Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for March 31st, 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.
Peter Case
Doctor Moan (Sunset Blvd Records)
On 16th solo album Doctor Moan, singer-songwriter Peter Case channels spirits of jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie into nuanced expressions. Case’s first piano-based release is sonically sparse yet emotionally rich, capturing the peak of both his songcraft and voice with an organic authenticity rare in the digital age. “I try to take things I love and use them in a new way,” mulled Case. “I grew up on 1950s and ‘60s rock & roll and folk. I learned how to play blues here in San Francisco, out on the street, and then was part of the punk rock movement … It’s all still in there; it’s my musical DNA. Hopefully it opens up peoples’ hearts and lets them feel emotions that they want to feel but don’t usually have,” he concluded. “And a lot of them are focused on surviving in this world now, so hopefully the warmth of companionship and comfort, too.”
Mighty Poplar
Mighty Poplar (Free Dirt Records)
At its heart, bluegrass music is about what happens when you commit to the moment. This spirit of spontaneity is ever-present on the self-titled record from Mighty Poplar, a new all-star roots project featuring Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers, bassist Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon) and fiddler Alex Hargreaves (Billy Strings). Across 10 songs that include bluegrass and folk classics and deep cuts from the Carter Family to Leonard Cohen, the fivesome captures the fierce and playful energy of a late night jam between old friends. Regarded as some of the finest players of their generation, the playing is never showy and always in service of the song. (edited from label’s website)
Also new this week…
Rachel Baiman – Common Nation of Sorrow (Signature Sounds) +
John David Kent – Patina (Blackland Records)
Jono Manson – Stars Enough To Guide Me (Blue Rose Music) +
Meredith Moon – Constellations (True North Records)
Gurf Morlix – I Challenge the Beast (Rootball Records) +
Lauren Morrow – People Talk (Big Kitty Records)
Lance Roark – Better Man (self-released)
Upstate – You Only Get A Few (The Royal Potato Family)
Waco Brothers – The Men that God Forgot (Plenty Tuff Records)
Coming out soon… Adam Klein, Joey Frendo, Taj Mahal, Carter Sampson, Cimarron 615, William Prince, Marty Stuart, Natalie Merchant, The Wood Brothers, The Milk Carton Kids, Robbie Fulks, Robert Ellis, Caitlin Canty, The Infamous Stringdusters, Jake Ybarra, Bella White, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Rough & Tumble and more!
