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.
Grant Glad — One Man’s Story
On his new album One Man’s Story, Grant Glad cuts close to the bone. Backed by the majestic Soo Line Loons (I guess Grant is more of the front person in this project, because he’s also part of the band), this album has two of the best Americana impulses: stark storytelling about the good times and regrets — and flowing string arrangements that elevate all-too-common stories of loss and wasted potential. Perhaps the best dichotomy here is the ’90s alt-rock inflected “When It’s Gonna End” with the somber spoken word “The Night Before Thanksgiving.” These emotions might conflict, but it’s all the truth.
Frat Mouse — flea house
Look, who doesn’t love listening to anthemic punk about the alienation of youth and lost friendships? Nobody here, because that’s why you’re reading this blog. But I was drawn to Frat Mouse because there is a certain off-kilter element to their music that reminds me of Ryan Davis/State Champion. Frat Mouse brings some LA slickness to their sound but even amongst the production, there is a vulnerability and rawness that makes flea house feel brutally honest.
Hannah Kaminer — Heavy on the Vine
Hannah Kaminer hits hard on Heavy on the Vine. From the first track, “Asheville,” lamenting the waste and homogenization of gentrification, we see that Kaminer is a sharp observer with a clear vision. From there, Heavy on the Vine softens its edges. While there are strong lyrical ideas throughout the album, some songs felt more definitive than others. The ones that broke through, though, were really excellent. “Irene (It’s a Big Old World)” is as charming a courtship song as any, and the title track is arresting, an important breath to remind us of the splendors in front of us and how there’s never enough time to enjoy them.
Old Heavy Hands — Small Fires
It would be really, really difficult to make an album that was more catered to my tastes. As I said when we premiered “Shelter Me,” this is the Southern punk rock amalgamation that Americana used to be before it got gentrified. Old Heavy Hands bring a sense of immediacy and well-traveled resignation to their rock’n’roll. The songs are resplendent in irresistible hooks and ’90s post-grunge harmonies that bring bands like Tonic, Pearl Jam, and the Gin Blossoms to mind. These are songs of loss and disappointment but, most importantly, carrying on in spite of it all.
Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band — Dancing on the Edge
There’s only one guy who can open his slacker folk punk album with an 8-minute song and that’s Ryan Davis, formerly of my beloved State Champ. (In over ten years of Adobe & Teardrops, Deep Shit is one of my all-time favorites.) This is Davis’s first solo album, and a return to songwriting after creating a lot of instrumental work. That expansiveness plays a large role in Dancing on the Edge, with collaborators Joan Shelley, Catherine Irwin (Freakwater), Will Lawrence (Felice Brothers, Gun Outfit, John Early), Jenny Rose (Giving Up), Christopher May (Mail the Horse), Elisabeth Fuchsia (Footings, Bonnie “Prince” Billy), and Aaron Rosenblum adding their own well-practiced flourishes of off-kilter folk music. As always, the songs are esoteric and multi-layered, a hangdog view of life that is worth many many returns to uncover its riches.
You can check out tracks by these artists and more on the Adobe & Teardrops playlist — on Spotify or Tidal.