folk

Dean Owens | El Tiradito (The Curse of Sinner’s Shrine) (2023)

americana, folk-rock, singer-songwriter
May 14, 2023May 14, 2023

Hot on the heels of 2022’s smash Sinner’s Shrine comes its “little brother”. El Tiradito (The Curse Of Sinner’s Shrine) is a double album (2 CDs in a beautifully designed 6 panel digipak), again featuring members of desert noir icons CALEXICO, and recorded partly at WaveLab Studio, Tucson AZ and partly in various home studios from Tucson to Berlin via Pencaitland.
Disc 1 features songs from the long since sold out Desert Trilogy EPs, while Disc 2 is an all new, all instrumental “theme for an imaginary Western” inspired by the story behind Tucson landmark El Tiradito (the Sinner’s Shrine). Stories of love and lust, sinners and saints, the displaced, the wanderers and the border ghosts. Dean Owens

folk, celtic, punk
May 9, 2023May 9, 2023

A collection of B-sides and non-album tracks by Celtic punk favorites The Pogues that originally were released on Stiff Records is being compiled for the first time as a 16-track, 2LP colored-vinyl release for Record Store Day.
Rhino Records release The Stiff Records B-Sides (1984-1987) on black and green marbled vinyl at participating independent record stores in the U.S. and U.K. The double-album collects B-sides from “Dark Streets Of London” and “The Boys From the County Hell,” off 1984’s Red Roses For Me; “Dirty Old Town,” “A Pair Of Brown Eyes” and “Sally MacLennane,” off 1985’s Rum, Sodomy & the Lash; and “Fairytale Of New York,” off 1988’s If I Should Fall From Grace with God. The set also includes all four tracks off the Poguetry In Motion EP, released in 1986, and the two songs recorded for “The Irish Rover” single with The Dubliners in 1987. Slicing Up Eyeballs

folk-rock, singer-songwriter
May 7, 2023May 7, 2023

Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Bob Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom for the first time as an audio album–available in digital, CD and 2LP 12″ vinyl formats–on Friday, June 2.
Shadow Kingdom presents Dylan performing revelatory 21st century versions of songs from his storied back catalog – including fan favorites like “Forever Young” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” and deep catalog gems like “Queen Jane Approximately” and “The Wicked Messenger.” Originally reinterpreted for an exclusive streaming film event, which aired in July 2021, Shadow Kingdomwill now be available on vinyl, CD, and streaming platforms for the first time. The album’s setlist includes 13 original songs handpicked by Dylan for his Shadow Kingdom performance plus the closing instrumental, “Sierra’s Theme.” Legacy Recordings

live, folk-rock
April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

This is the first official release by The Ducks – a short lived group that Neil played with in 1977. The Ducks featured Neil (guitar, harmonica and vocals), Bob Mosley (bass and vocals), Jeff Blackburn (guitar and vocals) and Johnny Craviotto (drums). Mosley was an original member of Bay Area band Moby Grape; Blackburn had previously fronted his own band and co-wrote with Neil the classic track “My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)”.
The band played several shows in Santa Cruz, CA and other California venues during two months in 1977, and this 3-LP, 2 CD, 25-track live album features highlights from those shows. The set lists were very democratic, with each member of the band taking the lead in turn. 5 Neil Young songs are showcased, including a rocking version of “Mr. Soul”, plus beautiful renditions of “Are You Ready For The Country”, “Little Wing”, “Sail Away” and “Human Highway”. Warner Records

live, folk-rock
April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

Neil Young with the Santa Monica Flyers (Neil Young, Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina) played London’s Rainbow Theatre on November 5th, 1973, with the first half of the concert dedicated to Neil Young’s masterpiece album Tonight’s The Night. The intense concert was recorded by Pete Long, and includes riveting versions of the Tonight’s The Night tracks, plus Young classics “Cowgirl In The Sand”, “Don’t Be Denied” and “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong”. Warner Records
Somewhere Under the Rainbow, OBS No. 2, was recorded live at London’s Rainbow Theatre (today, an Evangelical church) on November 5, 1973. Young was joined by The Santa Monica Flyers, a.k.a. Nils Lofgren (lead and rhythm guitar, piano, accordion, vocals), Ben Keith (pedal steel guitar, vocals), Billy Talbot (bass, vocals), and Ralph Molina (drums, vocals). The Second Disc

folk, ambient
April 6, 2023April 6, 2023

On April 07, North Americans the project of Los Angeles guitarist Patrick McDermott and Portland’s Barry Walker on pedal steel will release their new album Long Cool World via Third Man Records. As North Americans, McDermott has been experimenting with drone and noise and how it can take shape, and then jettison that shape, since 2013’s No_No, but it’s when he embraced his love of fingerpicked guitar and vintage country music on 2018’s Going Steady that he settled on a sound that felt like a genuine melding of his disparate musical interests. 2020’s Roped In was another creative milestone: with Walker and a host of other collaborators, including harpist Mary Lattimore, and guitarist William Tyler, among others, creating a communal, layered approach to each track that felt vital as the world dipped into isolation during a global pandemic. “I knew that for this one I wanted to dial up some of the textures and experimentation,” McDermott says. Third Man Records

folk-rock, singer-songwriter
March 30, 2023March 30, 2023

Peter Case as a member of the groundbreaking proto punk band The Nerves, former frontman for the wildly underrated Plimsouls, and a remarkable solo artist for the past three decades, has earned the right to deviate from the music people expect from him at this point. And deviate he does on Doctor Moan, his 16th solo album.
Across 11 tracks, Case puts down the guitar for most of the set and moves to the piano for this wide-ranging collection of jazz, blues and folk songs. “I grew up on 1950s and ‘60s rock & roll… Americana Highways
And now for something completely different. At least concerning Peter Case. The one-time punk (The Nerves) and power pop (The Plimsouls) frontman has been a hard-core folk/blues/roots rock troubadour since his still stunning 1986 solo debut. Sixteen albums and one pandemic later, he’s still at it. But now he has changed things up. Case strips down to a (mostly) trio format… American Songwriter

americana, blues, folk
March 23, 2023March 23, 2023

Dom Flemons has built a reputation on presenting 100 years of American roots music, but now, with Traveling Wildfire, his own songwriting prowess comes into the spotlight. Carefully selected from his personal repertoire, these original songs reveal his love of country, western, blues, Americana, bluegrass and folk music as they tell of true love, family legacy, survival, time travel, and the juxtaposition between light and dark. Traveling Wildfire weaves through the themes of hope and humor as it rises above the hard times with strength and lightheartedness. Smithsonian Folkways
With his new album, Traveling Wildfire, Dom Flemons builds on his solo oeuvre and previous forays with The Carolina Chocolate Drops, per usual displaying songwriting savvy, instrumental prowess, and a knack for contemporizing often obscure yet important works. Waltzy opener “Slow Dance With You” would be appropriate fare in a roadhouse bar… No Depression

Holy Moly and The Crackers | Solid Gold (2023)

folk-rock, americana
March 18, 2023March 18, 2023

For a band that have from the outset been pegged as ‘folk-rock’, Newcastle’s Holy Moly and The Crackers sure have come a long way in their sound and their approach. They’ve been a fierce live proposition for a decade now and released three studio albums that have seen their songs evolve from festival-friendly folky-stomps to something more widescreen and epic, without losing the raw, punky edge that has won them such a loyal and vocal fanbase. Obviously we know what happened in 2020 and how that stopped the live music industry in its tracks…
But rather than licking their wounds and feeling sorry for themselves, the band decided to use the time to write a very different record, something that really reflected where they are now. The result is Solid Gold, an album that digs deep into the Americana that’s played an ever-greater part in their sound, and is full of the ‘big skies and long roads’… Holy Moly & The Crackers

folk

Dean Owens | El Tiradito (The Curse of Sinner’s Shrine) (2023)

The Pogues | The Stiff Records B-Sides (1984-1987) (2023)

Bob Dylan | Shadow Kingdom (2023)

The Ducks | High Flyin’ (2023)

Neil Young with the Santa Monica Flyers | Somewhere Under the Rainbow 1973 (2023)

North Americans | Long Cool World (2023)

Peter Case | Doctor Moan (2023)

Dom Flemons | Traveling Wildfire (2023)

Holy Moly and The Crackers | Solid Gold (2023)