Archives: Videos

A Place in the Band: Rhiannon Giddens

Editor’s note: Register for the Blue Ridge Music Center’s FREE virtual A Place in the Band conference held Friday, February 26, 2021 here.

BGS is proud to announce our partnership with the Blue Ridge Music Center to debut their online series, A Place in the Band: Women in Bluegrass & American Roots Music. The 10-part series explores the triumphs and struggles of prominent women with careers in the music industry.

Over the course of three weeks the episodes – promoting the BRMC’s online conference in late February – will be made available on the Blue Ridge Music Center’s YouTube channel, on BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org, and here on BGS as part of a project that began in 2020 to honor the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment granting women in the United States the right to vote.

North Carolina singer-songwriter and social justice activist Laurelyn Dossett acts as host, speaking with musicians and additional music industry leaders. Her subjects share behind the scenes stories, reveal their role models and mentors, discuss issues they’ve encountered specific to women in the industry, and highlight changes they’ve seen over the years. The individual stories show the collective strength and possibilities for women in bluegrass and American roots music.

The first three interviews feature North Carolina’s Rhiannon Giddens, Missy Raines (eight time-IBMA bass player of the year and member of the First Ladies of Bluegrass), and Amy Grossmann (Executive Director of the North Carolina Folk Festival). Additional interviews will be released on Tuesday, January 19, and Tuesday, January 26.

The first installment features Rhiannon Giddens. (Watch the full interview at the top of the page, watch a preview above.) A Greensboro, NC native, Grammy winner (and six-time nominee), and MacArthur Fellow, Giddens excavates the past to reveal truths about our present. A founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters, she also tours with Francesco Turrisi and as a solo artist. She is also known for her work onscreen, appearing in two seasons of the hit television series Nashville and in Ken Burns’s Country Music.

A Place in the Band: Women in Bluegrass and American Roots Music is sponsored and supported by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway/National Park Service, National Endowment for the Arts, National Park Foundation, and The Bluegrass Situation.

Explore more from A Place in the Band, sign up for the conference, and learn more about the Blue Ridge Music Center here.

Video credit: Joe Dejarnette, Studio 808A
Graphic credit: Jacob LeBlanc, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

WATCH: Singing on the Land Featuring Arnold Richardson and Netye Lynch

Singing on the Land is a virtual music project that celebrates stories and historic sites across North Carolina through the voices of North Carolina musicians. In this installment, Arnold Richardson plays a hand-carved red cedar American Indian flute alongside Netye Lynch on a hand drum. The performance is filmed at Magazine Spring in Historic Halifax. Watch an interview after the song, as Richardson talks about the spiritual feeling from the property, the courtship ritual of music, and the remnants of his Native American ancestors. He is a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe of eastern North Carolina.

Developed by North Carolina State Historic Sites and Properties in partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council and Come Hear NC, each installment of the series will highlight one of North Carolina’s 27 state designated historic sites. Each episode of Singing on the Land will feature a single-song acoustic performance by a North Carolina musician(s) paired with short interviews and environmental footage of the site’s landscape and landmarks. (Find out more.)

 

WATCH: Singing on the Land Featuring Jimmy Vipperman at Horne Creek Farm

Singing on the Land is a virtual music project that celebrates stories and historic sites across North Carolina through the voices of North Carolina musicians. In this installment, renowned fiddler Jimmy Vipperman performs the traditional tune “Soldier’s Joy” at Horne Creek Farm. Watch an interview with “Vip” after the performance, as he explains his family’s connection to this song, the genesis of the TAPS program for young musicians, and why he learned the fiddle by ear.

Developed by North Carolina State Historic Sites and Properties in partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council and Come Hear NC, each installment of the series will highlight one of North Carolina’s 27 state designated historic sites. Each episode of Singing on the Land will feature a single-song acoustic performance by a North Carolina musician(s) paired with short interviews and environmental footage of the site’s landscape and landmarks. (Find out more.)

WATCH: Aoife O’Donovan, “Red & White & Blue & Gold”

Aoife O’Donovan has us dreaming of summer in this stunning performance from Episode 3 of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, our 21st-century online variety show benefitting MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief, presented by BGS and Ed Helms in early May. O’Donovan was joined by Eric Jacobsen on cello and Colin Jacobsen on violin.

We hope you’ll enjoy this Whiskey Sour Happy Hour rerun of “Red & White & Blue & Gold.”

Editor’s Note: Aoife O’Donovan will be live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on Thursday April 14, 2022. Grab your tickets here.

 

WATCH: Singing on the Land Featuring Lakota John at Town Creek Indian Mound

Singing on the Land is a virtual music project that celebrates stories and historic sites across North Carolina through the voices of North Carolina musicians. In this installment, blues singer and guitarist Lakota John performs “Together at Home” at Town Creek Indian Mound. Don’t miss an interview with Lakota John after the performance, as he explains the significance of performing this original song at such a sacred place.

Developed by North Carolina State Historic Sites and Properties in partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council and Come Hear NC, each installment of the series will highlight one of North Carolina’s 27 state designated historic sites. Each episode of Singing on the Land will feature a single-song acoustic performance by a North Carolina musician(s) paired with short interviews and environmental footage of the site’s landscape and landmarks. (Find out more.)

WATCH: Singing on the Land Featuring Rissi Palmer at Bentonville Battlefield

Singing on the Land is a virtual music project that celebrates the stories of historic sites across North Carolina through the voices of North Carolina musicians. In this installment, country soul vocalist Rissi Palmer and guitarist James Gilmore perform “Barley,” written by Allison Russell, at Bentonville Battlefield. Don’t miss an interview with Palmer after the performance, where she speaks about her ancestors, and what this song and her surroundings mean to her today.

Developed by North Carolina State Historic Sites and Properties in partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council and Come Hear NC, each installment of the series will highlight one of North Carolina’s 27 state designated historic sites. Each episode of Singing on the Land will feature a single-song acoustic performance by a North Carolina musician(s) paired with short interviews and environmental footage of the site’s landscape and landmarks. (Find out more.)

 

WATCH: Shout & Shine Featuring Julian Taylor

BGS is proud to announce Shout & Shine Episode 3! Indigenous, Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor 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 Julian Taylor directly, via PayPal: https://paypal.me/juliandeantaylor and visit Taylor’s website for more information and music.

 Shout & Shine is presented by Preston Thompson Guitars and will be streamed live right here on November 11 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET.

Photo of Julian Taylor: Lisa MacIntosh

WATCH: Ben Harper, “Clay Pigeons”

In honor of Ben Harper‘s birthday on October 28 — as well as his recent release of his first ever entirely-instrumental album, Winter Is For Lovers — we’re revisiting this acoustic cover of a John Prine song (by way of songwriter Blaze Foley), “Clay Pigeons.”

Earlier this year, when our second episode of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour aired on April 29, Prine had passed away due to complications from COVID-19 barely a handful of weeks before. Harper’s heartfelt tribute in “Clay Pigeons” was such a comfort then, as we all gathered virtually for WSHH — and it’s still a comfort now. We will always miss John Prine!

 

WATCH: On Her Signature Thompson Guitar, Molly Tuttle Covers Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Award-winning guitarist Molly Tuttle made one of the year’s most compelling and surprising cover albums with …but i’d rather be with you, selecting 10 of her favorite songs from throughout her life. Hear a dazzling take on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Zero,” performed on the Molly Tuttle Signature Model Thompson Guitar, in this BGS exclusive.

 

WATCH: Musicians for Marquita

Watch Musicians for Marquita above on October 20, 2020 at 6pm CT / 4pm PT. 

BGS is proud to support the musicians, writers, comedians, and creators banding together to help Tennessee elect south Memphis native Marquita Bradshaw, the first Black woman to ever be nominated for U.S. Senate by a major party in Tennessee.

Nashville musicians William Tyler, Tristen, and Erin Rae have partnered with Third Man Records to host a modern day telethon fundraiser on October 20 to raise awareness about Bradshaw’s historic campaign and mobilize Tennesseans to support her at the polls. Artists, musicians, poets, writers, and athletes have been invited to submit casually recorded videos of songs, testimonials, or written pieces, along with their endorsements of Marquita Bradshaw for Senate. Among those confirmed for the broadcast are Margo Price, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Kyshona, Caroline Randall Williams, Becca Mancari, Langhorne Slim, and many, many more.

You can find out more about Musicians for Marquita and DONATE to support Bradshaw for Senate here.

More about Marquita Bradshaw’s campaign: In a surprise upset, Marquita Bradshaw won the race for Democratic nominee with 33.5% of votes, a 9-point lead, defeating her opponent James Mackler’s 2.1 million dollar fundraising haul with her $8,420 grassroots campaign. In one of the most inspiring outcomes in decades, this win validates that Bradshaw represents the needs and wants of Tennesseans across the state, and that she will bring this work ethic and vision to Washington, D.C. With an extensive history of environmental activism, Bradshaw supports common sense policies that defend and promote the long-term health and well-being of Tennessee and its citizens. In a race where popular vote decides, Tennessee has a real chance to make change if we can mobilize an unprecedented number of progressives to vote on Nov. 3. Get more information here.

Poster art courtesy of Musicians for Marquita