Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for January 16th, 2026. 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.
Courtney Marie Andrews
Valentine (Loose Future Records)
At this point, we should treat singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews’ music as evolving and taking on more polish with each release. Her previous release, 2022’s Loose Future, came with these words in our headline – “Breezier and Poppier.” Her latest, Valentine, is not anywhere near as uplifting, but some of the vulnerability and fragility that marked her first two albums have returned. However, what attracted me, and likely others, to Andrews initially were her achingly vulnerable, soaring gospel-soul vocals. She had a devastating ability to sing about heartbreak like few others. Andrews admirably wants no two albums to sound the same. Arguably, her songwriter has improved, it’s still very much direct but more succinct and carefully crafted. Her voice remains a gorgeous, acrobatic instrument, albeit less emotive. Yet, although the grit and rawness of earlier efforts are gone, she remains honest to the core while growing more exploratory musically. (edited from Glide Magazine review)
Eric Brace & Thomm Jutz
Circle and Square (Red Beet Records)
Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz are back with their second record, Circle and Square, ten songs woven together with their familiar acoustic guitars and harmonies, and are about that mysterious artistic process: Creation. In an era of destruction (a mess of tornadoes and hurricanes, the East Wing of the White House, coral reefs, democracy, the list is long…), Eric and Thomm use their most powerful weapon — songwriting — to cast their artists’ eyes on the act of creation itself, the very opposite of destruction. In these ten songs, Eric and Thomm have created a manifesto for imagination over indifference, music over silence, beauty over despair, and creation over destruction. (edited from album bio)
Also new this week…
Elles Bailey – Can’t Take My Story Away (Outlaw Music Limited)
Carsie Blanton – The Red Album Vol II (independent)
David Huckfelt – I Was Born But... (Don Giovanni Records)
James Hunter Six – Off The Fence (Easy Eye Sound) +
Langhorne Slim – The Dreamin’ Kind (Dualtone Records) +
Low Gap – Geneva (Cloverdale Records)
Mike Mattison & Trash Magic – Turn A Midnight Corner (Landslide Records)
Eric Selby – Five. (Soul Stew Records)
Charlie Shafter – Safari (independent)
Wormy – Shark River (Rose Garden Records)
Coming out soon… Lucinda Williams, Sammy Brue, Emily Scott Robinson, Boy Golden, Keegan McInroe, Natalie Del Carmen, Steve Forbert, Owen Temple, Eric Bibb, The Lowest Pair, Cordovas, Laurie Lewis, The Infamous Stringdusters, The Band of Heathens, Clay Street Unit, Jeffrey Martin, Luke Winslow-King and more!
