featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
January 4, 2026
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
That audible <click> you noticed was the universal calendar turning over a new year. Like others who take advantage of the reset to quit smoking or to develop healthier habits, here at R&B HQ we're making resolutions for another year of music discovery. And also the healthier habits ...
Even in this bleak midwinter, we find signs and signifiers of new stuff just beneath the snow's surface. A couple of the entries below hail from 2025 releases we're just finding out about (ie, Adam Faucett and Pony Gold), while many (many) others provide glimpses of what's on the horizon in the first days of the year to come. Of course, you can find a generous accounting of what's to come at A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster.
So Happy 2026 to all who celebrate! Please spin the following Routes-cast as you're sweeping up the tree needles and fallen tinsel, while you're planning your tiny rebellions for the coming months. We'll do the same as we put our year-in-review in our rear-review mirror and plot our course for music discovery.
ROUTES-cast January 4, 2026
^ Adam Faucett, "Won't Let Your Heart Break Me Now" New Variations Of the Reaper (Gold Sounds, 25) D
- Jeffrey Martin, "Out On the Weekend (live)" Alive July 25 2025 (Fluff & Gravy, Feb 20)
- Anna Tivel, "Swan Song" Animal Poem B-Sides EP (Fluff & Gravy, Mar 6) D
- Lowest Pair, "Tiny Rebellions" Always As Young As We'll Ever Be (Delicata, Jan 23)
- Caleb Caudle, "I've Endured" single (Caudle, 25) D
- Drayton Farley, "It's Called Doubt" single (Hargrove, 25)
- Owen Temple, "Fats Domino" single (El Paisano, 25) D
- Pokey LaFarge, "Ain't No Grave (ft Addie Hamilton)" Travelin' With Pokey LaFarge: Voice and Guitar Vol 1 (ONErpm, Feb 13) D
- Leah Blevins, "Be Careful Throwing Stones" All Dressed Up (Easy Eye, Mar 20)
- Jesper Lindell, "Pretend I Never Happened" 3614 Jackson Highway (Brunsvik, Mar 6) D
- Band of Heathens, "No Direction" Country Sides (BoH, Feb 20)
- Dove Ellis, "Jaundice" Blizzard (Black Butter, 25)
- Matthew Doc Dunn, "Snow in Memphis" Here We Are (Cosmic Range, 25) D
- Jeremy Ivey, "Edge of Darkness" Shape Will Reveal Itself (Soggy Anvil, Feb 13) D
- Will Stewart, "Familiar Veils" Memory Man EP (Earth Libraries, 25)
- Pony Gold, "Love Song" High Road Reverie (Neon Moon, 25) D
- Merce Lemon & Fust, "Choices" single (Trouble Chair, 25)
- One Wheel Fireworks Show, "You're a Line Drive" Jason Eternal (OWFS, Jan 28)
- Nude Party, "Honey For the Barflies" Look Who's Back (Nude Party, Feb 13)
- Haylie Davis, "Golden Age" single (Fire, 25)
- Lukas Nelson, "A Certain Someone" American Romance Too (Sony, 25) D
- Della Mae, "Magic Accident" Magic Accident (Compass, Jan 23)
- Melissa Carper & Theo Lawrence, "You're Forgiven My Love" Havin' a Talk (Warner, Feb 6)
- West Texas Exiles, "Ace of Spades" single (Floating Mesa, 25) D
- Matt Kivel, "For the Roses" Escape From LA (Scissor Tail, 25)
- Suzanne Santo, "Knew All Along" single (Santo, 25) D
- Victor Krummenacher, "Time Will Do Us No Favors" Block Out the Sun (Veritas, 26) D
- The Gunshy, "You're Only a Song" Hurricane Umbrellas (Sleep, 25)
- Big Harp, "Boys Don't Cry" Runs to Blue (Saddle Creek, Mar 27) D
- Bill Callahan, "Lonely City" My Days of 58 (Drag City, Feb 27)
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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months. Or click here for a preview:
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