Tag: Tyler Ramsey

BGS & #ComeHearNC Celebrate the Cultural Legacy of North Carolina during #NCMusicMonth

Posted on by Editor

On the national music scene, North Carolina sets itself apart by blending the heritage of traditional roots music with the innovation of modern indie and Americana sounds. The bluegrass canon of North Carolina encompasses pioneers like Charlie Poole and Earl Scruggs, as well as groundbreaking musicians like Elizabeth Cotten, Alice Gerrard, and Doc Watson. Today’s spectrum of talent spans from modern favorites such as Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Balsam Range, and Steep Canyon Rangers, and the progressive perspective of the Avett Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, Mandolin Orange, Hiss Golden Messenger, Mipso, and many more.

One example of how the state is merging past with present is the recent opening of North Carolina’s only vinyl pressing plant — Citizen Vinyl in Asheville.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Built over 15 months in 1938-1939, The Asheville Citizen Times Building (@citizentimes) was designed by architect Anthony Lord as the grand center for the city’s two newspapers and radio station WWNC. Located at 14 O’Henry Avenue, the massive three-story building of reinforced concrete, granite and limestone, utilizing 20,000 glass bricks, is considered Asheville’s finest example of Art Moderne design. In 2019, Citizen Vinyl claimed the first floor & mezzanine of this iconic landmark as the future home of a vinyl record pressing plant, as well as a café, bar and record store – and is reviving the historic third floor radio station as a modern recording and post-production facility.

A post shared by Citizen Vinyl (@citizenvinyl) on

According to press materials, the building’s third floor played host to Asheville’s historic WWNC (“Wonderful Western North Carolina”) which was once considered the most popular radio station in the United States. In 1927, the station hosted live performances by Jimmie Rodgers and made his first recordings shortly before he went to Bristol, Tennessee.  In 1939, the station featured  the first ever live performance by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys during its Mountain Music Time segment.  Citizen Vinyl expects to keep the live music tradition alive in this former newspaper building, too.

Here at BGS, we’ve been committed to North Carolina music from our launch, notably with our Merlefest Late Night Jams, which are always worth staying up for. And how much do we love the IBMA World of Bluegrass week in Raleigh? Looking back on our archive, we gathered these songs from the artists we’ve covered over the years — and looking ahead, you’ll see all-new interviews with the Avett Brothers and Mipso, examine the classic country stars with roots in North Carolina, and spotlight some rising talent with video performances at the state’s most scenic destinations.

In the meantime, you can discover more about the North Carolina music scene through their website and on Instagram at @comehearnc

Editor’s note: This content brought to you in part by our partners at Crossroads Label Group.

LISTEN: Tyler Ramsey, “Back on the Chain Gang”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tyler Ramsey
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Back on the Chain Gang” (Pretenders’ cover)
Album: Found a Picture of You EP
Release Date: October 16, 2020
Label: Fantasy Records

In Their Words: “There are two guitars that I used on this version of ‘Back on the Chain Gang’ — both my favorites. The acoustic is a ’50s Harmony H162 that was rebuilt by Scott Baxendale and the electric that comes in about halfway through is a late ’60s Guild Starfire V and is the most amazing electric I’ve ever owned. I found it in Knoxville at a friend’s guitar shop called Music Room Guitars when I really wasn’t looking for a guitar at all, and it changed the way I play as did the Baxendale! The guitar playing on Pretenders albums has always blown my mind. This song has such a beautiful and catchy lead-in and solo. I tried to capture the essence of it with solo fingerstyle guitar while making it sound like me.” — Tyler Ramsey

Photo credit: Bill Reynolds

LISTEN: Tyler Ramsey, “Evening Country”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Tyler Ramsey
Hometown: Asheville, North Carolina
Song: “Evening Country”
Album: For the Morning
Release Date: April 5, 2019
Label: Fantasy Records

In Their Words: “A couple of years ago my band and I started messing around with some of my older and more pared-down songs and trying to bring them into a band setting. ‘Evening Kitchen’ was a song that I had written for the Band of Horses record Infinite Arms and when we did that record it stood out because it was in contrast with the rest of the album and really bare bones. A lot of that album was lushly produced and I thought having the song recorded with a single acoustic guitar and vocals would help balance things. It worked well in the sequence of that album and led to a lot of the more intimate moments in our live shows and the direction we headed in for the live Ryman acoustic album.

“This version, called ‘Evening Country,’ was a way to reimagine the song and a chance to put it into a new frame with some truly amazing musicians. It was recorded in Louisville, Kentucky, with Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Kevin Ratterman (Lalaland Studio, My Morning Jacket, Ray Lamontagne), and I doing the basic tracking. Seth had worked with pedal steel guitarist Russ Pahl before and we were able to get him to play on it (I still jump up and down when I hear his playing!). And the goosebump-inducing harmony vocals were sung by Molly Parden and Thad Cockrell and recorded at the Fleetwood Shack in Nashville by my old friend Bill Reynolds (former Band of Horses bassist). The opportunity to revisit this song in the way that we did has given it a new energy for me as well as new meaning.

“A wild memory of this song: years ago we were playing at Bonnaroo after Infinite Arms had been released. We finished our set and climbed down off the stage and our manager came up and told us to go back up and play a couple more songs because Bruce Springsteen had come onto our side stage to watch us play just as we were walking off. We ran back up and ended up playing ‘Evening Kitchen’ last, and all I could think about the whole time was that there was Bruce Springsteen standing fifteen feet away from me and watching us play this song I’d written — don’t f*ck it up! We made it through and headed back down off the stage and there he was with that Bruce Springsteen smile and handshakes all around. Our monitor man Jon Cronin told me afterwards that he heard Bruce say ‘That’s a good song!’ That’s enough for me!” — Tyler Ramsey

Photo credit: Jameykay and Arlie

MIXTAPE: Amanda Anne Platt’s Asheville Assembly

Posted on by Editor

This is a playlist of 12 songs by Asheville artists that have entertained and inspired me in my own little corner of this town. To choose only 12 was a challenge, to say the least, since the music scene keeps growing and it seems that every day there are new songwriters and musicians adding their talents to the pool. I felt a little under-qualified as I started to narrow it down. By no means comprehensive, erring a little on the old school side, this is what I came up with. — Amanda Anne Platt (of the Honeycutters)

Malcolm Holcombe — “Who Carried You”

What better place to start an Asheville list than with Malcolm Holcombe? He’s an incredible songwriter, a captivating performer, and a local legend. This is one of my favorite songs, ever. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out The RCA sessions yet, do it!

Taylor Martin — “Travel Far, Travel Wide”

Taylor Martin may sound like a made up name for a songwriter, but he’s the real deal. This is one of my favorite Taylor songs, from his 2014 release Heartache or Bust.

Moses Atwood — “Garden of Eden”

Moses hasn’t put an album out in a while, but the two he has are still in heavy rotation at our house. I would have put four or five of his tunes on here, if I had more space.

Miriam Allen — “Contrabandista”

She’s got a beautiful voice, is a badass guitar player and songwriter, and she built her own house. I aspire to be a fraction as cool as Miriam Allen.

Floating Action — “To Connect”

This was the first Floating Action song I ever heard, when I found myself stoned and sitting on the old couch at the Grey Eagle for a free show. It still might be my favorite.

Aaron Woody Wood — “Coal Black Hair”

No list of Asheville songs would be complete without a murder ballad. I first heard of Woody Wood as a member of the Blue Rags, and then with his rock band Hollywood Red, but some of my favorite performances of his are solo acoustic.

Jen and the Juice — “The Damnsong” 

I remember someone saying to me, when I was new in town, that I had to meet “Jenny Juice.” “She just writes songs that make you smile,” they said. And she does. Jen also has done many things over the years to unite the music scene here, including starting the Brown Bag Songwriting contest.

Town Mountain – “Long Time Coming” 

Followers of the Bluegrass Situation won’t be strangers to Town Mountain. This is my favorite cut off of their most recent release, Southern Crescent.

Grits & Soul — “Hundred Year Farm”

Though they have technically relocated to Mt Sterling, Kentucky, Grits & Soul will always be an Asheville band in my heart. This album has a lot of great tunes, but this is the one that’s been worn out on my copy. It’s a tear jerker.

Red June — “I Saw You in August”

This is a tune written by my friend Will Straughan, though this album has great songs from all three writers. I love their harmonies.

Laura Blackley & the Wildflowers — “Favorite”

This song should be on a list of the greatest slow dance songs of all time.

Tyler Ramsey — “No One Goes Out”

As a child of the ’90s, I’m a fan of ending a mix with a slow, retrospective song. Love this whole album from Tyler Ramsey.

Photo credit: Eliza Schweizbach