live album, a taste of what you’ll hear when they rock the stage. They have spent the past year touring hard and opening for the likes of Margo Price and they will probably ask you for a dance when they are enjoying the other acts during the night

“Louisiana Aces Special” – Jesse Lege and the Southern Ramblers

Jesse Lege, “the greatest living Cajun dance accordion player,” is one of the pillars in traditional Cajun dance music and has played every single Oldtone festival since 2015. He’s not the youngest musician at the festival, but he plays hard for four hour stretches without a break – ‘til all the dancers collapse.

“High on the Mountain” – Sweet Megg

This year for the first time, alongside her captivating voice Sweet Megg is bringing her complete band to Oldtone. She’s also currently the vocalist of Cirque du Soleil.

“Love Me Like You Do” – Zach Bryson

On this track, the incomparable Zach Bryson of Nashville is backed up by what is essentially the Oldtone house band. And, it was recorded not too far from the farm by Oldtone staff member Donny Dinero.

“Forty Years of Trouble” – Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass

What can you say about Danny Paisley? Well, he was the 2016 International Bluegrass Association Male Vocalist of the Year. In other words, he is the real deal!

“To The Doves” – JP Harris

JP Harris is an icon in the Nashville honky-tonk scene and he’s been traversing the roads of America since 2007. JP, better known as “Squash” in old-time music circles, is the early front runner for “person who will have the most fun at Oldtone this year.”

“Ay te dejo en San Antonio (I Leave You in San Antonio)” – Los Texmaniacs

We’re thrilled to have the GRAMMY-winning conjunto band Los Texmaniacs joining us! Just this year, their frontman was inducted into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame.

“One-step de Rôdailleur” – Jordan Thibodeaux et les Rôdailleurs

Jordan Thibodeaux et les Rôdailleurs and Cedric Watson are the new ambassadors of traditional Cajun culture. They’re also putting their own spin on it and bringing a new sound to Cajun music. This trio will also be cooking up a cajun meal for all the staff to enjoy during the fest!

“Valley By the Stream” – The Down Hill Strugglers

The Down Hill Strugglers were all proteges of the late, great John Cohen. This track is off their awesome new album of all original old-time songs. They have been a staple of Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theater for well over a decade.

“Stoned on a country song” – The Neon Moons

The Neon Moons are an amazing honky-tonk orchestra of 10 members based in the Hudson Valley, essentially our very own Oldtone house band. They truly embody the Hudson Valley a close-knit mix of folks who have grown up here, like Trevor, and transplants, like Walton, who have found a true home here.

“Reuben’s Train” – Foghorn Stringband

Foghorn Stringband are a very cool (and well-known) four-piece made up of two couples. One couple lives in Washington and the other couple lives in rural Canada. They always pack the dance floor at the festival! Members of Foghorn will surely be seen jumping up to play songs with other acts from morning to night during the whole four days of Oldtone.

Thanks for listening and keep on Tonin’!

Photo Credit: Molsky’s Mountain Drifters by Reed Stutz; Walton Goggins by Shayan Asgharnia.

Basic Folk: Maya, Nina, and Lyle de Vitry

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Maya, Nina, and Lyle de Vitry’s life, beginning in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been music and family, festivals, old-time, songwriting, and folk. The de Vitry siblings (including sister Monica, currently teaching art in Western Mass) grew up amongst music and nature in their rural home and even had a family band called Old-Time Liberation Front. Many jams around the campfire, music lessons, and encouragement from their parents lead all three siblings to careers surrounding indie folk music – and jazz! (Thank you, Nina.)

All three have released albums in the past year: Maya’s new album The Only Moment is her fourth record in only six years of performing solo in her post-Stray Birds career. Lyle just released his debut album, Door Within a Dream, while simultaneously working alongside other banjo makers at the Pisgah Banjo Company, his current day job. Nina’s excellent debut, What You Feel is Real, came out last year, but she’s been busy lately playing on the Noah Kahan tour as “the utility player.” Nina’s singing harmonies and playing fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, and 12-string guitar while finding creative inspiration from the energy of the crowds and her new found musician siblings in Kahan’s band.

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In our special Basic Folk conversation with the de Vitry sibs, we talk about how they feel about each other’s creative processes, songwriter practices, and musical inspirations. They get into how being at all these music festivals and jams as kids bonded them together and we learn about made-up words that their family uses to this day – stay tuned to find out what a “butchabee” and a “taffy bub” is.

Elsewhere in the episode, they each talk about how disconnected they feel from the mainstream – Nina had never heard of Noah Kahan’s music until she was asked to audition for his band. Also, Lyle gets into how being around three sisters, female musicians, and female songwriters has impacted him and his musicality.

Don’t miss a very special de Vitry “Which One” lightning round wrapping up one of the most special singer-songwriter interviews we’ve done on Basic Folk.

Photo Credit: Chase Denton

What to Do, See, and Hear at Earl Scruggs Music Festival 2024

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

From August 30 to September 1, the legacy of banjo innovator and bluegrass forebear Earl Scruggs will be celebrated once again at the 3rd Annual Earl Scruggs Music Festival. Held at Tryon International Equestrian Center in the western North Carolina foothills – just beyond where the Bluegrass and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee was born and raised – the festival will see Jerry Douglas and the Earls of Leicester return as hosts and will include performances by roots superstars like Tanya Tucker, Old Crow Medicine Show, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Yonder Mountain String Band, and many more. (Full lineup below.)

BGS is excited to be returning to ESMF for the third year in a row, this time presenting the Scruggs Sessions with the Earls of Leicester. On Saturday, August 31, from 3 to 4:30p.m. on the Foggy Mountain Stage – nearest the festival gates – the Earls of L will pay tribute to Flatt & Scruggs’ seminal live album, Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall!, with special guests and appearances from across the festival lineup. This is a brand new iteration of our fan favorite tribute sets from the past two years that highlighted albums by the Earl Scruggs Revue. Last year’s performance was hosted by Tony Trischka and included guests such as Della Mae, Tray Wellington, members of Greensky Bluegrass, and more. We cannot wait for you to see what’s in store for this year’s Scruggs Session.

Below, find a few of our tips and insider tricks for attending ESMF, plus we’ll highlight a few of the acts, artists, and bands we’re most excited to catch at this year’s festival. From the posh grounds to engaging workshops and sessions, horse jumping demonstrations to excellent brick-and-mortar restaurants and local food trucks, up-and-coming groups and world-class talents, Earl Scruggs Music Festival truly has something for everyone.

The Grounds: Tryon International Equestrian Center

The Earl Scruggs Music Festival entrance. Photo by Eli Johnson.

Your first impression of the Earl Scruggs Music Festival grounds – the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina – might be that this is a very fancy locale for a bluegrass festival. But after your first day, or even your first few hours, you’ll see how perfect a setting this state-of-the-art equestrian park is for a music festival. It can be very hot in late August in Mill Spring, but the permanent amenities, ample shade, high quality air-conditioned restaurants, and relatively compact footprint make the usual pitfalls and inconveniences of a hot summer festival fade to the background.

A horse jumping demonstration held during the festival. Photo by Eli Johnson.

Catch a horse jumping demonstration or one of the center’s mini-horse ambassadors doing a meet and greet to get the full equestrian experience. VIP ticket holders can enjoy the shady grandstand with perfect views of the main stage. There’s plenty of space in the sandy arena grounds for folding chairs, too. The General Store, near to the festival entrance, sells drinks, ice cream, snacks, and treats and has many festival essentials you may need – whether you’re camping on site or just visiting for the day.

Definitely don’t miss the delicious Italian restaurant, Campagna, on the grounds, as well. Pro tip: order their delicious wood-fired pizzas to go and enjoy while watching your favorite bluegrass bands take the stage. Or, dine in and cool off – whether lunch or dinner, we loved always having Campagna nearby. Other brick-and-mortar options on site include Blue Ginger Sushi, Legends Grille, Roger’s Diner, and more. Plus, plenty of delicious fair foods are on sale with carnival-style vendors and food trucks coming out in force for the fest.

Campagna Italian Cuisine raises the bar for bluegrass festival food. Photo by Eli Johnson.

The Area

L: Nina Simone’s childhood home. R: Earl Scruggs’ childhood home.

Sure, there’s not much to mention directly surrounding the oasis that is the Tryon International Equestrian Center, but there is so much to explore just beyond the festival grounds. Whether you head up towards the mountains and Tryon proper (hometown of Nina Simone, where you can visit her historic home place) or head down the road to Shelby (Scruggs’ home turf), this area of North Carolina holds so many treasures. A visit to the Earl Scruggs Center, which calls the former Shelby county courthouse home and is located just up the road from Scruggs’ homeplace(s) in Flint Hill, is essential. The museum tells the story of Scruggs, his banjo, and his music within and outside of Shelby county and includes plenty of local history, too. If you’re not able to make it the short drive to Shelby to see the Center, don’t worry! They have a great booth set up at the festival for the entire weekend.

There are a few excellent trails and hikes nearby, like Alexander’s Ford Trail at Bradley Nature Preserve pretty near to Mill Spring, and there are so many mountain-y treks and water fall hikes just a short drive west – we recommend Little Bradley Falls. If you like cute little railroad towns, Saluda, North Carolina is worth a stop. Just up the mountainside, it used to be the home of the steepest standard gauge railway line in the United States. As you drive back down the interstate east, down the titular Saluda grade toward Tryon and Mill Spring, it’s a stunning view of North and South Carolina beneath you, with the Appalachians at your back. It’s lovely country!

The Music

ESMF does an excellent job demonstrating the sheer depth, width, and breadth of Earl Scruggs’ impact on American roots music. The lineup boasts country, Americana, singer-songwriter, old-time, and endless bluegrass. It’s curated thoughtfully and intentionally and there’s always someone new to discover and someone legendary to nerd out over. Here are a few of the sets we’re most excited for, below. Plus you can peruse the entire announced lineup and find links to the full schedule of events. We hope we see you this year at Earl Scruggs Music Festival!

Casey Driessen’s Red Shoe Stringjam (Sunday)

Fiddler Casey Driessen has turned his infamous and beloved Red Shoe Stringjam into a traveling roots music festival variety hour! We can’t wait to see what he cooks up at ESMF with this superlative lineup. His recent appearance at Grey Fox earlier this summer boasted and incredible roster of guests and collaborators.

AJ Lee & Blue Summit (Saturday)

We can’t wait to catch up with our pals AJ Lee & Blue Summit, fresh off their Grand Ole Opry debut and the release of their critically-acclaimed new album, City of Glass. Our recent feature on that new record has been a reader favorite ever since it published – check it out here. Don’t miss their main stage (Flint Hill Stage) performance and their Foggy Late Night set (Foggy Mountain Stage), which will surely be a raucous and rowdy end to day two of the festival.

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives (Saturday)

If you’re a true fan of Marty Stuart, you know just how intimately his own story in music is woven into the stories of Flatt & Scruggs. What a perfect addition to the lineup. From psychedelic country to surf rock to driving bluegrass to shredding the mandolin – like he did with F&S as a kid all those years ago – Marty and His Fabulous Superlatives epitomize so many distinct facets of Earl’s music and legacy. This is especially noticeable with Stuart carrying on the bluegrass tradition of mentorship bestowed on him by Flatt & Scruggs – like with young mandolinist, Wyatt Ellis, who is also on the festival roster this year.

Miko Marks (Sunday)

Bay Area-based country singer, songwriter, and recording artist Miko Marks is a “must-see” on our list! She’ll be playing the Foggy Mountain Stage on Sunday evening, bringing her thoughtful, engaging, fun, and polished post-genre country to western North Carolina. Marks is a musical activist, a truth teller, and a community builder who has blazed a trail – nationally, in Nashville, and in the Bay Area, as well – in country and roots music.

Darrell Scott’s String Band (Friday)

Even though Darrell Scott’s solo shows are just as engaging and jaw-dropping as when he tours with a band, we’re certainly pleased that his recent string band album, Old Cane Back Rocker, included Shad Cobb, Bryn Davies, and Matt Flinner – and doubly pleased to still be able to catch this crack ensemble on the road! Darrell will also play a set on the Foggy Mountain Stage in the evening Friday, after the band’s afternoon appearance on the Flint Hill Stage.

The Scruggs Sessions with the Earls of Leicester (Saturday)

There is no one better to tribute a classic and iconic bluegrass album like Flatt & Scruggs At Carnegie Hall! than the Earls of Leicester. We’re tickled to be presenting the Scruggs Sessions, where the Earls and many special guests will perform songs from Flatt & Scruggs’ appearance at Carnegie Hall, a set and an album that have become keystones in the bluegrass canon. We’ll see you at the Foggy Mountain Stage on Saturday at 3p.m.!

Twisted Pine (Saturday)

Twisted Pine blew us away last year at Earl Scruggs Music Festival, so we were especially excited to see them set to return to the event this year, too. They’ll be doing double duty, again, playing both stages at different points on Saturday – catch them at 12p.m. on the Flint Hill Stage and at 5p.m. on the Foggy Mountain Stage.

The Wilder Flower (Friday)

A local string band trio based in western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina – making them essentially festival neighbors! – the Wilder Flower are a group to look out for. Made up of Danielle Yother (guitar), Madeline Dierauf (fiddle), and Molly Johnson (banjo), we’re looking forward to catching the band’s set on the Foggy Mountain Stage on Friday at 3p.m. Especially given their debut album, If I Wait Anymore, will be released in September. Keep your eyes and ears on this trio!

Explore the full Earl Scruggs Music Festival schedule and purchase tickets here.

The Full Lineup:

Hosted By:
Jerry Douglas
The Earls of Leicester

Featuring:
Tanya Tucker
Old Crow Medicine Show
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
Yonder Mountain String Band
The Steeldrivers
Peter Rowan & Sam Grisman Project
Mighty Poplar
Lindsay Lou
Pony Bradshaw
Darrell Scott’s String Band
Miko Marks
Shawn Camp
The Grascals
Darin & Brooke Aldridge
AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Travis Book Band
Shadowgrass
The Scruggs Sessions, Hosted by The Earls of Leicester
Casey Driessen’s Red Shoe Stringjam
Twisted Pine
Wyatt Ellis
Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Carley Arrowood
The Faux Paws
Larry & Joe
Martha Spencer & The Wonderland Country Band
Tanasi
The Wilder Flower
The Well Drinkers
Warren Wilson College Bluegrass Band
Ryn Riley and Appalachian Roots
PacJAM Ramblers
The Biscuit Eaters
Creekwater Collective
Fine Tuned Sessions Presented by Rare Bird Farm & Blue Ridge Music Trails

All photos courtesy of Earl Scruggs Music Festival. Photo credits as marked. Lead photo by Eli Johnson. 

Brat Summer Hits Bluegrass – Everything You Need To Know

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Brat summer has come to bluegrass music – like seemingly every other corner of our culture. This viral social media sensation continues to mystify internet scrollers, news anchors, journalists, and analysts of certain generations, but the trend – based on the wildly popular hyperpop/dance album, brat, released by DJ and pop star Charli XCX in June – has found a sure footing in one perhaps unlikely corner of the music industry: bluegrass.

This fact was no more evident to the editorial staff at BGS than at our A Bluegrass Situation after show at Newport Folk Festival  last month, where recent BGS Artist of the Month and banjo magnate Tony Trischka posed an earth-shattering question to the cavalcade of bluegrass and roots music stars waiting backstage: “Who here is brat?”

Reactions were mixed. Trischka and his cohort attempted to explain “brat” to the gathered artists and comedians; those with knowledge of the conversation hesitated to identify who among the star-studded lineup identified as “brat” to Trischka and who did not, out of respect for those present.

 

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While our Newport Folk Festival lineup may have been an organic blend of brat and non-brat, elsewhere in the roots scene critically-acclaimed and award winning artists, pickers, and bands have gleefully brought brat to the forefront of a busy bluegrass festival and music camp season with many videos and posts celebrating brat summer. Impeccable instrumentalists, GRAMMY and IBMA Award nominees and winners, and industry leaders have all been seen making posts, referencing brat, and doing viral accompanying dance moves for XCX’s “Apple.” Meanwhile, new acoustic string band supergroup Hawktail have declared it’s a “Britt summer,” instead, celebrating their bandmate, fiddler Brittany Haas.

Do you or someone you know identify as brat? Are you, too, enjoying a bratgrass summer? You aren’t alone. These bluegrass artists and bands are certainly brat. And, with a few more weeks left before we usher in fall, there’s still plenty of time for bratgrass to continue to entrance and enlighten the bluegrass community.

Sister Sadie

@sistersadiemusic We’re practicing up on our dance moves for our set here at Rocky Grass 🏔️✨ we can’t wait to see y’all out there 💓🍏 #rockygrass #charlixcx #apple #sistersadie #ootd @jaelee @maddie 🫧🫶 @Gena Britt @Dani Flowers @Deanie Richardson ♬ Apple – Charli xcx

Look, we already knew Sister Sadie are brat, because No Fear = brat. The transitive property applies. Brat brat brat. Whatever this legendary lineup tackles, from exciting covers to TikTok dance trends, we’re here for it. Bratgrass epitomized. No notes, very demure. Very cutesy.

Maddie Witler

@maddiewitler 🍏 🍏 so fun my first ever tiktok dance video and a reason to wear this dress that I always chicken out on @Charli XCX dance by @Kelley Heyer #charlixcx #apple #theapple #brat #pop #fyp #trend #dance #pride #cat ♬ Apple – Charli xcx

Mandolinist, instructor, multi-instrumentalist, and coffee expert Maddie Witler was one of the very first bluegrass adopters of brat – some would argue, even well before the eponymous album. Witler has toured and performed with so many of bluegrass’s greats from all across the genre map, and now has crafted a vibrant online presence and business through TikTok, Patreon, and, of course, bringing the “Apple” dance and brat chartreuse to bluegrass.

Missy Raines & Allegheny, The Onlies, and More

@snooplemcdoople Old time brat summer #bratsummer #oldtime #missyraines @Tristan Scroggins @viv.and.riley @TheOnlies ♬ Apple – Charli xcx

Missy Raines is one of the winningest musicians in the history of the IBMA. Clearly, Raines is also brat. Here, she and members of her band, Allegheny (Ellie Hakanson and Tristan Scroggins), are joined by the Onlies (Sami Braman, Vivian Leva, Riley Calcagno, Leo Shannon) as well as several other instructors and musicians at Targhee Music Camp in Alta, Wyoming in the Grand Tetons. Sounds plenty brat to us!

Seth Taylor

 

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In-demand guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Seth Taylor currently tours with Sarah Jarosz, bringing brat with them everywhere they go. Or, should we say, “brat paisley summer.” Which, naturally, we’ve gone ahead and agreed is 100% a thing. Taylor is a bluegrass shredder who’s performed and recorded with countless artists and bands in country, Americana, folk, and beyond. Plus, his tasty acoustic guitar cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” feels pretty brat to us, too.

While we wish we could report a Pickin’ on Brat album is currently in the works or that Charli XCX will launch surprise bluegrass remixes with a Sierra Ferrell feature verse coming soon, rest assured the BGS team will continue to monitor, address, and report on the very important issue of bratgrass to our audience and readers – brat or not.

As more and more TikTok trends and hits from the current pop and Top 40 charts filter into string band music – like Taylor Ashton or Sister Sadie covering Chappell Roan, Seth Taylor’s “Please Please Please” rendition, Molly Tuttle singing Beyoncé, and many more examples crossing our feeds daily – it’s clear this bratgrass summer is first and foremost for the demure and mindful rootsy girls, gays, theys, and every brat in between.

 

Ben Sollee’s Renewed ‘Long Haul’ Perspective on Earth, Life, and Music

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Seven years have elapsed between Ben Sollee’s last studio release, his 2017 album with Kentucky Native, and his new one, Long Haul (arriving August 16). Much has happened in Sollee’s life since ‘17. His family has grown by two children. He worked on a number of soundtracks, even winning an Emmy Award in 2018 for his score on the ABC special, Base Ballet. The Kentucky born and based singer/songwriter/cellist, who has long been an advocate for environmental and other social causes, also helped launch a nonprofit named Canopy, which helps businesses in his home state positively impact people, the planet, and the future.

When COVID hit, it hit Sollee hard. “I was one of the early folks to get COVID in fall of 2020 and it stuck with me in a way that didn’t stick with other people.” During his prolonged recovery, he had to change how he ate, what he drank, how he slept, and how he exercised. “It turned into a journey of inward exploration and changing my external life. I really changed pretty much everything… It wasn’t until I started emerging from long haul [COVID], I was like, ‘Oh, I think I’ve got something to say about this.’”

While this album grew out of Sollee’s personal health crisis, it also was greatly affected by the death of his close friend and long-time collaborator, Jordon Ellis, who died by suicide in early 2023.

Always ready to blur genres, Sollee felt more free to expand his sonic palette on Long Haul, which includes a gospel-style choir, a Little Richard-inspired rock ‘n’ roll rave-up, West African rhythms, and Caribbean grooves. He purposely wanted to have lively, rhythmic melodies to balance deeply thoughtful lyrics.

“The same way,” he explained, “That Michael Jackson would have these big statements in the middle of these dance songs.” Sollee also recorded a special Dolby ATMOS Spatial Audio version for this album – a first for him – to underscore Long Haul’s immersive sound quality.

Part of what the title Long Haul refers to is your serious battle with long COVID and it also addresses life as being a long haul. How did the two interrelate for you, personally?

Ben Sollee: [COVID] definitely put me in relationship with my body in a way that I had never been before and once you start that relationship with your body, you realize just how interconnected everything is. I mean, we’re all on this long haul together… and I realized that maybe the most radical thing that I could do was to care for myself. That really shifted how I think of my live performances and really my purpose for being out on the road, [which] is to help people connect with themselves. Because once they connect with themselves, then they can have the capacity to be in relationship with nature, other people, animals, you name it. How I be in the world has shifted. It’s subtle from an external view, but internally it’s pretty profound.

How did this all affect your approach in making this album?

I realized that I had a very exploitative relationship with my creativity over the years, where it was just like: Here’s a project, just make stuff. And that was just really eye-opening.

I took a couple of different approaches in the making of this record. The passing of my friend and musical collaborator, Jordon, in the process of writing this record was really profound, because he was such a keystone to my creative process. It kind of forced me to think about how I was approaching music-making in the record without him.

So, I tried a couple different mantras, and one of them was “follow the resonance.” If it said something to me, I didn’t need to figure out why it said something to me, even if that is Polynesian flute playing or this sort of strange Tejano Caribbean groove – just follow it. In the past, I would kind of hedge; like I would hear something, I’d be really into that sound, but I wouldn’t feel like I could, for whatever reason. Like it’s not part of my cultural heritage. I would come up with a reason to be like, I shouldn’t make music with that sound or influence.

Another mantra was “show our fingerprints.” The way that we recorded the record – it was about hearing the hands and the strings and hearing the breath. I chose instruments that would really feature those human aspects of breath and touch. We incorporated woodwinds, which you can hear prominently on the first single, “Misty Miles.” We incorporated choirs in this record for the first time, because I really wanted that breath and sound. Much of the percussion is hand percussion. It’s a very tactile record… very high touch record.

You produced Long Haul. What was the recording process like?

It was a very intuitive, collective approach, and it meant that not only did the music turn out as a surprise to me and others, but it also meant that it was a very engaged, emotional journey. Adrienne Maree Brown [author of the book, Emergent Strategy] is really the inspiration for this – instead of having a singular artist’s vision, you really bring together a group of people in a facilitated way.

It made me maybe a little bit more brave and confident that wherever things went, we could execute that… I mean, musicians left the sessions crying, because they had such a good time and they felt seen and heard. And that, to me, means as much as the music that came out.

Did your experiences composing film soundtracks serve at all as an influence?

[Film work] also inspired me to explore Atmos. I really wanted this record to be an immersive experience, kind of like a sonic film. In keeping with that, there are a few songs that actually have sound design incorporated into them. It’s the first time I’ve done it in such an intentional and immersive way where we’ve got cars driving by with “Hawk and Crows.”

There is a real stylistic diversity to the sound of this album, like “Under The Spell” is one song with a funky dance groove to it.

[Laughs] I wasn’t trying to make a dance track. It started with that cello lick that you hear at the beginning. And it’s sort of this hypnotic West African loop of a lick that really began as kind of me trying to figure out some old-time banjo, like clawhammer music, on the cello.

The words are referencing this kind of duality… dealing with identity and self and how often we are under the influence of the stories that people tell of us. Every time I have this ambition, desire, and even just like the idea of me having something, it sets me down a path of being unsatisfied, which causes a lot of harm to other people and myself in the world. So, the words can go as deep as somebody wants to, but it’s also if people just want to release and have some sort of existential-like dance experience – then let’s go, let’s dance!

It touches on an evolution that I don’t expect anybody to notice in my music and career. My early records had a lot of direct social and political statements in the song. I realized that they were a little bit superficial and surface-y. They weren’t really getting it to the core of those issues. So, I’ve kind of moved into, I guess what I would call like a “post-activist” stance. My music has moved away from direct political commentary most of the time to more of a foundational, fundamental idea of togetherness, of connectedness.

“One More Day” stands out as a key song too.

I guess the original seed of that song emerged as I was beginning to travel again after Jordon had passed away – to places where he and I had traveled so many times. I started thinking about what would I have said had he called me in that moment of decision before he took his life? But the only thing that I would have really said to him is, “Listen, I hear you, I respect your decision, but what’s the rush? Like, if you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it, but you don’t have to do it right now. Just give it one more day, give it one more sunrise. Just get one last look.”

I think that’s what I would have said to him. And the song makes that case through different vignettes of our time together on the road. And, it does it over this Caribbean, Tejano groove that must have come from some jams that he and I did together. It must have. It just feels like a very Jordon groove. What I love about that is it has this real joyous, almost like early Police kind of vibe to it. There’s some really tough content in there and I just love the idea of people dancing at a festival – and just saying, “Give it one more day.”

The closing song, “When You Gonna Learn,” features a rousing gospel-style choir and addresses following your inner voice. It launches the listener out of the album and into the world in a very uplifting way.

I wanted to end with that message, because as a father I watch my four- and six-year-old who have yet to really settle into a sense of self or identity, and they are just so connected to their world and just basic truths about caring for things and protecting things and love and justice. And I think that it’s just more proof to me that there are things we know that get taught out of us. This song just is like: When are you going to learn that you already know?

You address a lot of tough issues on the album, but do so with a sense of humanism and spirited music that offer a hopeful way out of these challenging times.

I often reflect on that “Pale Blue Dot” image that Voyager took looking back at Earth and it’s just black and there’s just one little, tiny dot. And that dot really says it all, because it’s all there, as Carl Sagan says: every love, every heartbreak, every war, every church, it’s all on that one little dot.

So, we got to make it work here. And I think that’s the biggest challenge that we have right now. How do we make this work? I get that we’re going to make some big mistakes along the way. I sure have in my life. That’s where the grace comes in, but we got to make it work here. We don’t have another spot.

Photos courtesy of Big Hassle.

BGS 5+5: The Hillbilly Thomists

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: The Hillbilly Thomists
Hometown: We are originally all from Washington, D.C., where we formed, though as priests we are now assigned in many different areas, mostly on the East Coast.
Latest Album: Marigold

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

Our band name is taken from a letter of the Southern Gothic artist, Flannery O’Connor, in which she says that some readers think that she is a Hillbilly nihilist, whereas in fact she is a Hillbilly Thomist. A “Thomist” is a follower of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, who was a Dominican priest. We are members of the same religious order and play folk and bluegrass music so the name seemed perfect. Flannery kept peacocks in her garden, as they are a medieval symbol of the resurrection, so that is the band symbol.

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

Actually, since we are members of a Catholic religious order, we have a lot of rituals. It’s an ordinary part of our life already to pray the psalms together, say mass together, and of course we keep that up when we are doing our music. It can also be important for some of the fans, many of whom like this Catholic bluegrass vibe, but many of our fans are not Catholic, and appreciate the fact that we wear monastic habits, including on stage. The lyrics of our songs can be humorous or serious, but often have a kind of reference to religious takes on life. We did not really plan this as a strategy, but just started composing music out of interest or as a serious hobby and it has been popular with others.

Genre is dead (long live genre!), but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?

The band has a lot of styles and definitely assimilates different genres: folk, Americana, bluegrass, country, blues, gospel, and old-time material. Several different members of the band write songs, different in style, and we almost all sing, with pretty complex harmonies at times. Influences include Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash, The Byrds, Ricky Skaggs, Gillian Welch, but each of these more according to the spirit than the letter.

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

We agree on the value of reggae and jazz and during breaks the band sometimes plays Bob Marley for amusement.

If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?

We actually all have full time jobs, mostly as priests teaching or working in campus ministries. We record the albums and tour in the summer during downtimes.

Photo Credit: Paul Padgett