Tag: stephen colbert

Did You Miss Gil & Dave on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert? Watch Here

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings – one of the most beloved modern duos in bluegrass and Americana – brought music from their GRAMMY Award winning album, Woodland (2024), to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier this month, performing “Empty Trainload of Sky” live on television. They also performed one of their classic tracks, “Look at Miss Ohio,” a song from Welch’s seminal 2003 project, Soul Journey, for a web-exclusive video. Watch both performances, which feature Punch Brothers and Hawktail bassist Paul Kowert backing up the pair, right here on BGS.

Welch and Rawlings are currently in the middle of a 30+ date headlining tour, with two concerts set for Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the Mother Church of country music, on May 22 and May 23. Earlier this month, coinciding with their appearance on The Late Show, they also appeared for two nights at Carnegie Hall before continuing along the East Coast. In June, they’ll be heading out West and concluding their run in the Pacific Northwest.

Between them, they’ve racked up endless awards and accolades, including 14 GRAMMY nominations and five GRAMMY wins collectively. In 2015, they were honored by the Americana Music Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting. But it’s not these well-deserved recognitions, their millions of streams and sales, or even their fantastic contributions to films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs that will be their crowning achievements. Instead, it’s the nearly universal love, admiration, and respect they receive from within and outside the American roots music community that best showcases their far-reaching impact.

That and, of course, the incredible body of work they’ve fashioned together. Whether the timeless and twenty-year-old staples like “Look at Miss Ohio” or the blustery and destructive new work, “Empty Trainload of Sky,” Welch & Rawlings continue to gift us all songs that will stand the test of time – and that we each carry with us wherever we go.

 

The Show On The Road – Allison Russell

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

This week, we launch season 4 of the show with a bilingual banjo-slinging singer-songwriter originally from Montreal and now based in Nashville: Allison Russell.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • SPOTIFY • STITCHER
 

After two decades of quietly creating heart-on-her-sleeve roots music in hard-touring groups like Po’ Girl, Birds Of Chicago, and recently the supergroup Our Native Daughters – playing the guitar, clarinet, banjo and singing in English and French – the spotlight finally fell straight on Russell in 2021. With the help of her husband and longtime creative partner JT Nero, she released her visceral debut solo record Outside Child which confronts her traumatic childhood head on.

Rarely has an album struck such a nerve in the Americana community, as songs like “4th Day Prayer” use the slippery soul of Al Green’s best work and Mahalia Jackson’s gospel inspiration to paint in white-knuckled detail how she escaped the abusive home of her stepfather for the graveyards and streets of Montreal. As she tells us in the intense conversation from her home in Tennessee, it was her songwriting hero Brandi Carlile who went to bat for her (a bold Instagram DM set fate in motion,) helping get her raw, unreleased songs to Fantasy Records. Thankfully, they wanted to take a leap. Even President Obama noticed after the songs began to circulate and he put her ominous radio standout “Nightflyer” on his favorite songs of the year list. The album has since been nominated for three Grammy awards.

While Allison may feel like an “overnight sensation” to those just discovering her on AAA radio, hearing her soaring voice shining on stages from Carnegie Hall, Red Rocks and the Late Show With Stephen Colbert, she’s been playing hundreds of shows in small clubs and festivals around the world for twenty-two years and counting. It hasn’t been an easy road, as she often had to her young daughter on the trail with her.

With a new book deal in the works continuing her story where Outside Child left off, there is much more to come from Russell. A champion for the often forgotten victims of domestic and sexual abuse, listening to Russell speak reminds one more of a fiery community organizer than a singer. Did your host try and convince Russell to run for office? Maybe.

Stick around to hear her dive into one of her favorite tracks from the new record, the hopeful clarinet shuffle “Poison Arrow.”

Sam Williams Carries His Country Music Legacy to Late Night Debut

Posted on by Editor

On his primetime television debut, Sam Williams makes a powerful statement. Grandson of the legendary Hank Williams and son of Hank Williams Jr., the rising recording artist previewed his debut album, Glasshouse Children with a riveting performance from his grandfather’s old house in Franklin, Tennessee. In an extended one-shot capture, Sam Williams does his name proud with a beautifully-written song called “You Can’t Fool Your Own Blood.” Out of a less-than-usual childhood and recent family tragedy, he has emerged with a style that is both poetic and hard-hitting, pulling no punches in his blend of honesty and vulnerability.

With an undoubtedly heavy burden of expectation, Williams blossoms in this realm of singer-songwriters who are more forlorn than raucous, standing with the likes of artists such as Donovan Woods and Ruston Kelly. Although his television debut was one for the books, perhaps the more exciting news is of the debut full-length record, set for a release later this summer on UMG Nashville. Music from Sam Williams has undoubtedly been a long time in the making, but the good news for us is that it’s almost here. Watch his performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert below.

Photo credit: Claire Joyce

WATCH: From the Station Inn, Sturgill Simpson Cuts Grass on ‘The Late Show’

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In October, outlaw country badass Sturgill Simpson expanded his already broad musical palette with the surprise release of a bluegrass record. The 20-track album, aptly titled Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions, is a return to roots for the singer-songwriter, whose prior endeavor could be described as nothing short of a roaring rock album.

After breaking the mold with Sound & Fury (which was released as a visual album, with an accompanying Netflix anime film), Simpson’s pivot back to more of a traditional-sounding record exemplifies his creative prowess and artistic boldness. Truly beholden to no rules, Simpson does things his own way, sparing no means to create a bluegrass record that honors the traditions of the genre. The album was cut as naturally as a bluegrass album is expected to be and features an all-star band with musicians like Sierra Hull and Stuart Duncan gracing the songs.

Released in October on High Top Mountain Records, Cuttin’ Grass also comes after a livestreamed bluegrass concert Simpson organized as a charity event and broadcasted from the mother church, the Ryman Auditorium in June. On a Veteran’s Day episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Simpson and Co. safely performed “Breakers Roar” from the Station Inn in Nashville. Watch the performance and check out his interview, too.

 

Stephen Colbert Is Late Night’s Roots Music Champion

Posted on by Editor

Getting a coveted performance slot on a late-night TV show is no easy task. Unless you have a Billboard hit or the last name Bieber, odds are you won't make it onto what's become some of television's most prime musical real estate. For roots musicians, that means fewer shots at late-night stardom and fewer chances to reach the wide audiences such performances award. But luckily, The Late Show's Stephen Colbert is changing the game, championing up-andcoming roots musicians and introducing their music to his legions of loyal fans. 

We've rounded up some of our favorite roots performances from The Late Show below. Check 'em out!

Kacey Musgraves, "Late to the Party"

Kacey Musgraves is no small star, so it's not as much of a surprise that Colbert would invite her to the stage to perform "Late to the Party," one of the standout tracks from her sophomore album Pageant Material.

John Moreland, "Break My Heart Sweetly"

John Moreland, however, is a surprise — Colbert gave the talented Oklahoma singer/songwriter his network television debut when he invited him to perform this track from 2013's In the Throes (despite Moreland releasing High on Tulsa Heat last year) earlier this month.

Lake Street Dive, "Call Off Your Dogs"

Lake Street Dive is a big name in the roots community, but their reach doesn't extend far beyond the genre's boundaries. Colbert had them over anyway, and the Brooklyn quartet got to wow the audience with this tune from Side Pony.

Margo Price, "Hurtin' (On the Bottle)"

The first country signee to Jack White's famed Third Man Records, Margo Price may not be a household name yet, but it's only a matter of time before she is. This performance of her debut single on The Late Show is sure to be part of what seals that deal.

Aubrie Sellers, "Light of Day"

Daughter of Lee Ann Womack, Aubrie Sellers is no stranger to the late-night circuit, although this performance on Colbert was the first time she was the one gracing the stage, performing a cut from her debut album New City Blues.

Wilco, "Random Name Generator"

Okay, so maybe a band as big as Wilco doesn't exactly need a television champion, but it's great to see them hit the stage to perform this tune from 2015's Star Wars nonetheless.

Lucinda Williams, "Dust"

Finally, don't miss this stunning performance from Lucinda Williams of a poem by her father (the late poet Miller Williams) that she reinterpeted and set to music to serve as the opening track for her stellar new album The Ghosts of Highway 20.

Watch Chris Stapleton Perform “Nobody to Blame” on The Late Show

Posted on by Editor

Stephen Colbert is early in his tenure as the new host of The Late Show, but he's already had some impressive musical guests. Perhaps the best so far has been Chris Stapleton, who took to Colbert's stage to play "Nobody to Blame" off his excellent recent album Traveller. Watch it below.

Other Roots Music News:

• We normally don't cover prog rock, but we'll make an exception in the case of THE POPE. 

• ICYMI: Father John Misty is a strange, amazing man. 

• Bob Dylan is releasing a ginormous box set. 

• Read Nashville Scene's cover story on Jason Isbell. 

• Rhiannon Giddens, Patty Griffin and Shakey Graves… how's that for a conversation trio? 

• Danny Barnes won the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. 

 

Watch the First Clip from ‘I Saw the Light’

Posted on by Editor

Hank Williams fans have been eagerly awaiting I Saw the Light, the Tom Hiddleston-starring biopic set for a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week. Now, take a look at the first clip released from the film, courtesy of Hiddleston himself.

Other Roots Music News:

• Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson shared the video for their duet "Are You Sure."

• Listen to "One That Got Away," the new song from the Legendary Shack Shakers, at Rolling Stone. 

• In a quick but important break from the roots world, Survivor threatens to sue Mike Huckabee and Kim Davis over their use of "Eye of the Tiger." 

• Brittany Howard, Mavis Staples and more joined forces for a super jam with Stephen Colbert.