Tag: singer songwriter

DISPATCH: An Intimate and Essential Kentucky Festival, Sleeping In The Woods

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

There’s something in the water in Kentucky that’s conducive to making great songwriters, and the second annual Sleeping In The Woods Festival — held May 17-19 in Monticello — was no exception.

Hosted by artist and songwriter Nicholas Jamerson, the gathering has quickly become a can’t-miss attraction featuring a mix of the Commonwealth’s most revered songwriters, as well as the ones they’ll eventually be handing the reins off to. The setting of Hidden Ridge camping — a birch tree-covered campground nestled along Lake Cumberland — further elevated its intimate feeling (in addition to providing a canopy of shade during a deluge of rain Friday).

However, despite Mother Nature’s best efforts on day one, the few hundred in attendance didn’t have their spirits dampened by the soggy forecast, instead filling out a massive tent by the festival’s second stage for a songwriter round to open things up. Featuring Ryan Anderson of Louisville rock band Bendigo Fletcher alongside Jamerson, in a last minute change of plans, the two opted to debut entirely new and unrecorded music during the hour-long round, further putting a microscope on their superb songwriting, the stories behind them, and the creative process at an event built for exactly that. Outside of rain pattering on the tent above, you could hear a pin drop. Even though fans weren’t familiar with these songs, it was obvious they were captivated by the occasion, a sign of the duo’s songwriting prowess and power of getting caught up in the moment.

Nicholas Jamerson and Ryan Anderson (Bendigo Fletcher) open Sleeping In The Woods festival with a songwriter round.

“Getting to play all new songs with Ryan Anderson felt like the perfect way to set the tone for the festival,” Jamerson tells BGS. “I’ve admired him so getting to share that space meant a lot.”

Following the round of new material was one of the festival’s few non-Kentucky acts, Cristina Vane. As a result I found myself talking with countless folks as she set up about what to expect from the electrifying slide guitar and banjo picker, but even my best of introductions couldn’t have prepared them for the show she gave them.

Working as a trio with drums and bass guitar, Vane tore through originals like “Blueberry Hill” and “Small Town Nashville Blues” alongside new songs like “You Ain’t Special” and sweltering covers like James McMurtry’s “Choctaw Bingo.” Through it all, she had the crowd at her will, seemingly unaware of the rain falling around them, including myself.

Cristina Vane performs at Sleeping In The Woods.

Although I’ve seen Vane perform several times, each occasion always feels like a first due to the versatility of her band setups. I’ve seen her play solo, with a full electric band, a full bluegrass band, and now as an electric three-piece; each show feels so different. Her songwriting is built for a festival like Sleeping In The Woods, but how she’s able to plug and play, presenting her music in many different ways is what truly sets her apart. Fans on Friday seemed to agree, giving Vane a ferocious standing ovation at her set’s conclusion, something that even she didn’t seem to expect.

“It was cool seeing people react to acts they hadn’t seen,” shares Jamerson. “I felt like Cristina Vane, The Dick and Tammy Show (Justin Clyde Williams and Tyler Hatley), and Josh Slone all made really huge impressions on people.”

Another out-of-state act integral to the weekend was Rachel Baiman. The Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist was everywhere over the three-day event, starting with a songwriter workshop she led to begin Saturday’s musical menu. Attended by around 50 under the tent that Cristina Vane rocked out the night prior, the croissant-fueled workshop saw Baiman working with fellow songwriters and aspiring ones alike to take internal conflicts and turn them into external ones via song.

This drew a mix of interesting inspiration from the heavy — a man trying to fit in with his different groups of friends and a mom and pop trying everything to keep their small business afloat — to tongue-in-cheek ones, like a prompt about how losing your Chapstick makes you feel like an inadequate lover.

“The songwriting workshop was both a complete joy and completely terrifying,” recalls Baiman. “Trying to ‘teach’ songwriting to some of my favorite songwriters felt a little crazy, but I think it really contributed to the class, because we could hear ideas from newcomers and seasoned professionals side by side.”

Rachel Baiman leads a songwriting workshop on day 2 of Sleeping In The Woods festival.

Outside of the workshop, Baiman also led a songwriter round of her own on Sunday afternoon that she used to showcase recent co-writes with Pony Bradshaw (“Equine Elvis”), Caroline Spence (“Throw Away The Moon”), and Jamerson, who joined her for a performance of their song, “The Vine That Ate The South,” due out next month. Additionally, she took to the stage with Leah Blevins, an Eastern Kentucky singer by way of Nashville, prior to Sunday’s round, fiddling with the Sandy Hook native on a selection of songs including the nostalgic “First Time Feeling.”

The set was a grounding one for Blevins, who expressed a longing to return home from Nashville in recent months even as she’s hit a breakthrough, signing a publishing and management deal with Major Bob Music in April. She expects to begin recording a new album soon.

“Any opportunity to be back home in Kentucky is a true sense of comfort,” says Blevins. “There are so many unbelievably talented artists there and this weekend was a true representation of that. It’s inspiring and always humbling to share the stage with folks that you genuinely respect like Nicholas. He’s always made me feel welcomed and his kindness alone is influential on a human level.”

Other Kentucky luminaries that stood out included Somerset’s Cody Lee Meece, brothers Wes and Aaron Smith — who were joined by Anderson on synth for an intriguing acousti-tronic sound — along with Ryan Allen & Maggie Noëlle’s stripped down versions of songs from their band, Magnolia Boulevard, and a Saturday evening round featuring three of the state’s stars of tomorrow: Salyersville native Zoe Howard, Hindman’s Josh Slone, and Central Kentucky’s Ireland Owens.

But it was Hunter Flynn, one of the state’s other promising young talents, that garnered the most attention. A local boy from just up the road in Somerset, Flynn’s Sunday afternoon set showcased the singer’s sensational songwriting and holler yell on cuts like “Spanish Street Signs” and “Fucked Up Brain” that have earned him recent gigs on the road with Zach Top and Ian Munsick, among others.

Hunter Flynn performs Sunday afternoon at Sleeping In The Woods festival.

In a pay-it-forward fashion similar to how Jamerson is platforming new artists with the festival, Flynn — who won a recording package from festival sponsor Jamm Nation during the event — plans to serve up his studio time to young artists in need on a collaborative EP that Jamerson will produce. According to Flynn, he wouldn’t be where he is today without Jamerson’s music and guidance.

“Before I knew Childers, before I knew Sturgill, before I knew Stapleton; I knew Nicholas Jamerson,” explains Flynn. “He might not have been the first to do it, but he was the first person that I knew from the Appalachian region that was writing songs and playing them for a living. Now I don’t know a single singer/songwriter from this region who doesn’t cover at least one of his songs. He could win six Grammys next year and it wouldn’t be as much recognition as he deserves.”

A more seasoned Kentucky artist that also turned heads was Henry County’s Joe Clark, who pulled back the curtain on songs typically backed by his country rock band, The Peacemakers, that touch on everything from drug addiction to the love he has for his father. Clark was hard to miss all weekend due to his towering presence, but heartfelt songs like “Wishin’ Well” and “Battlefield” showed a soft side to counter his hard exterior, one of the many things a powerful song can do.

Joe Clark takes the stage at Sleeping In The Woods festival.

“Music is my therapist. Along with my children and family it’s kept me sober and alive for years,” confides Clark. “I owe my life to songwriting. It is a power greater than me and I’m honored to put pen to paper each time a lyric comes to me. My biggest hope is to be able to take my real life experience and translate it through song in a way that someone else can take it and make it theirs and use it in a healing way for themselves. Music is medicine, and I believe everyone needs a daily dose to stay healthy.”

Closing out Sleeping In The Woods was one of the most iconic and influential Kentucky songwriters ever – Darrell Scott. For nearly two hours on Sunday afternoon the trailblazer showed off his fiery picking skills on iconic songs like “Never Leave Harlan Alive” and “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive,” giving all of the artists and fans in attendance something to look up to and aspire to in the process. The performance also left many in the audience visibly emotional including Jamerson, who could be seen tearing up throughout it.

“Having Darrell there really meant a lot,” reflects Jamerson. “It felt like we had the full spectrum of musicians, from green, next generation, seasoned vets and a master in Darrell. We are hoping to expose the youngins to a sustainable path in this industry, so having someone like Darrell was really validating for me.”

Darrell Scott headlines Kentucky’s Sleeping In The Woods festival.

From vets like Darrell Scott to youngins like Josh Slone, Zoe Howard, and Hunter Flynn, and present day stars like Nicholas Jamerson, Sleeping In The Woods was proof of many things — that Kentucky music is in as good a place it’s ever been, that smaller, niche festivals do have a place in today’s music landscape, and that great songwriting will never go out of style.

“It feels like the best way to kick off the year,” describes Jamerson, who’d been laying low since his two-night Hollerday Gitdown in December. “It’s such a great group of people that makes it all happen. It’s also really grounding, inspiring and a nice reminder of the community of people that I’m a part of, which is uplifting and gives me life going into the busy season.”

All photos by Joe Wilkins, courtesy of Sleeping In The Woods festival. 

Adeem the Artist’s ‘Anniversary’ is a Complex, Deeply Moving Homecoming

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In the press release for their 2024 album Anniversary, Adeem the Artist, the non-binary, self-described “cast iron pansexual” singer-songwriter, mentions that the album is queer country – as a genre, not simply as music made by queer people, but as a whole new thing. They also mention recording and creating with their child, their partner, and their tour manager, in a week off from touring in semi-rural Texas. The album is a deeply moving, hauntingly specific, and profoundly sophisticated look at the interweavings of family and a (literally) hostile landscape.

This is queer country – queer as a sexuality and gender and musical identity, but also as an indication of being a little askew, not really fitting plumb, as a political and personal identity. Here, a genre, Adeem notes, is a way of working against expectations or histories:

“Country music is important to me, because it’s so much tied into the dirt of where I grew up. It feels like a place I can comfortably speak from, in the authority of my testimony as a Southerner and a child of Confederates. That’s my responsibility, my calling. That’s why I’m making country records right now. It’s where I need to be, to be processing the things I’m processing.”

One of the ways of keeping safe in this landscape, while acknowledging and trying to make amends, is to move inwards, to lean on the “cast iron” of “cast iron pansexual.” This album moves from the outside – a world that is toxic and violent – toward one that is domestic. In the coruscating rock breakdown of “Plot of Land,” with its minute-long, Tom Petty quoting coda, Adeem sings:

And the politicians cast their lies like street craps,
And they sweep up every time
So baby I’m gonna find us a plot of land
With a little home to put a family in …

The plot of land is a long term plan, but there are moments in this record where you can see possibilities – of a loving home, of a rock and roll life, of a genderqueer Southern utopia, of the perfect dive bar meetup – falling out of an ambitious set of recordings. The too muchness of the album can be understood given it was made in a week, in a hostile place.

Adeem talks about how they made “Nightmare” in Texas, incorporating all the elements in their surroundings including “Isley’s laughter [their daughter], Kyle’s gentle presence [their tour manager], Hannah’s bouncing energy [their wife] as she pitche[d] hymns we could reference irreverently. That week away from the internet and the news cycle was a little insulation bubble that gave us so much room to breathe and feel safe. I don’t think this song could’ve been delivered with a different midwife.”

The midwife analogy is especially relevant to understanding some of these songs, particularly “Carry You Down,” where Adeem writes gorgeously about having and raising babies. The song is so gentle, so respectful of the autonomy of the child, but also filled with the details of domestic life that have become rare in country lately. In an album about adult pleasures and pains, it is a rest song, about carrying a child down the stairs when they ask to be carried, even if that interrupts “chorin’,” doing dishes or work in the garden.

If “Carry You Down” is a waltz, then “The Socialite Blues” is a romp about “staying up to the break of dawn/ making out of tune songs with you” – another kind of domestic, with “out of tune” its own kind of queerness. These songs have a sweetness, a refuge from harm, a way to escape not outside, but within.

The invocation of “out of tune songs” is a euphemism, but there are spaces on the album where Adeem is explicit about desire, as explicit as a country song has ever been, like in “Nancy,” which expresses exactly how difficult it is to fuck while on pharmaceuticals; or “One Night Stand,” about relationships that happen between last call and sunrise, but whose memory might, out of mercy and grace, stay on for “a lifetime of nights with him;” or “Part and Parcel,” where they sing, in gentle but urgent tones:

Take it all apart, it’s part & parcel
I came here with a strange and honest feeling
Chase all of these contradicting versions
Childhood perversions, & dreams that never steered
Let them drive a little while so that I can disappear

Those “contradicting versions” include being a child from the South, so the history here is not only personal, but social and political. There is a cluster of artists working out the history of the South right now – Justin Hiltner’s “1992,” Miko Marks’ Race Records, Willi Carlisle’s recitations of the failures of Appalachian and rural drug work, the entire career of Jake Xerxes Fussell, all of the ancestor work in Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. It might seem like Adeem’s work is personal, but all of this historical work flows from the personal to the corporate, an understanding of history that includes both last week and last century, trauma and joy twisting into a complex homecoming.

Homecoming for Adeem also includes the history of Knoxville, Tennessee; on the album’s last song “White Mule, Black Man,” they begin by asking if it’s too much to do one more, but after the end of the track, it’s clear that nothing could be more proper. Here, Adeem telling stories of the South, from Confederation onward, means taking racial politics seriously.

In almost exactly three minutes, they tell the story of a white mob rioting after a foiled lynching, the eventual coverup of that lynching, and the layers of myth-making and storytelling to prevent the truth from being revealed. Moving from talking to singing, somewhere between Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is” and Dylan’s “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” the story in this final song laments, “But if the Tennessee River runs red with blood/ ‘Til the city runs white again/ Well, a white mule’s curse means more round here/ Than the last words muttered by murdered Black men.”

Adeem has been blunt like this before, tearing down the charnel houses of violent American racism and its myths, and this song is a deepening and extending of that practice. By ending the album on this note of violence, not as a lecture but as a moral accounting, that history work is ensuring that everyone is seen and known, their family is known, and the origins of their family’s prosperity is known.

Such knowledge is the necessary, sometimes haunting, sometimes delightful, attraction of Adeem as a person and “the Artist” – earning that sobriquet.

Photo Credit: Hannah Bingham

BGS 5+5: Grace Pettis

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Grace Pettis
Hometown: From Mentone, Alabama and Decatur, Georgia. Currently living in Nashville, Tennessee. Spent my formative musical years in Austin, Texas.
Latest Album: Down To The Letter (out June 14)

Personal Nicknames (or rejected band names): I was Gracie Pettis ’til age 8 or so. When I was in the 5th grade, I made everyone call me “Bob,” because I thought it would be hilarious to be a 10-year-old girl named Bob. My Nobody’s Girl bandmate BettySoo calls me “Graceface” sometimes. I really tried to get my first band to go by “The Bluebirds.” Nobody was into it but me. I wanted Nobody’s Girl to be “The Starlings,” but it didn’t stick. I’ve got a thing for bird band names, including a really good one I’m holding on to, because I might use it one day. Robby Hecht and I think “Dessert Island” would be a great band name. (That’s a recent favorite from a long list of possibilities Robby has going on his phone.)

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

When I was 24, I was in the Kerrville New Folk songwriting contest. I’d been dreaming of going to Kerrville and getting into the contest since I was a kid, because my dad Pierce Pettis was a winner back in ’87. I remember being so incredibly nervous before playing. I was wondering if the judges would like my songs, if I’d be able to hit all the high notes, etc. And then when I was actually up there on the stage, I had this moment of clarity, where I realized that everyone in the audience was on my side. As in, everyone there was hoping and expecting that I’d be great. They were ready for me to be really good; in fact, they wanted me to succeed, not to fail.

Something about that realization – that the audience is not my enemy – helped me relax. And over the course of a few days, I realized that the other “contestants” were actually the friends I was making that would last me for the rest of my musical life. The word “contest” implies competition. But what I understood in that moment was that music is a collective and collaborative act. The audience and the performer are in it together; everybody wants it to be a great experience. And we artists are a tight knit community. We write together, play together, stay on each other’s couches. Music can be an ecosystem, and not a battle.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

I like to watch a little comfort TV on my phone while I’m curling my hair and putting on my makeup. Popular choices have included Star Trek, The West Wing, and Late Night with Stephen Colbert. It really helps me zen out and relax. That hour before the gig – when you’ve got a million thoughts in your head about the set list, and remembering the sound person’s name, and setting up merch, and making sure you put those names on the guest list – it’s really nice to get to sink into a familiar routine. Curling hair, putting on mascara, etc. It sounds silly, but that time is really important to me.

When I’m playing and traveling with friends, I like to have a “human” moment before the gig – just a second to check in with each other. Maybe tell a few jokes, have a bite to eat, or share how we’re feeling (physically, emotionally, etc.) before we have to be “on” with an audience. It’s easy to forget to check in with each other in the busy hustle of the pre-show and post-show check list.

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

“Make it mean something.” As in, the song, my day, the show, my life. I want the things I make and the time I spend on the planet to mean something, firstly to me, and also to others. I actually wrote that mission statement into a song (“Mean Something”), which I recorded on my album Working Woman (2021). It’s great to have a song that’s also a mission statement. I sing it a lot during sound checks and during shows, when there are obstacles getting in the way of me being able to center myself and be present in the moment. Maybe the sound system is not cooperating. Maybe there’s a disrespectful person in the crowd. Maybe it’s a noisy bar and the game is on the TV overhead. Maybe I’m sick, or tired, or just in a bad mood. “Mean Something” helps me remember why I’m on the planet and here in the room that I’m in. It connects me with my purpose, gratitude, and joy.

If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?

When I was a very little kid, I also wanted to be an artist – as in a painter or illustrator. I wanted to write books too. Later, in middle school, I briefly wanted to be a school counselor, but dismissed the idea because I didn’t want to be in the same office every day, five days a week. In high school, I was into the idea of being a truck driver. The whole world is your office and your view changes every day. And you can eat as much junk food as you want and use those cool portable devices that plug into your truck engine. Little stoves and TVs. I love gadgets like that. And I love the idea of listening to audiobooks for hours on end. My music job is pretty similar to truck driving, really. I do a lot of driving, and loading and unloading of gear. More junk food than I would like. And a lot of audiobooks.

What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?

I’ve always been a really big Jennifer Lopez fan. When I was a guest on my bandmate BettySoo’s virtual show during the pandemic, we were asked to play “guilty pleasure covers.” I covered “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” I maintain that it’s a jam.

Photo Credit: Starla Dawn

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From John Cowan, Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland, & More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

To close the month of May, we have an absolutely stacked round up of premieres this week!

It’s lovely any time natural and organic themes twist their way through our batches of premiere. This week, it certainly seems like cutting-edge bluegrass is front and center, with new tracks and videos from John Cowan, Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland, and husband-and-wife duo, Benson.

Plus, we have a trio of songs about touring, coming and going, leaving and returning – Rob Baird asking his listeners to “Hold Tight” ’til his return, Evan Boyer longs for home and hearth in a song for his wife, “Home to You,” and Rose Gerber pays tribute to a vagabond period in her own life with “Off to See America.”

Finally, don’t miss a danceable rockabilly number, “If I Didn’t Have You,” from Matt Hillyer and roots duo Native Harrow bring us a new music video for “Borrowing Time.” It’s a packed premiere round up this week and You Gotta Hear This!

John Cowan, “Fiction”

Artist: John Cowan
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Fiction”
Album: Fiction
Release Date: June 7, 2024 (single); Fall 2024 (album)
Label: True Lonesome Records

In Their Words: “The genesis of the song is that Eddie [Sanders] and I had sat down to write a song for this new recording that eventually was titled ‘Fiction.’ I have been a voracious reader my whole adult life. I was discussing with Eddie the problem of living in a world at this time, which is confounding, scary, and frustrating. My expansive bookcase is loaded with non-fiction books. I had just said to him that I can hardly stand to pick up these two new books I’d bought, ’cause I didn’t feel like I needed any more affirmation about the state of our country and the world. What I needed was an escape to a place of commonality with the people I’ve encountered and my loved ones. I think we did a good job on it and that’s all I know for now except, I always believe in hope and grace.” – John Cowan

Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland, “Give It Away”

Artist: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Hometown: Floyd, Kentucky, now living in Hendersonville, Tennessee (Jason); Charlestown, Indiana (Michael)
Song: “Give It Away”
Release Date: May 8, 2024
Label: Fiddle Man Records

In Their Words: “I feel that the world we live in is a beautiful place, but it takes all of us to make that world. Every time I hear this song it brings a smile to my face, thinking of the day we recorded it. The room was filled with friends making music and the joy that was shared between us really comes through in the recording. This song was written by two of my favorite fiddlers, Tim O’Brien and Matt Combs, and that was another thing that made me feel like it was right for Michael and I to record it.

“Every time I’ve been around Sam Bush, I feel the love he puts out into the world and I thought he’d be the perfect person to sing this song with. I feel the same way about Michael, it’s always such a joyful experience to get to play or even hang out with him. With that said, ‘Give It Away’ sets the tone for the entire record, I hope you enjoy it.” – Jason Carter

“‘Give It Away’ is a hard driving bluegrass song in the key of B, except this time nobody leaves or dies. Instead, it reinforces the valuable lesson that if you want to ever find love, you have to learn to give it away. I would like to thank Bryan Sutton, Cory Walker, Alan Bartram, and Sam Bush for creating one of the most grooving tracks I’ve ever been a part of, they really made this song come to life. This song was a natural for twin fiddles, and Jason and Sam’s vocals are absolutely incredible.” – Michael Cleveland

Rob Baird, “Hold Tight”

Artist: Rob Baird
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Song: “Hold Tight”
Album: Burning In the Stars
Release Date: June 21, 2024
Label: Hard Luck Recording Company

In Their Words: “Early on in my career, I spent a lot of time in a van, touring all over God’s green earth. This song, ‘Hold Tight,’ is a reflection of those times. It’s about the chaotic feeling of driving through the night to get back home to one who’s been waiting for you. I wanted that feeling of desperation and determination to build every second of this song. Hold tight and hold on for just a few more hours.” – Rob Baird

Track Credits:
Produced by Brian Douglass Phillips.
Jacob Hildebrand – Electric guitar, slide guitar
Z Lynch – Bass guitar
Brian Douglas Phillips – Pedal steel, background vocals
Fred Mandujano – Drums, percussion
Sean Giddings – Organ

Benson, “Donner Pass”

Artist: Benson
Hometown: Boiling Springs, South Carolina
Song: “Donner Pass”
Release Date: May 31, 2024
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words:“‘Donner Pass’ is a tune I wrote while traveling with IIIrd Tyme Out. We were heading back east after a west coast string of gigs and, with a little time to kill, decided to stop in Reno, Nevada. We parked in the same general area where the Donner Party had been trapped over the winter, so this felt like a great song title for a minor-key melody. I had been working on the tune itself for a few days as we played out our gigs in California, but the original cell phone demo was recorded at Donner Pass where we parked overnight before driving into town.” – Wayne Benson

“This is one of my favorite tunes that Wayne has written. It feels dark, which is appropriate considering the title and location that it’s written about. The track moves a lot dynamically and I always enjoy that — I love taking a fairly simple melody and working with it to create different moods.” – Kristin Scott Benson

Track Credits:
Wayne Benson – Mandolin
Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo
Cody Kilby – Acoustic Guitar
Tony Creasman – Drums
Kevin McKinnon – Bass

Evan Boyer, “Home to You”

Artist: Evan Boyer
Hometown: Somers, Connecticut originally; Dallas, Texas since 2010
Song: “Home to You”
Album: The Devil in Me
Release Date: June 7, 2024 (album)
Label: Medicine for Mary Records

In Their Words: “‘Home to You’ is a special song to me for a few reasons. First, the writing – it was the first song I really wrote for my wife. I’ve had others kind of about us or about our relationship, but I had never written one that focused on the fact that she’s my rock. Another is the production and the players I have on this track. Jenee on fiddle absolutely blew me away. Tim wrote that solo on the floor and then was able to perfectly replicate it two other times so that we could layer it three times. It’s stuff like that that’ll keep me making records for as long as I can.” – Evan Boyer

Track Credits:
Lyrics and music by Evan Boyer.
Produced by Bradley Prakope.
Recorded at The Panhandle House, Denton, Texas.
Evan Boyer – Vocals, acoustic guitar
Timothy Allen – Electric Guitar
Nate Coon – Drums
Bob Parr – Bass
Jenee Fleenor – Fiddle
Drew Harakal – B3 organ

Native Harrow, “Borrowing Time”

Artist: Native Harrow
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Song: “Borrowing Time”
Album: Divided Kind
Release Date: September 13, 2024
Label: Different Time Records

In Their Words: “This is one of those songs that was written in a few minutes, recorded in an afternoon, and came together like it was always a song. The rhythm signifies a lazy, hazy walk through the fields, lost in thoughts and daydreams. It is loose and meanders its way with pedal steel swirls (Joe Harvey-Whyte) and a single snare drum played with brushes while the bass thumps its way along the dusty trail. I go on daily walks to clear my head and to be in nature. I never want them to end and am always a little melancholy when they do and I have to return to my to-do list. I feel things very deeply and in trying times it often feels like life is a giant wheel rolling down a road and I am either being plowed over by it or chasing to keep up and it doesn’t pay any mind to my own struggles. In writing this song I realized that maybe being lost is better than having it all figured out and we’re all just borrowing time.” – Devin Tuel

“We recorded ‘Borrowing Time’ on a hot, dry day last summer (2023), setting up in the living room, with the windows wide open to take in the little bit of breeze that snuck in over the hills that afternoon. We started with Devin’s vocal and guitar and my Hofner Beatles bass (no click track, of course), sitting a foot away from each other. So close in fact, that you can hear the faint clack of my pick on the flat-wound bass strings bleeding into the vocal track. Next, we added a simple snare drum with brushes (myself) and shaker (Devin), again around the same mic. Finally, we added the electric guitar overdub, my black Gretsch hollowbody guitar through our old Fender amp, with its drippy reverb and dense tremolo, before sending the track up to our buddy Joe Harvey-Whyte in London where he added his cosmic outer space pedal steel. Sometimes we like to spend weeks working on a track, adding as many layers as it needs, and sometimes a finished song (as in the case of ‘Borrowing Time’) comes together in a single afternoon. Either way, we’ll take them as they come.” – Stephen Harms

Video Credits: Photography by Rosie Lord.
Edited by Devin Tuel & Stephen Harms.

Matt Hillyer, “If I Didn’t Have You”

Artist: Matt Hillyer
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Song: “If I Didn’t Have You”
Album: Bright Skyline
Release Date: June 7, 2024 (single); June 21, 2024 (album)
Label: State Fair Records

In Their Words: “I got my start playing rockabilly music. I’ve enjoyed playing many different styles of roots music over the years, but I always seem to gravitate back to that rockabilly swing. It just feels good and puts a smile on my face. It’s even better being able to have some great players and even better friends on it: Heather Stalling on fiddle, Kevin Smith on bass, Lloyd Maines on steel guitar, and Arjuna Contreras on drums. The song itself is a love song, and in my opinion, you can’t have enough of those. I was thinking about my wife when I wrote it. I was imagining a way to tell her how lost I’d be if I didn’t have her in my life.” – Matt Hillyer

Rose Gerber, “Off to See America”

Artist: Rose Gerber
Hometown: Portland
Song: “Off to See America”
Album: Untraveled Highway EP
Release Date: July 5, 2024

In Their Words: “When I was 17, I set out on a road trip that had no planned end. I was a high school drop-out running from a broken home and thought the romance of the road would save me. You can’t run from life though and the road wears you down. After thumbing around, riding freight trains and some lean times, I finally threw in the towel; but can’t say I regret a minute of it. This song is a tribute to that time of my life.” – Rose Gerber

Video Credits: Starring Mary Krantz and Just Clark.
Directed By Benjamin Olsen.

Photo Credit: John Cowan by Madison Thorne; Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland by Sam Wiseman.

Freedom in a Flip Phone: John Moreland’s Quest for a Simple Life

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

I hate surprises. However, Oklahoma’s pride and joy John Moreland surprised us in April with his latest album, Visitor, and I guess I’m okay with it. Moreland’s gone back to a sparse acoustic instrumentation, unlike the electronic sound (which I also loved) on his previous release, 2022’s Birds in the Ceiling. Recently, he took a page from his wife Pearl Rachinsky’s and musician (and recent tour buddy) Chris ​Staples’ books and quit his smartphone, took a social media break, and stopped all touring for six months. What ensued was an incredible psychic change discovered through living electronically off the grid. Another thing that came about during this simplicity in life: An album full of songs. He would take long drives at night, bringing along his guitar and making field recordings of his new writing. All this culminated into his beautiful new record.

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During our Basic Folk chat, Moreland talks about the process of unraveling himself from his smartphone, reconnecting with the acoustic guitar, and getting to know himself again during this period of quiet. He talks about how playing live is very vulnerable for him, to the point where he started taking (and loving) beta-blockers to stave off anxiety and adrenaline. He is very candid with his current thoughts on body image – he has been known to experience body shaming online after performing live. We also get into something that’s been on my mind all year: Is climbing the professional songwriting ladder worth it? Pretty sure we figured out the answer. LOL

Photo Credit: Pearl Rachinsky

Out Now: Izzy Heltai

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Izzy Heltai is an indie-folk artist whose songs touch on themes like growing older, feeling lost, and finding yourself – his music resonates with many people. Izzy played the first Queerfest event, a virtual festival in 2021 hosted in partnership with Club Passim. His latest single, “My Best Friend Sam,” came out on April 25.

Izzy has a debut New York headline show coming up. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out his show at Union Pool in Brooklyn on Friday, June 21. Our Out Now conversation covers work-life balance (a large theme in his new single), his favorite LGBTQ+ artists, and his current state of mind. We’re so excited to highlight this phenomenal artist, Izzy Heltai!

Your lyrics cover themes that many people can relate to such as being anxious, growing older, self-esteem, feeling lost, etc. Do you write with the listener in mind for the relatability of these topics? Are you mostly thinking of your own experiences and emotions? Or are you considering both during the creative process?

Izzy Heltai: I think a lot of what I experience is universal. I think as we get older we all deal with issues of identity, anxiety, a sense of feeling lost, etc. I don’t really think about writing, or creating, for the purpose of being relatable. I think inherently what I write about is relatable, but the only way I can keep it authentic is by simply saying exactly what I’ve experienced. I don’t claim to know, or want to tell other people what they’ve gone through, all I can do is talk about what I experience.

Your single that came out last month, “My Best Friend Sam,” includes the lyrics, “I’ve wasted close to a decade chasing dreams and expectations / I wanna leave, I wanna stop everything / I wanna be hanging out with my best friend Sam.” How are you balancing a demanding career in the music industry with taking time for yourself and personal relationships?

Honestly, it’s been tough. This work exists in oscillations of highs and lows. One day it can feel like you have everything at the tips of your fingertips and the next day it can feel like everything’s falling apart. I’m trying to block out a lot of that. I’m trying to focus on what makes me happy about all of this, creating music with my friends, playing shows and connecting with people.

Recently, I’ve just been focusing on being in one place. Trying to be present, spending time with people I love, working on my next body of work and doing things throughout the day that make me feel the most present I can be. Reading, riding my bike, climbing, and writing songs.

What is your current state of mind?

If I’m honest, it isn’t the best it’s ever been. I broke my hip about a year ago and some things changed in my life that I had a hard time adjusting to. I’ve been refocusing recently and just putting energy into making things I love. Working on new songs I’m really proud of, investing in my friendships, riding my bike a lot, climbing with my friends. Things that make me feel grounded and most myself!

What’s your ideal vision for your future?

I love making my music, I love my friends here in Nashville and my routine, but I also love touring. Touring and playing shows, connecting with people, seeing new things, is such a big part of this for me. My ideal future consists of a balance between a routine at home, bike rides, yoga, rock climbing, writing and creating my next body of work, and a consistent sustainable touring schedule.

What would a “perfect day” look like for you?

This one’s easy. A sunny hot day, a very long bike ride, and cooking with my friends.

Why do you create music? What’s more satisfying to you, the process or the outcome?

I make music, because at one point I was a lonely, confused kid, and for some reason this was the way I processed the world. I’ll always make music regardless of who’s paying attention, but it’s easy to lose sight of that sometimes. I’m fully aware, with my identity, if my music reaches a certain level of success it has the power to really impact a marginalized population quite powerfully. I think my music becomes much more than “just for me,” because of that.

Who are your favorite LGBTQ+ artists and bands?

Lucky and honored to call her a close friend, Katie Pruitt is absolutely at the top of that list. Leith Ross, Ethel Cain, and Chappell Roan are other favorites of mine.

Photo Credit: Cait Frances

Ruth Moody on Canadian Roots Music, Parenthood, and Being a ‘Wanderer’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Ruth Moody has a singular voice, whether she’s joining the soaring three-part harmonies of the Wailin’ Jennys, or carving her own path on her new solo album, Wanderer (released May 17.) The project was almost a decade in the making and finds Moody betting on herself as a songwriter, co-producer, and now-label head for her own Blue Muse Records. The album is parallel to Moody’s own journey at continuing to define herself, with its emphasis on confronting the past and carving away detritus that is no longer needed.

Moody splits her time between Nashville and Vancouver Island. The pull between her sense of place, as well as her identities as artist, wife, and mother, characterize Wanderer. The album was recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium in Nashville and was co-produced with Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Lake Street Dive) and mixed by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, First Aid Kit, The Decemberists).

As discussed below, Moody waited until the time was right to bring her favorite musicians together for the record: her partner Sam Howard, who plays upright bass and provides backing vocals; her older brother Richard Moody; The Wailin’ Jennys’ touring band member Anthony da Costa (guitars); Jason Burger (drums); Kai Welch (keyboards); Russ Pahl (pedal steel); Adrian Dolan (string arrangements); and duet partner Joey Landreth (on “The Spell of the Lilac Bloom”). Moody’s patient commitment to executing Wanderer the way she wanted to shows in its transcendent arrangements.

In our BGS interview, Moody discusses how she establishes her sense of self amidst the competing demands in her life, the factors that give Canadian roots music their own special quality, and the lessons she’s learned from doing Wanderer exactly the way she intended to.

What do you think it is about Canadian roots music in particular? It does have a different feel than roots music in the States.

Ruth Moody: You know, I’ve been asked this question for so long. It’s a very valid question, because I think there is something, but it’s really hard to have a clear answer. In Canada there’s such a range of geography and music culture. You can’t really pin it to one thing.

I grew up in Winnipeg and the winters are so harsh that I think music and art are one of the things that get people through. It’s something you can do in the winter. I also think that there’s something about the landscape and the winter that creates a certain work ethic because you’re so small against the elements, really. So consciously or subconsciously, that enters into the picture for people. And so I think people tend to work hard and really apply themselves. And when it comes to touring, especially if you’re from Winnipeg, it takes some effort to get to the next town. It’s a six-hour drive before you get to the next major town. So I think right from the start, young musicians know they have to go out in the world to tour and get their music out.

We’re pretty diverse and we’re also influenced by so many different cultures and types of music. So I think there is a very exploratory aspect to Canadian music. And a lot of cross-pollination between genres and scenes. We are very lucky to have government support for the arts and I think that helps artists thrive, obviously, but it also helps to create music communities and bring artists together in collaborative situations.

Well, it’s always good to start an interview out by asking you to speak for your entire country! But Wanderer focuses on the idea of home, and I know you’ve lived many different places. Did I read that you grew up in Australia?

I was born in Australia, and my parents are Australian, but they came back to Canada when I was only a year old. I grew up in Winnipeg, but, as an adult, I’ve moved around a ton and that was what inspired the title track. I’ve been touring for over 25 years at this point. “Wanderer” is a love song that I wrote for my partner, because he helped me have that feeling of home for the first time in my adult life.

There are a number of songs about young love and new love on the album. Was there something that was making you reminisce about those times in your life?

These songs were all written across a long time-span – over 10 years really – since my last record. So the songs come from different stages and sides of love, right into motherhood. Some songs deal with heartbreak too and some are more reflective about the past. During the pandemic, I was reflecting a lot about how we internalize the messages we receive from society, how as a woman I took on the expectations of others and how that has affected my life. I was looking back, looking for clues, curious about where fear comes from, where strength and resilience come from. How we learn how to be our authentic selves when there are so many outside pressures and confusing messages. “Seventeen” isn’t about that, at all, but it ended up coming out of that period of reminiscing. It’s a song that came from my own experiences but that is essentially about being in love and not being ready or able to face it or express it, which I think is probably a pretty common experience.

These are all things I’m thinking about a lot now that I have a child, too, because they become very relevant. You’re trying to model behaviors for a young person and it really makes you face yourself. You have to look at why you do and say certain things and what you want to teach and how you want to be.

Speaking of wandering, I read that you split your time between Nashville and Vancouver Island.

I just got back from British Columbia, and I’ll be back in BC in the summer, so yes, I’m back and forth. I tour a lot, so I try to get home to BC when I’m already out traveling. But I work a lot in Nashville and so does my partner, so we’re still figuring that out.

Do you feel you are different when you are in these two different places?

Definitely. That’s been a real theme becoming a mother, really. Suddenly, you’re responsible for another human life. You have to let go of a lot of ways that you used to do things and prioritize what matters. I’m always shifting modes.

When I’m on tour, I operate in a certain way. When I’m in BC, I’m close to my parents and that brings out certain things. When I’m on my own, I have a bit more freedom to maybe be my creative self and when I’m in parenting mode, that goes out the window. Additionally, a partnership requires a lot of work and time, too. There are a lot of different parts of life that I’m juggling. But it keeps it interesting.

This isn’t meant to be a conversation about being a musician and motherhood and “having it all,” but it is a big theme of the record!

It has been a big theme of my life of late. Actually, I wanted to make this record about eight years ago and then I put it on hold, because I wasn’t able to line up all the musicians I wanted involved. I thought, “I’ll do it next year.” And then I had my son and I just didn’t know that motherhood would be such an all-consuming thing. It doesn’t have to be – and everyone’s different!

I really want to do a good job at everything that I do, and so I found it hard [to balance everything.] I felt like I wasn’t doing a good enough job at being a parent and I wasn’t doing a good enough job at performing. That was really hard on me. And I think now, with this new way of looking at things, I’m just being easier on myself and thinking to myself, “Maybe I was enough. Maybe we can’t be perfect at every single thing.” Maybe we don’t have to attempt to be perfect at everything.

First and foremost I think that any woman should have the choice to [balance motherhood and work] in the way she wants to do it. I am still figuring out how to juggle everything – especially since for this record, I decided to put it out on my own label. It’s really exciting and I think will be really rewarding, but it is a ton of work and the learning curve is quite steep.

Wanderer is your fourth solo album. Do you feel this process is different than when you’re working with another artist or with The Wailin’ Jennys?

It is different. The Jennys – I mean, we’ve been together for so long and we have a certain way of working. We’re talking about making a new record, which is really exciting. It’ll be different, because it’s been a while and we’re all changing all the time, you know? That feels like it will be an exciting new experience.

But it is of course different working on my own, especially in this case, because I co-produced this record. When you’re on your own, you draw on a different part of your brain and even your heart. Wanderer is a really personal collection of songs. With the Jennys, we tend to maybe gravitate towards songs that call for three part harmony, so they end up being a bit more anthemic. With these really personal, intimate songs, I connect to them in a different way.

What lessons do you feel like you can take away now that you’ve finished making Wanderer that you want to take with you on your next project?

I’ve learned so much in doing this. Because it took so long to make it and these songs were waiting in the wings for so long, it felt really important for me to make it. The stakes felt high, because it had been so long in the making.

Now that it’s done and I’m putting it out, I am really excited and proud of it. I want to just keep releasing expectations and I’m very excited to dig into creative work again.

Photo Credit: Jacqueline Justice

A True Black Country Trailblazer

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

The year’s most discussed, and in some respects, most controversial LP to date has been Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. Its admirers have painted Beyoncé as a trailblazer for Black country artists. They cite her inclusion on the album of both past – like Linda Martell – and contemporary Black country artists, including Rhiannon Giddens, plus the foursome of Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, and Tiera Kennedy, all featured on the update of The Beatles classic, “Blackbird” (stylized “Blackbiird”). They also cite Beyoncé’s Texas background as ample proof of her country roots and sincerity.

Others, notably contributors to The Washington Post and The Guardian, have attacked the 27-song project for a variety of sins ranging from overproduction to such emphasis on idiomatic variety that the result to their ears is faceless, forgettable music. Beyoncé herself has repeatedly said “It’s not a country album, it’s a Beyoncé album,” a line that can and has been viewed many different ways.

Still, there’s been a genuine explosion of interest in Black country music the past couple of years prior to the release of Cowboy Carter. It has resulted in a host of attention for artists ranging from Charley Crockett, Mickey Guyton, Miko Marks, Rissi Palmer and Brei Carter to established hitmakers like Darius Rucker and Kane Brown. But there’s one name that stands above all others as a key figure who’s been in the country music trenches over five decades. That’s author and songwriter Alice Randall, a superb novelist and academic. Randall, a Detroit native, made the move to Nashville from Washington, D.C. back in 1983, because she wanted to showcase her skills as a country songwriter and simultaneously wanted to demolish the widely held myth that the music had no links or connection to Black music and zero audience among African Americans.

“Yes, I faced open hostility and overt racism when I began,” Randall told Good Country during a recent interview. “There were plenty of people who looked at me and figured what’s this small Black woman doing here? But I wasn’t going to let that stop me.” Randall spent plenty of time attending songwriters rounds, plus examining and analyzing the songs that were becoming hits. In her book she pays credit to Bob Doyle, who was then a songwriter liaison at ASCAP. Doyle’s Bob Doyle & Associates is the longtime management firm for Garth Brooks. Another of her early Nashville mentors was singer-songwriter Steve Earle, whom she met through Doyle. She cites Earle’s willingness to address personal and social trauma and pain as an influence on her writing style.

Randall earned her first Top 10 country hit in 1987 with the Judy Rodman-recorded “Girls Ride Horses, Too,” which she wrote with Mark D. Sanders. She also launched the publishing company Midsummer Music (which she later sold), with the aim of aiding and developing a community of storytellers. She’d soon enjoy bigger success, becoming one of the first Black women to write a No. 1 country hit, when she and Matraca Berg co-wrote “XXXs and OOOs (An American Girl),” for Trisha Yearwood in 1994. (Donna Summer previously co-wrote Dolly Parton’s “Starting Over Again” in 1980).

Randall was also a writer on Moe Bandy’s top 40 hit, “Many Mansions.” Some other notable Randall milestones include writing the treatment for Reba McEntire’s “Is There Life Out There?” music video, which won an ACM Award and features a Randall cameo. In addition, she wrote and produced the pilot for a primetime drama “XXX’s and OOO’s,” which later aired as a made-for-TV movie on CBS.

But as Randall notes in her book, additional trials can come with success. Randall recounts how after the success of “XXXs and OOOs,” a music publishing executive pressured her into signing a contract before she had time to let her lawyers look at the paperwork. That move eventually led to Randall signing away much of her writer’s share of the song’s profits, an experience she called “part of my graduate school.”

Her new book, My Black Country (and its co-released, eponymous album), nicely combines personal reflection with historical commemoration and cultural examination. It highlights Black country’s finest performers and personalities, while noting that early country music was a far more interracial activity than many realized. “It’s amazing to me how many people don’t realize that Jimmie Rodgers recorded with Louis Armstrong, or that Lil’ Hardin was also involved in that historic recording,” she continues.

Randall cites Hardin as the mother of Black Country, the premier vocalist/harmonica soloist DeFord Bailey as the papa, multi-idiomatic master Ray Charles as the genius child, Charley Pride as Bailey’s side child, and the vocalist and TV/film star Herb Jefferies, also known as the Bronze Buckaroo, as Hardin’s stepchild.

She’s equally passionate about the frequent omission from country music histories and commentary of the contributions of Black cowboys. “I fight for all the Black cowboys who have been erased, all the country and western songs through the years that did not tell those stories,” Randall told Billboard magazine in an earlier interview. “When I wrote songs like ‘Went For a Ride,’ a lot of people did not realize they were Black cowboys I was writing about… but 20 or 30% of all cowboys were Black and brown in the 19th and 20th centuries, so it’s one of the ways that African Americans have contributed so much to the legacy of country music, is through cowboy songs.”

The book also chronicles a further lineage of Black country artists, including the Pointer Sisters and Linda Martell, as well as other artists like Sunny War, Miko Marks, Valerie June, and Rissi Palmer.

With 2024 being a big year for Black country, it’s only fitting that Nashville and the music world at large recognize and celebrate Alice Randall’s achievements. Last month she published the memoir, My Black Country (Simon & Schuster), while an accompanying LP, My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall (Oh Boy Records), was also released.

A pair of sold out events in Music City – a book signing at Parnassus bookstore and a combination celebration/Black Opry concert at the City Winery where contemporary Black country vocalists performed Randall tunes – were just the first events to honor the current Vanderbilt Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies as well as writer-in residence. Randall’s other notable literary feats include The Wind Done Gone, a blistering examination and parody of the book and film, Gone With The Wind.

During Black Music Month in June, Randall will appear at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture on June 7, and she’ll return to Nashville on June 15 for another in-person conversation about Blacks and country music.

Randall’s book traces her love for country to a family relocation. While growing up in Detroit, she was also a fan of Motown and even spent some time with Stevie Wonder. But upon moving with her mother to Washington, D.C., country became the dominant music she regularly heard. As a student at Harvard studying both English and American Literature & Language Randall says it was after closely surveying Bobby Bare’s 1976 song, “Dropkick Me Through Jesus (Through the Goalposts of Life),” she really began to understand the depth and breadth of country music storytelling.

That knowledge, along with her excellence as a lyricist and storyteller, resonates throughout the many memorable and unforgettable numbers on the album My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall. The roster of 12 women selected to perform the various tunes features many of today’s finest country stylists. The honor roll includes Ada Victoria’s soaring “Went For a Ride,” Allison Russell’s glorious “Many Mansions,” Rhiannon Giddens’ routinely spectacular rendition of “The Ballad of Sally Anne,” and Rissi Palmer’s poignant performance on “Who’s Minding the Garden.” Randall’s daughter, poet and commentator Caroline Randall Williams, delivers a strong performance on “XXXs and OOOs.”

Randall credits Russell for introducing her to Ebonie Smith, better known for her work as a producer on Sturgill Simpson’s Grammy-winning album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth.

And it’s no surprise Randall would conclude our interview by weighing in on the Beyoncé LP, herself.

“She’s the only Black woman to achieve those feats [No. 1 country single and album], but I don’t think she’ll be the last,” Randall concludes. “I’m more proud of the fact that there are so many great Black country artists out there, that the Black Opry is getting national attention, and that we’re finally putting to rest that garbage about country only being for white people.”

“In fact, to me, Nashville’s becoming a town for wild women, and for Black women to freely express themselves any way they choose.”

Photo Credit: Alice Randall by Keren Trevino.

Cody & Shannon Canada on Only Vans with Bri Bagwell

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

(Editor’s Note: BGS is proud to announce the addition of Only Vans with Bri Bagwell to the BGS Podcast Network! Read more about our newest podcast coming on board here.)

In the latest episode of Only Vans, Texas country artist and host Bri Bagwell chats with friend, mentor, and famed lead singer of Cross Canadian Ragweed, Cody Canada and his wife/manager Shannon in the bus, covering a wide variety of topics like racial injustice, partying, the metal music scene, and shifting priorities after having kids.

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Find Cody’s music, tour dates, and merchandise here.

Only Vans would like to thank CH Lonestar Promo for being the best merch company in all the land!

Intro music: “Free Man” by Bri Bagwell
Outro music: “Elle” by Cody Canada & The Departed

 

MIXTAPE: Joshua Hyslop’s Songs For a Chill Bike Ride

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

I love going for bike rides. It helps me reconnect and recenter myself. I’m almost always listening to music when I go out for a ride. Sometimes it’s heavier/angrier stuff to help me process and burn some things off, sometimes it’s completely instrumental to help me think, but most of the time it’s laid-back music – because if there’s one thing I am not, it’s laid-back. I’m almost always anxious and neurotic. Biking around and listening to a playlist like this helps me remember to take it easy, to breathe.

Sometimes I get messages from people who say my music helps them to do that, but I don’t sit around listening to my own music. Even though that’s a lovely thing to hear, I can’t engage with it in the same way. I can’t, for example, go and listen to my new album, Evergold (released April 26 on Nettwerk Records), to help me calm down, so I’m stuck making playlists like this for myself. Oh well. I hope this playlist helps you to relax and enjoy the ride, even just a little bit. – Joshua Hyslop

“Small Town Talk” – Bobby Charles

I love this song. I think it’s hard to listen to it and not imagine being on a bike ride, just meandering around some neighborhood on a lazy sunny afternoon. To me, this is the perfect place to start. Great artist. Great album.

“AUATC” – Bon Iver

Sometimes, you listen to a song at just the right time. Something about the lyrics or the melody just clicks with you in the moment. I’m not even 100% sure what this song is about, but my god, what a melody. The slightly sped-up vocals, the communal feeling to it all, it just has something that pulls you in.

“Lay down Martha, lay all that alabaster down, there’s no master, help will surely come around.” Who’s Martha? Why is she carrying alabaster? I don’t know, but I sure find myself nodding along.

“Box #10” – Jim Croce

I debated choosing another Jim Croce song, maybe something a little happier for this “chill bike ride” playlist. But to me, this song sounds like when the sun first comes out after the rain. It’s a little bittersweet, but most of the good stuff is.

“One of These Days” – Bedouine

I found this song when the album I was listening to ended and Spotify just started playing something else. I ended up pulling over and adding it to my own riding tunes playlist. I don’t know Bedouine outside of this, but I’m excited to spend more time with her music.

“Nantucket Island” – Willie Wright

I got the idea for the theme of this playlist, because one of my all-time favorite shows is/was High Maintenance on HBO. The Guy is always biking around, smoking a joint, delivering his wares, and getting a small snapshot into the lives of his many varied customers. It’s so good, and so human, and so lovely, and the music was always incredible. This track was in one of the episodes and I made special note of it, as well. When you’re done listening and reading all this, go watch some High Maintenance.

“Wish I Had Not Said That” – J.J. Cale

This song came out in 1981. The number one song in the USA at the time was “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes. Thank god for J.J. Cale.

“Scumways” – Michael Nau

I found this artist by watching Amoeba’s wonderful YouTube show, “What’s In My Bag?” I can’t remember who mentioned him, but his music’s in regular rotation for me, now. This whole album could’ve easily been the entire playlist. It’s a great riding or driving album.

“Down the Line” – Joshua Hyslop

Yes, okay, I know. It’s one of my songs. I think it fits the overall feel here, but we both know there is NO way I would put one of my own songs on my own bike ride playlist. Alright, moving on.

“Fata Morgana” – Kikagaku Moyo

Easily one of my Top 5 desert island albums. This record could also easily have been the entire playlist. It may seem a little out of place on the first listen through, but when I was younger and I’d make a mixtape for a girl I liked, I’d use an instrumental song as a bit of a palate cleanser, especially if there’d been a few super laid back songs in a row. Anyway, here I am all these years later, giving away my secrets and trying to romance you all.

“Gimme Some More” – Labi Siffre

It’s upbeat, it’s happy, it’s a perfect sunny day bike ride song. Plus, singing along and getting to say “Sock it to me” at the break makes me feel about 10 times cooler than I’ll ever actually be.

“None of Us” – Fruit Bats

This song embraces a certain kind of humility and self-awareness that really appeals to me. I could sing along to, “None of us have seen it all” on repeat forever. The entire last minute of this song kind of perfectly captures the emotional landscape I was thinking of when I came up with the idea for a chill bike ride playlist.

“Caterpillar” – Cassandra Jenkins

Just a lovely way to close things out. Say you’re out riding, and you’re on your way home, but you know the playlist is going to end before you get there; this is the perfect song to have playing on repeat until you get there.

Photo Credit: Emma Ross