-Kelli

Josh Ward hits it out of the park with his fourth highly anticipated release, More Than I Deserve, where rich, traditional ballads mix with honky-tonkers and heartbreakers, blending together seamlessly for a solid effort from the Houston native.  

The lead single "All About Lovin'" kicks off the album and sets the tone for the remainder of the collection.  "Ain't It Baby," a mid-tempo standout, with the best feel good vibes of the year, channels the feeling of warm nights with the windows down, "That's a once in a lifetime sky...shining down on us tonight..." Meanwhile, "Say Hello To Goodbye" is a lush, piano driven tune featuring soaring vocals from Ward, "...Yeah I'd like to introduce you to lonesome days and lonely nights...I guess you'll have to get used to all those tears in your eyes...say hello to goodbye..."

Picking it up a few notches, honky-tonk takes over on "Home Away From Home," "Another Heartache," and "Loving Right" with all feeling like they could've been recorded in the heyday of 80's and 90's country, missed on today's radio.  While there are the rollicking tunes, the ballads are where Ward really shines.  On "The Devil Don't Scare Me Anymore," Ward's voice flies high above the searing lyrics "...Ten years later wondering how I got here, where neon burns and they sell cold beer...Heaven seems so far away..."  It's the most moving song in the set and Ward's emotional delivery brings the subject home.

Other standouts are "A Cowboy Can," "God Made A Woman," destined to be a Texas dance floor classic, and the title track, a touching waltz surrounded by gorgeous pedal steel and heartbreaking lyrics "...I know I could change her mind....make her stay....but then again, I know it's too late..."  A heavy way to close out but listeners can feel hope in the song's message, since we all truly have a lot to be thankful for.

There is a song for everyone on this release; whether it's a honky tonk weeper or a tender love ballad, Ward has listeners covered.  Instant radio classics like "Ain't It Baby" and deeper cuts like the title track make this perhaps his best album yet. 

More Than I Deserve drops May 4.

Brandon Grafius' new single, “Cardinal in Winter” seeks to illuminate the light we often find ourselves looking for beneath the darkness. Led by a gentle acoustic guitar and layers of delicate keys and harmonica, "Cardinal In Winter" offers a sense of optimism and hope via its vivid lyricism and dreamy melodies that despite difficult seasons in our lives, there is always something to look forward to.

"Cold creeps in through the windowpanes, the fire's down to embers
Your soul feels like it’s frosting at the center
When it seems the sun will never come, try hard to remember
There’s a cardinal in winter"

Grafius' upcoming album, Highways and Backroads,  is due out May 11 on Lost Mitten Records. 

-Harriett

Vermont native, and current Nashville resident, Caitlin Canty is set to release her third album Motel Bouquet on March 30th. The 10 track collection was flawlessly produced by Noam Pikelny of the Punch Brothers and includes contributions from Aoife O’Donovan (vocals), Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Russ Pahl (pedal steel) and Pikelny pulling extra duties on electric guitar and banjo. Combine those talented artists with Canty’s songwriting prowess and sultry vocals and a good listen is bound to follow. It’s a blend of bluesy folk and country, exploring the winding and uncertain paths of romantic relationships.

The project kicks off with the gentle sway of pedal steel on “Take Me For A Ride” describing the irresistible pull of someone you know you should quit (“I’ve got no use for shiny cars, but here you are”) and continues with fiddle driven reflection on the consequences of giving in to the temptation in “River Alone”.  The longing and loneliness of being separated from a lover is beautifully conveyed in “Time Rolls By” where the time apart moves slowly “like a frozen river winding to the sea.”

There’s lovely acoustic guitar on “Motel” an offering on the power of love that overcomes darkness while “Scattershot” brings into focus the power of fate and things out of our control using the hit or miss unpredictability of summer storms as a metaphor and “Basil Gone To Blossom” which speaks to the reminders of the seeds of a relationship gone sour. “Cinder Blocks” closes the album with an ode to the role of strong foundation in surviving adversity.

In Motel Bouquet, Canty cements her reputation as a consummate singer-songwriter. Find out more about this project and her upcoming tour dates at www.caitlincanty.com            

Hailing from La Crosse, WI Andy Hughes previously spent time as the front man and main songwriter for Alternative Reggae/Ska band, TUGG, whose recordings all made the Top 5 iTunes and Amazon’s Reggae Charts.  A life-long fan of classic country - Hughes counts Cash, Kristofferson, and Prine among his influences - the singer-songwriter switched gears in 2017, releasing his debut album, Heartland and Heartache, a reflective, bittersweet, and memorable twelve-track collection which mines classic country melodies and relatable themes.

One of the album's standout tracks "Misery," a stirring duet led by a gentle acoustic guitar and steel, finds Hughes slightly raspy vocals exchanging sentiments with Hanson as they ponder the misery of loneliness.

"Eight long days since I felt your touch 
In more way than one that just ain't enough
Eight more days and I need your love
Swear that you ain't giving it to someone who don't mean too much." 

For more information visit HERE

-Tara

Massachusetts-based quintet Parsonsfield put forth a mature reflection on the emotional turbulence life places at our feet in their new EP, WE. Produced by Dan Cardinal, WE embodies the band’s multi-person harmonies, layered instrumentation, tight musicianship, and signature merging of styles on four originals and one cover that offer perspectives on loneliness, sadness, and unrequited love in ways thoughtful and sincere.
 
The warm and spacious banjo-led track “Light of the City” opens the project, capturing an intense loneliness that's present despite being surrounded by many. That's followed by the wistful “Go Find Yourself,” which builds to become a passionate plea to follow your heart rather than taking the easiest path (“When love comes to find you/Don’t run and hide”), the bluesy-yearning of “Take Me Back,” and a stunning rendition of Everclear's "Santa Monica" which expresses the emotional weight of the song in an unexpected and welcome way. The short set concludes with the "Kick Out The Windows," a buoyant anthem of perseverance.

On WE, Parsonsfield explore universal experiences that while undeniably real, never leave you disheartened. Struggle, loneliness, and depression all exist, but do so alongside a hopeful resiliency which we are tasked to mine while enjoying every minute of this gift we've been given. 

-Tara

No Dry County - Trent Langford (Singer/Songwriter/Guitar/Keys), Matt Newsom (Drums/Vocals), Dub Wood (Bass/Vocals) and Bristen Phillips (Guitars/Keys) - began in 2009 as an 80’s cover band. Developing a sound of their own, they released their debut EP Ella Rose in 2011 followed by their sophomore EP To Whom It May Concern in 2012 and debut full-length, The Night Before, in 2015. Now, the Texas-based foursome are gearing up for their newest LP, Panhandle Music, due this Spring.

Recently, NDC debuted the first track from the project, "Fifteen Piece Band." A melodic and moving roots rocker "Fifteen Piece Band" grapples with the struggles a veteran encounters when he tries to reconnect with family while trying to cope with PTSD. 

"Seventeen when I signed some papers playing an arcade game
You were young and wild like I was, we were much the same
Now I'm waking night sweats, walking nightmares, it ain't what you signed for
The best thing a man can do is leave you on this big dance floor"

The poignant "Fifteen Piece Band" packs an emotional punch where you're feeling your feet move while simultaneously sensing your chest swell. It's a precursor to what you'll find on Panhandle Music - an album that tells the stories of the people within this landscape, from their deepest despairs to their highest hopes, climbing mountains, and facing illusions and failed expectations in the place they call home. For all the info visitHERE

Coming off his most recent #1, "God & George Strait," Rich O'Toole released brand new music on March 2nd with the track "Mississippi Baby." Led by a carefree, breezy melody buoyed along by electric guitar and O'Toole's familiar and heartfelt vocals, "Mississippi Baby" paints a vivid picture of one man's journey down the highway as he travels to seek clarity and escape the every day.

"I got the windows down, you can smell the salty air
I got a little gumbo, turn up that banjo
Dancing in the Dark, got the wind blowing through my hair"

Listen HERE

Hailing from Michigan, singer-songwriter Brandon Grafius’s upcoming second album, Highways and Backroads, explores the journey of life - our connections with places, what it means to travel from place to place, and why some places aren’t right for us, while others feel like home. The first single from the project, "Things Get Right" is a carefree shuffler led by fiddle and Brandon's rich, warm baritone that carries the listener along to a place of contentment where as Grafius sings, "things get right."

Brandon has performed widely throughout Michigan and beyond. He’s shared the stage with artists such as Olivia Mainville and the Aquatic Troupe, Jared & the Mill, the Drunken Hearts, and Michigander. For more information visit: 

Facebook I Soundcloud I Spotify
Highways and Backroads is due May 11 on Lost Mitten Records.

-Tara

For Washington-based artist ​Kären McCormick, it all started with a song. After hearing Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" McCormick begged her father for a guitar, which she got as a Christmas present when she was 13 years-old. McCormick got right to work and wrote her first song that day. Since then. she has performed for audiences at fairs and festivals across the Pacific Northwest. Now, the young singer-songwriter is gearing up for the release of her new single, "Just A Song."

Produced by Matt Carey in Nashville, "Just A Song" is an autobiographical, yet universal, tune that deals with how a song can be so much more, especially when it evokes strong feelings of nostalgia. The pop-country track is accented by electronic flourishes, drums, and McCormick's airy vocals, which recalls a certain superstar.

"Just A Song" will be available on March 16th
​www.karenmccormickmusic.com
www.youtube.com/karenmccormick17
www.facebook.com/karenmccormickmusic