Tag: tennessee

LISTEN: Dianne Davidson, “Sounds of the City”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Dianne Davidson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Sounds Of The City”
Album: Perigon: Full Circle
Release Date: August 28, 2020
Label: Perigon Music

In Their Words: “I was 19 or 20. I was already being a bit beaten up by the business. I spent two weeks on the road with The Moody Blues as opening act while I was touring my third album, Mountain Mama. Sometimes on those quick one-nighter tours, you can lose your bearings and realize you don’t quite know where you are. I was in a high-rise hotel, down below was traffic and noise and people milling about. I felt like a lost soul and wrote the song to center myself again. As fate would have it, I never recorded it until now. I was fortunate enough to have it recorded by Tracy Nelson on her Homemade Songs album in 1978. I was so grateful for her version of it. I knew I needed to do it on this record. It just belonged. The feeling just poured out and I was blessed with the beauty of my friends who played and sang on it. The B3 player, Austin Wireman, wasn’t even born when I wrote it. Full Circle.” — Dianne Davidson

Photo provided by the artist.

WATCH: The Alex Leach Band, “Take the Long Way Home”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Alex Leach Band
Hometown: Jacksboro, Tennessee
Song: “Take the Long Way Home”
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “After writing the song, my wife and I had a vision of how we thought the video would look. With plenty of help from our Mountain Home family and our band, we were able to make our vision a reality; complete with a ’60s, bright orange VW Microbus and bell-bottoms for all! Each of us got to unleash a bit of our inner, free spirit for the video, and we think the outcome gives off the perfect vibe. We hope you enjoy this groovy journey with us as we ‘Take the Long Way Home.'” — Alex Leach

Photo credit: Sandlin Gaither

WATCH: Molly Tuttle, “Standing on the Moon” (Feat. Taylor Goldsmith)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Molly Tuttle
Hometown: Palo Alto, California / Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Standing on the Moon” (Feat. Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes)
Album: …but i’d rather be with you
Release Date: August 28, 2020
Record Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “I didn’t grow up listening to a lot of Grateful Dead music, but being raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Dead was part of the mythology of my family and the area I grew up in (kind of how I imagine people who grew up in Tennessee, where I live now, might feel about Dolly Parton). Our specific family lore was that Jerry Garcia had gone to my high school (Palo Alto High) and my mom’s older sister, my Aunt Titia, knew them and used to take guitar lessons from Bob Weir in Menlo Park. That’s a roundabout way of explaining that this song means so much to me, because it brings me back to my roots. Even though I love Nashville, sometimes I do feel like I’m standing on the moon wishing I were with my friends and family in San Francisco. The line, ‘A lovely view of heaven, but I’d rather be with you’ is my favorite and it’s why I named the album …but I’d rather be with you. Life is messy and imperfect but I’d rather be here in it with all of you!” — Molly Tuttle

“One of the greatest feats as a musician, in my opinion, is taking a Grateful Dead song and creating a version of it that goes beyond the stigmatized identity of a ‘Dead Cover.’ It’s hard to do and takes a lot of courage to make it happen. But Molly reached for that brass ring and then somehow even went beyond it. Her version has given the song new parameters, makes me feel new things, and surpasses any sort of referential quality and becomes Molly’s own song. I’m just happy I got to be one small part of bringing it to life.” — Taylor Goldsmith

Photo credit: Zach Pigg

WATCH: Stephen Mougin, “The Song That I Call Home”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Stephen Mougin
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “The Song That I Call Home”
Album: Ordinary Soul
Release Date: July 31, 2020
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

In Their Words: “I discovered years ago, like many of my peers, I only really feel like myself when I’m onstage, in the studio, writing songs, or somehow involved in the creation of music. The normal world seems wild, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable until I have the chance to get back inside a song. Erin McDermott and I shared that sentiment back when we wrote ‘The Song That I Call Home’ as an homage to our muse: ‘Lyrical directions for an ordinary soul/ Look past my imperfections while the music makes me whole.’ It’s always a blast to have Sam Bush and Ned Luberecki in the same place, both musically and comically! This was an extra treat, as it’s the first music video I’ve released as an artist AND it includes my wife, Jana. I’m proud of our DSR Video team for their hard work, especially since I had to be on the ‘wrong’ side of the camera for much of this shoot!” — Stephen Mougin

Photo credit: Elliot Lopes

LISTEN: India Ramey, “Montgomery Behind Me”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: India Ramey
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Montgomery Behind Me”
Album: Shallow Graves
Release Date: September 4, 2020

In Their Words: “‘Montgomery Behind Me’ is somewhat autobiographical. I got married young, the first time. My first husband (who is a nice man) was from a ‘good family’ in Montgomery. I was not, so I was a square peg in a round hole. I just never fit, not with him, not with anyone there. I felt guilty for not being happy and not making everyone else happy. Eventually I had to accept that my time there was an exercise in futility. I also had to muster the courage to accept who I am and be not just OK with it, but be happy about it. When I would think about leaving, I had this vision of me heading down that long, flat highway with the small Montgomery skyline behind me and never looking back. Above and beyond the personal stuff, this song is a refusal to people-please and an acceptance and liberation of one’s true self.” — India Ramey

Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba

LISTEN: Grizzly Goat, “Wallowa, OR 1877”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Grizzly Goat
Hometown: Provo, Utah/ Knoxville, Tennessee
Song: “Wallowa, OR 1877”
Album: Bound to Go to Waste
Release Date: May 29, 2020

In Their Words: “While in Oregon, performing in the Joseph Mountain Jubilee festival, I spotted a statue of Chief Joseph. This sparked my curiosity as a history enthusiast and I soon listened to the 18-hour audiobook, Thunder in the Mountains. I learned that the area had been home to Joseph’s Nez Perce tribe which the US government wanted to claim for white settlers. Despite Chief Joseph’s efforts to negotiate rights for his people peacefully, a war broke out causing the tribe to flee 1,170 miles before they were surrounded near the Canadian border. When this ‘spaghetti western’ melody came to me, I was inspired to shed light on the story of Chief Joseph and a neglected piece of American history.” — Nate Waggoner, Grizzly Goat

Photo credit: Ryan Carter

WATCH: Jason Isbell Performs “Only Children” From His Tennessee Barn

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Jason Isbell dropped by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (temporarily known as the Daily Social Distancing Show) earlier this month and in a delightful interview, Noah inquired about many things, including how Isbell’s life personally has changed and how the impact of COVID-19 is being felt in the music industry.

Speaking eloquently as only he can, Isbell set the stage for his just-released record, Reunions. “The person that I used to be,” he says in the interview, “I looked back on him with a lot of judgment and a lot of disdain. … Finally, in the last couple years, for whatever reason, I felt comfortable looking back. … [Memories] came back to me in a way that I’m more equipped now to write about than I was.” 

Isbell is then joined by Amanda Shires to perform “Only Children” from their barn in Tennessee. Take a look.

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen

LISTEN: Daryl Mosley, “A Few Years Ago”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Daryl Mosley
Hometown: Waverly, Tennessee
Song: “A Few Years Ago”
Album: The Secret of Life
Release Date: May 22, 2020
Label: Pinecastle Records

In Their Words: “I think as you age, you become more introspective. These days I seem to have much more clarity about my past, both professionally and personally. I have some wonderful memories of experiences I’ve had and as I look back on them, I would not change a thing. But I also have some real regrets in some of the decisions I made and how those things turned out. But you realize that on the road of life, there is no place to turn around. You can’t change any of it. All you can do is appreciate the positive experiences and hopefully learn from the negative experiences and grow as a person. That’s what ‘A Few Years Ago’ is about — accepting the past and your responsibility in it, and moving forward as a wiser, better individual.” — Daryl Mosley

Photo credit: Patty Lindley

LISTEN: Jarrod Dickenson, “A Cowboy & The Moon”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Jarrod Dickenson
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “A Cowboy & The Moon”
Album: Ready the Horses
Release Date: May 22, 2020

In Their Words: “‘A Cowboy & The Moon’ is a song about change. It’s told through the lens of an aging cowboy, as he remembers a time that’s long since passed. It’s a nostalgic look back at what was once here, and now only lives in the memories of those who experienced it. While this concept is presented in a fictional manner through this song, I think it’s something to which we can all relate. The older we get, the more change we see. It’s inevitable. Places, things, and people who were once a part of our lives will change or disappear altogether. That’s the beautiful and tragic thing about life; none of it lasts forever.” — Jarrod Dickenson

Photo credit: Josh Wool

LISTEN: Gretchen Peters, “Leavin’ Kentucky”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Gretchen Peters
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Leavin’ Kentucky”
Album: The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
Release Date: May 15, 2020
Label: Scarlet Letter Records

In Their Words: “This song was one of the first ones of Mickey’s I ever heard, and the line ‘the road down to Nashville’s like crystal and stone’ is what hooked me. That a country song could wring as much poetry out of a line about asphalt still floors me. This is a song about the agony of love — not just heartbreak, but a hurt so deep that you wish you could cut it out of yourself (‘take a .44 pistol to me’). That was something Newbury did better than anyone — pure pain. We wanted it to feel loose and a little ragged, like a track The Band would’ve cut.” — Gretchen Peters

Photo credit: Gina Binkley