Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for April 18th, 2025. 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.
Julien Baker & Torres
Send a Prayer My Way (Matador Records)
Singer-songwriters Julien Baker and Mackenzie Scott (aka Torres) have joined forces to create a set of catchy and heartfelt songs with a country twinge. Following the successes of boygenius (featuring Baker) and Torres’ sixth solo album released last year, the pair alternate lead and supporting vocals, feeding off each other like old friends. Send a Prayer My Way’s country ambience, bolstered by banjo, fiddle, and pedal steel parts, rings authentic, setting an ideal soundtrack for driving with the windows down on a spring day or sitting outside in June while fireflies light up the evening. Throughout the album, the duo offers a laidback masterclass class on nailing organic harmonies. Their distinct voices are juxtaposed, yet complementary. Additionally, the album brims with hooks and effective instrumental accompaniments. More compelling than the songs and musicianship, however, is the album’s life-affirming energy. A sense of mutual admiration saturates the project, and that chemistry makes the record. (edited from No Depression review)
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (Nonesuch Records)
The album is subtitled “Fiddle and Banjo Music of North Carolina” and features mostly instrumentals with Justin on fiddle and Rhiannon on open-back banjo. “Through our many years of playing together on many stages across the globe, we have been able to share our Carolina roots with lots of people.” Gidden continues, “But our tradition really doesn’t live on the stage; it lives on a back porch of Mebane, in a living room in Morganton and in countless other places wherever a musician might find themselves. We wanted to revisit the sounds, places, and textures at the beginning of our musical journey together and to share that experience with y’all.”
Also new this week…
C. Daniel Boling (feat. Tom Paxton) – It Matters (independent)
Chaparelle – Western Pleasure (Mom & Pop Records)
Domenic Cicala – As Good As It Gets/Vamoose (Tortured Artists Records) +
Ward Hayden & The Outliers – Little by Little (Faster Horses Recordings)
Henhouse Prowlers – Unravel (Dark Shadow Recordings)
Taylor Robert – Brighter Day (self-released)
The Slow Harvest – Selections From The Sad Bastard Songbook (self-released)
Sam Stoane – A Good Horse And A Good Dog (Cloverdale Records)
Mason Via – Oh Lordy Me (Mountain Fever Records)
Coming out soon … Eliza Gilkyson, Kassi Valazza, Shinyribs, Mattie Schell, Willie Nelson, Watchhouse, Webb Wilder, Little Feat, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, Esther Rose, The Talbott Brothers, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, The Shootouts, Leftover Salmon, The Faux Paws, Jeffery Broussard & the Nighttime Syndicate, Kelsey Waldon, S.G. Goodman, Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius, James McMurtry, The Wildmans and more!
