Basic Folk: Jobi Riccio Is an Outdoor Kid

Jobi Riccio has only begun to scratch the surface of what they have to offer on their debut album, Whiplash. The songwriting is centered around self-discovery and mourning past lives, laid alongside super smart country and pop melodies. Our hero grew up an outdoor kid amongst the woods of Red Rocks Parks and Amphitheatre in Colorado. A strong bluegrass community encircled her playing from a very young age, in a way that encouraged her to pursue music as a career. She spent time in Boston attending Berklee College of Music nestled in the folk community centered around the historic venue, Club Passim. Then March 2020 hit.

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Jobi left her new community and found herself back in her childhood bedroom. She was “wrestling with all the complications of finding herself and her place in the world while letting go of her childhood and the sense of grounding that came with it.” Eventually, they made their way to Asheville, North Carolina to work on Whiplash. In the studio, she took her time making the album and discovered that, indeed, she had a strong sense of vision for the music. The trust of her collaborators allowed her to trust in herself and create an album that is turning heads and making Jobi Riccio one of the most exciting young songwriters of 2023. I loved talking to them about their origin, time in Boston and their continuing musical journey. Can’t wait for you to hear her new album!


Photo Credit: Monica Murray

BGS 5+5: Lisa Lambe

Artist name: Lisa Lambe
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
Latest Album: Wild Red

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I always say Joni Mitchell taught me how to sing! Since I was 15 years old, I have listened to Joni Mitchell. She is a true poet with a golden voice and she is a true artist. Her songwriting is a huge inspiration. I remember being 15 years old and hearing Blue for the first time. I think that was a really defining moment for me — hearing an artist with a voice like Joni’s and a songwriting canvas beyond anything I had ever heard.

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

When I was 3 years old, I stepped on the stage of the old Victorian theatre in Dublin to be in my first theatre show. I think since that moment really I knew what I wanted to do! I think in my teenage years listening to Joni, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, Jean Ritchie, Kate Bush and Emmylou Harris, it was a real time of music discovery for me. Coming to Nashville to make my first solo album, Hiding Away, in 2015 was a special defining time — and although at this point I was an established musician for many years then, it seemed like all the roads were leading to Nashville and a place that musically was so important and inspiring to me for a long time.

 

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What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I love the intimacy of small shows, but equally I think one of the great memories was performing at Red Rocks in Colorado. At one point in the show to hear the wave of sound of the crowd singing back to me on stage in that natural amphitheatre in the balmy summer air was something kind of magical. One of the nicest shows ever!

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

Nature is a huge element in my songwriting, mostly because I tend to write my albums in quiet rural places where the landscape is a huge part of the vista and the feeling. This current album, Wild Red, was written in the wilds of West Cork, Ireland, on the edge of the southernmost part of the country, looking out to the wild Atlantic. The songs are inspired by being immersed in the landscape and nature. Local folklore and old stories are also part of the tapestry of this current album, and if you listen closely, you can hear the crackling fire in the background of some of the songs!

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

I studied acting and drama in Trinity College Dublin so theatre and dance are a huge part of who I am as an artist and performer. Telling stories is something really important to me and especially telling a story through song. It’s always about the story! Wild Red is inspired by a lot of local folklore and old stories, and for me, that was just a real gift to be able to take inspiration from things around me and craft new ideas from the lore that is so steeped in the fabric of the West Cork landscape.


Photo Credit: Dora Kazmierak

The Show on the Road – Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers)

This week, host Z. Lupetin talks to one of the founding members of beloved folk-rock hitmakers, The Lumineers, drummer and pianist Jeremiah Fraites. After following his heart to Italy, Jeremiah dialed into the podcast from Turin, his wife’s hometown. Alongside juggling duties as co-songwriter and performer in one of the most successful acoustic groups of the last twenty years and raising his two-year-old son, Fraites released a gorgeous instrumental record called Piano Piano this January.

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Nearly fifteen years in the making, Piano Piano was created at Fraites’ former home in Denver during the height of the early COVID-19 lockdowns. His two favorite pianos lead the way, as main characters in a story that seemed to unfurl, as his wife would say in Italian, “step by step” — delicately, but with passion. First, he used a newer Steinway for the brighter, more forceful tones, and then a warmly creaky creature, that his piano teacher sarcastically named “Firewood,” for the most personal moments. Really, it’s the tiny imperfections that make this solo work shine: when you can hear the bench swaying slightly; his wife making dinner in the next room as the sustain pedal is pressed into the wood floor; when the aged instrument struggles to hammer out the final notes, but finally does; and when Fraites and the instrument seem to breathe and speak and cry out, together.

While certain smaller songs like “Departure” and “Chilly” are as intimate as fateful field recordings, other standouts like “Tokyo” and “Arrival” are more polished pieces, blooming from that same small space, but growing into masterful, orchestral, widescreen soundscapes with the help of violinist Lauren Jacobson (who often plays with The Lumineers), cellists Rubin Kodheli and Alex Waterman, and the 40-piece FAME’s Orchestra from Macedonia.

Fraites was born in New Jersey, where he grew up with Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz. When they self-released their confessional and warm-hearted self-titled record in 2012, the two friends never imagined that they would have a chart-topping hit on their hands. Playing the scruffy bars around Denver before their fanbase expanded exponentially and their first record went triple-platinum, The Lumineers soon found themselves headlining international pop festivals, opening for U2 and Tom Petty, placing songs in The Hunger Games and Game Of Thrones, selling out Madison Square Garden (twice) and finally filling their favorite hallowed Colorado venues like Red Rocks. Before the pandemic slowed them down, The Lumineers were bringing their same acoustic spirit to a full-on arena tour coast to coast, showcasing their newest album III. If you’re reading this right now, you’ve probably found yourself singing along to their romantic, stomping ear-worms “Ho Hey” or “Ophelia” or heard them accidentally a thousand times in the last decade (both tracks have been streamed over 500 million times and counting), but all of that is paused for now.

What a perfect time for a peaceful piano record to clear our heads. As Jeremiah Fraites has gained confidence as a sought-after composer, songwriter, and unlikely pop performer, he’s given himself the space to finally create the deeply personal record he’s been hoping to share for decades.


Photo credit: Roberto Graziano Mora

Three Decades In, Leftover Salmon Let out a ‘Festival!’ Yell

Three decades ago at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, two bands of oddballs who couldn’t get invited to play the main stage said “screw it,” and teamed up for a bar gig back in town… And the rest, as they say, is history.

That slapped-together combo took the name Leftover Salmon. They’ve since gone on to influence an entire generation of bluegrass-based music. Most fans are familiar with the broad strokes of their tale — the renegade musical brotherhood of Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt, the band’s bluegrass/rock fusion and resulting evolution into the prototypical jamgrass group, and the spirit of good times, good friends, and good tunes which still permeates the scene they helped create. But few have heard the entire story until now.

In Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!, author Tim Newby dives deep into hazy memories and unforgettable highlights, tracing the twisted path that led the band to its current, esteemed place in roots music lore. Across 13 chapters and more than 300 pages Newby coaxes the story from the band’s revolving lineup — deftly treading the line between historian and hardcore fan — and in the end much is revealed of the band’s high-minded beginnings and unshakable ethos, as well as the struggles they’ve seen along the way. And it’s all done with a wild “Festival!” yell running between the lines.

To be sure, the Leftover Salmon story is not over yet. The band continues to traverse the country on tour – recently swinging through Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and thrilling a hometown crowd at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre shortly after — and they plan on returning to the studio this fall to record “three or four tunes” for release “over the interwebs.” But in the meantime, Herman shared some laughs with The Bluegrass Situation about the process of looking back, what the book means to the band, and why none of this would have happened if not for the Iran-Contra scandal.

BGS: Were you surprised Tim wanted to do this book?

Herman: Absolutely. It’s a massive endeavor and he put like three years into it. That alone is an amazing honor — no matter how it came out. [Laughs] But no, we were definitely surprised and delighted that he wanted to do it.

Was there any hesitation in laying everything out there?

Not on my part. We were pretty psyched about all the fun we’ve been able to have over the years, and to have somebody locate it within the larger picture of the music community, it just felt like an honor. Sure, we had some rowdy times and wild things have happened, and it might sound a little more like a rock ‘n’ roll band in the book than a bluegrass band, but I hope it throws some light on how deeply we respect the bluegrass tradition, where that all sprang out of and how we are trying to integrate that along with a more inclusive rock ‘n’ roll vision. I think the book addresses pretty well how we tried to walk that tightrope.

Tim told me you let him root around in your lives for weeks at a time. He said he was at your house digging through old file cabinets and everything. What was that like from your perspective?

Well, it was comforting because I’ve moved around a whole lot over the years and I’ve been toting that stuff with me for a long time. [Laughs] There was finally some validation of “All right, maybe it was a good idea to keep this stuff.”

Did he dig up anything you had forgotten about, or give some insight on how the others viewed things that happened?

One of the things he dug up that I hadn’t looked at in years and years were [late, founding banjo player] Mark Vann’s calendars. He was sort of like our manager early on, and it was cool because they had notes on them about booking gigs and what we got paid, some expenses and all that. Man, we played a lot of years for $500 a night! [Laughs]

One thing I learned was that the Iran-Contra scandal helped create the band, and this was not a connection I would have made on my own. Can you explain?

[Laughs] Well, there are two ways it affected me. When I moved to Boulder, [Colorado] from Morgantown, [West Virginia] in 1985, I was just gonna be here for a couple of months and then go be a witness for peace on the border of Nicaragua, so that part of the Iran-Contra scandal was definitely on my mind when I moved here.

But a few years later when I started a band called The Salmon Heads, we had played our first gig on the hill at Taylor’s in Boulder, and we had an accordion and washboard instead of drums. We played our first set and the bar manager said, “You guys don’t have to do your second set. We’re gonna call it, you don’t play college music.” But we said “Fuck that shit” and continued to play, and it was fun.

That night after the show, someone threw a brick through the window of the club in a random act — and it was not related to us in any way shape or form — but the next morning everyone on the hill was wondering what happened to Taylor’s last night. So we seized that opportunity and made some posters for a house party we were playing, and they said, “Come see what the Aya-Taylor had determined was not college music!” At the time the Ayatollah was in all the papers, so we created the Aya-Taylor, and that party was raging that night. It’s the intersection of history and music.

It’s not all funny stories, as the book goes into some of the more difficult decisions you’ve had to make and plenty of hard times. Were there any tender spots where it still hurt to think about?

Oh yeah, definitely. Especially around Mark Vann [who died from cancer in 2002] and rebuilding and trying to keep going. We finally decided to call it quits for a while and didn’t really expect to come back, and that was an intense time. We were driven to the point where we just weren’t having fun hanging out together anymore, and it was tough because we never really took the time out to grieve Mark, I think. We had to push on because that’s how we all made our living — it’s always been a blue collar band working paycheck to paycheck. That was really difficult and eventually the spiritual price of it was just too much.

The book also traces the evolution of Colorado’s music scene, which you guys were sort of inadvertently at the epicenter of.

Yeah, when we got to town there wasn’t a bluegrass scene. I rolled into a Left Hand String Band show when I drove here from West Virginia and that connection was made immediately. But bluegrass was kept in its corner and the big thing in town was blues and electric stuff. We just felt like we were this musical niche that was best used for Grange Halls and old-timey dances, and to see it move out of Grange Halls and into concert halls over time was definitely a satisfying experience for us, and something I think we might have had a little to do with.

But it’s certainly not like we started anything new, and I’ve always been the guy who says we were really just walking in the footsteps of New Grass Revival and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. People like to say, “This started here” and “That started there,” but it’s always a continuation of some tradition with a new twist, perhaps.

After looking back on these 30 years, do you feel like the band has changed – musically or as friends? Or is it still the same spirit as when you began?

I just had a friend from Japan who was my college roommate in 1982 come visit, and I hadn’t seen him all those years. He came and we went to our show at Red Rocks, and then a friend of mine gave him a ride to the airport. On the way my friend asked my old roommate, “So how’s Vince seem to be doing all these years later?” And he answered, “Vince is still in college!” So I guess we won!

Maybe that’s part of why this thing has worked for so long.

We get to have these joyous jobs where we meet new friends and constantly reconnect with old ones, and play a lot of festivals, which is when humans are at their finest form, I think. And through all this stuff, we’ve been able to build this life that’s pretty dang pleasurable. Not that it’s easy on relationships or anything, but our day-to-day living is pretty dang pleasant.


Photo credit: Bob Carmichael

BGS 5+5: Patrick Park

Artist: Patrick Park
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Latest album: Here/Gone
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Double P, P Diddy, Paddy P

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memory being on stage would have to be getting to play at Red Rocks. I grew up in that little town in Colorado and literally looked up the mountain at Red Rocks every single day and could hear the concerts from my room. In high school my friends and I would hike up the hill in the dark and scale the walls to sneak into shows there at least once a week during the summer. So being on the other side, being on that stage and getting to play there was almost like an out-of-body experience.

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

There were so many moments, but one that stands out was when I was probably 8 or 9. I had a guitar teacher briefly in grade school who had a cover band that had a standing gig a few nights a week at dive bar somewhere out in east Denver. Every now and again he would have a night where some of his students got to come up and play a couple songs with his band. I remember I played “Taxman” by the Beatles and “Panama” by Van Halen. Hahaha! We played to basically my parents, the bartender, and a couple regulars, but it was so fun! He let me take the guitar solos, and I remember thinking I would do it every day if I could.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career what would it be?

Working to understand my true self through music, so as to be less reactive in a reactive world and better serve others.

What is the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

There have been so many tough ones hahaha! Writing is an exercise in letting go as much as it is anything else. For example it becomes difficult anytime I find I am stubbornly clinging to an idea that I want to work but doesn’t. Songs have their own momentum. It’s when you try to control that in some way, or try to force it in a direction that it doesn’t want to go, that you feel stuck. Our lives are the same. One that I especially remember being hard to crack was a song on my third record called “Silence And Storm.” I probably worked on it for six months.

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc — inform your music?

Literature probably has influenced my songwriting more than any other art forms aside from music. Dylan Thomas was really inspirational to me early on. How he often used words in ways they weren’t necessarily intended to paint a picture or express a feeling. Rainer Maria Rilke, the way his words implied and circled around something inexpressible to words, but who presence was felt in the spaces.


Photo credit: Mia Kirby

Best of: Brandi Carlile

For years, Brandi Carlile has been turning out beautiful tunes about the human experience. Her newest release, By the Way, I Forgive You, being no exception. The album is a powerful collection of 10 songs spanning themes such as love, loss, memory, addiction, and so much more. Take a listen and I’m sure you’ll have it playing on repeat all year long.

Can’t get enough of February’s Artist of the Month? Here are five videos to celebrate Carlile’s amazing career so far:

“Turpentine”

Uploaded in 2008, this performance of “Turpentine” from Carlile’s second studio album, The Story, is the oldest video on the Brandi Carlile YouTube page. Pick a part and get ready to sing backup vocals with the rest of her Boston audience!

“Dreams”

Carlile debuted on Music City Roots live from the Loveless Café on June 16, 2010. She and the band give it their all in this high-energy performance of “Dreams” from her 2009 album, Give Up the Ghost.

“A Promise to Keep”

“A Promise to Keep,” from Carlile’s Bear Creek album, is a touching song full of keen observations about the way life works. The ambling guitar picking beautifully mimics the ways in which we continue on in the process of moving on from loss.

“The Things I Regret”

“The Things I Regret” is one of my personal favorite Brandi Carlile songs. In this video from the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, Carlile shows off her skill as a performer. Flanked by twins Phil and Tim Hanseroth, Carlile brings an energy and power to the stage that is truly captivating.

“The Mother”

There is no mistaking the pure love in Carlile’s eyes as she serenades her daughter, Evangeline, in this performance of “The Mother” from By The Way, I Forgive You. The song is just one example from Carlile’s newest album of the ways in which the artist has grown and gained new life experiences to share with her listeners.


Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjenh

Root 66: Hollis Brown’s Roadside Favorites

Name: Hollis Brown
Hometown: America
Latest Project: Cluster of Pearls

Tacos: Luna's Food Truck in Austin, Texas. Good hang. Good vibe. Cool colors. The steak tacos are out of control.

Pizza: Polito's Pizza in New York City. This is my local pizzeria in Queens — my go-to on the day after a long tour is done! I love that it’s a neighborhood spot. The plain slice is one of the best in New York City.

Burger: Lamb burger in Clavesana, Italy. I decided on this particular burger because the chef personally ran the local farm that nurtured the whole meal. Unbelievable.

 

Take your pick! What's your favorite hot sauce? #tapatio #tabasco #ghostpepper

A photo posted by Hollis Brown (@hollisbrownmusic) on

Dive Bar: Dino's in Nashville, Tennessee. Couldn't believe it the first time. Second time was awesome. Third time, loved it. Where else can you smoke, watch Tommy on VHS, and feel like you're in a 1950s time warp?

Record Store: Concerto in Amsterdam. They love their roots music. They love all of their music, actually. We did an in-store acoustic show there, and it was really cool. They had an actual Van Gogh on the wall. Enough said.

Listening Room: City Winery. Great sound. Great hospitality. Good people. We have done both Chicago and New York. Love this gig.

House Concert: Live@ Drews in Ringwood, New Jersey; Hamilton Park House Concerts in New York City. Both have mastered the art, the intimacy, and the awesomeness of what a true house concert should be. They provide really solid sound for a house show. The atmosphere and excitement of the audience is really cool. The people who attend are real music lovers and deeply care about the art.

Backstage Hang: Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. When the backstage is rock, you know you're doing something right.

Music Festival: Firefly in Dover, Delaware. Nicest staff and most comfortable artist grounds I have ever experienced. Super friendly and safe, too.

Highway Stretch: Coast of California. Unbelievable views. Cool cars. I love making this drive. Stop in Big Sur and keep going.

Day Off Activity: Sleep, eat, smoke, repeat. We rarely get days off. When we do, I am usually in recovery.

Driving Album: The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street. This is one of my all-time favorite albums. Exile takes you on a ride. From the up-tempo rockers at the start ("Rocks Off," "Rip This Joint") to the bluesy covers ("Shake Your Hips," "Stop Breaking Down") to the acoustic jams and ballads ("Torn and Frayed," "Let It Loose”), the sound is perfect for driving on the open road anywhere — whether the countryside of England or the Arizona desert. Just a perfect album.


Photo credit: Shervin Lainez

Root 66: The Congress’s Roadside Favorites

Name: The Congress
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Latest Project: The Game (September 9, 2016)

Tacos: Patzcuaro in Denver, CO and Guisados in Los Angeles, CA

Gear Shop: Music Emporium on Bardstown in Louisville KY. We found this amazing tweed bassman clone amplifier there (built by their repair tech) that has been our main guitar amp, keyboard amp, even a bass amp at times, and it is used on all of our records. Larry Gant, if you're out there, thank you!

Record Store: Wax Trax in Denver, CO. (Half of guitarist Scott Lane’s record collection is from poaching their dollar bin.)

 

Capping off this PA/DC run at @musikfest tonight.

A photo posted by The Congress (@thecongress) on

Driving Album: Phil Collins — Serious Hits… Live!

Backstage Hang: Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO.

Book Store: Chop Suey in Richmond, VA

 

Scoping Niagara Falls before we play the Rochester International Jazz Festival tonight

A photo posted by The Congress (@thecongress) on

Highway Stretch: Highway 101 through Redwood National/State Park

Tour Hobby: Making up our own — sometimes offensive — lyrics to famous songs for anything from general communication to show announcements.

Car Game: We have a game we invented called Turd Ferguson. We wrote several pages of very complicated rules (the "Constitution") over the course of a couple years. It's not really worth explaining beyond mentioning that it is played with sets of vintage Trivial Pursuit cards from the '80s, and there's a daily double-esque thing called the "Hot Round." Everyone sings the Hot Round theme song together when it happens. Also, we have to mention our game Kevin Bank'em, which is played by connecting two famous people in the style of the Kevin Bacon game — but you have to "bank" off of Kevin Bacon as a connection on the way.

 

Just some dudes laughing on a porch, photo @joey_wharton

A photo posted by The Congress (@thecongress) on

Music Festival: High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA

Airport: We've spent enough time at DIA to call it a home.

Day Off Activity: Chris Speasmaker (keys) and Jon Meadows (bass) are avid tour golfers.


Photo credit: William David Lawrence