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Tall Poppy String Band is a brand new Old Time trio featuring fiddler George Jackson, guitarist Mark Harris, and banjoist Cameron DeWhitt. DeWhitt is a clawhammer banjoist based in Portland, Oregon. They are the innovator behind pitchfork banjo, a three-finger clawhammer technique that allows for a degree of melodic and rhythmic freedom that is rarely seen in old-time banjo playing.

This new album is a work largely inspired by the loss of a longtime friend and the lingering influence of a mercurial and charismatic father. It continues Harper’s long history as one of his generation’s most potent protest singers. Persecuted by local authorities for being a communist, his grandfather moved his family west where their music store, the Folk Music Center and Museum in Claremont, CA, proved a vital hub in a thriving Southern California folk scene. There, Harper learned guitar as a child.

It’s another direct hit at issues of our day with Shemekia’s new one. Will Kimbrough serves once again as her album producer, and greats Cedric Burnside, Sonny Landreth, and Charles Hodges contribute as well. “Once my son was born, I became even more committed to making the world a better place. On America’s Child, Uncivil War, and now Done Come Too Far, I’ve been trying to put the “United” back into United States. Friends, family, and home, these things we all value.” –Shemekia Copeland

Born in Brunswick, GA, raised in Florence, SC, Derek Hoke has become a popular, active figure in the local music scene of Nashville, TN where he now lives; he recently retired from hosting a popular weekly music night at Nashville’s 5 Spot Café. This new album from him shows some insightful songwriting. Hoke’s previous records have featured such talents as Robyn Hitchcock, Jason Isbell, Luther Dickinson, Elizabeth Cook, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and more. On Electric Mountain, he includes further local talent: vocals from Thayer Serrano and fiddle from Lillie Mae.

This band from Galway, Ireland is comprised of two sets of brothers, Enda and Fergal Scahill and David and Martin Howley. They wowed the crowds at MerleFest this past April, and are now releasing this new album of Americana, indie-folk and more. See WNCW’s Joe Kendrick write-up of one of the songs on this new album, here!

The front-man for Real Estate was under a bit of pressure to make their previous album (2020’s “The Main Thing”) the absolute BEST album of their catalog, but for whatever reason, it was not meant to be… Meanwhile, he’d put together this solo album during the pandemic, with a lot more of a relaxed frame of mind. The result is one that feels much more natural and cherished.

They’ve been one of WNCW’s absolute favorite regional acts since their inception in the early ‘90s. We’ve enjoyed the singles from this album that were released earlier this year; now enjoy the whole album, out on Organic Records! They’ve got some great new original tunes, along with covers from Willie Nelson, Lou Reed, and Garcia/Hunter.

21 tracks, mostly recorded live and in one room, often in one take, from Jeff Tweedy and company! It’s a return to country music, similar to their 1996 double album “Being There”. You might pick up on Tweedy’s observations of American history and pitfalls here, too. “The specifics of an American identity begin to blur for me as the record moves toward the light and opens itself up to more cosmic solutions—coping with fear, without belonging to any nation or group other than humanity itself.”

When a master songsmith like Tom T. Hall calls an artist “a great credit to a wonderful Kentucky tradition” it’s time to pull up a chair and pay attention. As it pertains to The Local Honeys he was right on the money. For almost a decade the duo (Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs) have been an integral part of the Kentucky music-scape. They’ve paid their dues, garnering countless accolades and accomplishments (tours with Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, praise from the New York Times) and have become the defining sound of Kentucky music.

Geographically, Roberts describes himself as “Memphis-born, Alabama-raised, Colorado-grown, and Alaska-rooted.” So it should be no big surprise that he has an ability to capture various character traits of what it means to be an American. In the past couple years since his debut album, he’s bought some land in Alaska and built a cabin on it, started a dump trucking business, and been on an epic whitewater rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. Let’s get to know how these experiences are reflected in his latest collection of songs…