New Music Friday! It's not even Memorial Day yet, but I've been able to listen to Thomas Dollbaum's album (on repeat) for over a month now, and it's probably going to end up being my favorite record of the year. Check out "Coyote" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

Got to write about the amazing Bright Eyes "Wide Awake"/"Digital Ash" show at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre last week! Check out my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/05/18/s...

New Music Friday! The gorgeous new album from Kevin Morby is out now! Check out "100,000" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/05/12/r...

Got to write about my favorite songwriter - Jason Isbell - plus the amazing David Rawlings and Gillian Welch - at my favorite venue - Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. Read my review on Americana Highways. Photo courtesy: Josh Weichman. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/05/06/s...

New Music Friday! If you're a fan of smart, well-crafted country songs, the new Kacey Musgraves record is for you. Check out "Horses and Divorces," with Miranda Lambert, below, and read my review on Americana Highways.

I've started to keep a Spotify playlist of all of the best music (regardless of genre) that hits my inbox each month. Here are 10 of my favorites from April! Americana Highways #listenbetter open.spotify.com/playlist/7Ar...

New Music Friday! The Milk Carton Kids' misty, melancholy new album is is out today. Check out "I'll Go Home from Here" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/04/22/r...

New Music Friday! On his new album, Vincent Neil Emerson hits the standard country music topics - lovin’, workin’, drinkin’ and rememberin’ - but does it better than just about anyone. Check out "Rich Man" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

New Music Friday Part 2! A good, old-fashioned drinkin' and D-I-V-O-R-C-E song from Willow Avalon, featuring Jason Isbell. Americana Highways #listenbetter m.youtube.com/watch?v=cIVL...

New Music Friday Part 1! The latest from Drivin N Cryin reminds us that, no matter your age, slowing down doesn't have to mean stopping. Listen to "Mirror Mirror" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/04/08/r...

New Music Friday! @jessyedmusic.bsky.social's uncompromisingly honest and joyful new album is out today. Check out the synthy "Punk Rock Joy" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/04/01/r...

New Music Monday! Charlotte Cornfield's new album came out last week, and it includes one of my favorite songs of the year, "Hurts Like Hell." Listen below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/03/25/r...

New Music Wednesday! The latest album from New Mexico's @janapochop.bsky.social is out today! Listen to "I Miss Driving" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/03/19/r...

New Music Friday! Check out the Americana Highways video premiere of @jessyedmusic.bsky.social's "Glitter Up the Dark" below, and look for her new album, produced by Aaron Lee Tasjan, next month! #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/03/18/v...

New Music Friday! The debut album from Morgan Nagler is out today, and it includes an early contender for Song of the Summer. Check out "Grassoline" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/03/11/r...

New Music Friday! War Child UK has a timely new benefit album out, with proceeds going to help kids in war zones. Plenty of new songs on it, but my pick is a stunning Fontaines D.C. cover of one of my favorite Sinéad O'Connor songs. Listen below & read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

New Music Friday! This week, it's the debut LP from Colorado's next great jamgrass band, Magoo. Check out a live version of "The Road" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/02/25/r...

New Music Friday! This week, it's the debut LP from Omaha's Lightning Stills, which tells us that drinking is fun, right up until it ain't. Check out "Closed Down the Bar" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/02/18/r...

To those planning on turning over to watch that "other" event during halftime - country music was not invented so that you could kowtow to the government, you ignorant fucking MAGA dolts.

New Music Friday! One of America's best rock bands, Ratboys, is back with a collection of tight pop songs and extended, guitar-y jammers. Check out "Anywhere" below and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/02/04/r...

Before tonight's GRAMMYs (note - no apostrophe) telecast, check out Americana Highways for my predictions on who will (and who SHOULD) win in the country, Americana and roots categories. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/02/01/2...

New Music Friday! The latest from Nashville's Bre Kennedy is out today - check out the enlightening sadness of "Good Grief" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2026/01/28/r...

New Music Friday! First one of '26, and it's a good one. The debut album from Mon Rovîa is a beautiful, tragic travelogue from his childhood in war-ravaged Liberia to an America equally full of promise and failings. Listen to "Heavyfoot" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

Music Friday! My last(?) piece of the year ended up being one of my favorite concerts of 2025. Read my Americana Highways review of Greg Freeman's show at Globe Hall below. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/12/17/s...

Using taxes (tariffs) levied on businesses to pay for a bonus for one group of people. Wouldn't that be... redistribution of wealth?

New Music Friday! It's time for my annual Americana Highways 45 RPM (Reasons to Purchase Music) List, celebrating the best music of 2025. Give it a read to see if your favorites are on it (or to find some new ones), and check out the playlist at the end. #listenbetter

New Music Friday! December always yields at least one must-listen album, and Dove Ellis' debut record is an absolute gem. Listen to one of my favorite songs of 2025, "Love Is," below, and read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/12/04/r...

Today marked 30 years in television news for me, and I've never felt a greater gap between what it needs to be and what it's becoming.

New Music Friday! Kick off your Christmas season with my favorite holiday album in quite a while from Melissa Carper. Start with (what else) "Plug in the Tree" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/11/25/r...

New Music Thursday! It's the debut LP from Nashville's Laney Jones and the Spirits, and it might be my favorite rock record of 2025. Check out "Bitch Year" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/11/19/r...

New Music Friday! The latest from Colorado's own Courtney Hartman (now living in Wisconsin) has the singer exploring first-time motherhood. Listen to "Bright Eye" below, and read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/11/12/r...

New Music Fri., Pt. 2! This set of mostly unreleased songs from the late Luke Bell is great country music - more importantly, all royalties go to mental health treatment in Luke's home state of Wyo. Listen to "The King is Back" below, & read more on @AmericanaHiways #listenbetter

New Music Friday, Part 1! The legendary Mavis Staples has a gorgeous new album out. It's filled with the best Americana & indie artists around, but the voice (& the message) are all Mavis. Listen to "Beautiful Strangers" (penned by KEVIN MORBY) below, & read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

Bonus New Music Friday - Snocaps is a new project from the Crutchfield sisters backed by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook. It's jangly indie rock with a bit of the the alt-country we've heard on the last two Waxahatchee records, and it's fantastic. Americana Highways #listenbetter

New Music Friday! 25 years ago tonight, Greensky Bluegrass played their first show together. They're celebrating by releasing a guest-filled collection of reworks of some of their best songs. Check out "Windshield" feat. Holly Bowling below, & read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

"New" Music Friday, Part 2! @brucespringsteen.net's "Nebraska '82" is out, including the long-awaited "Electric Nebraska." I'm partial to the outtakes - check out "Losin' Kind" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/10/21/r...

New Music Friday, Part 1! The latest album fron the always busy Brandi Carlile has her pulling back from the spotlight a bit to consider her place in her own life. Check out the fiery "Church & State" (recorded live at Red Rocks) below, and read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter

New Music Friday! The latest from Joshua Ray Walker is out - it's all about the "Stuff" in our lives and how our own worth comes from the connections we form with other people. Read my review on Americana Highways, and check out "Telephone" below. #listenbetter

In celebration of 30-plus years of one of the greatest albums ever made, check out my song-by-song ranking of Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" for Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/10/10/w...

New Music Friday, Part 2! Read my Americana Highways review of the latest album from John Baumann, and check out "What She Used to Love About Me" below. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/10/09/r...

New Music Friday, Part 1! Read my Americana Highways review of Alaska's Josh Fortenbery's latest album, and check out "Poppy's Waltz" below. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/10/07/r...

New Music Friday! If you need some TRUE heartbreak to listen to today, check out the new album from Brennen Leigh. Soak in "A Reason to Drink" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/10/03/r...

Something different this week - a conversation w/ Tamara Saviano, 1st female president of the Americana Music Association & keeper of Guy Clark's legacy. And, because it's THAT New Music Friday, you can also read about her interactions w/ Taylor Swift. Americana Highways #listenbetter

New Musci Friday! The latest album from one of my all-time favorite voices, Neko Case, is out today, and you can read my review on Americana Highways. Check out "Rusty Mountain" below. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/24/r...

On a rainy first full day of fall in Colorado, what better time to look back at a late summer evening at Red Rocks with Greensky Bluegrass and @missmargoprice.bsky.social? Americana Highways #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/19/s...

One last look back at AmericanaFest - Day 4, complete with crowd surfing! Americana Highways #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/16/s...

New Music Friday Part 2! Briscoe Band's second album is out today - if you like cinematic folk-ish country, this one's for you. Check out "Saving Grace" below, and read my review on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/18/r...

New Music Friday! Wednesday has a new album out today, and it's one of this year's best! Check out the new video for "Townies" below, and read more on Americana Highways. #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/17/r...

Looking back a week to Day 3 of AmericanaFest! Americana Highways #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/15/s...

Day 2 highlights from AmericanaFest, including the Honors and Awards at the Ryman! Americana Highways #listenbetter americanahighways.org/2025/09/12/s...