Archives: Videos

BGS and Ed Helms Announce Whiskey Sour Happy Hour

The BGS team and our co-founder Ed Helms are excited to announce Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, a 21st-century online variety show to benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief.  Debuting on April 22 and presented in partnership with the Americana Music Association, TX Whiskey, and Allbirds, new editions of the event will be broadcast each Wednesday for the following three weeks — April 29, May 6, and May 13. The shows begin at 5 pm PT/8pm ET.

With Helms serving as host of the series, Whiskey Sour Happy Hour will draw on his long-running Whiskey Sour Radio Hour shows at LA’s Largo to bring world-class music, comedy, and interviews directly into homes across the country and world.

Whiskey Sour Happy Hour can be streamed right here on The Bluegrass Situation, as well as on our YouTube channel. Other confirmed guests for the series include Chris Thile, Yola, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi, Rodney Crowell, Aoife O’Donovan, Robert Ellis, and our current Artist of the Month, Watkins Family Hour. Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

“As soon as we realized the severity of the current crisis, Ed and I both knew we had to do something to support both our musical and medical community—and not just a one-time thing, but something that could promote more sustained giving through multiple shows,” says BGS co-founder Amy Reitnouer Jacobs. “In a short amount of time, our BGS family of artists has come together in such a big way to make this happen. It makes us feel like even though we’re all separated right now, we’re closer than ever before.” Fans will be able to donate to MusiCares and Direct Relief here, as well as via links provided wherever viewers watch the show.

BGS and Ed Helms Announce Whiskey Sour Happy Hour

In addition to supporting Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, TX Whiskey has already stepped up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting 100% of their production to making hand sanitizer. As of March 31, the TX team has produced 800 gallons of hand sanitizer for government agencies. With more raw materials inbound, TX Whiskey is currently positioned to make and bottle 5000 more gallons of sanitizer. On top of that, TX Whiskey continues to support local musicians by giving them an online stage and revenue generator through their Straight From the Couch Sessions — streaming every Friday night in April on IGTV.

Also a presenting sponsor for Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, Allbirds have been working hard to lift up the healthcare community responding to COVID-19, having already donated $500,000 dollars worth of shoes to healthcare workers nationwide. While supplies last, customers are able to bundle any shoe purchase with a donation to immediately supply a pair of Wool Runners to a healthcare professional who’s already reached out to Allbirds for support. Don’t need a new pair yourself, but still want to help? That’s an option, too.

Special thanks to the Americana Music Association for their partnership and support!

 

Sitch Sessions: Che Apalache, “Red Rocking Chair”

Based in Buenos Aires, Che Apalache incorporate Latin textures into their American roots music influences, as heard on this endearing live rendition of “Red Rocking Chair.” Band founder Joe Troop (fiddle), a North Carolina native, is joined here by bandmates Pau Barjau (banjo), Franco Martino (guitar) and Martin Bobrik (mandolin), whom Troop met while teaching bluegrass and old-time music in Argentina. Read our Q&A, listen to the Show on the Road podcast, and see the Grammy-nominated band Che Apalache perform “Red Rocking Chair” for BGS in Nichols Canyon, California.

Live at Ear Trumpet Labs: John Oates, “Sitting On Top Of The World”

There are plenty of reasons why John Oates — yes, that John Oates — is often found around Nashville hanging out and making music with the absolute best pickers in country, blues, bluegrass, and beyond. Quite a few of those reasons are readily apparent in this solo, acoustic performance at Ear Trumpet Labs in Portland, Oregon, as Oates bluesily picks his way through a standard from the bluegrass canon, “Sitting On Top Of The World.” His rootsy bona fides ooze out with every lick, whether he’s referencing Delta blues, Chet Atkins, or grassy flatpicking.

John is heard through a Delphina microphone as well as a stereo pair of Delphinas utilized as room mics.

Live at Ear Trumpet Labs: Jerry Douglas & Tommy Emmanuel, “Choctaw Hayride”

Now this is our kind of lab experiment. Put a pair of world-class musicians together, turn on the cameras, and experience a dazzling duet from two modern masters. This captivating version of “Choctaw Hayride” is the first release in a partnership between Ear Trumpet Labs and the Bluegrass Situation. Both gentlemen, by the way, are using Edwina microphones. There’s also a stereo pair of Delphinas as room mics.

Don’t miss this extraordinary live performance by Jerry Douglas and Tommy Emmanuel of “Choctaw Hayride,” filmed at Ear Trumpet Labs in Portland, Oregon.

 

 

Sitch Sessions: Jason Hawk Harris, “Giving In”

To categorize Jason Hawk Harris as a West Coast country singer, you’re only getting a sliver of the story.

As a kid in Houston, Harris heard a lot of country music because his grandfather always had it playing. As Harris matured, his own tastes shifted to punk, indie rock, the music of Queen, and classical composition. You can hear all these influences in Love & The Dark, his first album for Bloodshot Records. He grabbed the label’s attention at Folk Alliance 2018 — and certainly there is a folk component to Love & The Dark. However, Harris describes his music as “meta-apocalyptic country/Americana grief-grass.”

Harris filmed this BGS Sitch Session in Los Angeles, where he’s now based. The old soundstage serves as a stark backdrop for “Giving In,” a personal song drawn from Harris’ fraught relationship with his late mother’s alcohol addiction.

Lucky Barn at Pickathon: Haley Heynderickx

BGS is pleased to partner with our friends at Pickathon to premiere a new live session from The Lucky Barn each month. Our latest installment features an outstanding live performance of “No Face” by Haley Heynderickx, a remarkable singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon. Stick around after the song to hear about how she met her fellow musicians in the band, as well as some insight about the Portland music scene today.

You can discover more about the festival and get your tickets for 2019 at pickathon.com

Sitch Sessions: Danni Nicholls, “Ancient Embers”

BGS met up with Danni Nicholls at The Bear Club in Luton, Bedfordshire to film this evocative Sitch Session. She explains, “The past few years have been a whirlwind journey of self-discovery and waking up to a truer sense of myself and the world around me. It has been terrifying and dark at times, joyful, illuminating and freeing at others. Ultimately, ‘Ancient Embers’ is a love song. It serves as a reminder and reinforcer that the relationship and inner dialogue I have with myself informs every other relationship in my life and affects the way in which I walk through it.”

Enjoy this exclusive performance of “Ancient Embers” from Nicholls’ newest album, The Melted Morning.