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