Featured New Releases – 6/26/2018

Summer is here and so is a whole host of new music to enjoy. In addition to everything listed below, there’s loads more that’s been added to our library, so stay tuned to WWCF Radio at 88.7 FM and wwcfradio.org to hear all the great new music!

Album Releases

	John Prine The Tree of Forgiveness The Tree of Forgiveness is John Prine’s first collection of new material since 2005’s Grammy-winning Fair and Square. Prine teamed up with producer David Cobb and enlisted friends like Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and Amanda Shires to sing along on news songs as well as some that had waited to be finished for decades. The musical arrangements may be simpler than on past efforts, yet his unique ability to distill complex emotions into everyday language remains fully intact. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Roger Daltrey As Long As I Have You The legendary Who singer’s first solo since 1992, So Long As I Have You features eleven new studio recordings of original material and covers of tracks from the likes of Stephen Stills, Parliament, Nick Cave, Stevie Wonder, and Dusty Springfield. The album also features guitar from fellow Who bandmate Pete Townshend. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Father John Misty God’s Favorite Customer Hot on the heels of 2017’s Pure Comedy, Josh Tillman’s newest album as Father John Misty was written largely in New York between Summer 2016 and Winter 2017, and recorded with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, Dave Cerminara, and Trevor Spencer. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Low Cut Connie Dirty Pictures (Part 2) In their fifth album, this little act from South Philly continues to dig in their corner of the sandbox, looking for something useful and real to offer their fans. Adam Weiner and the rest of the crew try to light the fire at every show and with every record, and their newest release seeks to remind all of us, all the little people, to keep our fires lit at any cost. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Chris Stills Don’t Be Afraid Recorded over the last few years, Don’t Be Afraid, is an evocative collection of eleven heartfelt songs in which Chris Stills exudes a pure authenticity as he writes about his personal life and experiences over the past decade. With an endearing and honest intimacy he crosses a wide range of ups and downs through love and hardships that Chris calls a “self-reflective, atmospheric space walk”. His first album in over ten years, the collection features three co-writes showcasing new and old friendships, and Chris’s personal touch on songs by Pink Floyd, Harry Nilsson, Tom Petty, and Queen. Buy Album • Artist Website
	The Record Company All Of This Life The Record Company continues with their signature gritty, rock & roll, blues sound on the follow-up to their Grammy-nominated debut. The new album incorporates the band’s organic style, but provides a richer, full expanded sound using Boulevard Recording Studio and mixes by Mark Needham and is comprised of stories about moving through difficult times in life and coming through the other side as shared by their fanbase over the last two years of non-stop touring. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Joe Bonamassa British Blues Explosion Live Recorded at Greenwich Music Time in London in July of 2016, British Blues Explosion Live features Joe Bonamassa and a five piece band paying homage to legendary British guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page with his stunning performance of their blues-rock classics. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Courtney Barnett Tell Me How You Really Feel Known for mixing witty observations with unflinching self-assessment, Grammy nominated Courtney Barnett’s new collection of songs see a more serious and outwardly tone capturing the current social landscape yet still retaining moments of intimacy and warmth. As the world becomes more familiar with Barnett, these songs feel comforting and emphatic yet that raw energy and the ability to make the listener think still remain. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Willie Nelson Last Man Standing Comprised entirely of songs newly-penned by Willie along with longtime collaborator and producer Buddy Cannon, Last Man Standing is one of his most personal and introspective albums to-date. An album that acknowledges the transience of time while marveling at the joy, beauty and surprise the world has to offer, this new album finds Willie Nelson rolling at a creative peak, writing and singing and playing with the seasoned wit and wisdom that comes from the road. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore Downey To Lubbock Downey To Lubbock was born by immaculate inspiration from live shows Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore performed together in 2017. Just the two of them were swapping songs and cutting up, each with a guitar and a heart full of soul, musicians who have been on the road their entire adult lives. The result is an album of blues, rock and folk inspired tunes–10 covers and two originals–that both of their fans will enjoy. Buy Album • Dave Alvin Website • Jimmie Dale Gilmore Website
	Wylie & the Wild West 2000 Miles from Nashville Born into a 4th generation ranching family on the empty sprawl of Northern Montana, Wylie Gustafson is an American original. Says Wylie, “These musical gems were passed down from family and picked up from ranch hands. We still want to sing the honest and gritty songs that celebrate our farming and ranching heritage- the forgotten culture- the silent industry that puts the food on our table. It is the demographic that has been ignored by corporate radio.” Buy Album • Artist Website
	Western Centuries Songs From The Deluge With their lastest release, honky-tonk supergroup Western Centuries brings country music home to it’s eclectic and unpretentious origins. This fresh set of songs spans psychedelia, boogie-woogie, and quixotic tales of love, and the carefully honed sound is supported by the band’s signature literary approach to lyricism. Western Centuries’ three songwriters (Ethan Lawton, Cahalen Morrison, Jim Miller) traverse vastly differing geographies the city, the Southwest, the metaphysical and weave together a tapestry of Western music without sacrificing their hard-earned country dancehall sound. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco You’re Driving Me Crazy The follow-up to Van Morrison’s 2017 chart-topping jazz album Versatile, the new studio collaboration between Morrison and legendary Hammond organist Joey DeFrancesco features interpretations of jazz and blues standards as well as selections from Van’s songbook. Buy Album • Van Morrison Website • Joey DeFrancesco Website
	Szlachetka Heart of My Hometown Heart of My Hometown shines a light on Szlachetka as a singer, prolific songwriter, storyteller, and fiery lead guitarist. It is an album whose touchstones include the charged roots-rock of Tom Petty and the warm, acoustic sounds of Jackson Browne, and Szlachetka moves between both ends of that spectrum with ease, splitting his time between full-band anthems and more intimate, acoustic moments. It’s an album built for road trips, slow dances, wild Friday nights, and everything in between. Buy Album • Artist Website
	Ray LaMontagne Part of the Light Part of the Light is singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne’s seventh album and the self-produced follow-up to 2016’s acclaimed Ouroboros. “The writing of the songs is always the same–it’s just a matter of listening to the melodies and then waiting for them to tell you what they want to be,” explains LaMontagne. “But while I’m writing them they’re still a mystery to me. You just have faith in these little snippets of melodies and follow them when they appear. They’re all kind of surprises to me. And that’s OK.” Buy Album • Artist Website
	Steve Wynn Dazzling Display Dream Syndicate co-founder Steve Wynn followed up his acclaimed 1990 debut Kerosene Man in 1992 with Dazzling Display. This was another star-studded affair, featuring contributions from Peter Buck of R.E.M., Vicki Peterson of The Bangles, Flo & Eddie, and many more. In the liner notes of Omnviore Recordings’ reissue of this LP, Wynn writes “It’s a really fun record. It was made with a fan’s enthusiasm as a reflection of the things that made me happy and got me excited in 1991. It may not have been the right record for its time and it may not have been the right record for this particular recording artist. But it sure feels good to listen to it now. And in 2018, that’s what matters most of all. Enjoy.” The album’s original playlist is joined by six rare bonus tracks, which include covers of tracks originally recorded by Sonic Youth and Paul Simon. Buy Album • Artist Website