In light of having a much-needed long weekend, I thought I’d take a moment to pop in with some more musical recommendations to calm our frayed nerves. (Only a month into the year and it already feels like a decade has passed — huzzah!) We’ll focus on a trio of artists I’ve highlighted recently over on our sister site on the ‘Gram, all champs of the country’s beloved bipartisan #FridayFreshness competition held there each week. They were all new finds for me and since their respective victories I’ve dived down the rabbithole, delving deeper into their material and really enjoying what I’ve found. We’ll start with Nashville’s Josh Rennie-Hynes, the Aussie-born artist who’s released seven albums since getting started with his self-titled debut a little over a decade ago.
It’s been less than two years since he released a pair of them, LIGHT/SHADE and Fragile Like a Bomb, which were more electronic, poppier outings than his quieter, singer/songwriter roots, but it seems like he might be gearing up for another release soon and a return to that earlier sound. Rennie-Hynes describes his sound as a blend of “personal storytelling with folk, indie rock, dream pop, and Americana, creating a sound that is both timeless and distinctly his own,” which is a fair characterization as you work your way through his catalog. The single that won the weekly competition on the ‘Gram called to mind soft-spoken legends like James Taylor, while his first few albums remind me more of early-era Ryan Adams. Specifically on his third album Furthermore, which is my favorite so far.
Released back in 2016 it’s a really strong set of songs, bearing a range of country flourishes across its eleven tracks. There’s slide guitar on the stately opener “Where Do I Go,” the hushed “June 23rd,” and their more upbeat companion “Picture Frame.” There’s somber fiddle on “A Beaufort Afternoon,” the quiet closer “Annandale to Austin,” and their more upbeat companion “Rosie.” (The former of which also sports some harmonica.) Some are more folk forward (the lovely “Fiddlewoods”), others are rockier (the bright “Richmond” and “Shining Down”), while others showcase some wonderful harmonies between Rennie-Hynes and an unnamed mystery woman. (“I’ll Go Home”) It’s a really solid listen, but my favorite among many right now is the aforementioned “Rosie,” which he wrote for a friend of his cousin’s that was struggling with depression. It’s a warm, encouraging tune (“it’s gonna be alright, alright, alright, alright Rosie…”) that draws you into its arms. Give it (and the rest of the album) a listen:
We’ll skip over to the Pacific Northwest for our next artist, Spokane’s Matt Mitchell, of the aptly named Matt Mitchell Music Co. He’s had a bit of a herky jerky start for some reason — he released his debut EP Push – Vol. 1 in 2019, but then disappeared for nearly three years. When he resurfaced he did so with a flourish, dropping a duo of albums, Ramona and Captive of the Mind, both of which are really good listens. (His harmonies with singer Jen Borst on the latter are particularly poignant, as on tracks like the excellent “After Today” and “The Price of Yesterday,” among others.) He seems to have started hitting his stride since then, releasing his third album Obvious Euphoria last year, which showcased a number of songs with sharper lyrics about the state of things around us to powerful effect.
There’s overtly critical ones like the countrywide call outs “Sounds American to Me” (“low effort and high desire”) and “Bootstrap Nation” (“find yourself a means of exploitation, there ain’t nothing you can’t be in this American dream”) and there’s subtler, more indirect ones that bury their blades under a blanket of sweet sounding melodies. Tracks like “Captain Toyota” and the ode to Sherman and his infamous march “Kerosene” represent the latter — “Please don’t ask me ’bout how I’m doing — I’ve been getting on, I’ve been getting through it. I took a turn down a real dark road” and “would you go out for me I need a book of matches and some kerosene, I’m gonna burn down everything,” respectively. Those could be transcripts ripped from the minds of any number of us right now (including yours truly) and it makes the juxtaposition with the sunnier sounding music that much starker. Mitchell reminds me of Jimmy Buffett a bit — his voice and occasional tropical vibes gild straightforward narratives and embraceable melodies, but there’s a touch more shade than in the departed’s typical fare. It’s really good stuff — my current fave is probably the aforementioned “Kerosene,” as it’s something of a modern day anthem right now (for better or much, much worse…) Give it a listen here:
We’ll head down south again for the last member of our trio, Birmingham’s Will Stewart. He’s probably the most eclectic of the three, channeling everyone from legends like Dylan (“Dark Halls,” “Nothing’s Right”) and Petty (“Be Sweet,” “New World Daydream”) to the saunter of forgotten alt-rockers Morphine (who he name checks on “Southern Raphael” and then covers outright on the excellent EP 90 Acre Farm) or their counterparts Uncle Tupelo when the twang and muscle creep in. (“All Over Again,” “Tragedy”) He plays nicely with others, too, harmonizing beautifully with a range of female foils, from frequent collaborator Janet Simpson (who shows up on a number of songs and released an album with him as Timber back in 2018) or Sarah Lee Langford (who he also released an album with in 2022).
That high work ethic and range of influences adds up to an incredibly interesting (and satisfying) listen — in total he’s got four full lengths on his own (all solid), plus the two with the aforementioned partners and a live album to boot, capturing him on a tour stop in Norway last year. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, either. Stewart’s currently gearing up for the release of his fifth solo album Moon Winx, which is due out Feb 28, and then hopefully heading back out on the road to support the new album. (Its lead single “Firebird Fever” is what grabbed my attention — and the coveted #FridayFreshness crown — a few weeks back.) I’m really looking forward to it. In the meantime I’m gonna keep spinning his older stuff to prepare — start with the stately “Heaven Knows Why” (which sports some of those lovely harmonies with Ms Simpson) or that killer “Southern Raphael” to get you going:
In anticipation of the new Led Zeppelin documentary (the aptly titled Becoming Led Zeppelin, which was released last week) I finally read the infamous biography of them from the 80s, Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga. I’d put off reading it for years because of its lurid reputation (this is where “the shark incident” and other sensationalist details apparently originated about the band’s extracurricular activities while on tour) and while those pieces are in there they were thankfully not as prominent as I’d feared. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of talk about the destruction of hotel rooms, possible deals with the devil, and a laundry list of mistresses as long as Page’s member reportedly was/is. Thankfully more of the focus is on what really matters (at least to me) — the music — and the book does a better than expected job of taking you through both the band’s inauspicious beginnings when they couldn’t draw a crowd in their native UK (which drove them here to the US where they instantly caught fire) and their meteoric rise where they flew around the country on their own jumbo jet and regularly played three-plus hour shows to sold out, overflowing crowds.
One of the things that stood out (aside from the aforementioned excesses) were the ongoing death threats that the band apparently regularly received. There were initial threats of pummelings — particularly when touring the South in those early years — which seem to have stemmed mostly from their “hippie-like” appearances (it was the late 60s, remember), but gradually intensified into actual death threats from both haters, crazies (a Charles Manson disciple stalked Page and came to his dressing room to try and meet him the night before she ultimately tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford, for one), and those perturbed by Page’s obsession with occultist Alastair Crowley. It’s pretty wild to consider an act today having to deal with something like this so often (and so credibly) that they have to hire individual bodyguards on top of regular security and contemplate quitting the band, as JPJ reportedly did at least once. Could you imagine the uproar if someone like Tay Tay, Bey Bey, or Coldplay were facing that (or that anyone would be that enraged by them to even want to in the first place?) Pretty wild, but just another part of the over the top lives that these guys were living.
Aside from the titillating tabloid fodder I mentioned before (which for their part the band has always denied) you have to fight through some pretty purple prose at times to get to the data, such as the below whopper which was so ridiculous I had to share:
“Robert was in his usual skintight jeans and an open vest that revealed his bare chest. He strutted and preened, shook his hips and thrust out his breast, glistening with sweat. He bumped and ground, preened with exaggerated braggadocio and threw his hair back like some hippie Jesus. The thick July heat turned the concert into a delirious steambath. Stage lights glowed in hues of saffron, cerise, indigo, aquamarine, and emerald.”
Passages like that aside, it was overall a better read than I expected. Not as good as the biography on Bonzo, which I wrote about before, but definitely a worthwhile addendum to that one. I’m really looking forward to seeing the documentary to see where it fits on the spectrum. Since I haven’t included it here before (and since it’s one of the many songs of theirs I love, one that fits the mood right now nicely), give the smoldering “No Quarter” a listen here:
We’ll shift to some singles from some other longtime faves to close things out, starting with one from Zep’s countrymen, Doves. The band has a new album coming out soon, Constellations of the Lonely, which is their first since their surprise return five years ago. (The Universal Want landed at #11 on my year-end list that year.) The release date on the upcoming album has slid a couple times so far, which is a little worrisome, but thankfully the quality of the songs we’ve heard so far aren’t. Give the latest one, “Cold Dreaming,” a whirl here while we wait:
We’ll come back to this dumpster fire of a country for the rest of our tunes (no quarter, indeed…), shifting to another extra from hometown heroes Jesus Lizard who are still riding high on the backs of their own surprise return, the excellent Rack, which landed at #4 on my year-end list last month. It’s from the same sessions as that album (their first in twenty FIVE years!) and the second of three that the band will formally release on the upcoming EP Flux. (Due out April 12.) It’s vintage Lizard, channeling the same queasy, seasick vibe on display in their latest while riding another seesawing riff from guitarist Duane Denison. I’m looking forward to hearing the last tune once the EP drops in a couple months — in the meantime give this one a try here:
We’ll head south now for an old one from another returning fave, the Alabama Shakes, who recently announced their own surprise comeback eight years after going on hiatus. Since then frontwoman (and force of nature) Brittany Howard has released a pair of well-received (though disappointing, in my book) solo albums and the band parted ways with drummer Steve Johnson (who was arrested and accused of child abuse before being acquitted), but recently announced both a new album and tour. (Conveniently kicking off right here in my beloved city by the lake.) I’ve already got my tickets and am eagerly awaiting some new tunes, but in the meantime thought of this old one they did for the PBS documentary series American Epic, which looked at the birth of this country’s recording industry. It showcased a bunch of big names recording old tunes on old equipment (Elton John, Jack White, and Merle Haggard being just three), so was only fitting to have someone with as incredibly nostalgic a voice as Ms Brittany do one too. They chose Memphis Minnie’s “Killer Diller” from the 40s and it sounds great, like an unearthed treasure from some dusty time capsule. Give it a listen here:
We’ll close with a couple from the relentlessly productive (and much loved) Ms Katie, aka Waxahatchee, who is continuing her hot streak from last year’s excellent Tigers Blood, which very nearly claimed the top spot on my year end list. (It landed juuuuuuuuuuust behind at #2.) Aside from releasing that gem she’s also been dropping extras from those sessions, covering Lucinda Williams alongside guitarist MJ Lenderman, and pairing with early aughts indie darling Ben Kweller on his upcoming album Cover the Mirrors. The album was written after Kweller suffered a terrible loss (his teenage son died in a car crash in 2023), but this one doesn’t find him overtly grieving. It instead finds him returning to his grungy earlier sound, offering an understated (yet quite pretty) duet with Ms Katie that eventually erupts in a wave of guitar at the end. It’s a really good tune, one that has me curious to hear the rest of the album. (It’s due out May 30.) Sink your teeth into this one while we wait:
We’ll close with a final track from Ms Katie, another of the aforementioned extras from her excellent album last year. She’s already released one from those sessions (the fabulous “Much Ado About Nothing” I posted last month) and this one’s another winner. It again finds her partnering with MJ Lenderman, and as much as I’m indifferent to him on his own, you can’t deny how good his pairings are with her. This one’s another upbeat, country-tinged slice of sunshine — crack the window and let it in here:
That’s all for now — remember to breath, sunbeams. Resistance and rest are going to be two critical components for us, it seems. Until next time…
–BS