Amoeba Music

Fantastic new album from Haitian-American singer-songwriter Leyla McCalla (member of Our Native Daughters: Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell).

Together, Jess Williamson and Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield are Plains, and their debut album, I Walked With You a Ways, is filled with back-to-back country heartbreakers. Whether the duo is singing of broken romances or finding the grace to carry on, their songs are suffused with the beauty and fragility of the human experience, all conveyed with honey-sweet harmonies that linger in the mind. Williamson and Crutchfield’s work as a pair calls to mind the pop-country divas of the ‘90s, but imbued with an authenticity and grit that give these songs an emotional resonance beyond your standard chart-topper.

Multi-instrumentalist, olde time music expert, and erstwhile member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dom Flemons returns with another rousing and riveting solo album, Traveling Wildfire. On this collection of original songs, Flemons' ability to conjure the mood of a different time and place is spotlighted, as he melds bluegrass, folk, country, and Americana into timeless tracks that could be from today or 100 years ago. Opener "Slow Dance with You" is a heartfelt, one-moment-in-time ballad. "It's Cold Outside" is a haunting, melancholy charmer. And "Guess I'm Doing Fine" feat. Sam Bush feels like a true stomper, with fast fiddle and lyrical banjo. An excellent album from an artist who deeply understands his chosen genre.