Rachel Baiman - February, 27 at Boyd's Jig & Reel

Rachel Baiman’s 2017 label debut Shame was featured on NPR’s “Songs We Love”, called a “Rootsy Wake-up Call” by Folk Alley, and described by Vice’s “Noisey” as “flipping off authority one song at a time.” Now Baiman has announced Thanksgiving—out November 2 on Free Dirt Records—a self-produced four-song EP, featuring her live trio and special guests including Molly Tuttle and Josh Oliver.

Thanksgiving is a collection of music to inspire an introspective holiday spirit. The songs center around themes of Indigenous Rights, home and homelessness, and love in hard times. “Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays,” says Baiman. “But two years ago in November, the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline was in full swing, and it just got me thinking about how the relationship between indigenous and white people in this country has hardly changed at all over the years. The irony of Thanksgiving being celebrated right as people were being arrested and sprayed with water guns for protecting their right to clean water really hit me”.

The EP opens with the jovial sounding “Tent City” which features a hard-driving bluegrass band. Yet, the slaphappy sound becomes erie as the lyrics sink in; the song is from the perspective of a man who has fallen from his picturesque middle class lifestyle into homelessness and addiction. Yet the matter-of-fact delivery humanizes his story and gives context to a character who might otherwise be treated as a statistic.

The collection is not all doom and gloom, however, as the first two sobering tracks are followed by the cheerful John Hartford number “Madison Tennessee.” “I’m getting married this year,” says Baiman, “My fiancé and I recently moved out to Madison and have been fixing up a little cabin on the river. I spend so much time traveling, it’s an amazing feeling to finally put down some roots and work on creating a magical and inspiring space. This Hartford tune makes me feel giddy about home, and for me that’s what Thanksgiving is all about.” “Madison Tennessee” features bluegrass guitar virtuoso and Americana Music Association “Instrumentalist of the Year” Molly Tuttle, who toured in a duo with Baiman in 2018.

“Times Like These,” the EP’s final track, features guitarist and singer Josh Oliver, another of Baiman’s frequent musical collaborators. Ending on an uplifting note, the song is a testament to the good that gets us through the bad. “Open the window / And let in the breeze / Darling I need you / Living in times like these,” sing Baiman and Oliver in emotive harmony. Oliver’s beautifully tragic voice hits the listener like teardrops on a page.

Baiman’s Thanksgiving is an intriguing follow up to Shame, allowing her a chance to stretch out stylistically, moving effortlessly between bluegrass, folk, old-time and country. The bittersweet lyricism she’s become known for conveys the ups and downs we often feel around the holidays, and is a reminder to raise our glass to both the joy and the hardships many experience during this season.

Tennessee Shines Radio Show is performed for a live audience every Wednesday at 7pm at Boyd's Jig & Reel musical pub in Knoxville's historic Old City. The show is broadcast live on WDVX FM and WDVX.com.Tickets are $7 plus applicable fees in advance, available at http://jigandreel.ticketleap.com/ or $10 at the door starting at 6:30pm.