Hey there, Teardrops! Hope you’ve been enjoying that brief preview of Spring we had as we slide on into summer. I’m super excited about Pride coming up, and I’m looking forward to having some good queer hangouts over Memorial Day weekend. Speaking of queer hangouts, my stat lines on my queer softball team are not particularly distinguished, but that’s part of the beauty of baseball, as Kasey Anderson and I discussed on last week’s episode: the stats don’t look great but the walk I had in the first game set us up for some key runs, leading to our first win of the season. In the second game, I tagged someone out at home in a tight play. Even though there was no way we were going to beat that team, it was an exciting moment all around.
But I’ll be honest: in terms of mental health, May was a tough one for me. I don’t have a real explanation for why, or what triggered it, but I spent a lot of it in a depression funk. My therapist pointed out that a lot of her clients were feeling that way this month. I think it was, in part, the fact that things are feeling “normal” but they actually aren’t. The numbers are still high, there are still way too few people getting vaccinated, I’m still in my house pretty much all day. (I won’t go back to work ‘til August, and even then it’ll only be twice a week.) And we all have so much grieving to do, one way or another.
So this episode will get into all of those conflicting emotions: the May music roundup. You’ll notice that Allison Russell’s album isn’t here — I didn’t have access to it until it came out, and I feel like I need to be in a certain headspace to really dig into it, but I will definitely cover the album at a later date!
With that being said, let’s dig into what else came out this month that was really great. We’ll start with Travis Linville and his new album I’m Still Here, off of friend of the pod Black Mesa Records. Linville is based in Oklahoma and worked with some real heavy hitters on this album, like Natalie Hemby. The overall vibe is like a more reflective Tom Petty. A lot of the songs are about absence and feeling a sense of place, and each song is pop music-perfect. Then we’ll get into some new songs by Johno Roberts, the former lead singer of the Hang Rounders. I meant to play these a while ago, so even though they’re not May releases, I’m making up for lost time here.
So let’s start with “See You Around,” and Patreon subscribers will listen to “I Saw You,” both from Travis Linville’s I’m Still Here.
- Travis Linville — “See You Around” (I’m Still Here) (3:41)
- Johno Roberts — “Reflections of Me” (Single) (6:58)
That was “Reflections Of Me” off of Johno Roberts’ upcoming album, and Patreon subscribers heard “Road.”
Next up is my favorite album of the month, which came out on the 7th: Maia Sharp’s Mercy Rising. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to “You’ll Know Who Knows You.” This is a really sexy song, something that to me has an ineffably queer, nay, lesbian, aesthetic.
The whole album is incredible; a sort of Neil Young influence, yes, but so confident and experimental and uniquely Sharp’s. Patreon subscribers will listen to the experimental “When the World Doesn’t End,” featuring PJ Pacifico.
- Maia Sharp — “You’ll Know Who Knows You” (Mercy Rising) (10:50)
- Volk — “I Fed Animals” (Cashville) (14:50)
We ended that little set with Nashville cowpunk band Volk and “I Fed Animals.” That’s off their absolutely rip-roaring new album Cashville.
Next up is Lindsay Ellyn’s Queen of Nothing, which came out two weeks ago. It really was impossible to choose just one…you gotta check this album out. It’s my second-favorite album of the month. “Pieces of Things” has some gorgeous storytelling, so I wanted to highlight it. But the majority of the album is a gritty Tom Petty-esque sound, as Patreon listeners will hear on “Dirty Fingers.” This one is on my shortlist for Album of the Year.
- Lindsay Ellyn — “Pieces of Things” (Queen of Nothing) (19:16)
- Robert Finley — “My Story” (Sharecropper’s Son) (23:16)
After Lindsay Ellyn, we listened to “My Story” off of Robert Finley’s Sharecropper’s Son. The song pretty much tells you what you need to know about this remarkable man. This is his debut album, produced by Dan Auerbach, who’s really been on a hot streak with scouting talent and helping them flourish.
Before we head out, some housekeeping notes! Rainbow Rodeo, the world’s first known queer country magazine, is on sale now, in time for pride! You can also grab t-shirts, hats, and tote bags with the Adobe & Teardrops logo is on it. Or, you can sustain this podcast by encouraging others to listen, dropping a few bucks on my Ko-Fi, or signing up for the Patreon. You can learn more about me and all of my many project sby clicking on the linktree in my bio. Thanks to Alma Contra for putting together the intro and Two Cow Garage for letting me use the opening music.
Next week is June, which means it’s Pride! I’ll be interviewing Adeem the Artist, who is going to be opening for American Aquarium in September, and we trade some of our favorite queer country songs.
We’ll conclude our May music roundup with Eddie 9-Volt. Eddie’s an old soul, who dropped out of high school at the age of 15 to play blues guitar. Seriously. His new album Little Black Flies is a scorcher, and when you hear it, Eddie’s decision sure made a lot of sense. He’s 24 now, but Little Black Flies feels like it’s from way longer ago. We’ll get a load of “3 Am in Chicago” from Little Black Flies, which is out today.
In music we trust, in music we believe. See you next week with Adeem!
- Eddie 9-Volt — “3 AM in Chicago” (Little Black Flies) (28:17)
Next week’s topic: Queer Pride! w/ Adeem the Artist
Podcast intro by Alma Contra, music from Two Cow Garage’s “Stars & Gutters”
Send me music via SubmitHub! Send me money via Ko-fi or Patreon. Find Rachel and her comic via https://linktr.ee/rachel.cholst