Best New Music from the Blue Ridge and Beyond
Cover Photo: Seth Avett released the new solo album, “Feathe,” last month. Photo by Mallory Cash
Every month our editors curate a playlist of new music, mainly focusing on independent artists from the South. In October, we’re highlighting new tunes from Alabama Shakes and Mavis Staples, plus a direction-turning solo effort from the Avett Brothers’ Seth Avett.
Timothy Seth Avett as Darling
“Education”
Seth Avett is usually found harmonizing through big-hearted folk-rock anthems with his brother Scott as part of North Carolina heroes the Avett Brothers. But on this new single from an upcoming solo album released as Timothy Seth Avett as Darling, Avett takes a surprising turn towards hip-hop, rapping uplifting bars about life lessons and intimate moments with his son. The new record, “Feathe,” is out now, and it was co-produced with Dana Nielsen, known for working with SZA, Adele, and Weezer. – J.F.
Ramona & The Holy Smokes
“This Little Heart”
Ramona Martinez, who traces her familial roots to South Texas and whose vocals provide the bedrock for Mexi-tonkers Ramona & The Holy Smokes, sat on “This Little Heart,” a dandy of a breakup song, for a decade before the band that bears her name was founded in 2022. Patience proved a virtue here, as the Virginia-based Martinez and her mates fleshed this one out with just the right amount of fiddle, pedal steel, and two-step swagger. – D.S.
Mavis Staples
“Beautiful Strangers”
At 86 years young, soul legend Mavis Staples is still singing her heart out, and she’s got a new guest-heavy solo album on tap. “Sad and Beautiful World,” Staples’ 14th album features appearances by Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Derek Trucks, Jeff Tweedy, and Justin Vernon, and it finds the singer lending her voice to a range of interesting covers. Here she offers a take on indie singer-songwriter Kevin Morby’s “Beautiful Strangers,” imbuing the introspective song with gentle warmth and wisdom. – J.F.
Alabama Shakes
“Another Life”
After embarking on this year’s successful reunion tour, Alabama Shakes have dropped their first new song in 10 years. Soulful and atmospheric, the track features bandleader Brittany Howard meditating on how a person’s life has many phases, as well as threads that ultimately connect those different personal eras. It’s the band’s first release on their new label, Island Records, and more new music is on the way. – J.F.
John Fogerty
“Proud Mary”
John Fogerty’s contentious relationship with his former bandmates in Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the legal struggle over the rights to his music, which was finally resolved in 2023, is the stuff of music business legend. Fogerty, now with control over his CCR songbook, has revisited many of the band’s classic hits on “Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Years.” Joined by his sons Shane and Tyler on this recording of “Proud Mary,” the 80-year-old Fogerty sounds just as crisp as when the single dropped in 1969. – D.S.
Rhett Miller
“Come As You Are”
Rhett Miller, frontman of alt-country pioneers Old 97’s, is prepping release of a new solo album, “A lifetime of riding by night,” which will be released on October 10. The album’s lead single is a co-write with Turnpike Troubadours’ Evan Felker, who sings harmony on the track, a melancholy ballad about a musician’s burden of leaving loved ones behind for extensive tours and other rigors of the business. – J.F.
Luther Dickinson
“Who Do You Love”
Admittedly unfamiliar with the music of the Grateful Dead prior to joining Phil & Friends in 2013, singer/guitarist Luther Dickinson has certainly become well versed in the iconic band’s catalog over the ensuing years. Dickinson’s latest release, “Dead Blues Vol. 1,” is a collection of blues tunes covered by the Dead throughout their legendary career. Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love” is underpinned by a drum and bass roll from Memphis based funksters MEM_MODS, a Dickinson side project, and features the soulful vocals of Asheville’s Datrian Johnson. – D.S.
Bobby Osborne, C.J. Lewandowski, & Friends
“Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong”
Just prior to bluegrass icon Bobby Osborne’s death in 2023, Po Ramblin’ Boys mandolinist C.J. Lewandowski spent time in the studio with his mentor and hero, recording what would become the last tracks of Osborne’s storied career. Lewandowski gathered a cohort of bluegrass heavyweights, including Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, Vince Gill, and Sam Bush, to finish the record as an homage to Osborne. Tuttle provides a lovely harmonic counterpoint to Osborne’s high lonesome lead vocal on “Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong,” a Bill Monroe classic. – D.S.
