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The Minnesota singer/songwriter Siri Undlin performs under the name Humbird, and has this new album of 9 songs. She says avoiding apathy is “a central message of the album, and honestly I need to hear it as much as anyone. There is a time for resting and rejuvenating, but I think it’s important to be really honest with yourself about whether you are in that process, or whether you are making excuses because it’s hard. You have to be able to get into the squishy middle of things and really dig in.”

Singer/songwriter Kaitlin Butts has been on the rise in Country/Americana circles lately, and this new album is inspired by Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! musical, to rather hilarious effect. “Every summer when I was a kid my parents would take me to see a performance of ‘Oklahoma!’ at a local amphitheater, and I’ve felt such a strong connection to it my entire life,” says Butts. “It’s a love story but there’s also a murder and a little bit of an acid-trippy feel to it at times; it’s set in the same place where I come from. Once I got the idea for this album I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before, and it turned into something that completely encompasses who I am and what I love.”

Get to know two of our favorites, together on their 2nd collaboration. This follow-up to 2018’s “Downey to Lubbock” has the Texas Flatlander Gilmore and Southern Californian Alvin alternating songs, which include covers from the likes of Blind Willie McTell, Brownie McGhee, and fellow Flatlander Butch Hancock. There’s also an Alvin-penned tribute to Alan “The Blind Owl’ Wilson of Canned Heat fame. Released this month on Yep Roc Records, the two are on an extensive national tour that takes them to the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro on August 31st.

It’s the first album of new material in six years for Colin Meloy and his band of fellow Oregonians. To quote Stereogum, it “feels like a career summary of everything the Decemberists are and have been, juxtaposing stripped-down folk and buoyant pop songs against lengthy monoliths on a 68-minute double album that ends with a 20-minute retelling of the legend of Joan of Arc.”

We’ve got two soul/blues-inspired women in a row for New Tunes at 2 this week. Sierra Green, hailing from New Orleans’ vibrant 7th ward, emerged from the church choir to become the Queen of Frenchmen Street. She recorded this album of originals and well-known hits with terrific players in Nashville, and there are nods to the legendary sounds of Detroit and Memphis with the horns and basslines, too. Here We Are comes out via Big Radio Records / Select-O-Hits on June 21st.

Born and raised in rural southeast Texas, Nick Taylor captures that Red-Dirt Americana sound in this debut album. The result is an impressive combination of sounds that veer from the gentle reflection of “Futures Past,” the evocative tones of “3AM On The Interstate” the easy embrace of “Carry You Home,” and the heartbreak and happenstance of “Broken Souls,” through to the sashay and serenade of “Getting Along,” the heartfelt homage to a special “Kentucky Girl,” and forward through the driving and determined “Heart on the Run.” As the name of the album suggests, Taylor hopes that these tracks will help his listeners to feel less alone in their struggles.

Taylor is a chart-topping British blues-rock guitarist, who was first discovered at age 16 by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. She had great success with her previous three albums, and this one bridges those together in a fusion of contemporary soul-pop with traditional blues roots. It’s coming out on June 7th on Journeyman Records, known to fans of Joe Bonamassa.

He’s a favorite of ours: for his songwriting, his spirit, and his multi-talented music prowess. Will is known as a great producer (including for Shemekia Copeland’s last three albums), a guitarist (including for Emmylou Harris for her recent tours), and as a member of Daddy and Willie Sugarcapps among other projects. Now we have his 11th full-length solo album, and it’s got at least a couple tunes that address some rather uniquely American themes for this Independence Day evening.

As we celebrate Independence Day all day Thursday, are there any voices more uniquely American than that of The Man in Black? This new album spawned out of demos that Johnny recorded in 1993 at LSI Studios in Nashville. John Carter Cash, who played guitar on the original sessions, and co-producer David “Fergie” Ferguson, stripped the songs back to just Johnny’s powerful, pristine vocals and brought in a handpicked group of musicians that played with Johnny, including guitarist Marty Stuart and the late bassist Dave Roe, along with drummer Pete Abbott and several others, to the Cash Cabin, where they recorded new parts for the songs and reinvigorated them. John Carter and Fergie also brought in a couple of special guests for some of the songs – Dan Auerbach on electric guitar on “Spotlight” and Vince Gill on vocals.

No doubt you’ve always noticed that Southern (Gainesville, Florida) drawl of one of America’s greatest rockers. But have you ever thought of his music as Country? See what you think after hearing some of these new covers, from the likes of Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton, Margo Price, Marty Stuart, and Willie & Lukas Nelson.