Tag: the tonight show starring jimmy fallon

Watch Steve Martin & Alison Brown Perform on The Tonight Show

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Last week, Steve Martin & Alison Brown brought a star-studded bluegrass band to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to celebrate their brand new duo album, Safe, Sensible and Sane. Released via Brown’s Compass Records on October 17, the album showcases a mighty roster of pickers and special guests as well a packed slate of original tunes and songs co-written by Martin and Brown. For their Tonight Show appearance, they burn through the LP’s closing track, “Let’s Get Out of Here,” a perfect selection to close out the late-night television show.

On the album, Martin’s dancing clawhammer banjo and Brown’s confident three-finger style on the number are bolstered by Sam Bush, Trey Hensley, Stuart Duncan, and Todd Phillips. But for their live TV appearance, they tap an equally astounding group of players, bringing along Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Sierra Hull (mandolin), Michael Daves (guitar), and Brown’s husband and business partner Garry West (bass). The tune demonstrates the special – and often tricky – stylistic dialog Martin and Brown accomplish with ease, blending frailing old-time with Scruggs-style bluegrass. The melody is especially suited to both approaches, danceable and driving at the same time. It’s something of a hallmark of the pair’s work together across the years, and especially this new recording.

As viewers can attest watching their performance of “Let’s Get Out of Here,” the music of Safe, Sensible and Sane is excellent, engaging, hilarious, and heartfelt. All qualities that have attributed to its debut last week at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Bluegrass Album Chart. Need more of this duo? BGS co-founder, actor, comedian, and banjoist Ed Helms, recently had a lovely in-depth chat with both Martin and Brown about the album, three renowned banjo stylists in conversation. Read that feature interview here.

 

 

Zach Top’s TV Debut

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

If it seems like Zach Top has been everywhere lately, it’s because he has. Not only because he and his band are staring down a packed summer full of tour dates all across the country, but he’s also coming off of his first Academy of Country Music Award win – snagging the New Male Artist of the Year trophy while also being nominated for Album of the Year – and then immediately turning around to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The appearance was his late night television debut, after his stunner of a traditional country album, Cold Beer & Country Music, was released to widespread acclaim – from critics and audiences alike – just over a year ago in spring 2024. The project continues to build momentum and gain thousands and thousands of new listeners for the picker-songwriter-upstart.

Top and band performed “I Never Lie” on Fallon, certainly the viral hit sensation of Cold Beer & Country Music. Shortly after his television appearance, the track, which is already RIAA certified Platinum, topped the country charts, becoming the number one country single in the country (and Canada) according to Mediabase. It’s Top’s very first number one.

“I Never Lie” is a classic yet modern take on a well-known country songwriter trope, the “of course I’m not lying” or “opposite day” type of rhetorical device that’s been employed by country artists and songsmiths since the genre began. Top’s spin on this iconic sort of country song setup is almost divine in its execution, as evidenced by his audiences – from humble honky-tonks to packed rodeo arenas – shouting along with the song at the tops of their lungs each and every time it’s performed.

This will surely not be the last television appearance or country award for Top, who leverages his bluegrass family band upbringing and longtime idolization of heroes like Tony Rice and Keith Whitley to craft a style of Good Country that’s forward-looking and timeless at the same time. With a wink, a smile, a first-rate mustache-mullet combo, and a “Zach Top Hop,” this still-fresh country superstar is sure to continue making an impact all across roots music well into the future. From country to bluegrass and back again.

We hope you enjoy Zach Top’s performance of “I Never Lie” on The Tonight Show. Don’t forget to make your plans now to catch Top and his incredible band on their mighty summer tour, too.

Read our 2024 exclusive Good Country interview from with Zach Top here.

On ‘The Tonight Show,’ Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell Perform “The Problem”

Posted on by Editor

The best songwriters use all the tools at their disposal to craft their music. Among tools like instrumentation, timbre, and arrangement is story, a sometimes-overlooked device for writing incredible music. Amanda Shires is no stranger to story and demonstrates her aptitude as a writer in her emotional single, “The Problem.” The song tells a specific story, but not in an “on-the-nose” fashion; instead, it feels like a memory, slightly faded and filled with more feelings than information. Upon the single’s release, Shires stated, “This song is about making tough decisions and not having to go it alone.”

Delivered as a conversation between Shires and husband Jason Isbell, “The Problem” has a dreamy quality due to its winding melody and a cloud of reverb glowing over the studio production. With a similar atmosphere and feeling as The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” it acts as a testament to Shires’ knack for skillfully navigating lyric, tonality, and instrumentation to spin a narrative with a brooding unrest beneath the surface. Take a moment to hear one of the best writers in roots music today with this live performance of “The Problem” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen