ROUTES-cast March 29, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

March 29, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

This week brought a nice diversity of good stuff for us to choose from, including some excellent ambient roots from Sluice and a batch of sincere simplicity from Big Harp. We were also taken by Ashley Monroe's unexpected project and the return of Drayton Farley. But when it comes down to it ...

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

From Toronto, Charlotte Cornfield calls her sixth collection a shy people love story. Hurts Like Hell follows on the heels of 2021's Highs In the Minuses and Could Have Done Anything from 2023, a pair of albums that made a case for the slyly observational songwriter as among our best. Here at R&B HQ, we remarked, Liberated from any trappings or pretense, what's left is pure heart, and called Cornfield's work with Josh Kaufman, a practice in economy of arrangement and of communication. Her songs deposit us into often awkward social circumstances, or encourage us to eavesdrop on personal moments of self-doubt and deprecation. Charlotte Cornfield could crush us with authentic emotion as readily as she could elicit a knowing smile of recognition for real people in familiar settings. 

Where those recent records presented the artist working alone, or with a very select confidant or two, Hurts Like Hell is created live in studio with a select cohort of collaborators, including producer Phil Weinrobe, Ed Kempner of Palehound, Lake Street Dive's Bridget Kearney, Adam Brisbin and guests like Buck Meek and Feist. It's also Cornfield's first project for her new label home at Merge. While the trappings have changed, the songs remain (in her own words) immediate, spacious, lyrical, true. Now a mother in a stable relationship, embraced by shining stars like Lucy Dacus, her new work can be less confessional and more in the vein of a short-storyteller. 

Charlotte Cornfield still looks and sounds like someone you might encounter alone at a corner table of your favorite coffeeshop, even if she's now friends with Feist. On "Living With It", she confesses to a past flame, I still have your number / I'll never delete it / Do you still have mine? A deceptively low-key vocalist, she lays her words casually around beats, paired with brushed guitars and an unintrusive snare. The title track introduces Brisbin's pedal steel, instrumentation that's new to Cornfield's music, adding dimension to the songs without driving them fully into country territory. Atop Buck Meek's backing vocal, Cornfield draws from another of those uncertain soical encounters: He said / You didn't give me time to answer / I didn't even need to think it over / I guess I'm just slow at responding / But I think I want what you want / I'm sorry I left you wondering. 

The tunes on Hurts Like Hell, she explains, were written from the other side of something, recognizing that what can be painful in the moment is sometimes worthwhile in the long run. With its atypically spidery electric guitar, "Lucky" gives Cornfield Temporary relief from the / Crushing weight of everything right now / Long branches stripped of their leaves. Even in her most dire moments, there is sardonic humor in these songs. On "Lost Leader" she addresses a onetime musical infatuation: I used to buy everything you released / You kept me company while I fell asleep / Now I go to hear you play tunes / And there are too many dudes in the room / I just wanna leave. In some sense, Charlotte Cornfield can resemble a hybrid between Anna Tivel's quiet voyeurism and Courtney Barnett's absurdist diarist. 

The new collection is bookended by a pair of songs, "Before" and "Bloody and Alive", the first describing her introduction to a future partner and the latter suggesting the birth of her daughter. Both feature watery, almost ambient guitar, like before and after snapshots of lives in transition. In between is music that is refreshingly original even as it's disarmingly familiar. On "Number" Cornfield observes, I feel differently about / The way snow piles up / On my doorstep now / Like a little wall. The jazz-adjacent "Long Game" is characteristically accepting, with the singer delivering what might be a self-directed mantra: More doing / Less trying. 

ROUTES-cast March 29, 2026

^ Charlotte Cornfield, "Long Game" Hurts Like Hell  (Merge, 26)

- Courtney Barnett, "Wonder" Creature Of Habit  (Mom + Pop, 26)

- Fruit Bats, "The Landfill" The Landfill  (Merge, Jun 12)  D

- Johanna Samuels, "White Limousine (ft Courtney Marie Andrews)" single  (Odd Man Out, 26)  D

- Joe Pernice, "I'd Rather Look Away (ft Norman Blake)" Sunny I Was Wrong  (New West, Apr 3)

- Alela Diane, "In My Own Time" Who's Keeping Time  (Fluff & Gravy, May 22)

- Big Harp, "Runs To Blue" Runs To Blue  (Saddle Creek, 26)

- Mikaela Davis, "Starlite Tonite" Graceland Way  (Kill Rock Stars, Apr 24)

- Ben Chapman, "Feet On Fire" Feet On Fire  (Hippie Shack, May 22)  D

- Hiss Golden Messenger, "Shaky Eyes" I'm People  (Chrysalis, May 1)

- Hanging Stars, "Glasshouse" Just a Day  (Loose, Jun 19)  D

- Luke Winslow-King, "Teacher's Desk" Coast Of Light  (Bloodshot, 26)

- Deslondes, "Moving" Don't Let It Die Vol 1  (New West, May 22)

- Styrofoam Winos, "Pearls" Any River  (Dear Life, Jun 19)  D

- Sluice, "Ratchet Strap" Companion  (Mtn Laurel, 26)

- Bicentennial Drug Lord, "Thaw" single  (vfib, 26)  D

- Palmyra, "Ribcage (demo)" Lake Louisa Sessions EP  (Oh Boy, 26)  D

- Milk Carton Kids, "I'll Go Home From Here" Lost Cause Lover Fool  (Far Cry, Apr 24)

- Tift Merritt, "Finest Feelings" Sugar  (One Riot, Jun 26)  D

- Ian Noe, "Jukebox Blues (For Blaze Foley)" single  (Lock 13, 26)  D

- Drayton Farley, "Feel Like Getting High" Heavy Duty Heart  (Hargrove, 26)

- Ryan Bingham, "Twist the Knife (ft Texas Gentlemen)" They Call Us the Lucky Ones  (Bingham, May 15)

- Ashley Monroe, "I Hate Nashville" Dear Nashville  (Mountainrose Sparrow, 26)  D

- Silverada, "Highway Man" single  (Prairie Rose, 26)  D

- Flatland Cavalry, "Bird's Eye View" Work Of Heart  (Lost Highway, 26)

- John R Miller, "If You Could Only See Me Now" single  (Rounder, 26)  D

- Marfa, "If It Ain't You" single  (Big Machine, 26)

- Brennan Wedl & Waxahatchee, "Six O'clock News" single  (Anti, 26)  D

- Squirrel Flower, "Wheels (ft Babehoven, Billie Marten)" single  (Polyvinyl, 26)  D

- Magic Tuber Stringband, "Where the Place Becomes Forgetting" Heavy Water  (Thrill Jockey, May 22)

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast March 22, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

March 22, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

This Episode brings no obvious choice for our listening recommendation, though we're Big Fans of Hurray For the Riff Raff and Danny George Wilson. Not for the first time this year, we'll also direct your ears towards Bandcamp, where you'll find a new EP from Campfire Swimmers. 

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

We mentioned last week that we were awaiting our tardy copy of the new Johnny Blue Skies record, Mutiny After Midnight (Atlantic Outpost), currently just available in cassette, CD or LP format. The majority of press on Sturgill Simpson's second JBS album has focused on those trappings - the fact that it's unavailable for streaming, that it's reportedly his dance project, that participating record stores were encouraged to stage a dance party in celebration of its release. 

Simpson himself has called Mutiny his moment of pure, unfiltered, unapologetic, relentless disco-hedonism - an album centered firmly on groove. Of course, the marriage of funk/soul and country is nothing new, and this new JBS set decidedly recalls sounds of the 70s. Once again fronting his longtime band of brothers, here called the Dark Clouds, the project is organic, sweaty and terrifically groovy (Laur Joamets on guitar, Kevin Black on bass, Miles Miller on drums, and Robbie Crowell on keys and sax). Mutiny is also exceptionally horny.

Matter of fact, the album opens with Simpson's invocation to "Make America Fuk Again", introducing the LP's deep bass groove and incendiary electric guitar. The pop-inflected number establishes a tension between the current state of our nation, our collective and individual mental wellbeing, and enjoying sex with abandon: Been coming to terms with my obsolescence / Taking ketamine to kill my depression. The indelible "Stay On That" finds creepy Uncle Sturgill offering, Let me be the wood baby / You can be the glue ... Stay on that D / Until you hit that G. In the heyday of the PMRC, Mutiny would wear its black-and-white advisory sticker boldly. 

But the new Johnny Blue Skies project is more than Dirty Mind for the roots music crowd. Lyrically, the songs are much less cerebral than 2024's Passage du Desir, though they can be deceptively personal and even pointedly political here and there. With its runaway pace and skronky sax, "Excited Delirium" evokes recent protests: How the hell you gonna protect the peace / Running around looking like you're going to war. The hooky guitar blues of "Ain't That a Bitch" cloaks a lyric that bemoans how the poor stay poor and the rich get rich. The album's most country moment, "Don't Let Go" seems a heartfelt declaration of (heaven forbid) genuine devotion: Do you wanna see me crawl across the floor / Down on my knees. 

Sturgill Simpson has never been content to fulfill expectations from the safety of one artist lane. Mutiny After Midnight is not as blatant a departure as 2019's manga soundtrack Sound and Fury, it's simply the man and his buddies indulging their penchant for having a good time, digging deep into the boogie. The momentarily restrained bridge of "Viridescent" trips unexpectedly into an infectiously funky instrumental outro. "Everyone Is Welcome" collects the record's threads into a single cord, both topical and unapologetically sexual, making the declaration that Life is better fluid like sexuality. 

On the LP's back cover, the ship from Sailor's Guide To Earth sails the stormy seas towards a disco ball moon. Johnny Blue Skies, this band of musical pirates, is among the most capable and adventurous outfits in our kind of music, a tempestuous sea of roots and rock, funk and fusion. Sturgill Simpson sets the soundtrack as we dance into the revolution, rocking the mutiny.  In his own words, he just wants to make America not suck again. For the moment, you'll just have to purchase a cassette to join him. 

ROUTES-cast March 22, 2026

- Son Little, "Rabbit" Cityfolk  (Anti, 26)

- Mama's Gun, "Joy" DIG!  (Blue Elan, Apr 10)  D

- Danny George Wilson, "Grain Of Sand" Arcade  (Loose, 26)

- Black Keys, "Where There's Smoke There's Fire" Peaches!  (Easy Eye, May 1)

- Leah Blevins, "Leave It Up To Me" All Dressed Up  (Easy Eye, 26)

- Daughn Gibson, "Sacred Life" Lake Mary Not Mysterious  (El Ed Eb, May 8)  D

- Matthew Logan Vasquez, "Haunted" single  (MLV, 26)  D

- Red PK, "Horse Like Me (ft Free Range)" Horse Like Me  (Red PK, 26)  D

- Builders & Butchers, "Mother Mary" No Tomorrow  (Badman, Apr 3)

- Montvales, "Runaway Horse" Path Of Totality  (Free Dirt, 26)

- Ashley McBryde, "Bottle Tells Me So" Wild  (Warner, May 8)  D

- Cactus Lee, "Bad Luck" Lee's Dream  (Western Vinyl, Apr 10)

- Tenille Townes, "We Could Use a Little More" The Acrobat  (Township Road, Apr 10)

- Breakfield, "Darker Out Tonight" Breakfield  (Rounder, Jun 12)

- Wilson Springs Hotel, "Broken Doors" Day the Bloodroot Bloomed  (Ritter, 26)  D

- William Harries Graham, "Flicker Film" Belrose Motel EP  (Strolling Bones, Apr 10)  D

- Hudson Freeman & Bedroomer, "Stolen Valor" single  (Mom + Pop, 26)  D

- Aubrie Sellers, "Trigger Happy" Attachment Theory  (Carnival, 26)

- SUSTO, "Hard Drugs (ft Morgan Wade)" SUSTO Stringband Vol 2  (SUSTO, May 29)  D

- Hurray For the Riff Raff, "Pyramid Scheme (Live) "Live Forever  (Nonesuch, 26)

- John Andrews & the Yawns, "What's Good" Streetsweeper  (Earth Libraries, Apr 3)

- Hrishikesh Hirway, "Rollercoaster (ft Uwade, Fenne Lily)" In the Last Hour Of Light  (Keeled Scales, Apr 24)

- Noah Gundersen, "Die Young" Rites Of Spring  (RIP Dunes, May 22)  D

- Lily Seabird, "Demon In Me" single  (Seabird, 26)  D

- Natalie Wildgoose, "River Days" Rural Hours EP  (state51, Apr 15)  D

- White Fence, "Unread Books" Orange  (Drag City, Apr 24)

- Brown Horse, "Wreck" Total Dive  (Loose, Apr 10)

- Gladie, "I Will If You Will" No Need To Be Lonely  (Get Better, 26)  D

- M Ward, "Sympathy For the Stones (Live)" single  (MWard, 26)  D

- Terry Allen, "Down To the River" Blood Sucking Maniacs  (Paradise Of Bachelors, Apr 24)

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast March 15, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

March 15, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

We weighed the relative merits of several appealing releases this week. This included the new Johnny Blue Skies project, initially released only in physical formats. While our LP has yet to arrive, we were able to preview the collection during its momentary residency on YouTube, and would likely recommend that were we able to dig a bit deeper. Much more accessible are full-lengths from Daniel Romano & the Outift, the Jeff Tweedy-produced Cut Worms, and the dark modern folk of Ora Cogan. See also, Morgan Nagler's very good debut, I've Got Nothing To Lose and I'm Losing It. By all means, listen to that too ... 

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

Since her 2017 full-length debut, Cat Clyde has built her artistic case, describing her stylistic reach. The Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist gathered bits of blues and rock, country and folk, favoring sounds brought forward from the past as evidenced in her Spotify playlists. On her fourth solo project, Mud Blood Bone, Cat Clyde comes into her own as a writer who is more than a sum of those parts. 

With producer Drew Vanderburg (Faye Webster, Futurebirds, SG Goodman), Cat Clyde's new sessions support her songs with a fuller, more contemporary arrangement. "Where Is My Love" establishes an acoustic/electric strum-and-growl that typifies much of the collection, owing in part to guitarist Liam Duncan who records as Boy Golden. Cat Clyde is fierce and determined on "Man's World", a blues ramble lamenting an old-as-time gender imbalance: I can't express my woman self / Without a shield across my chest. With an elastic delivery that is as country as it is blues, Cat Clyde's voice has become her calling card. Evoking Adrianne Lenker on "Wild One", she also shares the Big Thief frontperson's penchant for embracing the sensuality of the natural world. On "Night Eyes", she sings Inside the damp earth call / With love I send it all. With its slinky Hammond B3 groove, "Hold My Hand" digs deeper: I wanna move with love in the buoyant salty ether / Let the vibration hum strike desire's hungry fever / Let it all go in surrender. 

On Mud Blood Bone, Cat Clyde ranges from the punk energy and drive of "Wanna Ride" to the revelatory croon of her piano-based "I Am Now". Like Alynda Segarra's work with Hurray For the Riff Raff, she incorporates each of these elements into her own original roots music expression. Even on the record's sole cover, Marty Robbins' "My Love", she coaxes the song into an early rock vibe without abandoning the countrypolitan air of the original. With the buy-in of the Concord label group, Cat Clyde could translate Mud Blood Bone into a well-deserved breakout project. 

ROUTES-cast March 15, 2026

^ Cat Clyde, "My Love" Mud Blood Bone  (Concord, 26)

- Morgan Nagler, "Another Mona Lisa" I've Got Nothing To Lose and I'm Losing It  (Little Operation, 26)

- Ora Cogan, "Love You Better" Hard Hearted Woman  (Sacred Bones, 26)

- Thomas Dollbaum, "Dozen Roses" Birds Of Paradise  (Dear Life, May 22)  D

- Daniel Romano & the Outfit, "Metanoia" Preservers Of the Pearl  (You've Changed, 26)

- Wendy Eisenberg, "Vanity Paradox" Wendy Eisenberg  (Joyful Noise, Apr 3)

- i26connector, "Cut My Hair" i26connector  (Haw Creek, 26)  D

- Cass McCombs & Chris Cohen, "Steel Reserve" single  (Hardly Art/Domino, 26)  D

- Deer Tick, "Mary Singletary" Coin-o-Matic  (ATO, Jun 5)  D

- Maria Taylor, "Sorry I Was Yours (ft Conor Oberst)" Story's End  (Million Stars, Apr 3) 

- Nathaniel Rateliff, "Tommy's Song" single  (Stax, 26)  D

- Allison Russell, "Rainbows" single  (Fantasy, 26)  D

- Jessica Lea Mayfield & Dolour, "Pink Triangle" Pinkerton  (Inverness, May 22)

- Kevin Morby, "Die Young" Little Wide Open  (Dead Oceans, May 15)

- Cut Worms, "Out Of Touch" Transmitter  (Jagjaguwar, 26)

- Whitehorse, "See the Light" All I Want Is All Of It  (Six Shooter, May 8)  D

- Ramsey Thornton, "Rocking" I Called It!  (Gar Hole, May 15)  D

- Flatland Cavalry, "Real Slow" Work Of Heart  (Lost Highway, Mar 27)

- Kacey Musgraves, "Dry Spell" Middle Of Nowhere  (Lost Highway, May 1)  D

- Charley Crockett, "Fastest Gun Alive" Age Of the Ram  (Island, Apr 3)

- Erin Enderlin, "Blood In the River" Songs From the Gray House EP  (Black Crow, 26)  D

- Andrew Sa, "Lavender Cowboy (ft HC McEntire)" American Rough  (Bloodshot, Jun 26)  D

- Emily Nenni, "Not a Winner" Movin' Shoes  (New West, May 1)

- Teddy Thompson, "So This Is Heartache" Never Be the Same  (Royal Potato Family, May 15)  D

- Michaela Anne, "These Are the Days" These Are the Days  (Georgia June, May 8)

- Cactus Blossoms, "Lately I've Let Things Slide" single  (Walkie Talkie, 26)  D

- Josiah & the Bonnevilles, "Mountain Girl" As Is  (Rounder, May 8)

- Kiki Cavazos, "Grey Ghost Train" Goodbye Blues  (Jalopy, Apr 24)

- Rachel Brooke, "Ballad Of Bald Hill" This One's For You  (MAL, Apr 24)

- Sweet Petunia, "Good Part" Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown  (Righteous Babe, 26)  D

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast March 8, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

March 8, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Our best options this week include a stunning assortment of "b-sides" from Anna Tivel and a step further into the limelight from Brit Taylor. You'll also want to spend some time with Natalie Jane Hill's excellent set. Still ...

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

Deloyd Elze is the stage name of Jacob Allen, a Berklee grad from Los Angeles by way of Florida, a moniker borrowed from the artist's grandfather. This week saw the release of Deloyd Elze's second EP, Nellene, named after his grandmother. It follows on the heels of November's Horse Named Proletariat EP, both released on the Concord label. Allen refers to these as sibling projects, so we'd suggest you enjoy them side-by-side. 

Here at R&B HQ, we appreciate creatives who try new things with the familiar pieces of folk and country music. Some artists may sacrifice writing at the altar of clever production, while others will settle for no-frills songwriting sans innovative arrangement. The songs of Deloyd Elze honor both sides of the spectrum, delivering great songwriting supported by visionary production. From Horse, "High Praise" reads like Hiss Golden Messenger or Bon Iver with a deep programmed groove. "God's Cruel Joke" washes ashore on a wave of Ghost Is Born-worthy knob-twiddling, Allen muttering I'm gonna keep goin' through this intense passion and fervor til I finally plateau. 

Deloyd Elze isn't flirting with Metal Machine Music or Trans levels of experimentation on these EPs. The lovely "George Jones" features backing from Angela Autumn and fiddling by Seamus Guy, dropping familiar names in a scene of domestic bliss: If you be my Tammy Wynette / I'll be your George Jones ... Foreplay is planning out the next meal we're cooking. "Dog Will Hunt" comes close to contemporary country, boosted by Pearce Gronek's electric guitar. There is even a run through Fred Eaglesmith's classic "Trucker Speed". 

But Deloyd Elze is at their strongest while deconstructing the familiar. "Gatorade & Menthols" swims beautifully in breathy effects, Allen singing of Catching lizards in backyard glow / Just to wear them on my ear lobes. These sibling EPs share a common vibe, even as Horse seems a touch less mannered than Nellene. Even with the support of the Concord label, there is a sense that Deloyd Elze has only begun their journey through our kind of music, that even more genre-busting awaits just over the horizon. 

ROUTES-cast March 7, 2026

^ Deloyd Elze, "Queen Of Spades" Nellene EP  (Concord, 26) 

- Natalie Jane Hill, "Kitchen Table" Hopeful Woman  (Dear Life, 26)

- Manor Close, "You & I" single  (Manor Close, 26)  D

- Tracey Nelson, "Dolly's Coat" single  (Perennial, 26)  D

- Mildred, "Fenceline" Fenceline  (Dog Day, Apr 24)  D

- New Pornograhers, "Spooky Action" Former Site Of  (Merge, Mar 27)

- Jackie West, "Overlooking Glass" Silent Century  (Ruination, 26)  D

- Greg Mendez, "I Wanna Feel Pretty" Beauty Land  (Dead Oceans, May 29)  D

- Matt Berninger & Rosanne Cash, "Who Loves the Sun" single  (Concord, 26)  D

- Aldous Harding, "One Stop" Train On the Island  (4AD, May 8)  D

- Spencer Cullum, "Jackie Paints" Coin Collection 3  (Full Time Hobby, Mar 27)

- Anna Tivel, "Gunmetal Blue" Animal Poem B-Sides EP  (Fluff & Gravy, 26)

- Bonnie Prince Billy, "Life Is Scary Horses" We Are Together Again  (No Quarter, 26)

- Charlotte Cornfield, "Lost Leader (ft Christian Lee Hutson)" Hurts Like Hell  (Merge, Mar 27)

- Shakey Graves, "Time Flies" Fondness Etc  (Dualtone, May 15)  D

- Yarn, "Might As Well Be King" Saturday Night Sermon  (333, Apr 24)

- Haylie Davis, "Wandering Star" Wandering Star  (Fire, Jun 5)  D

- Caleb Caudle, "Ballad Of Country Ham" Heavy Thrill  (Handplow, Jun 5)  D

- Bella White, "False Start" A Sign In the Weather  (Rounder, Jun 5)  D

- Alex Amen, "Cabin By the Sea" single  (ATO, 26)  D

- Erin Rae, "Whip-Poor-Will" single  (Secretly Canadian, 26)  D

- Joshua Ray Walker, "Capital Letters" Ain't Dead Yet  (East Dallas, May 29)  D

- Brit Taylor, "Land Of the Forgotten" Land Of the Forgotten  (Cut A Shine, 26)

- Chaparelle, "Don't Waste Your Prayers" single  (Mom + Pop, 26)  D

- Eric Silverman, "Living the Dream" Bitter Honey  (Royal Oakie, May 29)  D

- Reds Pinks & Purples, "Worthy Of Love" Acknowledge Kindness  (Fire, Apr 24)

- Souled American, "Freeing Wheels" Sanctions  (Jealous Butcher, Apr 17)

- Delines, "Can You Get Me Out Of Phoenix" The Set Up  (Jealous Butcher, 26)

- Low Cut Connie, "Little Freakers" Livin' In the USA  (Contender, Jul 3)

- Barns Courtney, "Green Door" single  (Avenue A, 26)  D

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast March 1, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

March 1, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Whoops. Looks like February's gone. That was quick. But moving onto March, we're facing some potentially good new stuff from acts like Bonny Prince Billy, Morgan Nagler, Cat Clyde, Johnny Blue Skies, Charlotte Cornfield, Big Harp and good god so much more. March's onslaught began on Friday with no fewer than twenty-five (25) new releases (check A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster for a complete accounting). We're pleased with LPs from Bill Callahan and the return of Crooked Fingers. We're also looking at a new solo record from Buck Meek, and Iron & Wine's new project. Nevertheless ...

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

As we've noted, it's not our job here to psychoanalyze or label an artist. We're all about the music. But we've been concerned about Adeem the Artist lately, based on several social media posts. At one point they announced their retirement. Fortunately, Adeem now declares I miss it, seemingly looking for a more sustainable, supportive avenue for what they call my road chaplaincy. For now, Adeem the Artist has shared a wonderful, rough-grained collection via Bandcamp. Notes From Inside doesn't feature the relative polish of 2022's high-water mark White Trash Revelry or '24's terrific Anniversary, but these raw new songs land hard and cut deep. 

The expectation for this sort of under-the-radar project might be lower, but while these are relatively lo-fi recordings, all acoustic, and often brief in duration, there's nothing tossed away here. Songs like "Jason Isbell B-Side" are short, but are built on Adeem the Artist's inescapable lyrical gift: The hardest part of all this / I can't even slit my wrists / Without the risk that I will get my whole life poorly summarized / In shocking grit with grizzled wit by strangers who know half of it. Yes, the subject matter of Notes From the Inside can be heavy lifting, but we've come to expect that from the gender-fluid, confessionally-oriented songwriter. Especially on "Learning To Drive Again" or "Ruin Me", the artist edges near the sort of rapid-fire, rambling storytelling of John Darnielle or Craig Finn (Immerse me in your perspicuity, Adeem barks on the latter). 

Adeem the Artist's songs don't engage in self-indulgent navel-gazing, but tend to focus on moments of meeting with others. They reference the late Todd Snider on "St Todd (I Grow Lonely In New Ways)": When I was a child I was meek and mild / I was effeminate, prophetic, and articulate / I was possessed by the fire of an ancient desire. On the passionate "Canvas To the Frame", they observe of another, You're a mess of stars and poetry, rising from the clay. The fact that Adeem the Artist rattled these dozen tunes off on the fly, apparently in hopes of raising funds for ongoing mental health support, serves to attest to their brilliance. "Cowards Together" was released as a single last June, recorded with a fuller band. While these Nebraska-esque vignettes are not lacking, there's a sense that a more traditional approach to their recording would have resulted in a project at least as impactful as Adeem's last few collections. Adeem the Artist has recently scheduled a few one-off shows, and on "Impossible", they're almost reassuring: I will make it / But not how you planned. 

While we draw from Spotify at the moment for our weekly ROUTES-casts, we will try to direct your valuable attention to projects available elsewhere where possible. Essential names like Lucinda Williams have excluded the ubiquitous platform from their publicity plans, and Sturgill Simpson is apparently making his second Johnny Blue Skies album Mutiny After Midnight available only in physical format. This is not to mention an increasing number of lesser-known acts like Clearwater Swimmers who we can't include on our recurring playlists. 

ROUTES-cast March 1, 2026

- Bill Callahan, "And Dream Land" My Days Of 58  (Drag City, 26)

- Iron & Wine, "Singing Saw" Hen's Teeth  (Sub Pop, 26)

- Michael Cormier-O'Leary, "Pressed Flowers" Proof Enough EP  (Dear Life, 26)

- Sluice, "Zillow" Companion  (Mtn Laurel, Mar 27)

- Terry Allen & Blood Sucking Maniacs, "Blood Sucking Maniacs" Blood Sucking Maniacs  (Paradise Of Bachelors, Apr 24)  D

- Donovan Woods, "Losing Everything (ft Anais Mitchell)" Squander Your Gifts EP  (Meant Well, 26)

- Libby DeCamp, "Tigers Of Wrath" single  (Hylaphonic Sound, 26)  D

- Buck Meek, "God Knows Why" The Mirror  (4AD, 26)

- Pearla, "Imagine Your Face" Song Room  (Pearla, Apr 24)

- Crooked Fingers, "Empty Love and Cheap Thrills" Swet Deth  (Merge, 26)

- Rose Hotel, "Patterns" single  (Strolling Bones, 26)  D

- Julianna Riolino, "Would That It Were So Simple" Echo In the Dust (Deluxe)  (MoonWhistle, 26)

- Danny George Wilson, "Arcade" Arcade  (Loose, Mar 20)

- Ben Chapman, "Everything's Different" single  (Hippie Shack, 26)  D

- Bobby Dove, "Leaving Mantioba" Fortune Teller  (New Motor, Apr 24)  D

- Tender Things, "Eatin' At Home" single  (Spaceflight, 26)

- Nora Kelly Band, "Port City Blues" So Wrong For So Long  (Mint, May 22)  D

- Kevin Carducci, "House Of Cards" Easy Does It  (Fossil, Apr 24)  D

- Mikaela Davis, "Rose Colored Glasses (ft Madison Cunningham)" Graceland Way  (Kill Rock Stars, Apr 24)  D

- Pert Near Sandstone, "Quiet Hours" Side By Side  (PNS, 26)

- Tenille Townes, "the acrobat (ft Lori McKenna)" the acrobat  (Township Road, Apr 10)  D

- Aaron Lee Tasjan, "Science Friction" single  (Blue Elan, 26)  D

- Hurray For the Riff Raff, "Rhododendron (Live)" Live Forever  (Nonesuch, Mar 20)  D

- Builders & the Butchers, "Rise My Son" No Tomorrow  (Badman, Apr 3)

- Little Barrie, "More Band Miles Of Road" Gravity Freeze  (Easy Eye, May 22)  D

- King Tuff, "Invisible Ink" MOO  (MUP, Mar 27)

- Courtney Barnett, "Mantis" Creature Of Habit  (Mom + Pop, Mar 27)

- Magic Tuber Stringband, "Tribute To the Angels" Heavy Water  (Thrill Jockey, May 22)  D

- Family Worship Center, "Malibu By Midnight" single  (Groove Family, 26)  D

- Rodney Crowell, 'Go Light a Candle (ft Emmylou Harris, Lera Lynn)" single  (New West, 26)  D

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast February 22, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

February 22, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

For god knows what reason, this week's new release bin is all but empty. That said, we're confident that there's new music to be discovered every week of the year. You might want to try the live set from Jeffrey Martin, among our favorite singer-songwriters. We were also very pleasantly surprised by the release of unheard stuff from later-80s alt.roots act Beggar Weeds. See also: 

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

We spend so much of our time from week-to-week drawing your attention to new stuff, artists and albums that might change how we think about our kind of music. The presence of these outliers implies that there must be an americana baseline, artists who capably define the boundaries of roots music. Band Of Heathens are one of those bands. With the arrival of Country Sides, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist celebrate their group's twentieth anniversary. What the Austin act began with a couple live records has grown into as reliable an entity as you'll find in americana. 

Maybe just as importantly, Jurdi and Quist have accomplished this without the support of an established label, releasing their own records from year to year. During the pandemic, Band Of Heathens used Patron to launch a recurring series called the Good Time Supper Club, featuring new songs and covers and profiles that served to keep fans looking their way until they would once again be able to join them in concert halls. 

To extend the food analogy, Country Sides offers a hearty and familiar meal. Co-produced with Jim Vollentine, the new project relies on simplicity and directness rather than setting out for new musical horizons. Songs like "No Direction" and "Good As I Can Be" establish a mid-tempo shuffle, building on good vibes and positivity. With both Jurdi and Quist contributing, lyrics offer affirmations like Destiny is intention ... Create a world you wanna live all around you, from "Lead Don't Follow". As with earlier favorites like 2013's Sunday Morning Record or Duende from 2017, the new project incorporates bits of soulfulness with grooving keys and gospel harmonies as heard on "High On Our Own Supply". "Finish Something I Started" explores the vocalists' upper register, while "Take the Cake" echoes the upbeat funk of Wood Brothers: If you love yourself / And give a little ground / Give it all away / It'll come back around. Spice with cowbell and stir moderately. 

We've addressed likeability in recent reviews, a quality which Band Of Heathens delivers as well as anyone. Twenty years since their introduction, the band very capably represents the americana mainstream with taste and artistry on Country Sides. While their new set carves few new paths, they also show no signs of reheating their leftovers. These songs stand sturdily alongside earlier achievements, further cementing Band Of Heathens' status in our kind of music. 

ROUTES-cast February 22, 2026

^ Band Of Heathens, "Lead Don't Follow" Country Sides  (BoH, 26)

- Deslondes, "Lawdy Mama" Don't Let It Die Vol 1  (New West, May 22)  D

- Emily Nenni, "Livin' In Shame" Movin' Shoes  (New West, May 1)  D

- Ryan Bingham, "Ballad Of the Texas Gentlemen (ft Texas Gentlemen)" They Call Us the Lucky Ones  (Bingham, May 15)  D

- Taylor Hunnicut, "Did We Forget About Love (ft John Moreland)" single  (Soundly, 26)  D

- Benjamin Tod, "I Ain't Bound" Vengeance and Grace  (Tod, Apr 17)

- Cactus Lee, "By Sunday" Lee's Dream  (Western Vinyl, Apr 10)  D

- Montvales, "Carolina" Path Of Totality  (Free Dirt, Mar 20)

- Breakfield, "Ever-Loving Mind" Breakfield  (Rounder, Jun 12)  D

- Leah Blevins, "Lonely" All Dressed Up  (Easy Eye, Mar 20)

- Milk Carton Kids, "Blue Water" Lost Cause Lover Fool  (Far Cry, Apr 24)

- Jeffrey Martin, "Galveston (Live)" Alive July 25 2025  (Fluff & Gravy, 26)

- Michaela Anne, "Two Pianos (ft Caroline Spence)" single  (Georgia June, 26)  D

- Tim Easton, "615 Heartbreaker" Firehorse  (Campfire Propaganda, 26)  D

- Joe Pernice, "Deep Into the Dawn (ft Aimee Mann)" Sunny I Was Wrong  (New West, Apr 3)

- Nic Panken, "Dear Companion" Near Divine or Merely Rhyme  (Useful Objects, Apr 10)  D

- Hrishikesh Hirway, "Stray Dogs (ft Iron & Wine)" In the Last Hour Of Light  (Keeled Scales, Apr 24)  D

- Dean Johnson, "My Mistake" I Hope We Can Still Be Friend (Deluxe)  (Saddle Creek, 26)

- Spencer Cullum, "Look At the Moon (ft Erin Rae)" Coin Collection 3  (Full Time Hobby, Mar 27)

- Wendy Eisenberg, "Old Myth Dying" Wendy Eisenberg  (Joyful Noise, Apr 3)

- Jobi Riccio, "Pilar, NM" Face the Feeling  (Yep Roc, May 15)  D

- Delines, "Meter Keeps Ticking" Set Up  (Jealous Butcher, Mar 6)

- M Ross Perkins, "I Turned On My Mirror" single  (Karma Chief, 26)  D

- John Andrews & the Yawns, "Goodbye Dirty Snow" Streetsweeper  (Earth Libraries, Apr 3)

- Brown Horse, "Sorrow Reigns" Total Dive  (Loose, Apr 10)

- White Fence, "Your Eyes" Orange  (Drag City, Apr 24)  D

- Twisted Teens, "100 Bill Is Gone" Blame the Clown  (Jazz Life, 26)

- Ora Cogan, "Division" Hard Hearted Woman  (Sacred Bones, Mar 13)

- Alela Diane, "California" Who's Keeping Time  (Fluff & Gravy, May 22)  D

- Beggar Weeds, "Churchin'" Tragedy In US History  (Strolling Bones, 26)  D

--------------------------

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:

ROUTES-cast February 15, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

February 15, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Interesting week. A rude rush of new music, so much that we were faced with the challenge of winnowing an initial list of nearly sixty songs to our requisite thirty. While we noted twenty-five new full-lengths on our Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, only a couple of these stand apart for us as meriting special notice. We'd bring to your attention the indie rock of Remember Sports, the folk-pop of the under-recognized Boy Golden, and another strong collection from Jeremy Ivey. See also, some uncommonly fun garage grease from Twisted Teens. That said ...

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

There is nothing pure about our kind of music - call it americana if you like. By definition it is a hybrid, a blending of ingredients: Country-blues; indie-folk; southern-surf-punk, etc. The best of what we offer features a handful of these elements, tossed in a box and shaken hard. Sometimes what makes one artist rise above cliche is an intangible vibe, a groove that can't be commodified. The New York ensemble Nude Party embodies this as well as any other, a good-natured garage act with a name-that-influence approach across their four records, including the just-released Look Who's Back. 

Nude Party is a sprawling seven members, most of whom have held their post since the outfit's inception at a North Carolina college. Fronted by Patton Magee, most of the players also contribute to songwriting here and there, certainly contributing to Nude Party's chameleonic effect. The loose coastal vibe of "Not That Bad" morphs into the Byrds-y sway of "Sweetheart Of the Radio". With guest vocals from Lady Apple Tree and Pearl Charles, "Sweetheart" sways atop Magee's harmonica and John Delorme's throwback pedal steel. With its shout-along chorus, "Honey For the Barflies" moves the party to the Texas border: Life is but a dream / But here's the funny thing / It's also what you wake up to. 

Early pop sounds populate pieces like "Love Is Electric" and "Walk That Walk", with its glam drums and sticky guitar hook. "Carolyn" sharpens Nude Party's edge with a punky instrumental freakout. As a singer, Patton Magee never seems over his head, and his partners ably navigate the playlist from one style to the next. The pervasive spirit never strays far from the capable band at your college rager territory, as Nude Party won't become too cerebral or self-serious. Our kind of music benefits from records like Look Who's Back, familiar and well-executed jams with their origins and their hearts firmly planted in the garage. 

ROUTES-cast February 15, 2026

^ Nude Party, "Taking Hangers Off the Line" Look Who's Back  (Nude Party, 26)

- Cat Clyde, "Man's World" Mud Blood & Bone  (Concord, Mar 13)

- Shakey Graves, "When the Love Is New" single  (Dualtone, 26)  D

- Hiss Golden Messenger, "In the Middle Of It" I'm People  (Chrysalis, May 1)  D

- Luke Winslow-King, "Shoot From the Hip" Coast Of Light  (Bloodshot, Mar 27)

- Cut Worms, "Dream" Transmitter  (Jagjaguwar, Mar 13)

- Kiki Cavazos, "Hawthorne and Heartache" Goodbye Blues  (Jalopy, Apr 24)  D

- Anna Bates & Maggie Antone, "White Horses" single  (Westinghouse, 26)  D

- Bonnie Prince Billy, "Hey Little" We Are Together Again  (No Quarter, Mar 6)

- New Pornographers, "Pure Sticker Shock" Former Site Of  (Merge, Mar 27)

- Westside Cowboy, "Strange Taxidermy" So Much Country Till We Get There  (Universal, 26)  D

- Kevin Morby, "Javelin" Little Wide Open  (Dead Oceans, May 15)  D

- Josiah & the Bonnevilles, "Hell Without the Flames" As Is  (Rounder, May 8)  D

- Boy Golden, "Bad Habits" Best Of Our Possible Lives  (Six Shooter, 26)

- Jeremy Ivey, "Modern World" Its Shape Will Reveal Itself  (Soggy Anvil, 26)

- Aubrie Sellers, "Little Rooms" Attachment Theory  (Carnival, Mar 20)

- Drayton Farley, "I Need Your Love" Heavy Duty Heart  (Hargrove, Mar 27)

- Rachel Brooke, "I Chose Poorly" This One's For You  (MA:, Apr 24)  D

- Pokey LaFarge, "Arkansas" Travelin' With Pokey LaFarge: Voice and Guitar Vol 1  (ONErpm, 26)

- Morgan Nagler, "Heartbreak City" I've Got Nothing To Lose and I'm Losing It  (Little Operation, Mar 13)

- Waterspouts, "Where the Mule Died" single  (Approaching Perfection, 26)  D

- Flatland Cavalry, "On and On" Work Of Heart  (Lost Highway, Mar 27)  D

- Charley Crockett, "Kentucky Too Long" Age Of the Ram  (Island, 26)  D

- Red Clay Strays, "If I Didn't Know You" single  (RCA, 26)  D

- Clay Street Unit, "Left Unsaid" Sin & Squalor  (Leo33, 26)

- Gun Outfit, "Unfelt Loss" Process and Reality  (Upset the Rhythm, May 12)  D

- Remember Sports, "Across the Line" Refrigerator  (Get Better, 26)  D

- Wiley Gaby, "IDGAF No More" IDGAF No More EP  (Dial Back Sound)  D

- Twisted Teens, "Is It Real" Blame the Clown  (Jazz Life, 26)

- Touch Girl Apple Blossom, "Springtime Reminds Me Of ..."  Graceful  (perennial, May 15)  D

--------------------------

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: