Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for November 4th, 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.
Seth Avett
Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown (Ramseur Records)
A new generation has discovered the joys of wintry, isolation-fueled ballads, but Greg Brown has been wallowing in them for four decades. With songs that straddle folk and country and resist outsized hooks in favor of gaunt, gently rippling chord changes, the Iowa-based troubadour, who’s released over two dozen records, has been a cult figure for a reason. But along the way, he picked up a huge fan in Seth Avett who sings and plays these songs effortlessly, as if he’s been performing them his whole life, and he recorded them alone, in various hotel rooms on the road, for added intimacy. His voice is more lilting and fluid than Brown’s and he makes some of these songs his own. As interpreted by Avett, Brown’s darker, more brooding songs are the keepers—and for a moment in history when we’re all losing a lot more sleep than usual. (edited from Rolling Stone review)
Jason Carter
Lowdown Hoedown (Fiddleman Records)
Prolific fiddler and mainstay of both The Del McCoury Band and The Travelin’ McCourys, if you’ve caught Jason and his fiery performances on stage you may think you know what to expect. But you’d be wrong. Of the 13 tracks on the record, only one is an instrumental, the Vassar Clements classic, “Kissimmee Kid”. All the rest are ones which he sings, with some help from his many friends in Nashville including Billy Strings, Vince Gill, Tim O’Brien, Aoife O’Donovan and Del and the band. Most of the material is either new, or obscure enough to feel novel, especially in the hands of Jason Carter and his co-producer Brent Truitt. (edited from Bluegrass Today review)
Also new this week…
Rayland Baxter – If I Were a Butterfly (ATO Records)
First Aid Kit – Palomino (Columbia Records)
Roger Street Friedman – Love Hope Trust (self-released)
Dan Israel – Seriously (self-released)
The Jorgensens – Americana Soul (Paramour Records)
Gemma Laurence – Lavender (Better Company Records)
Emily Nenni – On The Ranch (Normaltown Records) +
Glen Phillips – There Is So Much Here (Compass Records)
Kenny Shore – Time Stands Still (self-released) +
Royal Wood – What Tomorrow Brings (Cordova Bay Records)
Coming out in the next few weeks… Sam Bush, Angela Autumn, Bruce Springsteen, Melissa Carper, Billy Strings, Brian Blake, Maple Run Band, Caitlin Rose, Vince Herman and more …
