ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
August 16, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
There's a whole lotta restraint on our five favorite songs for the week, something we feature every Friday at R&B HQ. Nothing all that electric, much of it nearly folky. But it's all good stuff, and that's what we're after!
Please enjoy the embedded videos, something new we've begun since working to expand the offerings of Routes & Branches. We call it:
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Wayne Graham, "I Had Plans" Bastion (Hickman Holler, Sep 6)
It's not the sort of music you'd expect to hear from a SE Kentucky quartet: It feels strange to play our hometown, because our music isn't what people are looking for here. Formed by brothers Kenny and Hayden Miles, and named after their grandfathers, Wayne Graham share a label with Tyler Childers and have toured with him as well. Speaking to the band's decidedly laid-back vibe, the first couple singles from their ninth album sound more like Wilco as filtered through Steely Dan than anything else from their state. "I Had Plans" features a pop-jazz piano and arrives with a video inspired by the Peanuts TV specials. A celebration of low ambition, the track nevertheless delivers with its slacker charm: All this time I've been acting like I was meant for something more.
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Marfa Lights, "Heart Like a Bruise" Marfa Lights (Marfa Lights, Sep 10)
Longtime followers of R&B already know the guys behind this enigmatic Texas act: an indie americana band from a UFO slowly orbiting Fort Worth, Texas. Rather than drop any spoilers here, we'll simply note that "Heart Like a Bruise" is a great intro to Marfa Lights. With Augie Meyers organ, accordion, and mariachi horns, the song is seemingly both rooted at the TexMex border and broadcast from a satellite high above. The brightly colored, semi-psychedelic video is mesmerizing, roughly suggesting the setting for the story to come, We're privy to the rest of the album, and you'll definitely want to join Marfa Lights for the ride - they promise to return you safely to your families.
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Current Joys, "They Shoot Horses" East My Love (Secretly Canadian, Oct 11)
In 2020, when California was on fire, I drove across the country in my car for two weeks listening to The Byrds' Sweetheart Of the Rodeo. Nick Rattigan leans heavy into that country influence on the first two singles from his October album. A member of Surf Curse during the day, Rattigan and Current Joys sound like Conor Oberst leading a lazy acoustic western waltz, with a craggy delivery and a dusty fiddle solo. The track begins to crack after four minutes of relative restraint, giving lead to an expansive drama of choral vocals, strings, and tubular bells. It ain't the Byrds, but it's hardly what we've known of Nick Rattigan either.
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Adrianne Lenker, "Once a Bunch" single (4AD, Aug 6)
Innocence and naivete are impossible to fake, especially several years into a musical career. Big Thief frontperson Adrianne Lenker can maintain that spirit of simplicity as well as anybody, as she demonstrates on this follow-up single from her Bright Future sessions. Her lyrics can be beautiful, just as they can be silly, though the emotions she invests are real. There's absolutely nothing fancy to "Once a Bunch", which seems to have been recorded live to tape. With Twain's Mat Davidson contributing backing vocals, the song almost comes off like a lost John Prine classic: Half a margarita / Have a little dance / Let's fine dine the demons / And give peace a chance.
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Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, "Hashtag" Woodland (Acony, Aug 23)
Songs like "Hashtag" on albums like Woodland can end up earning credits for song of the year. This second single from the duo's first album in forever, and their first record credited to the duo in even longer, features the very rare lead vocal from Rawlings. It's an exquisite number that's nearly lush with strings and gorgeously picked acoustics. "Hashtag" was reportedly written after hearing of the passing of Guy Clark: You laughed and said the news would be bad / If I ever saw your name with a hashtag / Singers like you and I are only news when we die.
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