LISTEN: Josh Ritter, “Time Is Wasting”

Artist: Josh Ritter
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Time Is Wasting”
Album: See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion
Release Date: August 28, 2020
Label: Pytheas Recordings

In Their Words:See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion is a collection of songs and performances that I love from the previous several years. I did the artwork a while back, and the title just popped into my head. I’ve really been missing making music with my band. On record or live, it’s always an adventure.

“I wrote ‘Time Is Wasting’ for a movie. The song didn’t get used, but I ended up thinking about it again as COVID lockdown stretched away in front of us. The rest of the songs soon fell into place behind it. There is a lot of time and distance and farewell on these recordings.” — Josh Ritter


Photo credit: David McClister

LISTEN: Darlingside, “A Light on in the Dark”

Artist: Darlingside
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Song: “A Light on in the Dark”
Album: Fish Pond Fish
Release Date: October 9, 2020
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “The lyrics open with the question, ‘Are you swimming with the fish pond fish, looking for oceans in the saltlessness?’ When we wrote that, we were thinking about social atomization and the idea that people become trapped in these false enclosures — fish ponds of our own making. The world outside one’s home or even outside one’s self can become a darkness to be warded off and shut out, and I’ve certainly been guilty of turning inward and making the world even darker as a result. But I’m desperate to break that cycle and I think a lot of people are; a light can’t shine only on itself. When the pandemic started, suddenly that idea of shutting out the world became in one sense much more real, and we really did become trapped in our own physical little fish ponds — but I think it also heightened our desperation and willingness to turn outward, to really connect with one another wholeheartedly.

“The second verse pulls some ideas from a writing exercise in which I was given a prompt to write about being a ‘cellar master’ and so I wrote a sort of open love letter to my plumber, who embodies a number of traits and competences that I lack. The tune itself has been around since 2016 and was originally sung over an arpeggiating line from a little synthesizer called a Septavox. We ended up stripping away that synth part in favor of more traditional instruments, with the exception of one section where Auyon meticulously recreated the synth line using sped-up, plucked violin.” — Dave Senft, Darlingside


Photo credit: Robb Stey

WATCH: Jill Andrews, “The Kids Are Growing Up”

Artist: Jill Andrews
Hometown: Johnson City, Tennessee; currently Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Kids Are Growing Up”
Album: Thirties
Label: Vulture, Vulture / Tone Tree

In Their Words: “I snuck away one day during my daughter’s nap to write ‘The Kids Are Growing Up.’ My son and daughter are seven years apart and everyday in both of them, I saw this theme personified. She was tiny in my arms just like he used to be. I wrote it as a reminder to myself to slow down and try to be present for the important moments, the ones that really matter. The video comes from ten found film reels donated to the Prelinger Archives in San Francisco. Nobody knows who the family is but based on the footage they lived in the St. Louis area. In the video, you see a family go through marriage, birth of their first child, raising children, holidays, marrying off their first child, and then their first grandchild being born. It so perfectly fits the theme of the song. I truly cannot believe that the filmmaker, Nathaniel Maddux, found the footage and that this family kept such amazing archives of their lives. He said he really hopes that someone sees the video and lets us know who they are!” — Jill Andrews


Photo credit: Fairlight Hubbard

LISTEN: Libby Rodenbough, “How Come You Call Me”

Artist: Libby Rodenbough
Hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Song: “How Come You Call Me”
Album: Spectacle of Love
Release Date: May 29, 2020
Label: Sleepy Cat Records

In Their Words: “I’ve always been able to navigate living pretty easily, both because I ride in the lane reserved for white well-off people, but also because I can handle little boxes better than some. I’m talkative and good at standardized tests and if I go through dark times, I can keep it tamped down. This is a good disposition for survival, but it’s something I’ve always felt self-conscious about, like being good at tolerating the intolerable is the sign of an empty soul, and maybe that’s why I’m drawn to people who don’t fit into this world so well. Everybody I’ve ever dated has been a good guy. This song isn’t about shitty boyfriends; it’s about the way you fall into particular slots in a relationship and rarely come out of them again, so if you happen to be the better navigator, you end up usually leading the way.” — Libby Rodenbough


Photo credit: Courtesy of L. Rodenbough

LISTEN: Zoe Guigueno, “Shoreward”

Artist: Zoe Guigueno
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Song: “Shoreward”
Album: Secret Admirer
Release Date: June 5, 2020

In Their Words: “This song is about nature stopping us in our tracks; it’s about not taking our resources or way of life for granted. Taylor Ashton wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music — originally it was a commissioned piece for his grandparents, about the fishing industry in Newfoundland. In the current global situation, however, we can ask the same questions: Do we push forward, or do we wait out the storm that forced our boats shoreward?” — Zoe Guigueno


Photo credit: Josh Dolgin

WATCH: Mumford & Sons, “Forever (Garage Version)”

Artist: Mumford & Sons
Hometown: London, England
Song: “Forever (Garage Version)”
Release Date: May 8, 2020

Editor’s Note: The demo recording heard in this video was performed almost completely live and rediscovered while going through some of the band’s recording archives during the coronavirus lockdown.

In Their Words: “Back in 2013, off the back of touring Sigh No More and Babel we decided we needed to take a bit of a break from the road, catch our breath and regroup. The first time we really hung out to make music together was after a couple months living our lives, and it was in the back garden of a friend’s house deep in Brooklyn. That friend was Aaron Dessner from The National and he had a built a studio in the garage in his garden. Between catching up, eating burritos, and having a couple of drinks, we messed around a bit with some new song ideas. This was one of those moments.

“Many of the songs that began in that garden ended up on Wilder Mind, whereas the later version of this song we saved for Delta. We just thought it’d be fun to share the journey that these songs go on sometimes. Hope everyone is staying safe x” — Mumford & Sons


Photo credit: Gavin Batty

LISTEN: Chelsea Williams, “Cornerstone”

Artist: Chelsea Williams
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “Cornerstone”
Album: Beautiful & Strange
Release Date: May 8, 2020
Label: Blue Élan Records

In Their Words: “Not all of my songs are heartache and drinking songs… just most of them. ‘Cornerstone’ is a real shift from this, it’s more of a ‘heartache gone wrong’ song. It tells the story of a girl who is used to being dealt all the wrong cards. When her luck changes she must learn to trust the universe and trust the new happiness she’s found.” — Chelsea Williams


Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

BGS Long Reads of the Week // April 24

We’ve so enjoyed looking back into the BGS archives with you every week for some of our favorite reporting, videos, interviews, and more. If you haven’t yet, follow our #longreadoftheday series on social media [on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram] and as always, we’ll put all of our picks together right here at the end of each week.

Our long reads this week examine entire careers, dive into different versions of new classic songs, revisit a lost hero, and more.

Glen Hansard: A Career in 12 Songs

We spend a lot of time at BGS immersing ourselves in the music, sounds, and careers of our favorite artists — what can we say, we love a deep dive! For this aural long read choice (if such a thing exists?) we unpack twelve of Glen Hansard’s essential songs from myriad points in his globe-crossing career, from rock bands and movie soundtracks and confessional songwriting and more. [Read the entire list, and listen, too]


Rose Cousins Shares Her Truth More Freely With Bravado

In a strangely prescient interview from late February, Canadian singer/songwriter Rose Cousins offers some insight and wisdom for being alone — the difference between loneliness and solitude, for instance — and for being present in each moment, as well. Their themes she’s explored in-depth in her music-making across the years, but in some newfound ways on her most recent album, Bravado. [Read our interview]


Glen Campbell’s Final Coda: An Interview with Carl Jackson

April 22 marked what would have been Glen Campbell’s 84th birthday. The rhinestone cowboy passed away a short couple of months after releasing his final album, Adiós, in 2017. Campbell’s long-time friend, collaborator, and bandmate Carl Jackson produced the project, and helped coax Campbell through the recording process as Alzheimer’s disease made his singing, playing, and performing increasingly difficult. To honor his birthday, we revisited our conversation with Carl Jackson. [Read


Steve Wariner’s Signature Hit? That’s Tricky

One of Nashville’s good guys, Steve Wariner was inducted into the Musician’s Hall of Fame last year, recognized for his versatility as a lead guitarist, as a sideman, and a singer/songwriter, too. Over more than four decades the Grand Ole Opry member has had numerous charting singles, so we wanted to explore that catalog and ask Wariner himself: “Do you think you have a signature hit?” [Read the interview]


My Love Will Not Change: Four Versions of a Modern Classic

After Americana singer/songwriter Aubrie Sellers gave a flawless, stripped-down performance of this song on our first episode of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour this week we’ve been returning to it over and over! Written by Shawn Camp and Billy Burnette, Del McCoury and Steve Earle have both been involved in recordings of this modern classic over the years. [Check out four different versions]


 

WATCH: Donovan Woods, “Grew Apart”

Artist: Donovan Woods
Hometown: Sarnia, Ontario
Song: “Grew Apart” (single)
Label: Meant Well

In Their Words: “‘Grew Apart’ is about the little lies inside the words we use when we’re hurting after a relationship ends. We wanted to tell a story in the video about men trying to help each other — and fucking it up, but trying. Men seem to think that there’s some physical trial we need to put ourselves through when we’re lovesick — drinking, fighting. The wrongheadedness of that idea is on display here. So often it feels like we can’t escape those breakup clichés. The song and the video are about why that might be.” — Donovan Woods


Photo credit: Joey Senft

WATCH: Wild Rivers, “Kinda Feels Alright”

Artist: Wild Rivers
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Song: “Kinda Feels Alright”
Album: Songs To Break Up To EP
Release Date: May 1, 2020
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “‘Kinda Feels Alright’ holds an important place on the Songs To Break Up To EP, exploring the positive side of a breakup. It’s also a big part of the personal story of the record. It’s about beginning to accept a breakup and feel alright. Sonically, it feels like a bridge between a classic Wild Rivers song and the new territory we explore with the rest of the EP.” — Khalid Yassein, Wild Rivers


Photo credit: Stefan Kohli