New Slang

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 177, I'm joined by Oklahoma songwriter RC Edwards. We talk about RC's new band--RC & The Ambers--their forthcoming debut album Big Country, Bryant "Big Country" Reeves, Turnpike Troubadours shows, and hear a few old songwriting stories. This episode's presenting partner is Desert Door Texas Sotol and The Blue Light Live . New Slang Patreon N...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 176, I'm joined by rising singer-songwriter Zach Bryan. During this conversation, we talk about songs, carving out time for songwriting, those early raw recordings that started out in part as a necessity to be heard but quickly became a signature for his earnest songs, dealing with imposter syndrome, performing at The Grand Ole Opry in April, recording with Dave Co...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 175, I talk with lead vocalist Corey Baum of Austin country outfit Croy & The Boys. Baum and company released Of Course They Do , their latest EP, last month where they blend punk ethos with a lonesome country delivery and warm accents of pedal steel. During this one, we talk about the Quarantine recordings of Of Course They Do , Baum's Midwestern roots, move t...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 174, I'm joined by Texas songwriter Summer Dean, who announced her forthcoming album, Bad Romantic , is set for release on August 27. In addition, she shared the first single, a lonesome country aching duet with Colter Wall called "You're Lucky She's Lonely." During this conversation, Dean and I talk about co-writing with Wall, collaborating wit...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 173, we're joined by West Virginia singer-songwriter John R. Miller. This week, Miller announced that his forthcoming album, Depreciated , will be out July 16 via Rounder Records. In conjunction with the announcement, he released the stirring and rich Appalachia epic "Shenandoah Shakedown." During this one, we talk about recording Depreciated in Nashville...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 172, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Miko Marks. Marks released Our Country , her first full-length album in over a decade, in late March of this year. During this conversation, we talk about her "return" to country music, how Our Country was recorded and came to be during the midst of 2020's quarantine, the difficult and necessary conversations foun...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 171, I'm joined by rock and roller Rob Leines. Back in March, Leines released the southern rock stomper and blue-collar roots album Blood Sweat and Beers . During this episode, we talk about the writing, recording, and experiences of Blood Sweat and Beers , growing up in the South, living in LA, working as a welder, the stress of quarantine life on art, and the par...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 170, I'm joined by singer-songwriter, album producer, and artist Jon Randall. During this episode, we talk about Randall's upcoming solo album--his first in 15 years, The Marfa Tapes --the collaborative album with Jack Ingram and Miranda Lambert, what drew him to the Far West Texas town, songwriting, working with the likes of Dierks Bentley, Parker McCollum, a...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 169, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Joe Pug, who released The Diving Sun , his latest full-length, this past Friday. Pug is also the host of The Working Songwriter, a podcast where he speaks with other songwriters and musicians about their craft and songwriting in general. During this episode, we talk about the evolution and writing of The Diving Sun , creating du...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 168, I'm joined by rising Texas singer-songwriter Mason Lively. At the end of the week (March 19), he's releasing his sophomore album, the rich and robust Mason Lively . During this one, we talk about working with Wade Bowen and Justin Pollard (who co-produced the effort), writing songs in Nashville, maturing and taking notes from established writers, recordin...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 167, I'm joined by Ricky Young of Americana rock band The Wild Feathers, who in late November, released Medium Rarities , a collection of covers, b-sides, and new songs from the band's first decade. During this one, Young and I talk about the makeup of Medium Rarities and how it's a nice reflection of what the band's first decade sounds like, how the...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 166, I'm joined by Texas Gulf & Western singer-songwriter Charley Crockett. On this one, we talk about his latest album, the honky-tonk classic, 10 For Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand , which was released this past Friday (February 26). During this interview, Crockett talks about the late great Texas honky tonker James Hand, and why it was paramount tha...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 165, I'm joined by Nathan Mongol Wells and Joshua Ray Walker of country garage rock outfit Ottoman Turks. The Dallas-based country punkers are releasing their sophomore album, the aptly titled Ottoman Turks II , this Friday, March 05. On their latest, they continue exploring the intersection at which honky-tonk country and dive bar punk collide. Songs like "35...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 164, I'm joined by Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs of The Local Honeys. Earlier this month, the Kentucky old-time duo released a pair of new songs--"Dying to Make a Living" and "Octavia Triangle"--that are drenched in history and lore while maintaining a level of relevancy for these modern times. There's a timelessness that resonates t...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 163, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Simon Flory. The Fort Worth-based Flory is releasing his latest album, Haul These Blues Away . Built around Flory's gift for country narrative, short story character sketches, and Flory's rural vernacular, Haul These Blues Away is an unassuming charmer--unassuming only because Flory's more interested in harkening...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 162, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson. Wilson is releasing Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' this Friday, February 19. During this episode, we talk about recording this album with Jay Joyce, writing with the likes of Luke Dick and Lori McKenna, finding her voice as an artist and songwriter while continually growing as a storyteller and co-writer,...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 161, I'm joined by Soul Country singer-songwriter Tiera. The young country riser is releasing her debut EP in mid-March and stops by to talk about readying the project, finding her voice as a storyteller, vocalist, and artist, collaborating in Nashville, songwriting on Zoom, Taylor Swift, the current times in country music, and how country legends like Shania Twain...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 160, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Jillette Johnson. At week's end (Friday, Feb. 12), Johnson will be releasing her forthcoming album, the gleaming It's a Beautiful Day & I Love You . On this new album, Johnson works in a bright and sunny sonic palette into the mix. While she never ventures too far from her piano-laden work, punches of sharp guitar,...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 159, I drive up to Turkey, Texas, and record a super-casual and relaxed conversation with Lubbock songwriters Brandon Adams, Daniel Markham, Dave Martinez, and Charlie Stout. During this conversation, we hear road stories, bad gigs, poor paying jobs, Lubbock music and landmarks, West Texas, and forming a band. This episode's presenting partner is Desert Door Texas...

Send us Fan Mail We kicked off the month of February being joined by singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan. Tasjan is releasing his excellent new album Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! this coming Friday (February 5). The East Nashville songwriter continues to explore the cosmic folk and space rock realms on the self-titled collection with songs like the infectious glam-pop anthem "Up All Night," th...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 157, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Ben Nichols of the Memphis alt-country outfit Lucero. Lucero is releasing their latest efforts, the atmospheric adventure When You Found Me , this Friday, January 29.  It marks as the band's 10th studio album and finds Nichols and company further expanding their sonic and storytelling legs. Songs like "Coffin Nails&quo...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 156, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Pony Bradshaw to discuss the writing, storytelling, and mythos of his new album, Calico Jim , which is due out Friday, January 29. Bradshaw's Calico Jim taps into the Northwest corner of Georgia--Bradshaw's rural Dade County--for intricate and detailed storytelling that feels familiar, yet just left of center enough th...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 155, I'm joined by Mason Server, the lead vocalist and chief lyricist of Mason & The Gin Line. Server and company released Caprock Composition , a five-song collection with West Texas & Panhandle touchpoints and is a throwback to the energy and feel of Texas country and songwriting of the late '90s and early '00s. At times, Caprock can feel like i...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 154, I am joined by Andrew Leahey. Leahey is a singer-songwriter--frontman of the open road highway rock band Andrew Leahey & The Homestead--lead guitarist for country artist Elizabeth Cook (among others), and a writer and music journalist. That's all helped Leahey become one of the most well-balanced and nuanced thinkers and writers in the "Americana&quot...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 153, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Ross Cooper. The Nashville by way of Lubbock songwriter is readying his latest batch of songs, the introspective Chasing Old Highs . Much like his breakout album, 2018's I Rode the Wild Horses , Cooper's tunes come with a worn-in and a weathered grit and seasoned moxie. And as a veteran songwriter and an ex-rodeo cowbo...