Brandy Clark has announced that her fifth studio album, the bird, will be released on Jan. 15, 2027 via Reprise Records. The 11-track LP is produced by Shooter Jennings and was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles with her road band (Gabe Burdulia, Amanda McCoy, and Erin Nelson). Clark will also embark on her "Take Flight World Tour" beginning in January of next year. To tide us over until then, she dropped the album's lead single, "American Roots," which draws inspiration from Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land." Check it out below.

Sierra Ferrell has shared another new single, "Pair of Dice," after releasing "Trying to Love You" back in August. Ferrell reunites with co-writer Melody Walker ("American Dreaming," "Dollar Bill Bar") on this new track, which also features Gabriel Kelley (bass, drums, piano, Wurlitzer, B-3, guitars, congas, percussion), Luke Munday (banjo) and Billy Contreras (fiddle). Give "Pair of Dice" a listen below.

Meshell Ndegeocello has dropped another excellent single from her forthcoming duets album Synonym (out Oct. 2 via Blue Note), reinterpreting Bob Dylan's “With God on Our Side” with Bill Callahan and Chris Thile. “Bill Callahan's voice to me is enchanting and just draws you in,’’ Ndegeocello says in the album's press materials. “And then my other angel is Chris Thile. He’s a very grounded human being; I just love the earthiness of his voice.” Synonym will also feature duets with Cynthia Erivo, Cat Power, Lianne La Havas, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Madison Cunningham, Laura Lee (of Khruangbin), Lizz Wright, Emily King, Moses Sumney, Destin Conrad, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, ANOHNI, WILLOW, Evann McIntosh, and Ink.

You know the feeling of being wrapped up in high thread count sheets, so high they’re silky, and a perfect furry blanket that isn’t a cheap synthetic but just the right mix of soft and plush? I suppose asking that is like asking if you know what it's like to swim in a pool in Laurel Canyon at golden hour, or drive with the windows down in the hills around Burbank at dusk. You’ve either been there, or you haven’t. On her debut album (sort of, more on that in a moment), Biita Houdei does an amazing job of capturing those feelings, the essence of them, musically. 

Biita Houdei is not the name of the singer here, rather the name singer/songwriter Lisa Houdei has given her new experimental folk project — previously, she recorded as LéPonds. Much of this album was written in Topanga, California, with Haley Heynderickx co-producing and performing on tracks. There are so many elements from ‘60s folk production here that were popular among the Laurel Canyon set, like the way certain instruments are miked to highlight them over the rest of the track and Houdei’s close-to-the-mic singing, which makes everything feel personal and confessional. “Time to Go Home” offers up handclaps (enhanced with woodblocks) and harmonies that wouldn’t be out of place on a Carole King or Crosby, Stills, and Nash original. 

Masked cowboys are, by definition, not great with vulnerability. Orville Peck has spent the majority of his career shrouded in mystery; it wasn't until last year that the incognito country singer showed his face publicly and revealed his true identity — Daniel Pitout — ahead of his Broadway debut in Cabaret. Even then, one might argue, he was simply dropping one character in order to step into another.

Perhaps that's why it felt so out of the blue when, just days after kicking off his Bronco album tour at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in June 2023, Peck abruptly scrapped the remainder of his scheduled performances and announced in an Instagram post that “I have to take this time to replenish my mind and body so that I can come back stronger and healthier than before, in order to do what I love for many years to come. I truly hope you can understand.” Fans wouldn't find out until three years later that the night before that fateful performance in New York, Peck — distraught over a breakup and in the throes of addiction — had attempted to take his own life via an intentional overdose.

Mule, Peck's fourth studio album, is an unflinching look behind the mask, detailing his struggles with substance abuse, his subsequent stay in rehab and, ultimately, his sobriety. (This November, Peck will be three years sober.) It's his most personal record by far, and it's also his strongest effort to date.

Along with the heat, AMERICANAFEST 2026 returned to Nashville, Tennessee, the Americana Music Association gathered its members and fans at the Ryman Auditorium last night to hand out its Americana Honors & Awards. The Milk Carton Kids also returned to host the awards, which is always a great show packed with heartfelt acceptance speeches and memorable performances.

This year featured performances by Lifetime Achievement Honoree Robert Plant, Brandi Carlile, I’m With Her, Jesse Welles, Kathleen Edwards, Ken Pomeroy, Margo Price, Molly Tuttle, S.G. Goodman, a Heartbreakers reunion with Chris Stapleton, and more.

In addition to the scheduled tributes to Dolly Parton and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, there two unanticipated ones: Elizabeth Cook and Hayes Carll performed Tod Snider's “Play a Train Song,” and the final song of the night was Raul Malo's “Dance the Night Away.”

Again, the Americana Music Association spread the wealth around as no nominee took home more than one award. However, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were awarded the Duo/Group Award for the second consecutive year. A full list of nominees and recipients (in bold) is below. Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. 

While Jake Xerses Fussell occasionally slips original tracks into his recordings, he mostly adapts traditional songs and instrumentals, giving obscure compositions a contemporary treatment. This is the case with his sixth album, The Old Beloved Path, as well. The significant shift from recent work is that he largely returns to a stripped-down approach, dropping the synths, strings, and ambient enhancements used on 2024’s When I’m Called and 2022’s Good and Green Again. As a result, Fussell’s two-pronged emphasis on melodic guitar parts and introspective vocalizations takes centerstage. 

Fussell doesn’t truck in hooks or pop formulae; rather, he strives to establish a cumulatively hypnotic quality, lulling a listener into a dreamy state. Opener “No 1,” for example, is built around spacious atmospherics and effective repetitions, Fussell mixing chorus-washed arpeggios and tuneful melodic runs. 

“Early, Early in the Spring” has been recorded widely since at least the early 1900s, though there is evidence of earlier iterations going back to the 1770s. The soothing sound and Fussell’s clear yet mysterious voice bring to mind Bill Callahan, though Callahan leans decidedly toward surreal, even posthumanistic narratives while Fussell works more with pastoral imagery and romantic motifs. 

I've written several columns in the past about the importance of vinyl production in campaigns that can afford the upfront cost of production. And I've written about how the CD is dying a slow death of neglect. But I've never devoted space to the one medium that is the first thing you'll see on almost every crowdfunding campaign, the humble digital download, which is these days where artists see the majority of their support come from. It may take a lot of $15 download pledges to equal one $50 vinyl purchase but it's a great entry point for those who may listen on Spotify but still want to support your project in some way.

Amber Westerman- Rose Colored Mess

In 2023, Amber Westerman used Kickstarter to raise over  $7,000 for her debut EP. On the back of that success, being a finalist in the Kent Finlay Song Search contest in both 2023 and 2024, and the warm reception to her single “Barefoot Days” back in January, the Texas native already has a flight booked to Nashville to begin recording her debut LP Rose Colored Mess. If the single is any indicator, this album will continue the pop-tinged Americana sound found on her EP. Westerman has set an ambitious “all or nothing” goal of $24,000 for this campaign. She's got the album available for pre-order in digital and vinyl formats. She also has a host of other merch and experience related backer perks such as phone wallpapers, an “affirmation” playing card deck, a signed poster, a 60-minute portrait session photographed by Westerman, and a house concert.

Tuatha Dea- VII

What happens when a group of Appalachian Celtic musicians meet up with a group of steampunk enthusiasts and then connect with a drum circle? You get one of the most unique roots music bands I've ever heard, Tuatha Dea. Formed in 2010, Tuatha Dea has released six previous albums and toured internationally. Their seventh, appropriately titled VII is now seeking funding on Indiegogo. They've already dropped the names of some of their originals for this one, as well as a couple of traditional covers (“The Frost is All Over” and “Foggy Dew”) and one rock cover (Thin Lizzy's “Emerald.”) Their goal for this campaign is $8,000 and, as of this writing, they're already halfway there. The campaign is completely album-based, with no other backer perks available. You can get the new album in digital or CD formats or their back catalog in digital or CD formats, in a regular or “super” package which includes extra MP3 tracks not included on their albums.

Hitch & the Giddyup- Wreck this Train

Hitch & the Giddyup have been working the Northeast touring circuit since their formation in 2014. Along the way, they've released three well-received albums of progressive bluegrass blended with classic country. Now they're preparing to release their fourth album, Wreck This Train, and have launched a $5,000 Kickstarter campaign to recoup costs from the album, which they're already recorded. In just a few days, the band met their goal and are now in stretch funding territory. They're once again working with Grammy Award-winning producer Brendan Muldowney (Johnny Winter), who recorded their second album. For this campaign, they're betting it all on the album, without any other backer perks. The album will be available in digital download, CD, and vinyl formats, the latter two in signed and unsigned varieties.

Editor's Note: Annie Zaleski has been awarded one of two No Depression Criticism Fellowships to write in-depth album reviews on roots music's most important albums. Read her previous review of Willie Nelson's Dream Chaser here, and stay tuned for more from both No Depression Criticism Fellows all year long.

At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in early 2002, Gillian Welch gathered with Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss around one microphone to sing an a cappella version of “Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby.” Welch introduced it as, “kind of a lullaby and a field holler,” based on a traditional sung by Sidney Hemphill Carter and captured by Alan Lomax in 1959. The sparse arrangement and the trio’s close harmonies were otherworldly; their voices possessed solemn reverence. After Dr. Ralph Stanley recited a haunting version of "O Death,” Welch was back onstage adding vocals alongside a larger group to another rousing traditional, “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.” 

All three songs were recorded for the soundtrack of the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was up for two awards at the show. Written, produced, and directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, the movie paralleled Homer’s The Odyssey — albeit if the epic was set in the American South during the 1930s and co-starred George Clooney. Accordingly, the soundtrack was integral to the plot and aesthetic of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, focused on "all traditional American music of the period that the movie takes place in,” Joel Coentold the Associated Press.

Defying the odds, the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year later that night. This win was just the latest milestone for the collection: It also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and, at the time of the Grammys, was weeks away from being certified five-times platinum in the US. 

Somewhat more quietly, Welch herself was also up for a Grammy that night in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album for her third LP, 2001’s Time (The Revelator). Though she lost to Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft, the acknowledgement illustrated Welch’s heightened reputation at the time. She had released two solo albums produced by T Bone Burnett in the late 1990s before Time (The Revelator). But the commercial and critical response to the latter was far beyond anything she had experienced before. The album appeared on multiple year-end lists in the US and UK and received several Americana Music Awards nominations. 

The runaway success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack certainly boosted Welch’s mainstream standing. But Time (The Revelator) was also part of a back-to-basics musical trend percolating in the early 2000s. Artists such as The White Stripes and Neko Case released albums indebted to early blues and country artists. This wasn’t Appalachian appropriation; instead, these albums took great care to honor early musical influences while staying true to contemporary lyricism. 

Perhaps this trend was a sort of digital fatigue from the Y2K-driven fear that the world’s electronics systems would collapse with the date change; a post-O Brother yearning for something simpler after the maximalist pop, rock and country sounds of the late 1990s; or comfort during a time of global turmoil. But vintage music that emphasized lyrical storytelling and genuine vocals possessed mass appeal and Welch reaped the benefits.

Crank up the wayback machine. The groovy East LA combo Thee Sinseers is headed for the ‘70s and more on Love Stories. Fronted by Joey Quiñones, this graceful nine-piece revisits the sweet soul of The Stylistics and other smooth harmonizers of a half-century ago, but also digs deeper to evoke doo-wop and other cool music from the early rock ’n’ roll era.

Not just a nostalgic exercise, Love Stories is a nuanced study of romance in its various forms, many of which lead to crushing heartache. The perfect guide for this stormy journey, Quiñones is a gentle crooner who can slide into a lilting falsetto, bringing touching beauty to the saddest scenario. His simpatico mates provide suave support, with caressing strings, mellow horns, and elegant electric guitar creating a dreamy backdrop.

Using simple lyrics to express complex ideas, the tunes often take a dark view of relationships, to the point of implying that true love is an illusion. “There She Goes” offers cold comfort to a woman “shedding more tears,” hoping she’ll find the strength to “walk away from me,” while “What Can I Do?” asks morosely, “What can I say / Or do / To make you love me?,” adding with more than a trace of anger, “Life keeps on passing me by / You are the reason why.”

Nicole Atkins commented recently that she strives to “write modern songs that could be part of the Great American Songbook.” Indeed, the influence of various artists from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s can be heard throughout her oeuvre. Drama, like previous work, blends tried-and-true pop approaches and lush production treatments, the neo-crooner addressing love, loss, and the 21^st-century malaise. 

With opener “Trippin’ on Teardrops,” Atkins moves between sultry verses and “Wall of Sound”-inflected choruses, as she expresses feeling lonely and disconnected (“I’m missing Brooklyn / I miss my own friends”). “Singing in the Mirror,” meanwhile, launches with a synthy riff that points to bawdier 1980s sources. Atkins soon, however, segues into a family-friendly chorus, referencing how kids used to (perhaps still do?) sing in the mirror, dreaming of stardom. 

Editor's Note: Jude Brothers, whose new LP titled Dogwood Maiden Voyage is due out September 25 via Gar Hole Records, is No Depression's Spotlight Artist for September 2026. Stay tuned all month for more about this Ozarks singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Jude Brothers needs the natural world to make music. In fact, the musk and quiet of the woods are so integral to the Arkansas-based folk musician’s being, that Brothers’ voice diminishes — their range shrinks, vocal cords constrict — when they’re absent too long.

“I don't have answers for anything in this life, but when I go lay down in the moss or when I go walk and try to make my footfalls as quietly as possible through an oak grove…I feel that all of the parts of me have a place and everything belongs,” they say. “I go to the woods or I go to the mountains or I go to the ocean or wherever those really profound places in nature are, and I fill my cup and I resource and I think about everything; I talk to all the gods that will listen to me; and then I come back out, and that is what is fuel for my voice.”

Brothers’ music has always been tethered to the natural world, but especially their latest album, Dogwood Maiden Voyage (due out September 25 via Gar Hole Records), invites reverence and patience for spaces and forces bigger than one single human being. A kaleidoscope of imagery of trees, birds, and flowers accompanies the album’s intense, raw grappling with what it means to belong.

For more than 40 years, singer-songwriter Todd Mack has voyaged the road less traveled. His musical endeavors have taken him all over the world, performing in some unexpected places. The famed Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club, a bomb shelter in Israel, a remote island in Fiji, an olive grove in the West Bank, and the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan are just a few of the places Mack has made music. His latest single is a poignant & powerful commentary on 9-11 on the 25th anniversary.

Of all the many Americana Music Association’s AMERICANAFEST extravaganzas I’ve attended I cannot recall one that I have been more excited about. The Association has outdone itself this year, the line-up is chock full of emerging talent on the verge of busting out to wider audiences. Simply put, walk, fly, drive, hitchhike if you must, just get to Nashville, September 15-19, 2026.

As with previous years' previews, the more recognizable performers (save for a couple of notable exceptions) are not highlighted, the focus is on discovery. Similarly, panels, as tantalizing as many are, are not included, since it is mostly about the excitement of unforgettable roots music performances.

Make a list of the venues and their respective addresses that you’ll most likely visit. Stay hydrated, wear comfy shoes, and, no matter how well you’ve mapped out your schedule, be open to serendipity and spontaneity. Download the app and keep a close eye on it as things can change at the drop of a hat. Additionally, the Nashville Music Calendar also has an AMERICANAFEST schedule. You may want to check it out as there may be some happenings not on the app.

Venue space is limited and getting around town can be time-consuming, so consider spending the evening at a single location. Unless otherwise specified, all showcases listed below are 45 minutes long. Some showcase artists are also scheduled to appear at various day events, and searching the app is the best way to identify which ones will turn up where. 

Buddy Miller has recorded music under his own name for the last 30 years, but his influence on roots music stretches far wider. He began playing in the ’70s in Austin, where he met his future wife Julie Griffin when they both were in a band called Partners in Crime. Later, the Buddy Miller Band — which featured a nascent Shawn Colvin — began playing bars in New York City in the 1980s.

He and Julie have made highly acclaimed duo records, too, two of which won Album of the Year honors from the Americana Music Association (AMA). And speaking of the AMA, he’s spent a couple of decades as leader of the house band for the Americana Music Awards show every September in Nashville.

The Buddy & Jim Radio Show, a weekly program he records from his Nashville home studio, has aired on SiriusXM for “let’s say between 13 and 15 years,” Miller guesses. Also from that home studio, he’s produced recordings there for dozens of artists, including Patty Griffin, Allison Moorer, Ralph Stanley, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Solomon Burke. He’s produced or co-produced albums for Emmylou Harris and Robert Plant, even touring extensively with Plant’s Band of Joy and Harris’s backing crew Spyboy.

In the 2010s, Miller began work as executive music producer of the ABC show, Nashville. He signed on in 2012, working alongside T Bone Burnett at first, then taking over the reins himself. He also co-produced several soundtrack albums for the show. 

Here at No Depression, when I first wrote about Miller for the fourth issue (Summer 1996), we had a lively discussion of the long road that led to his 1995 Hightone debut Your Love and Other Lies. He and Julie later appeared together on the cover of issue #23 (Sept.-Oct. 1999). And then, when we shuttered the original bimonthly iteration of the magazine in May-June 2008, we put Buddy on the cover and declared him our Artist of the Decade.

Making The Songs Work

“It was very memorable. You know, it’s Dolly Parton in your house.”

After 50 years, the original comic books written and self-funded by Johnny Cash are being reissued by Z2 Comics with the Estate of Johnny Cash . His intention at the time was to reach younger audiences though an different format, long before musicians began exploring comic books and graphic novels as a means of alternative storytelling. These 50th anniversary editions feature new covers from two acclaimed comic book artists, Chip Kidd and Tim Bradstreet, and also include bonus interviews with John Carter Cash and historian Alex Segura. They'll be available Wednesday, September 23 for Local Comic Store Day. Read more about the longstanding connection between roots music and comic books in a feature by Sean Edgar in the 2019 Vision issue of No Depression.

Trey Anastasio and Billy Strings announced two benefit concerts in support of the Divided Sky Foundation to take place Friday, November 20 and Saturday, November 21 at the DCU Center Arena in Worcester, Massachusetts. Both musicians will perform together with the Trey Anastasio Band serving as the house band. Anastasio founded the 501(c)(3) Divided Sky Foundation, with its facility based in rural Vermont, in 2021 order to help provide support for individuals affected by addiction. Tickets are on sale now and all proceeds will benefit the charity.

Sierra Ferrell shared a new song today titled “Pair of Dice. The ballad will also be released as a 7" picture disc (featuring a zoetrope illustration by Drew Tetz) with “Trying to Love You," which came out earlier this year. Pre-orders are available now and estimated to be delivered in mid-November.

After years of unwittingly becoming a spokesperson for Black stringband revivals, Jake Blount announced his last stringband album, Single-Footing Horse, is due out September 18. The album features a number of Blount's friends and mentors, including Jeff Claus and Judy Hyman (The Horseflies) and banjoist Cap Cooke, to jam and reinterpret old favorites like "Shady Grove." As Blount wrote in the press release:

This version of "Shady Grove" is adapted from one played by Jon Bekoff of Greenfield, MA. I didn't get to meet him before he died, but Jon was a major influence on many of my own mentors. His tunes are queer and full of mystery, and his version didn't sound quite as magical coming from me— so I dropped the top string of my fiddle down a whole tone, added the singing section, and started playing it that way. "Shady Grove" was probably one of the first three songs I learned when I was first starting out in this music. My upcoming release is a celebration of my teachers, friends, and musical community as I look toward a new musical chapter. It felt important to include both Jon and "Shady Grove" in that celebration.

Blount also hinted at new projects in other styles in 2027.

No Depression's Spotlight artist for June, River Shook, shared a meaningful post about art and value and work before listing their AMERICANAFEST shows. Check it out below and be sure to catch up on Shook's feature profile, original essay, and exclusive video, as part of their Spotlight series.

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Jenni Rose of Texas alt-country band Vandoliers teased a punk record! Watch the video below and catch up on her postcard from last June here.

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Alison Krauss had to cancel a number of upcoming tour dates and go on vocal rest due to doctor's orders. We all hope she heals quickly!

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming
Arab Strap - Half-Told Tales
Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues
Michael Alpert and Craig Judelman - In Der Heym
Roger Harvey - "Blue Mountain" f/ John R. Miller

NEW RELEASES - 9/11/26

Angela Autumn - Believer
Ali Holder - Garden of the Unknown
Pokey LaFarge - Rent Money
Buddy Miller - Buddy Miller
Eli Paperboy Reed - Getting There
Twilark - Never Learned the Tide

COMING SOON - 9/18/26

Nicole Atkins - Drama
Big Benny Bailey - Business Spice
Beck - Ride Lonesome
Jake Blount - Single-Footing Horse
Jake Xerses Fussell - The Old Beloved Path
Rhiannon Giddens - Hope is the Thing with Feathers
Biita Houdei - This Bed Was Made For Me
Anna Moon & the Stars - Oh My God! It's a Resurrection
Orville Peck - Mule
Katie Pruitt - Fools For The Fleeting
Rodrigo y Gabriela - OurHome
Son Rompe Pera - Marimbazos De Oro
St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Proxy [EP]
Jason Scott & The High Heat - Play Boy
Seasick Steve - The Last Season of America
Thee Sinseers - Love Stories
Jad Tariq - Precious Company
The Mary Wallopers - Paddywhackery
Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts - Second Song

For two decades and across a dozen or so studio releases, Pokey LaFarge has carved out a niche for himself with his brand of old-timey-meets-newfangled boogie rock gospel blues. While at times a little hokey and hackneyed, the crooner’s modern-old sound has, for years, felt singular. 

Now, at a time when originality and creativity exists at the mercy of algorithms and artifice, that sound is a gift, with his latest album Rent Money one more present for the present.

Throughout the 11-track collection, tight, well-balanced compositions springboard the artist’s kitchen-sink Americana, giving life to shadowy sambas like “Told You No” and funk-soul anthems like the swaggering “Stick Together” and the tip-toeing title track. The result feels complex, but textbook LaFarge: all at once pragmatic and boundless, orderly and feverish, a softly eccentric concoction from vaudeville’s stiffest upper lip.