Look Out! HBO Full-Length ‘Deadwood’ Trailer featuring Colter Wall

Deadwood: The Movie

Deadwood fans are still cautiously giddy at the news of a full-length version of our favorite profanity-splattered Shakspereon western. Deadwood unceremoniously canceled on June 5, 2006 Fans were left with a fragmented and ponderous third season after creator and primary writer David Milch decided he wanted to work on the HBO surfer sap opera ‘John from Cincinnati.” (which was immediately canceled)

In the aftermath, Milch agreed to make a pair of two-hour television films, but HBO executives and the otherwise newly contracted actors at various times over the years put the odds of that happening as slim to none.

But good things come to hooplheads that wait and HBO announced a few weeks back that ‘Deadwood: The Movie’ was happening. This was backed up by W. Earle Brown, who plays Al Swearengen’s hang-dog muscle Dan Dority verified on Twitter that the movie was in post-production.

Then came an official announcement from HBO with a trailer. Canned peaches all around!

Today we get a full-length trailer (see below) trailer highlighting more of the excellent cast (Calamity Jane!) The trailer also treats us with the perfectly placed Colter Wall song ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop.” This is a nice treat though no surprise as Deadwood has always featured great roots music.

Wall’s song being included appears to have been taken him by surprise as he heard the news while working on his ranch. He responded on social media.

Though the news of a movie finally being released is cause for celebration it comes with the bittersweet revelation that David Milch is suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Deadwood: The Movie will premiere on HBO, May 31, 2019.

UPDATE>> Apparently Jason Isbell will have a cameo in the movie!

Colter Wall’s ‘Sleeping on the Blacktop” on his album “Imaginary Appalachia.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WrXmhvXTA

Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2018

Truth be told I’ve been distracted by much unpleasantness in 2018. So much so as many of these outstanding selections moved past my attention when they were first released. Luckily I keep a list of yearly releases and was able to rewind and catch them before they slipped away as 2019 dawned.

Criteria – Calendar year 2018. No EPs, live, covers or re-release albums no matter how awesome. Don’t see your favorite represented? Leave it in the comments, and here’s to a new year of Twang.

  1. Jamie Lin Wilson – Jumping Over Rocks – On her sophomore outing, Wilson has created a lean melancholy masterpiece. The pull of the road and the fray on family ties, and the resulting loneliness and regret are just some of the universal themes running through these unvarnished jewels traveling on that dusky trill. It’s a testament to the skill of craft that created these songs that Guy Clark’s “Instant Coffee Blues” sits so easily within Wilson’s originals.


2. John Prine – ‘The Tree of Forgiveness’ – 13 years in the making Prine lends his wry eye to the everyday glory and mundane divinity that has become Prine’s calling card in his 71 years. His ruminations of birth, death and the the pageant of absurdity connecting the two could be chalked up to the interests of an older man (especially one that’s beat 2 cancer prognosis,) but Prine has always been an artist that’s interested in exploring our shared experiences in whimsical ways.

3. J.P. Harris – ‘Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing,’ – Harris belies his 30 year travels around the sun by penning songs that channels Mickey Newbury  (‘Lady in the Spotlight’) or Blaze Foley (the title cut) to create a calico quilt of country and roots best bits that hangs together and serves a fitting flag to stake out his own territory of sonic discovery.


4. Dillon Carmichael – ‘Hell on an Angel“ – The story goes that Dillon Carmichael has country music in his DNA and he was destined to mine for country gold. I’ve known a lot of decedents of music greats that didn’t have a lick of destiny in them. Hell on an Angel“ is a project that has me reevaluating that conclusion. Hillbilly Whisperer Dave Cobb has again found himself alongside an artist that can be described as the future of country music by reminding us all that its beauty lies in its past.

5. Colter Wall – “Songs of the Plain” – That voice. Those songs. “Songs of the Plain” mines much of the history that made country music relatable and beloved by folks the world over. A cowboy longing for home while on a long trail ride is not just a reflection on the cost of a particular profession as much as it is a dusty sketch of a common longing we can all share.


6. Lori McKenna – ‘The Tree” – McKenna’s collection of family-album folk songs shows haw a master of songcraft finds depth in the ordinary moments of everyday life. McKenna’s ability to write of the profound in relatable, and often commercially successful, ways make her one of the few that can traverse mainstream country and Americana territories with aplomb.


7. Mike and the Moonpies – ‘Steak Night at the Prairie Rose’ – Everyone has come across some asshole willing to sound the death knell for country music. Next time that happens drop this album on them like a 9lb. hammer. Barroom confessionals and boot-scootin‘ crowd pleasers reflects the spirit of those thousands of stages Mike and the Moonpies has had to own on any given night. It doesn’t get more real.

8. Ruston Kelly – ‘Dying Star’ – Kelly is another country music vet not content to keep working behind the stage grinding out hits for the likes of the Josh Abbott Band and Tim McGraw. Those skills allow Kelly to craft lean songs that carry just the right amount of studio sheen as not to choke the life from these back-alley confessionals of failing faith and dime-store salvation.

9. Charley Crockett – ‘Lonesome As a Shadow’ – Crockett’s working-class upbringing in rural border town Texas and years of busking on the streets of New Orleans and New York City is steeped bone deep in these cuts. To find a melange of Redneck-Cajun gumbo this satisfying outside of this release you’d have to dig deep into the 70’s Leon Russell / Willie Nelson collaborations.

10. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – ‘Years’ – Hearing Sarah Shook for the first time transported me back to Dallas jn the early 90s when I first heard the Old 97s. The country music I had grown up with on my parent’s stereo was all hopped up on trucker speed and bucking bronco beats. Shook embodies the golden years of alt.country but brews up her own brand of fresh blood with razor sharp wit and a heavy dose of ‘I don’t give as fuck.’

Colter Wall Readies New Album Coming This Autumn – Hear Two New Songs – Announces Extensive Tour

Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains, October 12
Photo credit: Little Jack Films

The only downside to hearing a work as stunningly perfect as Colter Wall’s eponymous 2017 debut is the dread that the proverbial sophomore slump will strike down any hopes of experiencing that satisfaction the next time around.

Well if the two released cuts off WaLL’s highly-anticipated forthcoming release “Songs of the Plains’ (October 12 – Young Mary’s Record Co.) is any indication of the flavor of the remainder of the album you can put those apprehensions to rest. The timeless simple beauty of the arrangements are there transporting Wall’s deep baritone across country music’s golden years.

The first is ‘Plain to See Plainsman’ a delicate 4/4 strummer paying tribute to his Swift Current home in the prairies in a new-traditional style reminiscent of Marty Robbin’ “El Paso” and “Big Iron period. The song has an extra layer of beauty as Mickey Raphael’s signature harmonica wails in the distance like a midnight train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlinDMsUOcQ&t=8s

The second cut is a version of ‘Calgary Round-Up’ by real-life Alberta cowpuncher and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame / Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Wilf Carter, better known in the lower 48 as Montana Slim, 1961 release. Though much more toned-down and missing the original’s signature yodeling, you can close your eyes and still get the sense of the prairies winds coming off the plains accompanied by the cry of Lloyd Green’s pedal steel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnVxeeZlE2M

Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains

Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A with Dave Cobb (Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Lori McKenna), the album features 11 songs, seven original songs written by Wall as well as versions of Billy Don Burns’ “Wild Dogs,” the aforementioned Wilf Carter’s “Calgary Round-Up” and two cowboy traditional songs, “Night Herding Song” and “Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail.”

In addition to Wall (vocals, acoustic guitar), the album also features Cobb (acoustic guitar), Lloyd Green (pedal steel), Chris Powell (drums, spoons), Jason Simpson (bass), Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Blake Berglund (vocals) and Corb Lund (vocals).

Pre-order “Songs of the Plains’ here.

The track list is:
1. “Plain to See Plainsman” (written by Colter Wall)
2. “Saskatchewan In 1881” (written by Colter Wall)
3. “John Beyers (Camaro Song)” (written by Colter Wall)
4. “Wild Dogs” (written by Billy Don Burns)
5. “Calgary Round-Up” (written by Wilf Carter)
6. “Night Herding Song” (Cowboy Traditional)
7. “Wild Bill Hickok” (written by Colter Wall)
8. “The Trains are Gone” (written by Colter Wall)
9. “Thinkin’ on a Woman” (written by Colter Wall)
10. “Manitoba Man” (written by Colter Wall)
11. “Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail” (Cowboy Traditional)

Wall also announced a series of new tour dates starting in October. His full schedule is:
July 28 – Newport, RI-Newport Folk Festival
Aug. 3-4-Happy Valley, OR-Pickathon
Aug. 18-Fort Worth, TX-Cody Jinks’ Loud and Heavy Festival
Aug. 24-Tonder, Denmark-Tonder Festival
Aug. 29-London, U.K. -Scala
Aug. 30-Manchester, U.K. -Gorilla
Sept. 1-Salisbury, U.K. -End of the Road Festival
Sept. 2-Stradbally, Ireland-Electric Picnic
Sept. 14-15-Athens, Ontario-Festival of Small Halls
Sept. 16-Lansdowne Park, Ottawa-City Folk
Sept. 23-Indianapolis, IN-Holler on the Hill Festival
Oct. 13-Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-O’Brian’s Event Centre
Oct. 16-Regina, Saskatchewan-Conexus Convention Hall
Oct. 18-Edmonton, Alberta-Union Hall
Oct. 19-Calgary, Alberta-Macewan Hall Ballroom
Oct. 21-Missoula, MT-Top Hat
Oct. 22-Bozeman, MT-The Rialto
Oct. 23-Billings, MT-Pub Station Taproom
Oct. 25-Omaha, NE-The Waiting Room
Oct. 26-Des Moines, IA-Wooly’s
Oct. 27-Maquoketa, IA-Codfish Hollow Barn
Oct. 28-Detroit, MI-Majestic Theatre
Oct. 30-Columbus, OH-A&R Music Bar
Oct. 31-Pittsburgh, PA-Club AE
Nov. 2-Somerville, MA-Somerville Theater
Nov. 3-South Burlington, VT-Higher Ground Ballroom
Nov. 5-New York, NY-Irving Plaza
Nov. 8-Charlotte, NC-Neighborhood Theatre
Nov. 9-Richmond, VA-Capital Ale House
Nov. 11-Carrboro, NC-Cats Cradle
Nov. 14-15-Nashville, TN-The Basement East
Nov. 16-Asheville, NC-The Grey Eagle
Nov. 17-Atlanta, GA-Variety Playhouse
Nov. 18-Charleston, SC-Charleston Music Hall
Nov. 24-Toronto, Ontario-Opera House
Nov. 28-Washington, D.C. -9:30 Club
Dec. 1-Madison, WI-Majestic Theatre
Dec. 2-Columbia, MO-The Blue Note
Dec. 10-Santa Fe, NM-Meow Wolf
Dec. 12-Solana Beach, CA-Belly Up
Dec. 14-Los Angeles, CA-El Rey Theatre
Jan. 19-Vancouver, British Columbia-Commodore Ballroom
Jan. 20-Seattle, WA-The Showbox @ The Market

Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2018

2017 was another great year for Americana and roots music, and 2018 so far shows no signs that the great music is waning. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from last year makes plain we continue to experience a golden age of roots and Americana music. From Sturgill Simpson winning the Grammy for the best Country album of the Year (for his least country album no less) to the increased numbers of roots artists in media and festival line-ups the genre continues to represent and deliver on great music.

As I’ve said before, this is important not only because as fans, there’s abundant choices for our entertainment but because it continues to lay a foundation for future ‘Cream of the Crop’ recipients.

The list below is a collection of known 2017 notable Americana / roots releases. Some anticipated releases from artists like American Aquarium and Kacey Musgraves have no release dates yet, but when I become aware of them and others I will be updating the list throughout the year. Follow me on Twitter to stay current on changes to the list.

If you know of an actual release not listed yet please leave it in the comments.

One thing is for sure, it’s going to be another great year for roots music folks.

January 12th –
Brooks Dixon – White Roses EP
Ryan Bingham – ‘Live’
Cindy Alexander – ‘Nowhere To Hide’
Seth Lakeman – ‘Ballads Of The Broken Few’
Cassidy Best – ‘Same Old Sins’

January 19th –
First Aid Kit – ‘Ruins’
Lanco – ‘Hallelujah Nights
’
R. Finn (aka Chris Rondinella) – ‘Collecting Trip
Calexico, The Thread That Keeps Us
Steep Canyon Rangers, Out in the Open
Kalie Shorr, Awake EP
Mary Gauthier, Rifles and Rosary Beads
Devin Dawson – ‘Dark Horse’
Caitlyn Smith -‘Starfire’
Van William – ‘Countries’
Alice DiMicele – “One With The Tide”
Grace Basement – ‘Mississippi Nights’
Glen Hansard – ‘Between Two Shores’
John Gorka – ‘True In Time’

January 26th –
The Ben Miller Band – ‘Choke Cherry Tree’
Laura Benitez and The Heartache’s – ‘With All Its Thorns’
Sara Morgan – ‘Average Jane’
The Fugitives – ‘The Promise of Strangers’
Ron Pope – ‘Worktapes EP’

February 2nd –
Mike and the Moonpies – ‘Steak Night at the Prairie Rose’
The Wood Brothers – ‘One Drop of Truth’
John Oates – ‘Arkansas’
Sunny War – ‘With the Sun’

February 9th –
Wade Bowen – ‘Solid Ground
’
Jim White – ‘Waffles, Triangles & Jesus’

February 16th –
Matthew McNeal – ‘Good Luck’
Brandi Carlile – ‘By the Way, I Forgive You’
Courtney Patton – ‘What It’s Like to Fly Alone’
I’m With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan) – ‘See You Around’

February 23rd –
Jeff Hyde – ‘Norman Rockwell World’
3hattrio – ‘Lord of the Desert’
Doby Watson – “Family Mattress Deluxe”

March 2nd –
Vivian Leva – ‘Time is Everything’
Chip Taylor – ‘Fix Your Words’
Haley Heynderickx – ‘I Need To Start A Garden’
Son of the Chief – ‘Needless Road’
Savannah Conley – “Twenty-Twenty.”

March 9th –
Ashley Campbell – ‘The Lonely One’
Ross Cooper – “Another Mile”

March 16th –
Trailhead – “Keep Walking”

March 23rd –
The Price Sisters – ‘A Heart Never Knows’
Paul Thorn – ‘Album Don’t Let The Devil Ride’

March 30th –
Caitlin Canty – ‘Motel Bouquet’
Lindi Ortega -‘Liberty’
Kim Richey – ‘Edgeland’
Ashley McBryde – ‘Girl Going Nowhere’
Great Peacock – ‘Gran Pavo Real’
Sam Morrow – ‘Concrete and Mud’

April 6th –
Blackberry Smoke – ‘Find A Light’
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers – ‘Years’
Jodee Lewis – ‘Buzzard’s Bluff’
Kacey Musgraves – ‘Golden Hour’

April 10th –
Rita Hosking – ‘For Real’

April 13th –
John Prine – ‘Tree of Forgiveness’
Simone Felice – ‘The Projector’

April 20th –
Old Crow Medicine Show – ‘Volunteer’
Joshua Hedley – “Mr. Jukebox”
Charley Crockett – ‘Lonesome As a Shadow’
Ashley Monroe – ‘Sparrow’

April 27th –
Band of Heathens – “Live Via Satellite” On April 27th

May 4th
Scott Mickelson – ‘A Wondrous Life’
Parker Millsap – ‘Other Arrangements’
Trampled by Turtles – ‘Life Is Good On The Open Road’
Daniel Daniel – ‘Lonesome Hollow’
Rita Coolidge – ‘Safe in the Arms of Time’

May 11th
Ry Cooder – ‘The Prodigal Son’

May 18th
Kelly Willis – “Back Being Blue”
The Dead Tongues – ‘Unsung Passage’

June 1st
Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore – “Downey to Lubbock”
American Aquarium – ‘Things Change’

June 8th
Erin Rae – ‘Putting On Airs”

June 22nd
Jeffrey Foucault – ‘ Blood Brothers’
Paul Cauthon – ‘Have Mercy’
Lera Lynn – ‘Plays Well With Others’
Adam Wright – ‘Dust’
Roanoke – ‘Where I Roam’

June 29th
The Milk Carton Kids – ‘All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn’t Do’

July 13th
Carolina Story – ‘Lay Your Head Down’ – buy

July 15th
The Brothers Comatose – ‘Ink, Dust, and Luck’ buy

July 20th
Lori McKenna – “The Tree”

July 27th
Andrew Combs – 5 Covers & A Song’ EP
The Hollow Ends – ‘Bears In Mind’

August 2nd
Kevin Galloway – “The Change”

August 3rd
Jim Lauderdale – ‘Time Flies” and “Jim Lauderdale and Roland White’

August 10th
Dawn Landes – ‘Meet Me at the River’
Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis – ‘Wild! Wild! Wild!’

August 24th
Devil Makes Three – ‘Chains Are Broken’
Ryan Culwell – “The Last American”
Murder By Death – ‘The Other Shore’

August 31st
Aaron Lee Tasjan – ‘Karma for Cheap’ buy

September 7th
Roscoe & Etta – ‘Roscoe & Etta’
Mike Farris – “Silver & Stone”
William Elliott Whitmore – ‘Kilonova’
Kathy Mattea – ‘Pretty Bird’

October 12th
Colter Wall – ‘Songs of the Plains’

October 14th
Asleep at the Wheel – “New Routes”

October 26th
Whitey Morgan and the 78s – ‘Hard Times and White Lines’

Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2017

Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2017

Over that last 11 years of running this blog, roots and Americana has embedded itself as a fully realized and respected genre of cultural influence around the world. Bands and festivals from the UK, Australia, Japan and the Middle East are strapping on guitars, name dropping Townes Van Zandt and finding their inner hillbilly.

Though like most Best Of album lists around I’ve focused primarily on the cradle of Americana, the U.S., although the global influence cannot be underestimated. Traveling American artists find themselves with a ready and widening foreign market (oftentimes bigger than that at home) and visiting artists to The States face an open, if passionate and discerning, fanbase.

This global influence cannot be overemphasized, and I will address global Americana and roots bands in an upcoming post. Suffice to say, as might Ron Burgundy, globaly Americana is kind of a big deal.

The stylistic range and creative hunger embodies in these 10 following selections prove why the global appeal is occuring. Focus on songcraft and musicianship over studio trickery and hype alone is the lifeblood. Authenticity is a slippery concept bandied around to describe forms of music from hip-hop to punk where fakery and exploitation os trends is called out loud and mercilessly. And rightly so.

As our world slips further into digital version of the Greek myth of Narcissus, with the smartphone display as a glassy reflecting pool we longingly gaze into, we suffer a kind of cultural sickness. A sickness that ironically great song, itself a kind of Narcissism, can remind us of a shared yet isolated identity that happens when we hear it.

This crafting of shared narratives can slip from description of our journey tp prescriptive of our route. The current division within the U.S. (also largely fueled by technology) builds walls from our precious ideas separating us from understanding and, quite possibly, a change in perspective.

Whether you’re Billy Bragg or Ted Nugent, there’s a professional risk in wearing your ideology on your guitar strap. I applaud the professional stakes in the effort , but “This Land is Your Land” and “Blowin’ in the Wind’ are treasures precisely because they are the rare example of allegory over sermon that can move people.

The current charged political climate might compel artists to stretch their populist wings and create more topical songs. But many, even those that tenuously reflect my contradictory views, are little more than soapbox serenade slumming under the window of simple-minded politics, that constricts the mind instead of opening it.

2017 was another year of lost legends – Gregg Allman, Chuck Berry, Butch Trucks, Greg Trooper, guitarist Bob Wooton, Jimmy LaFave, Glen Campbell, Don Williams, Mel Tillis, Richard Dobson and others remind us how daunting their talent was and how
fleeting life is. Let’s hope for a calmer 2018.

Criteria – Calendar year 2017. No EPs, live, covers or re-release albums no matter how awesome.

Don’t see your favorite represented? Leave it in the comments, and here’s to a new year of Twang.

Zephaniah OHora – ‘This Highway’buy
If Zephaniah OHora didn’t exist he would have to be created. The mustache, slicked do, Man-in-Black wardrobe and a name right out of the Old Testament makes OHora gives the impression of a man right out of Country music central casting. But his full-length debut leaves no doubt that he’s a disciple of the classic era of Nashville Sound and Bakersfield honky-tonk and he’s here to testify to its righteousness. Songs like “I Do Believe I’ve Had Enough,” “I Can’t Let Go (Even Though I Set You Free)” and “She’s Leaving In The Morning,” evoke dark and smokey bars where tears poor like the tap beer. Is he putting us on? Perhaps, but I’m a believer.

Colter Wall – self-titled – buy
This sparse full-length debut from the man from Swift Current, Saskatchewan belies his 22 years on this planet. Produced by the hillbilly whisperer Dave Cobb songs like “Thirteen Silver Dollars” and ‘Motorcycle’ offer up a busted lip smile to world-weary vocals. Transistor radio static and train whistles intersperse with deft finger-picking across 11 dusty gems that pushes and pulls at the boundaries of Country and folk casting the mind back to a mythological romance of cowboy laments and hobo serenades.

Angaleena Presley – ‘Wrangled’ – buy
For her second solo venture the extraordinary Ms. Presley invited Pistol Annies co-conspirators Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe as well as Chris Stapleton, Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson, Vanessa Olivarez as well as legendary Texas singer/songwriter Guy Clark on what would prove to be his final completed song ( “Cheer Up Little Darling.”) The result is a deft collection of sonic vignettes tracking the unique female narrative of broken dreams, busted hearts, babies having babies and kicking against the small-town hairsprayed Harpies bent on tearing her down. Presley has provided a perfect example of female fortitude, not by penning platitudes of empowerment, but by creating a compelling album that pushes Country music forward while paying respects to the past and celebrates the mess that is life.

Sunny Sweeney – ‘Trophy’ – buy
Texas singer/songwriter Sunny Sweeney has sometimes danced closely to becoming another country music blonde hell-bent to get a foothold in the mainstream country radio badlands. Good thing she didn’t break big or her fourth studio album ‘Trophy’ might not have been made. (Though I’m sure at this point she’d prefer being on the road in a tour bus headed to one of her many shows she plays each year) Barroom laments that save a stool for misery like ‘Pass the Pain’ or as songs starkly confessional Lori McKenna co-write “Bottle By My Bed” have no place on the good-timing party seeping from contemporary Country speakers. Not to suggest all is dour here, the barn-burner ‘Better Bad Idea’ and the slinkily, smoldering title cut has the same depth but with wry smile and plenty of fuel to get those boots tapping. The chops Sweeney picked up in Nashville is in display but done in compelling and a way that feels as real as it does entertaining.

Nicole Atkins – ‘Goodnight Rhonda Lee’ – buy
New Jersey’s Nicole Atkins’ fourth album, Goodnight Rhonda Lee is a fantastic study in facing adversity and embedding it in adult roots pop in the vein of Patsy Cline era Nashville Sound and Dusty Springfield’s ‘….in Memphis’ era. The songs are deeper, more sophisticated yet more playful than her earlier work. The brilliant opening track, “A Little Crazy,” is a torchy little gem co-written with fellow neo-trad afficiend Chris Isaak pulls your heart out through the speakers as Atkins’ voice soars along with a string section and pedal steel. The title track is a reverb drenched down old Mexico way that evokes Marty Robbins best-known El Paso. ‘Goodnight Rhonda Lee’ at its heart might be retro but to stop there would be unfair to this daunting effort.

Whiskey Shivers – ‘Some Part of Something’ – buy
Texas junkyard bluegrass outfit Whiskey Shivers kicked my ass when I saw them live. ‘Some Part of Something’ comes damn near to that ass-kicking moment. The opener ‘Cluck Ol’ Hen’ is a slinking slice of Southern gothic greatness that could easily come from the book of Brooklyn’s O Death. The bluegrass heat gets turnt up high on ‘Like A Stone’ and ‘Long Gone’ careening down a one-lane road with a rock slide of melody on one side and an open ledge of potential peril on the other. Fans of Split Lip Rayfield and The Meat Purveyors rejoice

Tyler Childers – ‘Purgatory’ – buy
Yes, yes you’ve heard that Tyler Childers’ ‘Purgatory’ was co-produced by Sturgill Simpson, but that’s the least interesting this about this starting debut. Like the best of the mongrel form known as Americana it’s hard to draw a hard line where 70’s Country music Gold , folk and Bluegrass reside. And that’s just in the album opener ‘I Swear (To God)’ that contains enough drug references that would make Hank III look for the local 12-step program.’Whitehouse Road’ is another tale of hard times and hard living with a Waylon-esque confidence and what I noticed was a distinct sound of a Jew’s harp. Childers’ ‘Purgatory’ take on the darkness of drug addiction, poverty, and murder is are lived-in tales of biting sincerity and musical aplomb that casts an eye to the legacy of roots music as it blazes its own trail.

Ray Wylie Hubbard – “Tell the Devil I’m Getting There as Fast as I Can.” – buy
On his 16th studio album Hubbard stays firmly in the groove he’s made since 2006’s ‘Snake Farm.’ Like fellow traveler Lucinda Williams (who makes an appearance on the title song) Hubbard has found a late-career sonic refuge in the blues. “Tell the Devil…’ is more tales of women, reptiles, voodoo, grease and tube amps – the stuff of life on the road he knows well. The Big Guy is is busy in the opener ‘God Looked Around’ that’s a tremolo tale that owes as much to the book of Lightnin’ Hopkins as it does the Book of Genesis. In my opinion Hubbard is Texas own Poet Laureate and the words that build “Tell the Devil…’ prove it’s so.

Lillie Mae – ‘Forever and Then Some’ – buy
Lillie Mae might have been Jack White’s go-to fiddle and mandolin player but on her debut she’s firmly placed herself as a formidable talent. The glorious roots-rock opener ‘Over the Hill and Through the Woods’ is like a lost cu from mid-70’s Neil Young and ‘Honky Tonks and Taverns’ is a stright-up two-stepper with Mae vocal pitching change remiecent of a yodel. LAike White, who produced ‘Forever and Then Some’ Lillie Mae carries an appreciation for past forms while not being slavishly dogmatic in her work.

Malcolm Holcombe – ‘Pretty Little Troubles’ – buy
Malcolm Holcombe 12th release of new music has him working with long-time co-conspirator in roots music Darrell Scott as producer and the results is nothing short of breathtaking. Holcombe’s backroad gravel vocals is the perfect vehicle for these sparse reflections on the world. On the album opener ‘Crippled Point O’ View’ b’s lyrics are indirect sketches of a troubled world and the imperfections of a human vehicle observing it
‘my tongue is quick to tangle speed, and douse the lights within, and burn my self respect to death, and warm my hands again. ‘Pretty Little Troubles’ is an organic gritty glory of listening pleasure of roots music and great songwriting from a master.