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“People are like, every time, ‘What’s a $10 cowboy?’ I’m like, well, a $10 cowboy is a guy that learned how to do all this … standing behind a guitar on a Louisiana street corner, on South Congress in Austin, and subway cars in New York and the BART Rail in San Francisco.” Yep, the man we might credit the most with restoring that genuine classic country sound we love, used to be a street busker, and now has his 13th studio album in nine years. No Depression magazine describes him as “a cross between Hank Williams, a low-key carnival announcer, and the Coen brothers’ Buster Scruggs.”

The trio of Joe Bellanti, Corey Kertzie and Dave Ruch met in 1983 as members of a Buffalo, New York Grateful Dead cover band called Wild Knights. Then in 2020 they pivoted to this funky organ-based trio Organ Fairchild. Their latest album is an eclectic reworking of classics by Bob Marley, Leonard Cohen, the Beatles, and (of course) the Grateful Dead, among others. They’re tour for this new album brings them to One World Brewing in Asheville on June 20th, and the Toe Down in Green Mountain on the 21st.

In the height of lockdown in 2020, banjo extraordinaire Tony Trischka received a mysterious package in his mailbox that would significantly change his next few years. Its contents: an USB drive full of rare recordings of Earl Scruggs jamming with John Hartford, mostly taken from private gatherings at Earl’s house during the 80s and 90s. Naturally, Trischka began pouring over the more than 200 songs, transcribing the all-new solos, tones, and tricks from the man he’d been studying for over half a century. Now we have this new album, filled with wonderful collaborations from other artists including Del McCoury, Billy Strings, Sierra Ferrell, Molly Tuttle, and the Gibson Brothers.

We first met her thanks to her work in the trio the Stray Birds, but lately she’s been channeling her muse(s) in different directions, with various solo projects. “I’m not just making different music now. It feels like I'm breathing in a different atmosphere.” Get to know her latest, which will be released on July 12th. She’s bringing her band to Studio B this Friday at 11am! And their shows are at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte on Thursday, the Grey Eagle in Asheville on Friday, and Rogers Park for the Summer Tracks series in Tryon on Friday the 21st.

Another member of the Stray Birds, bassist Charlie Muench, has his first solo album. Originally recorded just as demos in Nashville last year with Dominic Billett (The Weather Station, Courtney Marie Andrews) and Maya de Vitry (Maya de Vitry, The Stray Birds), he realized he had the makings of a fully fleshed out album, and finished work on it with fellow Philadelphians shortly thereafter. The result is You Were Dreaming, out June 28th, with songs of deep emotional honesty.

RT is back with a new one! From his co-founding of Fairport Convention in the 60s, through his work with Linda Thompson in the 70s and string of spectacular solo releases since then, he’s remained a favorite of ours here at WNCW. This 12-song set was produced by Thompson and recorded in Woodstock, NY. Ship To Shore follows his 2018 studio album 13 Rivers and his 2021 memoir Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975 which was published by Algonquin Books. . “I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there,” he says. “And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there’s also Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and country and classical. As far as I’m concerned, once you establish your base, you can reach out anywhere. It’ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.”

A new Americana singer/songwriter on the scene, Jack McKeon is originally from Chatham, NY, but moved to Nashville in 2021 to pursue his passion. Check out this debut album Talking to Strangers, which showcases his impressive songwriting set to bluegrass and Americana. He’s in our area for an in-the-round show at The Grey Eagle in Asheville this Friday at 5:30pm with Caitlin Cannon and Wyatt Espalin, and will join Martin in the Air Studio here for a live interview Friday morning at 11!

The acclaimed trio of Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman has just released their new double album Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free via Jagjaguwar Records. They describe their latest as an ode to the blessed mess of our humanity. Confident and generous, it is an unvarnished offering that puts every feeling and supposed flaw out in the open.

In addition to his work with brother Chris and “brother” Jano Rix in the Wood Brothers, and his previous time fronting King Johnson, Oliver Wood has done some solo work, and this is his newest one since his 2021 debut. He recruited some familiar names to help, like Seth Walker, Ric Robertson, Katie Pruitt, Tania Elizabeth, and Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin. Jano co-produced this one with him, with a good bit of spontaneity. “I wanted to get outside my box and embrace the uncertainty of what’s out there. I wanted weird guitar tones. I wanted more percussion and less drums. Once we began experimenting and doing whatever inspired us, the pressure melted away and I felt liberated.”

We got to know this supergroup-you-haven’t-yet-heard-of in 2022 with their debut, “The Very Best of Fantastic Cat.” This one’s even better! Individually, each member boasts their own impressive resume along with appearances everywhere from the New York Times and the Tiny Desk to Bonnaroo and Cayamo. NPR said Anthony D’Amato “sings and writes in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen or Josh Ritter.” Paste declared Don DiLego's latest album a "stunner.” Rolling Stone called Brian Dunne’s new record “the sleeper album of the year” and praised Mike Montali’s band, Hollis Brown, as “the soundtrack for a late night drive through the American heartland." As their press package says, think CSNY if none of them were famous, or The Traveling Wilburys if none of them were famous, or the Eagles if they really didn’t get along.