Artist Category: Americana | Page 19

David Ramirez

We’re Not Going Anywhere: At a historical moment of immense political, social, and ecological uncertainty, those four simple words comprise both a promise and a protest, a comforting reassurance of inclusion as well as a hearty cry of defiance. It’s a statement that offers no small sense of hope, in that sense matching the music contained on the album.

On these vividly imagined and passionately performed songs David Ramirez takes in the world from his unique perspective: “Being half white and half Mexican has made this current political climate especially interesting. So many cultures in this country are being viewed as un-American and it breaks my heart. My family have raised children here, created successful businesses here, and are proud to be a part of this country. Most of what I’ve seen as of late is misplaced fear. I wanted to write about that fear and how, instead of benefiting us, it sends us spiraling out control.”

The album that bears that title marks a departure for Ramirez, who builds on the rootsy sound of his early albums to create something new, something bold, something anchored in the here and now. Scouting out unexplored music territory, these songs bounce around energetically, toying with new ideas and experimenting with new sounds, as barbed-wire guitars and retro-futuristic synths grind against his anguished vocals and evocative lyrics.

Viv & Riley

A bittersweet nostalgia lies at the heart of Imaginary People, the new album from Viv & Riley, coming September 15, 2023 on Free Dirt Records. Over ten tracks, the pair applies an indie roots sheen to newly composed pop gems. Rooted originally in the folk tradition, the pair reframe the production into experimental territory, crafting songs that speak to finding a path forward into adulthood in an uncertain world. Gifted songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno’s first album under the name Viv & Riley is a subtle masterpiece of thought and reflection. The album brings a reflectiveness to summertime jams that speak of uninhibited joy and creative camaraderie.

Coming on the heels of their acclaimed earlier albums that showed preternaturally talented songwriting from such young artists, now the songs have caught up with their lives. Now in their mid-20s, the two are building a life together, creating a supportive community, and looking back on everything they’ve been through. Based out of Durham, North Carolina, they’ve tapped into the area’s eclectic and collaborative music scene, recruiting Alex Bingham of Hiss Golden Messenger to produce the album. Bingham brings a sunny, lush sound to Viv & Riley’s music, moving beyond their earlier country roots and toward a layered sound and sonic experimentation. The songwriting has evolved as well, from the world-weary, stripped-down country songs they’re known for to indie songwriting at turns sweetly sad and gently sardonic. Ultimately, Imaginary People is about carrying and honoring our pasts, about letting that inform our new steps forward. No matter how much we might cling to where we are, sometimes we need to uproot and take a leap of faith, to open ourselves up to new experiences and ideas in order to grow and blossom.

Ethan Setiawan

Originally from Goshen, Indiana, Ethan Setiawan tried out numerous instruments before finding his way to the mandolin. “I played the cello, and tried out banjo and ukulele as a kid”, he explains, “But I really liked the mandolin, it was small but packed a bigger punch than the ukulele. Anyway, that was the one that stuck”, he laughs. Years later, Setiawan has a command of the instrument far beyond his twenty-five years, and has won both the National Mandolin Championship at Winfield, KS and the Rockygrass Mandolin Championship. On his new album, “Gambit”, Setiawan takes the calculated musical risks of a seasoned player. He moves aptly between stylistic influences, harkening back to the experimental string band music pioneered in the early 80s while presenting entirely original compositions.

Setiawan was one of three children who were all homeschooled by folk-loving parents, so his childhood was untraditional, and full of exploration, but music gave him a social outlet outside of the home. “As a teenager, I loved the idea of going to jams and having this community of people I could hang out with”, he explains. He began driving to Chicago to take lessons with Don Stiernberg, and traveled to California to attend The Mandolin Symposium. After finishing high school, Setiawan attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship. “I think I came into Berklee as a very technically oriented musician, but just being exposed to so many different styles and incredible musicians really broadened my musical horizons, and gave me a deeper understanding of artistry and musicality beyond technical proficiency”, he explains.

Since then, his path has wended its way through traditional bluegrass, to Bach partitas, to free jazz. His debut full-length album, “Flux” is made up of original tunes drawing from all these wells. In retrospect, Setiawan can see immense growth in himself since the release of “Flux”. “I can look at most of those tunes and point you back to a Matt Flinner tune or a Bela Fleck tune that I drew inspiration from, but it feels more like a school project to me, something that I set out to do with a specific goal in mind, whereas “Gambit” feels more like my own artistic statement.”

Produced by legendary fiddle player Darol Anger, the project features Anger’s signature chamber music influenced arrangement styles. “What I love about the album is that the sum of it is greater than its parts”, explains Setiawan. “It starts with an introductory meditation, and it moves through a Swedish tune, a real jammy number, some more jazz and new age influenced pieces, as well as the old time and bluegrass elements. It’s not one thing, it’s a whole record”. In working with Anger, Setiawan found that he was able to make the most musical choices for each tune, leaving academic influences aside.

“Gambit” was recorded in Maine at the Great Northern Sound Society, and features an all-star cast of musicians including Darol Anger (fiddle), Tony Trischka (banjo), Sam Leslie (guitar), Brittany Karlson (bass), Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), Louise Bichan (fiddle), Joe K. Walsh (mandolin), Mike Marshall (mandolin), Neil Pearlman (keys), and Matt Arcara (banjo).
In addition to his solo projects, Setiawan is an in-demand side man and band member, and can be seen playing with his band Corner House, Darol Anger, and Tony Trischka among others. One listen through to “Gambit” will explain why Setiawan is in high demand. Throughout the record, his technical proficiency is rivaled only by his restraint, leaving room for the music to thrive.

Julian Pinelli

Recently named the winner of the 2016 Fresh Grass fiddle competition, Julian Pinelli is a free-spirited violinist who spins a deep tone in his music. Rooted in the bluegrass of his home in Southern Appalachia, Julian taps into a new dimension combining diverse musical influences with the intricacies of acoustic sound.

Julian spent his childhood surrounded by many iconic acoustic musicians including fiddler Bobby Hicks – whose smooth and lush sound has had a big impact on Julian’s playing. Now residing in Boston and attending Berklee College of Music, Julian has been honored with both the 2016 Fletcher Bright Award and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival’s 2015 Bill Vernon Memorial Scholarship.

Julian unites his passion for improvising with the earthy resonance of acoustic music. “I have always been drawn to the simple and pure tone of acoustic instruments and their inherent expressiveness.” Both adventurous and traditional, Julian creates music that respects traditions such old time and bluegrass while staying fresh at the cutting edge of musical innovation.

Tim Rowell

Tim Rowell teaches music in the greater Boston area. Clawhammer banjo is his specialty. His goal is always to to discover the students individual learning style. In addition to banjo Tim teaches guitar, mandolin, piano, dulcimer, ukulele and harmonica.

Tim is the director of the Traditional Music Project at The Real School of Music in Burlington, Mass. and teaches privately from Boston, Cambridge and Somerville through the North Shore and Metro West.

Charlie Rose

Over the years, Charlie Rose has played a lot of things with a lot of people. Frequently called upon to fill the sonic spot no one else seems to be able to fill, Charlie has found a musical thread and woven it into the americana, bluegrass, folk, and rock and roll scenes.

Rose found himself drawn to the vibrant music scene in the greater northeast region, and spent over a decade living in the Boston area playing music with a multitude of bands and artists. During this time he began playing pedal steel, which today is his primary instrument. Producer Zachariah Hickman began hiring Charlie for recording sessions and to play banjo in his dynamic bluegrass band, Barnstar! Which he is actively involved in to this day as they prepare to release a 3rd album. He has been a long standing adjunct member of The Mammals (Mike and Ruthy Band), and toured and recorded with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Johnathan Edwards, The Crooked Jades, Mark Erelli,

In the fall of 2014, Charlie released his first solo album of original songs, Stowaways. Shortly thereafter Charlie was asked to join Elephant Revival and began performing with them in 2015, and was a contributing songwriter to the 2016 release, Petals, with the song ‘Sea Monster’. Rose made the move back to colorful Colorado to help unify and build ER’s momentum in 2017.

Though ER is on hiatus currently, Charlie is as active as ever recording, producing, writing, and performing with various bands across the country (and world). He is excited to release an album of songs in 2020 written and inspired by the poetry of his great-grandfather, Will Ferrell, who’s 1919 publication Poems in Oil and Other Verse resides in the Library of Congress. The Charlie Rose Band will be coming to a town near you soon!

Suzie Brown & Scot Sax

A 1970s-inspired folk-pop songwriter, Suzie Brown has chased her unique muse for a decade, making modern-day roots music that nods to the soul singers, heartland rockers, and blues artists who came before her. Gluing the sound together is the unforced voice and honest, autobiographical songwriting of a Renaissance woman who’s not only an acclaimed musician, but also an Advanced Heart Failure cardiologist and mother of two. Her songs have earned recognition from the NewSong Music Competition, International Songwriting Competition, Independent Music Awards, Forbes and People Magazine. “I love everything about you, Suzie—you’re wearing a lot of hats, and wearing them all very well,” said broadcast journalist Gayle King during an episode of CBS This Morning that showcased Brown’s unique balancing act between music, medicine, and motherhood. Brown turns that balancing act into music, rolling with the punches, adjusting to the changing times, and writing the ever-evolving soundtrack to her journey.

Scot Sax’ multi-faceted career started with a bang when his song ‘I Walked’ became a radio hit with his band Wanderlust (RCA) in ‘95. It was the #1 most requested song on rock stations across the country. That year ended with Wanderlust opening for The Who. After signing a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell in Los Angeles, Sax went on to write and perform “I Am The Summertime” for the film American Pie (awarded a Gold Record) and form indie-darlings FEEL(Curb Records). In 2005 he co-wrote the Grammy-winning Faith Hill/Tim McGraw duet “Like We Never Loved At All”. Upon hearing Scot’s song “What Gets In The Way”, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and T-Bone Burnett asked he and singer Sharon Little to be their opening act for their Raising Sand Tour in 2007. Sax worked with Don Was in 2009 on Little’s 2nd album. From there Sax went on to dive into another passion of his: film. He released the documentary Platinum Rush: a Film by a Songwriter starring Lisa Loeb, Ron Sexsmith and Oliver Wood, created onstage videos for Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road” 20th Anniversary Tour, and directed award-winning films Playback Is A Bitch and This Is Major.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is a progressive folk act that blends older influences and traditional instrumentation with modern effects and inspiration.

Written as a cathartic release, Honeysuckle’s latest release, Phoenix, is a rumination on the impossible to capture, fluid trials of grief. An attempt to capture a small part of the enormity of loss in all the little moments, like reaching for the phone, only to remember that there’s no longer someone on the other end. An incantation, a reminder, a spark in what can seem like never ending darkness. We all carry grief with us, and in writing this song I tried to do what I could to make it just a little lighter, if only for a moment.

Comprised of Holly McGarry and Chris Bloniarz, this upstate NY based band can frequently be found performing across the country. Honeysuckle has performed at Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza, Mountain Jam, Americanafest, Otis Mountain Get Down, and Audiotree. Awards include Americana Artist of the Year (2019) and Folk Artist of the Year (2018) at the Boston Music Awards, in addition to having been nominated every year since 2016. NPR named Honeysuckle one of the “Top 10 bands of 2016 So Far.”

Goodnight Moonshine

Goodnight Moonshine is a guitar and vocal duet, and a musical marriage in all senses. The Duo combines the evocative voice and songwriting of Molly Venter, with Eben Pariser’s adventurous guitar playing. The result is folk music with a depth of improvisation and tonal subtlety usually reserved for jazz.

Molly is well known for her sublime singing in the prominent female-vocal-group Red Molly, while Eben cut his teeth as a street performer in New York City, playing guttural music of New Orleans with his band Roosevelt Dime.

Molly’s enviable voice, which can be called both “biker-chick smoky” (New Haven Register), and “like silk” (American Songwriter Magazine), has taken her career to highlights including Tønder Festival in Denmark, Kate Wolf Fest in CA, and multiple placements on television and film. In Goodnight Moonshine she is in full force as a songwriter. Her trance-induced stream-of-consciousness writing style results in compositions that probe the depths of her inner experience. Her hit song “Hold It All”, recorded with Red Molly and performed regularly with Goodnight Moonshine, questions the meaning of life, and grapples with acceptance, with honesty and heart usually reserved for literary writers- which she also is- she writes a weekly column on Patreon.com

Starting as a blues guitarist in his teens, Eben’s imagination was quickly captured by classic jazz, which he studied at the Oberlin Conservatory. “Pariser’s harmonic sensibilities are wide, imaginative” (NPR), and his career has involved singing lead and playing bass with Roosevelt Dime, playing drums and being musical director of Red Molly- but it is his love of jazz and improvising on display in Goodnight Moonshine. A natural producer, Eben has 8 studio records under his belt for himself and other artists, and recently launched the new record label, Equitone Records.

After cutting several records, and experimenting with limitless creative possibilities of studio production, Goodnight Moonshine is now thrilling audiences as an acoustic guitar duo. The format allows them to focus entirely on each other’s gifts, and enter a hypnotic trance, a cycle of responsive vocal inspiration and guitar improvisation that deepens throughout the show. It is a main-line of the very best that both artists have to offer, and perhaps why their single-mike show has become an unlikely festival act- in 2023 they are slated to play Arts And Ideas (CT), Red Ants Pants (MT), and Sisters Folk Fest (OR).

Guitar and vocal duos are rare and few come to mind, but the ones that do, such as Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and The Milk Carton Kids, have achieved and integration between singular talents in a format that is both genre-less and grounded in the commonness of two guitars, two voices. Goodnight Moonshine is taking their own stab at this unusual and deeply personal approach. Their show is punctuated by songs and banter that openly explore the complexities of their relationship to each other, the Creator, birth, life, death, and what happens when, “the honeymoon ends?” For Molly and Eben, It is the way they make space for each other while staying true to themselves that defines this music, and marriage.

Goodnight Moonshine has two studio records; their self-titled debut album Goodnight Moonshine (2013), and I’m The Only One Who Will Tell You Your Bad (2018), as well as two singles; Harder Than It Should Be (2021), and What Do You Wanna Know (2022), all produced by Pariser.

Mary Gauthier

Dark Enough To See The Stars

“Writing helps me sort out confusion, untangle powerful emotions, and ward off desperation. It helps me navigate the powerful emotional weather systems of life.”
– Mary Gauthier, Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting

As she has so eloquently accomplished over the past 25 years, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier has used her art once again to traverse the uncharted waters of the past few years. “I’m the kind of songwriter who writes what I see in the world right now,” she affirms. Thankfully, amid dark storms of pandemic loss, she found and followed the beacon of new love: Her gift to us, the powerful Dark Enough to See the Stars, collects ten sparkling jewels of Gauthier songcraft reflecting both love and loss.

Her eleventh album, Dark Enough to See the Stars, follows the profound antidote to trauma, Rifles & Rosary Beads, her 2018 collaborative work with wounded Iraq war veterans. It garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album, as well as a nomination for Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Publication of her first book, the illuminating Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, in 2021, brought her more praise. Brandi Carlile has said, “Mary’s songwriting speaks to the tender aspects of our humanness. We need her voice in times like these more than we ever have.” The Associated Press called Gauthier “one of the best songwriters of her generation.”

Gauthier’s early work, which began at 35, reflected her newfound sobriety, delving into events from a troubled life, which persisted after she became a renowned chef in Boston. Dark Enough to See the Stars returns Gauthier to the scintillating confessional mode on such albums as her breakthrough release, 2005’s Mercy Now, as well as such ear worms as the hook-laden “Drag Queens in Limousines.” In addition to crafting instantly memorable songs, Gauthier has never shied away from difficult self-exploration, as with 2010’s The Foundling, on which she explored the repercussions of her adoption from a New Orleans orphanage and subsequent search for her birth mother.

On Dark Enough to See the Stars, she mourns recent devastating losses: the deaths of John Prine, David Olney, Nanci Griffith, and her beloved friend Betsy. But she also sings open-heartedly of love. All ten tracks prove Gauthier’s belief, as stated in Saved by a Song, that “songs can bring us a deep understanding of each other and ourselves and open the heart to love.”

Deep emotion resonates throughout Dark Enough to See the Stars. “It kicks off with three love songs,” says Gauthier. “Somewhere along the work I’ve done in therapy through art and 32 years of recovery, I’ve somehow stabilized enough to be in a relationship that works – and I want to express that in these songs.” The joyous triad – the catchy “Fall Apart World,” the lilting ballad “Amsterdam,” and gospel-tinged “Thank God for You” – each punctuated with Danny Mitchell’s evocative keyboards – comes alive with poetic imagery.

“Thank God for You” contrasts her former life – “another junkie jonesing on a Greyhound bus” – with the state of grace she’s found. Lush instrumentation perfectly underpins the anthemic “Fall Apart World,” which Gauthier calls “adult music.” While on a writing sojourn in Key West, she explains, “It’s understanding that things come together and things fall apart. The awareness of that is an opportunity for gratitude. Right now, I’m looking out the window – and I can’t believe I get to be here! I don’t take it for granted for one millisecond!”

Gauthier’s partner, Jaimee Harris, who sings harmony throughout the album, co-wrote the paean to one of Gauthier’s favorite cities. “I have a long history with Amsterdam,” Gauthier recounts. “My first record deal was on a Dutch label, and I tour there regularly, and much of Mercy Now was written at my favorite hotel there.” A canceled flight to Denmark landed Gauthier and Harris in Amsterdam for an unexpected three days during the pandemic. “To return to that hotel and be able to share that with the person I love and show her the city…,” Gauthier pauses. “It’s complicated – because all around the edges was the pandemic. But you’ve got to express your joy – a joy that’s not free from pain. There’s grief all around us, but there’s this ability to still love and still be aware that the sky is beautiful and the hand that I’m holding is filled with love…”

The album’s bittersweet title track, “Dark Enough to See the Stars,” cowritten with Beth Nielsen Chapman, resonates with that very same emotion. “When things get really hard and the walls are closing in and it starts to get dark, you realize what really matters,” Gauthier says. “And what really matters, of course, is love. Even though my friend Betsy is gone, I get to hold on to her love. And I get to hold on to the love that John Prine showed me, and Nanci Griffith and David Olney. It occurred to me while working on the title track that love didn’t die with them. That was a gift that was given to me that I get to keep.”

As on the memory-rich track, “The Meadow,” Fats Kaplin’s haunting pedal steel guitar expresses the sonics of fleeting time, a theme Gauthier explores on one of the first songs written for the album, back in 2019. After performing in Albany, New York, the solitary troubadour found herself yearning for her newly discovered soulmate’s “candlestick fingers on my skin”: The poignant “About Time” documents that lonesome highway, while the singalong waltz “Truckers and Troubadours” acknowledges musical vagabonds’ kinship with long-haulers; in fact, Gauthier and co-writer Darden Smith collaborated with Paul “Long Haul” Marhoefer on the ear-catching lyrics. “Paul said that when Darden and I get together and start talking,” says Gauthier, “we sound like two truck drivers.”

Finally, Dark Enough to See the Stars bids farewell to Gauthier’s tragically departed friends: “Where Are You Now” paints an autumnal picture of the trails where she and Betsy roamed; “How Could You Be Gone” expresses in detail the disbelief inherent in our goodbyes; and “Til I See You Again” offers a prayer “to all those I hope to reunite with,” says Gauthier.

As throughout Dark Enough to See the Stars, all three compositions exemplify Mary Gauthier’s songwriting brilliance: They offer beauty in sorrow, healing in loss, and a perspective only an artist of uncommon generosity can give. Thank God for Mary Gauthier.