Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2017

Wanted! - Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2017

2016 was another great year for Americana and roots music, and 2017 shows signs that the great music will continue to come our way. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from last year makes plain we might be experiencing a new golden age of roots music/ Both as a growing influence on our contemporary culture and also as a viable, business for young and old artists to sustain themselves and thrive.

That last part is crucial as it provides economic and influential seed corn for the future ‘Cream of the Crop’ year-end best of collections.

The list below is a collection of known 2017 notable Americana / roots releases. Some anticipated releases from artists like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and The Secret Sisters have no release dates yet, but when I become aware of them and others I will be updating the list throughout the year and will send word through my twitter account when I do.

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

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

January 13th –
The Band of Heathens – ‘Duende’
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings – ‘Kings and Kings’
Otis Gibbs – ‘Mount Renraw’

January 20th –
Kasey Chambers – ‘Dragonfly’
The Show Ponies – How It All Goes Down’
Rayna Gellert – ‘Workin’s Too Hard’

January 27th –
Delbert McClinton – ‘Prick Of The Litter’
Tift Merritt – ‘Stitch of the World’
Valerie June – ‘The Order of Time’
Bankesters – ‘Nightbird’
Dead Man Winter – ‘Furnace’

February 3rd –
Ags Connolly – ‘Nothin’ Unexpected’
Gurf Morlix – ‘The Soul & The Heal’
Mitch Dean –‘Suburban Speakeasy’
Rose Cousins – ‘Natural Conclusion’
Caroline Spence – ‘Spades & Roses’

February 10th –
Kris Kristofferson – The Austin Sessions (Expanded Edition)

February 17th –
Alison Krauss – ‘Windy City’
Nikki Lane – ‘Highway Queen’
Pegi Young & The Survivors – ‘Raw’
Son Volt – ‘Notes Of Blue’
Son of the Velvet Rat – ‘Dorado’
Blair Crimmins – ‘You Gotta Sell Something’
The Gibson Brothers – “In The Ground”

February 24th –
Curtis McMurtry – ‘The Hornet’s Nest’
Rhiannon Giddens – ‘Freedom Highway’
Old 97s – ‘Graveyard Whistling’
Scott H. Biram – “The Bad Testament”
Shinyribs – “I Got Your Medicine”
Aaron Watson – “Vaquero”

March 3rd –
Grandaddy – ‘Last Place’
Beth Bombara – ‘Map With No Direction ‘

March 10th –
Sunny Sweeney – “Trophy’
Pieta Brown – “Postcards”

March 24th –
Jessi Colter – ‘The Psalms’
Samantha Crain – ‘You Had Me At Goodbye’

March 31st –
Rodney Crowell – ‘Close Ties”
David Olney – “Don’t Try To Fight It”
Dead Soldiers – “The Great Emptiness”
Shoddy Blacktooth — “Don’t Forget To Die”

April 7th
Malcolm Holcombe – ‘Pretty Little Troubles’
Andrew Combs – “Canyons Of My Mind”

April 14th
Evening Darling – “Evening Darling’

April 21st –
Angaleena Presley – ‘Wrangled’

May 5th
Chris Stapleton – ‘From a Room: Volume 1’

May 19th
Builders and the Butchers – ‘The Spark’
Pokey LaFarge – ‘Manic Revelations’
Tom Russell – ‘Play One More: The Songs Of Ian And Sylvia’

May 26th
Justin Townes Earle – ‘Kids in the Street’

June 2nd –
Bobby Osborne – ‘Original’

June 9th –
The Secret Sisters – ‘You Don’t Own Me Anymore’
Shannon McNally – ‘Black Irish’

June 16th –
Sammy Brue – ‘I Am Nice’

June 23rd –
The Deslondes – ‘Hurry Home’
Slaid Cleaves – ‘Ghost on the Car Radio’

July 7th –
Randall Bramblett – ‘Juke Joint At The Edge Of The World’

July 14th –
Cale Tyson – ‘Careless Soul’

July 21st –
Whiskey Shivers – ‘Some Part of Something”

August 4th
Tyler Childers – ‘Purgatory’

August 18th
Loretta Lynn – ‘Wouldn’t It Be Great’ POSTPONED
Ray Wylie Hubbard – ‘Tell the Devil I’m Getting There as Fast as I Can’

September 8th
Caroline Reese – ‘Two Horses’ EP

September 15th
Willie Watson – ‘Folksinger Vol. 2’
The Lone Bellow – ‘Walk Into A Storm’

September 22nd
Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers – “The Long-Awaited Album”
Billy Strings – ‘Turmoil & Tinfoil’

September 29th
Anna Tivel – “Small Believer”

October 6th
Whitney Rose – ‘Rule 62’
JD McPherson – ‘Undivided Heart and Soul’
Becca Mancari – ‘Good Woman’

October 13th
Hellbound Glory – ‘Pinball’
Caleb Cladry – ‘Invincible Things’

October 16th
Gill Landry – ‘Love Rides A Dark Horse’

October 20th
Turnpike Troubadours – ‘A Long Way From Your Heart’
Dori Freeman – ‘Letters Never Read’

October 27th
Lee Ann Womack – ‘The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone’
Ronnie Fauss – ‘Last of the True’
The Wailin’ Jennys – ‘Fifteen’
The Deep Dark Woods – ‘Yarrow’

October 31st
Year of October – ‘Trouble Comes’

November 3rd
Samantha Fish – ‘Belle of the West’
Anna St. Louis – “First Songs’
Scott Miller – ‘Ladies Auxiliary’

November 17th
Mavis Staples – ‘If All I Was Was Black’

December
Chris Stapleton – ‘From a Room: Volume 2’

December 8th
Robert Ellis and Courtney Hartman – ‘Dear John’

News Round-Up: Merle Haggard and Scott H. Biram Prepare Fall Releases

There are a coupe of new releases upcoming that I am really anticipating…

Legendary country stalwart Merle Haggard will release ‘Working in Tennessee,’ on October 4,  his second on the Vanguard Records label.

The Hag penned nine of the 11 tracks on the on the album and jsut as on 2010’s I Am What I Am he invites his wife Theresa to provide vocals on the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash classic hit, Jackson. Merle’s son Ben Haggard also joins his father by providing his adroit tele work and Willie Nelson joins on an updated version of Merle’s ‘Workin’ Man Blues.’
Despite his 2008 lung cancer diagnosis, with part of his lung being removed, the 74-year-old hasn’t lost his voice. “I’m swinging back in full throttle right now,” he insists. “Music keeps me alive. It makes me breathe better … It’s funny, but I feel better when I come off a tour than when I start out.”

Merle has been confirmed to perform at the legendary Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park on October 1st. Check Merle’s other tour dates:

‘Working in Tennessee’ Track Listing:

1. ‘Working in Tennessee’ (Merle Haggard)
2. ‘Down on the Houseboat’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
3. ‘Cocaine Blues’ (TJ Arnall)
4. ‘What I Hate’ (Merle Haggard)
5. ‘Sometimes I Dream’ (Merle Haggard, Jenessa Haggard)
6. ‘Under the Bridge’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard)
7. ‘Too Much Boogie Woogie’ (Merle Haggard)
8. ‘Truck Driver’s Blues’ (Merle Haggard, Tim Howard)
9. ‘Laugh It Off’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
10. ‘Working Man Blues’ (Merle Haggard)
11. ‘Jackson’ (Billy Edd Wheeler, Gaby Rodgers)

 

And that Dirty Ol’ One Man Band from Texas, Scott H. Biram, will release his fourth full-length for Bloodshot Records, Bad Ingredients on October 11th on CD, vinyl LP, and digital download. Bad Ingredients was recorded at Biram’s home studio in Austin, Texas and mastered by Jerry Tubb of Terra Nova Mastering (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam), Bad Ingredients delivers SHB’s classic throat-stomping style (“Dontcha Lie To Me Baby” and “Victory Song”), but showcases a more mature songwriter-both lyrically and musically. It’s Biram at his quietest, but don’t worry, Hiram Biram still raises plenty a ruckus on his ’59 hollowbody Gibson and stomp board. But the best way to experience Biram is live, go check his schedule and see him if you can.

10 Spooky Gothic Country Halloween Songs

Despite Nashville’s best efforts to sanitize it for mass-consumption country and roots music has a long history of dealing with the dark side of life. Murder, violence, inebriation, the Devil, graveyards -  all the classic themes that also weave through All Hallows Eve are there. Hard times,  hard feelings and the tension between a righteous life and the tugs of temptation have led to some of the best music made. Gothic Country bands revel in dark misery like Carrie White drenched in pig’s blood. Except without all the telekinetic smiting. Enjoy!

10.  Those Poor Bastards: This World Is Evil -  There are few Gothic Country bands thatrepresent the genre so thouroughly as TPB. This World Is Evil is a prime example of the wretched wonder that they bring to thir live show.

9.  Reverend Glasseye: 17 Lashes 17 Lashes is a horns-driven dark sea shanty by Austin-based Rev. Glasseye (Adam Glasseye ex-member of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club) worthy of going down with the ship with.

8.  Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots: Amen Corner – This is a side project for Munly Munly, the front man for Slim Cessna’s Auto Club. It’s a yelping slice of brooding goodness.

7.  Sixteen Horsepower: Wayfaring Stranger – This is a live version of  Wayfaring Stranger from Club Lek, January 26 2000. 16 HP is no longer a band but this is a great testament of a man meeting his maker.

6. Scott H Biram: Blood, Sweat & Murder – Austin’s Dirty Ol’ One Man Band’s excellent gutbucket murder tune.

5. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers:  Agony Wagon – Part Western-noir and part klezmer band Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers’ Agony Wagon is a frantic plummet into the pit of hell.

4. Creech Holler: Pretty Polly -A gritty take on the traditional English-language murder ballad.

3. Strawfoot: Churchyard Cough – A rousing Irish jig about the dirt nap from this fine band’s upcoming release How We Prospered.

2. Pine Box Boys: I Kept Her Heart – A boot stomping take on the murder ballad from this great San Francisco-based band.

1. O’Death: Low Tide – More frantic mayhem and doom from this New York band on what could be thier best song.

Google Launches Music Search With MySpace, Lala, Pandora, and More – http://bit.ly/Eu5PS

No Depression Releases Online Archive

  • Just in time for their return to the stage the Minneapolis-based Jayhawks Music From the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology, their first ever compilation reflecting 20 signature songs and album tracks that span from their 1989 debut, Blue Earth, to 2003’s Rainy Day Music, is released today on American/Legacy Recordings.Reda a blogcrtics review of the album here.
  • Texas music legend George Strait will release his new album Twang (great name!) in stores and online August 11th. Out Of Sight Out Of Mind and Living For The Night were co-written by George’s son Bubba and Arkansas Dave was solely by Bubba. The title song and I Gotta Get To You is co-written by Americana legend Jim Lauderdale.
  • HearYa.com reviews Texas musician Scott H. Biram’s latest Bloodshot Records release Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever.
  • Remember that old article on the Bottle Rockets you saw in No Depression years ago? Now where do you put that darn thing? No need to fret, NoDepression.com has released their full archives online for your reading pleasure.

Steve Earle Interview on Canada’s The Hour

The Canadian late night talk show the Hour has a great interview with Steve Earle.  Earle talks abut making his career and his newest release Townes, a tribute to his mentor Townes Van Zandt and recounts some great stories with his time with Townes. The snake wrangler story is worth the watch!

Jim Fusilli at the Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) reviews the Steve Martin Concert at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. Martin, Supported by the Steep Canyon Rangers, performed work from his latest bluegrass release “The Crow—New Songs for the Five-String Banjo” (Rounder)

John Jurgensen, also of the Wall Street Journal,  covers the upcoming Elvis Costello twang-tinged release Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, Costello’s varied career and his thoughts on the current state of the record industry. The album was cut in three day in Nashville and is produced by Americana-roots journeyman T-Bone Burnett (who Costello collaberted with on 1986’s King of America) and featured Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale.

Whitney Self  at the CMT.com blog reviews the recent Jamey Johnson show at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium and and states is the rowdiest (and drunkest)  he’s ever seen at the venue.

AamericanaRoots.com give sa listeds to the new Scott H. Biram Bloodshot release Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever.

Kevin Ransom at Ann Arbor’s Mlive.com interviews Austin’s guit-steel master Junior Brown.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRMNeoaosQw[/youtube]

Benefit Album for Evan Phillips to Be Released

  • NineBullets.net has some good things to say about the new Scott H Biram’s Blooshot Records release Something’s Wrong / Lost Forever.
  • Kelly Dearmore at Twangville.com (no relation) praises the new The Dexateens release Singlewide.
  • A new Magnolia Electric co. album josephine will be released by secretly canadian on july 21st, 2009. Get a free mp3 of the title track over in the Magnolia Electric co.web site. In support the record they’ll head out july 10th on a month long tour crossing the U.S followed by a few weeks of full-band touring in Europe.
  • An benefit album to help Evan Phillips, – the principle songwriter for acclaimed Alaskan alt.country rock band The Whipsaws – pay medical costs associated with a debilitating chronic injury he sustained 7 years ago climbing is tentatively scheduled to release in Alaska and online on June 15. The album features acclaimed roots and alt.country artists like T, Nile, Matt Hopper, Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Devil Whales, Marty Jones and more all covering Phillips songs. Check the official MySpace site for more information and to listen to cuts from featured artists.

Ray Charles Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music VOL 1 & 2 to be Reissued

  • Ray Charles’ classic country masterpieces Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, VOL 1 & 2 to be Reissued by Concord Records – JUNE 2. The two albums, which featured the hits  “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Take These Chains From My Heart” and “You Don’t Know Me,” will be reissued together in an expanded reissue.  New liner notes by musicologist Bill Dahl are included along with  original notes by Rick Ward and Charles’ longtime recording supervisor Sid Feller.
  • The new Bloodshot release by Scott H. Biram, “Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever,” drops today.
  • Here’s an EPK for Levon Helm’s upcoming release Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZDCGCtloQ4[/youtube]

Scott H. Biram Breaks His Damn Leg!

  • Chris Knight has posted a MySpace bulletin that he and his band will be playing a show to benefit the 8th grade class at Slaughters Elementary in his hometown of Slaughters, Kentucky.The show will take place this Saturday, March 7, 2009 @ Webster County High- 1922 US HWY 41 A South, Dixon, KY 7:00 PM — $20.00 – For tickets call (270) 635-5519 or (270) 871-2507
  • Rachel Brooke has a posted a new demo on her MySpace page entitled City Of Shame. Brook writes that the song will most likely be on her upcoming new album.
  • Our thoughts go out to Texas’ own ‘Dirty Old One Man Band’ Scott H Biram who after his last show in Europe suffered a compound fracture in the leg he uses on the his stomp board during performance. He is currently in a French hospital after surgery to implant yet another titanium rod in his leg (where another already exists due to a run in with a Semi a few years back.) It looks like he will be put on a plane home Saturday and can then heal in the good ole USA where its home but where insurance and reasonably priced medical care aren’t available to musicians. Go help the boy out and but some of his CDs and swag!

Wayne Hancock and Scott H. Biram Ready 2009 Releases

  • Wayne “The Train” Hancock announces on his web site that his new release for Bloodshot records “Viper of Melody” is tentatively set to be released in April.  Wayne’s current tour line up of Izzy Zaidman on lead guitar, Huck Johnson on Standup Bass, and Tony Locke on steel guitar will be featured on the release.
  • Scott H. Biram‘s new release, also for Bloodshot records, “Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever” is tentatively set to be released in June. Biram’s past art professor and accomplished artist and graphic designer, Mark Todd, is creating the cover art. Some tracks to be included are “Sinkin’ Down”, “Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue” and “Judgement Day”. The Black Diamond Heavies will appear on a cover of Muddy Waters’ “I Feel So Good” written by Big Bill Broonzy, and John Meyers of The Black Diamond Heavies appears on Biram’s original “Hard Time”. Biram will be touring  Europe  starting on Jan 24th in London and then heading back home to Austin, Texas to play the SXSW festival

New Scott H. Biram Cuts

  • Been craving some fresh tracks from that “dirty old one man band” from Austin, Texas Scott H. Biram? Ivy League Sessions has the remedy for ails you friends. Three unreleased cuts fresh from the man an 18 Wheelercouldn’t kill.
  • Speaking of Austin, the good folks at the exceptional 9513 have a review of Melonie Cannon’s new sophomore release, And the Wheels Turn. 9513 thinks the the release might teach the pop-country divas currently in vogue a thing or two about writing and performing.
  • You know Joe The Plumber, right? Joe Wurzelbacher is the an Ohio plumber (though has no plumber’s license and apparently believes he doesn’t need on) that approached Barack Obama to ask how his tax plans might effect a plumbing company he was looking to buy and was then mentioned by McCain in the the last Presidentail debate 12 times as an example of the working class? Seems he’s using his new found celibrity status to seek a country music recording contract…oh and to bash Obama on Isreal.