Tag: premiere

WATCH: The Wood Brothers, “Honey Jar” (The Muse Live 2020)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Wood Brothers
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Honey Jar” (Live)
Album: The Muse (to be released on 2-LP vinyl in March 2021)

In Their Words: “It felt so good to play together for a day and get a small taste of the fun we have touring and playing shows. It’s like we didn’t get to go to summer camp this year. We miss it so bad. We’re looking forward to connecting with fans and friends on the live chat, as well. The community around the band means so much to us, so it’ll be really fun to be together with everyone.” — Oliver Wood, The Wood Brothers

Photo Credit: Come To Life Media

LISTEN: Stephen Kellogg, “I’ve Had Enough”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Stephen Kellogg
Hometown: Connecticut
Song: “I’ve Had Enough ”
Album: I’ve Had Enough
Release Date: December 18, 2020

In Their Words: “I’ve always been in theory, and actuality, an optimistic person. This year has tested that. 2020 has been scary and exhausting in myriad ways. Can we agree on that? No? Of course, we can’t. Because that’s what it’s like when you are homeschooling four kids through a pandemic while trying to knock out a living and swallow the bitter injustice of a morally bankrupt president who would rather take down a great nation than admit legitimate defeat.” — Stephen Kellogg

Photo credit: Jeff Fasano

WATCH: The Arcadian Wild, “Fall: War”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Arcadian Wild
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Fall: War”
Album: Principium
Release Date: January 2021
Label: The Arcadian Wild/ONErpm

In Their Words: “I’m really excited about how the arrangement and recording of ‘Fall: War’ turned out. Isaac (guitarist/co-writer) and I pseudo-finished these songs that make up Principium and put a pin in them a few years ago, but they really came into their own when we dusted them off at the beginning of 2020. I think the time simmering on the back-burner served them well, and we were able to bring them to life in a way that wasn’t initially possible. Bailey and Erik (fiddle and bass, respectively) were wonderful collaborators, and they played irreplaceable roles in shaping and refining the music. We’re grateful to have had their artistic voices as a part of this process.

“‘Fall: War’ was actually the creative starting point of Principium, even though it’s the third of four movements. In some ways, it’s the heart of the work. It’s also the most physically intense song in the cycle, which gave us a fantastic opportunity to pretend to be a rock band, so my high school pop-punk dreams have all come true. Moreover, I’m totally blown away by the short-film installment for ‘Fall.’ Greyson Welch has done an incredible job of telling this story visually, and I am so proud to work with such a gifted team of artists as we realize a little passion project that’s years in the making. It’s great to finally get to share it.” — Lincoln Mick, The Arcadian Wild (mandolinist/writer)

Photo credit: Shelby M’lynn Mick

WATCH: Tina Adair, “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tina Adair
Hometown: Haleyville, Alabama
Single: “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”
Release Date: October 30, 2020
Label: EMG – Engelhardt Music Group

In Their Words: “I have loved this song and been singing it since I was a little girl. I always thought this would make a good bluegrass song and wanted to record it for some time now. So when I joined the EMG team, Adam Englehardt, Glen Duncan and I met to go through material for the album. I brought this song in and they loved the idea of doing a bluegrass version. Once it was all finished, we all looked at each other and almost at the same time said, ‘This should be the first single!’ To me, this is a song about the never-ending love story and about hope and happiness.” — Tina Adair

Photo credit: John Dorton

BGS Wraps: Colin & Caroline, “It Isn’t Even Christmas Yet”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Colin & Caroline
Single: “It Isn’t Even Christmas Yet”
Release Date: December 4, 2020

In Their Words: “For the two of us, the holidays have always carried with them fond memories of childhood, and growing up within our families. For me [Caroline], this meant sitting on the steps with my two brothers as Nat King Cole and Sinatra’s holiday songs filled our house, and waiting patiently to run downstairs on Christmas morning. For Colin, it meant reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve with his family (a tradition that still stands today)… There’s a certain nostalgia that we feel around Christmas time that is reflective of our own relationship as well as our individual upbringings. We recognize that this isn’t the case for everyone surrounding the holidays, and that we’re lucky to feel this way. 2020 has been one of the most uncertain and difficult years our world has seen in a long time, and through our Christmas music, we want to spread a message of hope, and bring our listeners a sense of comfort, joy, and some extra love during perhaps the most important holiday season yet.” — Colin & Caroline

Enjoy more BGS Wraps here.

LISTEN: Deutsch & Thorn, “Scorpio Sun”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Deutsch & Thorn (Erik Deutsch and Andy Thorn)
Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico and Boulder, Colorado
Song: “Scorpio Sun”
Release Date: December 4, 2020
Label: Thornpipe Music

In Their Words: “When I first wrote this tune, I recorded it with the Colorado Playboys (Travis Book, Jon Stickley, and John Frazier), and called it ‘Sicks Ate.’ (We thought we were very clever.) Over a decade later, playing it with pianist Erik Deutsch, it took on a whole new life. As fellow Scorpios, Erik and I retitled it ‘Scorpio Sun.’ We recorded this EP in Erik’s beautiful Mexico City apartment, between playing shows at Zinco Jazz Club in the city’s vibrant Centro neighborhood. I never thought I’d bring my banjo to Mexico City, to mingle with Erik’s jazz influences and the sights and sounds of a dazzling culture. But that’s kind of what it’s like playing with Erik — you never know what might happen next.” — Andy Thorn

Photo credit: Josh Timmermans

WATCH: Katie Oates, “Here in Gastonia”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Katie Oates
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Song: “Here in Gastonia”
Album: We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times
Release Date: January 29, 2021
Label: Hollow Reed Arts Recordings

In Their Words: “Filmed as a live performance on location at Loray Mill, ‘Here in Gastonia’ (written by Si Kahn) commemorates the 1929 textile strike in Gastonia, North Carolina. Containing historic and current-day footage of the mill and the strike, the music video is dedicated to textile worker and songwriter, Ella May Wiggins. Mother of 10 young children, Ella May used her songs to help union leaders organize and lobby congress for better wages and working conditions. The strike was met with violent suppression. 29-year-old Ella May was shot and killed while in a pickup truck with fellow workers on her way to a union meeting. The song and video remind us of the ongoing struggle for better lives and of the sacrifices people make in the fight for justice — past, present and future. We will continue their fight. We Go On.” — Katie Oates

Photo credit: Charlotte Star Room

LISTEN: Ida Mae, “Break the Shadows”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Ida Mae
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Break the Shadows”
Album: Raining for You EP
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Label: Thirty Tigers / Vow Road Records

In Their Words: “This was one of the last songs we recorded for our new album as the pandemic put an end to our touring. We played our last show in Texas, round the corner from the Alamo, and flew straight back to Nashville and into quarantine. Our plans to record the next record had been ruined so whilst in lockdown we decided to wire the whole house into a remote recording studio with the analogue equipment we’ve been collecting over the years of touring and got to work. This song was inspired by the Stephen Collins Foster song ‘Hard Times’ written in 1854 … it’s an old song that was hugely popular and has been parodied for over 150 years… it felt an appropriate moment in history to use it as inspiration again. It’s the first song I wrote and recorded with my steel-bodied National Resophonic Style 0 resonator guitar, a very special instrument.” — Chris Turpin, Ida Mae

Photo credit: Zach Pigg

LISTEN: The Suitcase Junket, “Last Man on the Moon”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Suitcase Junket
Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts
Song: “Last Man on the Moon”
Album: The End Is New
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Label: Renew Records/BMG

In Their Words: “The first version I wrote of this song was an almost entirely sci-fi scenario about a guy who got sent to the moon with a bunch of other people to set up a colony there, because we’d messed up earth so badly. It was a little heavy-handed. So I took it back to the shed and reworked it. I still liked the imagery of the Last Man on the Moon, but figured it would work better as a metaphor for that big lost feeling of not being with the one you love. I tried to write it so it could be heard both ways, as a love song or a sci-fi fantasy. I usually keep both in mind when I play it.” — Matt Lorenz, The Suitcase Junket

Photo credit: Joanna Chattman

LISTEN: The Sharp Flatpickers, “Red Haired Boy”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Sharp Flatpickers
Hometown: Florida and beyond!
Song: “Red Haired Boy”
Album: Sundrops on the Water – Reflections
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Label: Mountain Fever Records

In Their Words: “Scottish and Irish tunes were brought to America and became standard fare in bluegrass and old-time music. ‘Red Haired Boy’ is one of those classics (imbued with plenty of folklore if you dig around a bit). With this instrumental version Bryan McDowell and Kate Lee O’Connor play twin fiddles, and our arrangement fondly pays homage to THE UNIT. I’m proud of the warmth that comes through here and the solid licks all these fine players graciously deliver for it. Nothing not to love.” — Lee Kotick, The Sharp Flatpickers

Photo credit: Mark Schatz