Good Good Blood • Little Sparrow • 2025

Written in the throws of grief, "Little Sparrow" is an album of questions, of wondering, of wanting, of asking “will we make it through?”

A line in the sand, leaving behind a monolith of pain and sadness, this record charts a journey from shock and disbelief through to acceptance and, although uncertain, hope for the future.

Featuring re-worked versions of previously released 'Flowers Bloom' and 'Forever Scars', each song was initially recorded at home, sparse arrangements of just acoustic guitar and vocals.

After encouragement from family and friends to flesh out these embryonic versions, an opportunity arose to work on the songs with Paul Brown in his West Yorkshire studio.

Paul's ear, knowledge and expertise proved invaluable in fleshing out the songs, bringing a fuller, more vibrant sound to the production. Taking them from solitude and isolation into a blossoming world of shared experience, hope, love and joy.

Super XX Man • Rusted Hues • 2025

 

Super XX Man marks 30 years with Rusted Hues, their 19th album, co-produced by Adam Selzer (Peter Buck, M. Ward). Founder Scott Garred reunited with former bandmates, blending home and studio recordings. NPR’s All Songs Considered once featured the band, with host Bob Boilen saying, “If we’re going to choose 10 songs every week, let it be Super XX Man,” and later inviting them for a Tiny Desk Concert. The album explores themes of decay and renewal, with standout tracks like “Rusted Hues” and “Hold On to Me,” showcasing heartfelt lyrics and lush arrangements.

Avery Friedman • New Thing • 2025

“I wrote ‘New Thing’ in one sitting after riding the subway home alone at night for the first time since being mugged at knifepoint months prior. I was shocked and disoriented by the anxiety I experienced doing something so routine—I felt foreign to myself. It’s one of the first of my songs that I truly loved, which is part of why I chose it as the title of my upcoming record. I’m grateful for how this song continues to bring me back into my body.” – Avery Friedman

It’s a little bit of a new thing

It’s a little hard to predict

And I can’t quite describe it

But it’s like a magnet flipped

Linktree

best of 2024 • Merce Lemon • Will You Do Me A Kindness

Merce Lemon has been a mainstay of the consistently prolific Pittsburgh music scene for longer than most people can claim, or even remember – it’s where the music in her life began, and is where it’s since returned to bloom perennially. “I grew up in a house full of music, and I’ve been making songs for as long as I can remember,” says Lemon. “Both of my parents played in bands when I was kid. I had an acapella group with my sister and friends when I was nine or ten that I wrote all the songs for, and I changed the name of our band every show we played.”

I cook dinner with some friends

Tidy up the house tie up loose ends

Now the sun has yet to set

A little staring at the ceiling

Pick a book I never read

And I get lonely for a bit

Comes in waves and then it split

Like a kiss

That missed my lips

Will you do me a kindness?

Point the sun

Right into my flesh

I want

Nothing left

Will you do me a kindness?

mercelemon.com

Lea Thomas • The Gift • 2024

Lea Thomas’ album “Cosmos Forever” unfurls in a moment of exquisitely gentle suggestion: “Let’s go for a walk/Don’t talk.” Hers is a voice that is at peace with itself, that is trusting of its own ability to convey the truths of her experience and her personal philosophy, and to express her enduring love for the natural world. These truths, inspired by growing up on Maui, are embroidered with elegantly simple imagery. Fragments and fine details of a myriad different landscapes–a spray of leaves, a winding river, a bracing trade wind–seem to weave themselves together into a blanket of sound that is warm and wholly enveloping.

linktr.ee/lealeathomas

Flat Mary Road • "This Summer” • 2023

Tom Jenkins • 'Under The Sun' • 2022

Offering up another canny curveball and adding another string to his increasingly diverse and genre-hopping bow, Tom Jenkins has served up a slice of feel-good pop-tinted indie-rock on latest single ‘Under The Sun’. 

“‘Under The Sun’ is probably the most upbeat song off my new album. I really wanted to write more uplifting music this time round. The sound is inspired mainly by American alt/indie bands like Band of Horses and The Shins. Lyrically the song focuses on unity in a world that always seems to be trying to divide us by the ways of the media or manipulating higher powers.”

https://orcd.co/tomjenkinsunderthesun

George Harrison • My Sweet Lord • 2021

features all-star cast of more than forty musicians, actors and comedians in tribute to harrison’s influence on music, film and comedy

stars fred armisen and vanessa bayer and features mark hamill, ringo starr, joe walsh, jeff lynne, jon hamm, natasha leggero, darren criss, rosanna arquette, “weird al” yankovic, patton oswalt, reggie watts, tim and eric, taiki waititi, and many more

GeorgeHarrison.com

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of George Harrison's classic solo album, All Things Must Pass is celebrated with a suite of new releases including  a stunning new mix of the classic album by Grammy Award-winning mixer/engineer Paul Hicks, overseen by executive producer Dhani Harrison.

Michael Jablonka • Go-Go • 2019

“Beautiful, blues-infused folk rock” Afropunk

“it’s time for Michael Jablonka to step into the spotlight  – a ridiculously talented artist” Too Many Blogs

“Swaggering garage rock with a rootsy feel” Clash

“You could be witnessing the next Kiwanuka, Kravitz or, dare we say, Jimi Hendrix” The Revue

Best of 2018 - Bonny Doon - Longwave

Opting for spontaneity and simplicity over the exploration of layers and textures that defined the first record, the band architected an incredibly intimate sound for these new songs. The album was tracked with minimal overdubs or production flourishes, constructing a frame that is spare and understated. The songs on Longwave amble through moonlit fields of melancholy guitar leads and self-reflection, the collection unfolding almost as one uninterrupted conversation with self. The session aimed to capture the band at their essence. With the superfluous stripped away, a gentle but steadfast spiritual core is revealed as the backbone of Bonny Doon’s cosmic American music.

The Detroit band brings a light touch to the melancholic alt-country songs on this album, which emerged from a spontaneous session in the woods.

ELLIOTT BROOD - 'Dig A Little Hole' - 2017

"The band moves with the easy flow of musicians who know each other well, 

which in turn lends its rootsy songs lived-in authenticity." - NPR

"Most polished release to date of anthemic folk-rock, combining crunchy electric guitars 

and a variety of more rootsy instrumentation with catchy song hooks 

and epic sing-along choruses." - KEXP on 'Work and Love'

"Their songs overflow with catchy melodies propelled by jangly guitars 

and carefree harmonies." - Twangville

Great Lake Swimmers – A Forest Of Arms - 2015

http://www.greatlakeswimmers.com

Here’s a bit of a rockin’ rollick from Great Lake Swimmers. It’s “I Must Have Someone Else’s Blues” from their new release, A Forest of Arms, out April 21.

I’m not sure I’d want to try swimming in the Great Lakes, but I sure do like grooving to this song!

Love the lyrics. “Can’t help staring at my shoes. I must have someone else’s blues.” The idea that really, you shouldn’t be blue, but there you are, is offset but a hard hitting, fun and strummy groove.

Singer/songwriter Tony Dekker shares, "'I Must Have Someone Else’s Blues' was recorded later in the album-making process. It falls squarely into the 'we’re going to have some fun with this one' category. It’s a fun song to perform, and the band is already working on new arrangements for our live show. It’s a bit of a departure from some of the more heady songs on our new record." guitar world

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