WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT OCTOBER?!!

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

October 30, 2021

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

To quote U2: October / And the trees are stripped bare / Of all they wear. Riotously yellow leaves still cling to my front yard trees, but I'm in no hurry to rake them away in advance of the coming snow. Been a challenging couple weeks for preparing reviews, though I promise to drop another in the next few days. Other commitments are also making it tough to preview as many promising albums as October has sent our way. Nevertheless, I persist, sorta. 

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT OCTOBER?!!

Sean Rowe, Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights  (Fluff & Gravy, Oct 8)

>TK & the Holy Know-Nothings, Incredible Heat Machine  (Mama Bird, Oct 15)

Lilly Hiatt, Lately  (New West, Oct 15)

Jason Isbell, Georgia Blue  (Southeastern, Oct 15)

Emily Scott Robinson, American Siren  (Oh Boy, Oct 29)

It's also been a tremendously generous couple weeks for A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. I'll only mention five (5) of them here, so it's well worth your while to visit that page where we keep a running tally of new release announcements. We'll begin with Brent Cobb's first gospel-centric record. And Now Let's Turn to Page ... will bless us on January 28 (Buddy). Looking forward as well to Anais Mitchell's first solo CD of new material since 2012's Young Man in America. Supported by Josh Kaufman, Aaron Dessner and others, the self-titled collection lands on shelves January 28 (BMG). The one-of-a-kind Delines have just announced Sea Drift. Willy Vlautin and Amy Boone's new project is slated for a February 11 debut via Jealous Butcher. Shovels & Rope have exceeded my expectations at nearly every turn. Their next volley, Manticore slouches toward us courtesy of Dualtone, expected to arrive on our porch by February 18. And words cannot express my anticipation for Hurray for the Riff Raff's long-awaited sequel to 2017's Navigator. Alynda Segarra will share Life on Earth February 18 (Nonesuch). 

Stay tuned for our usual Sunday ROUTES-cast, your guided tour through the brambles of what's new and what should matter to you in the world of roots music, widely defined. And, yeah. There's a review out there somewhere too ...