Tag: Shakey Graves
MIXTAPE: Jeremie Albino’s Songs That Take Him Back
The other day I was going through my closet doing some spring cleaning, when I found a box with a bunch of old things that just took me back. One thing in particular was my old CD binder that I used to keep in the first car I ever owned, my parents old Ford Windstar. When I started looking through the binder, it brought me right back to the first time I moved away from home. At 19, I decided to leave the city and start working on a vegetable farm as a labourer. I was really into gardening and growing food at the time. Being out there was a time of many firsts, first time moving from home, first love, first time out partying (I’d always been a homebody).
This find made me think of turning them into a digital playlist, “Songs That Take Me Back.” Something that I could take with me, wherever I may go. Here’s a playlist of songs that somehow take me back to a moment in my life, and I’d like to share them with you. – Jeremie Albino
“Trouble” – Ray LaMontagne
This was the first CD in that CD binder that really brought me back. I could just smell the lilacs in the spring time driving out in the country with my old Windstar with the windows down, blasting this record.
“Sylvie” – Harry Belafonte (At Carnegie Hall)
This song brings me right back to an early Sunday morning when I was a kid. I’d be sleeping in and my dad would throw this on his five disc CD player, blaring records while he’d clean the house. This is probably one of my all time favourite records.
“Dust My Blues” – Elmore James
When I hear this tune, it reminds me of the first open mic I ever participated in. I was probably 15 or 16, I had been so in love with this song and had to learn it. I didn’t do too bad, the audience seemed to enjoy a 15 year old trying to play the slide guitar.
“Only Son” – Shakey Graves
This song takes me back to the summer of 2015 — I was so in love with a fellow farmer who worked at a farm not too far from mine. She was so cool, she had the coolest taste in music. One of the first times I had found someone who liked so much of the same music as I did. The song specifically reminds me of that first date, where we had pizza on a dock and listened to Shakey Graves.
“Harriet” – Hey Rosetta
This song reminds me of the first tour I ever went on. I was in a folk trio with my best friends called En Riet. We went on an epic first tour, drove eastern Canada all the way to Newfoundland, one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen. We would listen to Hey Rosetta driving through some of the most scenic drives I’d experienced in my life, the music felt so fitting and right.
“Hey Boogie” – John Lee Hooker
The first CD I ever purchased was a compilation record called Blues Legend. It was all John Lee Hooker. I got it from the Future Shop (fellow Canadians, do you remember this store? So good.) when I was 7 or 8. I have no idea why I bought it or why I was drawn to it, I think my parents probably told me I liked blues and brought me to the blues section. I ended up picking it cause I thought the cover looked cool! Turns out it was a good pick and listening to it now, it brings me back to being a kid.
“Shipwreck” – Jeremie Albino
This is the first song I ever wrote. I wrote this one 10 years ago; it’s always nice to look back to see how things started for me. At the time I was having such a hard time writing music, and on weekends I would meet up with some friends and have a kitchen jam session. We’d go in a circle, sharing songs. My friends would always share a new song they’d been working on, and I would just play covers, since I still hadn’t written a full song. After coming home from one of these sessions, I told myself, “That’s it! I’m writing a song.” So I thought about how much of a hard time I was having writing and the line “I’m a wreck” came to me cause that’s what I was feeling when I was writing. Eventually one thing led to another, and I started thinking about what other things are wrecks and long story short, “Shipwreck” was born.
“Stumblin’” – Jackson & the Janks
“Stumblin’” was a song that was a must-listen when I was on tour with Cat Clyde. I remember the Mashed Potato records compilations had just come out and I started listening to these songs non-stop. With “Stumblin’” in particular, I just couldn’t get over how good it was! I had sent over the album to Cat so she could listen to how good it was, too! So by the time we hit the road together, we probably listened to that song a million times combined, no word of a lie.
“Boxcar” – Shovels & Rope
I remember the first time I heard this song was one of the first times I went to a bar and partied with friends. A local band was covering the song. When I finally got my hands on the record I fell in love with their music, the songwriting and vocals. I had a huge crush on Cary Ann’s voice. After that Shovels & Rope turned out to be one of my favourite bands. Ten years later, we actually ended up hitting the road together for a tour and it was one of my “I made it” moments. I feel very blessed to call them my friends, it’s funny to see how things come full circle sometimes.
Photo Credit: Colin Medley
GIVEAWAY: Enter to Win Tickets to Shakey Graves @ the Wiltern (LA) 8/23
BGS Top 50 Moments: Newport Folk Festival
Dylan going electric in 1965. Lomax making his historic archive recordings in 1966. Joni taking the stage after 50-something years in 2022. Newport Folk is a festival full of milestone moments and lots of surprises. And for a brief moment in time in 2014, BGS was a small part of Newport Folk Fest’s long and storied history too, when we presented our Bluegrass Situation Workshop Stage inside the intimate Whaling Museum building on Sunday at the Fort.
Amidst a festival lineup that included such stalwarts as Nickel Creek, Trampled by Turtles, Dawes, Valerie June, Hozier, Jack White, and Mavis Staples, the BGS crew – helmed by co-founder Ed Helms and his Lonesome Trio bandmates Ian Riggs and Jake Tilove – hosted a few “up and coming” acts we were very excited about, singing songs about significant “firsts” in their lives. Some of those young whippersnappers you might have heard of, like Shakey Graves (joined by Chris Funk of the Decemberists and Langhorne Slim), Aoife O’Donovan, Wilie Watson (with special guest Sean Watkins), and Watchhouse (who were still going by Mandolin Orange at the time), which marked Andrew and Emily’s very first – but certainly not last – appearance at Newport.
That big “first” for us was significant – to be welcomed into the “Folk” Family and made to feel like we were all part of something big and wonderful. And it’s that feeling that’s brought us back to the Fort year after year ever since.
Photos by Samara Vise
With Clawhammer Banjo, Gregory Alan Isakov Covers the Lumineers
Happy birthday, Dualtone Records! The Nashville-based indie music label is celebrating a tremendous milestone this year, commemorating the 20 years they’ve been in the business of bringing us beautiful albums from an array of classic Americana, folk, and indie artists. To mark the occasion, they have issued a compilation album cleverly titled Amerikinda: 20 Years of Dualtone. The album features many of Dualtone’s artists from the past and the present performing each other’s songs in a whimsical, jovial tribute to the work and achievements of the beloved record company. Upon announcing the album in April, the label released vice versa recordings by Gregory Alan Isakov and the Lumineers, each performing a song written and made famous by the other.
Isakov and the Lumineers are just two of the artists on Amerikinda; they share the liner notes with powerhouse names like Shakey Graves, Langhorne Slim, Drew & Ellie Holcomb, and more. In the video below, hear Isakov’s ghostly rendition of the introspective Lumineers number, “Salt and the Sea.” (The Lumineers also contribute a cover of Isakov’s “Caves.”)
“The Lumineers have been our friends and local comrades here in Colorado for years, and when Wes sent me the premaster of their last record, I was instantly drawn into every song,” Isakov said. “The song ‘Salt and the Sea’ particularly spoke to me, lyrically, along with that haunting melody. I collaborated with my bandmate Steve Varney to pluck out Jeremiah’s piano part with clawhammer banjo. What a beautiful song. I hope we did it justice.”
Upon the album reveal, Isakov added, “Not only are they incredibly good at table tennis, Dualtone is an astounding team of humans. I had never worked with a label before, other than my own label, and it’s been an absolute pleasure teaming up with Dualtone. They are such a hardworking, collaborative, kind-hearted group, and it’s an honor to be a part of their 20th anniversary compilation.”
Label co-founder and CEO Scott Robinson says, “From the very start, we’ve tried to build this safe, encouraging space for artists to experiment and create, and it’s just so cool to see how deeply these bands have connected with each other and to hear the influences and friendships that stretch across the whole history of the label. At the end of the day, there’s something special about the energy of Dualtone, and it’s not because of me or Paul [Roper, President/Partner] or any other individual. It’s because of the way that everyone, artists and staff alike, come together as a community.”
Photo credit: Rebecca Caridad
MIXTAPE: The Wandering Hearts & The Golden Tonic
Inspired by the reaction we received from our fans to our new single, “Gold,” The Golden Tonic is a selection of songs that have helped us through tough situations, inspired us, or take us back to a specific moment in time. The past year has been heavy and we hope The Golden Tonic works its magic on you. — The Wandering Hearts (Chess, Tara, and AJ)
Editor’s Note: See the video premiere of “Gold” below.
The Tallest Man on Earth – “The Gardener”
This song lifted my spirits at a very low point of my life. I’d just lost my cousin who I lived with and it made me feel like he was everywhere I went and with me in nature and in all of the beautiful things. I have no idea what the song was actually written about, but that’s what is so powerful about music — it will mean very different things to different people. – Chess
Willie Nelson – “On the Road Again”
The song that always accompanies long journeys. When the band is on the road a lot, it reminds me of how lucky we are to be doing what we do but also gets me hyped for whatever adventure awaits! – Chess
First Aid Kit – “My Silver Lining”
My uncle introduced me to a lot of music which has had a huge influence on me, including this song. I was blown away by the rawness and flawless harmonies. The band had just [gotten] together and this song really made me realize that Tara and I have something special when we sing together. I was working all the jobs under the sun at the time, but it gave me such hope that music was possible and that it was all worth it. – Chess
Sister Sledge – “We Are Family”
During the endless UK lockdowns over the past year, when we were feeling down, demotivated or just fed up, my sister and I would FaceTime each other, put disco music on and dance around our kitchens! It really did the trick of getting me out of a funk and also cheering her up with my silly dancing! This song has featured every time and I will, from now on, blast this song if I’m ever having bad day. – Chess
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – “If We Were Vampires”
A sad song, but one of those songs that makes me feel so grateful to have what I have in life. It reminds me to make the most of the time we’re given. – Tara
Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time”
When you feel hard to love or unworthy, a song about not giving up on yourself. It’s about letting yourself be loved. Reminding you that you are enough. – Tara
Dolly Parton – “The Grass Is Blue”
A cathartic song for me. A sad song about survival and heartbreak but also about not allowing that ache to consume you. To find a way through, even if you have to lie to yourself to begin with. – Tara
Ella Fitzgerald – “Blue Skies”
Ella’s voice is a tonic for me. This song is restorative in her tone and phrasing as much as in the hopeful lyrics of a new beginning. – Tara
The Beatles – “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight”
Technically two songs, but you really can’t listen to one and not the other and they run in like one track, so there!! Going through “Golden Slumbers” into “Carry That Weight” has a whole journey for me of going through the reflection associated with loss or sadness, transitioning into the self-realization that we only have ourselves, so it encourages me to suck up the pain and keep going. – AJ
Randy Crawford – “One Day I’ll Fly Away”
Randy Crawford’s performance on this song, as so many of her recordings, just has a perfect energy. She sounds so peacefully resolved despite this sad exhaustion in the lyrics. This resolve is so infectious and when I hear her singing through a smile it makes me want to fly away and leave all my troubles to yesterday too! – AJ
Stone Poneys – “Different Drum”
Maybe it’s just me, but I notice when I look for music to lift me out of a rut, it often ends up including songs that feature escapism or leaving. This is no exception and there’s something about the way this song just ploughs on and Linda Ronstadt sings like she’s sticking two fingers up to her problems while driving off into the horizon. I’d like that to be me. – AJ
Shakey Graves (feat. Esmé Patterson) – “Dearly Departed”
Such a tune. It has a really lairy way of facing down feelings of loneliness and subduing them into a kind of angry but empowering joyfulness. I always find this one picks me off the floor a bit and gets me doing the useful easy things, like getting up and making a cup of tea. Might not be the big push I need but just enough to get that movement going. It’s a start and that’s a lot sometimes! – AJ
Photo credit: Shane McCauly
The BGS Radio Hour – Episode 205
Welcome to the BGS Radio Hour! Since 2017, this weekly radio show and podcast has been a recap of all the great music, new and old, featured on the digital pages of BGS. This week, we bring you new music from Sara Watkins featuring her old bandmates from Nickel Creek, newly released tracks from Shakey Graves’ archive, and so much more! Remember to check back every Tuesday for a new episode of the BGS Radio Hour.
Sara Watkins (feat. Nickel Creek) – “Blue Shadows on the Trail”
Sara Watkins recently sat down with BGS to talk about the set of film classics that defined her childhood, and are featured on her new album. With songs like “Pure Imagination” and “Moon River,” this album isn’t just for kids, even if it was first imagined as a collection of lullabies. Instead, it’s a meditative look at these songs which have impacted more than just one generation. And who could forget this classic from the 1980s classic comedy Three Amigos?
Here’s a song about the experience of reading through an old journal and being confronted with your past self — not a particularly comfortable experience. However, for Katie Martucci of The Ladles, it’s a reminder that at any given moment, we only know what we know, and we’re all doing the best we can.
“Porchlight” is about a powerful partnership, “knowing somebody so well as to recognize when they’re lost, and helping them find their way back home.”
When asked to be a part of a tribute album to singer-songwriter John Lilly, Andrew Adkins knew exactly what song he wanted to sing: one that he’d had a remarkably personal connection to the first time he heard it.
It’s hard to believe that Shakey Graves’ debut album Roll the Bones came out 10 years ago. Since the album’s quiet 2011 release, he’s emerged from the shadows, releasing multiple albums and garnering a substantial following. In celebration of the decade since, Shakey brings us Roll the Bones 10, a deluxe edition which also features 15 unheard songs from the same era as the original album.
Inspired by a trailer park cemetery seen while driving through Florida, this song is more a commentary on life than it is death. Bridget Rian says she has a “fear of being forgotten, of not making a difference” with her life – and this song was a mode of expressing this fear.
Jason Davis (feat. Dan Tyminski) – “Modern Day Jezebel”
Dan Tyminski sings lead and plays guitar on this tasty modern bluegrass tune from Jason Davis.
Peggy Seeger – “Gotta Get Home By Midnight”
Folk legend Peggy Seeger is our Artist of the Month for April here at BGS, and we’re so grateful to have been able to speak with her on her new album First Farewell, her lifelong career in folk music, her hopes for social justice and peace, and much more.
Bluegrass instrumental supergroup Garrison, Gordy, Hargreaves, Walsh have set their fun, rollicking instrumental tune “Sports” to a zany, hand-drawn music video by banjoist Danny Barnes.
Canadian singer-songwriter Donovan Woods recently joined BGS for 5+5 on reading lots of fiction, a memorable London show, writing with Lori McKenna, and more.
The Sweet Lillies – “My Brother’s Hill”
Boulder’s The Sweet Lillies bring us their version of a tune originally released by The Stray Birds, a song they chose because they were deeply inspired by its stunning vocal harmonies, its beautiful and meaningful lyrics, and its old-timey structure.
Those who frequent bluegrass festivals in the south may already be familiar with the young savant Giri Peters. Giri and his sister Uma quickly gained popularity in the last number of years for their impeccable musical skills, not to mention at such a young age. Giri, originally known as an up-and-coming mandolinist, has continued to grow as a songwriter and solo artist. His most recent single is a testament to his musical and artistic growth, and brings much promise of an exciting career ahead.
June Star – “I Don’t Wanna Know”
“Human beings are messy emotional creatures,” says June Star’s Andrew Grimm. “Sometimes when we struggle to communicate in relationships it’s because there’s the voice we speak with and that voice in our head. ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ bounces between a professed love to another person and a confessed loneliness on the inside.”
Miles Gannett – “Thunder River, Tumbling Down”
Miles Gannett heard the melody and some lyrics of this song, including the lines “Thunder River, tumbling down; catch your babes before they drown” in a dream — and it kind of creeped him out. He sat with it for a couple of years before it all came together in this final semi-apocalyptic song.
Photos: (L to R) Shakey Graves by Magen Buse; Sara Watkins by Jacob Boll; Peggy Seeger by Vicki Sharp
Shakey Graves Rolls Back the Clock With ‘Roll the Bones’ Deluxe Edition
The very first fans to discover Alejandro Rose-Garcia — the musical mind behind the moniker Shakey Graves — admittedly didn’t have much information to go on.
“When I first snuck this record out, it was just a photo of me with a cow head,” recalls Rose-Garcia of his self-released 2011 debut, Roll the Bones. “All it said was Shakey Graves is a gentleman from Texas. It didn’t say whether I was a band or a solo artist. I didn’t promote it. I just let it be and believed in it.”
The album’s no-frills, garage-folk sound attracted a loyal following, varying between down-tempo, ominous poetry about hunting seals in Alaska; lighter, more carefree numbers about driving through Appalachia; and even the lone cover song, an edgy take on a Springsteen classic. In the decade since Roll the Bones’ quiet release, Shakey Graves emerged from the shadows, releasing two full-length albums via Dualtone Records as he built a strong live-performance resume, first as a charismatic busker and later as top billing on festival stages around the world. Still, until recently, Roll the Bones remained available only as a pay-what-you-want release on Bandcamp, its recognition a de facto litmus test for Shakey Graves superfans even as it’s sold more than 100,000 downloads.
This month, millions of new listeners have the opportunity to share that secret as Roll the Bones X, a re-issue of those original recordings, hit streaming services and sees a proper vinyl release complete with the bonus companion LP Odds & Ends, a 15-track collection of previously unheard Shakey Graves material from the same era. BGS caught up with Rose-Garcia to talk about the impact of this release on his development as an artist, how the songs’ meanings have evolved (or not) over the years, and his most cherished online feedback.
BGS: This album has been available for years on Bandcamp. What inspired you to release Roll the Bones in this new, wider way — and with so much additional material alongside it?
Rose-Garcia: It’s been really important to me that I put the record out for pay-what-you-want just on Bandcamp for all these years. It wasn’t on any digital streaming platforms. That was a pretty stubborn point I had, but I feel like I got to hold my ground with that. Now, I want more people to be able to hear it if they want to. My time of being so precious with it has run its course. When we put out “Roll the Bones” as a single, people kept being like, “Wow! Cool remix, but I really prefer the original.” [Laughs] The first version of “Roll the Bones” people usually hear is the live Audiotree version, so it’s a pretty common thing to hear. People say, “Cool, but it doesn’t hit quite like the OG!” I’m like, “Well, this is the OG…” Still, I’m also flattered that some people think that I just recorded it — that somehow it still sounds modern enough.
At the point that I put this out, nothing had really happened for me, musically, at all. [Laughs] I believed in myself, and I really liked this record when I made it: I was very proud of it, and I still am. Of all the records that I’ve made, it’s probably the only one that I go back to and listen to every once in a while. I can hear myself not answering to anybody and kind of shouting into the void –being like, ahh, well if this doesn’t work out, then maybe I’ll just live under a bridge somewhere! Now it’s the future, and in a way, it did work out. Nothing ever works out exactly the way you think it will, for better and for worse, but this sweet little bedroom folk record seems prescient somehow. It wants to come out, so I’m just gonna go ahead and let it.
I remember reading fan theories about “Roll the Bones” — random people being like, “I’m pretty sure that this is what this song is about” — and I can neither confirm nor deny anything.
When I was 17, 18 or so, I had a manic episode and went to a mental institution for a little bit. I’d basically had this big matrix moment where I was like, oh-my-God-nothing’s-real-everything’s-real-oh-shit. A lot of those things ended up not being reality, but there were other things, too. I was like, I’m gonna be a musician! I’m gonna save the world! I started drawing that skull logo, with the arrow through it. My family and friends, for a little while there, were like, “Well, maybe you’ll just be crazy forever, and you won’t do anything.” And even I was sort of like, “Maybe I’ll be crazy forever and none of this is anything.” But now, in the future, there are people who have that [skull logo] tattooed on their bodies. And when I play that song, I can still hear a little bit of the crazy and the mystery that I found, that kind of started me on this thing.
So the song is still pretty mysterious, even to you.
I feel confident as the owner of that song, but I still don’t know what it means. [Laughs] So it’s maybe the opposite of your question: That’s been a constant. But this record did freeze-frame a lot of stuff. “Built to Roam” was a song about me wanting so badly to just escape around the United States, and it was a wish that came true. That’s just what happened to me: For the rest of my life, until this whole pandemic, all I did was travel around and live my dreams. I’m almost like, is this whole record just like a big spell that I put on? Some sort of big prayer-slash-witchcraft deal? Like, this is what I want for myself — and then it came true?
Another one that maybe answers your question more directly, is “To Cure What Ails,” the last song on the [original] record. I wrote it about the first girl that I had ever been in a serious relationship with, and you know, it fell apart in the middle of the writing of it. Half the song was me being like, “You suck!” And midway through the song, I kind of started writing this fantasy: “Maybe I’ll circle back around you’ll be there. I can’t help it. Maybe this is how it’s gonna go down.”
And now when I hear that song, I mean … I haven’t seen that person in so long. She’s the last person I would want to just magically appear. [Laughs] But what I actually hear in that song is that throughout whatever the rest of the album’s talking about, in the end, all of it is just about that need we all have to be loved — by anyone, by somebody, even just for a second. Even just being loved by yourself. “All roads lead to you,” that whole thing? Sometimes I hear that and I don’t even think of another person anymore: I think of it as you finding yourself one day.
Playing music comes hand in hand with crippling anxiety about everything: “Am I doing the right thing?” What I hope people hear is a kid who felt the same way and put something out that he didn’t ever think anybody was gonna listen to. I don’t want to overthink it. My favorite review that I’ve seen of it so far was just some dude on Bandcamp that was like, “I listened to this record while tripping on acid in the back of my friend’s van, and it changed my life.” That’s all I want you to do: Do something stupid and put this on in the background, and let it become part of the story of your life.
Photo credit: Magen Buse
The Show on the Road – Shovels & Rope
This week, The Show On The Road celebrates the newest record by Charleston’s hellion harmonizers, Shovels & Rope, with a new conversation with the married duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst.
LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • STITCHER
You’d be hard-pressed to find two harder working singer-songwriters than this prolific duo, even before they got together to record their honey-voiced self-titled debut over a decade ago. Thinking it was just a sonic souvenir before they split off again to pursue their barnstorming bar-band solo careers, their human hearts and some encouraging listeners had other plans, convincing them to keep creating as a team. They’ve been off to the races ever since — making five acclaimed records of originals beginning with O’ Be Joyful and following with three gritty covers albums with collaborators like Lucius, Shakey Graves, Brandi Carlile, The War & Treaty, and more.
Shovels & Rope’s newest cover project, Busted Jukebox Volume 3, which dropped on February 5 via Dualtone Records, is a new experiment. You could say it’s an angsty rock record for kids or maybe it’s an homage to the yearning, defiant, ever-hopeful teenager in all of us. With indie-darlings like Sharon Van Etten sitting in on standouts like the Beach Boys’ “In My Room” and Deer Tick joining a rollicking version of the Janis Joplin favorite “Cry Baby,” like a good Pixar animated flick, this collection has just as much to offer Mom and Dad as it does for the kiddos.
If you’ve seen Shovels & Rope live, you’ll notice that Trent and Hearst often face each other, not the audience; their eyes never seem to leave each other. Almost all their songs, like the award-winning favorite “Birmingham,” include spot-on harmony and intensely-focused unison singing. Somehow they create a blisteringly big sound despite always remaining a duo. Even on the biggest stages, from Red Rocks to their own acclaimed festival High Water Fest (set in their longtime South Carolina home base), they stick to their simple but potent formula. Switching back and forth between jangly and crunchy guitars, humming keyboards and pounding piano, hopping from sweat-strewn stripped-down drum kits to aching accordions, their joyous garage-rock Americana keeps gaining them new fans worldwide.
If you’re stuck at home and have kids running rowdily through your house like Shovels & Rope do, (this taping had to be rescheduled three times), maybe try turning on Busted Jukebox Volume 3 nice and loud and see what little ones think. Or just put them to bed and rock out yourself!
Stick around to the end of the episode to hear Shovels & Rope present the sweet campfire jam “My Little Buckaroo” featuring M. Ward.
Photo credit: Mike Crackerfarm
Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis: In Service of the Song
Although their individual careers have been moving in different directions over the last few years, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis have circled back closer to each other and put together a group of songs — a mix of originals, carefully selected covers, and choice vintage nuggets — for their newest project, Beautiful Lie. “We were just ready to make another album,” Willis says. “Enough time and space had passed and it felt fresh, and we had all these ideas that we wanted to work on.”
On Beautiful Lie, Willis’ crystalline vocals wind around Robison’s grizzled voice and float along a river of pedal steel, piano, and guitar, creating a pure beauty that the couple is so adept at calling forth when they work together. While it’s never easy to find time to record, the two have fun and feel the joy of their union when they can come back together for a project, even though they both love their solo work, too.
Last year Willis released her first solo album in more than a decade, Back Being Blue, and she’s just come off the road from a mini-tour with Dale Watson. In 2017, Robison released Bruce Robison & the Back Porch Band, which he recorded in his own studio, The Bunker, in Lockhart, Texas, near the couple’s home base in Austin. He’s also been producing artists for his Next Waltz record label, including future singles from William Clark Green, Carrie Rodriguez, Flatland Cavalry, Shakey Graves, Wood & Wire, and Willis Alan Ramsey. “We have this core group of musicians there now,” he says, “and it’s a place where people can come to record this kind of music that you can hear on this album. We’re still growing and developing a lot.”
“For this album, we just got the machinery up and roaring,” Willis says. “It’s funny because we make music together and then go out and play solo. When we’re playing together, we miss playing solo; when we play solo, we miss playing together. We miss making music together.”
Robison and Willis have been married since 1996, but this is only their fourth album of duets, including a holiday collection. Robison observes, “It’s always been great that we had our own careers. I’ve always seen the stuff we did together as magical stuff.”
For the new album, they collected songs along the way and they “would just sit down and start singing them,” says Willis. They know when to sing, when to pull back, when to add that special verse, and when to put a song aside for another album.
“I love his instincts for me,” Willis says. “I have a hard time communicating my musicality. We’re able to enhance and understand each other. It’s sort of a natural undertaking. I’ve always really understood his music and wanted to add something to it.”
Willis isn’t credited as a songwriter on any of the album’s ten tracks but her interpretative stamp can be heard throughout Beautiful Lie. As Robison says, “Kelly and I have creative differences in a way that is helpful. Take a song you like and stick with it and give it to her. Sometimes she loves the melody, or she gets into it and changes it all up.”
Willis points out that those creative differences can sometimes be challenging, but the choices they make are ultimately in service of the song: “When we do music together, it’s different from doing a solo album. I might bring in a song I really want to do, but if it’s not working—no matter how much I try to make it work—we’ll put it aside.”
The couple’s dynamic vocals define the project, with each singer taking lead on songs that fit their own vocal approach perfectly. “We messed around with each song to see who would sing the lead,” Willis says. “Ninety-five percent of the time it sounds better for the female to sing lead. Sometimes Bruce will say, though, that for a certain song he thinks it works better with a male lead.”
The material on Beautiful Lie ranges from the aching title track (an Amazing Rhythm Aces cut) to the rollicking Robison original “Brand New Me.” Adam Wright contributed three songs including the skittering “Can’t Tell Nobody Nothin’,” written with his wife Shannon Wright. Meanwhile, Robison and Willis deliver a stunning cover of “Lost My Best” from Uncle Walt’s Band, as well as the skate-across-the-sawdust-floor Del Reeves classic “One Dime at a Time.”
Perhaps the best getting-over-a-breakup song in either artist’s sizable repertoire, the wry “Nobody’s Perfect,” also by Adam Wright, celebrates the freedom that comes with discovering just how much better it is to be with nobody than with somebody who’s always leaving. The loneliness settles in the hollow of absence at first, but not for long. With brilliant use of a mundane phrase, which cuts several ways in the song, “Nobody’s Perfect” turns the meaning of its titular phrase on its head.
A native Texan, Robison even found a muse in the Astrodome, which he’s been going to since he was 4 years old, when the Houston landmark was still new and shiny: “It was this arena where I saw demolition derbies and circuses.” Following a recent visit, he recalls the tiles dropping from the ceiling and how the once-golden palace of his memories has fallen apart – an observation that inspired a wistful song simply called “Astrodome.”
“Jack Ingram and I wrote the song,” he says. “I had fun looking back into my past and remembering going to the Astrodome. The song’s a tribute to a lost past.” The jaunty, dancehall tune belies the sadness of the song, even as the lyrics celebrate the bittersweet nature of life: “I’m gonna go on down and sit in the Astrodome/Just me and you and all of them blue and faded memories/Yeah I’m gonna go on down and sit in the Astrodome/And wonder whatever ever became of me.”
Capturing the overwhelming power of love, “Coming Down” opens with guitars floating over a subdued steel and blossoms into a straight-ahead country love ballad. Robison carries the song with an honest, plaintive vocal that’s elevated on the chorus by Willis’ harmonies. “I don’t write love songs,” Robison says. “If you went and listened to the other 200 songs in my catalog, you wouldn’t find a love song. I was [at] the songwriters’ festival in Key West a few years ago, and I wrote this song out real quick. I can’t fake the feelings in this song.”
As Willis points out, “I love his songwriting and his songs. I think the mark of a great songwriter is the ability to turn a phrase, and he is great at it.”
Photo Credit: HAAM