ROUTES & BRANCHES  
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
June 30, 2019
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust


WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT the FIRST HALF OF 2019?!!

Each week on our ROUTES-cast, we showcase thirty songs from the frontiers of roots music.  While we repeat songs now and then, most of the time our approach is to explore a record song-by-song to leave you with an appreciation of the album as a whole.  Here and there we get hung up on a CD and spend a little more time, maybe writing up a longer appreciation.  Time will tell which records linger and which might fade.  Typically, this time of year we'll tag thirty albums that we think have the staying power to contend for the year-end list once Summer turns to fall. Time has proven that only about half of these will make it to that finish line.

So here 'tis:  We've put these in order of appearance rather than preference.

- Delines, The Imperial  (El Cortez, Jan 11)
- Steel Woods, Old News  (Woods, Jan 18)
- Joshua Ray Walker, Wish You Were Here  (State Fair, Jan 25)
- Blank Range, In Unison  (Sturdy Girl, Feb 1)
- Ryan Bingham, American Love Song  (Axster Bingham, Feb 15)
- Charles Wesley Godwin, Seneca  (Godwin, Feb 15)
- Yola, Walk Through Fire  (Easy Eye, Feb 22)
- Vandoliers, Forever  (Bloodshot, Feb 22)
- Quaker City Night Hawks, QCNH  (Lightning Rod, Mar 1)
- Lonesome Shack, Desert Dreams  (Alive Naturalsound, Mar 1)
- Caleb Elliott, Forever to Fade  (Single Lock, Mar 8)
- M Lockwood Porter, Communion in the Ashes  (Black Mesa, Mar 29)
- Drunken Prayer, Cordelia Elsewhere  (Deer Lodge, Apr 5)
- Shovels & Rope, By Blood  (Dualtone, Apr 12)
- Anna Tivel, The Question  (Fluff & Gravy, Apr 19)
- Yawpers, Human Question  (Bloodshot, Apr 19)
- Daniel Norgren, Wooh Dang  (Superpuma, Apr 19)
- Tallest Man on Earth, I Love You It's a Fever Dream  (Rivers/Birds, Apr 19)
- Caroline Spence, Mint Condition  (Rounder, May 3)
- Lucette, Deluxe Hotel Room  (Rock Creek, May 17)
- Massy Ferguson, Great Divides  (MF, May 17)
- Justin Townes Earle, Saint of Lost Causes  (New West, May 24)
- TK & the Holy Know-Nothings, Arguably OK  (Mama Bird, May 24)
- Ian Noe, Between the Country  (Nat'l Treasury, May 31)
- Left Lane Cruiser, Shake & Bake  (Alive Naturalsound, May 31)
- Hollis Brown, Ozone Park  (Mascot, Jun 7)
- Calexico w/Iron & Wine, Years to Burn  (Sub Pop, Jun 14)
- Bill Callahan, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest  (Drag City, Jun 14)
- Fernando Viciconte, Traitors Table  (Fluff & Gravy, Jun 21)
- Matt Woods, Natural Disasters  (Lonely Ones, Jun 28)

Will I feature thirty quality tunes from these worthy records on this week's ROUTES-cast?  I will not.  Instead, we'll keep on doing what we do, welcoming in some good stuff from new and forthcoming CDs that just might make their way onto our year-end list. Matter of fact, what awaits you below is a rare playlist bursting with debuts (D), featuring our very first glimpse into thirty albums that just might make a difference in the weeks and months to come.  We'll get back to the review thing next week.  For now, this:



- Shakey Graves, "World So Full of Love" single  (Next Waltz, 19) D
- Dead South, "Diamond Ring" Sugar & Joy  (Six Shooter, Oct 11)  D
- Brittany Howard, "History Repeats" Jaime  (ATO, Sep 20)  D
- One Eleven Heavy, "Mardi Gras" Desire Path  (Beyond Beyond, Sep 20)  D
- Ana Egge, "Cocaine Cowboys" Is It the Kiss  (StorySound, Sep 6)  D
- Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, "Take Heart Take Care" Take Heart Take Care  (Big Legal Mess, Aug 30)  D
- Leslie Stevens, "12 Feet High" Sinner  (LyricLand, Aug 23)  D
- Beth Bombara, "Upside Down" Evergreen  (Bombara, Aug 9)  D
- Daughter of Swords, "Shining Woman" Dawnbreaker  (Nonesuch, 19)  D
- Jeb Loy Nichols, "You Got It Wrong" June is Short July is Long  (Compass, Oct 4)  D
- Steel Wheels, "Keep On" Over the Trees  (Big Ring, Jul 12)  D
- Chuck Cleaver, "Anything" Send Aid  (Shake It, Jul 19)  D
- Western States, "The Duke" From the Center Out  (Marquette, Jul 19)  D
- Will Bennett & the Tells, "Rabbit's" All Your Favorite Songs  (Jewel Boy, Jul 26)  D
- Angela Perley, "Don't Look Back Mary" 4:30  (Perley, Aug 2)  D
- RF Shannon, "Angeline" Wild Rose Pass  (Keeled Scales, Aug 2)  D
- Smooth Hound Smith, "Dog in a Manger" Dog in a Manger  (SHS, Aug 9)  D
- Ikebe Shakedown, "Unqualified" Kings Left Behind  (Colemine, Aug 16)  D
- Noah Gundersen, "Robin Williams" Lover  (808pm, Aug 23)  D
- Black Belt Eagle Scout, "At the Party" At the Party With My Brown Friends  (Saddle Creek, Aug 30)  D
- Erik Koskinen, "Gun" Burning the Dust  (Koskinen, Jun 28)  D
- Twain & the Deslondes, "Run Wild" Mashed Potato Records Vol. 1 (Mashed Potato, Aug 9)  D
- Joe Pug, "Exit" Flood in Color  (Nation of Heat, Jul 19)  D
- Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors, "End of the World" Dragons  (Magnolia, Aug 16)  D
- Lauren Pratt, "Down in the Valley" Young American Sycamore  (Pratt, Sep 13)  D
- Jonah Tolchin, "Honeysuckle" Fires For the Cold  (Yep Roc, Sep 13)  D
- Jesse Dayton, "Bankrobber" Mixtape Volume 1  (Blue Elan, Aug 9)  D
- Rayland Baxter, "Objects in the Mirror"  Good Mmornin  (ATO, Jul 26)  D
- North Mississippi Allstars, "What You Gonna Do" Up and Rolling  (New West, Oct 4)  D
- Angie McMahon, "Slow Mover" Salt  (Dualtone, Jul 26)  D

Of course, if you're interested in looking at these and other forthcoming LPs, maybe it's time to pay a visit to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster.  That's where we stage this stuff; it's the brains of the operation, the healthy heart pumping new music into your ears.  Speaking of which, here's that debut-heavy ROUTES-cast we promised you:

> ROUTES-casts from 2019 have been removed; subscribe to our Spotify page to keep up with all our new playlists!