A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (September 3, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

September 3, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

^If it seems Futurebirds have been releasing singles from their Far Out Country I & II project since dinosaurs and Sleestak roamed the earth, you're not wrong. We'll get the entire package tomorrow (Friday). Until then, Twangville checks in with the band about the value of something called Bandago, gas station chicken tenders, and working behind the counter at a Nashville candy store. 

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I Must Be Dreaming is the name of Alabama Shakes' just-released CD, as well as our response when we were told the trio would be reconvening after a lengthy hibernation. Paste magazine fleshes out the story of their reunion, how one or two songs became maybe an EP, then grew into a real live album. Oh, and hey, here is a full concert video, recorded a few days ago in Minneapolis. 

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As you're well aware, R&B is all about saving the world. The Guardian has leapt aboard the bandwagon (not really much room left), and has published a good piece about alt.country's newfound appeal to the British youngsters. Among other drops of knowledge: Florry's next album will have a Broadway show tune and a Caribbean rock song ... Huh. 

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Next week. Next Friday, Angela Autumn will release her long-awaited (by us) Believer album. Good Noise (we were here first) shares a video of Autumn sittin' in somebody's backyard playing a handful of her new tunes. 

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Is our kind of music funny? No. Not really. Not at all. Nevertheless, Lambchop celebrates the release of their excellent Punching the Clown with an amusing short about a radio interview gone awry. Incidentally, the part of Kurt Wagner will be played by a struggling actor. 

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As we eagerly await Twisted Teens' third LP of the year (and their debut for Sub Pop), the Another Thought Substack takes a deep dive into their feelings about the duo. If that doesn't grab you, there's also several videos and a couple cartoons. 

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Raven Sings the Blues comes through with a playlist curated by Jeffrey Silverstein, in advance of October 23's Doggone. In the guitarist's own words, This collection of songs is for truckin' on or truckin' home, songs for long hauls, road trips, and eeking out that last bit of summer. Get ready to learn yourself some new artists. 

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A couple weeks ago, Lindsay Lou released Bluegrass Women, a record rich with collaborations. She also prepared a four-part mini-doc of the same name, providing a glimpse behind the scenes into the album's creation. This week we've got the second Episode, which features ... well, just about every woman in the genre. 

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Here. You deserve this. Marcus King has gifted us with a lovely acoustic run through Wilco's "Either Way" from Sky Blue Sky. And if you're looking for some sideburn inspiration, go no further. King also offers some first-hand perspective on mental health. 

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We call it A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, at least until somebody steals that name. It's our exhaustingly updated release calendar. This week, we've added news of forthcoming music from Manor Close, whose Nobody Knows You're Here should be here on or around October 9. Aaron Frazer continues working on behalf of the Dead Oceans label, and has announced an EP, Corners, due October 30. Jake Bugg presents Alamo on November 13 (Lovebugg). And finally, Little Grandad (mentioned in that Guardian piece above) plans a January 22 release date for Speak Softly Son (Communion). Listen, not every week can be a blockbuster ...

LOOKBACK MACHiNE: David Berman

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

September 2, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Some of the artists we hold dearest can be acquired tastes. We're careful recommending them, knowing that they could do damage in the wrong ears.  Here we're thinking of names like Bill Callahan (and Smog), Bonnie Prince Billy (and Palace Brothers), Joe Pernice (and Scud Mountain Boys). We began this week considering assembling an entire playlist of these lovely train wrecks. Then we got to listening to David Berman (Silver Jews, Purple Mountains). 

Berman could also be part of our Gone Too Soon playlist, one of those tragic figures whose foreshortened lives can't help but add to their legend. Berman's own story speaks to a lifelong struggle with depression and addiction, brought to an end with his 2019 death. 

We begin our Lookback with a song from Early Times, an almost unlistenably lo-fi LP that brought together two very early Silver Jews EPs. At that time, both Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich played along with Berman, albeit under pseudonyms in hopes of shaking the accusation that Silver Jews was just a Pavement side project. On their own, those early recordings can sound awfully raw and unfinished, amateurish at best. The value of a playlist like ours is to suggest Berman's remarkable growth and evolution as a songwriter, catching glimpses of this brilliance at its inception. 

Now under their proper names, Makmus and Nastanovich continued to contribute to Silver Jews records going forward. But the focus of projects like American Water and Bright Flight was rightly on David Berman's lyrical gift. Set to a shambling, countrified expression of indie rock, he was a poet who fronted a band, an accomplished writer whose output usually rhymed. 

Following 2008's Lookout Mountain, he dissolved Silver Jews and retreated from the spotlight. 2019's Purple Mountains featured Berman with the support of members of Woods and Dan Auerbach, for a terrifically promising result. Lamentably, David Berman ended his life just weeks after its release.

We never apologize for the music we love. In fact, one of the purposes of R&B is to bring attention to artists like David Berman, ideally telling readers why you should care. Even as the project of a troubled soul, Silver Jews and Purple Mountains have added light and color to our lives. We're gonna live in Nashville / And I'll make a career / Out of writing sad songs / And getting paid by the tear ...

DAViD BERMAN: thirty favorites

- "Secret Knowledge Of Back Roads" Early Times  (2012)

- "Trains Across the Sea" Starlite Walker  (1994)

- "New Orleans" 

- "Rebel Jew" 

- "How To Rent a Room" Natural Bridge  (1996)

- "Black and Brown Blues" 

- "Dallas" 

- "Pretty Eyes" 

- "Random Rules" American Water  (1998)

- "Smith & Jones Forever"

- "Honk If You're Lonely"

- "Wild Kindness" 

- "Tennessee"  Tennessee EP  (2001)

- "I'm Gonna Love the Hell Out Of You" 

- "Slow Education"  Bright Flight  (2001)

- "Room Games and Diamond Rain"

- "Horseleg Swastikas" 

- "Friday Night Fever"

- "Punks In the Beerlight" Tanglewood Numbers  (2005)

- "Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed" 

- "I'm Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You"

- "How Can I Love You If You Won't Lie Down"

- "Suffering Jukebox" Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea  (2008)

- "San Francisco BC"

- "Candy Jail" 

- "We Could Be Looking For the Same Thing"

- "That's Just the Way That I Feel"  Purple Mountains  (2019)

- "All My Happiness Is Gone"

- "Darkness and Cold"

- "Snow Is Falling In Manhattan" 

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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 (September 1, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

September 1, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

There was a time in the 80s when just about every week brought a new batch of music that sounded like variations on REM. 10,000 Maniacs, Lloyd Cole, Let's Active, Pylon, etc etc. And that's just the handful of acts that momentarily rose above the pack. Eventually, the whole jangle thing died down, leaving just a few surviving acts (and a couple Prefab Sprout devotees wondering whatever happened to Paddy McAloon). 

Point is, today's torrent of slacker country feels sort of similar, with a weekly slate of bands produced by Alex Farrar and six degrees from MJ Lenderman. This too shall pass a'la jangle pop, and in the meantime our challenge is to identify the artists with the staying power to outshine the flash in the pan. This isn't to say that there's little or no value in the trend. It's often how musical evolution happens, and change is essential to the abiding relevance of our kind of music. 

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

Among our favorite purveyors of slacker country is Dogwood Tales. From rural Virginia, the quartet's January collaboration with Euphoria Again has held a spot on our running year-end favorites list. Though their new Every Star In Rockingham County is their fourth full-length project, it's their most widely publicized. Most earlier Dogwood Tales records featured elements of the indie country that populates their new collection, but Every Star unpacks their sound a bit, leaning more deliberately in that roots direction. 

Fronted by singer-guitarists Kyle Grim and Ben Ryan, and featuring drummer Jake Golibart and Danny Gibney on bass, these songs are ingrained in the anxiety and longing that typifies small town days. "McMemories" notes, Stadium lights / Always felt like / The only way this little town could see / A good thing. The music of Dogwood Tales has always included more dense guitars, though they are increasingly sludgy here, frequently paired with more melodic pedal steel. The project's most decidedly country moment, "Angel Dreams" is rooted in Jason Summer's playing, lyrics addressing that pervasive uncertainty: We drove to Southern Kitchen / You wouldn't even play my favorite song. 

Produced by Erik Romero, Every Star balances midtempo cuts with slower, hungover numbers. Lyrics are occasionally opaque, but convey real overall emotion, peppered with passages that are eloquent in their yearning. One of the LP's only acoustic arrangements, "Try 2" begins, I'm thinking about getting stuck in Ohio / I don't miss you, I just try to. And later, I still feel the weight of the world / On your back through my fingertips. Where some indie country outfits emphasize volume over finesse, Dogwood Tales achieves an admirable balance. "Ralph Samson" projects that melodicism through a wall of electric guitar: When I drive to your place / I always take the long way / There. 

Every Star In Rockingham County can be both romantic and defeatist, not infrequently in the same track. The title song begins, Purple mountains, empty highways / Moon in crescent, brake lights guiding / You're so high but you feel like driving. The chorus continues, I have wished on / Every star in this county / But it's so hard to focus / When everything feels / Broken. Slacker country, indie country, alt.country. Whatever you call it, the trend is building new branches for our kind of music. Artists like Dogwood Tales are expanding the boundaries, increasing the volume, flying in the face of tradition and familiarity for all the right reasons. 

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ROUTES-cast August 30, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 30, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

As we're sorting through our options for Tuesday's One Record review, we're grateful for the great assortment of LPs. What's been declared to be Fruition's final project stands as a worthy testament to their accomplishments. Alabama Shakes present some of the year's most satisfying indie soul, and Mama's Broke represents a wealth of 'grass and old timey stuff released this week. It's also heartening that both Son Volt and Jayhawks continue to produce really good stuff so deep into their respective runs. See also: Riley Downing and Dogwood Tales. We're strongly considering renaming our weekly review Are You Sure You Only Want To Listen To One Record This Week?!!  

ROUTES-cast August 30, 2026

^ Fruition, "Compass" Something More  (Bloodshot, 26)

- Mama's Broke, "Failing" Reunion  (Free Dirt, 26)

- Mountain Grass Unit, "Homebound Troubadour" Appalachian Smoke  (Dualtone, 26)

- Two Runner, "Punk Rock Bar" Porchlight  (Gar Hole, 26)

- Riley Downing, "Night Shift" Landfill Poetry  (Oh Boy, 26)

- True Mountain Laurel, "East Of Anything" Angel So Bad  (Birthday Cake, 26)

- Ian Noe, "Leeann" Canyon Falls Trailer Band  (Lock13, Sep 24)

- Willi Carlisle, "Marlboro Vinyasa" Universal Bubba  (Signature Sounds, Nov 8)

- Angela Autumn, "I Don't Think About You At All" Believer  (Gar Hole, Sep 11)

- Jeffrey Silverstein, "Patchouli" Doggone  (Full Time Hobby, Oct 23)

- Jude Brothers, "Handsome Little Fountains & Little Ancient Mountains" Dogwood Maiden Voyage  (Gar Hole, Sep 25)

- Sera Cahoone, "I'm No Fool" I've Missed You All These Years  (Sub Pop, 26)

- Kyle Kimbrell, "Paperbacks" Lonesome In the Sky  (Cornelius Chapel, Oct 16)  

- Rayland Baxter, "Better Man" True Violet  (ATO, Oct 23)

- Jayhawks, "Leap Of Faith" Sanctuary Park  (SHAM, 26)

- Son Volt, "Don Quixote's Dream" Sound Signal Serenades  (Transmit Sound, 26)

- Dogwood Tales, "I Could Never Be Without You" Every Star In Rockingham County  (Born Losers, 26)

- Greg Freeman, "Cahokia" All Set the Bone  (Transgressive, Oct 2)

- Manor Close, "Naked" Nobody Know's You're Here  (Manor Close, Oct 9)  D

- Lamplight, "Clover" Lick the Spoon Let It Soften  (Western Vinyl, Oct 23)  D

- Julia Jacklin, "Hardest Thing" The Gem  (4AD, Sep 25)

- Dead Gowns, "Vegas Dream" Vegas  (Mtn Laurel, Oct 23)  D

- Michael Nau, "Popfly" Popfly  (Suicide Squeeze, Oct 23)  D

- Le Ren, "Going Through the Motions" Don't Be Funny Without Me  (Royal Mountain, 26)

- Iron & Wine, "California Sober" Hen's Teeth (Deluxe Edition)  (Sub Pop, Sep 22)  D

- Sunken Man, "Virginia Fog" Sunken Man  (Single Lock, Sep 25)

- Alabama Shakes, "Waist Deep" I Must Be Dreaming  (Island, 26)

- Angus & Julia Stone, "Cherry Farm" Karaoke Bar  (Stone, Sep 4)

- Luke Winslow-King, "In the Evening" single  (Bloodshot, 26)  D

- Will Hasell, "Roadkill Heart" Roadkill Heart  (Suddenly, 26)

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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?!! (August 28, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 28, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Just about every Friday we convene here to suggest our five (5) favorite singles for the week. Consider it an advance peek or a promissory note for our Sunday Spotify ROUTES-cast. We also include video content where available, even as we admit that folks who trade in our kind of music aren't always great at the visual arts. 

As the most generous day for new music, Friday is our favorite day of the week. We spend much of it exuberantly scouring our sources for what's new. It's in this breathless spirit of music discovery that we offer this, what we call

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

^Greg Freeman, "Cahokia" All Set the Bone  (Transgressive, Oct 2)

Hearing this second single from Freeman's October full-length assures us that it will take some pretty weak stuff to bump All Set the Bone from among our year-end favorites. After embracing anonymity, the video for "Cahokia" places Freeman front and center, both on stage and walking through New York City wearing bright red socks. 

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Ian Noe, "LeeAnn" Canyon Falls Trailer Band  (Lock13, Sep 24)

A terrific new single from Noe's eagerly-awaited third LP. The 70s country throwback features a Live Rust callout, along with some just-right piano and pedal steel. The young man has come a long way since winning Kentucky's Appalachian Star Search in 2007. 

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Angela Autumn, "I Didn't Think About You At All" Believer  (Gar Hole, Sep 11)

We've been anticipating Angela Autumn's first widely-released collection for several months. This homemade video features the songwriter posing upon moss while wearing a bright red cowboy hat that she might or might not have bedazzled. It's a decidedly quirk-forward presentation. 

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Willi Carlisle, "Marlboro Vinyasa" Universal Bubba  (Signature Sounds, Nov 6)

Carlisle's forthcoming double album is produced by Tyler Childers, and features members of his band. The preliminary results seem to expand upon Carlisle's sound, exchanging folk for country. Per the songwriter, the inspiration for his new single came while visiting a bar associated with Davenport's Raccoon Motel, where yoga classes were offered on the sticky floor. 

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Michael Nau, "Popfly" Popfly  (Suicide Squeeze, Oct 23)

The former purveyor of Cotton Jones has released a stream of impressively eclectic music this year, stuff that he'd written and recorded but is just getting around to sharing. Popfly seems more an official project, rumored to feature supporting vocals from Nau's elusive partner Whitney McGraw. Per the record's advance: Radiant folk melodies, tape-warped textures, and flashes of everyday wonder coexist in perfect balance. 

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A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (August 27, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

August 27, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Tomorrow (Friday, August 28) may be the busiest release date of the year. Visit A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster for a full account of what'll be landing on our digital shelves. As for the coming weeks, we've recently added new stuff from the prolific Benjamin Tod. His September 4 project, provocatively titled Country Is Dead, will feature a collection of covers. The long lost Sam Baker returns on September 18 with Survivor, produced with Rodney Crowell. Make a calendar note on October 9 for a posthumous Todd Snider collection. Aimless Records presents My Second Rodeo, featuring unheard recordings from the treasured songwriter. Following a pair of singles, Rayland Baxter has set October 23 as the date for his next LP. ATO will present True Violet, the songwriter's first full album since 2022. That same day will serve as the release for the next Dead Gowns record. Expect Vegas courtesy of the Mtn Laurel label. 

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^ If you're looking for a reason for a good day, perhaps it will help to know that Big Thief has a new album on the horizon. A triple album?!! We'll direct you to Pitchfork, who made the announcement, then added additional details about the Ryman concert where Adrianne Lenker and co. played Horsepower in its entirety, joined at times by Gillian Welch, Iris Dement, Lucinda Williams and others. A triple album ...

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For the price of your email address, you can check out Vulture's new interview with Charley Crockett regarding the whole tiresome beef with Jack White. What with all the interviews and answering to accusations, it's been weeks since Crockett's last LP. 

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Of course, Willi Carlisle will be touring behind the release of November 6's Universal Bubba double LP. A man with his heart in a good place, Carlisle will also be making room at his shows for mutual aid groups, nonprofits, and unions from stop to stop. See more about this call for Bubbas In the Community at Broadway World. 

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Forget about Geese (just for a sec). Westside Cowboy is this week's big new thing! Declaring the band's It Goes On as among the year's best albums, Consequence Of Sound invites the British quartet for a CoSigns Interview. Westside Cowboy has branded their very slightly twangy indie rock Britainicana ...

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Long as we're lounging about at Consequence, let's catch up on Geese (see, we told you just a sec). The site updates us on frontguy Cameron Winter's upcoming At Carnegie Hall release. As it turns out, renowned documentarian Paul Thomas Anderson was lurking in the wings, and will unleash a film of the same name to coincide with the LP. 

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In our Dollars For a Good Cause department, big praise to the Dear Life label and Little Mazarn, who have assembled Sing Across the Borderline, a 42-song collection to benefit the Big Bend Conservation Alliance. Visit Bandcamp to download the sprawling thing, to find out more about the Alliance, and to sign a petition. 

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Way back in May, Nora Kelly and her band released So Wrong For So Long. Americana UK offers a profile and an interview with the Canadian bandleader. 

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So much gossip these days in our kind of music. It apparently pays to stop by People Magazine online. They have the exclusive pics of the week's Royal Bluegrass Wedding between Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. We're thinking Happily Ever After, without a doubt (see, f'rinstance, Amanda Shires feat. Jason Isbell, or Steve Earle and _______________). 

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There's a pretty good chance that your local public library card permits you access to the New York Times (among so many other things). Or perhaps you already have a subscription to NYT online? Either way, you'll want to take a look at their new profile of Alabama Shakes, whose reunion record, I Must Be Dreaming, comes out Friday (tomorrow (Aug 28)). 

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Now if you'll excuse us, we have 82 new releases to preview ...

LOOKBACK MACHiNE: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 26, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

We're continuing to dabble in the pantheon this week, assessing the songs of some of the more prominent and mainstream artists in our kind of music. For this Episode, we're celebrating the essential collaborative genius of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. 

Upon its 1996 release, Revival hit like a hammer, Welch's ages-old voice and timeless songs creating such an immediate impression, like a record we'd known for years. Along with Hell Among the Yearlings and 2001's Time (the Revelator), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were responsible for arguably one of the most impactful three-record runs in the history of our kind of music. The sheer quantity and quality of the duo's music during this time only became more evident with the 2020 unearthing of the Boots volumes, featuring a treasury of unreleased numbers. While these were termed outtakes and demos, much of the music in that box was as good as anything from the proper LPs. 

Nothing was included in our list from 2020's All the Good Times, a collection focusing on covers and trad cuts. We also chose not to include anything from Rawlings' own solo work, even as his contributions under the Gillian Welch name are essential. 

GiLLiAN WELCH & DAViD RAWLiNGS: thirty favorites

- "Orphan Girl" Revival  (1996)

- "Paper Wings" 

- "Tear My Stillhouse Down"

- "Acony Bell"

- "Caleb Meyer" Hell Among the Yearlings  (1998)

- "My Morphine"

- "I'm Not Afraid To Die"

- "Revelator" Time (The Revelator)  (2001)

- "My First Lover"

- "Dear Someone"

- "Elvis Presley Blues"

- "Everything Is Free"

- "Look At Miss Ohio" Soul Journey  (2003)

- "Wayside/Back In Time"

- "Wrecking Ball"

- "Way It Goes" Harrow & the Harvest  (2011)

- "Hard Times"

- "455 Rocket" Boots No 1: Official Revival Bootleg  (2016)

- "Wichita" 

- "DryTown"

- "Strange Isabella" Boots No 2: Lost Songs Vol 1  (2020)

- "Valley Of Tears"

- "Rambling Blade" Boots No 2: Lost Songs Vol 2  (2020)

- "Hundred Miles" 

- "I Just Want You To Know"

- "Sin City" Boots No 2: Lost Songs Vol 3  (2020)

- "City Girl" 

- "Peace In the Valley" 

- "Empty Trainload Of Sky" Woodland  (2024)

- "Hashtag" 

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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: