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Sami Braman has been playing the fiddle since she was 6 years old, among the music festivals and jamming communities of the Pacific Northwest’s vibrant traditional old-time music scene. At 8 she and her long-time musical buddies Leo Shannon and Riley Calcagno formed The Onlies (with Vivian Leva joining a few years later.) Sami recently moved to Nashville to pursue music full-time, and we’re excited about this new solo debut album of fiddle-based instrumentals that draws upon traditions from Appalachia to Ireland, Cape Breton to Norway. It will be officially released on Friday

It’s a roots-rock, neo-soul release from Bear Rinehart, who formed Wilder Woods in 2019. Joining him are guitarist Tyler Burkum, Aaron Sterling (drums), Tony Lucido (bass) & My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel (guitar). By the way: Wilder and Woods are the first names of Bear’s two older sons.

This is a new, acoustic version of the band’s 10th album, which was released late last year. Much of Asphalt Meadows was written throughout the course of 2020 and 2021. For half of the album, the band employed tactics to write material remotely, utilizing Dropbox to send files back and forth. On Monday, one band member would write a bed track for a new song, before handing it off to the next musician, and so on. Each musician had creative license to take the music wherever they felt comfortable, leading to more unexpected harmonic avenues. Frontman Ben Gibbard likened the process to "chain-letter songwriting."

Acoustic punk meets country blues on this new one from Sunny War, which confronts some intense emotions and crises head-on – a breakup, the death of her dad, addiction, severe depression… But music seems to have literally saved her life, and this collection promises not just healing so much as resilience and perseverance.

If you’ve ever heard Tommy’s talent, on record or especially live, you’ll see why the great Chet Atkins considered him “one of the best guitar players I’ve ever seen.” He’s back with another collection with assorted favorites of ours accompanying him, including Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle, Little Feat! There are four strong original tunes here, but the Australian can also be considered one of the greatest performers of Americana standards too, with versions of songs made famous by Doc Watson, Merle Haggard, Roy Book Binder, Jethro Burns, and Jimmie Driftwood among others.

His 30-year-and-countring career has included 15 solo albums and two GRAMMY® nominations. He came to national attention as a defining artist of the alt-country scene in the 1990s, with releases on the Chicago-based indie Bloodshot Records, North Carolina’s Yep Roc, and Los Angeles’s Geffen Records. Now he’s on Compass Records, and is taking on Bluegrass with Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Ronnie McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, John Cowan and Jerry Douglas. He muses: “Electric guitars might give way to computers, as seems to be happening now, but the mountains will still be right there.”

It might sound contradictory, but the latest one from Iris DeMent is both jubilant and tragic, hopeful and dire. As Pitchfork magazine says, “Workin’ on a World is like a parade on a stormy day, a celebration beneath increasingly ominous skies”. What a wondrous thing it is to have one of the Midwest’s – one of the nation’s – greatest songwriters back with a whole album of new original material: her first in over a decade. Those familiar with her might also know her husband is singer/songwriter Greg Brown, who has some songwriting contributions here. Brown’s daughter, Pieta Brown, co-produced the album with Richard Bennett and Jim Rooney.

Mount Holly’s own bard is back with a wonderful new one, to be released April 7th on Ramseur Records. It features a dozen songs written by David, plus a surprise Prince cover! While David himself is an accomplished painter (and attorney!), the album’s cover comes courtesy of his son and longtime drummer Robert Childers. “I trust his judgment,” Childers says of Robert. “I wasted time goin’ to college and bein’ a lawyer for 35 years, and he just went straight from high school into rock n’ roll. He has a very developed sense of how music oughta work– though he’s got kind of a nasty attitude from time to time,” David laughs. “That’s ’cause he cares about it and he’s willin’ to fight for it!”

"Traditional Turkish folk songs recorded on vintage gear, a return to the psychedelic sound of the 1970s.” This description from the music mag MOJO sums up this band and their latest release pretty well. Merve Daşdemir and Erdinç Ecevit trade lead vocals, and they’re backed by Thijs Elzinga on guitar, Jasper Verhulst on bass, and Daniel Smienk and Chris Bruining on drums and other percussion. They have roots in Amsterdam as well, and their last album had more of an Anatolian ‘80s sound. Groove to this new one! Serefe!