Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood & Jason Isbell - Live At The Shoals Theatre - Southeatern Records
On June 15th 2014, Jason Isbell reunited onstage with former Drive By Truckers bandmates Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley for a special round-style night in Muscle Shoals Music. The setlist includes acoustic versions of Isbell-era Truckers gems including “Heathens,” “Decoration Day” and “Zip City” as well as post-Isbell Truckers tracks like “Space City” and solo Isbell faves such as “Cover Me Up.” The set opens and closes with a pair of classic Hood-sung numbers, 2004′s “Tornadoes” and 2001′s “Let There Be Rock.”  

 

Atreyu - Baptize - Spinefarm
Atreyu ushered in a new movement in heavy music. They've broken into the Top 10 in the Billboard 200 more than once; 2 of their albums are certified gold. Yet, 2 decades since the release of their first album, Atreyu is just getting started. Baptize is a definitive work for a new era. Atreyu recorded Baptize w/ producer John Feldmann. Guests include Jacoby Shaddix & Travis Barker. Songs like "Warrior," "Catastrophe," & "Save Us" are massive.

cleopatrick - BUMMER - Nowhere Special Recordings
"Listening to the story of Canadian duo cleopatrick is a bit like hearing the plot of the best, most righteously validating coming-of-age film never made. Two friends meet aged four in Hicksville, Nowheretown (real name: Cobourg, Ontario, population 19,000), grow up completely inseparable, form a band and, against numerous obstacles, blossom into a genuine, global underground sensation. There are heroes and villains, highs and lows and, crucially, some of the most poetic plot twists that could seem almost too perfect, were they not completely true.

Take the story of 2017 breakthrough track ‘hometown’ for example. “It’s one of the craziest, most ironic things that’s ever happened,” begins vocalist and guitarist Luke Gruntz. “I was going to college because I was too scared to put all my chips in the band pile, and that’s what ‘hometown’ is about: it’s a song about feeling like we’re doing all this stuff and we’re working so hard and we’re just never going to be heard. It’s literally a song about people probably never hearing our songs. And then by some act of the universe, that song ended up unlocking all the doors for us.”

Today, cleopatrick has logged 77 million streams and counting - all from an increasingly dedicated fanbase who’ve found the duo, completed by drummer Ian Fraser, their own way: no major label, no big budget, just two best pals knuckling down, cementing a unique sonic alchemy and filling a space of honest, empathetic yet undeniably heavy-hitting rock music that they’d been searching for themselves for years. Between multiple sold out tours in Canada, the US and the UK/EU and appearances at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Reading/Leeds, the pair have been crafting BUMMER: a debut album that sees cleopatrick harness all the magic they’ve been brewing over their two-decade friendship and funnel it into a record that aims to reinvigorate the rock landscape from the ground up. Taking the ethos of their New Rock Mafia collective - a group of friends and fellow bands, united in making a more inclusive, equality-driven space in rock music - and imbuing it with the sonic ambition and ferocity of a record designed to be played hard and loud, it’s an album about two friends, who’ve been with each other since the formative first steps that adorn ‘BUMMER’’s heartwarming cover image and made something that’s a testament to the power of sticking to your guns."

   

Rostam - Changephobia - Mastor Projects
Changephobia is the 2nd full-length solo record from Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, and composer Rostam Batmanglij. An adventurous new direction for Rostam, the songs collected on Changephobia are deeply personal, yet universal for anyone who has ever experienced doubt. In addition to being a founding member of the seminal New York Indie Rock Band, Vampire Weekend, Rostam has been described as "one of the great pop and indie-rock producers of his generation." Rostam has produced & co-written critically heralded recent albums by Clairo and Haim, as well as singles from Maggie Rogers, Solange, Charli XCX, Frank Ocean, Santigold and others

  

Blackberry Smoke - You Hear Georgia - 3 Legged Records
Throughout their career, Blackberry Smoke has embodied Georgia’s rich musical legacy, honoring the people, places and sounds of their home state. As the band celebrates their 20th anniversary this year, their reverence for Georgia has only deepened. On their latest album, You Hear Georgia, the follow-up to 2018’s critically acclaimed Find a Light, Blackberry Smoke is further celebrating these roots with 10 new songs that feel like Georgia, accented by the addition of Grammy-winning producer and fellow Georgia-native, Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile). “Dave and I had spoken for the last few years about making a record,” Starr says. “Finally, it worked out, our schedule and his schedule, and we said, yes—let’s make a record.”

   

Various Artists - Get On Board The Soul Train - The Sound Of Philadelphia International Records Volume 1 - United Souls
8CD Book set with bonus 12 inch single. United Souls, in conjunction with Sony Legacy Recordings, is delighted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records with the eagerly anticipated release of Get On Board The Soul Train - The Sound Of Philadelphia International Records Volume 1. This is the first volume in a limited edition series which covers the first eight studio albums released by the label from 1971-1973. The series, in which all album are re-mastered from the original tapes, will map the history of Philadelphia International Records chronologically. Housed in a stylish 48 page slipcased book, the edition is strictly limited to 2500 copies. It also includes a numbered certificate of authenticity, an exclusive 12" single and a unique poster. The detailed 48 page hard cover book, including rare photographs was compiled and curated in association with PIR artists, engineers and producers, with liner notes by Tony Cummings (Author of The Sound of Philadelphia) and a foreword by Ralph Tee. The eight classic albums included in Volume 1 comprise: Billy Paul - Going East/Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - I Miss You/The O'Jays - Back Stabbers/Billy Paul - 360 Degrees of Billy Paul/Dick Jensen - Dick Jensen/The Intruders - Save the Children/MFSB - MFSB/Billy Paul - Ebony Woman. Exclusive 12"- The O'Jays - Back Stabbers / MFSB - Back Stabbers

Lord Huron - Long Lost - Republic
Lord Huron presents their fourth studio album, Long Lost. The band has often tried to uncover the past of their studio, Whispering Pines, without much success. Instead, they decided to imagine what has gone on in the studio, who has passed through, and that is how Long Lost was created. Featuring the singles “Not Dead Yet,” “Mine Forever,” “I Lied” and “Love Me Like You Used To.”

  

John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band - Leftover Feelings - New West Records
In the midst of a global pandemic, John Hiatt walked into Historic RCA Studio B and opened up a lifetime full of leftover feelings. A half-century ago, Hiatt lived in a ratty, $15-a-week room on Nashville’s 16th Avenue, less than a mile away from the RCA and Columbia studios that were the heartbeat of what had come to be known as “Music Row.” In the ensuing 50 years, he went from a scuffling young buck to a celebrated grand master of song. With Leftover Feelings, Hiatt teamed up with multi-grammy winning artist and producer, Jerry Douglas and his band, The Jerry Douglas Band. There’s no drummer, yet these grooves are deep and true. And while the up-tempo songs are, as ever, filled with delightful internal rhyme and sly aggression, the Jerry Douglas Band’s empathetic musicianship nudges Hiatt to performances that are startlingly vulnerable.  In life, leftover feelings can remain unresolved, no matter how often explored. Explicated in a place of history, a place of comfort. A sacred place, if you believe the documentation of human expression to be a holy thing. Here then, with this album,  there is a meeting of bruised and triumphant American giants. Here are Hiatt and Douglas, creating the meant-to-be: Love songs and road songs, sly songs and hurt songs. Their songs, and now our songs.  Leftover feelings that edify and sustain.

   

The Black Keys - Delta Kream - Nonesuch
This week, The Black Keys release their tenth studio album, Delta Kream, via Nonesuch Records. The record celebrates the band’s roots, featuring eleven Mississippi hill country blues standards that they have loved since they were teenagers, before they were a band, including songs by R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, among others. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recorded Delta Kream at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville; they were joined by musicians Kenny Brown and Eric Deaton, long-time members of the bands of blues legends including R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. The album takes its name from William Eggleston’s iconic Mississippi photograph that is on its cover. 

Paul & Linda McCartney - RAM [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Half Speed Master LP] - Capitol
To mark the 50^th anniversary of the release of RAM, the album will be pressed from a master cut at half speed using the original master tapes at Abbey Road. The only album credited to both Paul & Linda McCartney, RAM reached Number 1 in the UK and stayed in the US Top 10 for five months. Recording after he’d left The Beatles and before the formation of Wings, Paul initially flew with Linda to New York to record the songs they’d written but arrived without a band. As Paul recalls, “We were thinking of forming a group at that time, Wings. We went to New York, found a really grotty little basement somewhere and auditioned a bunch of people. We got someone to throw a lot of drummers at us, out of which we picked Denny Seiwell who’s one of the best, and his personality fitted. Then we went in, worked with him, Hugh McCracken, Dave Spinozza, a couple of New York session men, and did RAM.” To avoid arousing too much interest, the auditions were held under the guise of a session for a commercial jingle. As well as Paul’s lead vocals there are harmonies from Linda. “I gave her a hard time, I must say, but we were pleased with the results. Elton John later said somewhere that he thought it was the best harmonies he’d heard in a long while. It was very much the two of us against the world at that point.”

Strung Like a Horse - WHOA! [Indie Exclusive Limited Edition Pink Splatter LP] - Transoceanic Records
After years dedicated to rowdy, high-energy live shows, providing tour support for Old Crow Medicine Show, Travis Tritt, Sam Bush, and Shooter Jennings---and building their own grassroots cult-following---Strung Like a Horse teamed up with Transoceanic Records and Grammy-winning producer, Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, John Prine, Margo Price, Calexico/Iron & Wine, Lucero), to record their first studio album, WHOA!, at Nashville's famed Sound Emporium. Most of the tracks the band laid down together in one pass, without overdubs, and were sent direct to tape, making it a “record that captures the vibe of their rightfully celebrated live shows perfectly.” 

Sons Of Kemet - Black To The Future - Impulse Records
Sons Of Kemet returns with their new album Black To The Future, the follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile. This release finds the UK-based quartet at their most dynamic – showcasing harmonically elegant arrangements and compositions, coupled with fierce, driving material that will be familiar to initiated fans. This is their 4^th record, and 2^nd on impulse! This album features prominent UK vocalists and a strong emphasis on lush compositions and arrangements. Guest artists include Kojey Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Joshua Idehen, D Double E and is part of the impulse! records “impulse 60!” 2021 campaign

Alan Jackson - Where Have You Gone - EMI Nashvilee
Alan Jackson's brand new studio album, Where Have You Gone, is his first country release in over 5 years. He's one of the best-selling music artists of all time with over 75M records sold worldwide. Alan is a member of the Grand Ole Opry & has topped the Billboard Country charts with 35 #1 Singles & 15 #1 Albums. He's received multiple awards including 2 Grammys, 16 CMAs, 17 ACMs. CD includes blow-in card for a FREE Download of the Bonus Track "That's The Way Love Goes (A Tribute Merle Haggard)"

Steve Miller Band - Live! Breaking Ground August 3, 1977 - UMe
Steve Miller has dug deep into his archives and found an unreleased, full-length concert recording. The album captures Miller's legendary 1977 lineup at the beginning of the band's turn from playing ballrooms and theatres to arenas and football stadiums. Recorded at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD on multi-track tape and newly mixed and mastered by Miller and Kent Hertz. Includes original liner notes by music journalist David Fricke and is pressed on 2 Black Vinyl 180G LP's.