Tag: Patty Griffin

Patty Griffin Regains Her Voice After Cancer Battle

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Reflecting the fortitude shown by the characters she’s written about for the last two decades, Patty Griffin made the decision to keep on working when her singing voice disappeared, the result of a battle with breast cancer in 2016. With encouragement from close friends and her own determination to carry on, Griffin spent a year writing and recording at home in Austin, Texas, ultimately regaining the strength to create her new, self-titled album, perhaps her most stripped-down work since her stunning 1996 debut, Living With Ghosts.

Speaking by phone in the middle of her American tour, Griffin offered insight into new songs like “River” and “Had a Good Reason,” and shared her love for her dogs, her guitar, and her dedicated fans.

BGS: On your new record, I keep going back to the song “River.” What was on your mind when you wrote that?

Griffin: I had been spending time with Donny Hathaway’s version of Leon Russell’s song, “A Song for You.” I actually covered that song for a little gig where I decided to do all covers. The song just kind of kicked my butt. Leon Russell is writing about something with this super sharp honesty, it’s almost like confessional, and it’s sort of healing for him and for whoever he’s singing that to.

And then Donny Hathaway picked it up and ran with it. It’s so true that it moved right over to Donny Hathaway’s voice and became his song. Just the feeling of that made me want to try to write “River.” Like, what’s down in there that I want to say, and that makes me want to sing this song? What do I have of my own to say that feels like that?

I noticed the lyric in there: “She’s been left for dead a million times / And keeps coming home, arms open wide.” That lyric seems like it might be emblematic of this record – that notion of mortality and making it through. Is that fair to say?

I think that’s fair to say, but in my mind it goes between me, as a part of nature, and what nature does. We’re beating up on this planet as fast as we can, tearing down trees. Forgetting all about the rivers, but the rivers are going to be here long after we’re gone. The rivers just keep going. There’s something in us that no matter how far away we get from understanding how we’re a part of this big incredible magical thing — this existence that no one really understands — we still are! It’s always there to go to, and in us, too.

Is this a new perspective for you? Did it hit you within the last couple of years to write about that broader scope?

I think I’ve tried to do that. But I think honestly as you get older, you do learn more about the broader scope, you know? I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like the more I go along, the less I know, too. (laughs) So I don’t know. That’s a question mark from me.

I had read that you had lost your speaking voice and your singing voice in the last few years.

Yeah.

What happened?

I believe leading into being diagnosed with cancer, I may have had it for a while. So, your immune system’s working pretty hard. Your body’s amazing. It works pretty hard at trying to eliminate it. So I was out on the road a lot, which is a good place to get sick, even on a good day. I was just getting cold after cold after cold after cold. Like one long, non-stop respiratory illness. It depleted the strength of my voice quite substantially, and then you know, you’ve got the diagnosis. There’s the surgery that’s not so hot for singing. And then there’s the treatment, there are the drugs… it was sort of this cocktail of things that finally depleted it to something I didn’t know how to use at all, and couldn’t use at all.

So, there were a few months there where it was pretty bad. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I knew I wanted to keep playing, so I just kept writing. And I thought, people do this. People’s voices change all the time and they keep going. You know, my old friend Robert Plant talked to me a little bit about that, just how he doesn’t sing those high notes anymore. (laughs) He doesn’t like to sing those high notes, but he’s discovered this other part of his voice that, to me, is so much more beautiful. So, things like that, and other moments like that that I thought about as I was going along. You know, [thinking] I’ll just have to figure this out — keep writing and figure this out as I go, what I can do next.

Where did you record this album?

Most of it was done in my house in Austin, Texas, with Craig Ross. [Recording engineer] Mike Poole came down from Nashville, and we set up the gear in my house. We did that with Mike a couple of times, and then the rest of the time throughout the year — it took about a year to do it — Craig and I worked on it, in the house mostly.

So, when you’re talking about your house, is that a home studio? Or more of a living room set-up?

Yeah, the dining room table, the living room, and the kitchen.

Do you think that environment affected the warmth of this record, and the vibe of this record?

I feel like I can hear my house in it, for sure, and I like that. But also it took the heat off me. It was Craig’s idea to do it this way, just sort of explore, without the pressure, what we had and what we could do. He was very positive about it, just hearing a few songs that I had from the get-go. He’s a dear friend of mine and I think he was huge part of this. I love his production style anyway, but beyond that, he really guided me with it and was just a friend. He said, “You can do this. Let’s start and see what we got.”

The guitar playing on this album is exquisite. How did you come to pick up the guitar and develop that talent?

I just thought it would be a great tool to write with. I thought, when I was a teenager, ‘How do these people come up with these songs? And how do you make a song happen and not depend on somebody else?’ (laughs) I got a Hohner guitar for $55, which was really the entirety of my savings account when I was about 14 years old. The strings were probably a half-inch off the neck, you know? It really hurt your fingers to play, and I started taking guitar lessons with that.

And I hated the guitar, honestly, until I was probably in my 20s. It was just really a tool. Then I started understanding that it’s also a percussive instrument, and when I saw the “Bluegrass” word next to who I was going to be talking to today, I said, “Ohhhh!” (laughs) That’s some serious playing going on there! I’m just more of a “feel” person. I experiment more than I used to on guitar. I really started to love it and it’s more of a comfort to me, like singing. So, I’ve made friends with it. I even have to say I love it. We’re like an old couple now.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cute dogs on your album cover.

Awwww, those are my boys. Sal is the brown guy and Zeke is the blond guy. Zeke was actually in the original photo at my feet. You can see in his eyes that he was protecting me from Michael Rosen, the photographer. (laughs)

You have a way of bringing your family stories into your music. How has your relationship with them affected your musical direction?

They shape who you are, whether you are close to them or not. I think everybody’s been shaped by where they come from. They’re in your DNA and their stories are in your DNA. I’ve just been sort of piecing the puzzle together with them, and it’s been good for me to do that.

“Had a Good Reason” is about a mother-daughter relationship but I don’t know that it’s necessarily about the relationship that you have.

No, it’s more based on a combination of stories that I had heard about Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf. Two of those beautiful singers from the last century with these tears in their voices, and they were rock stars, really almost at the same time in their day. The sadness in those voices — both of them at a certain point had that sort of [tumultuous] relationship with their mother. I believe they both ended up living in whorehouses and being taken care of by prostitutes, and they both were not able to be with their mothers as young girls. I think for a woman, there’s some deep, deep, deep, deep sadness that would happen from that. That was just me making a guess and the song came out around that.

To me, “Luminous Places” sounds like a love letter to your fans. What is it about heading out on the road, and having that audience, that compels you to keep coming back, year after year?

That’s what is so mysterious to me. I feel like it’s mutual generosity between humans, you know? I work really hard to bring them something, but they also bring themselves and give a lot. That seems to be how the relationship works. And the older I get, the more I am grateful for that, and in awe of that. It’s really wonderful.

Is touring going well for you now? Do you feel like you’re back in the game?

I’m having a blast! I’m getting stronger every day out here and I’m working with the greatest people on earth. I’m having a really good time and I’m really lucky.

Photo credit: Michael Wilson

MIXTAPE: Aengus Finnan’s Folk Alliance Playlist

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As a global organization that intentionally replaced “North America” in its title with “International,” our responsibility is to open the doors and windows of the house of folk to its broadest global definition. We work hard to welcome a more diverse view of the field, appreciating that the folk music of Estonia is different from, but just as definable as the folk music of Latin America. Similarly, the contemporary inner-city folk songs of London vary wildly from the traditional songs of the Ozarks. The unifying thread of this music being that these are the traditional songs of a people and the roots music of a place (even as that music innovates and evolves over time).

In a world of differences and borders, the human experience is what unites us, and music (specifically folk music, as the music of the people who and wherever they are) is the soundtrack to the story we share to build bridges over walls. — Aengus Finnan, Executive Director, Folk Alliance International

BGS 5+5: Liam Russell

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Artist: Liam Russell
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest album: No Contest
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Liam Titcomb

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Up until a few years ago, it would have been The Beatles. I learned everything about popular music from The Beatles. Chord progressions, melody, harmony, rhythm, lyrics, attitude, production. … I was pretty obsessive in my teen years about them and I honestly think it improved me greatly as a musician. I learned to play guitar by learning all their songs. I completely learned how to sing harmonies by deciding one day to only sing along to them in harmony and because I knew the songs so intimately, it worked!

A few years ago, I started to dig deeper into lyrics and so I’m returning to other things I’ve loved over the years and going over the lyrics with more of a fine-tooth comb. Lucinda Williams is a really big one for me these days but also Patty Griffin and John Prine, etc. It’s a long list.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I got to take part in a 70th birthday tribute to Joni Mitchell in Toronto for the Luminato festival. They got Joni’s band to be the house band, Brian Blade was the musical director and then there was a handful of singers. Myself, Chaka Khan, Kathleen Edwards, Rufus Wainwright, Glen Hansard, Lizz Wright, etc… Joni decided to come to the event and had said she wasn’t sure if she would sing but then I got an email that said: “Joni’s been singing at every rehearsal and has decided to sing a couple songs.”

That alone was exciting enough for me because I’d never seen her live before and now I was gonna be really really up close and personal. The whole thing was like a dream. I had to pinch myself even during rehearsal with those incredible musicians because Brian Blade is probably my most favorite drummer of all time and they were all just so damn good.

Then I met Joni before one of the shows (we did two nights) and she was delightful and had watched my performance and was giving me wardrobe tips for the second night because of the lights for my songs. It was wild. But all this to say that my favorite memory from being on stage is singing “Woodstock” with Joni and that band as the grand finale. That was just unbelievable and so special. I’ll never forget it. She killed it and she was so supportive of me too. What a woman.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

I was 7 years old at an after-party for a big fundraiser show that was for one of my dad’s best friends, Bob Carpenter. There were all kinds of folk music big shots there and people were clumped into groups of four to eight, all having little jams. My ah-ha moment happened when I saw Soozi Schlanger playing Cajun songs. She was playing the fiddle and singing with all her heart and it blew my mind. I totally had the thought, “That’s what I wanna do.” And I did! I convinced my God-mum to rent me a violin, got my parents to beg Soozi to teach me and it all started there, playing second fiddle with Soozi and learning to sing in French phonetically.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

“To Be a Man” is a song off this new EP inspired by the #MeToo movement and it was definitely the hardest song I’ve ever written. I wrote it with my friend Robby Hecht (another great Nashville singer-songwriter). We had gotten together to write a song and started talking about the movement and what it meant to us as self-identifying “good guys” and whether we even really were good guys and it just spiraled into this heavy conversation about what it is to be a man and we thought “we should write about this” but neither of us realized how hard it was going to be.

It took us about six get-togethers to get it done and it was a slog every time. We labored over every line and made sure to run it all past my wife Zoe Sky Jordan to make sure nothing would be misconstrued. It was a serious challenge but one I’m very proud of. Frankly, after thousands of years of men taking advantage of women in one way or another and them suffering from it, it had better be hard and a little painful for me to write a song about it. Men deserve to feel a little discomfort for a change.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

I used to this a lot. I think it’s very common to do this as a young writer. It’s hard to confront your true self, let alone put it on display for everyone else in a song. I mean, how often do we even do that in conversations? The older I get, the more I value writers like Lucinda Williams who just lays everything out for all to see. Every ugly bump, every beautiful twist and turn. To me, the most fascinating writing is the honest and vulnerable writing because that’s what we all are! We’re vulnerable and we have warts and we’re just trying to figure it out and not fuck it up. I endeavor to never make this mistake in my writing again and really hope I only get more honest as time goes on.

Photo credit: Blu Sanders

Baylen’s Brit Pick: Olivia Chaney

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Artist: Olivia Chaney
Hometown: Florence, Italy but grew up in Oxford, England and now lives in London so we are claiming her.
Latest Album: Shelter

Sounds Like: Eliza Carthy, Joanna Newsom, Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling

Why You Should Listen:

Sometimes you just need to step outside your box, leave your comfort zone, and proactively NOT stay in your lane. Olivia Chaney not only does all those things but she’s made me do them too. I like to think I’m a pretty open minded guy, who loves music, not just genres, but when it was suggested to me that I take a look at Olivia Chaney for this month’s Brit Pick, at first I balked.

Folk isn’t really my wheelhouse, or so I thought. Then I listened to her striking new album, Shelter. Then I listened again. And again. I was no longer sitting in my studio on a busy city street with sirens constantly screaming by, I was roaming around a charming cottage that is older than America on the Yorkshire Moors in the rain without an umbrella or a care in the world.

Knowing that Olivia nestled down in said cottage to work on this album and watching the video for “House on a Hill” that was shot there obviously helped with that vision, I didn’t just conjure it up out of nowhere, but the music certainly fits. With eight original songs, and lovely versions of Purcell’s “O Solitude” as well as “Long Time Gone” made famous by the Everly Brothers, all produced by Thomas Bartlett, this album is a gem whether folk is your thing or not.

By collaborating with The Decemberists, sharing stages with Robert Plant and Zero 7, and citing Edith Piaf AND Sonic Youth as inspiration, Olivia Chaney has no intention of staying in her lane, and we are all better for it. She’s currently on a North American tour through August including dates with Patty Griffin and Bruce Hornsby.

Photo: Nonesuch Records

As a radio and TV host, Baylen Leonard has presented country and Americana shows, specials, and commentary for BBC Radio 2, Chris Country Radio, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 2 Country, BBC Radio 4, BBC Scotland, Monocle 24, and British Airways, as well as promoting artists through his work with the Americana Music Association UK, the Nashville Meets London Festival, and the Long Road (the UK’s newest outdoor country, Americana, and roots festival). Follow him on Twitter: @HeyBaylen

3×3: Kelly McFarling on Hip Hop, Good Docs, and Nap Time

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Artist: Kelly McFarling
Hometown: Born and raised in Atlanta, currently living in San Francisco
Latest Album: Water Dog
Personal Nicknames: McFarflung

What song do you wish you had written?

There are so many. Right now, I’m feeling “Swimming Song” by Loudon Wainwright III.

Who would be in your dream songwriter round?

Anaïs Mitchell, Patty Griffin, Andre 3000, Tom Petty, Gillian Welch, Carey Ann Hearst.

If you could only listen to one artist’s discography for the rest of your life, whose would you choose?

I could never choose just one, but currently I’m into 97.9, the OG hip hop station in Atlanta, as the soundtrack for all things.

 

IN NASHVILLE with this delicious deciduous babe. Playing the east room tonight!

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How often do you do laundry?

This event reveals itself to me with no consistency.

What was the last movie that you really loved?

I was blown away by 13th, the documentary by Ava DuVernay.

If you could re-live one year of your life, which would it be and why?

I’d love to go back to the time in early childhood that I can’t remember. I want to occupy the brain of my 3- or 4-year-old self and go back to when the world was still being formed on a basic level. People at that age are hilarious, messy, wide open beings. I’m envious of their nap schedules, authenticity, and constant discovery.

What’s your go-to comfort food?

I love to roast a chicken. It’s delicious, it makes the house smell amazing, and it makes me feel like a domestic queen with very little effort.

Kombucha — love it or hate it?

Love it.

Mustard or mayo?

Mayo. Mayo forever.

From Pop Stars to Pitchforks: A Conversation with Megan Mullally

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Some people cover songs and some people downright inhabit them. Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt (aka the duo Nancy And Beth) take songs and peel off their clothes, give them a little sweet loving, read them some Proust, show them a few Mel Brooks’ films, and send them back out the door with a smile on their face, a pat on the rear, and a whole new way of seeing the world. Just queue up their version of Gucci Mane’s “I Don’t Love Her” from their new self-titled LP to see why: It takes some wildly dirty, arguably misogynistic lyrics and turns them all into a mischievous, vaudevillian coo that owns the words instead of falling victim to them. It’s also pretty darn funny, but don’t be mistaken: These two women can also sing the heck out of some George Jones.

Mullally and Hunt, both known primarily as actresses — Mullally, most famously on Will & Grace and Hunt, on Californication — have strong performing backgrounds, and though they’re 30 years apart in age, they’re kindred musical spirits. So they formed Nancy And Beth (and no, their middle names are neither Nancy nor Beth; they just thought the combo sounded funny), started performing live together complete with choreography, and created a hit list of songs to cover that range from country classics to blues standards to, yes, Gucci Mane.

Growing up in Oklahoma, Mullally actually got her start as a singer, training herself on her parent’s collection of records, and had her first big break in a Broadway musical back in 1995, before Will & Grace. Nancy And Beth is a serious project — it’s not a novelty act — but it certainly embraces a sense of humor and an era when artists viewed a concert as a place for well-rounded entertainment and that musical theater spirit. 

Your music is both carefully crafted and entertaining. Do you think that’s an approach that has been lost these days? Music is often either very serious and well done or silly and void of meaning — not both.

When I was growing up, there was much more of a mix of music, with someone like Roger Miller being on the more critically legitimate end of the spectrum, but then there were weird “itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny” kind of songs, too. There was this crazy novelty aspect that you don’t hear anymore. Now everything is so dire, and I’ve gone through that phase, too, and that was fun and, who knows, maybe my next record will be like Beyoncé’s Lemonade where I just fucking rake [husband and comedian] Nick [Offerman] over the coals. Well, I guess he has to do something wrong first, which hasn’t happened yet. But there’s always tomorrow. [Laughs]

[Laughs] You’ve always done both acting and singing, but you’re known more as an actress. Why do people make such a big deal out of actors starting singing careers? Doesn’t playing music on stage have an element of theatrics and character play, anyway?

Well, there is a double standard. It’s totally allowed, if you start as a musician. But if people know you first as an actor, then no way. I’m perceived as an actress and suddenly it seems I have a band and, “No, that’s forbidden!” But if you’re a pop star and you decide you want to take a swing at acting it’s like, “Yes, please. Come and collect your Oscar!” Who knows? I stopped caring about it. But I did have a horrible interview with someone nameless for a smaller town paper and the guy didn’t get anything about [the band] — he was like, “It’s called Nancy And Beth. Well, as far as I can discern, none of you are named Nancy or Beth!” I was like, “Um, yeah, you’re right …” [Laughs]

Well, not everyone knows your back-story … or knows how to use Google, apparently. What was the music that you first fell in love with as a kid?

I grew up in Oklahoma and there was only one radio game in town, and they played everything: They had to be all things to all people. I think that influenced my taste for different genres. I know bands that have a distinct sound, but that’s why I like our live show: You go hear a band and, after about five songs, you’re like, “I’m bored.” We’re all over the place, and that’s why shows are so fun and everyone has such a great time. But I loved the Monkees — Davey Jones was my first love, not going to lie. My parents had a lot of Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland because, apparently, my parents were two gay men? But when they would go out, I would put those records on and pick a song and keep playing them over and over until I knew every song on the record, and that’s how I learned to sing. I always loved anything kind of bluesy, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland fall into that category, I guess, but I had a feel for that. Early Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, they had a bit of a bluesy flavor. I loved early Willie Nelson — I still love him. There’s something a little bluesy about a lot of country music from that era.

Do you enjoy modern country music at all?

I don’t know any of it, because it all sounds like power pop to me. “I got my pickup, I got my dog!” I mean, I love Patty Griffin, does she count?

Probably not! But that’s a lot of diverse influences. How did Nancy And Beth’s sound evolve early on?

[Stephanie and I] are like two little kids playing. I know that neither of us is particularly analytical. But we never had a conversation because we never had to, since it flows really easily and we just do whatever we want. We didn’t have a big “Come to Jesus.” I will say, the most kind of poignant interesting little detail is that we used to open all of our shows — we took a three-year break because of my schedule, but before that when we were performing at Largo [in Los Angeles] — we used to open every live show off-stage with just our tambourine and do that White Stripes song “Little Room.” It kind of sums up everything that is good about the band. And it reminds me of my childhood because I spent a lot of time literally in my room, making up all these elaborate scenarios that I would perfect and show to my mother who would unfailingly tell me I was a genius. I feel like that “Little Room” song is a great description of whatever it is that we are.

Your version of “I Don’t Love Her” is a great summary of what Nancy And Beth does well, too: It’s pretty hilarious, but also smart.

[When] that song popped up and I was like, “What a beautiful song title! So interesting.” Then I heard it, and I was like, “What? No!” And we were just dying. We were sitting on my bed with the lyrics printed out and, oh my God, we were dying. Then we added it to the repertoire and eventually the recording.

It’s a nice reclaiming of some unsavory words used to describe women … by our president, of all people.

Yeah, that is good. And I never change the gender. I want to be as true to the song as I can be and the gender doesn’t matter. That’s more interesting.

Speaking of our president, you’ve met him before: You guys sang the theme song to Green Acres together at the Emmys in 2006. Trump wore overalls while you were dressed quite glam as Karen from Will & Grace, which was perfect. You were competing for something called “Emmy Idol,” and best version of a classic television theme, and we all know how much Trump loves a good competition.

It was a stupid thing to begin with and normally something I would dismiss out of hand, and I was getting ready to do that when they said, “But we want you to do the theme to Green Acres with Donald Trump,” and I was as like, “Oh, wait!” At the time, it was the height of his popularity on The Apprentice, and everyone thought he was hilarious, like someone playing a character — pompous and extremely arrogant — and I don’t think anyone thought he was actually like that. Now we know different. At the time, it seemed like a great idea. It was called “Emmy Idol” and people were calling in and voting, and there was going to be a winner. So we rehearsed, and it was fine. I talked to him a little and was like, “This guy is funny,” since I was giving him a lot of shit and he seemed to roll with the punches. And I was like, “Well, that’s good, he’s playing a character.”

And now we know otherwise …

Well, then the next day the phone rang, and he called and he said, “Listen, we really needed to win that thing and we did, and you were a part of that. And not only did we win, but I heard we crushed it. It’s a landslide.” I thought, “This guy is out of his mind. Who cares?” I just thought it was funny to make Donald Trump wear a pitchfork and overalls. I thought that was funny, and that was the only reason I did it. He really wanted to win that thing, and he got his way. Then, when he was running for president, I was like, “Oh, shit! If he wanted to win Emmy Idol that badly, how much does he want to win this?”

Well, getting Donald Trump to hold a pitchfork was kind of your own win, I think.

And I am proud of that.

3X3: Sara Petite on Love Potions, Fun Runs, and Rainy Days

Posted on by Amy Reitnouer

Artist: Sara Petite
Hometown: Sumner, WA (now resides in San Diego, CA)
Latest Album: Road Less Traveled
Personal Nicknames: SWEET PEA

 

Sara Petite Band at Humphreys Happy Hour tonight 5 to 7pm #roadlesstraveled #honkytonk

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If you could go back (or forward) to live in any decade, when would you choose?

Right now is the perfect time.

Who would be your dream co-writer?

Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, Patty Griffin, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty

If a song started playing every time you entered the room, what would you want it to be? 

“Love Potion #9” from Herb Alpert’s Whipped Cream album. It is really sexy music. I would be wearing something really slinky and sexy — when I walked in, everyone would look at me! I would come in with a big sexy “you want me” smile, then I would start to strut my way across the room and I would trip and fall and make everyone laugh! And it would happen every time that song came on! 

What is the one thing you can’t survive without on tour?

Toothbrush, clean underwear, and socks

What are you most afraid of?

I’m not sure — there isn’t really anything to be afraid of anymore. I would like to die the same day as my twin sister. It would probably be too difficult on this planet without her. All the things I thought would kill me or wreck me forever haven’t. I’m still here, still breathing, and have a smile most of the time!

Who is your favorite superhero? 

I just did a fun run and made my own superhero costume. I was Super Sweet Pea. I had a sequined S on my chest, a purple cape I sewed flowers on, and I ran with a bunch of fake colorful hydrangeas in my hand. We ran down through canyons, neighborhoods. I fell on my ass a few times down the hills. It was a lot of fun until people started exposing themselves — very uncomfortable! I didn’t know that was the type of club I joined, yikes! I am totally bummed not to be in the running club anymore because next week was going to be the Big Lebowski run, and me and my best friend were going to run in bathrobes holding a 10-foot joint, whilst partaking in our own joint smoking. I have decided to possibly make my own run club or join the Sierra Club in hopes for more of a PG-13 environment. I was only there to run, drink, and wear my superhero costume, man!

 

Sitting in with the Sunday band at Pappys

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Pickles or olives?

PICKLES! I went to a restaurant the other day, and they were out of pickles. How can someone be out of pickles? I ordered a cheeseburger, extra rare with extra pickles.  

Which primary color is the best — blue, yellow, or red?

Not sure. It probably depends how I feel.  

Which is worse — rainy days or Mondays? 

I love rain. I grew up in Washington. And I love Mondays. They are new beginnings!

3×3: Caroline Spence on Kristen Wiig, Grapefruit LaCroix, and Her Obsession with Ryan Adams

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Artist: Caroline Spence
Hometown: Charlottesville, VA (now in Nashville, TN)
Latest Album: Somehow
Nicknames: Caro

 

My first #coffee in Switzerland. Served with chocolate (with music notes) and the world's cutest creamer.

A photo posted by Caroline Spence (@carolinespence_) on

Who is the most surprising artist in current rotation on your iTunes/Spotify?
Brothers Osborne. Their latest single, "Stay A Little Longer" is undeniably catchy. TJ's voice is just so…manly.

Who would play you in the Lifetime movie of your life?
Kristen Wiig, for sure.

If the After-Life exists, what song will be playing when you arrive?
"Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin.

What's brand of toothpaste do you use?
Crest.

What's your beverage of choice?
Grapefruit LaCroix. Or red wine.

What's your favorite TV show? 
Parks and Recreation

 

What a treat to hear Ryan Adams and Jason Isbell sing together. Better than I could have even imagined.

A photo posted by Caroline Spence (@carolinespence_) on

Taylor Swift or Ryan Adams?
I love 1989 in both forms, but Ryan Adams is one of my all-time favorite music makers. Saw him two nights in a row at the Ryman.

Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars?

Coffee or tea?
So. Much. Coffee.

WATCH: Stone Jack Jones, ‘Ships’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Stone Jack Jones
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Song: "Ships"
Album: Love & Torture
Label: Western Vinyl

In Their Words: "Featuring an ethereal performance by Ms. Patty Griffin; the wizardry of Ryan Norris (coupler) on keys and strings and found tape; Roger Moutenot on his sons' childhood drums and buddha box' and also my lovely wife, Hollis Hampton Jones, on vibes and lollipop drum.

Yes, we are America the beautiful.

Yes, we make lovely weapons of war.

Yes, we will sell them to you for horrific acts. 

Yes, we will give you $$$ so you can buy them from us. 

Yes, we are America the beautiful.

May peace be with you." — Stone Jack Jones

Tour Dates
11/25 – Chattanooga, TN – JJ's Bohemia *
11/28 – Knoxville, TN – Jig and Reel *
* w/Idle Bloom

Photo credit: Rebekah Jenkins. Video directed by Jeffrey Stanfill.

12 Sad, Sad Songs by Patty Griffin

Posted on by Editor

Patty Griffin kind of can't help but have sad songs … it's just in her voice. But that's one of the reasons we love her so. Still, it makes the compilation of a "Sad, Sad Songs" list all that much more difficult. After all, the whole of Living with Ghosts could be included on such a list, but we made some effort to pare the picks down … so you don't have to. 

"Moses" from Living with Ghosts

Key Lyric: "Diamonds, roses, I need Moses to cross this sea of loneliness, part this Red River of pain. I don't necessarily buy any key to the future or happiness, but I need a little place in the sun sometimes or I think I will die."

"Goodbye" from Flaming Red

Key Lyric: "Today my heart is big and sore. It's tryin' to push right through my skin. I won't see you anymore — I guess that's finally sinkin' in."

"Coming Home to Me" from Downtown Church

Key Lyric: "When you get to that place that's just under the stars, hanging over the tree at a quarter to three … When you get there, you'll know that's as far as you go. When you get there you'll see, you were already free."

"One More Girl" from Silver Bell

Key Lyric: "You don't know what you want. At this moment, you think it could be me, so you move your hand across my knee, turn me into some novelty."

"Let Him Fly" from Living with Ghosts

Key Lyric: "There's no mercy in a live wire, no rest at all in freedom. Of the choices we are given, it's no choice at all. The proof is in the fire — you touch before it moves away. But you must always know how long to stay … and when to go."

"Rain" from 1,000 Kisses

Key Lyric: "Now I don't wanna beg you, baby, for something maybe you could never give. I'm not looking for the rest of your life — I just want another chance to live."

"That Kind of Lonely" from American Kid

Key Lyric: "Every strand has come unwound. Every heart is all worn down. Everyone in this room wanted to be somewhere else. So tonight I find the key and drive away a little early. It's the last time I wanna be that kind of lonely."

"Long Ride Home" from 1,000 Kisses

Key Lyric: "Forty years go by with someone laying in your bed. Forty years of things you say you wish you'd never said. How hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead? I wonder as I stare up at the sky turning red."

"Someone Else's Tomorrow" from Children Running Through

Key Lyric: "You filed out of the churchyard so cold it was silver, to gold, tan, and blue cars. And the cars drove away. All the memories fade. Send the ghosts on their way. Tell them they've had their day — it's someone else's tomorrow."

"You Never Asked Me" from Servant of Love

Key Lyric: "It was an exercise in catastrophe. It was a dance of destruction. It was the daze of futility. It was the flight of fragile wings."

"Mother of God" from Impossible Dream

Key Lyric: "So I'm wearing my footsteps into this floor. One day, I won't live here anymore. Someone will wonder who lived here before and went on their way."

"Wild Old Dog" from American Kid

Key Lyric: "Dropped him out on 93. Tall grass was waving there just like the sea. He tore off running like we set him free, just disappeared right in front of me. God is a wild old dog someone left out on the highway."

Editor’s Note: Patty Griffin is one of the latest lineup additions for the 15th Edition of Cayamo: A Journey Through Song! BGS is excited to be onboard with Patty and so many other great Americana acts in February. Take a look at our photo recap from last year’s cruise.