November’s best country and country-ish releases on Bandcamp include honky tonk from Australia, folk from the Canadian prairies, Kiwi-style Americana, old-time music from the far northwestern corner of the contiguous United States and a baker’s dozen faithful Loretta Lynn covers. Enjoy!
Zachary Lucky
The Wind
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
Zachary Lucky’s sixth album The Wind was recorded “stereophonically using AEA ribbon microphones.â€Â I have no idea what that means, but holy cow, does this record sound terrific: Lucky’s resonant baritone feels like a soft and comforting pillow, and the strums of his acoustic guitar sound so close, you’ll swear you’re inside the thing. All of this is a good match for the Canadian troubadour’s patient country-folk tunes about the irresistible lure and aching solitude of life on the road. There’s a reason he’s known as the Laureate of the Lonesome Song.
Erin Ivey
Souvenir
Usually, Erin Ivey is a cinematic indie-folk singer and songwriter, as you can hear on her excellent 2021 album Solace In The Wild. But when she found herself with a batch of songs that felt a little heavy on the twang, she brought in Best Country Music all-star Brennen Leigh to help bring them to recorded life. The result is Souvenir, a 10-track collection of gently spirited country-folk songs that spill over with memorable melodies and slice-of-life wisdom about searching for a sure path in an disorienting world.
West of Texas
Hot Motel Nights
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
You only need to scan the track list of Hot Motel Nights to understand where West of Texas is coming from: “I Hate the World Again,†… “Wall of Memories,†… “I Can Almost Taste the Whiskey,†… “I Only Listen to Heartbreak Songs†… yup, this is a classic, tear-in-my-beer honky tonk record. West of Texas is a songwriter named Jerry Zinn surrounded by top-shelf session men, and together, they’ve crafted a satisfying set of booze-soaked, pedal steel-stuffed songs that recall legends like George Jones and the Texas Tornados.
Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms
Gold In Your Pocket
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
For many years, Caleb Klauder & Reeb Willms were a pillar of the acoustic-music scene in Portland, where they helped stir up a revival of country and string bands. They’re now based in Washington state, but they recorded their new album Gold In Your Pocket in Nashville and Louisiana. No matter where they find their feet, though, Klauder and Willms yield a bounty of rootsy styles — classic country, bluegrass, Western swing and Cajun music — that’s expertly played and endlessly engaging. These two bring old-time tradition to life as well as anyone anywhere.
Eilen Jewell
Butcher Holler
Vinyl LP
Idaho singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell first released this collection of Loretta Lynn covers way back in 2010. So it’s not a new release, but (a) it’s the great Eilen Jewell, and (b) she’s singing Loretta Lynn songs, and (c) this is the first time you can buy it on vinyl, and with three new tracks, no less. Loretta’s songs — “Fist City,†“The Pill,†“You’re Lookin’ at Country,†they’re all here — are so sturdy and timeless, they’re tough to mess up. Jewell not only doesn’t mess ‘em up, she does ‘em justice and then some.
James Ellis
The Party Might Be Over
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD), T-Shirt/Shirt
The third track on James Ellis’s The Party Might Be Over is called “I Wish That I Was Honky Tonkin’.†Buddy, you are honky tonkin’! You’re honky tonkin’ better than most honky tonkers out there, and you’re doing it from Melbourne, Australia, which is proof that honky tonk music has made inroads all over the world. Ellis and his band do it right — boom-chick rhythms, catchy choruses, wailing pedal steel guitar and lots of feelings, most found at the bottom of an empty glass. “The party might be over,†Ellis sings, “but that don’t mean that we can’t dance.†That’s the spirit!
Tess Liautaud
Blue Mind
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP, Bag, T-Shirt/Shirt, Button/Pin/Patch
Everything about Tess Liautaud’s new album Blue Mind feels warm and inviting. The honeyed strum of the guitars. The fine-grit depth of her singing voice, which recalls the great Lydia Loveless. Even the sun-dappled photo on the cover looks like a lovely time. A Franco-American singer-songwriter now based in New Zealand, Liautaud makes music you can point to the next time someone asks you to define the Americana genre: Twangy rock, rough-hewn jangle, dusky vibes and raw emotions.
Loose Cattle
Someone’s Monster
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD), 2 x Vinyl LP
Right from the jump, Loose Cattle’s third album feels like a particularly appropriate soundtrack for these post-election times in America, as Kimberly Kaye and (two-time Tony and Grammy winner) Michael Cerveris sing “I thought we’d be further on than this†against rugged roots rock and a kinetic fiddle line. (The next track, by the way, is a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Joanne†with guest vocals by Lucinda Williams.) On Someone’s Monster, Loose Cattle sound like they were beamed in from the heyday of alt-country to help us rage against the various evils that feel like they’re closing in.
Amythyst Kiah
Still + Bright
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
As regular readers of this column know, we take a big-tent approach to inclusion here. We put the “ish†in “country-ish.†Folk, bluegrass, Americana, acoustic music … all are welcome. Even so, Amethyst Kiah’s new album Still + Bright pushes on those boundaries a bit; this is, for all intents and purposes, an incredible and expansive folk-rock record that sounds like it was written and recorded in some far-off corner of the cosmos. But listen to echoes of Appalachia in the banjo that powers “S P A C E†or the bluegrass underpinning of “I Will Not Go Down†(featuring Billy Strings) and tell me it doesn’t belong here. It does.
