A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER
good news about good noise
July 25, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
We take any opportunity to direct you to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our faithfully current new release calendar with a link there on the right side of this page. Beginning today, we expand that habit with a weekly post devoted to good news about good noise.
Much of our available time on any given day is frittered away by browsing our favorite music sites for news. Til now we've sorta just tucked it away under or proverbial hat, but here we'll share some of our favorite posts with faithful R&B readers. We're especially admiring of blogs who continue to write their own stuff, as opposed to cutting and pasting from readymade press releases.
During the pandemic, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings released four superb volumes of their Boots series, scavenging closets, drawers and garage boxes for unreleased material. The country-folk duo are notorious about taking their time in presenting new music. Consider that their last collection of new, original stuff happens to be 2011's Harrow & the Harvest. Named after their Nashville studio, heavily damaged in a 2020 tornado, Woodland breaks that long drought on August 23 (Acony).
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John Murry makes a striking figure. Reportedly a close relation to William Faulkner, from Mississippi but now living in Ireland, the songwriter has released some excellent LPs. See especially 2012's Graceless Age or World Without End, his 2006 collaboration with Bob Frank. Americana UK has announced a new documentary and soundtrack, a little bit of Grace and Decay - Original Soundtrack Recording For the Graceless Age: The Ballad Of John Murry (TV Records, Sept 20). Per co-producer Michael Timmins: The record is a sort of soundtrack album to the film. It contains some score pieces as well as some of the solo recordings that John and I made when he was here in Toronto.
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On the heels of Jake Xerxes Fussell's strong new When I'm Called (Fat Possum), Christian Science Monitor has published a worthwhile extended profile piece about the folk artist.
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Another extended profile piece, this one focusing on the story of Alex Izenberg, whose Alex Izenberg & the Exes lands on shelves Friday (Domino). This comes courtesy of the New York Times.
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Drive-by Truckers have compiled a deluxe, cleaned-up edition of their monumental 2002 opus, Southern Rock Opera (New West, Aug 2). Spin talks to Patterson Hood about how the original record came together during a period of turmoil and uncertainty.
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For several years, Mary Gauthier has been working with veterans for the Songwriting With Soldiers project, helping them put their stories to song. Long before that, she was a struggling songwriter looking to share stories of her own. The Kill Rock Stars label has announced that they will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Gauthier's iconic Drag Queens In Limousines by issuing the collection in vinyl for the first time on October 18. On a related note, This year's Americana Music Association gathering will kick off their Americanafest this year with a September 17 tribute to the songwriter, with planned appearances by Lori McKenna, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Rodney Crowell, and more. You can read more about it all in Broadway World's piece.
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Not long ago we reviewed Sturgill Simpson's Passage du Desir, released beneath his Johnny Blue Skies moniker. Saving Country Music and a couple other blogs drew our attention to a short new video interview from Qobuz that continues to flesh out the story behind Simpson's new collection.
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On her own Entering the Lung substack, Neko Case recently shared that she'll be releasing a memoir in January 2025. Entitled The Harder I Fight the More I Love You (Grand Central Publishing), the book almost makes up for the fact that she hasn't released new music for more than six years. Case will also be touring in September and October.
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Americana UK catches up with Willy Vlautin, Amy Boone, and the Delines at the Black Deer Festival in Kent. The Portland outfit mentions that they are planning a new album for February of 2025 tentatively named Mr Luck and Miss Doom. Fans of Willy Vlautin's written work will want to track down his just-released novel, Horse (called tremendously compelling by the Guardian in their review).
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... and of course we'll close with a handful of forthcoming announcements from our Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. Since last we spoke, we've added a very long-awaited new project from Mindy Smith. Quiet Town marks the songwriter's first new non-holiday collection since 2012 (Compass, Oct 4). Speaking of long waits, we'll hear new material from Laura Marling before the year's end. The indie folk artist has planned an October 25 release for Patterns In Repeat (Partisan). Chuck Prophet collaborates with Qiensave, a cumbia trio, for his next salvo. Yep Roc Records presents Wake the Dead on October 25, marking Prophet's first project since his recovery from lymphoma. Regular readers are aware that we're always game for a great cover song. Sub Pop has announced Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan. The November 8 collection will feature contributions from Clairo, Bedouine, Margo Price, and others. Finally speaking of quality covers, Boston's Twisted Pine features their take on Frank Zappa's classic "Peaches en Regalia" on their forthcoming CD. Presented by Signature Sounds, Love Your Mind will be available on October 18. For many (many) more albums on the horizon, just click the link.
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