If you’re looking for Americana singer/songwriters who capture the mountains, rivers, history and culture of Appalachia particularly well, make sure you know Pony Bradshaw. Released on January 27th, this is his follow-up to 2021’s “Calico Jim” which we also loved. Asked to describe what went into this one, Pony says “Sweat and work and joy and pain and anger and patience and restraint.”

The phenomenal fiddler for the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin’ McCourys has his first solo album in 25 years! It’s a wide open pool of songwriters he draws from, including Bruce Hornsby (“King of the Hill”), Garcia/Hunter (“Bird Song”), and Vassar Clements (“Kissimmee Kid”, the one instrumental here.) Instrumentalists joining him include Marty Stuart, David Grier, Danny Barnes, and Jerry Douglas. His guest vocalists here are Dierks Bently, Billy Strings, Vince Gill, Tim O’Brien, Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz, Joe Mullins… oh and his boss Del.

This Georgia native started his love affair with the blues of Freddie King, Albert Collins and Michael Bloomfield at age 15, before spreading out to include Memphis soul. Lately he’s been impressing fans in our area with his 6-piece band appearances at the Albino Skunk Festival in Greer. This new album, named after Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia (Allman Brothers Band, Otis Redding), might be his major breakthrough.

Jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist Vilray met singer Rachael Price back in 2003 as students at the New England Conservatory of Music, and he also formed a band with other members of what would become Lake Street Dive, which is how we got to know Rachael’s exquisite voice and presence. They began performing together as a duo in 2015. Get to know this wonderful collection of songs, most all of which were written by Vilray.

Underground and understated, more about finding the groove and following the muse than chasing the spotlight, this band from the southern plains of Texas might not mind so much that their new album came out amongst the blizzard of Christmas music last month and you haven’t discovered them yet. But you have now, and fans of the Cosmic American Music Show and WNCW in general will want to give them a try. Lou Lewis is the singer and rhythm guitarist, with tasteful licks from lead guitarist Andrew Chavez. Rounding out the band is drummer Corey Alvarez and bassist Eric Pawlick. Even their record label name fits their country/punk/psychedelia ethos: Feels So Good Records.

He’s achieved an incredible surge of popularity and success in the bluegrass, jamband, and live music world these past few years, and he’d probably be the first to tell you he owes a lot of it to his childhood exposure to pickin’, courtesy of his dad Terry Barber. So he decided to record a duet album with him! Also present is an all-star band including bassist Mike Bub, mandolinist Ron McCoury, banjo player Rob McCoury and fiddler Michael Cleveland as well as special guest appearances by Jerry Douglas, Jason Carter and Strings’ mother, Debra Barber.

Ontario’s Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet have pivoted from a blues and rock sound to their love of classic country on this one. They chose the universality and simplicity of the genre’s storytelling to address the challenges that the pandemic of these past couple years has brought on, like heartbreak and loyalty. Luke and Melissa have picked up five consecutive JUNO Award nominations in three different genre categories; there’s no reason why this great one won’t net them #6!

Neil’s back! This 11-song collection is a cautiously optimistic meditation on the past, present, and future of our shared planet and what it means to live on it. With songs like “Love Earth”, “This Old Planet”, and “The World”, you get the theme here. It was produced by Young and Rick Rubin, and as you might expect, it was meticulously recorded – live -- and mixed to analog tape.