featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
August 2, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
WtF, July?!! Neck-deep into this plague year, expectations are light. You had no business gifting us with such a wealth of new material, such a firehose rush of music we haven't had a chance to digest it all. Nevertheless, we'll still take a good faith stab at showcasing our five favorite collections for the past month (in order of appearance):
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT JULY?!!- Margo Price, That's How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista, Jul 3)
- Joshua Ray Walker, Glad You Made It (State Fair, Jul 10)
- Jayhawks, XOXO (Sham, Jul 10)
- SG Goodman, Old Time Feeling (Verve, Jul 17)
- Courtney Marie Andrews, Old Flowers (Fat Possum, Jul 24)
August will be bringing an even longer list of new records, though it seems to be less packed with the higher-profile stuff on July's docket. For the record, we're especially eager to take a deep dive into projects from Kathleen Edwards, Jerry Joseph, HC McEntire and Justin Wells.
And Arlo McKinley. Back in 2014, the Cincinnati area songwriter released a sparsely but critically acclaimed full-length record with an outfit christened Arlo McKinley & the Lonesome Sound. The collection had come together after three years of touring, and presented McKinley as a mature writer with a way for sad country songs. While the album was lauded on a handful of end-of-year favorites lists, years of touring and a couple false starts assured that McKinley's follow-up was perennially on the horizon.
Credit for breaking that Sophomore-album stalemate is due at least in part to St John Prine, who signed McKinley to his Oh Boy label just prior to his ascension. Prine and his new labelmate seem to have little in common as songwriters, aside from an obvious dedication to the craft. As is not uncommon with an artist's second offering, some of the songs on Die Midwestern (due August 16) were reportedly written alongside tunes from that debut collection. As a matter of fact, there is a remarkable consistency between McKinley's two records.
To produce Die Midwestern, Arlo McKinley recruited Matt Ross-Spang from Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis, a familiar name who has previously worked with Margo Price, Charley Crockett, Lucero and others. Also on board for the sessions are Wilco drummer Ken Coomer, guitarist Will Sexton, Lucero pianist Rick Steff, fiddle player Jessie Munson and bassist David Smith. The outfit generate a full and satisfying sound behind McKinley, especially Steff's always notable keys and Munson's tasteful fiddle.
With a headline like Die Midwestern, one might expect an LP crowded with anthems of heartland identity and Middle-American pride. But McKinley writes as much about turning his back as he writes about roots and belonging. From the title cut: I've been thinking that I should go / Cause if I don't leave now then I'm never gonna leave Ohio lord. The loosely swaying track isn't cynical as much as it is restless, as the singer recognizes that the opportunity might not come around again. He walks the familiar Cincinnati riverfront without much to keep him from moving on: The streets are crowded and the lights are so bright / Another Cincinnati Saturday night / And I hate what that has become.
While his voice has a bit of added gravel to it compared to his Lonesome Sound project, there remains a melodicism and a youthfulness to McKinley's delivery that rings like Jason Isbell with a touch more gospel in his roots. You'll catch the resemblance on "We Were Alright", a slow builder that traces the arc of a relationship: We hit the road / I said tell me where you want to be / And that's where we're gonna go. Behind Steff's barroom piano, "She Always Been Around" showcases the artist's ability to deliver on an old school hard country weeper.
Over the years I've crossed paths with an unexpected number of folks who were strong advocates for Arlo McKinley's record with Lonesome Sound, pointing to cuts like "Time In Bars" and "Pass Us By" by way of supporting their argument. Die Midwestern continues to deliver on that early promise, with "Bag of Pills" or "Suicidal Saturday Night" assuring that he won't shake his reputation as a sensitive troubadour of the downtrodden. The former sets out with a memorable lyric: You want it / I can feel it / Got a bag of pills I've been dealing / So I can take you drinking. Heavier guitars compliment the mounting drama in McKinley's delivery.
Die Midwestern officially stands as the solo debut of Arlo McKinley. More than six years after his Lonesome Sound collection, the artist is, of course, older with more experience under his belt, more miles on the road behind him, stories beneath his hat. For most, this Oh Boy offering will serve as a fine introduction to a worthy writer. And Die Midwestern does reset expectations, perhaps even laying the groundwork, if we're lucky and McKinley's cards fall right, for an album release schedule that will allow him to stretch and explore, to continue to grow as a performer.
The expansive "Walking Shoes" is the CD's appropriate closer. I'm putting on my walking shoes, he sings. Goodbye, wish you the best. His current band behind him, channeling some of the ghosts haunting the Memphis studios. it speaks to closures and new starts: Grudges that I fell upon / I've been holding for too long / Tomorrow they will all be gone / Once the morning comes.
- Twain, "Love, Go Lightly" Days of Effort and Ease (Twain, 20) D
- Gillian Welch, "Here Come the News" Boots No 2: Lost Songs Vol 1 (Acony, 20)
- Ray Wylie Hubbard, "Mississippi John Hurt (feat. Pam Tillis)" Co-Starring (Big Machine, 20)
- Heartless Bastards, "Revolution" single (Sweet Unknown, 20) D
- Texas Gentlemen, "Skyway Streetcar" Floor It!!! (New West, 20)
- Jayhawks, "Across My Field" XOXO (Sham, 20)
- Bonnie Whitmore, "Right/Wrong" Last Will and Testament (Whitmore, Oct 2) D
- Courtney Marie Andrews, "Guilty" Old Flowers (Fat Possum, 20)
- Rocky Votolato, "Before You Were Born" Brag and Cuss (Barsuk, 07)
- Gasoline Lollipops, "Get Up!" All the Misery Money Can Buy (GasPops, Sep 11)
- Matt Woods, "Tomorrow's All We Have" Mornings After EP (Lonely Ones, Sep 4) D
- Elvis Perkins, "Half Life" Creation Myths (MIR Image, Oct 2) D
- Parker McCollum, "Lonesome Ten Miles" Best of Parker McCollum (McCollum, 20)
- Jerry David DeCicca, "I See Horizons" Unlikely Optimist and His Domestic Adventures (This is a Self Release, Oct 16) D
- Half Gringa, "Afraid of Horses" Force to Reckon (Gringa, Aug 28)
- Tyler Childers, "Hwy 40 Blues (feat. Ricky Skaggs & Larry Cordle)" Spotify Singles (Spotify, 20) D
- Kathleen Edwards, "Fools Ride" Total Freedom (Dualtone, Aug 14)
- Bo-Keys, "Set Me Free" Heartaches By the Number (Omnivore, 16)
- Cut Worms, "Sold My Soul" Nobody Lives Here Anymore (Jagjaguwar, Oct 9) D
- Shannon LaBrie, "Alcohol (electric)" Building (Moraine, Sep 25)
- Dawn Landes, "Mount Everest" ROW (CropDuster, Oct 2) D
- Limbeck, "In Ohio On Some Steps" Hi Everything's Great (Doghouse America, 03)
- Kenny Roby, "Vampire Song (Whatcha Gonna Do)" The Reservoir (Royal Potato Family, Aug 7)
- Laura Veirs, "Burn Too Bright" My Echo (Raven Marching Band, Oct 23) D
- Angel Olsen, "Whole New Mess" Whole New Mess (Jagjaguwar, Aug 28) D
- Jeremy Pinnell, "Way Country Sounds" OH/KY (Sofaburn, 14)
- Molly Tuttle, "Olympia, WA" ... but i'd rather be with you (Compass, Aug 28)
- Elizabeth Cook, "Two Chords and a Lie" Aftermath (Agent Love, Sep 11)
- Charley Crockett, "Wreck Me" Welcome To Hard Times (Son of Davy, 20)
- Lori McKenna, "Two Birds" Balladeer (CN, 20)
New this week to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster: Will Johnson has dropped an announcement that his next project will be released on Aug 14 (Aug 7 via Bandcamp). El Capitan comes courtesy of Keeled Scales. Shannon LaBrie has announced a follow-up to 2016's War & Peace. Building is expected September 25 via Moraine Records. We had the privilege of hosting an instudio session with Bonnie Whitmore back in our radio daze. On October 2, expect the singer's Last Will & Testament. Word has it that Lera Lynn's On My Own (Oct 23) is completely produced, written and played by the artist. And more good news: Angel Olsen will be creating a Whole New Mess on August 28, via Jagjaguwar. Here is a ROUTES-cast:
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