Hey, y’all. Sorry you didn’t hear from me last week — I was on vacation and went to my cousin’s wedding in Boston. As a New Yorker, one of my favorite hobbies is shitting on Boston, BUT I did really enjoy the change of scenery and seeing a lot of my friends from college. The wedding, of course, was super fun, and once Rosa and I tie the knot in October, that’ll be it for family weddings for a while.
So, after a week of contemplating marital bliss, here are…some songs about summer flings! Really, the song that inspired this list is our lead-off hitter, Adam Hooks and the Huckleberries’ “Samantha (Bad News)”. I wrote the album, So Far Gone, up when it came out a few months ago. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that when I signed up for SubmitHub a few years ago to get new artist submissions, this was exactly the kind of music I’m looking for — and it’s surprisingly few and far between.
- Adam Hooks and the Huckleberries — “Samantha (Bad News)” (So Far Gone) (01:46)
- The Redhill Valleys — “Finish Line” (Single) (05:06)
I also wrote up The Redhill Valleys’ “Finish Line,” the single off their upcoming album this fall. I’ve listened to some of their other songs and this band is incredible. As you can hear, really smart songwriting, so much energy behind their music, and the slower songs are just as amazing as this rocker. I can’t wait to talk it up.
So for the middle of the episode, let’s get to the morning after. Casual encounters are fun, of course, but sometimes you’re just left needing…more. Emily Duff worked with Eric Ambel (the famed Americana producer) on her previous album Born on the Ground, and the pair teamed up to make more magic with her brand new album Razor Blade Smile. The album is full of anything you need from Americana: humor, gritty guitars, angst, self-doubt, and tales celebrating the weirdos and strangers. Duff’s voice has a rich gravelly tone, which brings these stories to life even more. We’re going to listen to “Don’t Hang the Moon,” but check out the rest of the album for some badass rockers.
- Emily Duff — “Don’t Hang the Moon” (Razor Blade Smile) (10:37)
- Gabe Lee — “Heartbreaker’s Smile” (Honky Tonk Hell) (15:34)
Speaking of badass rockers and incredible voices, that was Gabe Lee with “Heartbreaker’s Smile” from Honky Tonk Hell. I was reminded of Gabe when listening to No-No Boy’s interview on World Cafe, which was absolutely incredible. Like Gabe, Julian Saporiti grew up in Nashville with a fondness for country music, and has had to fight to prove his authenticity every step of the way. This is another album where I picked a slower song, but Honky Tonk Hell has some incredible revival-style honky tonk songs that are, shall we say, sublime.
So I was trying to round out this list and couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head and I was like “Wait a minute — I have 10 years’ worth of music on my hard drive.” So I had a blast randomly skipping around some of the albums that are the very foundations of Adobe & Teardrops, and came across Kent Goolsby’s 2009 album Steel Hearts with his old band The Only Sons. I didn’t realize how much an impact this album had on me; I’ve had all of these songs floating through my head and thought they were either Tim Barry or American Aquarium, or one of the thousands of artists I’ve reviewed and had no hope of every figuring out where it came from. So I’m not sure if “Been Gone” is really about a summer fling, but it rips so we’re listening to it right now.
- The Only Sons — “Been Gone” (Steel Hearts) (21:14)
- Ashley McBryde — “One Night Standard” (Never Will) (23:33)
And, of course, no playlist about summer flings could possibly be complete without Ashley McBryde’s “One Night Standards” from her incredible album Never Will. I’m so glad she’s getting all of the recognition for it!
Before we close out today, thanks as always to Alma Contra for putting the intro together and Two Cow Garage for letting me use “Stars & Gutters.” If you’re in Ohio, they’re throwing their 20th anniversary show in the fall and I need to live vicariously through you.
Send me music through SubmitHub; I have submissions turned off but you’ll get a notification when I turn them on.
You can get Adobe & Teardrops gear on the merch page, or pick up a copy of Rainbow Rodeo, the queer country zine! And you can support the podcast through Ko-Fi and Patreon! Thank you, as always, for listening!
We’ll end this week with a new one from Kate Vargas. I didn’t know she had a new album coming out! I interviewed her on the podcast a little while ago about her writing process, collaboration, her singing voice, and, since we live near each other, she got to come to the studio to record! And by that, I mean my studio apartment. I linked to it in the show notes.
Her new album, Rumpopo, is a really fun, grimy Tom Waits kind of thing. Lots of fun early jazz elements and she really leans into the grit in her voice. Let’s listen to “Honeydripper” from Rumpopop.
In music we trust, in music we believe.
Next week’s topic: July Release Roundup
Podcast intro by Alma Contra, music from Two Cow Garage’s “Stars & Gutters”
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Get A&T gear and Rainbow Rodeo at the merch page!
Send me money via Ko-fi or Patreon. Find Rachel and her comic via https://linktr.ee/rachel.cholst