Tag: premiere

LISTEN: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, “Groundhog’s Retreat”

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Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Groundhog’s Retreat”
Album: Make Each Second Last
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “Instrumentals I write are often ones that would serve as song melodies, too, if they had words, and that’s the case here. I wrote it on the guitar, but envisioned it as a mandolin tune, so I wanted to bring in Mark Stoffel to join in the composition and take it in that direction.” — Chris Jones

“Chris presented me the idea for an instrumental co-write on ‘Groundhog Day,’ which is an important day in the Stoffel household because we get to watch our all-time favorite movie. Need I say the title? In any case, I loved the melody and the structure of the tune …. and to be honest, I didn’t have to add much to it, just a few minor tweaks. But I do take full credit for the title!” — Mark Stoffel

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Kristy Cox, “Person of the Year”

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Artist: Kristy Cox
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee, by way of Mount Barker, Australia
Song: “Person of the Year”
Album: Shades of Blue
Release Date: February 4, 2022
Label: Billy Blue Records

In Their Words: “‘Person of the Year’ is such a special song that pays tribute to nurses and doctors who work tirelessly to save others. The last 18 months have been especially hard on them. Jerry Salley and Bill Whyte brought tears to my eyes with their lyrics that ring so true and we wanted to bring that to life in this video, in a way that was respectful to those on the front line. The producer Steve Kinney and team did an amazing job completing that wish. I am so proud of this song and video.” — Kristy Cox

Photo credit: Katrina Burgoyne

WATCH: Lyle Lovett, “Teach Me About Love” (From ‘Austin City Limits,’ 1997)

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Artist: Lyle Lovett
Hometown: Klein, Texas
Song: “Teach Me About Love”
Album: Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt
Release Date: October 1, 2021
Label: Omnivore Recordings

Editor’s Note: This Lyle Lovett performance of Walter Hyatt’s “Teach Me About Love” was filmed in 1997 for Austin City Limits as part of a tribute to Hyatt, who was killed in a 1996 plane crash. Cut from the episode due to time constraints, the performance has been unseen until now, coinciding with the release of the full concert on CD and digital, titled Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt. Four unheard Hyatt recordings also appear on the album.

In Their Words: “Walter Hyatt is one of the most creative souls to come out of the Austin music scene in the past two decades. Although raised in Spartanburg, S.C., and spent his last years in Nashville, he represented the spirit of Austin. An artist of personal vision, original style and artistic integrity. During the late ‘70s and ‘80s, Uncle Walt’s Band developed a strong loyal following in Austin thanks to their expressive blend of music styles, songs that were street smart, energetic, honest, and inspirational to a lot of younger singer-songwriters like me. Walter Hyatt explored many styles – New Orleans jazz, country honky-tonk, with a bit of Elvis and course Bob Wills. His dry sense of humor made him very special in the eyes of fans and critics. His death was a personal loss for those of us who knew him, and for anyone who ever heard his music. This program is a celebration of extraordinary music by an extraordinary man with a gift for reaching hearts and minds of so many people.” — Lyle Lovett

LISTEN: Nicholas Edward Williams, “Shake Sugaree”

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Artist: Nicholas Edward Williams
Hometown: Rising Fawn, Georgia
Song: “Shake Sugaree”
Album: Folk Songs For Old Times’ Sake
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Label: EarthTone Records

In Their Words: “I’ve taken a keen interest in Elizabeth Cotten‘s famed ‘Cotten picking’ style starting back in 2016 with my mentor Joan Crane. I had no idea how to articulate what Elizabeth was doing and my first successful thumb-led syncopated bass lines — while adding the melody to ‘Freight Train’ with my forefingers — took nearly a year to wrap my mind around and get comfortable with. From there, Elizabeth laid the foundation for so many other fingerpicking styles that I’ve come to study, mostly thanks to Joan, who was an absolute whiz at Delta blues, country blues, and Piedmont blues on guitar.

“I love that Elizabeth actually wrote ‘Shake Sugaree’ with her grandchildren, asking each one to take the chorus home in their heads and figure out a verse before they went to bed. She had such a fascinating life story, and the music she put out was incredibly influential for American folk and blues guitarists in the 1960s when her album Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs was released, thanks in large part to the Seeger family. She won a Grammy at 90, just a few years before passing away, and directly influenced John Prine, Dave Van Ronk, John Fahey and countless other pickers, yet today, she’s not as well-known or revered as she should be. I’ve felt drawn to share her songs and stories for some time. This is just the first time I’m adding it on a record.” — Nicholas Edward Williams

Photo credit: Cypress Rae Photography

WATCH: Tristan Scroggins, “Seneca Square Dance”

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Artist: Tristan Scroggins
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Seneca Square Dance”
Album: One-Ring Circus
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “The Seneca are a group of Indigenous Iroquoian-speaking people who historically lived south of Lake Ontario. Many were moved to Oklahoma after the War of 1812 which might explain why this tune has been traced to the Southwestern Missouri/Oklahoma area. I learned this tune from Molly Tuttle and we would play it together a lot. Its simple melody makes it easy to experiment with different harmonies and picking techniques. I had already experimented with a solo arrangement of this tune for mandolin, but when I started playing tenor banjo I was really excited about the possibilities that the extra sustain of the banjo presented. This particular arrangement utilizes crosspicking techniques to present melody and rhythm at the same time similar to three-finger banjo playing.” — Tristan Scroggins

Photo credit: Natia Cinco

LISTEN: Carolyn Wonderland, “Fortunate Few”

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Artist: Carolyn Wonderland
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Fortunate Few”
Album: Tempting Fate
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Alligator Records

In Their Words: “Well, sometimes we write ourselves advice we don’t take for a while, don’t we? I started writing ‘Fortunate Few’ one hard, bleary-eyed morning on the road while holding my head in one hand and trying to count my blessings on the fingers of the other. It originally had a more John Prine feel to it (think: ‘In Spite of Ourselves’), but I thought better of trying to emulate the master in a form so closely related to that chord structure and started banging away on some acoustic blues. The title made me realize I also must have been listening to a lot of Delbert McClinton the night before. That is never a bad thing!” — Carolyn Wonderland

Photo credit: Ismael Quintanilla

LISTEN: Zoe & Cloyd, “Rebuild”

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Artist: Zoe & Cloyd
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Rebuild”
Album: Rebuild
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: Organic Records

In Their Words: “‘Rebuild’ is a song that didn’t start out as an album title track. Our bandmate Bennett Sullivan approached me with a song idea about interpersonal turmoil and resolution. The song became ‘Rebuild’ and I quickly realized that this was an overarching theme running through this entire collection of songs. The pandemic has touched us all in some way. Relationships have been strained, and in some cases, pushed to the breaking point. We’ve lost loved ones. We’ve been tasked with repairing ourselves and our connections. We all have to rebuild.” — John Cloyd Miller, Zoe & Cloyd

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

LISTEN: The Wild Feathers, “Get Out of My Own Way”

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Artist: The Wild Feathers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Get Out Of My Own Way”
Album: Alvarado
Release Date: October 8, 2021
Label: New West Records

In Their Words: “‘Get Out of My Own Way’ is one of those last-minute songs that somehow makes it on the record. We write a lot and there’s just no telling how or why a song will make the final cut. It’s very personal to me and my own struggle to not make things so hard on myself. Sometimes our insecurities and fears get in the way of who we really are and writing this song was me realizing that. It’s OK to have these feelings, but I’m learning to let things go and get out of the way.” — Ricky Young, The Wild Feathers

Photo credit: Alex Justice

WATCH: Unspoken Tradition, “Irons in the Fire”

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Artist: Unspoken Tradition
Hometown: Cherryville, North Carolina
Song: “Irons in the Fire”
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “When Unspoken Tradition first started playing in an organized way, we came up with the slogan, ‘Working Class Bluegrass.’ We’ve all held full-time jobs the whole time we’ve been together and I think we’re all proud to be workers, providers, and family men. I also think it means we can all relate well to the message of ‘Irons in the Fire.’ To me, this song is about trying to find solace in the grind; being able to separate the headaches that come with hard work from the purpose and product it provides. This song reminds me of all the hard-working men and women in my family who came before me, who directly or indirectly affected my quality of life. Every time we perform this song, I can see their faces. Songwriters Aaron Bibelhauser and Steve Guenthner really outdid themselves with this song and I’m thankful we had an opportunity to record it. We shot the video in a blacksmith shop on the campus of Warren Wilson College. It was hot and the whole place looked, smelled, and felt like hard work, if work ever had those characteristics. It was the perfect spot to capture the theme of ‘Irons in the Fire’ and the energy there made us all dig into the recording process even more.” — Audie McGinnis, Unspoken Tradition (vocalist and guitarist)

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: The Royal Hounds, “Pickin’ in the Graveyard”

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Artist name: The Royal Hounds
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Pickin’ in the Graveyard”
Album: Whole Lot of Nothin’
Release Date: October 15, 2021

In Their Words: “When I was learning to play bass, I used to go to a bluegrass festival called Old Timer’s Day. It was next to a graveyard. There were so many pickers that many groups would spill over into the graveyard and have pickin’ circles out there. I always loved the idea for a song called ‘Pickin’ in the Graveyard.’ Up the street from where I live is Spring Hill Cemetery. Lots of notables are buried there: Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, Floyd Cramer, Kitty Wells, Hank Snow, and my favorite, John Hartford. I just love the notion that the ghosts of the musicians in this graveyard come out at night and have a grand pickin’ party. The final verse is kind of an homage to John Hartford. In the song, I say, ‘Lower me down in a Batman cloak/ we’ll all ride to heaven in a river boat.’ This is a reference to the fact that Hartford was accidentally buried in a Batman cloak and he had a lifelong fascination with river boats. He even had a license to sail them.” — Scott Hinds, The Royal Hounds

Photo credit: Bill Foster