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The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble is a 9-piece heavy, instrumental funk band from San Diego, CA. Their influences are vast and include Hip Hop groups like Wu-Tang Clan and De La Soul, as well as funk and soul masters like Isaac Hayes, The Meters, and James Brown. But in reference to the name of this album, the two genres they meld together most here are funk and jazz. Dig this great new release of instrumentals, out this week via Colemine Records.

This 6th album of Lilly Hiatt’s, produced and engineered by her husband Coley Hinson, explores some of her inner thoughts about intimacy and expectations, with at times a pretty raucous rock foundation. On the making of this new one, Lilly says, “After scrapping about 20 songs or so I had written the last few years, I wanted to get to the heart of things. I had a great talk with a friend on the phone and she mentioned she just wasn’t sure where I’d been. I realized I wasn’t really certain of that either. It’d been a foggy few years after 2020, and the pieces seemed to just be starting to be picked up. …For a bit, I felt like an outsider watching myself stumble though everything, and was constantly critiquing myself, to the point where I could hardly leave the house for a bit. But then I realized my life was passing me by, and the love I was living in required presence to accept.” “Time is flying, and I want to be here for it all rather than lost in my thoughts all the time. My love is forever. When I was a kid I used to say to my mom and dad “I love you forever and always” then neurotically changed it to “I love you forever and always and it’s true and I mean it”…because I wanted to make sure they knew how much I wasn’t messing around! I still feel that way when I say “I love you” to anyone and hope it comes across on this record.” Join us as we wrap up Women’s History Month with this one.

Following his 2023 breakout full-length album Family Ties, comes this 7-song EP. It’s a bit more subdued and stripped down, though it’s not short on great production, or collaboration with the likes of Scott Avett on the Jason Molina song “Hammer Down”. A more prominent collaborator here is producer Al Torrence, who also contributed drums, bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, piano, Hammond B3 organ, synthesizers, Mellotron, and background vocals. Speaking of Avett Brothers, he’ll be on tour with them this month out west; he’ll also be part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival this summer, including Charlotte July 26th.

Ten years (and 13 albums!) into his career, Charley Crockett has shared a lot about his life through his songs, not to mention his frank interviews. His life experiences are rather frank and direct in this straightforward release, too, and it’s bound to be another one of his to rank high in our Top 100 at year’s end.

You say you know a bunch of songs of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band… But do you know them played by outlaw country/Americana-rock band Ward Hayden & The Outliers? Well you will this year, as this Massachusetts act, formerly known as Girls, Guns & Glory, has plans to release TWO albums’ worth of The Boss’s songs in 2025. The two-year recording process for these 16 covers also inspired an album of original tunes, which they’ll be recording this summer. This first one includes songs like “Dancing in the Dark”, “Two Faces Have II”, and the lead-off track, “Promised Land”.

It’s been a while since we heard from singer/songwriter Grey DeLisle – she needed to take a break from live performance and perhaps the music business in general. But she’s back, and making up for lost time with this double-album of 20 songs she’s written. Aside from the physical and voluminous homage to The Beatles’ “White Album”, DeLisle pays tribute to that wonderful convergence of Nashville country, Bakersfield honky-tonk, and British blues/pop of the ‘60s. She’s got an exceptional lineup of musicians here: Murry Hammond (acoustic guitar), Greg Leisz (steel guitar/12-string Rickenbacker guitar), D.J. Bonebrake (vibes/drums/percussion), Phil Jones (drums), Adam Pike (mellotron), Gideon Klein & Paul Nelson (cellos), Tammy Rogers (violins/violas/strings arranged & performed), Deke Dickerson (guitar/stand-up bass), David Ralicke (trumpets), and Cherry Currie & Stephen McCarthy (vocals).

The four members of the Animal Liberation Orchestra – Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz on guitar, Steve Adams on bass, Zach Gill on keys, and Ezra Lipp on drums -- each take turns in the songwriting and lead-vocals spotlight with this latest fusion of rock, electronic, alt-pop, R&B, folk, dance, and funk. As the band’s website describes it, “The theme running throughout Frames is a reaction to the rapid pace in which we live our lives. Due to the overwhelming rate in which information is thrust upon us, and the figurative groups (or frames) they come in, people are constantly challenged to decide what is vital and what is not before much of it dissipates, often leaving a societal wreckage in its wake.”

"This is a group of songs I've written over the last few years that loosely fell into the basket of love songs," says Sharp. "All of these tunes are tied to specific moments and places; for me, it almost reads like a photo album through the past decade or so. Most of these tunes fit nicely onto the banjo, so the bluegrass setting seemed like the obvious choice. Living in Western NC, I’m lucky to have some of the finest bluegrass musicians anywhere as neighbors. This group had never played together as a band, so we had a lot of fun putting these little songs together." The band here includes Lindsay Pruett, Tommy Maher, Casey Driessen, and Jerry Douglas, and it is indeed more in a bluegrass direction than his debut solo album, 2021’s Truer Picture. We look forward to sharing it with you!

With 20+ albums under his belt, a Grammy in hand, more than 33 Blues Music Awards lining his path, and a good six decades in the business, Musselwhite’s voice and musicianship continue to deepen—like the roots of the music he so passionately embodies. The blues may be timeless, but Charlie Musselwhite is the man who keeps it breathing, one note at a time. His unique mix of Delta, Chicago and Memphis Blues is strong here once again, thanks in part to his long-time touring band here, comprised of guitarist Matt Stubbs (GA-20), drummer June Core (Robert Lockwood Jr.) and bassist Randy Bermudes (James Cotton), along with guitarist Kid Andersen, who hosted some of these recordings.

We’ve got a double-shot of Blues for New Tunes at 2 this week, though Samantha is known for blending hers with Rock & Soul. Produced by longtime-collaborator and Detroit garage-rock luminary Bobby Harlow (The Go), this one includes some collaborating with Anders Osborne; The Kansas-bred Fish now lives in New Orleans, where Osborne has certainly made a great name for himself. She tracked Paper Doll in Austin and LA in the midst of a grueling touring schedule, recording with her touring band for the first time: Ron Johnson (bass), Jamie Douglass (drums), and Mickey Finn (keys). It was this environment that helped shape the album’s vivacious but nuanced sound, with its “road-worn chemistry and raw, electric charm” (Blues Rock Review). As for the album name, “It’s about rebelling against other people’s expectations of who you’re supposed to be, which feels pretty relevant for the times we’re living in right now.”