Tag: Watch

WATCH: The Lowlies, “Simple Reminder” (feat. Sara Watkins)

Posted on by Justin Hiltner
Artist: The Lowlies
Hometown: Delevan, New York
Song: “Simple Reminder” (feat. Sara Watkins)
Album: The Lowlies
Release Date: October 6, 2023
Label: Airloom

In Their Words: “Maybe the most hope-filled tune I’ve written. There’s something simple and obvious, but somehow deep and mysterious about how uplifting a springtime morning with birds singing hits me every year. And I used those images to portray the new life I felt actually one day in the dead of winter, a season of depression and addiction. A friend called me out of the blue from across the hemisphere to tell me hi and say my work was inspiring him that day. He doesn’t know it, but that call somehow sparked a springtime in my life. It was the simplest thing, but also the truer thing… more true than the thoughts swirling in my head.” – Caleb Spaulding

Photo Credit: Brian and Christina Shaw

WATCH: Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards, “Three by Three”

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Artist: Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards
Hometown: San Francisco, CA / Ghent, Belgium
Song: “Three by Three”
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Label: Compass Records

In Their Words: “…The song tells the story of a walk [my daughter and I] took together in early Spring 2021. I used her favorite syllables from an old Dutch children’s song in the chorus to see if she noticed. And … she did! The first time I sang it for her, she sang along. So naturally, we had her join in on the track itself.

“After the recording of ‘Three by Three’ in Colorado with Jayme Stone, we headed to Oregon on tour. While there, we were invited by boutique microphone maker, Ear Trumpet Labs, to take a tour of their workshop and film a video using their beautiful hand-built microphones. It had a been a rainy day, but just as we started to play, the sun came streaming through the big glass window at the back of the workshop.” – Laura Cortese

Photo Credit: Marc Ripper

WATCH: Anna Tivel’s Tender, Heartfelt Tiny Desk Concert

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Singer-songwriter and musical storyteller Anna Tivel recently stopped by NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., to perform at the iconic Tiny Desk. Supported by drummer Micah Hummel and Galen Clark on keys, her four-song set showcases her empathetic, tender, and heartfelt style that runs through her entire 2022 release, Outsiders. But her performances are anything but one-note, she teases nuance from each number and complicates the stories within them through emotion and passion and, at times, a beautiful understated tension. The team at NPR Music puts it aptly: “Tivel’s remarkable empathy elevates her folk-based, jazz-touched compositions from mere stories to secular prayers.”

Enjoy Anna Tivel’s Tiny Desk Concert right here, on BGS.

 

WATCH: Avi Kaplan, “Song for the Thankful”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Avi Kaplan
Hometown: Visalia, California
Single: “Song for the Thankful”
Release Date: April 9, 2021
Label: Fantasy Recordings

In Their Words: “‘Song for the Thankful’ is about finding gratitude in every aspect of life. The good and the bad, in darkness and in light. There’s beauty to be found in all of it and I hope that anyone who listens can find gratitude in their life regardless of what end of the spectrum they are currently in.” — Avi Kaplan

Photo credit: Bree Marie Fish

WATCH: Natalie D-Napoleon, “Gasoline & Liquor”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Natalie D-Napoleon
Hometown: Freemantle, Western Australia and Santa Barbara
Song: “Gasoline & Liquor”
Album: You Wanted to Be the Shore but Instead You Were the Sea
Release Date: March 26, 2021

In Their Words: “‘Gasoline & Liquor’ came about after traveling through California’s Mojave Desert so when it came to making a video for the song the other ‘Wild West’ — that of Western Australia — seemed the perfect location. We were headed out to Joshua Tree to catch some music at Pappy & Harriet’s when we passed a sign at the side of the highway that read ‘Gasoline and Liquor.’ I pointed at the sign and said to my husband, ‘That is a song — but it’s a man’s song.’ I then blurted out, ‘You’ve gotta help me write it!’ We passed lyrics back and forth while I honed the music. A week before we were set to record the new album I started fingerpicking the song and the arrangement fell into place. We recorded the album live in an old church in the hills behind Santa Barbara and the take you hear was captured during a momentary pause between someone chainsawing trees nearby!

“I wanted to make a video that reflected the bleak desert landscape of places like Victorville and Barstow, which inspired the song. Since we’re currently in Australia we went to the western mining town of Kalgoorlie where there is no shortage of abandoned gas stations and outback pubs. One of my favorite places is the Broad Arrow Tavern, a quintessential outback pub, miles from town in the middle of anywhere with writing scribbled all over the walls giving it an edge-of-civilization atmosphere. The crusty outback characters and bar flies stared at us menacingly during the entire shoot, leaving us pondering whether we were going to get out of there alive. We almost didn’t, managing to grab our cameras and equipment and get out of there before a bar brawl broke loose. Music sure takes you down some interesting roads!” — Natalie D-Napoleon

Photo credit: Brett Leigh Dicks

WATCH: Abigail Dowd, “Beautiful Day”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Abigail Dowd
Hometown: Carthage & Southern Pines, North Carolina
Song: Beautiful Day
Album: Beautiful Day
Album Release Date: April 23, 2021

In Their Words: “I started writing ‘Beautiful Day’ sitting on our neighbor’s front porch one morning. I was living with them at the time, after our house flooded and my husband and I were waiting for the city to buy and demolish it. He was still living in our house with no heat, taking care of our cat and dog, and it got a little lonely month after month of waking up alone in other people’s houses. It was such a wild experience of not knowing what each day would bring or when the sky would clear, so to speak. As the verses started shaping up, I remembered all of the times in my life that felt dark and uncertain, but were actually necessary parts of growing into better versions of myself. This song became a reminder to enjoy the moment and have faith that it was leading to a brighter day. And now, I look back on those days as gifts of time with friends, with my guitar, and without the distractions that used to keep me from having long stretches to write.” — Abigail Dowd

Photo credit: Todd Turner

WATCH: Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi, “Calling Me Home”

Posted on by Editor

Artists: Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Single: “Calling Me Home” (written by Alice Gerrard)
Album: They’re Calling Me Home
Release Date: April 9, 2021
Label: Nonesuch Records

In Their Words: “Some people just know how to tap into a tradition and an emotion so deep that it sounds like a song that has always been around — Alice Gerrard is one of those rarities; ‘Calling Me Home’ struck me forcefully and deeply the first time I heard it, and every time since. This song just wanted to be sung and so I listened.” — Rhiannon Giddens

Photo credit: Karen Cox

WATCH: Judith Hill, “Baby, I’m Hollywood!”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Judith Hill
Hometown: North Hollywood, California
Song: “Baby, I’m Hollywood!”
Album: Baby, I’m Hollywood!
Release Date: March 5, 2021
Label: Regime Music Group

In Their Words: “‘Baby, I’m Hollywood’ is a defining statement for me. It sums up all of the drama, love, and pain that surrounds my life as an entertainer. I personify Hollywood as a woman who has become her own rock in spite of a very unstable world. She will take all of the pain and turn into the performance of her life because that’s what she was born to do. The show is not only a spectacle but a service because it puts words, music, lights, and costumes to our secrets and inner battles, giving them a safe place to live.” — Judith Hill

Photo credit: Jeremy Jackson

WATCH: Sideline, “Just a Guy in a Bar”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sideline
Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Song: “Just a Guy in a Bar”
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

In Their Words: “In both recording and performing this song, we knew needed something special in terms of visual representation. The story speaks for itself, but capturing the emotion and weight of the story required more than just musically performing it on camera. We put our heads together and found a way to play the whole story out, piece by piece. It was a lot of fun working with actors and professionally creative minds that knew exactly what to do to suck the viewer in. It gives an already strong, deep song so much more dimension.” — Skip Cherryholmes

Photo credit: Mountain Home Music Company

WATCH: The Sweeplings, “Deep & Wild”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Sweeplings (Cami Bradley and Whitney Dean)
Hometown: Spokane, Washington (Cami) and Huntsville, Alabama (Whitney)
Song: “Deep & Wild”
Album: Losing Ground, Vol. 2
Release Date: September 18, 2020
Label: Nettwerk

In Their Words: “‘Deep & Wild’ is a lighthearted song about entering into the unknown with a willing attitude and a free spirit. We sat down to write this song with a painted picture of each scene in our minds. It shaped itself as we wrote, seamlessly creating a tune about the longing to explore the unknown with someone you love with no other purpose other than to find what’s most freeing. This song in particular fits itself into our EP series, Losing Ground, Vol 1 & 2, as a happy spot of contrast to the cinematic drama of the most of the collection.

“It took us a long time to get to these EPs. We worked tirelessly relationally and musically to make it happen. Stopping and starting, pushing and pulling. Because of that, we lost some ground in our process, but it ultimately brought us to something more magical. These two EPs truly have the grit of our story behind each song. The songs range in sentiment and tone, but all share the same heart. We wanted to create something special with as minimal sonic distractions as possible. We just let the performances and songs speak for themselves, simple and even bare at times. In that, we found our true identity as artists and songwriters.” — Cami Bradley and Whitney Dean, The Sweeplings

Photo credit: Glass Jar Photography