Category Archives: bluegrass

21st Century Folk, americana, Angela Autumn, bluegrass, country, Country and Western, Dance Hall, nashville

CloudwatcherUno Podcast Season Ten – Ep 1 ~ Angela Autumn

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After getting her iced coffee from Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea, LLC in East Nashville, Angela Autumn sat down with CloudwatcherUno for this first episode of Season 10. We talk about the last time that Angela had recorded which was with a full band sound. There is a yearning to leave the bluegrass sound of her “Frontiers Woman” album and channel more of an indie sound some of which can be heard on “My Blank Pages” but is being explored more in 2023. Angela is waiting for the right place to record her new album in this musical direction.

In our opinion one of the best songs that Angela has recorded is “Rascal”, which began life as an entry into the NPR Tiny Desk Competition in 2018 while she was 22 with her friends. Angela is really grateful for the support from Andy of Gems On VHS fame and Western AF and the way that they support indie artists.

“Rascal” Angela’s NPR Tiny Desk Entry.

“Your Heart’s Like An Arrow Pointed Straight At Me“

For Angela the pandemic showed her that there were many things under the surface, Living north of Nashville. In Old Hickory her neighbours were all of the older generation and so there was a sense of isolation and produced music through these times such as “Dancer”. Angela was someone who lived through the Dark night of the soul camp. Sharon Van Etten’s music is something that gives Angela joy and when live music came back, Angela was there to experience the thrill of her music.

Photo: Anna Warner

Angela talks us through her collection of guitars from a Martins to a Collings E28 Bluegrass guitar and has written over 50 songs on this beauty. Angela’s album “Blank Pages” is currently a Bandcamp exclusive but there may be a possibility of giving it a second life on Spotify. Angela put in a significant amount of funds in Fall 2022 to release this record, thankfully fans stepped up and covered the costs of producing this album. It’s definitely Adventure Time for 2023 as Angela looks forward to touring and producing music with her partner who plays the cello! Now that’s going to be an amazing collaboration on the next album.

“Dancer” by Angela Autumn

To listen into the conversation with CloudwatcherUno and Angela click the link below. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

american, americana, bluegrass, Country and Western, Dance Hall, Honky Tonk, Montana, Music Row, nashville, Red Dirt Country

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S9 Ep 7 ~ Sterling Drake

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Season 9 Episode 7 features returning guest Sterling Drake an ambassador for new independent music who navigates being an artist in these modern musical times. Sterling released ‘Roll The Dice’ his first EP to much critical acclaim and wanted to try a different direction for his next EP “Highway 200”. Sterling is a three-time Billboard charting songwriter with work released via publishing powerhouse Extreme Music (Sony ATV) and has written with several Grammy award winning writers.

‘Roll The Dice’ by Sterling Drake

We also talk about working on a ranch in Montana, becoming a small part of the TV series @yellowstone and his fellow musical brethren @sierraelizabethferrell and @hannahjuanita_thehardliner

‘Highway 200’ by Sterling Drake

Then we also chat about what is the perfect length for a record, does that depend on the genre? Also Sterling’s plans for touring across the States and producing new music and deciding which direction that will take him. The future is not written and a path needs to be dug out by Sterling as to how his career will go forward. To that end Sterling will release EPs and singles in different styles so as to get a body of work together. Only when this is done will Sterling consider releasing an album in order to solidify his approach to this genre.

‘Highway 200’ by Sterling Drake

Sterling Drake plays timeless country music following in the footsteps of Bob Wills, Merle Haggard and George Strait. Sterling doesn’t put a label on his music, for him it’s just music that has a cultural heritage. Sterling’s peers such Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers are breaking from the perceived notion of what country music should sound like and Sterling is also breaking the mould when it comes to this style of country music.

‘In The Pines’ by Sterling Drake

Click below to join in with the conversation with CloudwatcherUno and Sterling Drake. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, Appalachia, bluegrass, country, Country and Western, Honky Tonk, Kentucky

CloudwatcherUno Podcast Season 9 ~ Ep 1 ~ The Local Honeys

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CloudwatcherUno S9 ~ Episode 1 starts with The Local Honeys who are Linda Jean Stokely and Montana Hobbs. They hail from the misty blue mountains of Kentucky and their music is at once modern but cloaked in the great Appalachian music traditions.

“The Ballad of Frank & Billy Buck” by The Local Honeys

We talk about their last trip to Europe in 2020 just before the world shut down and how it helped them to focus on getting the right sound for their self titled 2022 album ‘The Local Honeys’.  their first release on La Honda Records. The Local Honeys captures the essence of rural Kentucky, conjuring old school melodies with deep grooves and haunting instrumentals.

Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokely

Their previous albums “The Gospel” (2019) and “Little Girls Actin’ Like Men (2017) are modern day classics.

“Dead Horses” by The Local Honeys

Enjoy our conversation on the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring The Local Honeys. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, bluegrass, country, Country and Western, Honky Tonk, Mississippi

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S8 Ep 9 ~ Forrest McCurren

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Forrest McCurren chats to CloudwatcherUno from the family farm in Missouri where they discuss his nick name ‘Dancing Legs’, shooting the video to his song ‘Little Rock’ the first track of his new album ‘Oh Me, Oh My’, Superman (specifically the 1978 version), how the title of the album came from a saying that his father uses, we also get to meet Forrest’s grandfather who is still working at a timber mill in his nineties.

“Little Rock” by Forrest McCurren

Forrest has a writers sensibility when it comes to his approach to song writing. Each lyric is treated as if it has come to life as the great American novel filled with poignant stories filled with characters whose shortcomings and triumphs make us laugh and nod at our own little quirks.

Photo: Brett Jackson

Music has always been a part of Forrest McCurren’s life. Forrest grew up listening to his grandmother play organ in church, his mother listening to Willie Nelson around the house and in the car, and his father singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Stand by Me’ as lullabies.

Forrest with his wife Margaret who sings, plays guitar and drums on the new album.

We talk about his older brother, Matthias, and how his travels across the globe inspired Forrest’s own adventures and how these inspired the songs that have influenced the new album. Matthias introduced Forrest to Springsteen and Townes Van Zandt and to the power of song writing. When Forrest left for college, Matthias gave his younger brother his old guitar and the rest is history as they say.

We talk about how Forrest has grown as a singer songwriter with the help of his wife Margaret who has been hugely influential in the sound of Forrest’s music which has been forged from countless performances at honky tonks, dance halls and clubs. On Friday 24th June 2022 Forrest releases the new single from the album which is also called ‘Oh Me, Oh My‘.

“Oh Me, Oh My” by Forrest McCurren

Forrest has great merch that he will have especially his inspired “Cuss Less, Kiss More” t-shirts designed by Margaret. Also in the summer around August 23rd 2022 the new album will be officially out, although Forrest already has the vinyl in his hand to sell to fans and new listeners alike. Forrest is looking to go back on the open road and play a couple of festivals, near and far across the great state of Missouri.

Forrest McCurren is a lyricist who captures the essence of the human experience. Photo: Byryan Strong

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Forrest McCurren. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

alabama, americana, bluegrass, country, Country and Western, Dee White, nashville

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S8 Ep 7 ~ Dee White

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Dee White talks with CloudwatcherUno in his first ever podcast so that we can hear his story thus far in the world of country music. We also have a live exclusive acoustic performance of his new song “Little Things” on his 000-28 Martin Guitar.

Dee White ~ A truly sensational, singer, lyricist and guitarist.

After touring with Paul Cauthen earlier on in the year Dee came back to Alabama to chat on the podcast. Our conversation starts right at the beginning when Dee’s father sold an antique to Harold Shedd who had recently moved out to central Alabama from Nashville. Dee (a senior at the time) helped his father deliver the antique and saw all the vinyl and gold records that Harold was unpacking and did what any curious youngster would and googled Harold and found out he was a music man. Little did Dee realise how much of an influence this southern gentleman would have on his life and his career.

“Ol ‘ Muddy River” by Dee White

Harold overheard that Dee played at church and had his guitars restrung and a seed of an idea gets planted in his head. After a few months an old buddy of Harold’s from the music industry visited to see his new place and asked Dee to play out of the blue and Dee travelled with his grandfather to Harold’s place. Once there Harold said to Dee to play any song he liked and Dee sang Hank William’s “Lost Highway“.

Dee White performed “Lost Highway” by Hank Williams for Harold Shedd and the rest as they say is history.

After this initial performance, Harold would continue to validate Dee as a singer and lyricist and encourage him to write as many songs as he could. Then on one snowy morning in Nashville, Harold drove Dee to meet David R. Ferguson at The Sutler Saloon David would later co-produce Dee’s first album Southern Gentleman . After lunch Dee went to Easy Eye Sound and met the legendary producer Dan Auerbach . All of this happened on the same day. Dan asked Dee to play a song which He did an original composition called “Voodoo“. After Dee finished singing all of these music men looked at each other and knew that Dee was the real deal. Not too long after that work began on the “Southern Gentleman” album.

“Wherever You Go” by Dee White

Since then Dee has made his debut on The Grand Ole Opry and collaborated with Ashley McBryde , Molly Tuttle , Alison Krauss and Brit Taylor . Dee has been on tour all over the world with Ashley McBryde, Molly Tuttle, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Alan Jackson and Marcus King Band

“Road That Goes Both Ways” by Dee White (feat Ashley McBryde)

Dee is now in the studio finishing his sophomore album which has been recorded live so as to capture the most authentic analogue experience. Dee is thrilled to bring new music to fans and is looking forward to touring across the United States and especially across Europe to promote the new album when it comes out.

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Dee White. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, bluegrass, blues, country, Country and Western, Honky Tonk, nashville, Red Dirt Country

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S8 Ep 6 ~ Kristina Murray

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Kristina Murray sits down with CloudwatcherUno in her Nashville home to talk about her albums “Southern Ambrosia” and “Unravelin” and the latest project of killer covers featuring Logan Ledger “That Just About Does It” (a Vern Gosdin classic) and “I’m Gonna Hurt Him On The Radio” (based on Keith Whitley‘s original).

“I’m Gonna Hurt Him On The Radio” by Kristina Murray

We talk about Kristina’s development as an artist between her first album and the new songs that she has released, how she has become a better songwriter, collaborator with other producers and musicians and working on her new songs for her new album.

Kristina Murray has grown and developed as an artist since moving to Nashville.

Kristina got a chance to sing at The Ryman recently and felt really good at how her voice sounded, and is looking forward to going on tour with Jamie Wyatt in 2022, a true champion of great country music on the west coast.

Kristina is a kick ass musician. Go do your ears a favour and listen to her music.

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Kristina Murray. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

https://linktr.ee/CloudwatcherUno

americana, Arkansas, bluegrass, blues, Canada, country, Country and Western, Music Row, nashville, Red Dirt Country, texas country, Western Swing

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S8 Ep 5 ~ Stefanie Joyce

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Stefanie Joyce joins CloudwatcherUno from Nashville where she has carved out a career as a songwriter on Music Row. Stefanie’s 2021 single “Treasure” charted on Billboard @billboardcharts (co-written and performed by @maryheatherhickman ) debuted on country radio and was featured on the Bobby Bones show @bobbybonesshow

Stefanie Joyce – Ballerina, Wordsmith and Country Artist

Now it’s Stefanie’s turn to shine in the spotlight as a singer in her own right. Just listen to her latest single “Presidio” to see why Stefanie should be at the top of your listening playlist. Stefanie describes her music as the love child of red dirt country music meets music row. Stefanie describes how working on Music Row for so many years has resulted in her lyrics being born as linear songs but then using that to produce something more poetic and rough for listening audiences.

“Idle Hands” by Stefanie Joyce

Born in New York, raised in Canada and now living in Nashville, Tennessee, the young Stefanie was in love with storytelling, especially southern literature and used that passion to write songs. In the podcast we talk about how in the country music coming out of Nashville songs are written not by the band performing them but by other artists or in collaboration with other artists. It’s a tradition that is uniquely cultivated within this genre.

Singer Songwriter is a music nerd of the highest order.

Stefanie moved to Nashville initially to join the song writing industry that has grown in Nashville and provides the hits for the biggest names in country music today. Stefanie built up her network and her community and now feels it’s time to release her own songs. A new EP will be released in the summer featuring “Idle Hands” and “Love Thy Neighbor“.

Stefanie is 100 per cent Country through and through.

We talk about her interest in murder ballads and how she came to co-write “Ouachita River” with Mary Heather Hickman and how this subverts the usual tradition by having a male protagonist perish within the song. Murder Ballads originated within the United Kingdom and were brought over by Scottish/Irish immigrants who then used real places within their ballads. This song has been nominated for the Arkansas Country Music Awards 2022 for Best Song, Vocal Duo/ Group and Mary for best Female Vocalist. Nominees (arkansasmusic.org)

“Ouachita River” by Stefanie Joyce with Mary Heather Hickman

Stefanie explains that she wants to be able to play for bigger venues and audiences and when that opportunity comes she’s going to grab it with both hands. Stefanie has played both The Listening Room and Bluebird Cafe and will be doing more Nashville shows and a tour in The Fall of 2022.

Watch out for Stefanie touring in the Fall of 2022

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Stefanie Joyce. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, bluegrass, country, Country and Western, Honky Tonk, Red Dirt Country

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S8 Ep 2 ~ Jade Brodie

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Jade Brodie is a Cowboy, Songwriter and Musician. Jade speaks to CloudwatcherUno after travelling from a gig at The Western Folk Life Centre in Elko, Nevada after playing eight or nine songs for a round robin set. We speak about her Magnolia Sessions album from Anti-Corp. We talk about the difference between Jade’s diary songs (more personal songs) rather than her attention grabbing songs. Jade has a big motivation to be up there surrounded by people dancing and bringing them a good time. Jade appreciates the shows where people pay attention to her songs whether they be based on the working man or explore issues of love.

We explore the genesis of “Split My Tooth ” it’s one of Jade’s oldest songs and marks a new development in Jades song writing style.

“Split My Tooth” by Jade Brodie

Free spirited and working hard personalities are fully explored in Jade’s ‘Making History’ video. There’s a fairy godmother character within in the video that is just delightful.

“Making History” by Jade Brodie

Jade has been living independently since a young age and working hard for the railroad. Jade was forced to make a difficult decision when the railroad wanted her to move back to California. Jade was wholly deducated 24/7 working 12 hour shifts for the railroad and songwriting was ushed abck for over three years until she was able to buy herself land to build her own house.

Jade was fortunate enough to get a job on a ranch which has allowed her to ride horses, keep dogs and deal with life on a ranch. Jade enjoys being at peace in Nevada and taking the time for self refection and puts things in perspective as to what matters. Jade has written a lot of new songs while living in Nevada. Jade wrote a new song about her horse, it’s the first song she’s written in a while. Jade grew up in New York and being on a ranch and working within this mountain landscape is a deam come true.

We explore Jade’s tattoos and how they are an expression of her personality and how they are atheistically pleasing. While they are not an indication of who Jade is and people do judge her based solely on these which is fine but Jade earns their respect because of the good job that she does.

We talk about “Travelling Man” the epic Western As Fuck video that she collaborated with. Riddy Arman recommended Jade Brodie for WesternAF and when they came through town they met up and musical history was made. Jade is proud of that song and loved recording this song with them and will also be on the new album. Jade should have finished her album last year but the timing has been pushed off for a year.

“Traveling Man” by Jade Brodie with WesternAF

Jade was half way through her tour in 2020 when the pandemic hit and had to go back home. Jade had to take risks on herself, her music and after 2 years later is getting back to where she wants to be in her career. Having a creative side gives Jade a purpose and loves that her songs can bring people joy and it’s fun to be on stage and enjoy her music for an hour or so. John Curtis is the producer who is helping Jade produce her next studio album. We cannot wait for this to come out next year.

Jade will be playing at a few music festivals out of town and especially excited about people reaching out and asking her to perform based solely on hearing her music.

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Jade Brodie. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, bluegrass, blues, country, Country and Western, folk

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S7 Ep 8 ~ Sara Jean Kelley

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Sara Jean Kelley sits down with CloudwatcherUno to talk about life, death and everything in-between. We start off our conversation with exploring Sara’s inspiration for one of her fabulous songs “Astronaut” from her EP “The Wild“.

“Astronaut” by Sara Jean Kelley

The song “Astronaut” was written in 2013 and Sara wrote the majority of the song and couldn’t figure out what to do with the last verse and sat on the song for over 3 years. When Sara was about to record “The Wild” and this pushed her into finishing the song. Then Sara sat on the album for 3 years as well until she judged it was the right time to release on the internet.

Sara leans to the macabre in her writing and her songs. One of the songs to listen to on Sara’s new Ep “Black Snake” is “Black Snake” and “Rains In Montana” recounting the singer’s month-long retreat to the mountains of Montana. “The first morning I woke up in my family’s home in Montana, I looked out the window and it was raining. There I was 2,000 miles away from home, trying to escape my sense of loss, and just like it does in Nashville, it was raining in Montana.” Sara wondered why she had travelled so far and nothing had changed.

We talk about relationships, Yellowstone the series and funeral playlists. The whole process of being in a relationships, changing who you are in an atmosphere of compromise and how coming out of that relationship finally enabled her to write and reproduce her stream of consciousness and how Sara was feeling at the time.
  

Sweetheart Country was definitely the kind of sound that Sara was going for in her first EP “The Waiting Place” and then a more muscular, harder edged rock and roll sound broke through for “The Wild” thanks to Atlanta based producer Kyle Dutton. Following on from the more mature, visceral and haunting sound of her latest EP Sara would like to record a full length album for 2023 with some shows regionally and do some touring.



Watch the video for the title track, “Black Snake,” here.


Listen to Black Snake Here.

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Sara Jean Kelley. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

americana, bluegrass, blues, country, Country and Western, Dance Hall, Honky Tonk, Red Dirt Country

CloudwatcherUno Podcast S7 Ep 6 ~ Ellis Bullard

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Ellis Bullard sits down with CloudwatcherUno to talk about his single “Rollercoaster“, his forthcoming album and his musical influences. Ellis’s vision was to channel John Evan and Jesse Dayton’s music and gathered his friends and band mates Wyatt Langford, Cole Beddingfield and Sam Norris Esq together and bring them together in the studio to lay down the tracks for the forthcoming album.

With their help he began touring for seven or eight years including during the pandemic and earning their reputations as a phenomenal live act.

“Rollercoaster” by Ellis Bullard

“Fortune favours those who are willing to risk, there is no Plan B”

It’s an honest contribution to the pantheon of country music following up from their childhoods in coastal southern Texan towns. Ellis and the band have played at The Broken Spoke and The White Horse where Joe Rogan was in the audience. Joe loved the music so much he posted a video to his 14 million followers on Instagram helping to push Ellis and the band into the spotlight. It’s been a long journey but eventually the ‘No’s’ have turned into ‘Yes’s’ and Ellis is now playing at the sort of venues that can make and break reputations not only within the Texas music scene but beyond.

Ellis Bullard

Ellis is out there because he loves what he does, he loves music there is no elaborate scheme to become famous that is not the focus of Ellis’s energies.

Click below to hear the podcast from CloudwatcherUno featuring Ellis Bullard. Also streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict or wherever you listen to your podcasts.