Listen to my favorite tracks off each album on my Spotify or Tidal playlists! Updated weekly with all the best new country, Americana, and whatever else I feel like — this is music like your life depends on it.
John R Miller — Heat Comes Down
Country music is usually considered a soundtrack of wide open spaces and hostile landscapes. In Heat Comes Down, John R Miller provides a soundtrack to exploring the true final frontier: the mind. On songs like “Nobody Has to Know Your Mind” and “Insomnia Blues,” Miller’s storytelling unfurls effortlessly. When Miller gets personal with “Basements,” a memoir of misspent youth worshiping at the altar of rock’n’roll, we border on the sublime. Miller and his crackshot band cut loose, too, of course, on “Conspiracies, Cults, and UFOs.” Heat Comes Down is the fruit of years of hard touring and thankless shows, and it’s one of the best albums this year.
Jon Dell — I Love You & Wish You The Best
Jon Dell (formerly known as Brooklyn’s own Bonehart Flannigan) gets intimate on I Love You & Wish You The Best. The Americana veteran displays a warmth and affection for all people, no matter how flawed or desperate they may seem. This is why Dell excels at story songs, with “The Man in the Black Felt Hat,” “Second Hand Stan,” and “The Hangin’ Wall” reminding us to be patient with others. When Dell translates that care into his plea for peace on “Take Me Away,” it’s electrifying.
Alice Gerrard — Sun to Sun
It’s not like Alice Gerrard, a legend of folk and bluegrass revival, has anything to prove. And maybe that’s why her most recent album, Sun to Sun, is so casually magnificent. Gerrard was a feminist trailblazer in the boys’ club of old time music, and Sun to Sun showcases her life’s work of marrying ancestral melodies to urgent current events. The title track is a searing indictment of our current political paralysis in the face of obvious danger, while “How Can I Keep From Fishing” is humorous and more powerful than an anti-capitalist screed. “Old Jim Crow” stands to be the highlight of the album, a rollicking ballad whose music cleverly subverts the lyrics of the shambling zombie of white supremacy that we can never quite kill. On the other end, songs like “You And Me” impart gorgeous wisdom from someone who has lived long and lived well.
Delaney Ramsdell — Rambler
Delaney Ramsdell makes a splash with her debut collection, Rambler. Part of a growing cohort of serious songwriters coming out of Nashville’s Belmont University music program, Ramsdell’s voice is imbued with certainty, confidence, and a special crystal-clear quality. Ramsdell’s unique vocals shine on the acoustic “Kitchen Sink” and driving “Travelin’ Light,” which gives the 7-track EP its name. There are other spots on the album, like the rocker “Withdrawal,” where Ramsdell could use a sharper edge — but that will come with time. For now, Rambler will ensure that you keep an eye out for Ramsdell as she continues to live life and develop her voice — singing, writing, and otherwise.
Sean Burns — Lost Country
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again but Canadians just do country music better than we do. Sean Burns seeks to memorialize that on Lost Country, an album of covers by Canadian honky-tonk artists who never quite got their due in Canada or beyond. These songs transcend time (though their attitudes towards women might not) with startling imagery and airtight lyrics. “Destroy Me” leverages the big band sound of yore into a tale of woe. “Before She Made Me Crawl” is vivid in its imagery of a man brought low by a cold and unforgiving partner. These are songs of booze, blacktop, and the vagaries of the classic age of country music. Burns’ voice has a distinctive rasp that pulls us back to contemporary times, adding a rock’n’roll dusting to songs that uplift hope and missing the mark.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify or Tidal.