With seven albums and umpteen live collaborations under her belt, Sarah Peacock has become a force of the Nashville scene. She’s shared the stage with the likes of Melissa Etheridge, Brandi Carlile, Ann Wilson, and many more during her career. At the core of her sound is cunning songwriting and a commanding voice to deliver it. Pensive, raw, and fiercely communicated, her brand of Americana showcases a hardy core developed by rock, country, and blues sensibilities alike.
Nashville singer-songwriter John Salaway returns with a new album, Americana Dreams on 25 October. The latest cut issued from that set, “The Beauty That Surrounds Us” recalls Stephen Stills’ early, high yield of dazzling folk and British masters such as John Martyn. The song reminds us that there’s something heartwarming about the human voice, an electric guitar, and a damn fine set of lyrics.
Signe Marie Rustad’s latest album, When Words Flew Freely arrives 1 November from Die with Your Boots on Records. Reminiscent of classic singer-songwriters of the 1970s (Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill), Rustad has a voice and musical vision that’s decidedly of this time and, also, timeless. Listening to her latest single, “A Thousand Lights”, one hears her sense of optimism come through in the wordless, ethereal choruses and in the tune’s sweeping, lush arrangement. If ever there were a song that captured rediscovering hope after a long walk with hopelessness, “A Thousand Lights” is it.
EG Vines is a cunning roots rock craftsman. Angled towards rock, Vines finds the raw potential for incorporation in many of the genre’s subcategories. Throughout Family Business, his first full-length album as a solo artist, Vines uses elements of rock in many forms to craft his overarching sound. These range from Southern rock to progressive Americana and infectious pop-rock that recalls the early aughts, to gypsy-tinged psychedelia and beyond….
Karen & the Sorrows do something better than most: Reveal the true reach and ache of sorrow. Leader Karen Pittelman proves this via their latest cut, “Why Won’t You Come Back to Me”. With all the accoutrements of country music, the New York outfit breaks our hearts bar-by-bar, line by line in this song. Are we in church or merely the church of the flesh? Where does one draw the line?
Phoebe Hunt’s mystical meditations lie at the core of the music that she makes with the Gatherers. Searching for a spiritual poignancy in the emotional sentiments of folk storytelling, Phoebe Hunt & the Gatherers are acutely aware of the human condition, its triumphs and setbacks, and the divides set between us. As Hunt herself testifies, “The thread that runs through our upcoming album, Neither One of Us Is Wrong, is the thread of reconciliation.”