featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 21, 2025
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
It's tempting to showcase new albums from some of our recurring favorites for this Episode. Otis Gibbs' old reliable folk-blues, John Calvin Abney's polished songcraft, and Joan Shelley's warm, familiar rural fabric. Karly Hartzman and Wednesday are making great waves with their increasingly accomplished, sharp-edged rural squall. That said ...
IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK
Birmingham's Janet Simpson has been in no hurry to offer a follow-up to 2021's memorable Safe Distance. A supporting musician for acts like Delicate Cutters, Wooden Wand, and Timber (with Will Stewart), she carries elements of punk and pop into her solo stuff. We called that solo debut vulnerable and even unrefined, and while Can I See You Tonight (Cornelius Chapel) retains a terrifically off-the-cuff spirit, the sessions and songs seem bolder and increasingly confident. "Porch" and "Tonight" are breezy and sweet, and Simpson leans into her pop persona on the bluesier "Sunday's Girl". Can I See You truly launches on guitar-forward cuts like "Too Close to the Fire", the artist sharing fiery electric bursts with Stewart. Janet Simpson splits the balance between SG Goodman's angular folk and Rosali Middleman's guitar-driven Carolina rural rock, gathered with the patient slow burn of Lucinda Williams.
ROUTES-cast September 21, 2025
^ Janet Simpson, "Porch" Can I See You Tonight (Cornelius Chapel, 25)
- Red River Dialect, "Again Again" single (Hinterground, 25) D
- Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, "Meet Me Anywhere (ft Ethel Cain)" Mossy Oak Shadow (Run for Cover, 25)
- Joan Shelley, "Here in the High and Low" Real Warmth (No Quarter, 25)
- Autumn Defense, "I'll Take You Out of Your Mind" Here and Nowhere (Yep Roc, Oct 10)
- Jack Schneider, "Stone's Throw Away" Streets of September (Jeffers, 25)
- Nicholas Jamerson, "Days Like These" Narrow Way (Cloverdale, 25) D
- Mariel Buckley, "Nashville Now" Strange Trip Ahead (Birthday Cake, Oct 17)
- Otis Gibbs, "Maybe in Memphis" Trust of Crows (Wanamaker, 25)
- Briscoe, "Arizona Shining" Heat of July (ATO, 25)
- Courtney Marie Andrews, "Cons and Clowns" single (Loose Future, 25) D
- John Calvin Abney, "Prayers and Pollen" Transparent Towns (Well Kept Secret, 25)
- Joelton Mayfield, "The Shore" Crowd Pleaser (Bloodshot, Oct 24)
- Avett Brothers w/Mike Patton, "Eternal Love" AVTT/PTTN (Ramseur, Nov 14) D
- Joe Kaplow, "Homestead Gold" single (Sonder House, 25) D
- Bones Owens, "Silver Spoon Blues" Best Western (Black Ranch, 25)
- Paul Burch, "Cry Love" Cry Love (Glider, Oct 10)
- Chris Lyons, "It's Come Over Me" Painter's Street (Nudie, Oct 24)
- Bobby Dove, "Not Much of an Outlaw" single (Dove, 25) D
- LC Franke & Silverada, "Young in Love" Prisoner EP (Side Hustle, Sep 23)
- Nick Shoulders, "Bored Fightin'" Refugia Blues (Gar Hole, Oct 31)
- Kelly Willis, "I Don't Care" It's All Her Fault: Tribute to Cindy Walker (Hummin'bird, Oct 10) D
- Pink Stones, "Hometown Hotel" Thank the Lord ... It's the Pink Stones (Normaltown, 25)
- Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co, "Twenty Cycles to the Ground" single (Keeled Scales, 25)
- Wednesday, "Phish Pepsi" Bleeds (Dead Oceans, 25)
- Gunshy, "Buzzer Beater" single (Sleep, 25) D
- Woods, "Goodnight" single (Woodsist, 25) D
- Weirs, "Everlasting" Diamond Grove (Dear Life, Oct 3)
- Shovels & Rope, "Blue Bayou (ft Al Olender)" single (Dualtone, 25) D
- Third Mind, "Creator Has a Master Plan" Right Now! (Yep Roc, 25)
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