Check out this album that celebrates inclusivity, togetherness and the deep African imprint on American roots music. “The porch is a metaphor for a perfect world - with the kind of smiles like those between the two of them on the cover,” said MIX Magazine in a recent front-page profile. It’s their 2nd “TajMo” collaboration, the first being in 2017. Singers Wendy Moten and Ruby Amanfu are among the musicians joining them here; for the TajMo duo though, there was one collaboration that felt particularly moving: “We had our sons in there playing with us and all the other musicians and writers were hanging the whole time,” remembers Keb’ Mo’. “So it was a really fun place to be.”

Produced by longtime collaborator and Detroit garage-rock luminary Bobby Harlow (The Go), this one includes some collaboration 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.”

We have a relatively personal album from the Nigerian Afrobeat legend -- and son of the original Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti -- with this year’s release. Femi balances his signature “sweet music with a bitter message” with introspective reflections on family, life, and personal growth. Revisiting old tracks with fresh perspectives and producing entirely on his own for the first time, the album captures his journey as an artist, activist, and father.

We’re pleased to present this set of 15 new originals by O’Brien and Fabricius, many of them in co-written with the great Tom Paxton. A West Virginia native who burst on the scene with Colorado bluegrass group Hot Rize in the late 1970’s, O’Brien has since earned renown with a solo career built on his soulful songs, heartfelt vocals, and collaborations with everyone from Steve Earle to Steve Martin. The multi- instrumentalist started dating Kansas native Jan Fabricius in 2011. A cardiac ICU nurse and single mother, Jan grew up singing in church and school, playing mandolin and singing informally around festival campfires on weekends. Moving to Nashville in 2013, she took a crash course in the music business as tour manager and bookkeeper for Grammy winner O’Brien. It wasn’t long before she started joining him onstage, in the studio, and in the songwriting room. (Coincidentally, Tim’s sister and brother-in-law Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore have a new release this week, too!)

Here is some of Luther Dickinson’s description of this special new Allstars album: “Still Shakin’ is a celebration of our life-changing first album, Shake Hands with Shorty, which we released 25 years ago, and a love letter of appreciation to everyone who supported us and kept us in the game all these years. Touring this album cycle into 2026 will mark thirty years since we started North Mississippi Allstars, and we couldn’t resist by commemorating both of those anniversaries. Rather than focus on the old material, we decided to record new music in the spirit of our debut.

This Brooklyn singer has a tight band, that burst on the music scene as regular performers at Levon Helm's legendary Midnight Rambles in Woodstock, New York. On this new album of songs about filled with love, encouragement, truth, despair, and even humor, they aim to elevate your mood in every way. Suter explains, "Our writing journey began during the pandemic, at a time when we knew we needed to stay on the path of conscious creativity, spending many days collaborating and brainstorming to make our dream come to life. 'Just Stay High' is exactly what we did, and now through our gifts of music bring a message of consciousness for the world to heal."

Andrew Marlin & Emily Frantz started performing together in 2009 in coffee shops and restaurants of Chapel Hill and other NC towns under the name Mandolin Orange. They now have their 2nd album under the Watchhouse name, and an extensive tour of North America that comes back to us over Labor Day weekend for the Earl Scruggs Music Festival. They are certainly a grassroots success story that’s been driven by Marlin’s poignant songwriting, that has earned them a reputation for creating music that “redefines roots music for a younger generation” (Washington Post), with songs that touch on the unknowable mysteries, existential heartbreak, and communal joys of modern life.

"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!

He’s 92, and this is his 77th solo album… Celebrate another wonderful new one from The Red-Headed Stranger! Willie has been mighty prolific lately, with help from producer Buddy Cannon, a few family members, and a whole world of Willie fans. He’s released a few albums over the years that were entirely the works of other songwriters: Lefty Frisell, Kris Kristofferson, and Harlan Howard. He’s done so again now, with fellow Texan Rodney Crowell.

How can a band last for some 56 years and keep its legacy so strong? By maintaining its identifiable groove and sound, and by doing so while evolving with different members over the years. Such is the case with Little Feat, formed by Lowell George, Bill Payne, Richie Hayward, and Roy Estrada back in 1969.