featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
May 7, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Let's lay out a blanket for a moment beneath the warming rays of A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our stunningly current account of what's on the horizon in our kind of music. Following a bit of a hiaitus, Deer Tick will return with their first project since 2019. Emotional Contracts will be delivered by ATO Records on June 16. Amanda Shires' next collection finds her pairing with the late pianist Bobbie Nelson, longtime member of her brother Willie's band. Loving You will see the light of day on June 23 (ATO). Close on the heels of last year's heralded Crooked Tree, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway follow with City of Gold on July 21 via Nonesuch. August 25 is the date for one of the year's most eagerly awaited releases. Turnpike Troubadours have announced their return with Cat in the Rain (Bossier City). Finally, Low Cut Connie's Private Lives was among my favorite records for 2020. Showman Adam Weiner and co. have set September 8 as the date for their next volley, Art Dealers (Contender).
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Canadian Bella White's 2020 debut, Just Like Leaving, introduced the singer-guitarist as an act solidly in the bluegrass arena, with a voice that greeted the ears like an Appalachian echo. Reissued by Rounder the following year, the record generated some waves in roots music circles. Produced by Jonathan Wilson, White's follow-up expands upon her sound. Whereas Leaving sounded like it could've been recorded live-to-mic in a warm, wooden room, Among Other Things (Rounder) presents her natural gifts in a complete studio setting.
Bella White came of age trailing after her father at bluegrass festivals, so the stuff is undoubtedly beneath her nails. The new sessions remain inspired by, or rooted in bluegrass, but songs like "Way I Oughta Go" speak more to country and folk influences than Leaving. Accompanied by Gabe Noel's steady bass and Patrick M'Gonigle's fiddle, a restless White lays awake distracted by thoughts of rootlessness and lack of direction. Producer Jonathan Wilson maintains the closeness of those early recordings, while fostering a fuller, more contemporary sound. "Numbers" recalls 1970s country-rock, especially in Spencer Cullum's pedal steel and Drew Erickson's piano. Lyrically, White is beset by self-doubt and perhaps a touch of imposter syndrome: I'm just a broken illusion / I'm not as tough as I oughta be.
At twenty-two years old, White's songs on Among Other Things are appropriately confessional, addressing sadness and heartbreak, young womanhood and belonging. The video for "Break My Heart" reveals her definite sense of humor, with a (trained) ladybug crawling across the singer's face and an inexplicably naked man on horseback. The tune itself speaks to betrayal: You said you had one foot out the door from the start / So it's almost like you meant to break my heart. The uptempo country track prominently features pedal steel, but the twang dwells in White's delivery - the yodel that unspools from the end of words: You watched me burn out so slow-oh-oh-oh.
Bella White isn't just another pretty voice. Her elastic torch and twang is an instrument in itself, bending and leaping like a fiddle in spots, while slowing almost to a spoken drawl in others. These unexpected choices can be heard on "Flowers On My Bedside", a song that is melancholy to the core. White luxuriates throughout the wonderfully loose arrangement: I'm afraid my glass is often empty / It don't take much for me to cry. There are touches of Lucinda Williams on "Dishes", a reverie with barely-there accompaniment that calls like an Appalachian siren. It's one of a handful of cuts that adds Erin Rae's distinct voice to White's.
White writes outside the pages of her diary on tunes like "Marilyn" and "Rhododendron", both of which explore aspects of womanhood. A mama robin outside her window is the catalyst for thoughts on a woman's obligation and sacrifice: Could I be a mother or a lover / To something greater than my own instinct to suffer. "Marilyn" eavesdrops on a husband's disrespect of his spouse. The piano-based cut almost adopts Father John Misty's cool jazz-adjacent arrangements.
I'd argue strongly that the artists who are most influential in our kind of music aren't always americana artists. The direction of roots music is being set by the music to which our artists listen - be it pop, or soul, or indie. Bella White's studio band brings experience with artists as diverse as Weyes Blood, Big Thief, and Father John Misty (not to mention Lonely Heartstring Band, Margo Price, and Billy Strings). Alongside fellow roots artists of her generation like Sierra Ferrell, Billy Strings or Molly Tuttle, White will play a role in the directions in which our music evolves and changes, even as she works from a rootedness in tradition. Among Other Things is an important statement in that unfolding.
- Logan Halstead, "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" Dark Black Coal (Halstead, 23)
- David Wax Museum, "That Night in Richmond" You Must Change Your Life (Nine Mile, 23)
- Jeremie Albino, "Across the Hall" Tears You Hide (Good People, Jun 9) D
- Watson Twins, "Never Be Another You" Holler (Kill Rock Stars, Jun 23)
- Shinyribs, "Dark Cloud" Transit Damage (Blue Elan, Jul 14)
- Nathaniel Rateliff & Night Sweats, "Buy My Round" What If I EP (Stax, Jun 2)
- Durand Jones, "I Want You" Wait Till I Get Over (Dead Oceans, 23)
- Deer Tick, "Real Thing" Emotional Contracts (ATO, Jun 16)
- Califone, "ox-eye" villagers (Jealous Butcher, May 19)
- Baseball Project, "Journeyman" Grand Salami Time! (Omnivore, Jun 30) D
- Bohannons, "Hey Milky Eyes" Night Construction (Cornelius Chapel, May 12)
- David Newbould, "Milwaukee" And We Made It To Another Sunset EP (Blackbird, 23) D
- Dean Johnson, "Old TV" Nothing For Me Please (Mama Bird, 23)
- Whitney Rose, "You're Gonna Get Lonely" Rosie (MCG, May 19)
- Gabe Lee, "Drink the River" Drink the River (Torrez, Jul 14)
- Eilen Jewell, "Could You Would You" Get Behind the Wheel (Signature Sounds, 23)
- Elijah Ocean, "Praises Be" Rodeo Songs EP (Ocean, May 12) D
- Summer Dean, "She's In His Arms But I'm In the Palm of His Hand" Biggest Life (Next Waltz, Jun 16)
- Nicholas Jamerson, "Holler Child" Peace Mountain (Bingo Shack, May 19)
- Turnpike Troubadours, "Mean Old Sun" Cat in the Rain (Bossier City, Aug 25) D
- Deano & Jo, "Come On Down" Deano & Jo (Plenty Tough, Jun 30) D
- Cruz Contreras, "Let Somebody Love You" Cosmico (Cosmico, Jun 23) D
- Caitlin Canty, "I Don't Think of You" Quiet Flame (Canty, Jun 23)
- Anna St Louis, "Better Days" In the Air (Woodsist, Jun 9)
^ Bella White, "Dishes" Among Other Things (Rounder, 23)
- Rodney Crowell, "No Place to Fall" Chicago Sessions (New West, 23)
- Angelica Rockne, "Crystalline" Rose Society (Fluff & Gravy, 23)
- Opal Eskar, "Open Mind! (ft Kurt Blau)" Opal Eskar EP (Spiral Valley, May 19)
- Bethany Cosentino, "It's Fine" Natural Disaster (Concord, Jul 28) D
- Christian Lopez, "Girl & a Gun" Magdalena (Firebird, Jun 7)
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