Our lineup of artists to be featured this week during New Tunes at Two include Steve Earle & The Dukes (1/18), Tony Trischka (1/19), Selwyn Birchwood (1/20), and Lydia Luce (1/21). Tune in Monday through Thursday during the two o’clock hour as we sample tracks from the new releases these musicians have dropped (or will drop soon).
In addition to our Monday music mix, which will spotlight songs celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our New Tunes at Two feature disc will be J.T. by Steve Earle & The Dukes. The album is available now and features 10 songs written by Earle’s late son, Justin Townes Earle. It also includes one new song by Steve. “The record is called J.T. because Justin was never called anything else until he was nearly grown. Well, when he was little, I called him Cowboy,” explains Steve Earle. “For better or worse, right or wrong, I loved Justin Townes Earle more than anything else on this earth. That being said, I made this record, like every other record I’ve ever made... for me. It was the only way I knew to say goodbye.”
On Tuesday, we will sample tracks from Shall We Hope by Tony Trischka. The banjo maestro’s latest collection features contributions from Michael Daves, Guy Davis, Phoebe Hunt, John Lithgow, Maura O’Connell, and Catherine Russell. The album has been in the making for over 12 years. It is a musical work of historical fiction and invites listeners into the lives of characters from America’s past as they grapple with the hard realities of war, death, and the meaning of freedom.
Coming up on Wednesday, the New Tunes feature album will be Living in a Burning House by Selwyn Birchwood. This is Birchwood’s third album with Alligator Records and it will be released on Friday, January 29, 2021. The rising guitar and lap steel player calls his original music “electric swamp funkin’ blues,” and since his band has grown in some, Birchwood wrote and arranged 13 new songs to capture the power of the band.
We wrap up this week’s New Tunes at Two features on Thursday with Nashville singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Luce’s new album Dark River, which is set to release in February 2021. Luce has been known as the go-to strings session player in Nashville, working with everyone from Dolly Parton to Eminem but is now stepping into the spotlight with her album Dark River. She demonstrates a distinct take and unique blend of classical, vintage pop and indie rock influences in her most recent music. Her single “All the Time” was released this month along with an eclectic stop motion animated video created by Sigmund Washington. Luce describes the song as being a conversation with herself as she works to drown out the noise of the world so she can learn to hear and trust her own voice.
It'll be a week full of great new music, so we hope you will join us Monday through Thursday during the two o'clock hour and we will check out these new tunes together!