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

TMFWP Special: Wildwood Sessions 2015 with Emily Herring

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The bespectacled bad-ass, Emily Herring. Photo by Christopher Sohler (www.christophersohler.com)

Wildwood Sessions: Emily Herring

Heartbreak has been a part of country music from the beginning, and Emily Herring broke a lot of hearts when she moved from Portland to San Marcos, Texas, a few years back. But the move has been fruitful for Ms. Herring, and for that — and for her occasional visits back to Oregon — Emily’s friends back in Oregon are happy and grateful.

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Emily Herring: purveyor of good ol’ fashioned honky tonk music. Photo by Christopher Sohler.

That’s why we were psyched to see Emily on the bill for this year’s Wildwood MusicFest & Campout. She delighted the crowd at Wildwood with a Saturday afternoon set of original songs, backed by a band made up of old Portland friends, including our own co-host Eric Kotila on drums.

Afterward, she dropped in to the podcast RV to record this interview. Hear how she’s settled into life about 30 miles southwest of Austin, an area that boasts its own classic country music scene where new voices mesh beautifully with old-timers and honky-tonkers.

She also shared a beautiful original song, “The Last of the Houston Honky Tonk Heroes,” a tune about one of the musical Marys that Emily cites as a big influence — fellow bad-ass Mary Cutrufello. Check it out, and be sure to look up more about Emily at www.emilyherring.net.