Here’s some the best Americana and roots-type music releases for October 6th, 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.
Ray Bonneville
On The Blind Side (self-released)
On his 10th album Bonneville delivers nine originals with a voice that moves from soothing to troubling…depending on the direction of the song. He co-produced the record with Texas singer-songwriter Will Sexton, who also plays on the album. While remaining accessible to the listener, this new group of songs represents a more introspective phase for Ray. With insights gained from isolation, Ray has emerged from the pandemic ready to share more of his life story, to draw from it creatively, to allow it to take him to new places and take his audience along with him. “Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana down to its essentials and steeps it in a humid, Southern vibe, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling.” – Elmore Magazine
John R. Miller
Heat Comes Down (Rounder Records)
Some songwriters write short stories. Some write anthems. Some write life itself. “My friend had a Twin / I had some old no-name Strat,” John R. Miller sings on the gentle, finger-picked “Basements” on his new album, Heat Comes Down. “Our drummer’s dad was cool / he let us come over and practice.” In four verses he charts the universal, personal journey of countless people who picked up a guitar and took off after a dream, only to land in middle age with an instrument they can play the hell out of, decades’ worth of songs, and nothing left to say. It’s just one cut on a record that reveals its facets with time. Miller, a West Virginia-raised songwriter with Billy Joe Shaver’s lack of airs and Brent Cobb’s casual amble, has given us a collection of approachable, true Americana songs with Heat Comes Down. (edited from No Depression review)
Also new this week…
Victoria Bailey – A Cowgirl Rides On (Rock Ridge Music) +
Lisa Brokop – Who’s Gonna Fill Their Heels? (Audium Music)
Billy Don Burns – I’ve Seen A Lot Of Highway (Black Country Rock) +
Tré Burt – Traffic Fiction (Oh Boy Records)
Jason Hawk Harris – Thin Places (Bloodshot Records)
Ida Mae – Thunder Above You (Vow Road Records)
Charlie Mars – Times Have Changed (Foxgate Records) +
Mike and the Moonpies – Live from the Devil’s Backbone (Prairie Rose Records) +
Joni Mitchell – Archives, Volume 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) (Elektra Catalog Group)
The Steel Woods – On Your Time (Woods Music) +
Coming out soon… The Carolyn Sills Combo, Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, Robert Rex Waller Jr., Kelly Hunt, Eli Paperboy Reed, Jessi Colter, Jonah Tolchin, Mick Flannery, Chris Stapleton, Kerri Powers, Kristen Grainger & True North, Amos Lee, Jeffrey Martin, The Resonant Rogues and more!
