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.
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.
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.
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.
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 next few weeks, we will be publicly releasing these exclusive videos.
First up is Grammy Award-winning blues musician Keb’ Mo’ playing a Yamaha FGX5, which is modeled after a vintage Yamaha FG180. The FG180 in particular has sentimental value; Keb’s first acoustic guitar, the one he learned how to play slide on, was a second-hand FG180. Sadly, he lost his longtime musical companion in the Nashville flood of 2010. Keb’ recorded “Every Morning,” the first track on his self-titled 1994 debut album on his FG180, so it is only fitting that 27 years later he gifts us this rendition on its modern counterpart.
A year into the pandemic, “Every Morning” takes on new meaning; as he sings “And it may be winter, it may be fall/ I might have plenty or nothin’ at all/ But, baby, I’ll be there whenever you call,” he reminds us all of the power of love to carry us through the bad times as well as the good. He follows “Every Morning” with “The Action” off of his 1996 album, Just Like You, serenading us with another example of the vivid storytelling that has been a part of his music since the start of his long career.
You can discover more about Yamaha Guitars and the Yamaha Custom Shop at YamahaGuitars.com
BGS is proud to announce Shout & Shine Episode 5! Guitarist, composer, and songwriter Yasmin Williams is our guest for this livestream iteration of Shout & Shine, which comprises short-form, intimate video performances by underrepresented and marginalized artists in Americana, folk, and bluegrass.
Please support Yasmin Williams directly, via her PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/YasminWilliamsMusic and visit Williams’ Bandcamp to purchase merch.
Shout & Shine is presented by Preston Thompson Guitars and will be streamed live right here on March 31, 2021 at 4pm PDT / 7pm EDT.
Photo credit: Kim Atkins Photography
Austin, Texas singer-songwriter Matt the Electrician reminds us of the importance and power of simple gratitude.
“If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank you,’ that will be enough.”
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 heartwarming song from Matt the Electrician.
In May 2020, Punch Brothers’ guitarist Chris Eldridge graced our Whiskey Sour Happy Hour “stage,” delivering a – erhm – loving tribute to the city in which BGS was born, with a cover of Elliott Smith’s “Angeles.”
This performance was originally part of BGS’ Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, 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 highlight cut from the oh-so-talented Chris Eldridge.
Last spring, on an episode of our virtual happy hour variety show, Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi brought us a stunningly haunting version of “Last Night I Dreamed of Loving You.” The song was written by Hugh Moffatt and made popular by Kathy Mattea, whom Giddens was “obsessed” with way back at the start of her love affair with country music.
Whiskey Sour Happy Hour 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 highlight cut of Giddens and Turrisi’s quarantine collaboration.
BGS is proud to announce Shout & Shine Episode 4! Austin, Texas songwriter and guitar-slinger Jackie Venson is our guest for this livestream iteration of Shout & Shine, which comprises short-form, intimate video performances by underrepresented and marginalized artists in Americana, folk, and bluegrass.
Please support Jackie Venson directly, via her merch store: http://bit.ly/JackieVensonMerch and visit Venson’s website for more information and music.
Shout & Shine is presented by Preston Thompson Guitars and will be streamed live right here on February 3, 2021 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET.
Photo credit: Ismael Quintanilla III
