Tag: singer songwriter

LISTEN: Kevin Andrew Prchal, “American Oblivion”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Kevin Andrew Prchal
Hometown: Chicago
Song: “American Oblivion”
Album: Unknowing
Release Date: May 27, 2022

In Their Words: “I’m proud to call America my home. Its freedoms have afforded me experiences and opportunities so many around the world could only dream of. Its music changed me and set me down an infinite path of discovery and inspiration. Its people raised me, instilling in me values that are timeless and resilient. And its history, while stained, decorated with stories of courage, dissent and progress.

“But no matter which way you look at it, the past few years have been a sad chapter in American history. The pettiness, the righteousness, the abhorrent meanness displayed by everyone from strangers on the street, to quote-tweeting trolls, to the most celebrated public and political figures. And perhaps most concerning, the complete disregard for human life throughout what should have been a unifying front against a devastating global pandemic. Who or what you choose to blame for how we got here depends on where you get your news, but all I know is this place has been utterly unrecognizable.

“And so rather than dissolving into the outrage and noise, I did what any sensitive guy with a guitar would do: I found a quiet room and wrote a song about it. It’s a silly song. Absurd, even. But as the great Nina Simone once said, it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times. How we move forward from this moment in oblivion, I don’t know. But there’s hope in remembering one thing: America’s story is still being written.” — Kevin Andrew Prchal

Photo Credit: Brett Rhoades

LISTEN: Adia Victoria, “In the Pines”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Adia Victoria
Hometown: Mauldin, South Carolina; now Nashville
Song: “In the Pines”
Release Date: May 17, 2022

In Their Words: “In 2019, I spent an afternoon poring over the journal I kept during my junior year of high school in Mauldin, SC. Revisiting the frustrations and observations of my 16-year-old self would lead to the creation of ‘In the Pines’ — a song that tells the story of a teenage girl from a small conservative town whose slow slide towards self-destruction is recounted by her best friend. It is the all-too-familiar story of how young women desperately search in vain for escape from totalizing ideologies that define their lives and the lives around them. It is a young girl’s quest for autonomy via rebellion over her life. Failing that, she will ultimately have autonomy over her own death. The song centers the stories of those who fall victim to the ideologies of emotionally stunted men. I dedicate ‘In the Pines’ to every teenage girl who is desperately scratching at the walls of ideological imprisonment. It is a song that I hope reminds them that they are not alone in their hunt for freedom.” — Adia Victoria

Photo Credit: Huy Nguyen

Basic Folk – Steve Forbert

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Steve Forbert is not a dramatic person. His stories are fairly straightforward even though he’s lived a pretty incredible life, which began in Meridian, MS as a young musician.

LISTEN: APPLE • SPOTIFY • STITCHER • AMAZON • MP3

In the hometown of Jimmie Rodgers, Steve found a great guitar teacher in Virginia Shine Harvey, who claimed she was a relation to the famous singing brakeman. Ms. Harvey taught Steve music through performance and connected him to other young musicians in the area, who then went on to form a couple of bands. He left his town for New York City in his early 20’s where he pounded the pavement as a singer-songwriter for a couple years before catching a break. During his climb upwards, Forbert found acceptance in New York’s punk scene, especially at the historic CBGB’s where club owner Hilly Kristal gave him a chance and introduced him to his manager. From there, Steve went on to start making records. His second album, Jackrabbit Slim, gave him his hit song, “Romeo’s Tune,” which he credits giving him his career and “a ticket into the show.” He’s releasing his latest, Moving Through America, with more character studies and focuses on life’s oddities.

It’s not easy to get Steve to talk about himself and his reflections, but he’s up for giving it a shot. He wrote a memoir in 2018, Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock, which sounds like it was a challenge for him to revisit and write about his past – not because it seems like it was filled with mistakes and scandal, but because it was sooo much about himself. He seems grateful for the opportunity to still have a career and does not take it for granted. He also makes some very hip and hot music references in our conversation: like bringing up rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Jack Harlow. Color me impressed, Steve Forbert is watching the Billboard Hot 100.

Photo Credit: Marcus Maddox

LISTEN: Jess Jocoy, “Living in a Dying Town”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Jess Jocoy
Hometown: Nashville via Bonney Lake, Washington
Song: “Living in a Dying Town”
Album: Let There Be No Despair
Release Date: May 20, 2022

In Their Words: “I had the honor of attending a songwriting camp up in the Catskills a few years ago, put on by The Milk Carton Kids (the Sad Songs Summer Camp). We were a couple days in and up till then I hadn’t really written anything I was proud of, but I was sitting in a workshop with another camper and he was sharing and asking for input on a song he’d written about change — a somewhat satirical piece if I remember correctly. This song didn’t have a title so I suggested ‘Living in a Dying Town.’ Much to my blessing, that title didn’t really fit his song, but it encouraged me to sit outside in a lawn chair after the workshop and write the initial version of ‘Living in a Dying Town’ in about 20 minutes or so. I labored over it for a few more hours, really digesting what I’d written and realized it was a song about my mom’s hometown, a small little copper mining town turned ghost town on the Arizona/Mexico border called Ajo. I grew up hearing stories of Ajo but have only traveled there a couple of times. Still, it’s one of those places that feels a part of you, if only through ancestry. It’s about the resilience of the ones who stay behind; the ones whose roots are planted too deep to dig up.” — Jess Jocoy

Photo Credit: Sam Wiseman

BGS 5+5: Aaron Raitiere

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Aaron Raitiere
Hometown: Danville, Kentucky
Latest Album: Single Wide Dreamer
Personal Nicknames: Rat

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

I was in high school and went to see a band called Leftover Salmon at the All Good Music Festival in Virginia. It was the first time I had ever seen grown people gettin’ wild in the mountains. A true mess of music, community, and insanity. Leftover took the stage and Vince Herman was dancing around with a big foam cheeseburger on his head. The band went into the traditional bluegrass song “Hot Corn, Cold Corn” and Vince grabbed a burlap sack full of corn and started throwing it at the crowd just yelling out “CORN!” — that was the moment I knew I wanted to be a musician. I couldn’t believe that guy was getting paid. What a job.

What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?

The deals that take the longest to make are the deals that last the longest. And never write anything down on paper that you don’t want someone else to know.

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

My mom just retired from 40 years as a Case Manager in the ER in Central Kentucky. When I was tryin’ to figure out what I wanted to do she always said she didn’t care what I did as long as I helped people. I try to help people with my songs. I think my mission statement would be “Help People.”

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

I’m a water baby. A lifetime swimmer. I prefer a river over a pond, lake, or an ocean. But most any water will do. I’ve got a spot I like to spend time at just north of Nashville. It’s quiet. Silence is golden, right?

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

The best songs are found in the truth. When I’m writing, the You is always Me or some version of a Me. It’s someone I can relate to. Someone with similar opinions and feelings. Someone I can write down what they are saying. It’s hard to hide behind anything anymore. People aren’t stupid, and there are cameras everywhere.

Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

BGS 5+5: Lisa Morales

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Lisa Morales
Hometown: Grew up in Tucson. Live in Austin, TX/San Antonio, TX
Latest Album: El Amor No Es Cobarde

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

I always say music chose me, not the other way around. It was always around me. The family got together all the time and sang Mexican music, mostly rancheras since before I walked. My grandmother played classical piano at a performing level; my great-aunt was first chair violinist in the very first Tucson Symphony and my brother had a band in high school that was quite popular. When my father died I was 14 years old. I came home for lunch during school and wrote songs to grieve. I’m very lucky I had that release mechanism through music because it’s so hard to communicate at that age, let alone understand that the depression you are going through is grieving.

How often do you hide behind a character in a song or use “you” when it’s actually “me”?

I did that in the past to hide but for the most part it’s just me naked in front of the world. I’ve learned that I’m not alone in going through life and its challenges, and in turn I can also help people know THEY are not alone in going through something similar.

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

All of them! Poetry was my communication with my mother since I can remember. She would quote all different Latin poets and writers to me: Garcia Lorca, Cervantes and stories about Juana La Loca. To Kill a Mockingbird and Little Women were books that influenced me in third grade. I went to Del Prado every Saturday as a kid living in Madrid — so yes (!) Art was fortunately pushed on us as children. Lyrics and music are the colors of my palette. My mother also owned bookstores. One of them was called the Antiquariat. It was rare books and she often had book signing parties there with authors and playwrights from all over the world. They would stay at our house and my sister and I would sing for them.

What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?

I was 14 or 16, I had been so nervous sitting in on stage and asked when the nervousness will go away. Shep Cooke from the Stone Poneys told me, “It won’t! If it goes away then you don’t care about the audience!” So I learned how to channel it into energy.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I have had many, but one that stands out at this moment: I was on stage with my sister, Roberta, and we were singing a very old Mexican song. We looked to the side of the stage and every single member of Los Lobos was standing there watching us. Cool moment! There was a similar moment when we were playing a Country Jam, singing a country song I wrote, and off to the side of the stage watching our show was Alan Jackson. When artists stop to listen to you it feels as though you’ve moved them and possibly done something right. It’s wonderful to get a nod of approval from those you respect.

Oh, but last month was a beautiful moment. I was opening for Rodney Crowell. We had written a duet together last year but (due to Covid) recorded it separately in different cities. We worked it up backstage in Berkeley and performed it for the audience. That was special. My sister passed away in August so I’m sitting here recalling these wonderful moments on stage with her like when we were playing a festival in Colorado and the power went out. She looked at me and said, “Let’s go!” We became mariachis and went into the crowd — just us and our guitar player, David. That was unforgettable for all of us and the crowd. You could hear a pin drop and see the joy on people’s faces… well, I can still see that in my mind. Another was where we unconsciously swapped vocal parts and didn’t know it until it had passed then turned to each other and laughed. That’s magic on stage.

Photo Credit: Enrique Garza

LISTEN: Izaak Opatz, “Mag-Lev Train”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Izaak Opatz
Hometown: Missoula, Montana
Song: “Mag-Lev Train”
Album: Extra Medium
Release Date: April 29, 2022
Label: Mama Bird Recording Co.

In Their Words: “‘Mag-Lev Train’ describes one really great night I had outside of Yucca Valley, California, when I connected with someone in a way I hadn’t in a long time. You know how when you’re in your mid-30s and single you doubt you’ll ever feel that hot belly cauldron feeling of mutual attraction and excitement ever again? Yeah, me neither. But anyway, the feeling just slid into place with this person and we stayed up all night talking, even ended up on a porch swing looking at the stars. It was such a blissful comfort to re-enter that part of myself, to know it was still there. I wrote the song after the relationship ended, but spent so much time focusing on all the little details from that night that I started to think about how the end of the relationship was embedded somewhere in that first wonderful night, almost like the invisible virus released at the end of the movie 12 Monkeys. So that’s the out-of-place E minor chord at the very end.” — Izaak Opatz

Photo Credit: Kendall Rock

LISTEN: Mary Gauthier, “Dark Enough to See the Stars”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Mary Gauthier
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Dark Enough to See the Stars”
Album: Dark Enough to See the Stars
Release Date: June 3, 2022
Label: Thirty Tigers

In Their Words: “I co-wrote the song ‘Dark Enough to See the Stars’ with Beth Nielsen Chapman many years ago, but never released it because it did not feel quite right. We took another look at it during the dark days of the pandemic after we’d both lost several dear friends. We saw the song in a new light and were able to rewrite it and find the core idea… which is that although the people that we’d lost were gone, the love that they’d given us was not. It was given as a gift we could keep, forever. There is something about grief that brings clarity. I took the title from a Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Dr. King said, ‘Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.’ To me, this means when things seem at their worst, we’re often gifted with knowing exactly what is important, and what matters most.” — Mary Gauthier

Photo Credit: Alexa King

BGS 5+5: Avi Kaplan

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Avi Kaplan
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
New Album: Floating on a Dream (out May 20, 2022)

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Iron & Wine. The peace he brings with his music has always helped me deeply throughout my life. It made me realize just how powerful a medicine it can be. When I started making music I wanted to extend the same type of peaceful medicine to whoever listens to my music.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

Going back on stage in Manchester, UK, for the first show of my European tour this past March, after two years of not playing a show for a live audience. The smiles, the singing, the pure joy emanating from the audience. I’ll never forget that for as long as I live.

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

Singing with my high school chamber choir for the first time. Being surrounded by and a part of the harmonies that were happening in that room truly hit me. Nothing had ever made me feel like that. I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?

Once you get on stage, it’s no longer about you. It’s about what you can give to the audience. No performance will ever be perfect, so prepare the best you can and when you get on stage, give all you have to the audience. Even if it’s just one person you impact, you’ve done your job.

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

These days I spend most of my time in the forests of Tennessee but I grew up roaming the Sierra Nevada mountains and forests, the Mojave desert and the golden foothills of California. I believe my music comes from those places. I can’t help but infuse my music with the imagery of those areas. It’s ingrained in me.

BGS 5+5: Joshua Hyslop

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Joshua Hyslop
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Latest Album: Westward

Personal nicknames: Do self-appointed nicknames count? I started calling myself “Uncle J Bird” long before I was an actual uncle but people didn’t really go for it. I still try it out every now and then. One of my friend’s kids genuinely thinks it’s my name. A few fans of mine once tried to build up some steam by calling themselves “Hyslopportunists” but, thankfully, no one else was on board. Oh, and my friend Brian once called me “Joshua Thighslop” after he saw a picture of me in short shorts but it never caught on.

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I think it changes. I have definitely drawn heavily on the inspiration I get from Paul Simon, The Tallest Man on Earth, and Daniel Romano, to name a few. Plus I’m always finding new music that grabs hold of me and completely changes my lens for a season or so. But overall I think the artist that has had the deepest influence on me is Ray Charles. Not necessarily stylistically, although there is some of that, but more so because of the feeling his music and more specifically his voice, evoke in me. It’s been the same ever since I was a kid and I heard one of his songs for the first time. Something about his voice just feels like going home. I can’t really explain it, but every time I hear him I smile and it reminds me of how much I love to sing.

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

I find inspiration in all of those forms but I think the one that has had the largest influence on me is literature. I read a lot. In fact, every time I finish reading 10 books I post about them on my blog, even though no one has said the word “blog” since the early 2000s. I’m going down with the ship, I guess. It’s usually just a turn of phrase or a specific description, or maybe just the feeling the book evokes, but there have been no shortage of moments that I’ve reached down into the lyrical ether to find an idea or that last line of a song and come up with something largely inspired by a book or a line I’ve read. It’s also a great break from writing. Whenever I come up against the wall I take a few steps back and just read or go for a walk. I don’t try to force my way through anymore. I’ve never been happy with the results when I’ve forced a song. Reading helps fill up the word bank and shift your creative mind off of “the problem” for a moment — sometimes, just long enough to help you unlock that phrase you’ve been looking for. Sometimes, not. But then, at least, you were reading a good book.

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

I actually always wanted to be a writer and had a really hard time calling myself a musician. I don’t read music and I don’t know any theory, so I’ve always kind of felt like a bit of an impostor when it comes to being a musician. But I do remember smoking weed with a friend of mine when we were maybe 15 or 16, which was right around the time I first picked up a guitar, and we were watching the Oasis DVD, Familiar to Millions, and we were in awe. After it ended we were both absolutely certain that we were going to be rock stars. I don’t know why or where that came from, but we were determined. So we formed a band and started writing songs and performed locally as often as we could. I still feel like a bit of an impostor sometimes, but they haven’t caught on yet, and I’m lucky enough to still be doing it all these years later.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

It’s almost always tough. You get the occasional gem that takes like 20 minutes and feels as though it was already written and it’s just being delivered to you, which is an amazing feeling, but it’s also incredibly frustrating because the next time you try and write a song and it doesn’t just flow out of your pen you feel like you’ve lost your touch or that it’s all gone and now you’re finished. Most of the time it’s a bit of a struggle, like doing a pretty difficult jigsaw puzzle. It’s like, if you just focus and stick to it and don’t give up, eventually you’ll find it. But I’ve had a few that have honestly taken me years. In fact, I just finished a song last week where I had two verses and two pre-choruses finished since about 2016. They always came back to me and I could never figure out where to go. Somehow, last week, it finally landed. Now, I just have to hope that it’s actually good.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

There have been many, but the first that comes to mind was when Mick Fleetwood invited me to play with him on his rooftop bar, Fleetwood’s on Front Street, in Maui. I’d never met him and I was only in town for a weekend to play a wedding for a couple who have since become some of my dearest friends. They were somehow distantly connected to him and someone showed him my music and he reached out about playing a show. He’d hired a cello player he’d been wanting to play with and said he wanted to play my songs. The three of us met a few hours before the sold-out show began and we played that night for around two hours. I think I’d maybe played with a band twice before in my life and only after we’d rehearsed extensively. But, magic happened and the three of us connected musically. It was one of those experiences that people call spiritual because it was so surreal it felt like it had to be otherworldly. I’m sure there were glitches as we played, but I don’t recall them. After the show, Mick said some incredibly kind things about me to the crowd and it was a moment I will never forget. The bar was kind enough to film the whole thing with GoPros and send me the files but I’ve never watched them. I got to live it and nothing can do that justice.