featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 1, 2026
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
There was a time in the 80s when just about every week brought a new batch of music that sounded like variations on REM. 10,000 Maniacs, Lloyd Cole, Let's Active, Pylon, etc etc. And that's just the handful of acts that momentarily rose above the pack. Eventually, the whole jangle thing died down, leaving just a few surviving acts (and a couple Prefab Sprout devotees wondering whatever happened to Paddy McAloon).
Point is, today's torrent of slacker country feels sort of similar, with a weekly slate of bands produced by Alex Farrar and six degrees from MJ Lenderman. This too shall pass a'la jangle pop, and in the meantime our challenge is to identify the artists with the staying power to outshine the flash in the pan. This isn't to say that there's little or no value in the trend. It's often how musical evolution happens, and change is essential to the abiding relevance of our kind of music.
IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK
Among our favorite purveyors of slacker country is Dogwood Tales. From rural Virginia, the quartet's January collaboration with Euphoria Again has held a spot on our running year-end favorites list. Though their new Every Star In Rockingham County is their fourth full-length project, it's their most widely publicized. Most earlier Dogwood Tales records featured elements of the indie country that populates their new collection, but Every Star unpacks their sound a bit, leaning more deliberately in that roots direction.
Fronted by singer-guitarists Kyle Grim and Ben Ryan, and featuring drummer Jake Golibart and Danny Gibney on bass, these songs are ingrained in the anxiety and longing that typifies small town days. "McMemories" notes, Stadium lights / Always felt like / The only way this little town could see / A good thing. The music of Dogwood Tales has always included more dense guitars, though they are increasingly sludgy here, frequently paired with more melodic pedal steel. The project's most decidedly country moment, "Angel Dreams" is rooted in Jason Summer's playing, lyrics addressing that pervasive uncertainty: We drove to Southern Kitchen / You wouldn't even play my favorite song.
Produced by Erik Romero, Every Star balances midtempo cuts with slower, hungover numbers. Lyrics are occasionally opaque, but convey real overall emotion, peppered with passages that are eloquent in their yearning. One of the LP's only acoustic arrangements, "Try 2" begins, I'm thinking about getting stuck in Ohio / I don't miss you, I just try to. And later, I still feel the weight of the world / On your back through my fingertips. Where some indie country outfits emphasize volume over finesse, Dogwood Tales achieves an admirable balance. "Ralph Samson" projects that melodicism through a wall of electric guitar: When I drive to your place / I always take the long way / There.
Every Star In Rockingham County can be both romantic and defeatist, not infrequently in the same track. The title song begins, Purple mountains, empty highways / Moon in crescent, brake lights guiding / You're so high but you feel like driving. The chorus continues, I have wished on / Every star in this county / But it's so hard to focus / When everything feels / Broken. Slacker country, indie country, alt.country. Whatever you call it, the trend is building new branches for our kind of music. Artists like Dogwood Tales are expanding the boundaries, increasing the volume, flying in the face of tradition and familiarity for all the right reasons.
--------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment