featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
August 27, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
As of this week, A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster now reaches into the early months of next year. It's been since 2014 that Jolie Holland has shared a full-length album. Time will tell if it's a good idea to name her forthcoming record Haunted Mountain, the same title as collaborator Buck Meek's new record (Cinquefoil, Oct 6). Speaking of long-time-no-see, former Paper Bird Esme Patterson returns with her fourth original solo endeavor. Relocated from Colorado to Virginia, Notes From Nowhere will drop on October 10. On the heels of a long string of singles and EPs, we've been eagerly awaiting Abby Hamilton's first full-length for many months. She's announced #1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo), set for an October 13 release (Blue Gown). Yet another long-awaited record comes from Jeffrey Martin. Fluff & Gravy has set a November 3 street date for Thank God We Left the Garden. Finally, we've added the very first 2024 release date to the calendar. Blackberry Smoke has announced a February 16 debut for Be Right Here (3 Legged).
We've reached that time of the year when unnecessarily hot days change from being the rule to the being the exception. We're also approaching a few of the busiest release dates of 2023. Can year-end favorites lists be far behind? We'll take special notice here of Will Hoge's "Can I Be Country Too", a collaborative single that flies in the face of popular songs that seem to restrict the country music banner to a narrow, homogeneous swath of the population. No one single artist, song, or genre represents the entirety of our kind of music. We embrace that fact proudly, and encourage you to champion musical diversity as well.
Speaking of which, let's celebrate ten of our favorite tracks from the last full month of Summer. The following represent what we regard as the best of our August playlists. We call it:
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT AUGUST?!!
1. Roselit Bone, "Ofrenda" Ofrenda (Get Loud, Aug 25) The closing cut from one of the year's most dynamic and original collections is also the record's most earnest track. Charlotte McCaslin's soaring reflection on grieving and loss delivers with ranchero horns, chimes, strings, and a sweet sigh of an outro: At last, I'll have something I can call the world ...
2. ^Jaime Wyatt, "World Worth Keeping" Feel Good (New West, Nov 3) The first single from Jaime Wyatt's forthcoming LP gives voice to Mother Earth: Do you feel me? Do you see me? Here I am! The cut channels 60s country-soul, with ripping fuzz guitar and Wyatt leaning further from her country roots than we've heard to date.
3. Jobi Riccio, "Lonely Tonight" Whiplash (Yep Roc, Sep 8) With a full three songs landing on our monthly recap lists, we're eager to share our forthcoming review of the singer-songwriter's excellent CD. Built on banjo and acoustic guitar, "Lonely" highlights the versatility of Riccio's vocal. The song also boasts synth strings and a sound that both borrows from and exceeds country-folk tradition.
4. Suzanne Santo, "Punk Kid" single (Soozanto, Aug 18) We expect/pray for an announcement soon about Santo's next project. Until such time, the leading singles from the former HoneyHoney member are fire. "Punk Kid" is a beautifully profane mess of a song, pounding drums and spiky guitars beneath the singer's fierce delivery: Oh honey you're a fuck up.
5. Lydia Loveless, "Runaway" Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again (Bloodshot, Sep 22) Loveless' second single from their first release since their return to the reborn Bloodshot label is a heartsick recognition of a doomed relationship. Talk of missing flights and stepping into the path of an oncoming Kia might be alarming for those who haven't followed Loveless through the years. With some 90s synth and Knopfler-adjacent guitar, "Runaway" presents Loveless as an indie force of nature - maybe the fourth member of boygenius?
6. Jolie Holland, "Haunted Mountain" Haunted Mountain (Cinquefoil, Oct 6) Holland returns with her first collection since 2014's Wine Dark Sea, featuring a handful of cowrites with Buck Meek (who has also just released a record of the same name). One of the most original voices when she was with Be Good Tanyas, Holland's singing has taken on a dusky fog, a great foil for Meek's restless, wandering guitar.
7. Will Johnson, "Sinker, Sinking" No Ordinary Crown (Keeled Scales, Sep 15) Johnson recently announced that he's joined Jason Isbell's touring band as a multi-instrumental accompanist. One would hope this might shed light on his rich and varied career as bandleader and solo artist. This first single from Johnson's pending solo effort is a guitar-fueled rocker, heavier than most past releases. With its shadowed imagery, it's almost as close as we'll get to a new project from his former collaborator, the late Jason Molina.
8. Sun June, "Get Enough" Bad Dream Jaguar (Run For Cover, Oct 20) I wish the Beatles would get back together sings Laura Colwell on the indie folk act's new single. Dreamy, almost languid, the song builds on the promise of 2021's Somewhere, a perfect vehicle for an early fall reverie.
9. Margo Cilker, "With the Middle" Valley of Heart's Delight (Fluff & Gravy, Sep 15) The Oregon singer-songwriter's Pohorylle debut earned her year-end awards and accolades. Valley is fueled by an increased artistic confidence, and a more definite musical vision. "With the Middle" finds Cilker backed by Sera Cahoone, Caleb Klauder, Paul Brainard and more, for a simple but beautiful country-folk bed, and Cilker's delivery is lovely as she muses on the expanse of day between the coffee and the wine.
10. Logan Ledger, "All the Wine in California" Golden State (Rounder, Sep 8) With its pedal steel and twang guitar, Ledger's new single is a blast of Bakersfield heat that might've found a home on a Gene Clark record from a lifetime ago. The Shooter Jennings-produced session leans into Ledger's California country inspirations: At the bottom of each bottle / Is the love I left behind.
ROUTES-cast August 27, 2023
- Turnpike Troubadours, "Cat in the Rain" Cat in the Rain (Bossier City, 23)
- Margo Price, "Malibu (ft Jonathan Wilson, Buck Meek)" Strays II (Loma Vista, Oct 13) D
- Blackberry Smoke, "Dig a Hole" Be Right Here (3 Legged, Feb 16) D
- Zach Bryan, "Tradesman" Zach Bryan (Belting Bronco, 23) D
- Abby Hamilton, "#1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo)" #1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo) (Blue Gown, Oct 13) D
- Bob Lefevre & the Already Gone, "Fremont" Two (Lefevre, 23)
- Anna Rose, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" Last Girl of the Rodeo (White Pony, 23) D
- Flatland Cavalry, "Oughta See You (the Way I Do)" single (Flatland, 23) D
- Kym Register + Meltdown Rodeo, "Traveler's Cross" Meltdown Rodeo (Don Giovanni, 23)
- Duff Thompson, "Just Like Me" Shadow People (Mashed Potato, Oct 27) D
- Morgan Wade, "Losers Like Me" Psychopath (Sony, 23)
- Sonny & the Sunsets, "How To Make a Ceramic Dog" Self-Awareness Through Macramé (Rocks in Your Head, 23)
- Nina de Vitry, "History" What You Feel Is Real (de Vitry, 23) D
- Charlie Crockett, "Jamestown Ferry (live)" Live From the Ryman (Son of Davy, Sep 29) D
- Old Crow Medicine Show, "One Drop (ft Mavis Staples)" Jubilee (ATO, 23)
- Mipso, "Called Out Loaded" Book of Fools (Mipso, 23)
- Jeffrey Martin, "There is a Treasure" Thank God We Left the Garden (Fluff & Gravy, Nov 3) D
- Buck Meek, "Lagrimas" Haunted Mountain (4AD, 23)
- Ratboys, "No Way" The Window (Topshelf, 23)
- Roselit Bone, "Ain't No Right Way To Feel" Ofrenda (Get Loud, 23)
- Maria Elena Silva, "Love, If It Is So" Dulce (Astral Spirits, Sep 29) D
- Hiss Golden Messenger, "California King" Jump For Joy (Merge, 23)
- Jacob Aranda, "Dream of Mexico" War Planes (Speakeasy, Sep 1)
- Jenny Owen Youngs, "It's Later Than You Think" Avalanche (Yep Roc, Sep 22)
- Elliott BROOD, "Rise Up With Fists" Covers Collection EP (Six Shooter, 23) D
- Angie McMahon, "Fireball Whiskey" Light Dark Light Again (AWAL, Oct 27)
- Rosali, "Stuck Inside a Cloud" single (Merge, 23) D
- A Savage, "Elvis In the Army" Several Songs About Fire (Rough Trade, Oct 6) D
- Drew Baskin & the Sunshine, "It's Hard To Walk Away" Garrett EP (Super Canoe, 23) D
- Erin Rae, "California Belongs To You (live)" Lighten Up & Try: Live From the Heart (Good Memory, 23) D
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