New Slang

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 152, I am joined by Oklahoma songwriter and musician John Calvin Abney. Abney's long been one of Oklahoma's best for his contributions as a solo artist and a side musician working with the likes of John Moreland, Samantha Crain, and several others. His latest album, November's Familiar Ground , finds the Oklahoman delivering some of his finest work to dat...

Send us Fan Mail We kick off 2021 and Episode 151 with singer-songwriter Molly Parden. Parden released her latest EP, the stunningly sublime Rosemary , this past Fall. Throughout the six-songs, she pairs her velvety vocals with a dreamy soundscape that's just right for her intimate and richly detailed folk songs. Standouts like the introspective "Kitchen Table" find Parden chronicli...

Send us Fan Mail On the final episode of the year, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Bella White. White released her debut album, the excellent and endearing Just Like Leaving this past September and is not only one of the best debuts of recent memory, Just Like Leaving is one of 2020's best moments overall. Even though she's a newcomer, White delivers like a seasoned artist on the bl...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 149, I'm joined by singer-songwriter Kree Harrison. Harrison released the wonderful Chosen Family Tree , her latest full-length album, this past August. Harrison seamlessly blends classic country, smart pop hooks, and a hearty southern soulfulness on Family Tree . Right from the opening notes of the first song, the crystalline "Nothing in This World," it&...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 148, I'm joined by Southern Indiana singer-songwriter Nick Dittmeier. I was joined by Dittmeier a little before Christmas for a conversation about his Indiana meets Western Kentucky roots and how those blue-collar characters have long been a touchstone in his storytelling and songs. In the past few years, Dittmeier has released the alt-country rocking All Damn Day...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first ever 2020 Album Draft. On this episode, I am joined by Grady Smith and Garrett McKie & Mike Hart of The Hippies & Cowboys Podcast to discuss some of our favorite albums, EPs, and artists of the year. This Album Draft is 10 Rounds long and each draft must fill out 10 specific categories for their roster. Categories: Chart Topper, Duo/Band, Collab, Livin...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode with Kentucky's Adam Chaffins. Chaffins released an excellent album called Some Things Won't Last last February. Chaffins' soulful vocals and bass-playing style (he's an accomplished bass player as well with plenty of work on some of your favorites in recent memory) are really the heart and soul of the album. There's a boldness to both...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 145, I'm joined by Texas outfit The Wilder Blue--Zane Williams, Paul Eason, Lyndon Hughes, Andy Rogers, and Sean Rodriguez. On this one, I'm joined by the entire band for a conversation about their debut album and the origins of the band. Originally dubbed Hill Country, they released their self-titled debut back in the Spring. They've gone through a name...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 144, I'm joined by country singer-songwriter Randall King, who at the end of the week (Friday, Dec 11), will be releasing Leanna. The four-song EP is named after King's late sister who unexpectedly passed away earlier this year. It's as heartfelt and endearing a tribute you'd expect from King. On songs like "Takin' It As It Comes" and...

Send us Fan Mail We're kicking off the month of December being joined by singer-songwriter Kelsey Waldon. The Kentucky songwriter released They'll Never Keep Us Down , a seven-song collection of covers just two weeks ago. With songs such as Kris Kristofferson's "The Law is for Protection of the People," Bob Dylan's "With God on Our Side," and the Hazel Dicke...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 142, I'm joined by country singer-songwriter Shelby Lee Lowe. About a month back, Lowe released Something in Me , a strong three-song EP that embraces Lowe's country croon, warbling pedal steel, and the gentle lean of neo-traditional sonic sways. Lowe's brand of heartache storytelling falls right in line as well. Much of 2020 has seen the Tennessee songwr...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 141 is with The Panhandlers--the West Texas collaboration between songwriters Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, John Baumann, and Cleto Cordero of Flatland Cavalry--who released their debut self-titled last Spring. As their namesake alludes, these songs are about the Panhandle of Texas and the greater West Texas area in general. As sons of The Panhandle and Far West Texas,...

Send us Fan Mail On Episode 140, I'm joined by Andrew Nelson, vocalist/guitarist of Great Peacock, and Sadler Vaden, singer-songwriter and guitarist of Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. This episode is more of a roundtable conversation where Nelson, Vaden, and I discuss Heartland Rock, Americana, genre labels as a whole, Spotify playlists, pushing artist narratives more than albums, and what a...

Send us Fan Mail We're closing the week being joined by Ward Davis. The country singer-songwriter is releasing Black Cats and Crows tomorrow, Friday, November 20. These haunting undertones are a real driving force for the album. They mainly come in the brooding baritone in Davis' powerful, whiskey-soaked vocals and the midnight black vibrato of warbling guitars, but perhaps most of all,...

Send us Fan Mail We're kicking off the week being joined by singer-songwriter Bo Armstrong, who next week, Tuesday, November 24, will be releasing his full-length debut album, Chasing Ballads . The Nashville via Dallas songwriter collaborated with producer Brian Douglas Phillips (David Ramirez, Thomas Csorba, Rob Baird) on the effort and created a hearty soundscape that pulls from the Heartla...

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...

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 ambitio...

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 suc...

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 storyt...

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'tas...

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...

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 muc...

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...

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 powerhous...

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...