I want to try something new, where I include a transcript and timestamp with each episode!
New website, who dis? Do you like the new podcast logo? Me, too! Wanna wear it! You can! If you go to the brand new Adobe & Teardrops website, you can grab some cool merch. It’s print-on-demand, too, so it’s environmentally efficient!
Along with the new site, I’m looking at ways to revamp the podcast, too. I’m thinking of making it less of a radio show, like it has been, and having it be a little more…themed? Each episode? I’m also going to cut it down to 6 songs an episode, which would make it a nice crisp 40 minutes. For Patreon subscribers, I’d include extra songs by other artists. But you’re the one listening here, so tell me what you think.
With that being said, I’m going to make this episode a little bit LONGER than planned. I’m truly sickened by last night’s attacks on Asian American Pacific Islander women in Atlanta, and that this killing spree isn’t being treated like a hate crime. In this country, AAPI people are treated like model or even invisible minorities, and we like to forget that they are targets for violence like anyone else who isn’t white. I wanted to do a set featuring AAPI Americana artists, but I could only think of three singers. And that should tell us something about how anti-Asian bias impacts Americana music, just in case you were wondering why I’m talking about this on a music podcast.
So first up is Gabe Lee, who just re-recorded his song “Ol’ Smokey” with a full band. As you’ll hear, he has a truly incredible voice.
- Gabe Lee — “Ol’ Smokey (Reimagined)” (Single) (2:49)
- Mercy Bell — “Black Dress” (All Good Cowboys) (6:40)
- Amina Shareef Ali — “Farewell to My Man” (In the Dark (Awake of Course)) (11:26)
(15:44) And, of course, we heard from Mercy Bell’s album All Good Cowboys and her incredible song “Black Dress.” And we closed it out with “Farewell to My Man” by Amina Shareef Ali, off her upcoming album In the Dark (Awake Of Course.) That’ll be out on March 29th.
Moving on to our scheduled programming, we have lots of good country-Western music this week, plus some more adventurous stuff! We’ll start it out with Morgan Wade’s album Reckless, who I think is the new face of outlaw country. In No Depression, I wrote about how she reminds me of Ashley McBryde, and that her radical vulnerability and grittiness is far more transgressive than what we usually think of when we think of outlaw country. Patreon subscribers will listen to the much poppier “Last Cigarette” by way of contrast. Rob Leines is one of those classic outlaws, though, and his new album is a party and a half. And sometimes you need that! We’ll listen to “Saturday Night,” Patreon subscribers will get “Hold On,” and both are from Blood, Sweat, and Beer which is out this week.
- Morgan Wade — “Other Side” (16:26) (Reckless)
- Rob Leines — “Saturday Night” (19:35) (Blood, Sweat, and Beer)
- Royal Horses — “Time Wounds All Heals” (Single) (24:10)
- Sam C. Jones — “Born to Love You” (Single) (27:44)
(31:02) Fun set, right? We kept the party going with Royal Horses and their single “Time Wounds All Heals,” and rounded it out with Sam C. Jones’ vintage-style single “Born to Love You.”
Up next is my album of the week, which I also wrote up in No Depression. I can’t say enough that Melissa Carper is so freakin smart. Daddy’s Country Gold is vintage-style excellence, but it also subverts classic country music and insist on adding a queer presence there. As we’ll see on “Makin’ Memories,” a lot of this album is about questioning the past, and what really happened, and maybe seeing new things in it that we didn’t before. Patreon subscribes will also get to listen to “Back When.” We’ll follow Melissa up with fellow Texas musician Mandy Rowden, whose voice I’ve adored for a long time. We’ll start it off with “Ghosts on the Arkansas,” Patreon subscribers will listen to “She Only Loves Me When She’s Lonely,” and both are from her new album Parachute.
- Melissa Carper — “Makin’ Memories” (31:56) (Daddy’s Country Gold)
- Mandy Rowden — “Ghosts on the Arkansas” (35:48) (Parachute)
- The Heels — “High Heels On” (Single) (40:36)
- Deadass Dobro — “Through the Night” (Single) (43:23)
(48:07) “High Heels On” is by, appropriately enough, The Heels, a Canadian country band. Good luck getting it out of your head because I know I haven’t been able to in the two months since I’ve heard it. And we rounded the set out with another song by Austrian classic country group Deadass Dobro, “Through the Night.”
Our last set for today is gonna have some more…adventurous, shall we say?…music. We’ll kick it off with the now-defunct trans Jewish folk punk group Schmeckel and “FTM at the DMV” from their 2014 album The Whale That Ate Jonah. Patreon subscribers will keep the soft mosh pit going with “Gay Shame.” Then we’ll get into the new album by veteran indie rocker Janet Simpson and the song “Nashville Girls.” Patreon subscribers, you’re gonna zone out to “Mountain,” both off of Safe Distance.
- Schmekel — “FTM at the DMV”(48:54) (The Whale That Ate Jonah)
- Janet Simpson — “Nashville Girls” (50:11) (Safe Distance)
- Samhain — “Let the Horses Run” (Single) (53:07)
- Ontarians — “No Regrets” (The Greatest Short Story Never Told) (57:22)
(1:00:54) Yep, that was a prog folk song. It was “Let the Horses Run” by Samhain, and it’s another one that’s been haunting me for the past few weeks. We rounded the set out with last week’s listener favorite, “No Regrets” by the Ontarians.
Before we head out, thanks so much for listening! You can support the podcast through Patreon, Ko-fi, or buying some cool swag! Thanks to Alma Contra for the intro, and thanks to Two Cow Garage for letting us use “Stars and Gutters.”
Our last artist is Yasmin Williams, who is a Black guitarist specializing in tapping. I learned about her in an interview featured on Bandcamp, and the music is stunning. We’ll float off on her song “Adrift,” which features cellist Taryn Wood. It’s from her new album Urban Driftwood.
With that, be safe out there and take care of each other! In music we trust, in music we believe.
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