Kesha reclaims her place in the music world with her first album in nearly five years. The record marks a new beginning, a triumphant meditation on inner strength and musical exploration that features collaborations from Eagles of Death Metal, Dolly Parton, the Dap-Kings horn section, Kesha’s mother, Pebe Sebert, and more.
Contact: Allen Nguyen
On this new record, Sirota – the host of Q2 Music's "brilliant" (New Yorker) Peabody-winning Meet The Composer podcast and "a bold new-music interpreter and the violist of choice among downtown ensembles" (NY Times) – performs solo viola work from composer Donnacha Dennehy. An animated film accompanies the album and is directed by Steven Mertens (Dan Auerbach, Nickel Creek, Regina Spektor).
Contact: Greg Jakubik
Stout, twangy guitar tones, honky-tonk pianos and swirling pedal steel lay the framework for the Pendleton, IN native’s debut. Produced by Julian Raymond, the GRAMMY-winning producer who worked on Glen Campbell’s final albums, these 12 tracks blend vintage country and Southern rock with Williams’ baritone voice and his based-on-a-true-story songwriting.
Contact: Jaclyn D. Carter
The GRAMMY-winning singer behind such hits as “I Don’t Want to Wait” and “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone” pays tribute to her roots as a jazz singer. This self-produced double album soulfully interprets American jazz, folk and country classics from the ‘30s through the ‘60s, including Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Bobbie Gentry, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
Contact: Spencer Foster
The band's new album takes a hopeful look into the future following the death of Abbott's father and the birth of his first child. It's a roll-up-the-sleeves-and-move-forward embracing of life and its potential. The band also adds strings and horns for the first time, under the guidance of arranger Rob Mathes (Tony Bennett, Sting).
Contact: Kerri Brusca
Grizzly Bear’s highly anticipated fifth full-length is their first for RCA Records, written and recorded over the past two years in upstate New York and around Los Angeles. Produced by band member Chris Taylor, the music is already being hailed as “spellbinding” (Rolling Stone), “insistent” (The New York Times) and “a sonically ambitious return” (Pigeons & Planes).
Contact: Spencer Foster
The first album in three years by these “gospel titans” (Rolling Stone) is a fitting capstone to a seven-decade career. The record consists primarily of original songs that focus on the remarkable journey of the group’s two surviving original members, long-time leader Clarence Fountain and current leader Jimmy Carter. NPR Music calls the tracks “a gorgeous rumination on the body’s labor and soul’s legacy,” and they will be streaming only on Amazon Music.
Contact: Amy Bailey
Already an outlaw country veteran at 28, Nelson makes his artistic breakthrough with his band on their first full-length album, produced by John Alagía (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer) with backing vocals from Lucius and Lady Gaga. Featuring virtuosic, road-tested musicianship (the group spent two years supporting Neil Young on tour and in the studio), the album's slow-burning soul and half-drunk gospel blues announce the arrival of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s great emerging songwriters.
Contact: Greg Jakubik
Achai, the Tuvan word for “father,” is the theme of the Tuvan four-piece’s third studio album and first for Smithsonian Folkways. The music honors Kongar-ool Ondar, the late master throat singer, teacher and tireless musical ambassador who served not only as a musical father for the ensemble, but also for an entire generation of Tuvan musicians. In addition to guitar and bayan accordion, these songs feature traditional Tuvan instruments and those associated with the religious practices of Tibetan Buddhists.
Contact: Andrea Evenson
Having previously collaborated with Mark Ronson and toured with Lily Allen, the soulful songstress makes her proper debut with an LP that lavishly expands on the dreamy synth-infused folk rock of her 2015 EP. Billboard calls the title song “a bohemian-tinged folk-pop track [with] dark, resonant guitars.”
Contact: Brooke Yen
The first Smithsonian Folkways release from the GRAMMY-winning family performer presents a fresh vision of Lead Belly’s music for a new generation, with a little help from his friends: Chuck D., Billy Bragg, Aloe Blacc, Valerie June and more. These songs, many of which are folk standards, are performed in a variety of styles, from hip-hop to psychedelic folk, to convey the broad impact of Lead Belly's music.
Contact: Andrea Evenson
