If you’re looking for recommendations for desserts, might I suggest asking folk music and comedy savant Steve Poltz? This man loves gluten and carb-heavy sweets. He also loves collaborations, camaraderie, creativity and using humor in music. It all began for Poltz – or Poltzy as his friends call him – in his birthplace of Halifax, Nova Scotia, making him an official Canadian. He spent his formative years in Palm Springs and Los Angeles where due to his stutter, allergies, and asthma, he learned to talk fast to get himself out of trouble. His sense of humor was cultivated in part by his funny parents as well as radio and television. He was particularly taken with The Smothers Brothers, Laugh-In, and the novelty songs he heard on Dr. Demento’s radio program, which solidified his own aspirations for being silly as hell in his own writing. Along the way, he picked up the guitar at six years old and it’s been by his side ever since.
After he moved to San Diego to attend college in the ’80s, he formed the cow-punk band The Rugburns with Robert Driscoll. The group, which Steve has described as “really slow speed metal,” developed a cult following across the U.S. in the early ’90s. It was at that time when Poltz met Jewel, who was a struggling musician in the San Diego scene. The two dated (they remain friends to this day) and ended up co-writing one of the biggest songs of the ’90s with “You Were Meant For Me.” After a brush with a major label (thanks to all the Jewel stuff), he remained an independent artist who developed a reputation for a singular live performance experience.
In 2014, he actually had a stroke onstage, which temporarily caused him to lose his vision, his ability to read, and also gave him a new outlook on life. Also: post-stroke, he found a late-in-life obsession with the Grateful Dead. In 2016 he and his wife, Sharon, moved to Nashville, where he discovered that he actually does like the Nashville co-writing thing. He’s written songs with people like Molly Tuttle and Billy Strings. His friend Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers) produced his most recent record, Stardust and Satellites. Here’s to Steve Poltz!
To welcome you to the end of the week, we’ve got a slate of superlative premieres from across the roots music landscape.
Below, find new tracks from singer-songwriters – Maya de Vitry, who sings a song from her upcoming co-written with Caitlin Canty, as well as Lucy Isabel bringing “A Hero’s Welcome.” We’ve also got a few Western North Carolinians in our round-up, including bluegrass mandolinist Darren Nicholson playing a song about a true mountain man, John Colter, and Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters offering “Big Year.”
Plus, guitarist Jacob Johnson is joined by Willie Nelson & Family harmonica player Mickey Raphael on an acoustic Allman Brothers cover and Tommy Emmanuel pays tribute to Chet Atkins’ 100th birthday with a video BGS premiered earlier this week.
It’s all right here on BGS – and You Gotta Hear This!
Maya de Vitry, “Odds of Getting Even”
Artist:Maya de Vitry Hometown: Lancaster, Pennsylvania Song: “Odds of Getting Even” Album:The Only Moment Release Date: July 12th, 2024 Label: Mad Maker Studio
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Odds of Getting Even’ with my dear friend Caitlin Canty at a kitchen table in Nashville, several years ago. I was borrowing a friend’s snare drum at the time and having so much fun just grooving on that drum and singing. We were really moved by an article laying on my table, it was about the late Sharon Jones. Her story is powerful – her devotion to music in spite of so many years of rejection and really outright dismissal by the music industry – and then her battle with cancer, and performing in the midst of treatment… Against so many odds, she persisted in making her music. And singing was the only thing that could take her pain away.
“The band Della Mae made the first recording of this song on their 2020 Headlight album. It’s a real honor and thrill to hear another band bring your song to life. Then, Caitlin recorded her own version on Quiet Flame, which came out last summer. One of the things I love most about making records is making a collection of songs that feel like they magnetically want to live alongside each other, like companion plants or something – and this one just absolutely belongs in the song garden of The Only Moment. And to hear Phoebe Hunt on harmony vocals… well I just think Phoebe is an absolute legend. I’m so lucky to get to sing with her.” – Maya de Vitry
Track Credits: Maya de Vitry – Vocals, acoustic guitar, synth Phoebe Hunt – Harmony vocals Anthony da Costa – Electric guitar Ethan Jodziewicz – Bowed upright bass Dominic Billett – Drums
Lucy Isabel, “A Hero’s Welcome”
Artist:Lucy Isabel Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “A Hero’s Welcome” Album:All The Light Release Date: June 28, 2024 (single); October 11, 2024 (album)
In Their Words: “‘A Hero’s Welcome’ is the only song on the album that wasn’t written specifically for the album. I taught myself to play guitar in college and started writing music pretty much right away. ‘A Hero’s Welcome’ was the first song that I ever felt proud of writing; I felt like I had found my voice. While I was in the process of writing the bulk of this album, I hung out with a college friend who reminded me of ‘A Hero’s Welcome.’ I suddenly realized that it was a perfect fit for All The Light and I added it to the track list. It’s been really fun to revisit this song that I wrote as a 21-year-old and hear how it’s transformed through the production process.” – Lucy Isabel
Track Credits: Written by Lucy Isabel Fortune-Cabrera. Produced/mixed by Jared Anderson. Mastered by Preston Cochran. Lucy Isabel – Vocals, BGVs Jared Anderson – Guitar, bass, pianos, percussion Andy Ellison – Pedal Steel
Jacob Johnson, “Jessica” featuring Mickey Raphael
Artist:Jacob Johnson Hometown: Greenville, SC Song: “Jessica” feat. Mickey Raphael Release Date: June 21, 2024
In Their Words: “It’s an unwritten rule for musicians that if your darlin’ (that’s how we say “significant other” or “partner” in the South) is named after a famous song, you must learn the song and you must use it to serenade them. Unfortunately, my wife was named after a 7-minute Allman Brothers jam. Eventually, I got serious and put together a solo/acoustic version of ‘Jessica’ that I later played as she danced with her dad at our wedding reception on May 31, 2019. It’s been knocking around in my head since then and earlier this year I decided it was time to flesh out the arrangement with some collaborators.
“Jack Ryan and Stephen Campbell from the dangerously hot Marcus King Band laid down a groovy, breathing foundation on drums and bass respectively, and Aaron Bowen supplied tasty keyboard lines throughout. In addition to the main melody, I played the second solo on my trusty Takamine acoustic guitar, but I knew I wanted to feature another special guest for the first solo section. I was completely blown away when my first choice, Mickey Raphael, legendary harmonica player for Willie Nelson and Family, agreed to participate. Mickey has played on some of my favorite albums of all time, and his lyrical, melodic style was just what the track was asking for. Having part of his magic on one of my tracks has been on my musical bucket list for many years.
“Of course, this entire project was created with lots of love and respect for its composer, the great Dickey Betts, who we lost not long after production was completed. If you know Southern music, you know he was one of the greats. Though I never had the opportunity to meet the man, I hope that my arrangement and attention to the details of this composition can honor his legacy in some small way.” – Jacob Johnson
Track Credits: Jacob Johnson – Guitars Mickey Raphael – Harmonica Jack Ryan – Drums Stephen Campbell – Bass Aaron Bowen – Keyboards Produced by Jacob Johnson. Recorded by Shane Nelson at Asaph Studios & Mike McCarthy in Jack Ryan’s Garage. Mixed by Shane Nelson at Asaph Studios, Greenville, South Carolina. Mastered by Anna Frick at Ally Sound.
Darren Nicholson, “Big Sky”
Artist:Darren Nicholson Hometown: Canton, North Carolina Song: “Big Sky” Release Date: June 21, 2024 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “This is one of my favorite cuts of my entire recording career. I feel there’s a special spirit in the song and the way it turned out. It’s based on the true story of early American explorer, John Colter. He was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and became the first known person of European descent to enter the region which became Yellowstone National Park. There’s several fascinating periods of his life and career. I became aware of him through a fabulous book about his survival and harrowing adventures called Colter’s Run. He was one of the first true mountain men. This was the inspiration for the song when Charles Humphrey and myself set out to write it. I also think it would make a great film. I feel the musicians knocked it out of the park in regard to capturing the mood and old-time essence. Hope you enjoy!” – Darren Nicholson
Track Credits: Darren Nicholson – Mandolin, octave mandolin, lead vocal, harmony vocal Tony Creasman – Drums Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo Zach Smith – Upright bass; Colby Laney – Acoustic guitar Deanie Richardson – Fiddle David Johnson – Dobro Kevin Sluder – Harmony vocal Jennifer Nicholson – Harmony vocal
Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters, “Big Year”
Artist: Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina Song: “Big Year” Album:The Ones That Stay Release Date: August 9, 2024 Label: Mule Kick Records
In Their Words:“I wrote the first line of this song in 2018, after what felt like a really big year. I would revisit it from time to time, trying to find the rest of the words. And while I was doing that, the years just kept getting bigger and bigger. Good stuff, bad stuff, life just gets overwhelming at times. And of course there was a global pandemic. I’m still waiting on a smaller year, but maybe I’m also learning how to ride the wave a little better.” – Amanda Anne Platt
Track Credits: Amanda Anne Platt – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal Matt Smith – Dobro Rick Cooper – Electric guitar, vocal harmony Kevin Williams – Piano, vocal harmony Evan Martin – Bass, drums, percussion, vocal harmony
Produced by Scott McMicken and Greg Cartwright, FrogHouse Productions, and Amanda Anne Platt.
In Their Words: “The one and only Chet Atkins would be celebrating his 100th year if he were still here in body. We miss him. We love his playing, we remember all the great lessons and wisdom he handed out freely to us. We always use his example as the one written in stone. My fellow CGPs, John Knowles and Steve Wariner, have their own experiences and memories to share, and they have lived a different life to me. Yet, because of our love for Chet’s music, we are forever joined, like family…” – Tommy Emmanuel
“Nobody tells it like it is,” Anna Tivel sings on “Disposable Camera,” the first single from her new album, Living Thing. The song radiates with the joy and pain of reality, climaxing with the lines:
That big black train is rolling And that deep down scream is growing A hurricane come howling A shot heard from the mountain A blessing and a burden I swear this will be worth it…
Which are followed by a melodic and cathartic yell. I don’t know how I first came across Tivel’s music, but when I found the song “Blue World,” I got stuck on it. I listened to it over and over, trying to take in every aspect of it, break it into pieces, open it up like a watch so that I could understand how this perfect song ticked. It is still the most beautiful meditation on dying that I’ve ever heard. “You come to the heavy gate and you open it all alone…” is a line I think about often. To me, it sounded like she herself was telling it like it is.
A few weeks after discovering “Blue World,” I was on tour with Kris Drever, who is one of my favorite folk musicians from Scotland. We were trading new music discoveries and I played him that song, after which he became obsessed with it. We traveled around listening to “Blue World” and talking about death for the rest of the tour. Giving someone a new song to love is a special kind of transaction. It’s a gift for the new listener, but also a point of pride to have found something that someone else also finds meaning in – especially when the recipient of said gift is a musician you admire. New song discoveries are an unmatchable currency, a communication beyond words.
“Blue World” sent me on a journey through Tivel’s catalogue, with hours spent listening to Small Believer, The Question, and Outsiders, before the release of her latest record on March 31. With Tivel’s latest collection, I have to come to the conclusion that someone does tell it like it is and that person is Anna Tivel. I spoke with her over the phone for BGS about the inspiration behind her songs and the unique circumstances that led to her production choices on Living Thing.
I’ve been a fan of your work for a long time and I’m curious to know what feels new and different about this record than your past work?
Anna Tivel: I think there are two main things. I’ve worked with Shane Leonard before [who produced Outsiders and The Question], but this is the deepest collaboration we’ve ever done. There is so much of his heart and his sonic experimentation in these songs.
We made this squarely in the pandemic years, so there was no way to call upon a band for live tracking. It was just me and him in his studio. He went insane trying all kinds of sounds, playing all different instruments, and I scribbled extra verses on napkins as I heard what he was coming up with. We worked all day, every day and I slept on his couch for a month. I tried to say yes to everything and I learned so much. I really feel like the sounds feel different than what we’ve worked on before.
The other thing is that going through that year, I was craving soaring choruses… more melody and rise and rhythmic happenings that I normally do. Maybe it was a result of just sitting and looking at the same window for so long. I usually write long and dark monotonous stories with no chorus at all, but I think I craved a little more hope and joy. In general I feel like less people died on this album than usually die my albums… it’s still melancholy as fuck though.
Knowing that these songs were written and recorded during that very existential time, and now that they are being released into a different time, do these songs feel different to you than they once did?
Yeah, it’s interesting, the whole process of putting out a record. I really got stuck in the machine for a little while so it took quite a long time for this album to come out.
They are older songs now in my soul, but the project still feels really fresh. I think because Shane drew them into this more alive, sonic world. It was really exciting and fun to explore joy and rhythm and movement, especially in that isolated time. It felt good to have some hope and just wiggle around and try to feel the good parts of being a human.
So coming back to it now, it feels new and exciting to take them out on the road with a band. It’s making me realize it’s fun to have some songs that we can really move into, rather than building up from the ground.
One of my favorite tracks from your new record is “Desperation” – “Real life is far from fair, you tried and tried and got nowhere/ It’s like somebody rigged the whole damn thing/ Bloody knuckles, empty hands, you want to fight, but all you ever had/ Is desperation.” Can you tell me a little about what led to that song?
I think that one came out of the heart of that pandemic time, watching people, and having an awareness of how close many folks are to the edge, simultaneously knowing how the people pulling the strings aren’t the ones close to the edge.
Maybe your kid gets sick, and you miss work, and then that’s that, you’re evicted, and into the car. You don’t choose what you’re born into and if you’re born with the short end of the stick, it’s so hard to imagine anything but that reality.
You can see getting stuck, because that imagination isn’t generously shared by the people that own it. But if people that are living in a different world reach out to help it can really change the situation. Sometimes that means helping people believe that a different reality is possible. You have to go into your mind to create what you need. It’s sort of the same idea as representation, in the sense that if you’ve seen people that feel like you in very different situations than you, you can imagine yourself into a different situation.
I want to work on making that imagination more widely available.
That’s an amazing point, and a great one to keep in mind especially for artists. Artists can and have played that role for people, I believe. Does this same idea carry through for the song, “Disposable Camera?”
I like songwriting because you’re sort of always looking inward… You think you’re reflecting the world, but so much of yourself gets in there and the things that you’re learning into. A lot of this album is about getting free, getting loose of the way that you’ve taken in that it “should be,” the way that you should express yourself or the way you should move…
A lot of friends in the pandemic were having kids or trying to have kids and I was thinking about how, when we were all born, our parents were these people. [I was] realizing that everyone making babies has no idea what is going [to happen] and it’s kind of beautiful that it’s this big wheel of nobody knowing what they’re doing. Everyone is kinda hoping that someone else will be like “this is what it is,” but maybe the not knowing is actually a freedom. It feels scary to think you’re supposed to be certain, but you aren’t yet. The freedom is that nobody actually is certain and that’s not going to change.
I was listening to your song “Kindness of a Liar” and thinking about how important escapism was in 2020 and 2021. How badly I needed books and TV shows to get lost in so that I could come back to the present and have energy to cope with what was happening. Is that what this song is about to you?
In this batch of songs I was thinking a lot about what is truth, what is honest, what is listening, and what is being able to have nuance in all of those realms. You don’t just stay certain. To be able to move and shift and read situations and try to be learning in real time, messily, is very different from saying, “This is a fact and I’m going to hit everyone over the head with it until I’m proven wrong, and then I’m going to pretend I never said it.”
To try and tell stories to one another that are compassionate and messy – sometimes telling a story that might not be true is the most gentle and kind thing you can do while something hard is happening.
I think it’s about recognizing how much we crave each other’s stories and being really aware of how we paint the world for each other. The more artfully and more compassionately we tell each other’s stories the more we connect, and it’s not about trying to prove our point.
The most loving thing you can do is to share your mind and heart with people in the most nuanced way. And maybe there’s some fiction and lore in that.
If you didn’t work in music, what would you do instead?
I would work in construction or be a lawyer or a therapist.
If you were a color, what shade would you be – and why?
I would be green – green represents plants and herbs that heal us. I’d like to be the person that saves a person’s day
What would a perfect day as an artist and creator look like to you?
Cooking and having good healthy meal, editing projects I produce for friends, playing soccer with friends, having a cocktail in a dive bar watching a local band perform.
What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?
It was when I was like 12, I went to this school that had a choir and when I listened to them sing, it was amazing then I knew I have to try singing. That’s where singing starts for me, but wanting to be a musician was never a plan, I just went with the flow of life and ended up being one… none of my friends even believe I sing.
Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?
Gardening and soccer always reminds me that life is not all about just work, it calms my mind; when I get back to work I feel less pressured by the whole work system and pace.
You Gotta Hear This! We’ve got an excellent collection of premieres for you today on BGS, including two new music videos and a new tribute track, too.
Check out a brand new video for “Homeward” by Natalie Spears, off her upcoming album, Hymn of Wild Things, which is set for release June 28. Also, don’t miss a fiery, Tarantino-esque video from India Ramey for “Baptized By the Blaze,” the title track of her new record coming in August.
To round us out, bluegrass singer-songwriter and radio personality Chris Jones pays tribute to iconic folk songwriter Tom Paxton with a rendition of “The Last Hobo” from the stacked Bluegrass Sings Paxton project.
It’s all right here on BGS and You Gotta Hear This!
Natalie Spears, “Homeward”
Artist:Natalie Spears Hometown: Carbondale, Colorado Song: “Homeward” Album:Hymn of Wild Things Release Date: June 28, 2024 (album) Label: SleeLee
In Their Words: “‘Homeward’ is a soulful manifesto about returning to oneself. It can be so easy to lose ourselves in relationships and this song is about coming home to our own being. I left Colorado during the pandemic to be with my partner on the East Coast. When things hit rock bottom, I packed the car and headed west. Miles of empty flatlands, cornfields, and numbing road noise only made my static mind chatter louder, constantly questioning, ruminating in self doubt. When the Rocky Mountains finally came into view, my whole body let go. I pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot to write these words, ‘That muddy road was getting old and keeping on just kept me down, I was one step forward, two steps back, now I’m heading homeward bound.'” – Natalie Spears
Track Credits: Natalie Spears – Vocals and keys Bradley Morse – Bass Kevin Matthews – Drums Eric Wiggs – Audio engineering and mixing
Video Credit:Erik Fellenstein Payden Winner and Eric Fellenstein – Camera operators
Chris Jones, “The Last Hobo” (From Bluegrass Sings Paxton)
Artist:Chris Jones Song: “The Last Hobo” Album:Bluegrass Sings Paxton Release Date: June 14, 2024 (single) Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “It was such an honor to get to participate in the Bluegrass Sings Paxton project as both studio guitarist and as a vocalist on ‘The Last Hobo.’ I was immediately drawn to this song, which struck me as a classic Tom Paxton story song of travel and love lost. It’s the kind of song that pretty much sings itself. Plus, I’ve just always wanted to sing a song that mentions Tucumcari, New Mexico.” – Chris Jones
Track Credits: Chris Jones – Acoustic guitar, vocals Darren Nicholson –Mandolin Deanie Richardson – Fiddle Kristin Scott Benson – Banjo Nelson Williams – Upright bass
India Ramey, “Baptized By the Blaze”
Artist:India Ramey Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (by way of Birmingham, Alabama) Song: “Baptized By the Blaze” Album:Baptized By the Blaze Release Date: June 14, 2024 (single); August 23, 2024 (album) Label: Mule Kick Records
In Their Words: “This is a song about how I made the choice to put myself through the pain of getting off an anxiety drug that I was seemingly hopelessly addicted to, going through excruciating withdrawals, confronting my childhood trauma, and starting my healing journey in order to step into my personal power and become a better version of myself. It’s about phoenix energy. It’s about the death of the old me that was a slave to my trauma and the birth of the new me who is living a full and happy life without fear.
“My healing journey felt like a phoenix building its own funeral pyre, setting itself on fire, and being reborn as a more powerful version of itself in the flames. I took that myth and put it in a sort of Tarantino-esque, Faster Pussycat vibe, because that’s what I like, and made the car the ‘pyre.’ Alan Collins, my friend of over 15 years, is a VFX genius and he shot and edited the video.” – India Ramey
Track Credits: Produced, mixed and mastered by Luke Wooten at Station West Studios. India Ramey – Lead vocal Seth Taylor – Acoustic guitars Tommy Hardin – Drums Alyson Prestwood – Bass guitar Scotty Sanders – Pedal steel James Mitchell – Electric guitars
Photo Credit: India Ramey by Stacie Huckeba; Natalie Spears by Emily Teague.
Sage Christie (formerly known as Siena Christie), is a modern folk artist known for their pure voice and captivating story songs. In both 2022 and 2023, Sage was a finalist at the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest. They also won a handful of other songwriting contests including the Great River Folk Festival songwriting contest in 2021, Portlands Folk Fest Song Contest in 2022, and the Walnut Valley Festival NewSong Showcase in 2023.
Sage has spent much of their time in the past year touring the Southeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest. When they’re not on the road, they’re now based in Asheville, North Carolina. They moved to Asheville last year, eager to connect with Appalachian music, folk traditions, and the vibrant local arts community.
Our interview covers their dreams to tour full time and their ideal day on the road filled with beautiful landscapes, new towns, and deep connections with both good friends and strangers. We also explore their passion for music, their favorite LGBTQ+ artists, and their experience as a nonbinary artist navigating a recent name change.
Why do you create music?
Sage Christie: I don’t. Music creates me.
Okay, but for serious, I don’t really know; I just always have. I can’t go a day without making up pieces of songs in my head. That’s been true since I was 5 years old.
Who are your favorite LGBTQ+ artists and bands?
I might be slightly biased, because I’ve seen these people in person (and they absolutely wowed me off my feet), but I would definitely include Olive Klug, Emily the Band, Spencer LaJoye, and Flamy Grant on that list.
For anyone reading this who might not be out of the closet, were there any specific people, musicians, or resources that helped you find yourself as a queer individual?
Listening to Jimmy Somerville, the Communards, and Bronski Beat helped me get through high school. I was deeply moved by Jimmy’s heartbreaking songs about searching for belonging as a queer person. But I couldn’t explain why I was so particularly entranced and comforted by the music of a gay man, since, at the time, I thought I was a bisexual cis girl. The better I get to know myself, as a masc-leaning enby, the more sense it makes. To anyone who’s in the closet or questioning: you don’t have to know who you are today. You don’t have to tell anyone if you don’t feel safe. Your feelings are a hundred percent valid and okay. You matter, and you are enough.
What are your release and touring plans for the next year?
In September, I plan to release an LP called Little Deaths, a storybook concept album that traces the arc of a short-lived romance from start to finish. I have always been fascinated with fairytales, so I decided to write one myself. I feel like I grew up a lot while writing it. This album is basically me trying to explain love and death to myself like I’m in kindergarten. Once Little Deaths comes out, I’ll be celebrating its release with a two-week tour, visiting Chicago, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, St. Louis, and some other cool places as well.
You’ve been touring all over the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest. What’s that been like for you to organize these tours and be on the road so much as an independent artist?
Touring is my favorite thing ever. I love traveling, seeing new places, making new friends and fans, and playing shows night after night. Booking tours is a lot of work – from researching and contacting venues, to planning safe tour routes and lodging, to promoting the shows and practicing for them – but the payoff so far has been amazing. If I could tour full time, I would. That’s a dream for the future.
Tell us about your recent move to Asheville, North Carolina. What drew you there and how are you liking it so far?
I knew I wanted to move to the southeast U.S. because of the rich Appalachian music heritage and continuing folk traditions here. Leaving the Northwest was tough emotionally, because most of my family and friends still live there, but luckily, they’ve all been supportive of my decision to chase my own adventure. Now that I’m in Asheville, I’m inspired by the community of songwriters, poets, and visual artists that has welcomed me with open arms. To be fair, I’ve only been here half a year, but so far, as a creative person and as a queer person, I feel like Appalachia is a good home for me.
How has your recent name change influenced your personal and professional identity?
I changed my name to Sage recently. I was born with the first name Siena, and it always felt like someone else’s beautiful name. Naming myself Sage has felt like an empowering step in my journey as a queer and self-defining person. Many fans and venues still know me as Siena Christie, so I’m doing my best to spread the message about my new name.
What would a “perfect day” look like for you?
Being on tour with dear friends and partners. Driving through gorgeous natural areas and towns I’ve never been in. Playing a backyard concert with string lights and fireflies and stars and lemonade. Getting to cry and laugh with people I’ve just met because of music. Staying up late with friends eating chilaquiles while watching planes go by. Seeing my loved ones’ shoulders relax and eyes sparkle.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
A year ago, a good friend said, “You’re kind, to a fault. You should be more mean to people.” That might sound weird, but it’s helped me realize that failing to put on my own “oxygen mask” first actually hurts people – not just myself, but ones I love. Listening more closely to my own suffering has made me a better listener in general.
This week, it’s a tale of two Mothers in our premiere round-up! First, Gangstagrass bring us their latest single, “Mother,” ahead of their full album release next week, then Portland, Oregon-based string band Never Come Down bring us their own track, “Mother,” performed live at Ear Trumpet Labs. The serendipitously themed selections couldn’t be more distinct and unique, relative to the other, demonstrating the depth and breadth of these roots genres.
Plus, elsewhere in our collection of new music, hear fresh tracks from Jaelee Roberts, Kate Prascher, Karen Jonas, and Eddy Lee Ryder – a taste of bluegrass, a dash of singer-songwriter, a heaping helping of reckless abandon, and so much more.
It’s all right here on BGS and, honestly, You Gotta Hear This!
Gangstagrass, “Mother”
Artist:Gangstagrass Hometown: All over the USA! Rench: Brooklyn with Oklahoma roots; Dolio the Sleuth: Pensacola, Florida; R-SON the Voice of Reason: Philly; Danjo: Washington, D.C.; Farrow: Omaha; Sleevs: Baltimore. Song: “Mother” Album:The Blackest Thing on the Menu Release Date: June 7, 2024 (single); June 14, 2024 (album) Label: Rench Audio
In Their Words: “It started as a poem I wrote one day on tour. We were in the north of France, and just as described, I was sitting under a tree looking around me thinking about the world, our place in it, and what major changes we’d have to make in order to ensure the survival of humanity. My younger brother was actively deployed at the time and since my family has generations of men who’ve served, including my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and numerous uncles and aunts and cousins, there is always real concern about why the country is involved in active aggression, especially when that same country is obsessed with committing violence against its own citizens, my community in particular. I shared it with the crew, and Rench cooked up a haunting oeuvre.” – Dolio the Sleuth
Karen Jonas, “Gold in the Sand”
Artist:Karen Jonas Hometown: Fredericksburg, Virginia Song: “Gold in the Sand” Album:The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch Release Date: June 7, 2024 (single); August 9, 2024 (album) Label: Yellow Brick Records
In Their Words: “My dreamy Las Vegas wedding song; it’s an against-all-odds love story, a starry-eyed late-night wedding, the sweet optimism of love at first sight. I pictured a very zoomed-out and very zoomed-in Vegas as I wrote this, a drone image of a city rising from the desert and her hand tightly in his as they walk down the neon-lit midnight strip. We stumbled into Benji Porecki’s bittersweet piano intro during our live-in-the-studio recording session, with fiddle by Bobby Hawk and a tearing solo by guitarist Tim Bray capturing the intimacy and boldness of this love story. The monochromatic gold-washed video by videographer Ryan Poe feels like a retro dream sequence, pairing performance with delicate details.” – Karen Jonas
Track Credits: Written by Karen Jonas. Karen Jonas – Vocals, acoustic guitar Tim Bray – Electric guitar Benji Porecki – Piano Bobby Hawk – Fiddle Seth Morrissey – Bass Ben Tufts – Drums Ahren Buchheister – Pedal steel
Video Credit: Ryan Poe at Oddbox Studios in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Never Come Down, “Mother”
Artist:Never Come Down Hometown: Portland, Oregon Song: “Mother” Album:Greener Pastures Release Date: June 7, 2024
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Mother’ after finding myself living back at home, at my Mom’s house, and with my sister there, too. I had just left an emotionally turbulent relationship and was kind of broke and starting over at 29, but also extremely hopeful and grateful that I had my life back and could decide what I wanted to do with it. Having my sister and my mother around was really important for me at that time, to get me back to a place of feeling unconditionally loved and safe. The song came out of my subconscious need for those women to tell me what to do and to be there for me as I figured out what to do.
“I feel like it’s a really simple song, actually. I think most of us can relate to needing a parent or a mother figure or somebody that’s not family that’s a mother figure to be guided by. In this day and age, we all need mentors and guides more than ever and the age old wisdom of women, of mothers, of nurturers, of ‘kissing it to make it better’ and softness and the divine feminine.
“I hope all that comes through in this song. Because when I was writing it I wasn’t thinking about all those things, I was just singing my own little mantras out of my head, things that were just making me feel safe and loved. I hope this song makes people feel safe and loved. I hope people relate to it in all the ways that we relate to our mothers. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s lovely. I think if we all lived like our mothers were still watching over us or were in their presence, we’d all be happier and kinder human beings.” — Crystal Lariza
Video Credit: Ear Trumpet Labs
Kate Prascher, “Mary Ellen”
Artist:Kate Prascher Hometown: Hudson Valley, New York Song: “Mary Ellen” Album:Shake The Dust Release Date: August 30, 2024
In Their Words: “This song names the sensations of a summer’s day when she decides to leave, a taxi ride and the cigarette smoke that both soothes her and sets her free. Banjo and drums and the steady rhythm of driving wheels.” – Kate Prascher
Jaelee Roberts, “Georgia Rain”
Artist:Jaelee Roberts Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Georgia Rain” Release Date: June 7, 2024 Label: Mountain Home Music Company
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Georgia Rain’ after experiencing my first breakup/heartbreak when I was 16 years old. Interestingly enough, I had the melody come to me first and then the lyrics, which isn’t the normal songwriting process for me. I really do love this melody and the little twist in the chord structure. If you know me or have followed my musical journey so far, you know that I absolutely love a good ole heartbreak song and having rain be part of the scenario makes a heartbreak song even more lonesome and sad! When I wrote ‘Georgia Rain’ it really came to me like a movie and the words are really visual and I hope that y’all will be able to hear it and see it along with me when you listen.” – Jaelee Roberts
Track Credits: Jaelee Roberts – Vocals Stephen Mougin – Harmony vocal Byron House – Bass Cody Kilby – Acoustic guitar Andy Leftwitch – Mandolin Stuart Duncan – Fiddle Ron Block – Banjo John Gardner – Drums
Eddie Lee Ryder, “Bad Decisions”
Artist:Eddy Lee Ryder Hometown: Woodstock, New York (current); Irvington, New York (hometown) Song: “Bad Decisions” Album:Sweet Delusions Release Date: June 6, 2024 (single); July 19, 2024 (album)
In Their Words: “The song is a collection of fragments from a story marked by a string of bad decisions, beginning with falling for someone who misled me about their relationship status. However, the song sat in the dust-bin for a long time until I knew it would ultimately be a story about crashing and burning. I began noticing his intense jealousy, which you will find in lines woven into the song like, ‘Don’t ask me how I know those guys you wouldn’t like to know.’ The song is about being reckless and wild, which is the state we were in when we fell for each other. But when I was ready to move past being reckless and wild, to just stay home and watch crime shows together, that’s when he left. So anyways, I’m back to making ‘Bad Decisions’ and it’s going great.” – Eddy Lee Ryder
Track Credits: Written by Eddy Lee Ryder. Produced, Engineered, mixed by Dave Cerminara. Mastered by Adam Ayan.
Daniel Chae – Bass, guitar Dan Bailey – Drums Eddy Lee Ryder – Vocals Rich Hinan – Pedal steel Todd Caldwell – Organs
Photo Credit: Gangstagrass by Melodie Yvonne; Jaelee Roberts by Eric Ahlgrim.
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.
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.
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
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