Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for June 17th, 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.
Pharis and Jason Romero
Tell ’Em You Were Gold (Smithsonian Folkway Records)
This is Pharis and Jason’s seventh album as a duo, and the first since 2020’s Bet on Love, which won praise from BBC, NPR, and American Songwriter. Learned, practised, and recorded live in their converted barn home studio in a mere six days, the album is split evenly between eight songs – i.e. with vocal – and eight instrumentals. It’s a perfectly balanced affair, beautifully showcasing the featured instrument, their breezy vocals, and an unassuming, organic approach to performance and recording in terms of the thrill of capturing the moment. It’s such an intimate, casual-sounding collection of charming folk tunes that it’s easy to picture oneself cosied up in that barn with them, admiringly appreciating these masters of their arena at work and play. (edited from Folk Radio review)
Various Artists
Americana Railroad (Renew Records)
Nothing says Americana, in the broadest sense, more than trains. They’ve long been a source of romance and fascination — and, for songwriters, metaphor-laden inspiration. Trains may no longer have a dominant presence in the American consciousness, but Americana Railroad, a compilation of new recordings of new and old numbers, offers a reminder of just how potent train symbolism remains. Rocker Carla Olson was one of the driving forces behind this long-gestating project, and she produced nine of the 19 tracks. Artists featured Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Robert Rex Waller Jr., John Fogerty, Dom Flemons and others. (edited from No Depression review)
Hank Williams, Jr.
Rich White Honky Blues (Easy Eye Sound)
Hank Williams Jr. will highlight his affinity for the blues on a new album produced by Dan Auerbach, who recorded the album live with a backing band that included Kenny Brown, Eric Deaton, and Kinney Kimbrough, capturing a dozen tracks. Among them are Williams’ takes on songs made popular by Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, R.L. Burnside, Muddy Waters, and even his own work. It’s a building block of Williams’ sound as well as that of his father, who learned to play guitar from blues singer Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne in Alabama. “The blues is where it all comes from,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s the start of everything musical in my family; everything starts with Tee-Tot and flows from there. I’ve always flirted with this stripped back blues – all the way back to the ‘80s. But I finally made an album that’s just that, and I like it.” (edited from Rolling Stone review)
Also new this week…
Stacy Antonel – Always the Outsider (self-released)
Chastity Brown – Sing to the Walls (Compass Records)
The Damn Quails – Clouding Up Your City (HonkyTonk Laboratory) +
Kathy Kallick and Friends – What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? (Live Oak Records)
Drew Kennedy – Marathon (self-released)
Meredith Lazowski – Other Way Home (self-released)
Mapache – Roscoe’s Dream (Innovative Leisure)
Coming out in the next few weeks… Joan Shelley, Peter Rowan, Janiva Magness, Gregory Dwane, The Local Honeys, Amanda Shires, Arlo McKinley, Hackensaw Boys, Andrew Weiss and Friends, The Old North, Phil Cook, John Moreland, Nick Nace, The Sadies, Michelle Rivers, Jonah Tolchin, Cahalan Morrison, Kelsey Waldon and more …
