Tag: The String

The String – Missy Raines

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Missy Raines grew up in rural west VA deeply immersed in bluegrass culture. And when she started playing professionally in her collegiate years, she went for it with no plan B but a life in the music she loved.

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Over a couple of decades as a side musician, she became a pioneer and a scene favorite, winning seven IBMA awards for her bass playing alone. In 2008, she made real a long-standing dream of starting her own band, which became a vehicle for her innovative fusion-minded composing and her mentorship of emerging young master musicians. In late 2018, Missy released her first album under her name alone, as it’s a songwriter’s project that adds to her musical world view.

The String – Rodney Crowell

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

The String launches a new year with a conversation with Rodney Crowell, one of the legit icons of Americana music.

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The Texas born, Nashville based songwriter was one of the artists around whom the format was created 20 years ago, and indeed he won the Americana Music Association’s lifetime achievement award for songwriting in 2006. He’s a valued collaborator, earning a Grammy Award for his recent work with his longtime friend and colleague Emmylou Harris. He became an acclaimed author with his memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks in 2011. Recently he’s released a first-ever Christmas album and a volume of stripped down “Acoustic Classics” from his extensive catalog. We cover a range of times and topics. Also in the hour, Maya de Vitry talks about her difficult but necessary departure from the beloved acoustic trio The Stray Birds. She’s set out on her own with the album Adaptations.

The String – Single Lock Records and Muscle Shoals

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

How and why this humble collection of towns hugging the Tennessee River in northern Alabama became a historic musical hot spot is an improbable, wonderful American story. More and more, roots and rock and roll musicians have been traveling to Muscle Shoals to record.

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A string of remarkable bands and songwriters, including Jason Isbell, John Paul White, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Dylan LeBlanc, and The Secret Sisters, have had projects emerge from the area in recent years. Half a dozen studios are in demand and busy. It’s become clear that Muscle Shoals is no museum. It’s a scene. So the only thing to do was to go there and listen.

The String – Talking Tradition at the World of Bluegrass

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

What is tradition in music? It turns out that’s a tricky but illuminating question, and this week Craig puts it to a range of folks at the World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, NC.

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CJ Lewandowski of the hot new Po’ Ramblin’ Boys (pictured) want to build bridges between fans of the inside and outside. Doyle Lawson applies it to the atmosphere he’s set at his 39-year-old festival in Denton, NC. John Showman describes how the Lonesome Ace String Band produces traditional sounding music without thinking like preservationists. Multiple IBMA Award winner Becky Bullerknows how to write songs from across the trad/rad spectrum. Jordan Laney brings her scholarly background to the question. East Tennessee State bluegrass music program director Dan Boner says he’s seen tradition take many forms in his students. Asheville fiddler Natalya Weinstein and her husband John Miller tap their respective family histories in their music. And string music educator Happy Traum has helped pass down tradition via video lessons. It’s a fascinating ramble, with music throughout.

The String – Field Trips w/ Rayland Baxter, Nora Jane Struthers and Gary Louris

Posted on by Chris Jacobs

Episode #71: This week we get out of the studio for three radio field trips with some remarkable songwriter/artists. First I visit with Rayland Baxter at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum about his explosively colorful new album Wide Awake. Next it’s off to the ballpark for nine questions in nine innings with rocking country songwriter Nora Jane Struthers. Finally I sit on the upper deck of the famous Mercy Lounge taking in the Nashville skyline with Gary Louris of the venerable, always relevant Jayhawks.

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ANNOUNCING: Three Roots Music Series Joining BGS Podcast Network This Fall

Posted on by Editor

The Bluegrass Situation, a multifaceted media company co-founded by actor and banjo player Ed Helms, is pleased to announce the addition of three new roots music-themed programs to its BGS Podcast Network this fall.

The Shift List, hosted by Chris Jacobs, is a weekly conversation with the world’s top chefs about the music that fills their kitchens, restaurants and recipes. The series features chefs from Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London, including Noma alums Rosio Sanchez (Hija de Sanchez) and Christian Puglisi (Baest, Ralae); Matt Orlando (Amass); Jessica Largey (Simone, Manresa); and Naved Nasir and Shamil Thakrar (chef and founder of Dishoom). Listen to a teaser here. The first two episodes will be released on September 17.

The Show on the Road, produced and hosted by Dustbowl Revival frontman Zach Lupetin, is a conversation with fellow artists about a modern musician’s life (as the name implies) on the road, while taking a few conversational tangents in between. Guests include Mandolin Orange, Shook Twins, Lindsay Lou, and more. The series premieres this October.

The Breakdown brings together BGS contributor Emma John and The Lonely Heartstring Band’s Patrick M’Gonigle for the ultimate deep dive into bluegrass back catalog. Through six episodes, they peel back the layers of a genre that’s not just hard-driving and high lonesome, but also bizarre, compelling, and full of completely mad stories. The limited-run series premieres this fall.

Other BGS podcasts include The BGS Radio Hour, The String hosted by Craig Havighurst, and the Hangin’ & Sangin’ archive. Subscribe and download at The Bluegrass Situation or wherever you get your Podcasts.