Tag: Stevie Nicks

MIXTAPE: Wanderlust with Katherine Nagy

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

I moved around a lot as a child – from Ireland to Indianapolis to Puerto Rico to Seattle to Spain and more. It was so wonderful to experience different cultures and connect with new people. And I think these experiences caused me to have a restless soul. I am always looking for new people to meet and new experiences to have. I am always searching for meaning in life and for authenticity and joy. This Mixtape is for people struck by a seemingly endless sense of wanderlust who are enjoying the journey as we try to figure out this thing called life. – Katherine Nagy

“All Done” – Katherine Nagy with Austin Johnson

I wrote this song as I started living life the way I want to live. We only get one shot and I don’t want to have regrets. So the people-pleaser in me is “done pleasing everybody else, I can only be myself.”

“Starting Over” – Chris Stapleton

Sometimes I just want to pick up and start over again, like I did so many times as a child. A new house, new roads, new people, new experiences. I daydream about “starting over.”

“Into the Mystic” – Van Morrison

He is a fellow Irishman and I have always admired the passion of delivery and arrangements he uses in his songs. This classic has long rocked my gypsy soul.

“Angela” – The Lumineers

I have driven a Volvo since I was 16 years old, so I love the lyric about the “Volvo lights.” And so many times I’ve gone for long drives with the windows down listening to great songs that resonate with me the way this one does.

“Gypsy” – Stevie Nicks

I just adore Stevie and her essence. She is magical and whimsical and so in touch with her heart and art. I have always loved this song and related so strongly to it for years.

“Send me on My Way” – Rusted Root

This was one of the most fun concerts I have been to. It was at the House of Blues in Chicago. I was young and free as I danced all night enjoying the vibes of their music.

“Midnight Train to Georgia” – Indigo Girls

If the Indigo Girls are on the train – I am coming! Love their harmonies and beautiful melodies. This is a favorite and I perform it at my own shows.

“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – U2

Me neither, Bono! (another fellow Irishman) I am still searching over here. I’m always writing to process life and try out new things. Life is a journey of searching, and I’m not sure we ever find what we are looking for – wish I knew.

“Mockingbird” – Ruston Kelly

I am a sucker for beautiful guitar work and pedal steel. The intro to this song gets me every time and it just keeps getting better with the harmonica. It makes me want to go on a road trip. Plus, I love birds!

“The Time I’ve Wasted” – Lori McKenna

Let’s not waste time doing things or being with people that do not bring us joy. Life is too short, and “time goes by and when it’s gone it’s gone.” Live your life authentically – be brave.

“Shine” – Dolly Parton

I love Dolly and I love ’90s music, so this cover is just amazing and resonating with me. And I always want heaven to shine its light down!

“The Architect” – Kacey Musgraves

Kacey is an amazing writer. I love her music. This little gem of a song is so profound, as it’s trying to understand this beautiful life. Is there a higher power and what’s the masterplan?

“Keeps Getting Better” – Katherine Nagy

Stay optimistic and stay checked-in with life. Stay true to your heart and surround yourself with people that love you. If you do, it will just keep getting better.

Photo Credit: Robert Zyromski

BGS 5+5: Hannah Connolly

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Hannah Connolly
Hometown: Los Angeles, California (via Eau Claire, Wisconsin)
Latest Album: Shadowboxing
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Han, Hannah Banana, Hannah Montana, Hanny

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

Most of the songs I’ve written and recorded so far have been very autobiographical and written from a first-person perspective. I often write songs as a way of processing my life and experiences. With my latest album, Shadowboxing, that was still very much the case, with the exception of the title track.

“Shadowboxing” was the first time I recorded and released an original song that felt like it may have been meant for someone else. I don’t think I was hiding behind a character necessarily, but it was the first time I felt a character surface within a song. It made me excited to lean further into that way of writing. I imagine my next record will draw more heavily on the concept of zooming out and drawing inspiration from the stories around me, rather than within me.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

One of my favorite shows to date was in Dublin, Ireland last fall. I was opening for my partner’s band, Young the Giant, and the crowd of over five hundred was the largest audience I’d played in front of in a while. I was a little nervous to be playing a more stripped down format opening for a rock band, but the second I stepped out on stage the crowd made me feel comfortable, supported, and excited. Looking out at that audience, being at peace in the moment and within my music was a feeling I’d dreamt of for a long time. To experience it in reality was surreal. That is a memory I am going to hold onto for a long time.

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

I first knew that I wanted to be a touring musician when I was a teenager and joined a pop punk band out of high school. We recorded an EP and self-booked a tour of the East Coast. Driving across the country in a van with friends, seeing new cities, and meeting new people was a highlight of my life up until that point. The minute we got home I wanted to go out and do it again. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since and I feel so lucky to have returned to touring this year with my second album.

Which artist has influenced you the most – and how?

There are a lot of artists who have influenced me over the years, a lot of them being strong women with a clear message and powerful stage presence.

For me that list includes Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Ani DiFranco, Hayley Williams, and Shania Twain, among others.

Watching these women move through the world was an inspiration to me both as a musician and a person. I hope to pay forward the same kind of positive impact they had on me, in whatever capacity that may be.

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

One thing I’ve recently started to realize about my mission is that I want to show up as my full self, powerfully and unapologetically, so that others feel comfortable doing the same.

I spent a lot of my life wrestling self-doubt and fearing the judgment of others. Watching some of my favorite artists take ownership of their art and story helped model for me how I could do that for myself in my own way.

As an artist I aim to be free enough in my expression that others can feel more comfortable showing up as themselves as well. It’s a constant learning process and I find new ways that this goal challenges me everyday, but I am really proud of the ways I’ve been able to grow in recent months with this in mind.

Photo Credit: Cody Ackors

BGS 5+5: Lisa Lambe

Posted on by Editor

Artist name: Lisa Lambe
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
Latest Album: Wild Red

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I always say Joni Mitchell taught me how to sing! Since I was 15 years old, I have listened to Joni Mitchell. She is a true poet with a golden voice and she is a true artist. Her songwriting is a huge inspiration. I remember being 15 years old and hearing Blue for the first time. I think that was a really defining moment for me — hearing an artist with a voice like Joni’s and a songwriting canvas beyond anything I had ever heard.

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

When I was 3 years old, I stepped on the stage of the old Victorian theatre in Dublin to be in my first theatre show. I think since that moment really I knew what I wanted to do! I think in my teenage years listening to Joni, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, Jean Ritchie, Kate Bush and Emmylou Harris, it was a real time of music discovery for me. Coming to Nashville to make my first solo album, Hiding Away, in 2015 was a special defining time — and although at this point I was an established musician for many years then, it seemed like all the roads were leading to Nashville and a place that musically was so important and inspiring to me for a long time.

 

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A post shared by Lisa Lambe (@lisalambe)

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I love the intimacy of small shows, but equally I think one of the great memories was performing at Red Rocks in Colorado. At one point in the show to hear the wave of sound of the crowd singing back to me on stage in that natural amphitheatre in the balmy summer air was something kind of magical. One of the nicest shows ever!

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

Nature is a huge element in my songwriting, mostly because I tend to write my albums in quiet rural places where the landscape is a huge part of the vista and the feeling. This current album, Wild Red, was written in the wilds of West Cork, Ireland, on the edge of the southernmost part of the country, looking out to the wild Atlantic. The songs are inspired by being immersed in the landscape and nature. Local folklore and old stories are also part of the tapestry of this current album, and if you listen closely, you can hear the crackling fire in the background of some of the songs!

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

I studied acting and drama in Trinity College Dublin so theatre and dance are a huge part of who I am as an artist and performer. Telling stories is something really important to me and especially telling a story through song. It’s always about the story! Wild Red is inspired by a lot of local folklore and old stories, and for me, that was just a real gift to be able to take inspiration from things around me and craft new ideas from the lore that is so steeped in the fabric of the West Cork landscape.

Photo Credit: Dora Kazmierak

BGS 5+5: Leah Blevins

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Leah Blevins
Hometown: Sandy Hook, Kentucky
Latest Album: First Time Feeling

Which artist has influenced you most & how?

The first time hearing Stevie Nicks was at the ripe age of 11. The inflection and mystery of her essence molded me from the moment I heard her voice. That furthered when I saw how she wore clothes. The record was Trouble in Shangri-La and it still hits me on a deep emotional level.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My favorite memories that come to mind are the moments that I’m singing with my family. We’ve sung from stages to living rooms, to share the spirit. There’s nothing more special than family harmony.

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

My daily mission in life is to spread love. “Be kind to yourself, be kind to others.”

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and musician?

The pairing of musician a meal would be soup beans, wieners, kraut and cornbread with my momma singing and playing the piano. Comfort food in every sense of the expression.

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

When I heard Martina McBride on GAC, singing “A Broken Wing.” I’d pull out my dads video camera and perform that song with my best efforts. When you grow up around a family of singers and players — it’s a natural pull to want to do the same. I’m not sure if my 7-year-old brain had an epiphany or I just desperately wanted to mimic her voice.

Photo credit: Robby Klein

BGS 5+5: Anna Rose

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Anna Rose
Hometown: New York, New York
Latest album: In the Flesh: Side A & Side B
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): The Electric Child, AR

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

It’s impossibly hard to pick just one, as so much of my love for the creation of music has to do with the understanding of its history and the shoulders I stand upon. I’ve looked a lot to The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty, Kurt Cobain, Warren Zevon, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, and Dolly Parton as songwriters, though again I feel like it’s almost criminal to stop there. As a guitarist, I’ve idolized Jimi Hendrix, Tom Morello, Jimmy Page, Jack White, Son House, Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Bonnie Raitt. As a vocalist and as a performer, Robert Plant, Prince, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac as a whole, Alison Mosshart / The Kills, Tina Turner, Debby Harry, Stevie Wonder … again, these lists are endless and only speak to the tiniest tip of the iceberg. A mentor of mine once told me that there can never be too much good music in the world and I believe that to be true, now more than ever.

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

The woods and the water — I can survive without both if I’m on the road or stuck in a city, but I think I am the best version of myself when I’m in nature. I’m a more present person when I can go for walk in the woods or sit by a river or swim in the ocean and I think that helps my writing. Taking care of animals is also a big part of my connection to the natural world, as well as riding horses.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I’ve been touring for a long time and so much of my life has been lived out on stage, the good moments, and the darker ones. I don’t often get to perform with my dad and those shows hold a special place in my heart, for sure. Many years ago, I got to open for Jackson Browne … I’ve been thinking a lot about that show lately. I was so young and completely in awe of him.

I guess recently the most precious memory I’m holding onto, though, is one from my last tour before quarantine at the beginning of March with the late, great Justin Townes Earle. Our last show of the run was in Asheville, North Carolina, at Salvage Station and Justin came out during my set, sat down on stage, and just listened to me. When I finished the song he stood up, got on the mic and said, “Girl’s got balls like church bells.” For him to come out and hype me up to the crowd like that meant a lot and I hold that tour very close to my heart. He was a truly brilliant artist and songwriter.

 

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A post shared by Anna Rose (@annarosemusic)

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

I really try to experience many different forms of art pretty often, but I find myself most inspired by dance, film, poetry, and theater. I was a professional dancer and choreographer for a long time and my mom was a dancer, as well, so if I’m writing and I can picture movement it informs the direction of a song a lot. It’s sort of ingrained in my spirit.

I also grew up around film and theater and work in those fields currently, so I find myself influenced a lot by strong, captivating characters on screen/stage and wanting to write songs for them. On the poetry front, I circle back to the beat poets all the time — Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg have always been two of my favorites.

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

I think writing for a character is not hiding, first of all. Assuming a character can be a really powerful way of working and getting outside of your own perspective, or expressing certain parts that might not come out when thinking of yourself in the most habitual context. It can be like wearing a costume on Halloween. So, I guess the answer is that I write for characters all the time but those characters often have aspects of my own personality and I’m not trying to “hide” any of that. Some dream experts believe that you are everyone in your dreams and I think of it that way, sometimes.

Photo credit: Shervin Lainez