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50 Podcast Picks from 2019

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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

September Podcast Picks

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Tyler Childers performed at Pickathon on the same day as his much-anticipated record Country Squire was released. Photo by Greg Homolka

Stream or download September Podcast Picks: September ’19 Podcast Picks

Just a few weeks back, the Pacific Northwest became the center of the alt-country universe when Tyler Childers released his much-anticipated new album, Country Squire, the same day as he performed a set at Pickathon, just outside of our home base of Portland, OR, USA.

What nobody saw coming, though, was the big splash made the night before when Mike & The Moonpies, just hours before their late-night Pickathon set, announced the surprise arrival of their stunning new record, Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the new all-women country supergroup, The Highwomen, crashed the Newport Folk Festival like a meteorite, playing tunes from their new self-titled new record (out tomorrow) and drawing guests on stage including Dolly Parton and Sheryl Crow.

But nothing seemed to steal the thunder from Childers, whose album sold more units in its first week than any other record in the states, marking another important milepost in the upward trajectory of alternative country music.

It’s fun to share tunes from all three of these groundbreaking records and so much more in our Podcast Picks for September. Give it a spin and you’ll also here fantastic new tunes from Tanya Tucker, Jason Hawk Harris, Joy Williams (of The Civil Wars fame), Midland and Sturgill Simpson.

Keep listening and things really get interesting when ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons shows up on “56 Fury,” an instant classic from the stunning new record Texas by the great Rodney Crowell.

We also share a tune from Mercury Rev’s re-imagining of Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete featuring the one-and-only Margo Price. And speaking of re-imagining, Aaron Lee Tasjan has released a new record, Karma For Cheap: Reincarnated, where he renders many of the songs from his last album as solo performances. We share a fresh tune here to wrap things up.

This batch of picks packs a serious punch with soon-to-be classics throughout. So be sure to listen from start to finish!

Here’s the playlist:

Country Squire, Tyler Childers
Danger, Mike & The Moonpies
Redesigning Women, The Highwomen
Howlin’ At The Moon, Caleb Caudle
Giving In (Giving In), Jason Hawk Harris
Spies, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’
Bring My Flowers Now, Tanya Tucker
Sing Along, Sturgill Simpson
Fast Hearts And Slow Towns, Midland
So Long To The Traveling Kind, Tom VandenAvond
Somebody’s Daughter, Tenille Townes
Times Like These, Hayes Carll
56 Fury, Rodney Crowell
Something Real, Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real
Sermon (featuring Margo Price), Mercury Rev
The Devil Drinks Scotch, Matt Woods & The Natural Disasters
Knock Knockin’, Wonderly Road
Front Porch, Joy Williams
Don’t Skip Out On Me, Richmond Fontaine
My Whole Life Is Over (All Over Again), Aaron Lee Tasjan

Springtime Podcast Picks

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Brian Mathusek and Merry Young make up the powerhouse folk-blues duo The Mutineers. Photo by Anne Marie for Local Hero Media.

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

Spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest, and despite the usual string of cloudy days, the occasional sun breaks promise brighter days ahead!

The Mutineers tearing it up in The Helm just before they hit the road. Photo by Anne Marie for Local Hero Media.

To keep the good vibes flowing, we present our Springtime Podcast Picks. And to lead things off we have podcast favorites The Mutineers, who tore it up this past weekend at the Treefort Music Festival in Idaho and are south to California for a run of shows the next few weeks (tour dates). If you like high energy folk and blues, you can’t go wrong with The Mutineers, a heavy-touring outfit with ties all over the country.

Festival season is well underway, and a couple of artists shared on this playlist are coming off big-time star turns at South By Southwest in Austin: Sarah Shook and Billy Strings. Shook and her band The Disarmers leaked the second song from their upcoming record “Years” and we share it here, a fun and snotty little number called “New Ways To Fail.” Mr. Strings released his ambitious bluegrass album “Turmoil & Tinfoil” last fall, and we include the lead track after hearing reports of his turning SXSW on its ear with a string of mind-blowing sets.

We also include songs from several artists who will be coming to Portland this spring with dates that are circled on our calendars. In fact, Lindi Ortega was here last night playing Mississippi Studios. Looking forward to upcoming shows by Whiskey Myers and Courtney Marie Andrews, whose new album on Fat Possum records is ready to set the world on fire.

And a quick note of congratulations to our friend Jamie Stillway on her sensational new album “City Static,” out now on Fluff & Gravy Records. Jamie is a world class guitar picker known for her work on acoustic and steel-top resonator guitar, but she’s expanded her palette to feature compositions inspired by picking up a Telecaster electric. Take a listen to the moody and groovy “August” included in this round of picks.

Lots of other incredible tunes from artists new and old included here, so dig in and enjoy! Here’s the playlist:

Break Your Fall, The Mutineers
New Ways To Fail, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
The Comeback Kid, Lindi Ortega
On The Line, Billy Strings
The Rebellious Sons, Ray Wylie Hubbard
Stone, Whiskey Myers
I’ve Hurt Worse, Courtney Marie Andrews
Gin, Smoke & Lies, The Turnpike Troubadours
Cold Apartment, Warm Girl (Someone Tell Me How), Brad Parsons
Oom Sha La La, Haley Heynderickx
The Trial, The Sadies
I’ll Keep Ramblin’, Blackberry Smoke
August, Jamie Stillway
Nashville 1972, Rodney Crowell
I Want Love, Chris Stapleton
Avoiding Catatonic Surrender, Tim Barry
Fulton County Jane Doe, Brandi Carlile
Me and You, Willie Nelson
Madeline, BJ Barham
Tonight, You’ll Be Breaking My Heart, The Swearengens