ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 29, Year Of the Plague
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

O but what a challenging month this has been!  Canceled concerts and festivals, delayed releases, shuttered businesses, empty shelves.  Nevertheless, we are not in the business of socio-political commentary.  March has actually been quite a robust month for new records.  Here are our five (5) favorites, in order of appearance:

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT MARCH?!!  
Jonathan Wilson, Dixie Blur  (BMG, Mar 6)
Dave Simonett, Red Tail  (Dancing Eagle, Mar 13)
Gabe Lee, Honky Tonk Hell  (Torrez, Mar 13)
Lilly Hiatt, Walking Proof  (New West, Mar 27)
Tender Things, How You Make a Fool  (Ebaugh, Mar 27)


As always, we're especially grateful for surprises, when an act drops onto our radar and confounds our expectations.  See, f'rinstance, Tender Things and their relatively quiet release for How You Make a Fool.  The point person for the Austin-based outfit is Jesse Ebaugh, a one-time bass player for Erika Wennerstrom and Heartless Bastards.  Reminding us to never underestimate the bass player ...

Tender Things carve an ambitiously wide swath across the country in an effort to encompass their sound:  The music is propulsive, like the Swampers of Muscle Shoals, and easy associations are drawn to the Bakersfield and Los Angeles sounds of the 60s and 70s, but the band's music is born in the folk forms of Appalachia and mixed in the honkys and dancehalls of central Texas.  What might've emerged as a tangled web of influences actually lands with a cohesive direction, a genuinely appealing project.

Prior to his work with Heartless Bastards, Ebaugh served time with overlooked dirty blues band Pearlene, in addition to playing with the 'grassy Kenton County Regulators.  You'll hear none of those past musical identities in Tender Things, who instead chart their course into the heart of country music.  With its perfectly singalong chorus, "You'll Be Gone" is a fine example, layering Ebaugh's country croon atop Ricky Ray Jackson's pedal steel and Gary Newcomb's low strung electric guitar:  I lost a few / I paid for some / I buried Mother much to young / The hardest thing I ever done / Was hold your hand 'cause in the morning you'll be gone.  It's a song that hits like a hammer.

From the quirky stylized cover shot to Ebaugh's sometimes left-of-center lyrical choices, there's a definite cosmic bent to Tender Things' country.  While not as baked as I See Hawks in LA or as cheeky as Southern Culture on the Skids, even some of the more seemingly earnest songs on How You Make a Fool refuse the proverbial road less traveled.  "I Don't Know How To Love You" is languid 70s country-rock in the tradition of "Wichita Lineman".  A lovely heartbroken ballad, Ebaugh drops the line: I'll just hang around a little while / Fuckin' up a thing or two.  On one of the record's sure highlights, Patty Griffin joins the band on the irreverent "Secrets We Could Tell".  While the good time stomper suits her voice to a tee (we'd honestly love to hear her record a CD full of this stuff!), it's remarkable to hear her trading lines like You were making love back in the bedroom / And the door was standing open / I was in the bathroom in the cabinets / Checking bottles for prescriptions.

The keys of Texas Piano Man Robert Ellis are a welcome addition to a handful of cuts on Fool, including the title track and the bluesy Memphis rocker "New Mission Bell".  Both songs demonstrate Tender Things' musicianship and their capacity for laying down a magnetic groove in the tradition of The Band.  Bakersfield guitars are all over "Sister Elizabeth": Sister Elizabeth lights a candle in the motel by the highway.

How You Make a Fool is a deeply enjoyable collection, a well-played set that never strikes a self-serious pose or makes a parody of itself.  Jesse Ebaugh is a clever writer, and a soulful country singer a'la John Howie Jr or Jim Lauderdale.  While Tender Things offer a wide-ranging feast of sounds and styles, the band leaves unique impression all their own.

^ Tender Things, "Secrets We Could Tell" How You Make a Fool  (Ebaugh, 20)
- Caleb Caudle, "Dirty Curtain" Better Hurry Up  (Baldwin Cty Public Records, Apr 3)
- Hailey Whitters, "Ten Year Town" The Dream  (Pigasus, 20)
- Jason Isbell, "Only Children" Reunions  (Southeastern, May 15)
- Andrew Bryant, "Lucky Cigarette" Sympathetic Noises  (Magnolia State, May 1)  D
- White Buffalo, "Problem Solution" On the Widow's Walk  (Snakefarm, Apr 17)
- Lilly Hiatt, "Move" Walking Proof  (New West, 20)
- Jesse Daniel, "Tar Snakes" Rollin' On  (Die True, 20)
- Kevn Kinney, "Broken Hearts & Auto Parts" Broken Hearts & Auto Parts  (Evil Teen, 02)
- Craig Finn, "All These Perfect Crosses" All These Perfect Crosses  (Partisan, Jun 20)  D
- Clem Snide, "Denial" Forever Just Beyond  (Ramseur, 20)
- Waxahatchee, "Hell" Saint Cloud  (Merge, 20)
- Matthew Ryan, "Somebody Got Murdered" Sandanista Project  (2:59, 07)
- Larkin Poe, "Holy Ghost Fire" Self Made Man  (Tricki-Woo, May 1)  D
- Chuck Prophet, "Best Shirt On" Land That Time Forgot  (Yep Roc, May 15)
- Jamie Wyatt, "Just a Woman" Neon Cross  (New West, May 29)
- Peter Oren, "Whole World" Greener Pasture  (Western Vinyl, Apr 24)
- AJ Roach, "Clinch River Blues" Revelation  (AJR, 08)
- Lowest Pair, "Wild Animals" Perfect Plan  (Delicata, Apr 24)
- Reckless Kelly, "Thinkin' Bout You All Night" American Jackpot  (No Big Deal, May 22)
- Jessi Alexander, "Damn Country Music" Decatur County Red  (Lost Creek, 20)
- Pearlene, "Jinx Blues" Murder Blues & a Prayer  (Dim Mak, 03)
- Steve Earle, "John Henry Was a Steel Drivin' Man" Ghosts Of West Virginia  (New West, May 22)
- Whitney Rose, "In a Rut" We Still Go To Rodeos  (MCG, Apr 24)
- Hayes Carll & Allison Moorer, "That's the Way Love Goes" single  (Dualtone, 20)  D
- Joshua Ray Walker, "Voices" single  (State Fair, 20)  D
- Kim Richey, "Strength In You" Long Way Back: Songs Of Glimmer  (Yep Roc, 20)
- Lucinda Williams, "Big Black Train" Good Souls Better Angels  (Hwy 20, Apr 24)
- Brent Cobb, "World Is Ending" single  (Ol' Buddy, 20)  D
- Brent Best, "Robert Cole" Your Dog Champ  (Last Chance, 15)


Typically, here is where we talk about forthcoming records that we've added to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster since last Episode.  And we did add some stuff this week, including Butch Walker's American Love Story (Ruby Red, May 8), an ambitious rock opera featuring a cast of characters.  Andrew Bryant will be offering a followup to his stellar Ain't It Like the Cosmos on May 1, Sympathetic Noises (Magnolia State).  Sarah Jarosz is working with producer John Leventhal on Word On the Ground  (Rounder, June 5), her first solo record in about four years, and her first project since her Grammy winning work with Sara Watkins and Aoife O'Donovan.  There's word of a June 19 covers EP from Blackberry Smoke, Live From Capricorn Sound Studios, and you'll definitely want to check out a phenomenal live set just made available by Hiss Golden Messenger via Bandcamp.  Forward Children is a fundraiser for Durham, North Carolina schools.  But also in the news this week was info about artists and labels delaying previously announced releases.  Record Store Day has retreated to June 20, including Craig Finn's double odds 'n sods record, All These Perfect Crosses (Partisan).  Samantha Crain's forthcoming CD, A Small Death, may have been pushed back to July 17 (Ramseur).  And Margo Price's That's How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista) will probably now hit sanitized shelves sometime this Summer.  Good thing we got your weekly ROUTES-cast:

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