When it comes to pickin' and fiddlin', few string bands do it better than Town Mountain … even in the Southern California heat! For their Sitch Session, the Carolina boys chose "Comin' Back to You," a tune from their upcoming album, Southern Crescent, which recently premiered on the BGS.
Front man Robert Greer says the song is "about traveling and being away from the one you love." But rather than make it a typical woe-is-me weaper, "I thought it appropriate to arrange mine more upbeat boogie woogie, because I love being on the road,” Greer confesses.
Shot and produced by Small Medium Large Productions in Los Angeles, CA
BGS has partnered with American-made microphone company Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) for the Portland Series which features ETL’s handcrafted microphones alongside some of Americana’s most acclaimed artists. ETL’s microphones are the brainchild of Philip Graham, who strived to create a unique product that was both visually and aurally stunning, delivering studio quality sound in a live setting, which is exemplified in the video series.
Though she’s released three records since, Portland-based singer/songwriter Laura Veirs looks back to the title track of her 2010 album for this performance. The imagery is a perfect pairing for the scenic setting. “July flame — ashes of a secret heart falling in my lemonade,” she sings. “Unslakable thirsting in the backyard … Can I call you mine?”
Looking forward, Veirs has teamed up with k.d. lang and Neko Case for the case/lang/veirs album which is slated for release in June.
Be sure to catch all of the Portland Series videos and vote on your favorite for a chance to win an ETL microphone.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, in association with EAR TRUMPET LABS
BGS has partnered with American-made microphone company Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) for the Portland Series which features ETL’s handcrafted microphones alongside some of Americana’s most acclaimed artists. ETL’s microphones are the brainchild of Philip Graham, who strived to create a unique product that was both visually and aurally stunning, delivering studio quality sound in a live setting, which is exemplified in the video series.
American songster Dom Flemons takes to a “treehouse” for his feisty rendition of “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.” Brian Farrow accompanies Flemons on fiddle, and the two really lay into the old traditional that has been done up by everyone from Woody Guthrie to Elizabeth Cotten to Bill Monroe to the Grateful Dead. Flemons and Farrow don’t do all of the tune’s verses, leaving room for them to swap runs on the harmonica and fiddle.
Be sure to catch all of the Portland Series videos and vote on your favorite for a chance to win an ETL microphone.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, in association with EAR TRUMPET LABS
Long-time BGS fave Langhorne Slim has been riding high for the past year or so thanks to a couple of his songs finding their way into commercials and films. But he'll never be too big to hang out on a downtown L.A. rooftop and sing for us, though. Sporting one of his trademark lids, Slim offered up "Lion Like You," a brand new (and as-yet-unreleased) tune. "I'll take it slow, but it's hard to do when you're a lion like me hunting a lion like you," Slim confesses in the song. "You got the hands that I want to hold. You light the rooms to the house of my soul."
Live from the Los Angeles Flower District. Directed and edited by Richard Downie.
BGS has partnered with American-made microphone company Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) for the Portland Series which features ETL’s handcrafted microphones alongside some of Americana’s most acclaimed artists. ETL’s microphones are the brainchild of Philip Graham, who strived to create a unique product that was both visually and aurally stunning, delivering studio quality sound in a live setting, which is exemplified in the video series.
Reflecting the tender lilt of her melody, a gentle smile makes its way across Annalisa Tornfelt's face as the sun streams down on her Portland Series Sitch Session. The brightness of the day — and the smile — stands in contrast to the sentiment of the song. "One is the day I begin counting. Two is for two eyes — I know how they say goodbye. Three is a sad thought I will never tell you," she sings, ticking off the numbers of her heartbreak, one at a time, in "Riddle Me This," off her latest album, The Number 8.
Be sure to catch all of the Portland Series videos and vote on your favorite for a chance to win an ETL microphone.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, in association with EAR TRUMPET LABS.
The Steel Wheels recently popped into McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California, for a resonator-driven performance of "Heaven Don't Come by Here" surrounded by walls full of guitars. "Born with a name, but no name to say, 'cause heaven don't come by here," they sing to lay out the case, before defiantly insisting, "Don't bring your flowers; nothing here grows. Don't bring your flowers like you didn't know. Don't bring your flowers anymore." It's a potent plea, passionately delivered and worthy of inclusion among the classics of the form.
Shot and edited by Angela Wood for Small Medium Large Productions.
BGS has partnered with American-made microphone company Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) for the Portland Series which features ETL’s handcrafted microphones alongside some of Americana’s most acclaimed artists. ETL’s microphones are the brainchild of Philip Graham, who strived to create a unique product that was both visually and aurally stunning, delivering studio quality sound in a live setting, which is exemplified in the video series.
Billy Strings and Don Julin — with a little help from Kevin Gills — kick off the Portland Series with a rousing rendition of “Meet Me at the Creek.” Between his formidable vocal turns, Strings swaps fiery licks with Julin before the two take things down a notch and really show off their chops in an extended musical interlude that rounds out the six-and-a-half-minute performance.
Be sure to catch all of the Portland Series videos and vote on your favorite for a chance to win an ETL microphone.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, in association with EAR TRUMPET LABS
For her Sitch Session, Aoife O’Donovan takes to a rooftop in Los Angeles to lay out a lilting version of “Magic Hour,” the title track from her new record, backed by a chorus of succulents and cacti. This sparse acoustic rendering stands in contrast to the snappy album version, putting a different spin on it all. “In the magic hour, when the moon is low and the sky’s the kind of blue that you think you know, but you don’t know,” O’Donovan sings under a sunny sky that is the kind of blue we all want to know.
Editor’s Note: Aoife O’Donovan is returning to LA and will be live at the Troubadour on April 14, 2022. Grab your tickets here.
Directed and edited by Richard Downie
Known for having previously toured on a bicycle, singer/songwriter/cellist Ben Sollee hopped on a stationary Schwinn to spin his way through a Sitch Session performance of "Pretend." He's a singular artist, with a singular take on things. "I ain’t no shirtless tease. I ain’t no well-lit movie screen," Sollee sings as he pedals, bows, and grins. "But I’ll be there when things get rough and I’ll hold your hand when you cry."
On a recent afternoon, Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes sat on a rooftop in Los Angeles to perform the title track to their latest album, "All Your Favorite Bands." The sun beamed down in all the right places and the notes drifted off in all the right ways to create one of the most glistening Sitch Sessions yet.
"I hope that life without a chaperone is what you thought it’d be. I hope your brother’s El Camino runs forever. I hope the world sees the same person that you always were to me," they sing in sweet, sweet harmony before offering up one of the best well wishes imaginable. "And may all your favorite bands stay together."
See Dawes LIVE at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in L.A. presented by BGS on January 23, 2016. Tickets are still available.
Filmed and edited by Richard Downie.
