"This whole project grew out of a box of old four-track tapes from the ’90s that I found recently,” singer/songwriter Eric Earley explains. “The tapes were full of songs I’d written and recorded back when I was 19 or 20 years old, and the sound and the spirit of those recordings got me excited to start writing music again, to go back to working the way I did when I was first starting out.” See if you can pick up on that ‘90s psychedelic and classic rock-inspired sound on this one, which will be available May 17th via Yep Roc Records. The Portland, Oregon band will host an online listening party on May 15th, FYI.

It’s the legendary band’s first new studio album in 12 years, first-ever all-blues album, and the first one to feature percussionist Sam Clayton on lead vocals on every song. The current lineup also has Bill Payne on Keyboards and Vocals, Fred Tackett on Guitars and Vocals, Kenny Gradney on Bass, Scott Sharrard on Guitars and Vocals, and Tony Leone on drums and vocals. Bonnie Raitt is featured on one of a couple Muddy Waters tunes, and they also cover Willie Dixon, Walter Jacobs, Preston Foster, and Bobby Charles.

Get to know this English indie-folk-rock musician, whose inspirations include Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Adele, and whose 5th album draws on inspiration from her young son (with another one due soon!) It’s striking how smoothly this album seemed to come together, as she describes: “Once the songs starting forming, I knew drums and bass would be integral, so I invited David (Dyson) and Ben (Daniel) down to Brighton and we jammed through all the songs in my living room. They took shape and I decided to take Paul Weller up on his offer to use his studio Black Barn, to record them. I honestly thought we were making demos to then go find a producer, but it soon became apparent, we were beginning the making of an album. We recorded live takes, no click, and simply committed to the best take, and that was the bones of the record, which you can hear in the demo versions available. With the help of producer Kwes, we added keys, strings, brass, flute, guitar and the record was ready for mixing and mastering.

We wrap up our New Tunes at 2 series this week with three sneak peeks at some future albums coming our way. The Songs From the Road Band has helped keep Western NC as ground zero for some of the best new bluegrass music, and they’ve got a catchy foot-stomper about musicians’ life on the road with “Get Me Where I’m Going.” Sam Burchfield, from Upstate SC and now North GA, has a beautiful new song about spending time on “The Ridge”. And, well, we lost The Man in Black in 2003, but back in 1993 he’d recorded some great songs he’d written over the years that then got put aside when he signed on with Rick Rubin for that great “American Recordings” series. His son John Carter Cash has recovered these demos, and completed the tracks with work from musicians who played with Johnny in the past including guitarist Marty Stuart and the late bassist Dave Roe, along with others. “Well Alright” is the first single from an album “Songwriter” that will be released on June 28th.

It’s his 20th album, he’s approaching his 80th birthday, and he’s still got some deeply rich, absolutely incredible songs and performances to share. In fact, he’ll perform live for us in Studio B on Wednesday May 1st! Joining him on this new album are producer David Goodrich with a variety of instruments, Zak Trojano on percussion, BettySoo on accordion and harmony vocals, and the mournful flood of New Orleans jazz legend Chris Cheek’s saxophone.

You know Anya’s music, right? The Asheville resident and SW Virginia native was formerly in Tellico, and Dehlia Low before that, and won the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and was a finalist in the Hazel Dickens songwriting competition in 2019 for her song “Ballad of Zona Abston,” and was runner-up in the International Acoustic Music Awards in 2022 for “Hills of Swannanoa.” Well the name of her latest album is about as far from Southern Appalachia as you can get: Oceania comes from an area of the Pacific Ocean that is the only geographical region in the world that encompasses more water than land. Anya has found it to be a metaphor for aspects of her own life lately: “The state of being lost, and the prospect of finding the shore, is so remote and improbable that is truly tests the heart and spirit.” Get to know these new songs of hers, on this album that includes John Doyle, Mick McAuley, Billy Cardine, River Guerguerian and others. Her upcoming area shows include Citizen Vinyl in Asheville on the 27th (with The Billy Sea & Mary Lucey), and the Albino Skunk Festival on May 11th.

Alejandro Escovedo has been a pillar in the monumental music scene of Austin, TX since the ‘80s. In 1998, No Depression Magazine named him Artist of the Decade! Many artists retire some of their older songs as they move forward with their lives… Escovedo has decided to instead reinterpret them, breathing new life into them with radically different arrangements and revolutionary effect. “I always feel that that a well-written song can withstand a lot of abuse,”, he says. “Turning a past song inside out leads to discovery of new ideas you might not have understood about the song. The songs never seem to be complete. They are always evolving.” Check out these new versions of “John Conquest”, “Castanuelas” (“Castanets”), “Swallows of San Juan”, “Wave” and others with us.

Pokey’s one of those musicians whose work transcends any one or two genres. After crisscrossing the nation for the last half-decade looking for a home, Pokey LaFarge found himself in Mid-Coast Maine. Upon arriving, the Illinois-born singer/songwriter/actor (who also lived in Asheville for a time!) pursued a major life change, working 12-hour days on a local farm. Through that shift, he felt inspired to dive into his love of music from far-ranging eras and corners of the globe, including mambo, tropicália, rocksteady, and mid-century American rock-and-roll. “The songs that naturally come to me are upbeat and make you wanna dance or at least bop your head—they’re all very colorful,” says LaFarge. “I used to think of my music in dark blue, but now I see it in technicolor.”

Their fifth studio album, and first in five years! It was inspired largely by various observations of New York City. “It’s a reminder that living is frequently messy, and you’ve got to learn to keep going. With Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend have found the odd beauty inside that mess.” – Rolling Stone

Songwriter, author, professor, and Black music historian Alice Randall has released a new book chronicling the Black history of country music: My Black Country. Randall celebrates the often-erased Black musicians who shaped the genre, including the influence of singing cowboys, Pullman porters, gospel choirs, and the women who served as mothers and midwives to the genre. We’ll enjoy spotlighting this companion soundtrack that features new recordings from Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, Valerie June, and Rissi Palmer among others.