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Those of us who were here at WNCW in 2008 remember being wowed by this unassuming, stripped-down acoustic 7-song EP with sparse artwork and little info, from an unknown fellow named Joe Pug. There was such an impressive honesty and open-heartedness in songs like the title track, “Speak Plainly, Diana”, and especially “I Do My Father’s Drugs”. Well, he’s decided to re-record this EP, with swirling organ, electric guitar, and more, with members of the 400 Unit, My Morning Jacket, and others. And this time there are liner notes, from none other than Steve Earle.

Sure, this is her 12th album, but in many ways it feels like her debut. Its songs touch on starting over and forging ahead alone, and it’s the first one in which she was able to more fully direct the sound she wanted (this one marks her first album since divorcing producer Tucker Martine.) She recruited support from Karl Blau, Sam Amidon, and Death Cab for Cutie’s Dave Depper for these songs of reemergence.

Recorded in 2011 at Levon’s great Midnight Ramble series at his barn in Woodstock, NY, this new release captures two of our favorites with their bands having a great time playing together. “It never crossed my mind that it might be the last time we’d see each other,” says Staples. “He was so full of life and so happy that week. He was the same old Levon I’d always known, just a beautiful spirit inside and out.” “My dad built The Midnight Rambles to restore his spirit, his voice, and his livelihood,” says Helm’s daughter, Amy, who sang backup vocals with her father and Staples at their performance. “He’d risen back up from all that had laid him down, and to have Mavis come sing and sanctify that stage was the ultimate triumph for him.”

This is the 5th release from the Princeton, NJ native, on Yep Roc Records. “I wanted to let go and cut loose with this album,” Tolchin said recently. “I wanted to explore new terrain without any kind of rules or restrictions. I was a pretty rebellious kid, and I mostly listened to alternative rock and hip hop and punk growing up. Somewhere along the way, though, I feel like I lost that part of myself. These songs are my way of reclaiming it.”

You may have seen this drummer and vocalist performing around Asheville with his swinging big band (and assorted other groups.) Now there’s this new baker’s dozen of jazz tracks, and we’ll dig into it on Monday for “New Tunes at 2”, as well as “Local Color” Monday at 8pm and “Jazz & Beyond” Saturdays at 7am!

Helado Negro is Roberto Carlos Lange, with his 7th album out under this name, and a fascinating sonic exploration “filled with celestial lullabies that confront earthly anxieties” (New York Times), along with cool grooves for the dancefloor. Bonus: he’s recently moved to Asheville!

Tanya Donelly, Lori McKenna, Jill Sobule, The Watson Twins, and Eurotrash Girl are among the 20 or so artists on this fundraiser for Casting For Recovery, a national nonprofit support program for women recovering from the ravages of breast cancer. Check out these reworkings of “Heart of Gold”, “Comes a Time”, “Down By the River”, “Walk On”, and more!

This group formed in 2016 when Autumn Ragland and Sam Cox first started collaborating together in Oklahoma. Drummer Javan Long came on board a couple years later to form this trio. On this their 4th album, they recruited Hank Early of the Turnpike Troubadours to co-produce, mix and master these songs, which address emotionally raw issues that transcend most others of the “Red Dirt” genre this band has come from.

A Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, John Anderson has enjoyed 60 charting Country singles over four consecutive decades. Check out these covers from the likes of Tyler Childers, Brent Cobb, Sierra Ferrell, Sierra Hull, Del McCoury, John Prine, Jamey Johnson, Sturgill Simpson and Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. It was produced by Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson. Says John himself, “Listening to everybody do their own takes on the songs shows how the songs really come through. And I thought to myself, ‘You might have been young and foolish back then, but you sure did pick some good songs.’”

This group is fronted by musicians Will Turner and Georgie Fuller. The Brighton, UK-based band create the kind of unfettered rock-and-roll that warps time and space, sitting at the reverb-drenched collision of psychedelia and blues, acid rock and sunshine pop. We love it when an act we’d never heard before of grabs our attention and gets stuck in our heads, like The Heavy Heavy does!