Click on each cover pic to watch a video or hear an audio cut.
Various Artists
A Tribute to the King of Zydeco
To celebrate zydeco legend Clifton Chenier on what would’ve been his 100th birthday, Valcour Records (an indie label based in Eunice, Louisiana) is taking orders for this stellar tribute by top-tier Louisiana musicians and global musical superstars including the Rolling Stones, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Marcia Ball, Jimmie Vaughan, David Hidalgo, Shannon McNally, and a couple dozen more. This cut, “Zydeco Sont Pas Salés,” features the Rolling Stones with Louisiana accordion legend Steve Riley. All proceeds will be donated to the Clifton Chenier Memorial Scholarship Fund, created by Valcour Records with the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Various Artists
Antone’s 50th Allstars – 50 Years of The Blues
Another tribute graces this page, this one for fifty years at Austin’s celebrated home of the blues, Antone’s. This jampacked, limited release box set features rare, out-of-print, and newly unearthed live and studio cuts from the Antone’s archives, including Albert Collins, Otis Rush, Gary Clark, Jr., the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and many more; plus a brand-new double LP, The Last Real Texas Blues Album; and an exclusive new Los Lobos 45rpm single. That’s four vinyl records, a 7˝ single, as well as a perfect-bound liner notes book with an all-new Antone’s history by Joe Nick Patoski, and a 200-page hardcover reissue of Susan Antone’s Picture the Blues, featuring hundreds of rare photographs. Well worth the $199.99 price!
Rodney Crowell
“Sometime Thang”
Last month, Willie Nelson released an album of Rodney Crowell covers, and in August, Crowell himself releases a new album, Airline Highway. Named for a stretch of Louisiana highway, Crowell teamed up with producer Tyler Bryant at Louisiana’s fabled Dockside Studio, to record this “album of old, abiding loves,” as he puts it, with a little help from Lukas Nelson, Larkin Poe, Ashley McBryde, and Charlie Starr. (Plus: see a bonus review of his autobiography, Chinaberry Sidewalks.)
Nick Garza’s Get Along
“I’ll Take Another Margarita”
This is the perfect fun, summer day, Tejano-flavored drinking song, and is an audience-participation hit at his shows. San Antonio native Nick Garza is “a 13th-generation Texan whose music embodies the rich traditions of his home state. With his baritone croon, clever wordplay, and gut-string guitar, he blends Western themes with regional influences, creating a sound deeply rooted in tradition yet uniquely his own.” He’s a refreshing (and much-needed) real-deal presence in the country scene, attracting the attention of Willie Nelson’s Luck festival, Sonic Guild music patrons, and a following of fans and critics that grows with every gig.
Lukas Nelson
“American Romance”
Lukas Nelson and his band The Promise of the Real took a hiatus so he could hone his solo Americana/country chops. The result is this impressive, evocative new album, American Romance. While he’s never shied away from the inevitable comparisons to his father, whose nasal phrasing echoes in his vocals, Lukas continues to come into his own as a particularly gifted songwriter. “Time won’t tell, it never says a word, I only wait and I can’t say I wait too well, Every day the same old arrow on a string sings its way from heaven’s bow, And I swing safely over hell…”
Shinyribs
“Shitty Music”
“I don’t want to hang out with anyone that listens to shitty music,” Kevin Russell croons in the first line and chorus of this lighthearted, NOLA-funky cut from his new Shinyribs album, Leaving Time. He instead invites you to come groove with his signature gumbo of Texas and Louisiana rhythms, soul, country, acoustic picking, and wry humor that has enthralled fans since his Gourds days. He’s on tour now, and if you’re anywhere within 200 miles of his shows, it is absolutely worth every minute and every mile to catch him live.