Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for November 24th, 2023. 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.
Amos Lee
Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams (Hoagiemouth Records)
Specifically, Lee revisited his “songwriting hero,” Lucinda Williams – the iconic musician he describes as “unapologetically sincere” and “a spiritual guide for me.” Now, Lee pays homage to Williams with a full album of covers from her iconic songbook – Honeysuckle Switches. Williams has been a formative artist for Lee dating back to his teenage years, “She is the most genuine and kind person,” recalls Lee. “As someone who wasn’t always readily available, her vulnerability opened my heart.” Reckoning with his own loss and grief over the past year, Lee turned to the songs of his mentor as a source of healing, the album is a way to thank Williams for getting him through life’s most difficult moments time and time again: “She has this persistence and will in her perspective, she embraces the sadness but is never enveloped by it.” (edited from Grateful Web review)
The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Café in Philadelphia March 16th 1973 (Amoeba Records)
n early 1973 Gram Parsons embarked on a tour to promote his recently released first solo album, GP. Gram put together a pretty great band, including the then-unknown Emmylou Harris as his singing partner. One show stood out to pedal steel player Neil Flanz: the third night at the Bijou Cafe. Neil felt that this was the best show of the tour and requested a copy of the soundboard recording. He saved it for almost forty years, and then it was acquired by Amoeba Music for a future Gram release. It turns out Neil was right. This is Gram and Emmylou at their finest. And it’s the next to last club date ever for Gram and the Fallen Angels. A 50-year-old soundboard cassette offers some unique challenges, but thanks to the efforts of some of the world’s best archival sound restoration engineers, the beauty and energy of Gram, Emmy and the band shine through. For all of those who never got to experience Gram live, this is the closest we’ll ever get to being there.
Coming out soon… The Wilder Blue, Zach Russell, The Longshore Drifters, Uncle Lucius, John Craigie, Chatham County Line, Sarah Jarosz, John Leventhal, Corb Lund, Joe Pug, Anna Moss and more!
