PREMIERES

The thrill of the unknown can be exhilarating. Untethered by tradition, Americana singer-songwriter David Quinn hit the open road to find himself and rediscover his love of music. The highway swept out from under his feet, weaving through the mountains of Colorado down to the sweltering heat of Texas and then back out west to […]

Evan Thomas Way’s career as the frontman for the Parson Red Heads has made the warmth of his voice synonymous with the band’s hope-filled songs. This is why his new solo record is a surprise. While maintaining the layered guitar harmonies and the gentleness of his voice, the songs on Long Distance – out May 3rd […]

Creature and the Woods are a harmonic brotherhood, dredging the grooves of rock and roll roots and American mythology. After forming in 2014 and undergoing an abrupt lineup change in 2015, Creature and the Woods quickly earned critical applause and regional attention with the purity of their heart-pounding live performances and the intensity of lead […]

When you think of trendy musical scenes, Portland, Maine might not be first on your list. Yet the homespun, heartwarming music of family-oriented indie folk group GoldenOak provides evidence that the dense woods of the Pine Tree State might just be a better muse than the slick streets of New York and LA. That music scene […]

Like a fine Kentucky bourbon, the Louisville band Bridge 19 has come of age with its new album In the Afterglow (out 4/26). Mature and bold but sweet and satisfying, Bridge 19 offers it most revealing and meaningful songs to date. Through lush, polished vocal harmonies, frontwomen Audrey Cecil and Amanda Lucas sing about serious, timely […]

Maria Francis and Jeff Overbo define modern Americana as Silver Lake 66. With a winning amalgamation of classic country, folk and blues, their songs have been hailed by numerous publications and radio stations. It’s no wonder, either, given their knack for authentic, heartstring-tugging songwriting, impeccable harmonies and ardent guitar-playing. Together, they perform outstanding roots-laden duets following […]

Jimbo Mathus has blazed a singular path as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and shaman for 40 years, recording and releasing more than 300 songs that are a testament to his hoodoo craftsmanship and to the sounds, sights and spirits of his inspirations in the deep South. His new album, Incinerator, which debuts on April […]

Day turns to night as Mark de Clive-Lowe’s Heritage II (out April 5th via Ropeadope) takes listeners from the meditative zen of Heritage into a world of jazz and Japanese roots culture fused with hip hop, drum’n’bass and broken-beat. ‘Heritage is a legacy we receive from our ancestors to pass on to future generations. It’s the […]

Girls on Grass, despite their moniker, is precisely 50% girl— Barbara Endes (writer, singer, guitarist), drummer Nancy Polstein (the Friggs, Cheri Knight, Star City)—and 50% boy: blues/alt-country vet David Weiss on lead guitar (replacing Sean Eden), and WFMU’s own Dave Mandl on bass. Upon her arrival in NYC in 2004, Barbara served time in a […]

Songwriter and violist Dina Maccabee’s latest album, The Sharpening Machine (PRE-ORDER), is a milestone entry in the New York-based musician’s creative continuum. Her path has taken her from formal music studies to individual explorations of folk and electronic sounds, on a quest to unite people through music that is both ambitious and vulnerable. Dina’s aesthetic is […]

The last time we heard from Preston Lovinggood – the singer-songwriter behind Birmingham, AL cult heroes Wild Sweet Orange – was with his stunning 2014 album, Shadow Songs. The soundscape of songs showcased Lovinggood’s intricately-detailed, and low-key funny tales of love, longing, and loss, even spawning a lo-fi companion album, Sun Songs. Consequences,  Lovinggood’s new […]

Ryan Hamilton and The Harlequin Ghosts are gearing up for a  very busy 2019 with many surprises in store. Ryan’s 2017 melodically rocking song, “Fuck You Brain” caught the attention of Wicked Cool honcho Steven Van Zandt, who added it to his Underground Garage playlist, along with half the songs from did Ryan Hamilton and The Traitors’ 2017 album The […]

Ardent Sons is a rock and roll band from Oakland, California, fronted by Flamin’ Groovies drummer Tony T. Sales. Their songs explore classic themes of love and loss, travels between broken homes and shaky relationships, and redemption in life’s near-forgotten moments. Sales’ musical career started with a lot of listening. By the time his dad […]

The last time we heard from Preston Lovinggood – the singer-songwriter behind Birmingham, AL cult heroes Wild Sweet Orange – was with his stunning 2014 album, Shadow Songs. The soundscape of songs showcased Lovinggood’s intricately-detailed, and low-key funny tales of love, longing, and loss, even spawning a lo-fi companion album, Sun Songs. Consequences,  Lovinggood’s new […]

Bencoolen achieves their bold, signature sound by weaving blues, funk and soul through songs, teetering on the edge of mainstream pop and rock. Featuring soaring vocals, swift saxophone lines, and massive guitar tones, the band was started in 2014 by college friends Paul Gregg and Teddy Scott. As time has progressed, the focus of the […]

Atlanta, Georgia-based ROCK band (all-caps for a reason!) The Pinx are gearing up to release their third album Sisters & Brothers on April 12th. The album follows-up 2016’s Freedom, which PASTE called “an authentic tribute to classic American rock and roll.” The basic tracks for this new collection of songs (save for the closing 42-second lock […]

Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur and almost-poet since before he can remember. Raised working-class Catholic on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, he took a semester in Ireland, and immediately began cutting classes to busk on Grafton Street in Dublin and hitchhike through the country, finding whatever gigs he could. Back stateside, he […]

An ambitious followup to Cave Clove’s eponymous 2016 full-length studio album, Dollars to Tokens demonstrates a potent formula for why vocalist/songwriter Katie Colver and her band are on a fast track emerging as one of the Bay Area’s most compelling new acts. Releasing on May 3rd, Dollars to Tokens presents five unflinching chronicles of Colver’s […]

In April 2019, folk singer Kelly Augustine releases her evocatively-titled debut record, Light in the Lowlands, recorded and produced by Grammy-nominated producer Wes Sharon (John Fullbright, the Turnpike Troubadours, The Grahams). True to its title, the album explores stories of darkness and salvation through poetic lyrics and an authentic command of a variety of Americana […]

Molly Thomas And The Rare Birds have always been authentic but Thomas and her band have raised the bar on honesty and vulnerability for their new album, Honey’s Fury. The southern Alabama foursome amplifies Thomas’ recurring theme of our humanness, connection, and the personal transformation of our chaos and confusion into a raging river of […]