BONUS TRACKS: Music Shares the Spotlight at the Democratic Convention

Music had a front-row seat at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with announced guests and plenty of surprises (including Jason Isbell!) getting the spotlight right alongside the politicians speaking. Another way music was featured was during Tuesday night’s traditional roll call, when each state’s delegation gets to declare their candidate for the party’s nomination to the presidential ballot. (It was purely ceremony this year, as Democratic delegates already gave their nod to Kamala Harris earlier this month in order to meet a deadline for getting her on every state ballot.) Most flashily, Georgia threw its time to a live performance of “Turn Down for What” by home-state rapper Lil Jon, who announced the state party’s nomination of Harris with a hearty “Yeaaaaaaaaah!” But the energy for this normally staid convention tradition was already through the roof, thanks to state-by-state tunes spun by DJ Cassidy, who spoke with Variety about how the songs were chosen. Tennessee was repped by Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” on the playlist, New Jersey by Bruce Springsteen (“Born in the U.S.A.” … and yeah, I know), and Vermont by Noah Kahan (“Stick Season”). Find your state’s chosen song in this coverage from NPR. And you can find the actual playlist on Spotify.

When you think of bluegrass fiddle, it’s Bobby Hicks who likely comes to mind, which is why news of his passing last week at the age of 91 was hard to hear. He was there nearly from bluegrass’s beginning, playing alongside Bill Monroe in the Blue Grass Boys starting in 1953 (though for the first few shows with the band he played bass). He later played with Porter Wagoner, The Bluegrass Album Band, and Ricky Skaggs. He was inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2017, and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame was planning to induct him this fall. Read more about Hicks in this remembrance from Bluegrass Today.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Sierra Hull – “Mad World” (Tears for Fears cover)
Amythyst Kiah feat. Billy Strings – “I Will Not Go Down,” from Kiah’s new album, Still + Bright, coming in October
Jerron Paxton – “What’s Gonna Become of Me,” from his new album, Things Done Changed, coming in October
Lucius feat. Adam Granduciel – “Old Tape”

Jaimee Harris and Afton Wolfe – “Dead Flowers” (Rolling Stones cover)
Amy Speace – “The American Dream,” the title track of her new album, coming in October
Joanna Sternberg – “A Country Dance”
Jerry Douglas – “Something You Got,” from his new album, The Set, coming in September