Midsummer Podcast Picks

Konrad Wert, aka, Possessed By Paul James unleashing his energetic musical maelstrom on the crowd at the Wildwood MusicFest and Campout. Photo by Anne Marie for Local Hero Media.

Stream or download Midsummer Podcast Picks: Midsummer ’20 Podcast Picks

Folks who follow this show know how connected our podcast team is to the Wildwood MusicFest & Campout in Sheridan, OR, USA. Our co-hosts Mike Lee and Eric Kotila serve as masters of cermonies at the annual event, and the team records interviews with the festival’s various musical acts throughout the weekend.

Sadly, this year’s festival — like so many across the country — had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We deeply missed spending time with all our friends and so many of the scheduled acts who have become great friends over the years.

One friend we especially missed at Wildwood this year was Konrad Wert, the guitar-strumming, fiddle-playing, foot-stompin’ singer who labels his act Possessed By Paul James. Ready to celebrate the release of his terrific 2020 album As We Go Wandering, the congenial and inspirational Mr. Wert was forced to cancel his early summer tour plans, including a trip to our neck of the woods in the Pacific Northwest.

We were bummed to miss seeing PPJ in action, and that’s why we feature a song from the new record to kick off this collection of Midsummer Podcast Picks. The track “In the Dark of Morning” is part of a large batch of new music featured here, along with new songs from Courtney Marie Andrews, Great Peacock, Charley Crockett, Lydia Loveless and the indomitable Matt Woods.

We also draw a few picks from some of the our favorite records from 2020 so far, including cuts from Jaime Wyatt, Hill Country, Lilly Hiatt, Margo Price and Joshua Ray Walker. The crew also did some excellent mining to find great songs from S.G. Goodman, Vincent Neil Emerson, Sarah Gayle Meech and Kaitlin Butts, who will be part of this weekend’s virtual Braun Brothers Reunion (click here to see the incredible talent lined up for that event).

And speaking of virtual festivals, scroll down to watch the virtual Wildwood festival — hosted by our own lovable podcast co-host Mike Lee. It’s a fun celebration of the festival that helped salve some of the deepest wounds caused by this pandemic.

But before we leave you, we had to share a couple of songs to let you know that, yes, Portland, OR, USA is still standing. The overblown descriptions of fire and destruction as portrayed by the national media and swallowed whole and parroted by conservatives across the country were nothing but another massive lie perpetrated by the current President of the United States and his “homeland security” henchmen.

Donald Trump’s a true instigator, as described by the great Portland-based singer Fernando, who panders to the grievance merchants at the center of the latest incendiary classic by Mike Cooley and his band Drive-By Truckers.

So, lots to digest here, folks. Better get started. Here’s the playlist for our Midsummer Podcast Picks:

In the Dark of Morning, Possessed By Paul James
It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault, Courtney Marie Andrews
Palomino Gold, Hill Country
Love Is Not Enough, Lydia Loveless
What Else Would You Have Me Be? Lucero
I’m Looking For Blue Eyes, Jessi Colter
Goodbye Queen, Jaime Wyatt
Fool Somebody Else, Charley Crockett
Tomorrow’s All We Have, Matt Woods
Space And Time, S.G. Goodman
Willie Nelson’s Wall, Vincent Neil Emerson
White River, Kaitlin Butts
All I Ever Do, Great Peacock
Brightest Star, Lilly Hiatt
True Instigator, Fernando
What Happened To Our Love? Margo Price
Boat Show Girl, Joshua Ray Walker
Somebody’s Gonna Cry, Sarah Gayle Meech
Shotgun Betty, Sarah Shook
Grievance Merchants, Drive-By Truckers

50 Podcast Picks from 2019

Have we seen the last of the Turnpike Troubadours? Here’s hoping for a revival and return to form in 2020 for the Oklahoma Red Dirt legends.

Stream or download 50 Podcast Picks from 2019: 50 Podcast Picks from 2019

After a maddening period that saw at least half a dozen stop and starts (cancelled shows, shaky performances, etc.), the Turnpike Troubadours — the rising Oklahoma-based band which seemed destined for big things — finally suspended all group activity in 2019. Some members turned their focus to other projects, while mercurial frontman and main songwriter Evan Felker retreated underground, leaving many to speculate that his personal problems threw the group’s future into jeopardy.

But late in the year, a new single by Felker emerged from Austin, TX, USA, where veteran singer-songwriter and producer Bruce Robison pinned down Felker to perform a few tunes in the studio for his burgeoning Next Waltz multimedia project. The song and video (see below) for “Whiskey In Your Water,” with Carrie Rodriguez singing a dual vocal, shows Felker in fine form and hints at exactly why he is so beloved by fans of the Troubadours and why concern for his well-being remains at the forefront of their thoughts.

We decided to kickoff our 50 year-end podcast picks with the tune in hopes that we haven’t seen the last of Felker and possibly the Turnpike Troubadours as a unit. It’s one of the songs from artists who made a big impact on the ears of our podcast producers in 2019.

Along with a bunch of great new discoveries this year, our podcast picks are highlighted by several career-best moments by some of our favorites, including many from friends and folks who have been guests on our show in the past.

So give it a listen with an ear toward finding your next favorite Americana or Roots act. We bet herein lies the fix you’re looking for in 2020. Here’s the playlist:

Whiskey In Your Water, Evan Felker with Carrie Rodriguez and The Next Waltzers
What You Don’t Know, Caroline Spence
Cordelia, Drunken Prayer
Good at Bad News, Tylor & The Train Robbers
Cheap Silver, Mike and the Moonpies
The House That Built Me, Tanya Tucker
Hey, Heartbreaker, Matt Woods
Things Like This, I See Hawks In L.A.
Big Black Chain, The Jackson County Kills
56 Fury, Rodney Crowell
Walk Through Fire, Yola
Jesus & Elvis, Hayes Carll
All Your’n, Tyler Childers
Ian McLagan, Drivin’ N Cryin’
Downtown, The Cactus Blossoms
Doubt, Clara Baker
Cocaine Country Dancing, Paul Cauthen
Giving Up, Tim Barry
California State Line, The Long Ryders
Emmanuel, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings
Mississippi Nuthin’, Shovels & Rope
So Long To The Traveling Kind, Tom Vanden Avond
Strange Shadows, Aaron Lee Tasjan
Colorado, The Quaker City Night Hawks
Sam’s House, An American Forrest
That’s How I Feel, Dori Freeman
Kind Days, John Calvin Abney
Rolling Stone, Whiskey Myers
Letter To Madeline, Ian Noe
Division Lines, Fernando
Back Into This Church, Ron Rogers & The Wailing Wind
Ruby, Strand of Oaks
Right At Home, Daystar
Old Black Magic, Josh Ritter
The Imperial, The Delines
Hard Time With The Truth, Kendell Marvel
Wake Up Call, Rich Layton and Tough Town
Wildflowers & Wine, Marcus King
The Dream Is Dead, M. Lockwood Porter
Fenceline, Anna Tivel
Excuse Me, Charley Crockett
Blue Earth County, Silver Lake 66
Sad Songs, Kassi Valazza
East October, John Moreland
Just Trying To Love, The Lonesome Billies
Old Soul, The Highwomen
Where The Buffalo Roam, David Quinn
Beautiful and Kind, Ryan Bingham
Turn Off The News (Build A Garden) (Acoustic), Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real

January Podcasts Picks

Thars the Stars: Portland’s Stars of Cascadia are back with a new record, Fairfield.

We’re keeping it live and local to start off 2019, and kicking things off with a killer cut from that fun and rollicking band of Portland alt-country grinders, Stars of Cascadia. Their new CD Fairfield just hit the streets this week, and “The Great Divide” is a near perfect tune to sum up the mid-Trump swamp we find ourselves wading through daily. Singer Scott Jeffries gets nostalgic on this new disc, ruminating on the Viet Nam era and the last time . . . say, 1968 . . . when the U.S. felt this very divided.

The Delines may be considered a local band in our neck of the woods, but they’re killing it right now in the U.K. and Ireland on their first tour in a couple of years. We caught both of their warm-up shows in Portland before they headed across the Atlantic to promote their brand new album, The Imperial, which is pulling rave reviews around the globe. We share the title cut here.

And while you’re cranking this latest playlist, be sure to stick around for a song from the Portland trio Five Letter Word. We first saw these talented ladies at last year’s Wildwood MusicFest & Campout, and they blew us away with their amazing harmonies and stellar musicianship. Their debut record, Siren, dropped earlier in January, but we expect to be hearing a whole lot of great things from them throughout 2019 and beyond.

We also share new music from Son Volt, Joshua Ray Walker, Ryan Bingham, Vandoliers, Bob Sumner and a song by Ryan Adams with a title that pretty much sums up our feeling about the winter weather in the Pacific Northwest. Not that we’re complaining. Sending out good wishes to our friends in the Midwest (we’re looking at you, Bloodshot Records crew) who are suffering through a record-shattering Arctic blast that arrived in the Great Lakes region overnight.

Since you folks are pretty much stuck inside for a bit, crank up our January Podcast Picks!

Here’s the playlist:

The Great Divide, Stars of Cascadia
The Imperial, The Delines
Burn It, Joshua Ray Walker
Jingle And Go, Ryan Bingham
Mountain Girl, Shane Smith
5 Acres Of Turnips, Pistol Annies
Saturday Satan Sunday Saint, Charley Crockett
Me And Hayes, Mike and the Moonpies
Jesus And Elvis, Hayes Carll
Troublemaker, Vandoliers
The Way She Looked At You, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers
Bourbon And Blood, The Comacheros
Southern Accents, The Steel Woods
Go Home, Garrett T. Capps
Riverbed, Bob Sumner
Easier To Go, Five Letter Word
Living Free, Jack Waters and the Unemployed
F*ck The Rain, Ryan Adams

2018 Year End Podcast Picks

Texas Road Crew: Mike and the Moonpies knocked us out with their fabulous 2018 album “Steak Night At The Prairie Rose”

Stream or download 2018 Year End Podcast Picks: 2018 Year End Podcast Picks

So much great music, and right in our wheelhouse . . . 2018 will be remembered not for one, two or even 10 great albums but a whole slew of game-changing efforts by a wide-ranging list of Americana artists. Whether it was the outlaw country of Whitey Morgan, the timeless folk of John Prine, the disarming, gritty alt-country of Sarah Shook or the multi-pronged Americana of Western Centuries, 2018 delivered an immeasurable amount of fabulous Roots music, all fitting nicely under the That Much Further West Podcast umbrella.

All of the artists included on this list of year-end picks found their way on to our Portland-based podcast this year, either as a monthly or seasonal pick, the subject of a review, or as a featured guest interviewed by our three co-hosts, Mike Lee, Eric Kotila and Phil Favorite. The lads put their heads together for this year-end feature, finding it difficult not only to single out this handful of fantastic performers but even to choose songs from albums loaded with potential entries. With just 25 songs on the list, it’s easy to see how this list could have been twice as long if not longer— all you have to do is look at the countless year-end “best of” lists already published in the preceding weeks.

With so many great acts to choose from, including many (see: Brent Cobb, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Courtney Marie Andrews, American Aquarium) drawing universal praise for the fantastic records they put out this year, we decided to feature a band that we hadn’t paid quite enough attention to on the podcast this year. Over the better part of the last decade, Texas-bred stalwarts Mike and the Moonpies have been bringing their world-class country to the people, building a reputation as one of America’s finest representatives of the white-hot Red Dirt movement.

Following in the footsteps of some of our favorites, like Chris Knight, Reckless Kelly and Turnpike Troubadours, Mike and the Moonpies hit a home run with their 2018 record Steak Night At The Prairie Rose, a must listen for every fan of country music. We kick off our year-end picks with their song “Beaches of Biloxi,” a potent cocktail of temptation, addiction and regret befitting a truly great country song.

Let it serve as a launching point, not just for this playlist but for our pursuit of more fantastic music to share with you as the calendar turns to another year. Be on the lookout for Mike and the Moonpies (see video below) and all the great artists and music we share here and throughout the coming year.

Here’s our humble list of Year End Podcast Picks. Thank you for listening. Enjoy.

Beaches of Biloxi, Mike and the Moonpies
Elevator Blues, The Resolectrics
NYC In The Rain, Caleb Caudle
Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Ballad For The Trees, I See Hawks In L.A.
Heart Slows Down, Aaron Lee Tasjan
Cadillac Man, Wes Youssi & The County Champs
Bad Time To Be An Outlaw, The Bottle Rockets
Every Time I Hear That Song, Brandi Carlile
A Hole In My Grave, Chuck Westmoreland
Lonesome Friends Of Science, John Prine
The World Is On Fire, American Aquarium
Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde
Everything Has Changed, Lucero
Set Em Up (I’m Afraid To Go Home), Countryside Ride
Cowboys And Canyon Queens, John Calvin Abney
Border, Courtney Marie Andrews
Wild You Run, Western Centuries
King Of Alabama, Brent Cobb
What Am I Supposed To Do, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s
My Sweet Arsonist, Karen Jonas
Plain To See Plainsman, Colter Wall
Ain’t Gotta Worry Child, Charley Crockett
The Being Gone, Jamie Lin Wilson
Kick The Lights Out, Hearts Of Oak

June Podcast Picks

Jason Boland’s new record “Hard Times Are Relative” is out and ready to be a Summer 2018 Red Dirt classic.

Stream or download June Podcast Picks: June ’18 Podcast Picks

Let another Summer of Great Music begin!

To kick off your summer with some great tunes, we present our Podcast Picks for June. And what better to start things off with than a sweet blast of world class Red Dirt Country from the man who’s been carrying the torch for nearly 20 years, the great Jason Boland and his killer band The Stragglers.

Nobody does it better than Boland and his band, whose new album “Hard Times Are Relative” arrived recently just ahead of a full slate of summer shows. The band is joined by Texas singer Sunny Sweeney on “I Don’t Deserve You,” a tune that celebrates the serendipity of love against all odds — a sweet notion to start off the summer.

We also share some “new” music from Jason Isbell. His debut record “Sirens of The Ditch” is being reissued with a few lost classics, including “The Assassin,” written by his friend and former Drive-by Trucker bandmate Patterson Hood.

Lots of newly released songs flow throughout, including simply amazing new stuff from American Aquarium, Karen Jonas, Kayla Ray, Ashley McBryde and the mighty Chuck Westmoreland, a Portland-based artist destined for world renown thanks to his killer new album “Long Winter Rodeo.” Mercy, we can’t stop playing that record! So good.

When it comes to rock solid alt-country, you can’t do much better than Justin Townes Earle, Lydia Loveless and M. Ward. And for straight country, we share a deadly combination: Dwight Yoakam and the red-hot Charley Crockett.

Our picks also include a tune from Portland-based Wes Youssi and his band The County Champs, who’s record “Down Low” has been catching the ears of raving critics nationwide. And as a little surprise, we share a newly released tune by The Lonesomes, whose singer is one of our own — podcast producer and co-host Phil Favorite. Their new tune “Alone On Foster” is a staggering blast of slide-guitar-driven rock and roll.

Lots and lots and lots of goodies to chew on here, folks. So dig in!

Here’s our list of picks for June:

I Don’t Deserve You, Jason Boland and the Stragglers
Trinity Lane, Lilly Hiatt
The Assassin, Jason Isbell
My Sweet Arsonist, Karen Jonas
The World Is On Fire, American Aquarium
Then Here Came Monday, Dwight Yoakam
Hell Of A Day To Drink All Night, Kayla Ray
Prisoners, Chuck Westmoreland
Masterpiece ((solo)), Big Thief
Green Dream, Wes Youssi and the County Champs
Girl Goin’ Nowhere, Ashley McBryde
Poor Tom, M. Ward
Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle
Steve Earle, Lydia Loveless
Alone On Foster, The Lonesomes
A Lovely Conversation, The Harmed Brothers
Deportee, The Tex Maniacs
Stitch In Time, Pharis & Jason Romero
Lonesomes As A Shadow, Charley Crockett

 

May Podcast Picks

You’d be smiling, too — Brent Cobb has a hot new album out and an upcoming summer tour opening for Chris Stapleton.

Stream or download May Podcast Picks: May ’18 Podcast Picks

Can it get any better for a guitar picker and songwriter than it is these days for Brent Cobb?

He’s out west wrapping up a headlining club tour this week highlighting songs from his critically acclaimed new album “Providence Canyon” and will be hitting the road supporting Chris Stapleton along with Marty Stuart on country music’s highest profile summer tour. We caught him last week at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge, when the 31-year-old delivered an impressive performance with his band Brent Cobb & Them.

Brent Cobb on stage at Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR, USA. Photo by Phil Favorite for That Much Further West Podcast

We kick off this month’s podcast picks with “King of Alabama,” a beautifully rendered tribute song that shows Cobb’s well-honed talent for word play and melody. It’s just one of an album full of great tracks — we highly recommend you pick up this record. At turns swampy, Skynyrd-y and stunning, “Providence Canyon” is already staking ground among the best records of 2018.

This month’s picks include tunes from several of the best new albums to hit the street in recent weeks, including tracks from Charley Crockett, John Calvin Abney, Western Centuries, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers and the incomparable John Prine.  We share a new song from Lucero, and also feature a pair of excellent duets — one from Lera Lynn’s new duets album featuring the great John Paul White, and another from Midwest country rocker Joe Stamm, joined on this track singer Tasji Bachman.

And if you love great singers and like to keep it country, we have cool songs from Will Stewart, Margo Price, Dillon Carmichael, Kashena Sampson, Petunia & The Vipers and Tenille Townes.

We also feature a few of our local faves — Jenny Don’t & The Spurs are out touring the country now, and Miller & Sasser continue to hone their traditional, AM radio-influenced country right here in our backyard.

Lots more goodness for your listening pleasure this month, so have at it. Here’s the playlist, enjoy!

King of Alabama, Brent Cobb
Rosalee, Will Stewart
The Sky’d Become Teardrops, Charley Crockett
My Only Desire, Jenny Don’t & The Spurs
Summer’s End, John Prine
Hell On An Angel, Dillon Carmichael
Get Your House In Order, John Calvin Abney
It’s a Long Way Back, Kashena Sampson
Earthly Justice, Western Centuries
Almost Persuaded (featuring John Paul White), Lera Lynn
To My Dearest Wife, Lucero
Ambulances, Joe Fletcher & The Wrong Reasons
A Little Pain, Margo Price
First Saw You, Joe Stamm featuring Tasji Bachman
Mind Of It’s Own, Miller & Sasser
Alabama, Bishop Gunn
Years, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Heavy and Lonesome, Petunia & The Vipers
Where You Are, Tenille Townes

February Podcast Picks

Stream or download February Podcast Picks: February ’18 Podcast Picks

There’s so much new music out there in our sphere, we can barely keep up with it all. This month’s podcast picks include first releases from upcoming records by Western Centuries, Blackberry Smoke and Charley Crockett; another tune from the much-anticipated new record from Courtney Marie Andrews; a new instrumental from an album full of them by Richmond Fontaine; and killer cuts from new records by Calexico, Ruby Boots and Wes Youssi & The Country Champs.

But we start things off with a brand-new song from alt-country powerhouse Sarah Shook & The Disarmers and their upcoming Bloodshot Records release Years, set to hit the streets in April. Following up their very well-received Bloodshot debut Sidelong, the North Carolina band appears ready to unleash its high-energy, straight-ahead cowpunk on a wider audience in 2018.

“Good As Gold” offers a solid example of the swagger Sarah Shook brings to her music. “It’s about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off after years of being trampled and beaten down,” she said, describing the new album. “Jutting your chin out, head high, after they’ve done their worst, and saying, ‘Still here.’ ”

Scroll to the bottom of this post to check out the Sidelong track “Keep The Home Fires Burnin'” filmed live at the Wildwood Hotel in Willamina, OR by Great Northwest Productions during the band’s swing down the west coast last fall.

With 2018 off to such a great start, we find ourselves still catching up on some of the best stuff from last year. Our picks also include a handful of some of the best tunes from 2017, including songs from Tyler Childers, The Secret Sisters, Zephaniah Ohora, Emily Herring and The Turnpike Troubadours.

And we wrap it with a dose of some of our favorite alternative music heroes, including the great Walter Salas-Humara, who will be coming to our hometown of Portland, OR, USA this week to play a set on Friday, Feb. 23, opening for local legend Mike Coykendall at the LaurelThirst Public House.

So get your week started on the right foot and dial in our February Podcast Picks. Here’s the playlist:

Good As Gold, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Tattoos, Tyler Childers
Night Out With Diego, Richmond Fontaine
He’s Fine, The Secret Sisters
Dead In The Water, Calexico
Earthly Justice, Western Centuries
Just Outside Of Austin, Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real
Take Your Love Out Of Town, Zephaniah Ohora and The 18 Wheelers
Last Of The Houston Honky Tonk Heroes, Emily Herring
The Hard Way, The Turnpike Troubadours
Mr. Jukebox, Josh Hedley
I’ll Make It Through, Ruby Boots
Flesh And Bone, Blackberry Smoke
Cadillac Man, Wes Youssi & The County Champs
Misery And Gin, Jaime Wyatt
Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, Mike and The Moonpies
Kindness Of Strangers, Courtney Marie Andrews
I Wanna Cry, Charley Crockett
2 Cool 2 Be 4-Gotten, Lucinda Williams
Nobody’s Business, Walter Salas-Humara
Mr. Fly, Mike Coykendall

January Podcast Picks

Dori Freeman’s album “Letters Never Read” met with universal praise upon its release in October. Photo by Scott Simontacchi

Stream or download January Podcast Picks: January ’18 Podcast Picks

Seemingly out of nowhere, Dori Freeman’s eponymous debut album took alt-country nation by surprise in 2016 with its refreshing, straight-ahead approach. All talent, no schtick — and the media praise flowed.

Same story late last year when Freeman’s follow-up, Letters Never Sent, hit the streets in October, just in time to make it on an endless list of “Best of 2017” rankings. No sophomore slump for Freeman, who picked up right where she left off with “If I Could Make You My Own,” the lead song from the album that tops this month’s Podcast Picks.

Rowdy good fun: Banditos will be at Doug Fir Lounge in Portland on Sunday, Jan. 28. Photo by David McAllister

We also feature new music from a few more of our favorites, including Caleb Caudle, First Aid Kit, Courtney Marie Andrews and the legendary Mavis Staples.

As for bands heading our way for shows in the upcoming weeks, we offer a little rowdy fun from Banditos, another song from Whitney Rose (we featured her last month as well), a spooky little tune from Canada’s Deep Dark Woods, and some excellent red-dirt country by The Randy Rogers Band.

And speaking of legends, we’ll forgive country’s true outlaw, Billy Don Burns, for misspelling Gram Parsons’ name in the song we include here. Famous for his association with Willie Nelson and his many scrapes with the law, Burns is a criminally underappreciated talent who will appear at Dante’s here in Portland tonight! (That’s Wednesday, Jan. 17 for you folks scoring at home).

So dial it up and settle in for a fun little ride — you can download or stream this month’s Podcast picks right here at our home page.

Here’s the playlist:

If I Could Make You My Own, Dori Freeman
Fine Fine Day, Banditos
Empty Arms, Caleb Caudle
Long Lonely Road, Valerie June
Trying Times, Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy
Graham Parsons, Hank Williams and Me, Billy Don Burns
Whole Lotta Highway (With A Million Miles To Go), Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives
Fireworks, First Aid Kit
Just A Drink Away, Charley Crockett
Arizona, Whitney Rose
Delta Dawn, Hellbound Glory
Little Drunk Fists, Slobberbone
Something To Hold On To, Turnpike Troubadours
Way Out, John Calvin Abney
If All I Was Was Black, Mavis Staples
San Antone, The Randy Rogers Band
Without Your Love, Chris Stapleton
San Juan Hill, The Deep Dark Woods
May Your Kindness Remain, Courtney Marie Andrews
Sid and Nancy, Micah Schnabel