February 2021

Smithsonian Folkways celebrates the golden age of Bluegrass music in Southwest Ohio with the release of Industrial Strength Bluegrass on March 26. The second single, "Family Reunion" featuring the Queen of Bluegrass Rhonda Vincent and bluegrass music's rising star, Caleb Daugherty releases today.

Sara Watkins of the Grammy-winning groups Nickel Creek and I’m With Her, as well as The Watkins Family Hour will release Under the Pepper Tree on March 26th via New West Records. The 15-song set was produced by Tyler Chester (Sara Bareilles, Margaret Glaspy) and is the follow up to her critically acclaimed 2016 solo album Young In All The Wrong Ways.

For the second and third singles of her new album and video series The St Buryan Sessions, Cornwall-based singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid delves deep into her back catalog to resurrect “Charlie’s Gone Home”, the first original song she ever recorded as a solo artist, then jumps forward again with “The Day Of Wrath, That Day”, a powerful instrumental composition for electric guitar.

John Mellencamp announces he’s set to unveil his new live album and documentary titled: The Good Samaritan Tour this spring. The documentary, which will be narrated by Academy® Award winner Matthew McConaughey, chronicles Mellencamp’s historic free tour in 2000 when he performed on street corners and in public parks across the country.
 

Drawing influences from the halcyon days of '70s prog bands like Weather Report and King Crimson and the modern jazz psychedelia stylings of BADBADNOTGOOD or Kamasi Washington, Squids takes their listeners on universal and jam-centric thrill rides.

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Esther Rose’s homespun brand of country music has drawn comparisons to legends like Hank Williams, modern trailblazers like Rilo Kiley, and a host of other luminaries in between, but those who are doing the comparing always make note: she’s got her own thing going on. Rose’s innate ability to reflect on her own feelings, to not cast blame, and to keep a smile while doing so brings a spark to her music that sets it apart from her contemporaries and influences alike.