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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 & ScruggsAt 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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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!
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.
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.
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.
Artist:The Down Hill Strugglers Hometown: Brooklyn, New York Latest Album:Old Juniper Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): We are sometimes mistakenly called the Down Home Stragglers.
Editor’s Note: Answers have been provided by band member Eli Smith.
What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?
Lots of great memories there. Being on stage at the Jalopy Theatre, the Brooklyn Folk Festival, or Washington Square Park Folk Festival with Walker, Jackson, and our dear bandmate, now gone, John Cohen would probably be my favorites.
It was also wonderful to play at the Library of Congress, in that hallowed hall. And the Oldtone Music Festival is an important one for us.
What’s the most difficult creative transformation you’ve ever undertaken?
It’s been interesting running the Brooklyn Folk Festival all these years, and now running the Jalopy Theatre’s record label, Jalopy Records, while also maintaining a musical life with the Down Hill Strugglers and solo, under my own name. Many musicians are also producers, as I am. It can be a challenge to switch back and forth between those mindsets, but it is satisfying to see both types of work progress. Finally, it’s all about sharing good music, however you can.
Genre is dead – long live genre! – but how would you describe the genres and styles your music inhabits?
We are working in the field of traditional music from the United States, with an ear also turned to traditional music from all over the world. One song I wrote, that’s on our new album, was inspired by a 78rpm record from Central Asia re-issued on the Secret Museum of Mankind series. It had a sound that stuck in my head and made sense to me. We changed it around until it became our own song in our own style. That seems natural.
The Down Hill Strugglers is an old-time string band. However, old-time music is a catch all for historic American folk music. It encompasses fiddle music, banjo tunes, guitar picking, songs & ballads, blues, religious music, work songs, and more; diverse music ministering to different parts of life.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
Longmont Potion Castle has remained popular with the Down Hill Strugglers, driving around on tour, for years. That’s some funny stuff…
If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?
I might drive a cab, or something like that. I’d have great music playing in the cab and deck the vehicle out my own way. It’d be nice. Also, I’d do more organizing work as a leftwing activist. And I used to be a clerk in record stores. The best job I had was at the Arhoolie store, Down Home Music, in El Cerrito, California.
Artist:Moira Smiley Hometown: New Haven, Vermont Song: “Now Is The Cool Of The Day” Album:The Rhizome Project Release Date: September 6, 2024
In Their Words: “August 6th is Farmworker Appreciation Day, and I didn’t know that until this year. I am writing this as I sit on a hill above the rolling Vermont farmland where I grew up being a young farmworker and musician. In honor of this day, I’m releasing one of my favorite songs of all time – and the best one I know for reminding us to slow down and remember our roles as carers and tenders of this beautiful planet and the people around us. This week, I’m showering appreciation on the people that grow and tend food in my area; buying from small farmers, donating to the Open Door clinic that serves the medical needs of immigrant agricultural laborers. This gentle video hopes to slow your pace, and bring you along with me in acknowledging that farmworkers make our nourishment possible. Let us thank them.
“Ever since I learned Jean Ritchie’s song, ‘Now Is The Cool Of The Day,’ as an 11 year-old, it has played in my head while traveling through fields and pastures, working in my own garden, or worrying about the climate crisis. The words throughout her beautifully crafted song form and melody call on us to steward the earth (and take care of each other). Although she had that call coming from ‘my lord,’ I always felt that call coming straight from the earth itself. I love that these words urgently and gently remind us that we are tenders, not just extractors, consumers, and producers.
“American icons Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the National Farm Workers Association in the early 1960s and it became the powerful United Farm Workers union, UFW. Huerta coined the phrase, ‘Si, se puede’ (‘Yes, we can’) and has been a lifelong advocate for labor rights, women’s rights, and civil rights with her efforts resulting in legislative victories for farm workers. Chavez’s leadership brought national attention to the plight of farm workers and helped secure better wages and working conditions through strikes, boycotts and other measures.
“The official Farmworker Appreciation Day got moved to August 6th by Bill Clinton’s administration, and I’m glad that we get to percolate and act on our appreciation while in this most fruitful of seasons, August. I hope you’ll join me by giving extra love to the farmers and farmworkers whose work nourishes you!” – Moira Smiley
Photo Credit: Fiona Small Video Credit: Fiona Small
Bonny Light Horseman is an indie/folk supergroup that formed in 2018 at the Eaux Claires Music & Arts festival in Wisconsin. Composed of Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown), Josh Kaufman (Bob Weir, Josh Ritter, The National), and Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), together the band has released two full-length albums. On June 7, their new double album Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free expanded their studio album catalog by 100%.
Their first self-titled release, from 2020, features the band’s takes on traditional folk songs; the second, 2022’s Rolling Golden Holy, is a fully original body of work. Their music is tranquil, gorgeous, and breath-taking and their powerful blend of voices is just as striking. The trio bring a new light to the beauty of folk music, and truly makes each song their own.
To celebrate the new project, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free, we’ve handpicked a few favorite tracks from their past releases – together and separately – to highlight their musicianship, collaboration, and exactly why nearly everyone calls them a supergroup.
The title track off their first album and namesake of their band, it’s a heart-breaking ballad about a love lost to war that was found in the Roud Folk Index (#1185). The group’s arrangement features a low-tuned guitar and subtle textures of harmonica and saxophone which carry Anaïs’ and Eric’s transporting vocals.
“Deep in Love” – Bonny Light Horseman, Bonny Light Horseman
The second song off the band’s debut album is simply illuminating – it feels like a gust of wind on a warm day. Listening to Eric sing, you can hear vocal influences from Joni Mitchell in his jumps and leaps. It has a very freeing feel to it and breathes beautifully.
“The Roving” – Bonny Light Horseman, Bonny Light Horseman
The third track on Bonny Light Horseman also demands inclusion. It’s a song about the singer’s heartache over “Annie,” a woman who once said she would marry them, but over time fell out of love with the singer. The melody is subtle and sweeps the listener into a setting of tranquility. In the arrangement, the band switches between a single, double, and quadruple chorus which is a very sweet and simple way to convey the story to the listener.
“Jane Jane” was first recorded in 1939 by Lila May Stevens. This arrangement combines Stevens’ lyric with the African American spiritual and gospel classic, “Children, Go Where I Send Thee.” Bonny Light’s rendition is simply breathtaking; Johnson and Mitchell switch voices between the major and minor sections of the song, creating a raw and haunting sound.
The penultimate song off Bonny Light Horseman is a traditional Appalachian spiritual originally documented by Alan Lomax. This song holds the essence of a church choir belting for their audience and it’s one of the more simple songs on the album, in terms of arrangement. Having only three voices and a piano allows listeners to hear their trading voices on each verse and then the bright light of togetherness on the choruses.
“Gone by Fall” – Bonny Light Horseman, Rolling Golden Holy (2022)
“Gone by Fall” sits directly in the middle of Bonny Light Horseman’s second album, Rolling Golden Holy. Depicting a summer romance, it’s reminiscent of a 1960s folk song you might have heard on the radio during the folk revival. Yet, in listening to it, a veil is seemingly lifted and you can hear it’s an entirely fresh take on such a classic sound. Their voices, which blend so beautifully together, and the crystal clear guitar lines throughout add in the sweetness of a summertime love.
“Someone to Weep for Me” – Bonny Light Horseman, Rolling Golden Holy
Next up is “Someone to Weep for Me,” a song depicting a person going through life craving someone to care for them, but never finding that person. The driving force of the track is the mandolin’s beautiful rolling pattern, a genius touch that’s present throughout the song and adds a sense of stability and a unique texture. Another stroke of genius comes at about 1:40 in, when the electric guitar comes in wailing, bringing the song into a “jam” with Anaïs singing a little line over it. This is such an unexpected vibe change and at the same time it fits so incredibly well.
Off the band’s two-track EP release Green/Green comes “Greenland Fishery,” a reimagined traditional sailor song. Bonny Light’s version certainly allows you to float away. The clawhammer banjo throughout is lovely and it’s such a treat as a showcase instrument – it isn’t emphasized often throughout the band’s catalog. It’s also very sweet to hear the second part of the chorus as it echoes the chorus of “Bonny Light Horseman” in such a gorgeous, reminiscent way.
“Willie’s Lady (Child 6)” – Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer, Child Ballads (2013)
Delving into some of the band members’ other projects, we come to Child Ballads, an album of duets from Mitchell and collaborator Jefferson Hamer. The project reimagines seven songs from a 19th century folk song collection “The Child Ballads” collected by Francis James Child. “Willie’s Lady (Child 6)” tells the story of King Willie, who marries a woman his mother despises and, in turn, his mother curses the wife. The guitars on the track have such a strong, driving force, excitedly pushing the song while one holds down the rhythm and the other crosspicks during the instrumental sections. Anaïs and Jefferson use their guitars in a way that perfectly compliments the vocal work in the song; it’s sung entirely in duet, the two voices deepening the texture of the music.
“Cazadera” – Fruit Bats, Gold Past Life (2019)
Fruit Bats is Eric D. Johnson’s indie-rock band that he’s fronted since 1997. Off their seventh album, Gold Past Life, “Cazadera” is one of the grooviest songs around. About a person searching for meaning in life and finding it in love, it’s the kind of track that would help paint your surroundings on a joyful walk. It has a great sense of hope and beauty to it and the chill verses coupled with sharp choruses bring energy and excitement.
“Loser’s L-A-M-E-N-T” – Rocketship Park, Off and Away (2008)
Going all the way back to 2008 for a selection from Josh Kaufman’s band, Rocketship Park, a pop-folky project with the intention to play Josh’s original material. The song “Loser’s L-A-M-E-N-T” is off the group’s first album, Off and Away, and immediately displays a very mellow vibe. Jazzy little piano licks come together with electric guitar and pedal steel, creating a western-folk sound. You can truly hear how each instrument is talking to the others and how they all fit together in telling the story.
“When I Was Younger” – Bonny Light Horseman, Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free (2024)
From the group’s just-released double album comes “When I Was Younger,” which has a sound unlike most of their other music. Combining styles from artists like the Grateful Dead and Billy Joel, the intro riff sounds like it pulls some from the former, yet, once the verse starts, it sounds immediately like the latter – a kind of “Vienna” feeling.
It goes right back into the psychedelic riff before switching voices from Anaïs to Eric, again back to the Billy Joel vibe. The guitar and vocal solo following this verse are so rock and roll, gritty and not at all sparkly like the verses prior. “When I Was Younger” does an incredible job blending musical styles. It’s an absolutely astonishing piece of music, using such few words yet conveying such a strong and vivid story.
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