June Mixtape: Sounds of Early Summer, Pt. 1

A few new and notable tunes to heat up your summer.

The lovely wife modeling her beach hat, Emerald Isle, NC

Living in North Carolina, we’re blessed to have the Outer Banks on one side and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the other. We do love driving up to the home of Doc Watson and do so every chance we get, but our beaches are wrapped up in childhood memories passed down through generations. Memories of the ice cream shop in Beaufort; the Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant in Morehead City; the Circle at Atlantic Beach - and everything else up and down the Crystal Coast. Then there’s Wrightsville, Kure, Nags Head, Bald Head, and on and on. (OK, some of us used to head south of the border down to Myrtle, but that’s best left way in the past where it belongs.)

Anyway, this isn’t a post bragging about our coast, it’s just a celebration of the kickoff to summer with some new releases acting as a soundtrack to the season. You’ll find the first of two mixtapes below. Let’s go…

“Fiction” - John Cowan

The incredible soul-soaked voice of the New Grass Revival, the John Cowan Band, high, lonesome background vocalist to many, and bassist to the Doobie Brothers finally has a new song. It’s about damn time and yes, it was worth the wait.

(Cowan also has a new memoir that was just published last month. Check it out here.)

“Angel of Mercy” - Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs

Campbell and his Dirty Knobs have been quite prolific since forming in the aftermath of his former bandleader’s passing. Their new album, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, is more good ol’ rock’n’roll with a touch of sunny cosmic country - and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Went to a Party” - Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets

One of the best surprises of the year so far, as we inch closer to its late-summer release. More on that here.

“Lover Take It Easy” - Bonny Light Horseman

An album I can’t get enough of this month, Bonny Light Horseman’s double-album, Keep Me On Your Mind/Set You Free, is essentially over an hour of breezy escapism - captivating, engrossing, and majestic. “Lover Take It Easy” encapsulates all of that and more. It sways with the confidence of peak Neko Case.

‘Rainbow” - Ruthie Foster

As we await Mileage, Foster’s new album set for an August 23rd release, we’re treated to this slice of an early summer celebration of love and resilience. It’s a perfect merging of retro AM pop and soul.

“Teenage Kicks” - Lone Justice

Lone Justice is back! OK, not really, but, kinda. The Undertones’ classic, “Teenage Kicks” is reimagined via a newly discovered cover by Lone Justice that was recorded sometime in the early ‘80s. It’s the lead-off single for a new/old album Viva Lone Justice, that’s set to drop in August. The single’s B-side is a ramped-up live cover of the Possum’s “Nothing Can Stop My Loving You” featuring accordion by the late, great Jo-El Sonnier. One side punk, one side country…that’s how they rolled.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” - Shaboozey

Yes, there are many country songs about getting drunk in bars. They’re not all good, they’re not all bad. You can write a great song about anything. You can also write a bad song about anything. Fresh from his involvement with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Shaboozey makes his move with Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, released at the end of May and featuring the ubiquitous single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”. On the surface, it’s just another country song about drinking in a bar. After the second, third, or fourth listen, its hypnotic, deceptively melancholy yet laid-back hook puts you under its spell. Oh, and it hit number one on Billboard’s country chart, making history as it knocked “Texas Hold ‘em” off the top spot. Country music history is being made right now, y’all, and it’s a beautiful thing.

(As a related side note, the great O.B. McClinton’s early ‘70s Stax/Enterprise albums are finally getting a digital release. Check ‘em out here!)

“Townsend’s Theme” - Sadler Vaden

The guitar player in the 400 Unit who isn’t named Jason Isbell surprise-released an album the Friday before Father’s Day called Dad Rock. Its kick-off track is a delightful old-school multi-part proggy/’70s-like instrumental that celebrates his life as a dad to two sons while also nodding to “Dad rock” as it’s become known to younger Millennials and Gen-Z’ers. In other words, classic rock.

“Many a Long and Lonesome Highway” - Willie Nelson

On The Border, Willie Nelson’s 999th album, he covers two Rodney Crowell masterpieces: the powerful title cut, which also appeared on Crowell’s album Texas (which I reviewed for No Depression), and "Many a Long and Lonesome Highway", originally on 1989’s Keys to the Highway, the follow-up to Crowell’s long overdue commercial breakthrough, Diamonds and Dirt. “Highway” was Keys’ lead-off single, reaching number three on the country chart in the first few weeks of 1990. I played it on the air as soon as the country station where I worked received the 45. (Yes, we were still playing 45s at that station in 1989.)

Despite the success of Diamonds and Dirt, “Highway” was a nod back to Crowell’s late ‘70s/early ‘80s sound of his first two albums. Willie’s treatment underscores the timelessness of the song and his natural gravitas doesn’t hurt, either. Sublime.

As always, thanks for reading and listening. Stay tuned for part two!

And here’s the link to it on Apple Music (why Substack doesn’t support it, I’ve no idea. Just copy and paste ‘til they come to their senses…).

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/june-mixtape-sounds-of-early-summer-pt-1/pl.u-55qD3fPADMNk