Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for June 3rd, 2022. Click the artist or album links to find out more. The artist’s names link to their websites and the CD title links go to either Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp or the artist’s site for ordering or downloading. A + sign means although not a featured release, it’s a notable album that’s still worth checking out. Also, this page will be updated as I find out about other new releases so check back again.
Mary Gauthier
Dark Enough to See the Stars (In The Black Records)
As she has so eloquently accomplished over the past 25 years, 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. Here she mourns recent devastating losses: the deaths of John Prine, David Olney, Nanci Griffith, and her beloved friend Betsy.
Charlie Musselwhite
Mississippi Son (Alligator Records)
Charlie Musselwhite is indeed a Mississippi son. He was born there, but his family took him to Memphis when he was three. That move put him in just the right place for his teen genes to soak up the hormonal surge of vital American music simmering through Memphis in the ’50s. There was rockabilly, R&B, western swing, blues and the adolescent stirrings of rock ‘n’ roll. One of the results of that experience was the fine singer, songwriter, harp and guitar player here, who graces this album with his rich blues heritage. Charlie is back in Mississippi now, having moved from northern California, and he recorded these deep blues sides in Clarksdale. And they feel just like that’s where they belong. Musselwhite creates an intimate, back-porch feel with just his smooth vocals, harp and guitar, with a few assists from Ricky “Quicksand” Martin on drums and Barry Bays on standup bass. You can almost feel the big river flow and smell the muddy water. (edited from Blues Roadhouse review)
Also new this week…
Beth // James – Get Together (self-released) –
Andrew Bird – Inside Problems (Loma Vista Recordings)
Blue Dogs – Big Dreamers (self-released)
Nicki Bluhm – Avondale Drive (Compass Records) +
Wes Collins – Jabberwockies (self-released)
Drive-By Truckers – Welcome 2 Club XIII (ATO Records) +
Fortunate Ones – English Harbour (Sonic Records)
S.G. Goodman – Teeth Marks (Verve Forecast Records) +
Jack Klatt – Edge of the End (self-released)
Angel Olson – Big Time (Jagjaguwar Records)
The Redhill Valleys – Travel Well, Pt. 1 (self-released)
Michael Shaw – He Rode On (self-released)
Tedeschi Trucks Band – I Am The Moon: I. Crescent (Fantasy Records)
Wood Belly – Great Big Skies (self-released) +
Ken Yates – Cerulean (self-released)
Coming out in the next few weeks… American Aquarium, Michaela Anne, The Slocan Ramblers, Rod Picott, Joan Shelley, Peter Rowan, The Local Honeys, Patty Griffin, Stacy Antonel, Amanda Shires, Arlo McKinley, Andrew Weiss and Friends, Phil Cook, John Moreland, Nick Nace, Hank Williams, Jr., Jonah Tolchin, Kelsey Waldon and more …
