Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for February 24th, 2023. 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.
Iris DeMent
Workin’ on a World (Flariella Records)
This album, eight years after her previous release, continues DeMent’s legacy of engaging directly with a troubled era. The songs on Workin’ on a World took shape over the last six years, which, yes, places its origins in the aftermath of the 2016 election. “Every day some new trauma was being added to the old ones that kept repeating themselves, and like everybody else, I was just trying to bear up under it all,” DeMent recalls. The album’s 13 songs wade directly into climate change, the pandemic, gun violence, and social injustice, but they share a theme of working toward something better, something these songs convey is very much possible. “Now I’m workin’ on a world I may never see,” she sings on the title track, “Joinin’ forces with the warriors of love / Who came before and will follow you and me.” (edited from No Depression review)
The Shootouts
Stampede (Soundly Music)
Ohio-based four-piece The Shootouts had no intention of putting out their third LP so soon. Their last record, Bullseye, came out less than a year ago, but Ray Benson – founder of the Texas Swing band Asleep At The Wheel and musical hero of The Shootouts – mentioned he wanted to work with the band, so they quickly made the obvious decision and got right back to the studio. The result is an album that dovetails nicely into their small but growing catalogue of Western Swing and classic country music. The band brought in a slew of guests to help with this one. Benson sits in for “One Step Forward” while The Mavericks’ Raul Malo lends his vocals to “I’ll Never Need Anyone More.” Elsewhere, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller and Marty Stuart all make appearances. Aside from some different voices, Stampede isn’t a big step away from the group’s earlier efforts; they still play an impressive blend of music that nods to nostalgia and a time when dance halls across Texas were packed, while updating the classic country and Western Swing sound slightly with elements of rockabilly. (edited from Glide Magazine review)
Also new this week…
Matt Hillyer – Glorieta (State Fair Records)
Lucero – Should’ve Learned By Now (Liberty & Lament Records)
Dougie Poole – The Rainbow Wheel of Death (Wharf Cat Records)
Rose’s Pawn Shop – Punch-Drunk Life (Blue Élan Records) +
Shoebox Letters – Car Crash Life (self-released)
Stuffy Shmitt – Cheery (self-released)
Channing Wilson – Dead Man (Ol’ Dog Records)
Ri Wolf – Randall County Reverb (Voyager Prop Records)
Coming out soon… Slaid Cleaves, Michael Cleveland, Lance Roark, Wire Troop, Karen Jonas, Eric Bibb, Adam Klein, Dom Flemons, The Panhandlers, Darling West, Doug Paisley, The Cash Box Kings, Matt Andersen, Mighty Poplar, Rachel Baiman, Lauren Morrow, Nickel Creek, Willie Nelson, Taj Mahal, Marty Stuart, The Milk Carton Kids, Robert Ellis, Caitlin Canty, The Infamous Stringdusters, Bella White, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and more!
