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Go ahead and conjure up what you’d expect Jack’s 8th album to sound like – ten tropical-tinged songs about eating banana pancakes on the beach and living a care-free island life… You might not notice that he also references such not-so-mellow things as the pitfalls of social media, the spread of disinformation, and the dangers of blind faith in any one religion. Make no mistake, though: this is a Jack Johnson album, and it’s all delivered in such a way that you, too, may come away with the realization that this might well be his best yet!

The saxophonist/composer for Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Dave Matthews Band, and his own Mu’Tet has 8 bassists, 6 drummers, 5 guitarists, and 4 keyboardists here, not to mention Middle Eastern frame drums, a Hungarian tarogato, an African ngoni, soda bottles, and an ice cream truck. (Perhaps there’s a kitchen sink somewhere, too?) As you might expect, this transcends any one genre or two. Fellow musicians include Felix Pastorius, Chris Wood, Robben Ford, and Marcus King. So many reasons why we at WNCW love this!

Guitarist Julian Lage is back with his 2nd album on Blue Note Records, with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. But his “secret weapon” here is fellow jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, whose unmistakable sound joins Lage’s on 7 of these tracks. “In so many ways, I’ve wanted to make this record for years,” says Lage. “It comes from a line of musical inquiry: can you have lush orchestration combined with an organic sense of improvisation and the agility of a small ensemble?” View With a Room was produced by singer/guitarist Margaret Glaspy, Lage’s wife.

This is the 6th release from this Chicago-based piano-powered roots-pop band. Captivating singer Berit Ulseth is joined by pianist Johnny Iguana, who was a member of blues legend Junior Wells’ band, and the rest of this tight band, with producers Ted Hutt (Violent Femmes, Old Crow Medicine Show) and Anthony Gravino (Charlie Hunter, Kurt Elling); and it’s mixed by Kevin Killen (David Bowie, U2, Elvis Costello).

“The Carter Family for the millennial generation”, is how The Boston Globe describes them. That works! The NYC trio is comprised of Montana’s Avery Ballotta (violin, banjo, vocals), New Hampshire’s Max Capsistran (guitar, banjo, vocals, primary songwriter), and Pennsylvania’s Sasha Dubyk (upright bass/vocals). Also featured here are Emily Gervaise Moran (guitar), Anh Phung (flute), Micha Cowher (drums), Lars Thorson (lap steel), Dylan McCarthy (mandolin), Garrett Eaton (trumpet) & Dan Cardinal (keyboard).

Psychedelic garage-rock, pop-infused punk, Cosmic Americana out of Canada: Check out this final studio recording to include founding member Dallas Good, who unexpectedly died last February. Richard Reed Parry, who produced this, is quite confident in calling this “The Sadies’ finest album, the one I always hoped they’d make one day.” He’s not the only one saying this about Colder Streams.

The Indigo Girls co-founder covers a lot of ground on this, her tenth solo album, as she’s known to do. “Most of this album was written during the pandemic, so I wanted to write songs that were healing and hopefully offered some sort of comfort,” says Ray. “At the same time, I was going to protests and watching what was happening in the world, and that all went into the music too. The whole time I kept telling myself, ‘You’ve got it really good, so just do what you can to bring some positivity to people and let them know they’re not alone.’” She’s got Asheville’s Honeycutter Matt Smith on pedal steel throughout, as well as Alison Brown, Allison Russell, The Highwomen’s Brandi Carlile & Natalie Hemby, Phil Cook, and I’m With Her, to name a few. Amy is also scheduled to join us LIVE on Wednesday afternoon before her show at the Salvage Station in Asheville!

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.”

Besides the loving remembrance of his son Justin Townes Earle, there’s this, his third and final heartfelt tribute to Americana/Outlaw Country heroes of his who have passed away, the previous ones being his friends Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. “Jerry Jeff is by turns both tender and tenacious. It’s an apt homage to a mentor who decidedly deserves wider recognition than that accorded him during his lifetime. Earle’s eagerness to bring that fact forward to his own audience reflects his admirable intent.” (Lee Zimmerman, Holler)

He’s been a “music visionary” in Tex-Mex, Hawaiian, Reggae, Country, and more these past 50+ years, but he’s come back to his bluegrass roots on this new one. With talents like Billy Strings, Shawn Camp, Molly Tuttle, Lindsay Lou, and Mark Howard, the album also features Peter’s own band of extraordinary young players like Christopher Henry (mandolin), Max Wareham (banjo), Julian Pinelli (fiddle), and Eric Thorin (acoustic bass). “I’ve got a young band, it’s fabulous,” Peter has said. “They’re bursting with ideas. They’re in their years of inspiration.” Released June 24th.