Videos Archive - Page 13 of 34 - The Bluegrass Situation

Deep Roots, Many Voices: A Discussion With Dom Flemons & Rissi Palmer

“Deep Roots, Many Voices” is a project by the Blue Ridge Music Center exploring diversity and inclusion in roots-based music. In these videos, we pair two musicians in each episode to talk about issues related to race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation; how these issues have been part of their personal stories; and the importance of celebrating diversity in the music world. These discussions highlight contributions to American roots-based music from the many voices that make up our nation, and give us hope for a rich and diverse musical future.

The Bluegrass Situation is proud to feature this two-part interview with Dom Flemons and Rissi Palmer. Flemons is a performer, multi-instrumentalist, historian, researcher, writer, record collector, and founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Also known as the American Songster, Flemons presents music covering over 100 years of American popular music in his performances. Palmer made her debut in Nashville as a country artist in the early 2000s, where she made it onto the country charts and onto the Opry stage. She has since continued her career as an independent artist and has her own radio show on Apple Music Country called Color Me Country, where she has conversations with country music’s underrepresented voices.

To learn more about future “Deep Roots, Many Voices” interviews, our “Deep Roots, Many Voices” symposium and other Blue Ridge Music Center news, sign up for the Blue Ridge Music Center’s email newsletter at BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org. These discussions are moderated by Blue Ridge Music Center Associate Program Director Marianne Kovatch.

WATCH: The Cactus Blossoms, “Everybody” (Feat. Jenny Lewis)

Artist: The Cactus Blossoms
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Song: “Everybody” (Feat. Jenny Lewis)
Album: One Day
Release Date: February 11, 2022
Label: Walkie Talkie Records

In Their Words: “When I wrote the song it was originally from one person’s perspective, but one morning when I was drinking coffee it hit me as a conversation between two people and really came alive for me. I heard Jenny singing it in my head and couldn’t hear it any other way, so I hopped on the phone and called her to see if she’d be interested in singing on it. I’m so glad she was into the idea.” — Jack Torrey

“We had the chance to open a little run of shows with Jenny a few years ago and to hear her amazing voice and watch her cast her spell over her audience night after night was truly inspiring. She’s a heavy hitter in every way possible so it’s a dream come true to hear her voice on one of our songs.” — Page Burkum

LISTEN: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, “State of Mind” (Ft. Margo Price)

Artist: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Song: “State of Mind” (ft. Margo Price)
Album: External Combustion
Release Date: March 4, 2022
Label: BMG

In Their Words: “I am thrilled and honored to have my friend Margo Price sing on our new track ‘State of Mind.’ She was gracious enough to sing the second verse and add some harmonies and she made the song better! I’m hoping she will join us somewhere along the road to do the song live. Margo is the real deal.” — Mike Campbell

“The first time I heard ‘State of Mind’ was in the studio when I was about to sing on it. The words were so perfect and I knew right away who the song was about. No one said a thing as we listened and I sat there with tears running down my face. I’ve been listening to the Heartbreakers my whole life and Mike is my hero. I’m honored to get to work with him and call him my friend.” — Margo Price

Kiefer Sutherland Looks Back on “Bloor Street” in Nostalgic New Video

Kiefer Sutherland‘s new album, Bloor Street, is a love letter to home penned with roots rock arrangements and straightforward lyrics. He’s also released a music video for the title track that features his hometown of Toronto, Ontario. Directed by Tom Kirk, the “Bloor Street” video features that sort of grainy, faded aesthetic that makes any photo cut right to the nostalgia bone. Sprinkled among the imagery of the city are snapshots from Sutherland’s actual childhood; pictures of him as a boy along with old family photos complete the time capsule video. Truly heartwarming, the autobiographical original is just a glimpse of what Sutherland (aka Jack Bauer on 24) brings to the project. Made with Grammy Award-winning producer Chris Lord-Alge, Bloor Street is Sutherland’s first new album since 2019. About the new song and video, he states, “They say you can never go home. This song, for me, says in your heart you never leave.”

Yamaha x BGS Artist Sessions: Stillhouse Junkies (Part 2)

For the latest in our series of Yamaha x BGS Artist Sessions we linked up with IBMA Momentum Award winners Stillhouse Junkies in Denver, Colorado. Our exclusive video performances by the Durango-based trio feature two songs, including this performance of “Haskell Town.”

Stillhouse Junkies is Cody Tinnin, Alissa Wolf, and Fred Kosak, who plays a Yamaha Custom FG Guitar built by Master Luthier Andrew Enns. Check out an exclusive interview with Kosak about his Custom Yamaha FG Guitar via Yamaha’s Guitar Development Custom Shop.

Watch Part 1 of our session featuring the Stillhouse Junkies here.

You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop here.

WATCH: Bill Evans Plays 9 Historic Banjos in 9 Minutes at Ear Trumpet Labs

Editors Note: We’re pleased to present this exclusive video from our friends at Ear Trumpet Labs in Portland, Oregon. Special thanks to banjo historian Bill Evans for providing insight into this special project in his letter below.

I had left home early that morning and driven 621 miles from my home in the San Francisco Bay area to Ear Trumpet Labs, arriving on a rainy January night in Portland, Oregon, with nine banjos in tow. I was truly excited to be in the room where these great microphones are made and to meet the ETL family. There’s a powerful positive energy to the large room where everything Ear Trumpet happens. It’s obvious that this enterprise is a labor of love and I was humbled to think of the many great musicians who had traveled farther than I had to be in this same space.

I dried off from the rain, pulled the banjos out of their cases, tuned them up the best that I could, and we started rolling. Banjo notes from metal and gut strings bounced off the walls, played on banjos representing 170 years of musical traditions from builders named Gibson, Cole, Vega-Fairbanks, Hartel, Cammeyer and more. Like these microphones, these instruments were all creations made by fine craftsmen who were dedicated to their craft and loved their work. It is an honor to bring music to life through them.

I hope you enjoy these quick snapshots of a show that I call “The Banjo in America.” If you’d like to see and hear more, Tiki Parlour Recordings is releasing this spring a DVD/CD set featuring 19 songs and medleys played on 10 different banjos. Thank you, Ear Trumpet Labs and the Bluegrass Situation, for helping to keep the music flowing for all of us. I’m truly honored to be able to share this music with you.

All the best,

Bill Evans

Singing “I See America,” Joy Oladokun Makes a Powerful Late-Night Debut

Joy Oladukun‘s “I See America” is a powerful song about belief in a better world, as well as an honest and objective reflection on the state of the country. Performing it in her late-night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, she’s backed only by an upright bass, a piano, and her acoustic guitar. Still, her poignant song flies from the stage through the audience and through the screen, striking evocative chords in listeners’ hearts and minds. On her major label debut album, in defense of my own happiness, Oladokun’s words point out what she sees from her rare vantage point as a black queer woman and first-generation American. Her breadth of experience also marries perfectly with an hushed, intimate sound throughout that album, but especially in “I See America.”

If you haven’t yet heard Joy Oladokun’s sweet voice or strong songs, then you may be able to see her in person this spring as she embarks on her first headlining tour across the country starting in early April.

Photo Credit: ABC/Randy Holmes

Brent Cobb Sings the Gospel Truth in “When It’s My Time”

One of Georgia’s finest is accomplishing a lifelong dream. Brent Cobb, who’s admired as a singer-songwriter, Grammy nominee, and general badass, is releasing his first gospel album, And Now, Let’s Turn to Page…. The record promises to be an instant classic, featuring old gospel standards and hymns sung by Cobb and his loved ones. Selections include “Old Rugged Cross,” “Softly and Tenderly,” and “When It’s My Time.” He’s also released an artistically innovative music video for “When It’s My Time” created by Curtis Wayne Millard.

To get another glimpse of what the record will be like, look no further than the album credits; Nashville heavyweights like Brian Allen and Mike Harris are lined up next to Cobb’s family, who just so happen to be great musicians in their own rights. Caylee Hammack and Anderson East round out the lineup on a record that is undoubtedly going to be a standout. “I’ve always wanted to make a southern gospel album because it’s what I come from, but also it used to seem like a rite of passage for country singers to make a gospel album,” Cobb says. “I’m just trying to carry on that torch.”

Photo Credit: Andrew Hutto

Slide Guitarist Ariel Posen Offers an Expressive Touch Like “Nobody Else”

Songwriting, instrumental virtuosity, and musical imagination are only a couple of things that set Ariel Posen apart as a recording artist. The Canadian singer-songwriter is a member of the top echelon of slide guitar players alive today, but he doesn’t fit into the same clichés that many other slide guitarists get lumped into. With expressiveness and touch, Posen melds his roots and blues influences with an intuition for songwriting that makes him stand out as a performer.

Recently, Posen announced a North American spring tour that will see him performing all across America and Canada. Sultry and smooth, pretty and gritty, Ariel Posen has really developed a style that balances seemingly opposite qualities into a velvety, absorbing sound, and in 2022, that sound will be on full display. Get a preview with this video of “Nobody Else,” shot live in Montreal. (And to hear more, check out his music video for “Now I See” on BGS.)

Photo Credit: Nate Forest

We Can’t Let Go of This Robert Plant & Alison Krauss ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’

From the Sound Emporium control room in Nashville, two heavyweights join forces behind a makeshift desk for NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert. Although the duo doesn’t perform at NPR staffer Bob Boilen’s actual tiny desk, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant certainly do rekindle the spirit of Raise the Roof, their new collaborative record. It’s a fitting tribute because that album (and some of their first record, 2007’s Raising Sand) was created on the cutting floor at that very studio. Here, Krauss and Plant have assembled a band of absolute all-stars, including Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch, Victor Krauss, Stuart Duncan, and JD McPherson. Like the first time we heard the angelic soprano of Alison Krauss paired with the vocal powerhouse that guided one of the most legendary rock bands ever, these new performances of “Can’t Let Go,” “Searching for My Love,” and “Trouble for My Lover” are magical. No frill or flash, just an eleven-and-a-half-minute set of subtlety, nuance, and perfection.

Photo Credit: David McClister