RS Country Music Picks for Week of September 13th
Whether it’s coming out of Nashville, New York, L.A., or points in between, there’s no shortage of fresh tunes, especially from artists who have yet to become household names. Rolling Stone Country selects some of the best new music releases from country and Americana artists. (Check out our most recent list.)
Erin Enderlin featuring Terri Clark, “If There Weren’t So Many Damn Songs”
Erin Enderlin and Terri Clark go together like Jack and Coke in this barstool weeper about leaving, drinking, and feeding money into the music box. It’s a textbook country song, in both its lyricism and musicianship — fiddle and steel complement Enderlin and Clark’s sad and lonesome twangs, as they lament all the songs that cause them to self-medicate. “I might be different,” they sing, “if there weren’t so many songs about a jukebox.”
Thomas Csorba, “For You”
Thomas Csorba sings about “a couple refugees, running from a bad, bad dream/chasing down that westward sun” in the warmly romantic and optimistic “For You,” a track that appears on his From the Jordan EP (out October 8th). It’s a we’re-in-this-together sentiment shared by many couples in love, but the story also mirrors that of Csorba’s grandparents fleeing eastern Europe for a better life. Csorba’s easy, relaxed delivery makes “For You” a nice balm in uncertain times — hey, maybe we’ll make it through this OK after all.
Lucie Silvas with Brandi Carlile and Joy Oladokun, “We Don’t Know We’re Living”
Lucie Silvas enlists Brandi Carlile and Joy Oladokun to form an Americana power trio for this gorgeous dissertation on living versus being alive. “Staring out at the Grand Canyon, oh, but I was so busy planning the places I’ll go,” Silvas sings, putting a fine point on our inability to live in the moment, even when in the presence of natural beauty. Oladokun and Carlile each handle a verse, and all three harmonize on the chorus, as piano swells behind them. The message: be here now.
Hayden Pedigo, “Carthage”
West Texas guitarist (and one-time city council candidate) Hayden Pedigo will release his new album Letting Go on September 24th. The latest single is “Carthage,” a shimmering solo 12-string composition that alternates between weightless, slower sections of sustained notes and intricate arpeggios that almost sound like two guitarists weaving parts together. The accompanying live video is an ambient delight, with Pedigo playing outside as the wind rustles and birds call in the background.
Luke Dick, “Some Things Happen”
Few songwriters in Nashville are as eccentric as Luke Dick. But his weirdness is our gain when it results in material like this. “Other Things Happen” is an encouraging mantra about waiting for that next door to open: “Some things happen so another thing can,” Dick sings in the chorus, a reminder to always roll with the punches no matter what uncertainty comes your way. If the leader of the band Steve ever starts a religion, he’s found his first hymn.
John Scott Sherrill, “Five Generations of Rock County Wilsons”
John Scott Sherrill is a new Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member whose credits include John Anderson’s “Wild & Blue” and Josh Turner’s “Would You Go With Me.” His new EP Copper Tears includes his own version of “Five Generations of Rock County Wilsons,” which was previously cut by Anderson as well as Dan Seals. It’s a masterful display of country storytelling with its three verses about entire family histories vanishing beneath the march of development, and Sherrill sings it with the tender knowing of someone who’s witnessed those changes firsthand.