Tag: The Shift List

The Shift List – A Final Course

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

“Food, like a concert, is never the same experience twice,” Chef Edward Lee told me during our interview back in October 2018. “You can’t remove the human element from either.” 

Back at the end of March of this year, about two weeks into the nationwide shutdown, we re-released Chef Lee’s episode to highlight the work he has been doing through the Restaurant Workers Relief Program and the Lee Initiative to feed and raise funds for out-of-work restaurant workers all over the country. The human element was removed from both the restaurant and concert industry in a way that no one could have predicted just three weeks earlier. 

The Shift List was created to explore the creative relationship that chefs have with music, and to that end, the unique experience and vibe they provide to diners at their restaurants. Over two seasons as host and producer of the show, I’ve been fortunate to speak to thirty chefs in four countries and a dozen world-class cities, including London, Copenhagen, Montreal, and my hometown of Los Angeles. It was a privilege to eat their food in the restaurants that they built. 

There’s a lot of uncertainty around when we’ll all be able to eat out at restaurants freely, the way we used to, so for now, The Shift List will conclude its 30-episode run and serve as a time capsule for an experience that we never knew we were taking for granted. 

To commemorate this, I’ve selected five episodes to help inspire your own cooking playlists, and have included a few of my personal favorite discoveries from the show that always set a great tone when I want to focus on cooking at home. A special ‘Best of The Shift List’ playlist is up now over on our BGS Spotify page. — Chris Jacobs, host

Ashleigh Shanti (Benne On Eagle) – Asheville, NC 


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If Chef Ashleigh Shanti weren’t running the kitchen at Benne On Eagle, a restaurant that pays homage to the rich African American culinary traditions that once thrived in an Asheville neighborhood known as The Block, she’d like to try her hand at being a rapper. Her Shift List included A Tribe Called Quest, Kendrick Lamar, and plenty of Pharrell Williams.

Favorite tracks: 

  • A Tribe Called Quest – “Check The Rhime” 
  • Nina Simone – “My Baby Just Cares For Me” 
  • Kendrick Lamar – “DNA” 
  • The Neptunes – “Frontin’ (Feat. Jay Z)”

Tom Harris (The Marksman Pub, St John) – London 


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Chef Tom Harris explained what a proper English pub is, threw down some amazing jazz/funk/Afrobeat playlists (including Fela Kuti, Roy Ayers, and James Brown), and explained why recipes should be described in musical terms.

Favorite tracks:

  • Fela Kuti – “Mr. Follow Follow” 
  • Johnny “Hammond” Smith – “Shifting Gears” 
  • Moses Boyd – “Rye Lane Shuffle” 
  • The English Beat – “Mirror In The Bathroom” 

Jessica Largey (formerly Manresa, Providence, Simone) – Los Angeles 


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Chef Jessica Largey’s Shift List included The Clash, David Bowie, and Neko Case. In her episode she reveals why Nina Simone was the namesake of the DTLA restaurant she helmed for a year in 2018.

Favorite tracks:

  • Shakey Graves – “Dearly Departed” 
  • Ben Sollee – “Mechanical Advantage” 
  • David Bowie – “Golden Years” 
  • Gap Band – “Outstanding” 

Miles Thompson (formerly Michael’s Santa Monica) – Santa Monica 


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When Chef Miles Thompson describes food, it sounds like jazz – “salt, umami, acid, sugar, spice, crunch!” His Shift List included the trippy guitar stylings of Bill Frisell, the rootsy wanderings of Jason Isbell, and classical suites from the likes of Debussy and Isaac Albéniz.

Favorite tracks:

  • Bill Frisell – “Telstar” 
  • Bill Frisell – “Del Close” 
  • Agustiín Barrios Mangoré – “Julia Florida”
  • The Beatles – “Savoy Truffle” 

Matt Orlando (Amass, noma, Per Se) – Copenhagen 


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Chef Matt Orlando’s Amass restaurant in Copenhagen is a fine dining establishment located in a sprawling industrial warehouse that is covered in graffiti and proudly blasts obscure and “sometimes aggressive” hip hop. His Shift List included Bay Area legends Hieroglyphics, plenty of Wu Tang Clan, and some obscure Scottish reggae music to round it all out.

Favorite Tracks: 

  • Hieroglyphics – 3rd Eye Vision (Note: this is the entire album. Just let it run. There is no better music to cook to!)

 

The Shift List – Mark Buley (Odd Duck, Sour Duck Market) – Austin, TX

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week, host Chris Jacobs continues The Shift List’s feature on music and restaurants in Austin, Texas with Mark Buley, chef and partner at Odd Duck and Sour Duck Market.

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In 2009, Bryce Gilmore opened a food truck, the Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, with his brother in South Austin. The trailer featured dishes utilizing fresh and locally-sourced ingredients, which was still something of a novel idea at the time, and it became the cornerstone philosophy behind all of their endeavors moving forward, including the eventual brick and mortar version of Odd Duck and the more casual Sour Duck Market.

Mark Buley, originally from a small town in Wisconsin, journeyed to Austin in 2012 to partner with Gilmore in anticipation of Odd Duck opening as a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The pair have been working together ever since, and in the last decade, the Odd Duck collective has become a staple of the Austin food scene — fun and interesting, not too serious, and done well. Perhaps more than any of the restaurants recently featured on The Shift List, Sour Duck Market is intentionally communal. It’s a bakery, cafe, coffee shop, outdoor patio, and multi-service kind of place that’s designed for customers to stay a while.

Sour Duck and Odd Duck are both open for curbside pickup as things in Austin still move to fully open up during the coronavirus pandemic; listening to this conversation is a reminder of how much we’ve temporarily lost and have been taking for granted, but it also serves as a hopeful promise of what we’ll get back when the time is right.

In the meantime, if you want to bring the Sour Duck ethos into your own home, order a copy of The Odd Duck Almanac, a recently-released, annual cookbook/magazine-style publication that’s as true of a representation of the restaurants as you can get while we wait for everything to reopen.

BGS Podcast Roundup // May 22

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

We’ve got another round of podcasts for you this Friday, with episodes featuring one of the last founding fathers of bluegrass, a delicious Mexican-inspired meal from an award-winning Austin chef (in your home!), a young Nashville phenom’s debut on Rounder Records, and much much more.

Make sure to follow along with the BGS Podcast Network on our social media [Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram] and right here, where we’ll consistently gather our new episodes, as well as some past favorites:

The Shift List – Chef Fermín Núñez (Suerte) – Austin, TX

This week, our first in a series of shows from Austin, Texas, starting off with Fermín Núñez, executive chef of East Austin’s Mexican-inspired restaurant Suerte and Eater Austin’s 2018 chef of the year.

As you’ll soon discover, Chef Fermín is a man with a mission: To create the perfect tortilla, every single day. It’s his attention to detail that has made Suerte one of the most beloved new restaurants in Austin, and Chef Fermín’s love of music is woven into each part of the day, from the making of the masa, to prepping his mise en place, to the entire staff stopping at 4pm to clap to a cover of “Achy Breaky Heart” in Spanish and prepare for the night of service ahead.

Speaking of service, Suerte closed for a few weeks back in early March to regroup and recalibrate as the city of Austin sheltered in place because of the new coronavirus. In mid-March they reemerged with the Suerte Taqueria, providing highlights from Suerte’s menu for takeout — a highlight being the Suadero Taco Meal kit for families to enjoy at home. The kit includes all the ingredients needed to prepare Chef Fermín’s signature dish at home, including confit brisket, avocado crudo, black magic oil, signature tortillas, and sides. In addition to cooking instructions, they rounded out the experience with a video of Chef Fermín cooking along in his own kitchen, and a link to his favorite playlist in an attempt to bring the full Suerte experience into your kitchen.

The kits are still available, so if you live in the Austin area and need some high quality sustenance, head over to Suerteatx.com.

The String – Lilly Hiatt, Gabe Lee

Lilly Hiatt put in a lot of work at the local and regional level, including releasing two albums, before her third, Trinity Lane, met the moment and became a breakout work.

So a lot of ears were lifted toward her 2020 release of Walking Proof, and it was quickly acclaimed as punchy, vivid and memorable. We talk about going on the road with her dad songwriter John Hiatt back in the day, the deserved success of Trinity Lane and new musical directions. Also, a get-acquainted talk with Nashville-born, rocking country songwriter Gabe Lee.

Toy Heart: A Podcast About Bluegrass – Jesse McReynolds

One of the last founding fathers of bluegrass, Jesse McReynold’s story is the story of bluegrass — a music that emerged out of the country, into rural schoolhouses, onto rural radio, finding sponsorship along the way, enmeshing itself into the mainstream of American culture.

McReynolds tells the story of his grandfather, who played in the first recorded country music session, talks about being offered a gig with the Stanley Brothers, serving with the armed forces in Korea and singing alongside Charlie Louvin. He relates hunting down record deals and successes with his brother Jim, starting their own label, being sought out by counter cultural icons like the Grateful Dead and The Doors. Now nearing the age of 91, McReynolds spends some time reflecting as well, on his brother Jim’s death, his own struggles with the Opry, and how he feels about his legacy in the music. This is an icon of American music whose story isn’t often told, and we’re honored to play a part.

The String – Katie Pruitt, Jenee Fleenor

Katie Pruitt has been known as a phenom ready for big things in Nashville for a few years now. With patience and enough maturity to get the music exactly as she intended, Pruitt has now made her debut on Rounder Records.

The album Expectations is a bold, ambitious, and succulent collection, and vividly honest as well, with songs documenting a difficult journey from a conservative family in Georgia to a proud gay woman in Music City. This is a 25-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist poised for big things. Also in the hour, the journey of Arkansas born fiddler Jenee Fleenor. She was named CMA Musician of the Year and she’s releasing her first recordings of her own music after years supporting others.

The Show on the Road – Steve Poltz

This week on The Show On The Road, we feature a conversation with a Canadian-born paraparetic prince of pop-folk singers, who has jumped through more gauntlets of the modern music industry than almost anyone in his three plus decades of making records, Steve Poltz.

Poltz first hit the scene with the San Diego-based underground punk-folk favorites The Rugburns, then as an accidental hitmaker and MTV video heartthrob with collaborator and friend Jewel, and then as a wild-haired, two hundred shows a year internationally revered solo act. He’s put out a baker’s dozen of whacked-out, deceptively sensitive, and fearlessly personal albums that have won him devoted audiences from his ancestral home in Nova Scotia to the dance party dives of California to massive festivals across Australia and beyond.

As we are still quite separated during the pandemic, host Z. Lupetin called up Poltz in Nashville to discuss the long and twisty road Poltz has travelled — jumping from his inspired, most-recent album Shine On back to his childhood in swinging Palm Springs (where he met Elvis and Sinatra), to making $100,000 music videos for his ill-fated major label debut in ’98, to nearly dying on stage after substance abuse problems and never-say-no-to-a-gig exhaustion took its toll.

We now find him in a more peaceful, purposeful existence, where he is newly married and enjoying making music at home (government orders!) for the first time in decades.

 

The Shift List – Chef Fermín Núñez (Suerte) – Austin, TX

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week, our first in a series of shows from Austin, Texas, starting off with Fermín Núñez, executive chef of East Austin’s Mexican-inspired restaurant Suerte and Eater Austin’s 2018 chef of the year. 

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

As you’ll soon discover, Chef Fermín is a man with a mission: To create the perfect tortilla, every single day. As he recently told Eater, “It takes a village to make tortillas every night, and the foundation of Mexican food is masa.” The process starts with one of the restaurant’s staffers bringing a pot of water to a simmer, adding the necessary ingredients including the masa, cooking it to a certain level of doneness, and then letting it sit overnight. Another employee comes in the next morning to rinse the masa, the source of the day’s tortillas.

It’s this attention to detail that has made Suerte one of the most beloved new restaurants in Austin, and Chef Fermín’s love of music is woven into each part of the day, from the making of the masa, to prepping his mise en place, to the entire staff stopping at 4pm to clap to a cover of “Achy Breaky Heart” in Spanish and prepare for the night of service ahead. 

Speaking of service, Suerte closed for a few weeks back in early March to regroup and recalibrate as the city of Austin sheltered in place because of the new coronavirus. In mid-March they reemerged with the Suerte Taqueria, providing highlights from Suerte’s menu for takeout — a highlight being the Suadero Taco Meal kit for families to enjoy at home. The kit includes all the ingredients needed to prepare Chef Fermín’s signature dish at home, including confit brisket, avocado crudo, black magic oil, signature tortillas, and sides. In addition to cooking instructions, they rounded out the experience with a video of Chef Fermín cooking along in his own kitchen, and a link to his favorite playlist in an attempt to bring the full Suerte experience into your kitchen. 

The kits are still available, so if you live in the Austin area and need some high quality sustenance, head over to Suerteatx.com.

BGS Podcast Roundup // May 8

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

In this week’s podcasts, we take you everywhere from Nashville’s Lower Broadway, to Compass Records, to the culinary scene in Montreal, and even back to a time when touring was a thing.

If you enjoy spending your weekend with the BGS Podcast Network, make sure to follow along on our social media [Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram] and right here, where we’ll consistently gather our new episodes, as well as some past favorites:

The Show on the Road – Jamestown Revival

On the latest episode of The Show On The Road, we feature Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, two Texans and expert harmonizers who for the last decade have toured the world as Jamestown Revival.

Right before all tours got sent home, host Z. Lupetin was able to hop on the Jamestown Revival tour bus to discuss their intimate new record, San Isabel. While their previous record, The Education of a Wandering Man, saw them harnessing the muscular roots-rock that can be heard at their powerful live shows, San Isabel strips everything back to their intimate two-voices-around-one-mic, “southern and Garfunkel” sound that brought them together in the first place — and has rightfully won them hordes of fans coast to coast.

They say sibling harmony can’t be compared and we’ve had several sets of twin bands on the podcast, but what about soul-brother harmony? If one thing is clear just sitting on the bus and listening to them weave their stories and songs together, it’s that Clay and Chance were born to sing together.

San Isabel was laid down at Ward Lodge Studios overlooking the San Isabel National Forest in Buena Vista, Colorado and often includes the natural sounds of the nature all around them. Give it a listen — it’s peaceful and powerful and raw and maybe just what we all need right now.

Toy Heart – Alison Brown

Banjoist and record label head Alison Brown speaks with host Tom Power from her studio at Compass Records headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. They begin with her early records made with Stuart Duncan, “finding her people,” and winning the Canadian National Banjo Championship (as an American), then on to her time at Harvard, where playing banjo became “something you’d talk about at cocktail parties.”

She describes the moment she decided to leave investment banking and commit to music full time, her cocktail napkin dream, and the two talk women in bluegrass, women in banjo, and the First Ladies of Bluegrass. The story they dive into together is ultimately about figuring out what makes you happy, and pursuing it bravely, against all odds.

The Shift List – Chef Dyan Solomon (Olive et Gourmando, Foxy) – Montreal

This week, The Shift List closes out its miniseries focusing on the food of Montreal with chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Dyan Solomon. If you’re from Montreal, Dyan Solomon needs no introduction. She’s the co-owner of multiple restaurants there, including Foxy, one of the city’s essential fine dining establishments. Back in November 2019 she released the Olive + Gourmando cookbook, a collection of 150 recipes from the namesake cafe that put Solomon on Montreal’s culinary map when it opened back in 1999.

Host Chris Jacobs checked in with Chef Dyan via email the other week to see how her restaurants have been affected by the stay-at-home orders in Canada. She replied with cautious optimism, saying that while all of her restaurants are closed until further notice, they are surviving and trying to remain positive about the future.

If you’ve listened to the last two episodes of The Shift List with Chef John Winter Russell of Restaurant Candide, you’ll know that he highlighted the work that’s being done to help support the Montreal Restaurant Workers Relief Fund, an organization set up to provide emergency relief to restaurant employees who are facing economic hardship due to COVID-19. Coincidentally, the fund was set up by Kaitlin Doucette, the Sommelier at Solomon’s fine dining restaurant Foxy, and donations are still being accepted at mtlrestorelieffund.org.

The String – Paul Burch, Thomm Jutz

Paul Burch moved from Indiana to Nashville in 1995 when his friend Jay McDowell (BR549) told him about the burgeoning indie country music scene on sleepy Lower Broadway.

In the 25 years since then, Burch has made uncompromising and original music with shades of classic honky tonk and timeless rock and soul. On the latest episode of The String, we talk with Burch about his role in the fascinating band Lambchop, the evolution of his band the WPA Ball Club and his new album Light Sensitive. Also in the hour, German-born bluegrass songwriting star Thomm Jutz.

 

The Shift List – Chef Dyan Solomon (Olive et Gourmando, Foxy) – Montreal

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week, The Shift List closes out its miniseries focusing on the food of Montreal with chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author Dyan Solomon. 

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

If you’re from Montreal, Dyan Solomon needs no introduction. She’s the co-owner of multiple restaurants there, including Foxy, one of the city’s essential fine dining establishments. Back in November 2019 she released the Olive + Gourmando cookbook, a collection of 150 recipes from the namesake cafe that put Solomon on Montreal’s culinary map when it opened back in 1999. 

Host Chris Jacobs checked in with Chef Dyan via email the other week to see how her restaurants have been affected by the stay-at-home orders in Canada. She replied with cautious optimism, saying that while all of her restaurants are are closed until further notice, they are surviving and trying to remain positive about the future.  

If you’ve listened to the last two episodes of The Shift List with Chef John Winter Russell of Restaurant Candide, you’ll know that he highlighted the work that’s being done to help support the Montreal Restaurant Workers Relief Fund, an organization set up to provide emergency relief to restaurant employees who are facing economic hardship due to COVID-19. Coincidentally, the fund was set up by Kaitlin Doucette, the Sommelier at Solomon’s fine dining restaurant Foxy, and donations are still being accepted at mtlrestorelieffund.org.

BGS Podcast Roundup // April 24

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Another week, another podcast roundup. From bluegrass, to dreamy jazz classics, to Montreal cuisine, we’ve got options.

Make sure to follow along on our social media [Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram] and right here, where we’ll consistently gather our new releases, as well as some past favorites:

Toy Heart – Béla Fleck

On the latest episode of Toy Heart, Béla Fleck talks to host Tom Power from his home studio and for the first time, he tells his story in bluegrass.

Fleck started out in New York hearing Earl Scruggs for the first time, learning from Tony Trischka, and then making the decision to go (new) south to learn from J.D. Crowe. He auditioned for Bill Monroe, but eventually found ‘his people’ and joined New Grass Revival. He tells of mistakes the band made along the way, the hard decision to leave that band and start the Flecktones, recording with his hero Earl Scruggs, and how he found his way back to bluegrass after all.

He also unveils the one change he thinks anyone can make to their practicing to become a better musician.

The Show On the Road – Kat Edmonson

Initially turning heads for her dreamy and futuristic interpretations of great songbook classics like Gershwin’s “Summertime,” which have been listened to over ten million times and counting, Kat Edmonson broke through with playful original works a decade ago, self-producing one of Show on the Road host Z. Lupetin’s all-time favorite records, Take to the Sky. She quickly found powerful fans in folks like Lyle Lovett, who she toured with wildly. Major label releases followed. Edmonson soon migrated from her home state of Texas to Brooklyn, with her elfin chanteuse look and sparkling vintage sound (think Blossom Dearie with some Texan muscle).

Z. and Edmonson sat down to discuss her newest record, Dreamers Do, which may just be the shot of pure cinematic nostalgia we all need right now. Does she cover Mary Poppins, Alice In Wonderland, and Pinocchio and somehow make them deeply cool, sonically subversive, and somehow brand new again? She sure does.

The String – Jessi Alexander and Jill Andrews

This Spring, many of the outstanding women of roots music have released new albums, and this past week on The String, Craig Havighurst caught up with two of them.

Jessi Alexander, native of Jackson TN, moved to Nashville at 18 and landed songwriting and record deals. She’s a hitmaker behind the scenes who rarely surfaces with her own heartfelt country music, but she sure does so on Decatur County Red, anchored in stories of her Tennessee coming-of-age.

Jill Andrews is more urbane and silky in her sound, but the personal journey she shares on her album and book Thirties is full of challenges and the clarity that comes with time and triumph.

The Shift List – Chef John Winter Russell (Restaurant Candide) – Montreal

On the latest from The Shift List, a two-part conversation with John Winter Russell, chef and founder of Restaurant Candide in Montreal. While host Chris Jacobs caught up with Russell via phone post-COVID-19 restrictions in Part 1, Part 2 was recorded a few months back, before the world was thrown into chaos, and it serves as a reminder of how integral chefs and independent business owners are in shaping the culture of our cities.

Restaurant Candide is named after 18th century writer/philosopher Voltaire’s book of the same name, inspired particularly by the last line of the book: “Let us cultivate our garden.”

This line is the guiding force to Russell’s food, as he works closely with producers local to Montreal and creates four-course meals inspired by those ingredients, crafting dishes that are produce forward, but not exclusively vegetarian.

The experience of eating at Restaurant Candide is unique and only something that can be experienced in Montreal. From the restaurant’s location, set in an old gothic church basement, to the warm interior that utilizes refurbished pews, and exposed brick along the walls that look into the kitchen. The restaurant is a defining part of the fabric of Montreal’s restaurant scene, not only in 2020, but overall.

Thankfully, Russell feels that he and his staff will weather COVID-19 and should be able to resume business at the restaurant once restrictions are lifted, and in the meantime he’s given back to restaurant workers affected by job losses in Canada by offering beer deliveries every Friday. If you live in Montreal and are craving some craft beer delivered to your house, send an email at [email protected]. All proceeds will go to the Montreal Restaurant Workers Crisis Relief Fund.

 

The Shift List – Chef John Winter Russell (Restaurant Candide) – Montreal, Part 2

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week on The Shift List, part two of our conversation with John Winter Russell, chef and founder of Restaurant Candide in Montreal.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

This episode was recorded a few months back, before the world was thrown into chaos, and it serves as a reminder of how integral chefs and independent business owners are in shaping the culture of our cities.

Restaurant Candide is named after 18th century writer/philosopher Voltaire’s book of the same name, inspired particularly by the last line of the book: “Let us cultivate our garden.”

This line is the guiding force to Russell’s food, as he works closely with producers local to Montreal and creates four-course meals inspired by those ingredients, crafting dishes that are produce forward, but not exclusively vegetarian.

The experience of eating at Restaurant Candide is unique and only something that can be experienced in Montreal. From the restaurant’s location, set in an old gothic church basement, to the warm interior that utilizes refurbished pews, and exposed brick along the walls that look into the kitchen. The restaurant is a defining part of the fabric of Montreal’s restaurant scene, not only in 2020, but overall.

Thankfully, Russell feels that he and his staff will weather COVID-19 and should be able to resume business at the restaurant once restrictions are lifted, and in the meantime he’s given back to restaurant workers affected by job losses in Canada by offering beer deliveries every Friday. If you live in Montreal and are craving some craft beer delivered to your house, send an email at [email protected]. All proceeds will go to the Montreal Restaurant Workers Crisis Relief Fund.

The Shift List – Chef John Winter Russell (Restaurant Candide) – Montreal, Part 1

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

This week on The Shift List, a conversation in quarantine with John Winter Russell, chef and founder of Restaurant Candide in Montreal.

LISTEN: APPLE PODCASTS • MP3

Host Chris Jacobs first had the chance to speak with Russell at Candide before COVID-19 related travel and gathering restrictions went into place, and decided to reconnect with him recently via phone to see how Russell is facing the challenges of being an independent chef and restaurant owner during a global pandemic.

In the episode, the pair talk about some of the music Russell’s listening to in quarantine and the food he’s making at home, but he also talks about some of the ways he’s been able to give back to the restaurant workers affected by job losses in Canada, as well as a recent opportunity to create menus for the food banks of Montreal.

If you live in Montreal and are craving some craft beer delivered to your house, send an email at [email protected]. All proceeds will go to the Montreal Restaurant Workers Crisis Relief Fund.

We’ll be airing our non-quarantine episode from Candide in Montreal on April 21.

BGS Podcast Network: Weekly Roundup // April 10

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Anyone else’s sanity being held together by a thread spun from music and podcasts? Here’s our roundup of the latest episodes released via the BGS Podcast Network – to help keep everything safe, sane, and running smoothly.

Make sure to follow along on our social media [Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram] and right here, where we’ll consistently gather our new releases, as well as some past favorites:

Toy Heart – Alice Gerrard

Old-time legend and Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Alice Gerrard sits down with Tom Power at her kitchen table in North Carolina. She tells stories of how she and other college students from the northern U.S. found bluegrass and old-time, meeting her Hall of Fame partner Hazel Dickens and making some of the greatest records in the genre.

She goes on to describe her split from Hazel, her work since, and in tender moments, she shares the last time she ever spoke with Hazel and what she sang to “sing her back home.”

The Show On the Road – Joey Dosik (Vulfpeck)

Host Z. Lupetin talks with Joey Dosik, a silky-voiced songwriter and freaky-talented multi-instrumentalist who writes lush, romantic jams that transport listeners to R&B-tinted, old school FM radio gold. Some may have learned of Dosik’s talents with DIY, future-funk ensemble Vulfpeck, who went from recording an album of complete silence to a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden – with no record label in sight.

As we honor and celebrate two lost musical greats this week, it’s comforting to remember that we have constant new waves of amazing artists like Dosik coming up who can honor and further their message, whose songs in many ways combine the honest earnestness of John Prine’s best early work with Bill Withers’ deep, church-flavored, down-home groove.

The String – Caleb Caudle

Caleb Caudle’s childhood musical fascinations (English punk, folk, and Bob Dylan, to name a few) went far beyond anything his school peers in rural North Carolina cared about. Since entering the music industry fray as a singer/songwriter in the mid-200s, Caudle has released seven studio albums, with his latest, Better Hurry Up, cut in 2019 at the Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, TN – surrounded by the spirit of Johnny and June – just days after he and his wife made their move to Nashville.

Craig Havighurst sits down with Caudle – as well as bass playing sideman turned impressive singer/songwriter, Adam Chaffins – in the most recent installment of The String.

The Show on the Road – Theo Katzman (Vulfpeck)

Adhering to strict stay-at-home pandemic orders, host Z. Lupetin records an intimate phone conversation with Theo Katzman, the Cheshire Cat of soulful pop-rock and one of the most visible members of the mysterious funk supergroup, Vulfpeck.

In January, he celebrated the release of his cheeky, super catchy, unabashedly romantic, and pop-driven new solo album Modern Johnny Sings: Songs in the Age of Vibe, and his expertly-crafted songs and lifting falsetto vocals have that rare spark that can brighten anybody’s dull quarantine in no time.