Every Monday in May, BGS is proud to present Nettwerk 21 in ’21, our new five-part video concert series showcasing exclusive performances from 21 must-listen artists on the Nettwerk Music Group roster. Week 3 is hosted by LULLANAS and includes songs from Passenger, Woodlock, Canyon City, and, of course, LULLANAS.
Learn more about Nettwerk Music Group and discover more of their roster here. Watch Episode 1. Watch Episode 2.
For this year’s virtual Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. After several weeks of publicly releasing these exclusive videos, we are down to our penultimate performance!
Growing up in a very musical family in Australia, singer-songwriter Katie Cole taught herself to play piano and guitar. After gigging across Australia, a stroke of good luck put Cole in touch with producer Howard Willing, and thus began her American music career. After moving to Los Angeles, Cole landed a gig touring with Smashing Pumpkins and later recorded with country legends like Glen Campbell and Kris Kristofferson. Currently based in Nashville, Cole will be releasing new music later this year.
Cole begins her performance with her 2020 single “Hands Tied.” In the chorus she sings, “Another crash and burn I won’t survive/ What can you do with your hands tied?” capturing the fear and hesitancy someone with a broken heart may experience when falling in love again, but still falling all the same.Â
Next, Cole sings “Time On My Hands” off of her 2018 EP, Things that Break, Pt. 1. While initially written about heartbreak and loss, the song has taken on new meaning in the last year. In the second verse, Cole laments, “Like a bird sings in a cage/ Trapped by my own mistakes/ This too will pass, all my friends say/ Guess it’s just a waiting game,” evoking all the time we’ve spent sitting in our apartments and homes over the last year wondering when things will return to any sort of recognizable normal.Â
The performance concludes with Cole’s latest single, “I’m Gonna Love You,” which paints a portrait of a supportive and loving relationship: “We all fall down/ We all make mistakes/ And you’re there to save me/ With each word you say/ You are who you are/ You make me who I am/ So I’m gonna love you/ the best that I can.”
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
Every Monday in May, BGS is proud to present Nettwerk 21 in ’21, our new five-part video concert series showcasing exclusive performances from 21 must-listen artists on the Nettwerk Music Group roster. Week 2 is hosted by William Fitzsimmons and includes songs from Tom Speight, Roses & Revolutions, Old Sea Brigade, and, of course, William Fitzsimmons.
Learn more about Nettwerk Music Group and discover more of their roster here. Watch Episode 1 here. Watch Episode 3 here.
For this year’s virtual Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. Over the past few weeks, we have been publicly releasing these exclusive videos.
Nashville-based Birds of Chicago have toured the world playing their unique mix of Americana, soul, and rock & roll. This year, husband and wife duo Allison Russell and JT Nero will be starting a new chapter of their career, with Russell releasing her first-ever solo album, Outside Child, on May 21, and Nero branching out as a co-writer and producer. (Russell is BGS’ May Artist of the Month.) And while Birds of Chicago may be embarking on an indefinite hiatus, that didn’t stop Nero and Russell from showering us with new, unreleased tracks.Â
Joined by Steve Dawson on guitar, they begin with “Red Skies,” showcasing the enchanting blend of Nero’s raspy and Russell’s soulful vocals, as well as Russell’s skill as both a banjoist and a clarinet player.Â
Next, they transition to “Quasheba, Quasheba,” a song Russell penned, recorded, and released with supergroup Our Native Daughters, consisting of Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, and Leyla McCalla. The song’s title comes from the name of the enslaved “many times great-grand matriarch” of Russell’s own Grenadian family, and the song itself serves as a meditation on resilience, love, and protection. Introducing the song, Russell explains, “I’ve been thinking a lot lately during these hard times about resilience… the resilience of our ancestors; we are standing on their shoulders, and they lived through harder times than these.”Â
Birds of Chicago close out their performance with “Saints of Motion.” In the second verse, Nero sings, “We flew out on the edge of the storm/ we roamed the wild sea/ we were the question and the answer/ we were force and poetry,” demonstrating the poetic lyricism that has won the group so many loyal fans over the years. While we will be sad to say goodbye to Birds of Chicago for now, we cannot wait to see the love and care these collaborators have put into Russell’s solo album as she embarks on telling her story in her own words.Â
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
Every Monday in May, BGS is proud to present Nettwerk 21 in ’21, our new five-part video concert series showcasing exclusive performances from 21 must-listen artists on the Nettwerk Music Group roster. Week 1 is hosted by Callie and Martin of The Ballroom Thieves and includes songs from Joshua Radin, Beta Radio, Ocie Elliott, and, of course, The Ballroom Thieves.
Learn more about Nettwerk Music Group and discover more of their roster here. Watch Episode 2 here. Watch Episode 3 here.
For this year’s Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. Over the past few weeks, we have been publicly releasing these exclusive videos.Â
Bella White’s music is a bridge between time and space: transporting traditional bluegrass music to the modern era and bringing the influence of her native Calgary through Boston and finally to her new home in Nashville. After independently releasing her first album, Just Like Leaving, White caught the attention of and signed to Rounder Records, who will be re-releasing the album later this year.Â
White begins her performance with “Gutted,” the first track off of Just Like Leaving. In it, she explores an all too familiar desire to run away from one’s present and one’s problems, ultimately coming to the conclusion that,“I’d be a fool to think my burdens are something I don’t carry.” White follows “Gutted” with “Broke (When I Realized),” an introspective look at her parents’ relationship and subsequent divorce. As she mournfully sings, “The weight of the many tears she shed nearly woke me from my bad dream/ and I broke when I realized I was yet to fall asleep,” White reveals her own struggle of coming to terms with the split when she was a child.Â
To close, White gifts us with “The Way I Oughta Go,” an unreleased track written during the pandemic. White ends the song repeating, “Dreaming never met me in Alberta/ So I packed my things, Tennessee I did go,” referencing her own journey to Nashville to chase her dream of becoming a musician. If “The Way I Oughta Go” is any indication of what is to come, we cannot wait to see what Bella White does next.Â
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
Last spring, on our debut episode of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, Los Angeles-based, Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham kicked off the entire series with an acoustic rendition of “Looking Alive.”
This performance was originally part of BGS’ and Ed Helms’ Whiskey Sour Happy Hour from May 2020, a series benefitting MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and providing personal protective equipment and supplies for first responders through Direct Relief.
You can still watch all episodes of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour here! We hope you enjoy this WSHH “rerun” by Madison Cunningham.
For this year’s Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. Over the next few weeks, we will be publicly releasing these exclusive videos.Â
In this solo performance, folk-rocker Aaron Lee Tasjan offers four stripped-down versions of songs off of his fourth studio album, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, which he released in February. Tasjan opens with “Up All Night,” replacing the opening synth with driving electric guitar. As he sings, “Staying up all night/ It could be good or it could be bad for you/ It’s gonna be alright, or it won’t be,” Tasjan captures the uncertainty of modern love, noting that the good can only happen when we take a leap of faith despite the possibility of heartbreak. He follows “Up All Night” with “Don’t Overthink It,” again showing off his guitar skills during the nearly two minute-long outro.Â
Next, Tasjan moves to keys to perform “Feminine Walk.” With each chorus, Tasjan proudly declares, “I got a feminine walk,” embracing his own queer identity. Tasjan ends on a high note with “Dada Bois,” playing a sped-up rendition on keys that is fittingly reminiscent of Elton John. In the chorus, Tasjan belts, “Dada boys, I bleed to love/ Gaga girls, you’re my drug / My heart is wild but it’s true/ Beating like a speeding train for you / I love anyone it tells me,” celebrating love in all forms and following one’s heart. Â
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
For this year’s Folk Alliance International and SXSW conferences, BGS collaborated with Yamaha Guitars to film performances from some of the artists we are most excited about in 2021. Over the next few weeks, we will be publicly releasing these exclusive videos.
California singer-songwriter Jade Jackson turned heads with her debut album, Gilded, in 2017, and we’ve been longing to hear more of her warm and raspy vocals since her 2019 release of Wilderness. At the end of March, Jackson made our wishes come true. Her new single, “6FT Changes,” is a wistful love letter to pre-pandemic times, and to musicians and music lovers everywhere anxiously awaiting the return of live shows. The song was inspired by a dream Jackson had in 2020 of performing to a crowded audience. She opens, “Last night I saw it/ The crowd and the sweat/ The lights in my eyes/ And the warmth in my chest,” over tender fingerpicking on guitar.
In the chorus, Jackson perfectly captures the feeling of nostalgia we are all experiencing these days as she sings, “Six feet changes the way that it was/ Handshakes and hugs in a crowded space/ Dancing with strangers and holding up beers/ Tapping on shoulders and whispering in ears/ Was taken for granted for all these years.” For now, we are thankful to be able to listen to Jackson from home, and when concerts return, we will be first in line to see her take the stage.
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com.
The incredible Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal, raising a glass of our show’s namesake cocktail, graced us with a captivating cover of Bob Dylan’s “Farewell Angelina” last spring.
This performance was originally part of BGS’ and Ed Helms’ virtual variety show, Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, which premiered in April 2020. The series benefitted MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and helped provide personal protective equipment and supplies for first responders through Direct Relief.
You can still watch all episodes of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour here! We hope you enjoy this performance from Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal.
