Thanks to Folk Radio UK for hosting an advance stream of Itasca’s mesmerizing PoB debut Open to Chance, and to MOJO for their aptly written 4-star review: “simultaneously spare and complex, observational folk ballads turned psychic and strange by metal-stringed dissonance and troubling Symbolist metaphor.” Pitchfork calls the album “a sprawling fascination with the natural world and the nature of people.”
After five decades of recording and touring, veteran British songwriter and guitar sage Michael Chapman has finally made what he calls his “American record,” and the aptly titled 50 now stands as his late career masterwork, a moving legacy statement by a legend. Backed by Steve Gunn (who also produced), Nathan Bowles, James Elkington, Jason Meagher, Jimy SeiTang, and Bridget St John, Chapman tears into both bold renderings of new songs and radical reinterpretations of material from his revered catalog, his world-weary whispers assuming the incandescent power of prophecy.
Itasca has shared “No Consequence,” a new song from her upcoming album Open To Chance, out Sept. 30th. It premiered via Noisey (and was reviewed by Pitchfork), alongside a wide-ranging interview that covers everything from Laurel Canyon to cream of wheat to David Crosby’s cape. Check out US, UK, and EU tour dates with Promised Land Sound and Ryley Walker.
We are grateful to share a new documentary, produced by Texas Tech Public Media, on Terry Allen’s seminal 1979 album. Featuring interviews with artist Paul Milosevich; Terry’s wife, actor and writer Jo Harvey Allen; producer Lloyd Maines; and Allen himself, the film discusses the making of the album, Allen’s legacy, and his relationship to his hometown. Also, check out Terry’s Juarez-inspired playlist of “border burn” songs, Cross the Razor.
Your guide to Hopscotch and other performances this weekend by PoB artists Lavender Country, Promised Land Sound, Gun Outfit, and Nathan Bowles, including events at the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke, and Slim’s and Fletcher Theater in Raleigh.
Today, just in time for the first stirrings of autumn, Nathan Bowles’ radiant new album is finally among us, in stores, on turntables, in the humid air. According to Pitchfork, Bowles is “a crucial force in folk music … with the power to transform the sound of a banjo into something transcendental, often bringing the spirit of Americana to new heights … An album that reshapes folk music into something boundless and new.”
Itasca has shared “Carousel,” a subtly stunning new song from her upcoming album Open To Chance. Rookie, who describe the record as “gorgeous; enchanting, mind-expanding,” premiered the track alongside a wide-ranging interview with Cohen that touches on everything from witchcraft in NYC to Black Mountain College in NC.
Hear the Jeffrey Cain cover, which features Bowles singing: “The moonshine is the sunshine, shining twenty minutes later/and ‘crocodile,’ that’s just another name for ‘alligator.’” Read the rave review of Whole & Cloven, out Sept. 2, from The Wire, and check out some upcoming tour dates, including tonight in Durham, NC and a record release show on Sept. 8 at UNC.
We’re proud finally to announce the long-simmering details of our most in-depth and deluxe reissue project to date, Terry Allen’s revered art-country classic 1979 double album. Produced in close collaboration with the artist and remastered from the original analog tapes, this is the definitive edition and the first to correct the tape speed inconsistencies on all prior versions.
News about the release show for Nathan Bowles’ Whole & Cloven at the Center for the Study of the American South, as well as PoB artists at the Hopscotch Music Festival, the Southern Accent exhibition at the Nasher Museum of Art, and tour date updates from Hiss Golden Messenger, Itasca, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Nap Eyes, Promised Land Sound, Steve Gunn, and Terry Allen.
