ROUTES-cast August 24, 2025

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 24, 2025

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

This Episode finds us considering new collections from the consistently reliable Will Hoge, as well as an increasingly prominent Dean Johnson. We also show some appreciation for the debut full-length from Case Oats, Last Missouri Exit. That said ..

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

Greg Freeman's second album, Burnover (Transgressive), might be just the thing for folks still laying awake worrying about the lack of an heir to Jason Molina's legacy. With its unspooled sounds, savage guitar, and haunted vision, it's a sonic snake coiling through ten songs. Burnover can be aggressive on "Gulch", or indirect and nearly experimental (see "Wolf Pine" or the sinister funhouse of "Curtain"). Freeman himself is somewhat of an enigma, sharing his 2022 debut I Looked Out with no fanfare or marketing, a record that only gradually reached the radars of rave reviewers. While he hails from Vermont, Freeman's strain of alt.country fits well alongside the current wave of North Carolina indie-roots artists. 

ROUTES-cast August 24, 2025

^ Greg Freeman, "Sawmill" Burnover  (Transgressive, 25)

- Wednesday, "Bitter Everyday" Bleeds  (Dead Oceans, Sep 19)

- Dean Johnson, "So Much Better" I Hope We Can Still Be Friends  (Saddle Creek, 25)

- Autumn Defense, "Love Lies" Here and Nowhere  (Yep Roc, Oct 10)

- Hannah Juanita, "Tears and Tequila" single  (Songbird, 25)  D

- Tommy Prine, "Space" Love Circle EP  (Nameless Knight, 25)

- Case Oats, "Buick Door" Last Missouri Exit  (Merge, 25)

- Pink Stones, "Too Busy" Thank the Lord ... It's the Pink Stones  (Normaltown, Sep 19)

- Far West, "Hope I Don't Bleed (ft Dave Alvin)" Everything We Thought We Wanted  (Blackbird, Sep 26)

- Briscoe, "Blue Eyes and Red Wine" Heat of July  (ATO, Sep 19)

- Deep Dark Woods, "Circle Remains Unbroken" Circle Remains  (Victory Pool, Oct 3)

- Robert Finley, "Holy Ghost Party" Hallelujah! Don't Let the Devil Fool Ya  (Easy Eye, Oct 10)

- Ken Pomeroy, "Bound to Rain" single  (Rounder, 25)  D

- Joshua Ray Walker, "Stuff" Stuff  (East Dallas, Oct 10)  D

- John Calvin Abney, "Transparent Towns" Transparent Towns  (Well Kept Secret, Sep 19)

- Lola Kirke & Willow Avalon, "Maps" single  (One Riot, 25)  D

- Nick Shoulders, "Dixie Be Damned" Refugia Blues  (Gar Hole, Oct 31)  D

- Jeremy Pinnell, "Standing Still" single  (SofaBurn, 25)  D

- Kathleen Edwards, "Billionaire" Billionaire  (Dualtone, 25)

- Steve Earle & Reckless Kelly, "Dead or Gone to Dallas" single  (Howe Sound, 25)

- Will Hoge, "Saint Agnes" Sweet Misery  (Edlo, 25)

- Jesse Welles, "Saddest Factory (with the Devil)" With the Devil  (Welles, 25)  D

- Greensky Bluegrass, "Old Barns" XXV  (Big Blue Zoo, Oct 31)

- Daniel Donato, "Yonder" Horizons  (Retrace, 25)

- Cut Worms, "Evil Twin" single  (Jagjaguwar, 25)  D

- James Yorkston, "Where's the Time" Songs for Nina and Johanna  (Domino, 25)

- Caitlin Canty, "Night Owl/Mourning Dove" Night Owl Envies the Mourning Dove  (Canty, Oct 2)

- Jeff Tweedy, "Feel Free" Twilight Override  (dBpm, Sep 26)

- Joey Kneiser, "Nothing's Wasted on the Soul"  Nothing's Wasted on the Soul  (Young Buffalo, 25)

- Weirs, "I Want to Die Easy" Diamond Grove  (Dear Life, Oct 3)  D

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