Send us Fan Mail On Episode 137, I'm joined by Clay Maselle, the lead vocalist of Strung Like A Horse. The Chattanooga, Tennessee outfit released the excellent new album Whoa! a couple of weeks back (Friday, Oct 30). With producer/engineer Matt Ross-Spang at the helm, SLAH delivers a rich and vibrant full-length that captures them at their best. Whoa! embraces the band's raw and dynamic live energy while also highlighting their broad spectrum of country funk roots and garage rock spirit. The inf...
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Season 5Ep. 137
Send us Fan Mail This week, we kick things off with Texas singer-songwriter Josh Abbott, who at week's end will be releasing his sixth full-length album, The Highway Kind (Friday, Nov. 13). I feel that The Highway Kind not only has some of Abbott's best songwriting to date, it's also Abbott's strongest full-length both thematically and sonically. Abbott has long been an ambitious album maker with loose conceptual themes throughout his career. It's something I'm not sure he's been given his prope...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 136
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 135, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Stephanie Lambring. She released the excellent and intimate album Autonomy a few weeks back (October 23) to critical acclaim. Revolving around bold and direct storytelling, Lambring has crafted some of the most personable personal songs of the year. Much of the Autonomy 's beauty comes in how comfortable (comfortable is such a strange way to describe this, but strangely apt) Lambring is with addressing insecurities and vulnerable f...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 5Ep. 135
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 134, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Cam, who released the exceptional, genre-transcending The Otherside this past Friday (Oct 30). Cam has long been one of my favorite artists due to her refreshing pop sensibilities, lyrical (and vocal) nuance, and the emotional weight that much of her songwriting catalog carries. The Otherside sees Cam further blossom as a storyteller, performer, and country pop star. Strong anthemic singles like the love-drunk synth swaying "Till T...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 134
Send us Fan Mail We're closing out the week with Episode 133 with songwriter Sam Morrow. Morrow is releasing the country-funk rock album Gettin' By On Gettin' Down this Friday, October 30. The greasy groovers of the nine-track Gettin' By finds Morrow embracing more and more character-driven vignettes while maintaining that steady grit'n'groove and tone'n'taste mantra of ZZ Top, Little Feat, and so on. Morrow's gravelly howl is as strong as ever on the likes of the brisk "Money Ain't a Thing" and...
Oct 29, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Season 5Ep. 133
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 132, I'm joined by Michigan singer-songwriter Rachel Brooke. Brooke just released the excellent country standout The Loneliness in Me this past Friday. Full of high and lonesome, Brooke delivers on the 12-song collection with velvety vocals that gently sway to and fro as pedal steel warbles in response. Much of The Loneliness in Me harkens back to the golden era of country music as it takes cues from the likes of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and George Jo...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 132
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 131, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Lera Lynn, who at the end of the week (Friday, Oct 23), is releasing her excellent new full-length, On My Own . As the title alludes, On My Own is just that. It's a singular vision with Lynn doing all of the writing, playing, singing, arranging, engineering, production, and more all on her own. That solo process is very much the guiding light and force for the 10-track album. There's a magic and tone set by Lynn not only experiment...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 131
Send us Fan Mail We're kicking off the week being joined by Joe Firstman of the country roots rock band Cordovas. I caught up with Joe about a month back (it honestly feels like both yesterday and last year at the same time) about their new album, the fresh, loose, and earthy Destiny Hotel, which was officially released this past Friday, October 16. The raw beauty of this album really is the rich natural and organic tones and textures Joe and company unearthed for this album. It's a real instinc...
Oct 19, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 130
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 129, I catch up with rising singer-songwriter Reyna Roberts. I really feel like Roberts has transcendent star potential as an artist. As mentioned, she's really gained a following this past year with the release of "Stompin' Grounds," an anthemic ode to small towns and The South. She of course has stellar pop sensibilities and is armed with powerhouse vocals, but I think what makes "Stompin' Grounds" is really her embracing those country roots and beginnings. She show...
Oct 15, 2020•40 min•Season 5Ep. 129
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 128, I'm joined by Norwegian singer-songwriter Malin Pettersen for this episode. She has this new album called Wildhorse that's officially out Friday, October 16. I really enjoyed this conversation with Malin about the writing and recording process of Wildhorse , which takes a pretty big leap sonically from her previous release, the 2019 EP Alonesome . As the title alludes, that EP was a bare-bones acoustic effort. With Wildhorse , she really returns to a warm, rich f...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 128
Send us Fan Mail Episode 127 is with Ace Crayton, the lead vocalist and chief lyricist of the Ft. Worth country-rock outfit Thieving Birds.TB has long been one of my favorite bands within the Texas circuit. They've really embraced these strong core elements of rocking rhythms, sharp electric guitar, and soaring choruses. Very much the perfect kind of rock band you'd love to see in your favorite bar and venue every weekend. They have this new album out this week called American Savage , which I f...
Oct 08, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 127
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 126, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Ashley Campbell. This Friday (Oct 09), she's releasing Something Lovely , the gorgeous and dreamy follow-up to her 2018 full-length debut, The Lonely One . Campbell's charming brand of lyricism and storytelling really takes the lead on the 11-track Something Lovely . The intimate ballads "Good to Let Go" and "Forever's Not That Long" find her navigating recent breakups and eventual breakthroughs while the hole in the wall bar vigne...
Oct 06, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 126
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 125, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Caitlin Canty. Canty just released the Woody Guthrie-influenced song "Where is the Heart of My Country" earlier this week ( Listen here ). She was largely inspired on a flight from California back to her Nashville home and seeing the US from high above. Much like her excellent 2018 album, Motel Bouquet , Canty's stark, but bold sound takes lead ushering in a heightened sense of uncertainty in Canty's vocals and words. And while she...
Oct 01, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Season 5Ep. 125
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 124, I'm joined by Kyle Henderson, the lead vocalist and chief lyricist for Desert Noises. The Nashville by way of Provo, Utah trio released the excellent album Everything Always a little more than a month ago. The album, the band's first since 2014's 27 Ways , sees them working with Bill Reynolds (formally of Band of Horses) at the producing helm. Reynolds, who became a quick co-writing partner with Henderson, was paramount in helping the indie-rock and Americana ban...
Sep 28, 2020•56 min•Season 5Ep. 124
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 123 of New Slang, I'm joined by up-and-coming pop country singer-songwriter Kären McCormick. McCormick is releasing her debut EP, a five-song collection of tunes called Retro . McCormick very much is one of these new, bright voices in pop country who are directly influenced and inspired by the rise of Taylor Swift in the mid-2000s and the '90s country her mother played while McCormick was growing up. McCormick's blend of clever hooks, intimate and first-person narrati...
Sep 24, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 123
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 122, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Mike McClure. The Oklahoma legend is releasing Looking Up , his first album in five years, this Friday, September 25. It finds the storied storyteller in a really great mindset and place. Over the course of the 10-tracks, McClure is instrospective and reflective. In many respects, these past few years, McClure has been a been of a reset and has recalibrated back to center and the first-person narratives are a testament to that. The...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 122
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 121, I'm joined by Tony Kamel of Austin band Wood & Wire. The bluegrass Americana outfit just released their fourth studio full-length, the excellent No Matter Where It Goes from Here , a few weeks back. Working out of The Zone out in Dripping Springs, Texas with co-producer/engineer Pat Manske, the quartet has been able to stretch their legs. Mainly by having ample time to experiment with fresh and new recording setups and utilize the studio's vast array of vinta...
Sep 17, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Season 5Ep. 121
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of New Slang, I’m joined by singer-songwriter Brennen Leigh. At the end of this week (Friday, September 18), Leigh released Prairie Love Letter , a worthy ode to her roots and childhood home, the rural open plains of Western Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota. Part Will Cather and part Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska , Prairie Love Letter has an earnest pioneering spirit--a balanced blend of tough and tender. Songs like "I Love the Lonesome Prairie," "The John Deere...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 120
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 119, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Jaime Wyatt, who released her excellent full-length album, Neon Cross , this past May. So much of Neon Cross is shaped by Wyatt's time living out in Los Angeles and coming to terms with addiction, relapse, & eventually, her current sobriety. There most certainly is heartache, grief, and self-loathing throughout Neon Cross , but Wyatt's strength, beauty, grit, and humanity are often shining beacons within the midst of that hazy ...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 119
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 118, I am joined by singer-songwriter Waylon Payne. At the end of this week (Friday, September 11), Payne will be releasing Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher and Me , the long-awaited follow-up to his 2004 debut album, The Drifter . This new album is quite the opus for Payne as he details the struggles, pain, heartache, relapse, growth, beauty, and strength of the past decade (and really, his entire life). Like the greats before him, Payne is a sharp-witted...
Sep 08, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 118
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 117, I catch up with country singer-songwriter Tennessee Jet to talk about his excellent new album, The Country , due out Friday, September 04. As the title suggests, it's a sprawling ode to American music with road-weary ramblers, lonesome highway ballads, and rewarding pit stops on the superhighway we call American Country music. The Oklahoma songwriter is no stranger to life on the road and those memories, recollections, and thoughts are the genesis and genius behi...
Sep 03, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Season 5Ep. 117
Send us Fan Mail I'm joined by singer-songwriter Karen Jonas for Episode 116. Jonas just recently released The Southwest Sky and Other Dreams this past Friday (August 28). As the title alludes, 10 songs of The Southwest Sky are character-driven vignettes largely inspired by the vast landscapes, small Interstate towns, and hardened individuals who claim the land as their home. Songs such as "Farmer John," "Pink Leather Boots," and the opening "The Last Cowboy (at the Bowling Alley)" feel like sna...
Aug 31, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 116
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 115, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Justin Wells, who is releasing The United State this Friday, August 28. Wells leads us through various watershed snapshot moments during life that we all experience and share. During these innate moments, Wells explores the multitude of emotions that often come hand in hand with them. He balances the carefully orchestrated details with broad themes about joy, sorrow, pain, fear, hope, love, and lonesomeness. Songs walk a delicate l...
Aug 27, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 115
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 114 of New Slang, I'm joined by country singer-songwriter Zephaniah OHora. The country crooning OHora is releasing Listening To The Music , his stellar follow-up to 2017 standout This Highway, this coming Friday, August 28. With the late great Neal Casal (The Cardinals, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Hard Working Americans) at the producing helm, OHora, Casal, and company create a distinct, elegant, and lush sonic palette. Taking cues from some of the greats of the '60s ...
Aug 24, 2020•2 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 114
Send us Fan Mail Episode 113 is with Canadian singer-songwriter Colter Wall. Wall will release his third full-length album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs , this coming August 28. The 10-track self-produced effort finds Wall delivering a strong and sturdy ode to Western culture & rural ranch life of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Wall's Western Swing & Waltzes is a rich blend of iconic traditionals, prairie & trail songs from fellow Western songwriters, and a bat...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 113
Send us Fan Mail We kick off the week with Episode 111 where I'm joined by singer-songwriter Ashley Ray. Ray is releasing Pauline , a tightknit 10-song collection of vignette-styled memories, warm introspection, and dynamic charmers about small-town life, nostalgia, memories, and family roots, on Friday, August 14. Much of Pauline 's strengths stem from Ray's ability to draw from childhood memories and those deep family roots. Songs feel as though she's flipping through old photo albums. Ray poi...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 5Ep. 111
Send us Fan Mail New Slang kicks off the week with Episode 112 where I'm by singer-songwriter Jesse Dayton. Dayton right off the heels of releasing Gulf Coast Sessions , an East Texas Rust meets Louisiana Bayou porch-picking party. Dayton presses pause during The Pandemic for some good, honest fun and gives us a second away from the doldrums of 2020. It's the perfect blend of Gulf Coast Blues and rock & roll for a summer swim, evening grill, or afternoon county road stroll. During this episo...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 112
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 110, I am joined by Texas singer-songwriter Jonathan Terrell. Terrell's upcoming album, the American West-influenced Westward (out August 21) dominates the conversation as Terrell and I discuss at length the writing, inspiration, recording, etc of the excellent album. Terrell blends a richness of soft hues and delicate, vibrant pastels of the desert floor and setting sun with the intensity, chill, and darkness of the open night sky. His vignettes are cinematic and com...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 110
Send us Fan Mail Singer-songwriter Ian Munsick joins me for Episode 109. I talk with the Wyoming native Munsick about his rich blend of Western & Frontier grit and clever & charming pop sense, splitting time between Wyoming & Nashville, navigating the co-writing world of country music, how he collects his songwriting ideas, coming from a family of musicians & songwriters, and what he has on the horizon and his forthcoming full-length album, Coyote Cry . This episode's presenting ...
Aug 03, 2020•56 min•Season 5Ep. 109
Send us Fan Mail On Episode 108, I am joined by Bobby Duncan and Donovan Dodd, co-hosts (and co-writers) of the music podcast, The Co-Write, for a two-part episode series. During this "home and away," Duncan, Dodd, and I talk about the general Texas music scene, the progress, growth, and shifts within the scene, being an artist and journalist in 2020, stories about Pat Green, Randy Rogers, The 806, etc and do a six-round Music Festival Fantasy draft. This is Part Two of the two-parter. Listen to...
Jul 30, 2020•2 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 108
