Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for February 7th, 2025. Click the artist or album links to find out more. The artist’s names link to their websites and the CD title links go to either Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp or the artist’s site for ordering or downloading. A + sign means although not a featured release, it’s a notable album that’s still worth checking out. Also, this page will be updated as I find out about other new releases so check back again.
Joe Ely
Love and Freedom (Rack ‘Em Records)
“To me, Love and Freedom is a reminder of the times we’re living in right now, and I hope it resonates with whoever takes the time to listen,” Joe Ely is quoted as saying about the new album. Ely has also been out of the public eye for an extended period and according to his wife and manager Sharon Ely, Joe has been suffering from some serious health issues lately. “In August 2024, as Joe was actually healing from a bout of pneumonia, he experienced an episode of what seemed like a small stroke … The neurologist looked at Joe’s MRI and diagnosed him with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. We have discovered and unearthed treasures of brilliant recordings. Some are coming together as complete albums. She continues, “Working on his music keeps him but not all the time. This has been great for Joe as we both weave through this journey together in a meaningful way.” (edited from Saving Country Music)
Miss Tess
Cher Rêve (Rights Records)
Miss Tess is hard to pin down, it seems she’s a rambler and a gambler in her music. That’s a compliment as there have been so many facets (incarnations?) of her ever since I first heard “I Only Miss You When I’m Stoned” (2012), complete with a sensuous clarinet that presaged later work that embodied a sense of swing and admiration for the great American songbooks of all genres. Not a dilettante by any means, here she brings that sensibility to southern Louisiana where, in Joel Savoy’s studio, she recorded nine songs, with definite Cajun overtones, live in just three days. The songs have an immediacy to them, yet one that feels unhurried in both their substance and delivery. (edited from No Depression review)
Also new this week…
R. Shayne Floyd – Heights Of The Land (River Boy Records)
Horsebath – Another Farewell (Strolling Bones Records) +
Massy Ferguson – You Can’t Tell Me I’m Not What I Used To Be (independent)
Daniel Nunnelee – June, Baby (One Riot Records)
Dakota Ray Parker – Dakota Ray Parker (independent)
Wilder Woods – Curioso (Dualtone Music Group)
Coming out soon … Christina Vane, Paul Thorn, Sean McConnell, JD Clayton, Patterson Hood, Ron Pope, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Sunny War, The Devil Makes Three, Jason Isbell, Kinky Friedman, Chip Taylor, The War and Treaty, Seth Walker, Palmyra, Charles Wesley Godwin, Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Janiva Magness, Ashleigh Flynn & The Riveters, Pete Mancini, Charley Crockett, Mason Via, Kassi Valazza and more!
