WHAT"s SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (June 12, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

June 12, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Here is where we present five of our favorite new singles for the week passed. Sometimes with fun videos! It's like if Mtv's 120 Minutes was fixated on roots music. But the 120 Minutes hosted by Matt Pinfield, not the one with Kevin Seal. 

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

Johnny Blue Skies, "Whiter Shade Of Pale" Mutiny After Midnight (Expanded Edition)  (Atlantic Outpost, 26)

On the occasion of his birthday, Sturgill lowered his walls and begrudgingly posted March's Mutiny After Midnight on streaming services. The band has broken out their take on the Procol Harum gem on tour, though this marks its studio debut. Gary Brooker set an unfairly high bar, but the song seems tailor-made for Simpson and co. 

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Alex Amen, "Changes"  Sun Of Amen  (ATO, 26)

There's a good chance we'll have more to say about Alex Amen and his lovely hand-crocheted record in the days to come. For today, this final single speaks volumes about his effortless throwback folk, songs that succeed in the exceedingly rare feat of creating retro music that doesn't come off like a studio trick. 

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Lambchop, "Stella" Punching the Clown  (Merge, Aug 21)

If the entirety of Lambchop's August project is consistent with their first pair of singles, somebody's been listening to our prayers. Kurt Wagner creates idiosyncratically beautiful music, no matter what musical sandbox he's playing in. Here with Justin Vernon and something called the Eau Claire Vocal Sextet, they recall a 60s folk scare cut left behind by Glenn Yarbrough (now we're going to start praying for a Lambchop cover of "Frodo Of the Nine Fingers"). 

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American Aquarium, "History Repeats Itself" New Ways To Lose  (Losing Side, Jun 26)

Today BJ Barham's band announced a pending project in the wings, produced again by Shooter Jennings and promising to kick your throat in. While we don't need that kind of talk, this initial glimpse promises a deck of well-executed Springsteen-esque portrayals. This live recording from Echo Mountain demonstrates how it is done. 

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Attic Abasement, "Bruised Water Moon" Moonlight Passes On  (Father/Daughter, Aug 14)

Prior to Friday's onslaught of novelty, this Episode of WSGATW?!! featured a circus of left-of-center oddities, great stuff that wouldn't really fit on our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast (think Hank Heaven, Hollow Hand, Mary In the Junkyard). This droopy oddball by Mike Rheinheimer's Attic Abasement is all that remains of that lovely assemblage. Moonlight will mark his first record in a decade. That's an unhealthily long time to spend in your attic. 

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A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (June 11, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

June 11, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Consequence of Sound offers ten minutes of Anna Tivel and Hudson Freeman answering questions about influences, experiences, and John Mayer for their Lagunitas Six Pack Stories series. 

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^ On the heels of last week's release of her excellent A Sign In the Weather, Bella White sits with Range to discuss her inspirations behind the sessions. 

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We celebrated the music of Zoh Amba for our Tuesday review. Bandcamp's new profile provides a nice follow-up. 

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We've championed the music of Caleb Caudle since 2014's Paint Another Layer. Bluegrass Situation offers an interview where we discover about his connection to Cash Cabin, his new Heavy Thrill record, and what he thinks of AI. 

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Rolling Stone profiles CMA Vocal Group of the Year Red Clay Strays, faith and all. If the paywall won't let you in, you can always watch their spirited live run through "Demons In Your Choir". 

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Twangville says Eilen Jewell has declared a hiatus from hard touring, though she continues to release new music, including a cover of the Doors.  

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Vice shares a story about how the legendary Townes Van Zandt happened to play for a small, unappreciative audience of farmers at an out-of-the-way New Zealand bar. 

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A few weeks ago we celebrated the return of Souled American. Trib asks them why it took thirty years to find their way back to the studio. 

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New this week to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster (our peripatetically updated new release calendar) are Magnolia Sessions (Anti Corp, Jul 3) from fast-rising americana act Hannah Juanita and Frozen Charlotte (Jul 10) from garage savior Jack White. Ty Segall has announced both an LP and an EP for August 28 (Drag City), and Palmyra returns with an EP called Cheap Beer on the Oh Boy label. We're also looking forward to I Would Do It For You (Wicked Cool), a tribute/collaboration for Jesse Malin featuring famous friends like Valley Lodge and Dead Milkmen. 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: Deer Tick

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

June 10, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Most of the acts that we've featured in our Lookback Machine Episodes served a role during the formative years of our kind of music. By definition, they've been around for a long time and their best years are behind them. Deer Tick will never release another record with the impact of their 2011 debut, but their just-released Coin-o-Matic is arguably the strongest thing John J McCauley and co have created at least since 2011's Divine Providence. 

In another world, Deer Tick could have been considered alongside the Replacements, with frontguy McCauley serving as their Paul Westerberg, a better songwriter than he's been credited. Those earlier projects were sloppy in the loveliest way, but like Westerberg McCauley pushed out from those punk roots to define a wider-reaching swath of roots rock and pure pop, his trademark vocals ensuring that Deer Tick continues to betray those origins. We could easily have made this a Lookback at John J McCauley, including his excellent side projects with Middle Brothers and Diamond Rugs, but since his early years in Rhode Island the singer has made it his intention to be part of a group rather than a solo act (the band is presently composed of Dennis Ryan on drums, bassist Christopher Ryan, and Andrew Tobiassen on guitar). We did, however, include one of a couple of Pogues covers that Deer Tick have recorded. 

DEER TiCK: thirty favorites

- "Art Isn't Real (City Of Sin)" War Elephant  (Partisan, Sep 4 2011)

- "Baltimore Blues No 1" 

- "These Old Shoes" 

- "Little White Lies" Born On Flag Day  (Partisan, Jun 23 2009)

- "Smith Hill"

- "Houston TX"

- "Twenty Miles" Black Dirt Sessions  (Partisan, Jun 9 2010)

- "Mange"

- "The Bump" Divine Providence  (Partisan, Oct 5 2011)

- "Let's All Go To the Bar" 

- "Main Street" 

- "The Rock" Negativity  (Partisan, Sep 24 2013)

- "The Curtain" 

- "Dream's In the Ditch"

- "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" Bloodshot Six Pack To Go  (Bloodshot, Aug 2 2016)

- "Sea Of Clouds" Deer Tick Vol 1  (Partisan, Sep 15 2017)

- "Card House" 

- "Jumpstarting" Deer Tick Vol 2  (Partisan, Sep 15 2017)

- "It's a Whale" 

- "Hey! Yeah!" Mayonnaise  (Partisan, Feb 1 2019)

- "If She Could Only See Me Now (Live)" Live From Fort Adams  (Deer Tick, Jul 30 2021)

- "Forgiving Ties" Emotional Contracts  (ATO, Jun 16 2023)

- "A Light Can Go Out In the Heart" 

- "Sacrosanct" Contractual Obligations  (ATO, Jul 12 2024)

- "Big Black Hearse"

- "Light Up Reindeer" single  (ATO, Nov 18 2025)

- "Dog Years" Coin-o-Matic  (ATO, Jun 5 2026)

- "Mary Singletary" 

- "ACI" 

- "Everything Born" 

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK: Zoh Amba, Eyes Full (Matador, June 5)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

June 9, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

For their seventh record, their first for the Matador label, Zoh Amba chose to set aside the saxophone with which they had built their reputation as an improvisational player. Eyes Full (Matador) presents the Tennessee artist as a primitive visionary, a vehicle for the unfiltered light of music. In this sense, even without the sax, singing from a wild and unschooled place, hammering at their acoustic guitar, this is much the same Zoh Amba that we hear wailing away in an Italian church at the end of "Child You'll See". 

In a recent interview, Zoh Amba explains, Everything I was trying to do with the saxophone music is everything I'm trying to do in this. For Eyes Full, they've gathered a small but essential team of apostles, including electric guitarist Kevin Hyland, bassist Lawson Alderson (from MJ Lenderman's band) and visionary drummer Jim White, with whom Amba played as Beings. On "Smile With Your Eyes", the acoustic strings chug like a train straining to gain speed. The trio recorded the songs live in studio, forgoing overdubs or enhancements. "Dead End Street" rages with free-range energy, an engine that also drives the title cut. Like the unrestrained spirit that characterizes their horn playing, Amba's voice is pure expression, a bold and raw delivery that can be shocking, even abrasive. 

Yet that's the beauty of Zoh Amba's new session, the confidence and unadultered place that make songs like "Southern Soil" almost devotional. Those who need to classify Eyes Full could point to the record's most direct moment as a folksong, rooted like many of their new tunes in the sometimes harsh realities of their native Tennessee. Reportedly the survivor of a rough and uncertain upbringing, Amba counsels their mother and father, You ain't gotta keep those secrets. There is a definite sweetness and light on "Another Time", as the singer reaches toward God in and through people on the street: Saw you on the street / You were playing guitar / You were looking at all the eyes that passed / You were looking for god. 

Zoh Amba selected their current name as an expression of their monastic Hinduism, and this pervasive openness to God and spirit shines throughout their music and interviews. Loose comparisons could be made to Adrianne Lenker's work with Big Thief, or even to Karly Hartzman's savage expression with Wednesday. But Eyes Full captures a specific moment in the restless artistic journey of a genuine original. I hope that people can come and give the music a chance, they have said, and let it sit in their heart. If they give it a chance, the music will grow a flower in the heart. I promise. 

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ROUTES-cast June 7, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

June 7, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Per Friday's message, we're throwing reason to the wind and upending/expanding our blogging schedule. Tuesday will feature If You Only Listen To One Album This Week, the record review that used to accompany our regular Sunday ROUTES-cast. This week's Episode includes our inaugural glimpse at new projects from Dogwood Tales, Taylor Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Cook, and more. We also feature artists that are new to us, such as the Dreggs, True Mountain Laurel, and Max Subar. 

ROUTES-cast June 7, 2026

- Zoh Amba, "Dead End Street" Eyes Full  (Matador, 26)

- Keenan O'Meara, "Halley's Comet" Bathe In the Everlasting Light  (Belting Bronco, Jun 28)

- Anna McClellan, "Twirl" Space You Big Cloud  (Father/Daughter, 26)  D

^ Widowspeak, "Roses" Roses  (Captured Tracks, 26)

- Deer Tick, "Dog Years" Coin-o-Matic  (ATO, 26)

- Taylor Hollingsworth, "Shady People" Folk N' Roll  (Dial Back Sound, Aug 21)  D

- Futurebirds, "Ghost Moon" Far Out Country  (Dualtone, 26)

- Dogwood Tales, "McMemories" Every Star In Rockingham County  (Born Losers, Aug 28)  D

- Dreggs, "Golden Lights" single  (Dreggs, 26)  D

- Haylie Davis, "Young Man" Wandering Star  (Fire, 26)

- Vandoliers, "Compass Rose" Afterglow EP  (Break Maiden, 26)  D

- Hannah Juanita, "Wild and Blue" Magnolia Sessions  (Anti Corp, Jul 3)  D

- Brent Cobb, "Live a Song Write a Memory" Live a Song Write a Memory Vol 1  (Ol' Buddy, 26)  D

- River Shook, "Lost Without Your Love" River Shook  (Blackberry River, Jun 26)

- Red Clay Strays, "Walking Away" Grateful  (RCA, 26)

- Old Crow Medicine Show, "Revolution Now (ft Evan Felker)" Union Made  (Hartland, 26)

- Elizabeth Cook, "Razorwire Wall (ft Evan Felker)" Great Television  (Agent Love, Aug 14)  D

- Jason Eady, "Mean Spirits" Tulsa Turnaround  (Old Guitar, 26)

- Sad Daddy, "Bootlegger" Ozark Shine  (Free Dirt, Jun 26)  D

- John R Miller, "Don't Bet On Me" Great Unknowing  (Rounder, Jul 17)

- Bella White, "Stuff" A Sign In the Weather  (Rounder, 26)

- Caleb Caudle, "Heavy Thrill" Heavy Thrill  (Handplow, 26)

- True Mountain Laurel, "Angel So Bad" Angel So Bad  (Birthday Cake, Aug 28)  D

- Max Subar, "See Saw" Anything Could Be  (Merge, Jul 17)  D

- JW Francis, "Radio Tower" Magic River  (Francis, Jun 26)  D

- Beth Orton, "Otherside" The Ground Above  (Partisan, Jun 26)

- Horsefeathers, "Finch On Saturday (demo)" Words Are Dead (Deluxe Edition)  (Kill Rock Stars, Aug 28)  D

- Fenne Lily, "Uh Huh" Win Win  (Nettwerk, Oct 23)  D

- Margaret Glaspy, "Michigan" I Am Both  (ATO, Aug 7)  D

- Slow Accordion, "71" Slow Accordion  (Royal Potato Family, Jul 17)  D

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (June 5, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

June 5, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Following an adjustment to our proper work schedule, we've found ourselves with plenty of free time to re-inflate our blog with all this daily hoopla! Until our availability is once again compromised we're considering the following:

Sunday: Our Greatest Hit, the weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast

Tuesday: a Review (previously featured alongside Sunday's playlist)

Wednesday: the Lookback Machine: thirty (30) favorite songs from an artist we enjoy

Thursday: Guide To Feeding Your Monster: a weekly roundup of good news about good noise

Friday: What's So Great About This Week?!! Our five (5) favorite songs for the week, with videos!

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

Elizabeth Cook, "Razorwire Wall (ft Evan Felker)"  Great Television  (Agent Love, Aug 14)

Ask yourself what more you could want from the first new Elizabeth Cook song in ages? Cat-titude? Hard guitar? A cameo from Turnpike Troubadour Evan Felker (one of two this week)? For everything that could've gone astray, "Razorwire" is a promising intro to her first record since 2020. Produced by Shooter Jennings? 

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Fenne Lily, "Uh Huh" Win Win  (Nettwerk, Oct 23)

Consider this the most effective use of uh huh in any recent song. Especially when considering the effectiveness of wordier alternatives such as you bet, no doubt, or definitely. Proves that you can cast a spell with a banjo. 

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Margaret Glaspy, "Michigan" I Am Both  (ATO, Aug 7)

Margaret Glaspy is in Michigan, but by all reports she is doing just fine. We're sharing an unadorned acoustic guitar and harmonica take of the first single from her August record, though the studio recording isn't much more adorned. 

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Dogwood Tales, "McMemories" Every Star In Rockingham County  (Born Losers, Aug 28)

One of our favorite records from the year-to-date is Dogwood Tales' January 7 collaboration with Euphoria Again. Consider us pleased to see that the Virginia quartet has even more to offer in the form of this buzzy alt number: Saw your name on a toothbrush / I couldn't throw it away. Virginia isn't far from North Carolina: Current Home Of Alt.Country, but you can see it from there. 

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Zoh Amba, "Dead End Street" Eyes Full  (Matador, Jun 5)

Just when Zoh Amba had us convinced they were a free-jazz sax player, they pick up a guitar and share one of the year's most impactful alt.country records. We're still not convinced they can sing or play guitar properly, but what a wonderful racket. 

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A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster (June 4, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

June 4, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Remember when we used to do this? When every week we'd lay out ten (or nine) pretty interesting stories from elsewhere on the internet? Us too. Let's do that again. 

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Let's enjoy this longform write-up about guitarist Ron Steele and his essential role in Chicago music at Chicago Reader . It's part of Mike Stephen's Secret History of Chicago Music radio program. Heck, long as you're there, read this piece about Andrew Sa's very promising June 26 album on Bloodshot. 

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We'll be taking a stab at our favorite records for the first half of 2026 near the end of June. No spoilers, but you can rest assured that we're feeling pretty fond of Ratboys' February release, Singin' To An Empty Chair. You can catch a nice live set from KEXP's live sessions. 

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Big Thief sat in some tall grass in Ireland and played four songs, a couple of them brand new. Of course, they sound terrific, even if all we can think of is all the bugs that must be crawling and flying around them. Adrianne Lenker and co are approaching Maximum Groove. 

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Ray Wylie Hubbard has found his way back to the studio to record a new project. Saving Country Music shares a bit of the story behind Reel 2 Reel 4 Real, set for an August 21 release. 

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Our kind of music is so hot these days. Kevin Morby has followed his lady friend Katie Crutchfield down dusty roads and unmown fields for his very good Little Wide Open. Under the Radar interviews Morby in a field of sunflowers. 

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So so many bloggers are doing the Best Of the Year So Far ... thing. Do we pay attention to them? Yeah, sure we do. Especially when they're from tasteful tastemakers like No Expectations' Josh Terry, aka some guy in Chicago. You should subscribe to his newsletter. 

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Sharp-eyed followers might have noticed that this week's Routes-cast included something from Australian Way Dynamic's Massive Shoe. The project of Dylan Young, the under-the-radar LP will be reissued by Jagjaguwar in October. If the R&B rec isn't enough, the project has been touted by names as diverse as Waxahatchee and Elton John. 

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For those who feel our blog doesn't adequately represent Andean music, Hermanos Gutierrez have announced that their September 25 album, Los Ojos Del Condor (Easy Eye) will be a love letter to South America. The brothers' bloodline runs through Ecuador and Peru. And Sweden. 

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Justin Ringle and Kill Rock Stars have announced a twentieth anniversary reissue of Horse Feathers' debut full-length, Words Are Dead. A US tour featuring members of Blind Pilot and River Whyless is scheduled to begin in August. Can a new project be far behind? We're not asking this rhetorically. 

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