A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (August 20, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

August 20, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

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^ John Ross is Wild Pink. Line Of Best Fit is talking to John Ross on the occasion of the release of Still Coming Down. The sixth Wild Pink record arrives in the wake of a cancer scare, a relocation from Florida to New York, and time on stage with MJ Lenderman. How did you spend your Summer? 

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Here at R&B HQ, we like to extend our musical reach as far as it makes sense (to us). We prefer to draw as few lines as possible in the process, letting music be music. We don't believe in a genre called queer country, even as we acknowledge the importance of diverse voices in each and every genre. That said, Bandcamp Daily has assembled a quick review of artists who represent the queer perspective in our kind of music. Some of these we've included in our weekly Spotify ROUTES-casts, and others not so much. Folks like River Shook and Andrew Sa should be on your radar no matter where you draw your lines. 

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If you're a fan of contemporary country music (or music in general), you owe it to yourself to spend some time with Elizabeth Cook's Great Television. CBS Saturday Sessions took our advise, and uploaded a terrific video of Cook and her band running through "Sunset Promenade". If you're a fan of contemporary country music (or music in general), you owe it to yourself to spend some time with it. 

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Welcome to Westside Cowboy Week. DIY Magazine touches base with the UK act about university freshers week, staying true to the dinky small and rough sound of their early days, and making the choice to record in Leeds instead of NYC. 

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Next week is Mama's Broke Week, celebrating the release of the duo's Reunion LP. KLOF Magazine tracks down Amy Lou Keeler and Lisa Maria in Nova Scotia to explore the origins and inspirations for their original folk music. 

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Against their best efforts, it looks like our beloved Twisted Teens are on the verge of superstardom. Pitchfork reports that the garage punk-blues duo have signed with Sub Pop. Dear Sub Pop, don't change a thing. Love, Routes & Branches. 

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We let last week's release date pass without acknowledging the release of Nina Winder-Lind's Wild Love. A contributor to the New Eves, Winder-Lind's new collection has enchanted and challenged us this week (which is all we ask of music). Under the Radar shared a brief profile of the artist, who dwells in the brambles and thorns of folk music's fringes like we like. 

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Do we need more Kevin Morby content? Let's ponder that as we connect with World Cafe and their live interview and performance. Morby admits his recent Little Wide Open is a love letter to the Midwest. There's somebody for everybody, isn't there. 

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Wanna see a sprawling list of 2026 releases? Spend some time with A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. Since we last checked, we've added new stuff from artists like Jude Brothers, whose Dogwood Maiden Voyage has received a September 25 release date via the increasingly excellent Gar Hole label. Cameron Winter is the frontguy for Geese, the saviors of all things rock. Live At Carnegie Hall documents a live solo show (at Carnegie Hall), and is expected on October 9 (Partisan). Ask for October 23 off from work to observe the release of a handful of good things. Foot Ox will offer Topanga Canyon, courtesy of Lauren Records. That very day, we're also looking forward to Popfly, a full-length from the impressively productive Michael Nau. Finally, upon the occasion of the surprise release of this week's Ode To Humidity, Pony Bradshaw also shared that he's planning a November 13 appointment for a companion record, Through a Glass Darkly (Dogs Of the South). 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: Jason Isbell

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 19, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

After fooling around in the beloved weeds of our kind of music for the past few weeks, we're going to drag this thing back into the mainstream with our favorite songs from Jason Isbell. 

If we wanted a real challenge we might include the writer's songs during his Drive-By Truckers days. As a solo artist, or as frontman for his 400 Unit, Isbell has penned some of the best work of his generation. It's not hard to argue that both Southeastern and Something More Than Free could be considered among the highlights of the first quarter of the Twenty-First Century. 

Our Thirty Favorites list doesn't include anything from the handful of live collections Isbell has released over the years. Nor do we add anything from 2021's Georgia Blue, a terrific project of covers celebrating the music of the Peach State. And even with those exclusions we're left with surfeit of gems from which to choose. 

Last year's solo acoustic Foxes In the Snow seems to have served as a reset of sorts for Jason Isbell, stepping back from a very successful run of records and tireless touring. But there is no need for reinvention or new directions for a writer of his caliber. 

JASON ISBELL: thirty favorites

- "Brand New Kind Of Actress" Sirens Of the Ditch  (2007)

- "Chicago Promenade" 

- "Dress Blues" 

- "Seven-Mile Island" Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit  (2009)

- "Cigarettes and Wine" 

- "Streetlights" 

- "Alabama Pines" Here We Rest  (2011)

- "Codeine" 

- "Tour Of Duty" 

- "Cover Me Up" Southeastern  (2013)

- "Traveling Alone" 

- "Elephant" 

- "Super 8"

- "If It Takes a Lifetime" Something More Than Free  (2015)

- "24 Frames" 

- "How To Forget" 

- "Children Of Children"

- "The Life You Chose"

- "Something More Than Free"

- "Last Of My Kind" The Nashville Sound  (2017)

- "If We Were Vampires"

- "Hope the High Road"

- "What've I Done To Help" Reunions  (2020)

- "Dreamsicle"

- "Only Children"

- "King Of Oklahoma" Weathervanes  (2023)

- "Cast Iron Skillet" 

- "Bury Me" Foxes In the Snow  (2025)

- "Foxes In the Snow"

- "Wind Behind the Rain"

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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:

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK (August 18, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 16, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

We're presented with a couple options for this week's breakout review, including an unexpected gem from Pony Bradshaw and an EP marking a big step forward for Hank Heaven. As we've noted, we'll probably loop back around to Bradshaw this Fall. This week's showcase spot belongs to a career-defining collection from a performer who is ready for her roses. 

IF YOU ONLY LiSTEN to ONE RECORD THiS WEEK

After years of dancing around her potential, Elizabeth Cook has landed with Great Television (Agent Love). Never short on talent or songwriting chops, and collaborating with respected producers like Butch Walker and Don Was, the East Nashville artist has earned her reputation on very good projects like 2007's Balls and 2016's fiery Exodus Of Venus. Turns out it was a smart decision to await her turn with Shooter Jennings, who embraces Cook's solid songs with full, contemporary arrangements for the best-sounding record of her career. 

On Great Television, Elizabeth Cook is smartly supported by her touring band, featuring the valuable Andrew Leahey on guitar, as well as bassist Phil Anthony and John Venezia on drums. Past albums have proven her proficiency with all shades of country, from honky-tonk to gospel. Most songs here lean into a country-rock pocket, allowing room for shades of blues and soul. Cook's collaboration with Turnpike Troubadours' Evan Felker, "Razorwire Wall", charges into a Petty-inspired guitar hook as it tells the story of a woman dropping her moonshining husband off for his prison appointment. "Caledonia and the Love Convoy" is another good-natured roadsong, detouring into familiar blues territory. Cook and her outfit even find an original angle covering the Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown", flipping its perspective and bending it a'la Nancy Sinatra. 

Elizabeth Cook's facecard is her songwriting, particularly her penchant for championing unsung voices from the margins. "Girls Of Atomic City" and "Thiokol Tripwire" build on accounts of women exploited in the workplace, teasing a rousing chorus from the ashes of history. A duet with Wynonna, "Easy Kind" names names like Britney, Courtney, and Whitney to call out outsized expectations and a lack of support for young women in music. Jennings stirs the drama with a choral backing. Where past efforts have found Cook likened to everyone from John Prine to her friend Todd Snider, she defines her own territory on Great Television, clever but never silly, strongly opinionated without being a sassy stereotype. 

The story of Elizabeth Cook (as fictionalized in the new Easy Kind series) tells of a phenomenally talented artist who has become a fixture on the Opry stage but who has yet to achieve her potential. Fact is, Great Television is too good for mainstream success. We've gushed aplenty here about "Sunset Promenade", the LP's opener that sets female friendship to one of the year's best melodies. While "Easy Kind" merits breakout attention in its own right, "Sunset Promenade" deserves to be in the conversation for the song of the year. It's the crowning achievement of a collection that leaves no doubt about the artist's uncommon, even generational talent. 

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ROUTES-cast August 16, 2026

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 16, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Several things to be happy about this Episode, including one of two surprise records Pony Bradshaw is dropping before the end of 2026. There are few better americana writers among us, and we'll likely devote some review time once that second LP arrives on November 13. We're also enjoying Elizabeth Cook's great Great Television, and Hank Heaven's new EP. No shortage of quality singles either. Put this Spotify ROUTES-cast on REPEAT for a week (or more) of rewarding listening. Or at least one hour and fifty-four minutes of distraction.

ROUTES-cast August 16, 2026

^ Pony Bradshaw, "Demigods In Utopia" Ode To Humidity  (Dogs Of the South, 26)  D

- Samantha Crain, "Tvshki cha foha (ft Ken Pomeroy)" single  (Crain, 26)  D

- Orville Peck, "Already Gone" Mule  (Warner, Sep 18)

- Bill Baird, "Karma Loan" Life Creates Itself  (Royal Oakie, Sep 25)  D

- Jess Williamson, "Tracking the Tropics" Miles South Of Heaven  (New West, Oct 9)

- Elizabeth Moen, "Not You Not Me" Fields On Fire  (Moen, 26)  D

- JP Harris, "Roustabout" Shaving a Dead Man  (Bloodshot, Oct 23)

- Goodnight Texas, "Argentina (Goodbye For Now)" Wooden Machine  (Goodnight Tx, Sep 15)

- Aubory Bugg, "The One You Want To Lose" I Think I Had Something Once  (Dualtone, Sep 18)

- Jonathan Something, "Gasoline" One More Lonesome Cowboy Song  (High Shelter, Oct 16)  D

- Elizabeth Cook, "Thiokol Tripwire" Great Television  (Agent Love, 26)

- Shinyribs, "Arkansas Mud" Real Alligator  (Spaceflight, Oct 9)  D

- Israel Nash, "You Ain't Going Nowhere" Sweetheart Of the Rodeo  (Desert Folklore, Sep 25)  D

- Queen Of Jeans, "Sweet Devotion" hard/SWEET  (Memory Music, Oct 9)  D

- Uncle Lucius, "The Bruxist" Open Eyes Broken Heart  (Boo Clap, Sep 25)  D

- Sadurn, "Never Tell Me" The Underworld  (Run For Cover, Oct 16)

- Lily Seabird, "The Afterglow" Lightspheres On Their Way  (Lame-O, Oct 2)

- Tallest Man On Earth, "Deliver Me From Trying" Just Beyond Endless Mountain  (Anti, Oct 9)  D

- Hank Heaven, "Thread" Welterweight EP  (Nice Life, 26)

- Dogwood Tales, "7xover" Every Star In Rockingham County  (Born Losers, Aug 27)

- Grumpy, "OBL" Unfindable Ring  (Bayonet, Oct 23)  D

- Foot Ox, "Prairie Song"  Topanga Canyon  (Lauren, Oct 23)

- Alex Dupree, "Room For One More" Talking To the Dog  (Scissor Tail, 26)

- Two Runner, "Witch Well" Porchlight  (Warner, Jan 29)

- Amble, "Last Rites" Love and All Its Wares  (Warner, Jan 29)  D

- Wilder Blue, "When He's Out Of Sight" Cinco  (Hill Country, Aug 28)

- Fenne Lily, "Sleeping" Win Win  (Nettwerk, Oct 23)

- Panamint, "Wrapped Around Your Finger" single  (Panamint, 26)  D

- Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth, "Nervion" Allison de Groot & RIch Ruth  (Western Vinyl, Oct 2)  D

- Hour, "Ghost Bridge" Ghost Bridge  (Dear Life, Oct 9)  D

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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:

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!! (August 14, 2026)

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 14, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!

Samantha Crain, "Tvshki cha foha" single  (Crain, 26)

Samantha Crain is quietly amassing quite a nice collection of singles lately. This new one features support vocals from fellow Oklahoma Native American Ken Pomeroy, as well as some solid percussion from Ramsey Thornton. When we looked up the title on our free online Choctaw translator, it came back with Hello friend / I understand / Thank you for your kindness. Crain herself, however, translates it, Lie down and rest / Tired one / You have strength, and we've got to be honest that we trust Crain here. 

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Tallest Man On Earth, "Deliver Me From Trying" Just Beyond Endless Mountain  (Anti, Oct 9)

You enjoy horses? Boy have we got a video for you. Kristian Matsson's new single from the just-announced album features his familiar delivery, as well as his sometimes impenetrable lyrics, though the arrangement updates the TMOE sound a bit. It's like a bonfire blues / To a shivering god ... We don't know what it means, but we like it. And, to be honest, we're just happy to have a video to share. 

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Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth, "Nervion" Allison de Groot & Rich Ruth  (Western Vinyl, Oct 2)

Perhaps you're in the mood for banjo, but maybe clawhammer from another planet? The Canadian player has received all the accolades for her trad work. Rich Ruth is the stage name for multi-instrumentalist Michael Ruth, who was set to produce a record for de Groot until the project went way left. With contributions from Spencer Cullum and Patrick McGonigle, the record promises to take folk, old-timey and bluegrass where it's probably never been. 

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Sadurn, "Never Tell Me" The Underworld  (Run For Cover, Oct 16)

It's not necessary that you have fun in your video. Sometimes it's just enough to chase horses around a field. But we're all about the music here, and we're increasingly eager to hear the rest of Sadurn's October full-length. It's not enough to keep us together / But I'm in love with the sleeve of your dress / I'm in love with your shoulder - this is a lovely, midtempo number with a sweet lyric, even if the video plays like Blair Witch reinterpreted by Sid and Marty Krofft. 

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Panamint, "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (Paramint, 26)

... aaaand, of course, we'll finish things off for the week with a Post Malone cover. This one comes courtesy of singer-songwriter Anna St Louis and Jarvis Taveniere of Woods, performing under the name Panamint. The duo opt for a light-as-foam approach, encouraging Posty's pop in more of a late-night direction. 

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A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (August 13, 2026)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

August 13, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Hey, what's new? If you're looking for a literal answer, check out our compulsively updated new release calendar, A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. Over the past week, we've added new announcements from folks like the Yawpers, whose Teething should reach us on or about September 4 (DTTW). After almost calling it quits, Uncle Lucius are in it to win it. They'll unleash Open Eyes Broken Heart on September 25 (Boo Clap). What we really want is a Gourds project. That said, we're pleased to see Kev Russell's Shinyribs looking to October 9 for the appearance of his Real Alligator (Spaceflight). Nothing wrong with a new Joan Shelley record, even if it's a deluxe edition of something we've already got. Over and Even + Demos includes ... well, demos of songs from those sessions (No Quarter, Oct 16). Finally, we can always count on Caroline Rose for boundary-challenging stuff. See, f'rinstance, Gentling the Horse At Walt Whitman Mall, set for an October 23 release (SUCK). 

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^ Our updates lately have paid frequent attention to the forthcoming record by Nate Amos and This Is Lorelei. NME has shared a good, long profile of Mr Amos. Among other info, the piece notes that next month's The Singer In My Band, gets closer to roots music than Amos has before. We expect this to be one of the more impactful indie-roots releases for the year. 

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This is neat. In conjunction with this week's release of her Bluegrass Women album, Lindsay Lou is releasing a four-part documentary about the creation of the record, which celebrates the female contribution to the history of bluegrass music. Part 1 is on her YouTube page. 

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We love Waylon Payne's recent Wayward LP, and have always felt he would be able to write a great memoir. Short of that happening, we're here for Americana UK's conversation with the songwriter, wherein he talks about the family business, playing with Willie Nelson's beard, and being taken in by a drag queen. 

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We've been sharing new Chaparelle singles as they're released, eager for the duo of Zella Day and Jesse Woods to declare their plan for a full-length. While we're biding our time, Grateful Web tells of Bleeding Hearts, a documentary about the act that will be debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. 

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Here's a concerning update to the store we shared a few weeks ago about the suspension of activity at Levon Helm Studios. It's being alleged that Amy Helm's reported mismanagement might have included a degree of financial impropriety. Stereogum has more info. Unless it's disappeared behind their cruel and imposing paywall. You might want to check if Pitchfork's account is available. Otherwise you'll just have to search for yourself. 

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Thee Sacred Souls are presently on tour with LA Lom and the Womack Sisters. Glide Magazine catches up with the bass player, Sal Salmano, to chat about how the tour came together. 

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Eric Bachman was at Wuxtry Records in Athens, Georgia. A new video reveals his haul following a  crate diving session.  It should be noted that Bachman's Crooked Fingers produced Swet Deth in February. 

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Last week we bemoaned the shuttering of Brooklyn Vegan, among our most valued music blogs. Andrew Sacher, one of the site's longtime writers, has introduced Unhappy Place, a Substack where he'll be publishing his reflections on new music for the time being. You might considering subscribing as a strategy for upping your flow of email. Yesterday's post highlighted a handful of great new alt.country tracks!

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Saving Country Music unveils info about Hello Honky Tonk, a new collection by Kaitlin Butts. It certainly didn't hurt her cause that Butts carried a key role in the video for the unrivaled Song Of the Summer, Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas". 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: Handsome Family

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

August 12, 2026

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Handsome Family have only become odder the more they have played it straight. Brett and Rennie Sparks have remained true to their outsider vision, even when their "Far From Any Road" became one of popular music's most unlikely hits as the theme song for the opening season of True Detective in 2014. While Brett's sturdy, sober delivery makes any Handsome Family song immediately recognizable, Rennie's lyrics make them exceptional. Dark, hallucinatory, concerning. Answering the question of how it might sound if the Brothers Grimm were products of our own age, turning to roots music rather than written fables. 

"Far From Any Road" aside, Handsome Family have never been embraced by the mainstream of our kind of music, though any playlist of gothic americana would be incomplete without their contribution. The Sparks have pre-announced a Spring 2027 tour, which kindles hope for their first new stuff in a couple years. We would make a case for In the Air, Singing Bones, and Last Days Of Wonder as the height of Handsome Family's dark arts, even as more recent projects continue to sound great. 

We include here a few covers, including the duo's take on a Bottle Rockets tune, and another reinterpreting Wilco's "Capitol City". Both Smothered and Covered and Scattered offer some strong trad work, as well as their requisite run through Dylan's catalogue. But Handsome Family succeed on their own terms, checking the novelty box simply by following their own bent, sincere muse. 

 

HANDSOME FAMiLY: thirty favorites

- "Arlene" Odessa  (1995)

- "Everything That Rises Must Converge" 

- "Drunk By Noon" Milk & Scissors  (1996)

- "Lake Geneva"

- "Weightless Again" Through the Trees  (1998)

- "My Sister's Tiny Hands"

- "Stalled"

- "Giant Of Illinois"

- "So Much Wine" In the Air  (2000)

- "Don't Be Scared" 

- "All the TVs In Town"

- "Cold Cold Cold"

- "Natalie Wood" Smothered and Covered  (2002)

- "24-Hour Store" Singing Bones  (2003)

- "Bottomless Hole"

- "Far From Any Road"

- "Fallen Peaches"

- "Your Great Journey" Last Days Of Wonder  (2006)

- "Flapping Your Broken Wings" 

- "Little Sparrows" Honey Moon  (2009)

- "A Thousand Diamond Rings"

- "Drinking Beer On the Road" Scattered  (2010)

- "Caterpillars" Wilderness  (2013)

- "1000 Dollar Car" While No One Was Looking: Toasting 20 Years Of Bloodshot Records  (2014)

- "Gold" Unseen  (2016)

- "Back In My Day" 

- "Capitol City" single  (2019)

- "Joseph" Hollow  (2023)

- "King Of Everything" 

- "To the Oaks" 

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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: