The Alt Root Top Ten For June 8, 2022
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Time is limiting. It can save a place for a memory while confining life to a one-way street moving forward. While we can’t physically go back, Sunny Sweeney finds a glitch in the system when she is joined by Paul Cauthen for the single “A Song Can’t Fix Everything”. The tune tops the weekly Top Ten for Wednesday June 8, 2022 and will be found on the upcoming (09-23-22) Sunny Sweeney release, Married Alone, produced by Paul Cauthen and Beau Bedford (The Texas Gentlemen). The wait is over and Nikki Lane returns with Denims and Diamonds (09-23-22), produced by Joshua Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and offering an advance listen with the single “First High”. Also due a welcome home are Vandoliers who have spent three years writing their upcoming (08-23-22) sorta-self-titled release The Vandoliers, on the chart with “Before the Fall” alongside the new single from Rising Appalachia, “I Need a Forest Fire”. Facing depression and self-antagonism in song, Portland Oregon’s Connor Garvey offers “Water to the Well” as a soundtrack for Mental Health Awareness Month (June) from his upcoming (07-21-22) album Another End of a Year. Pharis and Jason Romero live in a beautiful home by a creek, making some of the world’s finest banjos. The magic of the pair’s lives is captured like a lightning bug in a bottle with their music, as heard on the single “Cannot Change It All” from the upcoming (06-17-22) Tell ‘em You Were Gold.  Chicago Folk Rock on the list with Honey Cellar and their new single “Curtain” from the upcoming (06-23-22) Borders while NoCal slide-guitar badass Dennis Johnson covers the Blues classic “Going Down” from his upcoming (07-15-22) release, Revelation and Tre’ Burt reminds to “Know Your Demons”. A storyteller of the highest order, Peter Donovan helps us close out the chart with “This Better Be Good”, the title track to his recent release, and the exit for the weekly Top Ten for Wednesday June 8, 2022.

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the alt root top ten for the week:

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A Song Can’t Fix Everything feat. Paul Cauthen – Sunny Sweeney (from the album Married Alone available on Aunt Daddy Records/Thirty Tigers)
 
Married Alone by Sunny Sweeney will be available on September 23, 2022
 
Listen and buy “A Song Can’t Fix Everything” feat. Paul Cauthen by Sunny Sweeney from AMAZON
 
Visit the Sunny Sweeney website for more band and purchase information

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First High – Nikki Lane (from the album Denim and Diamonds available on New West Records)
 
Denim and Diamonds by Sunny Sweeney will be available on September 23, 2022
 
Listen and buy “First High” by Nikki Lane from AMAZON
 
Visit the Nikki Lane website for more band and purchase information
 


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Before the Fall – Vandoliers (from the album The Vandoliers available on Americakinda Records/Soundly Music)
 
The Vandoliers by Vandoliers will be available on August 23, 2022
 
Listen and buy “Before the Fall” by Vandoliers from AMAZON
 
Visit the Vandoliers website for more band and purchase information

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I Need a Forest Fire – Rising Appalachia (single available as a self-release)
 
 
Listen and buy “I Need a Forest Fire” by Rising Appalachia from AMAZON
 
Visit the Rising Appalachia website for more band and purchase information
 

 

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Water to the Well – Connor Garvey (from the album Another End of a Year available on COGAR Records)
 
Another End of a Year by Connor Garvey will be available on July 21, 2022
 
Listen and buy “Water to the Well” by Connor Garvey from AMAZON
 
Visit the Connor Garvey website for more band and purchase information
 

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Cannot Change It All – Pharis & Jason Romero (from the album Tell ‘e, You Were Gold available on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
 
Tell ‘em You Were Gold by Pharis & Jason Romero will be available on June 17, 2022
 
Listen and buy “Cannot Change It All” by Pharis & Jason Romero from AMAZON
 
Visit the Pharis & Jason Romero website for more band and purchase information
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Curtain – Honey Cellar (from the album Borders available as a self-release)
 
Borders by Honey Cellar will be available on June 23, 2022
 
Listen and buy “Curtain” by Honey Cellar from AMAZON
 
Visit the Honey Cellar website for more band and purchase information
 
 

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Going Down – Dennis Johnson (from the album Revelation available as a self-release)
 
 
Listen and buy “Going Down” by Dennis Johnson from AMAZON
 
Visit the Dennis Johnson website for more band and purchase information
 

 

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Know Your Demons – Tre’ Burt (from the album Know Your Demons available on Oh Boy Records)
 
 
Listen and buy “Know Your Demons” by Tre’ Burt from AMAZON
 
Visit the Tre’ Burt website for more band and purchase information
 
 
 

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This Better Be Good – Peter Donovan (from the album This Better Be Good available on Red Parlor Records)
 
 
Listen and buy “This Better Be Good” by Peter Donovan from AMAZON
 
 
Visit the Peter Donovan website for more band and purchase information
 
 

Jim Bachmann (from the Sitting Down Under the Moon available on ) (by Danny McCloskey)
Jim Bachmann gives a common human trait a beat, celebrating mistakes and questionable decisions with a dancing groove in “Paying Dues”. Joined by Kayla Ray, he wistfully duets a kiss-off for “Hate to See You Go”. Hurried strums back the admissions of “Good at a Bad Job” while “Hurtin’ finds Jim Bachmann hunched over a drink at a bar as the Arizona songman guides his tracks onto a new release, Sitting Down Under the Moon. Jim Bachmann creates moods in a melody, gently bidding goodnight as he exits the album with “Beautiful Sleep”, bordering the dreamlike atmosphere with the playful sway of title track album opener “Sitting Down Under the Moon”.  (by Danny McCloskey)
Listen to Jim Bachmann on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Jim Bachmann website
 
 
 
Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (from the album Hurricane Clarice available as a self-release)  (by Danny McCloskey)
Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves approach traditional music with modern melodies on Hurricane Clarice, their recent release. The flurry of strings is seductive, the pair weaving magical trances throughout the album. Over rapid-fire chord strums and fiddle bends Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves ponder why “Each Season Changes You” while somber notes color the title track, breaking into a reel for its tune companion in “Hurricane Clarice/Brushy Fork of John’s Creek”. Spoken word snippets tell of birds and early risers for “Ostrich with Pearls”, while stark fiddle playing makes an introduction to an equally raw musical backing for “I Would Not Live Always” and a scratchy melody captures the beauty of mountain music in “Wellington”. (by Danny McCloskey)
Listen to Alison de Groot and Tatiana Gargreaves on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Jim Bachmann website
 
 
 
Sweet Virginia (from the album Leaving Again on Gitcha Records)
Sweet Virginia bounces in on a trippy drumbeat and a rock’n’roll riff with “Blue Skies”, barreling into Leaving Again, her recent release, on the album opener. Sweet Virginia wraps the traditional tune “Careless Love” an Indie Rock blanket that warms the sad story, keeping the musical model in the backing music for the album. Pedal steel twang gives wings to the Rock beat greeting “Sunday” as a staccato Tex-Mex breeze blows over “Tell Me a Lie” while Sweet Virginia lets her voice rise and fall for “Hallelujah, Michael”, wondering if love has reached the “End of the Rainbow”.
 
 
Listen to Sweet Virginia on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Sweet Virginia website
 
 
 
 
Big Lou Johnson (from the album Bigman available on Goldenvoice Audio)
 
A zydeco beat is on board for 1960’s influenced Rock’n’Pop when Big Lou Johnson becomes the charming shot caller in “Shucky Ducky (Quack Quack)”, as he kicks open the doors on the album with the Bluesy Rock’n’Soul of “Lightnin’ Strikes” and gives his resume a powerful back beat in the title track, “Big Man”.  Smooth silky low register vocals put Big Lou Johnson up front as he seduces with “Never Get Over Me”, goes down for the bottom rung Blues of “Fever”, struts for the finger-pointing in “Chill on Cold”, and gives his responsibilities a beat they can dance to on “Stuff to Do”.
 
Listen to Big Lou Johnson on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Big Lou Johnson website
 
 
The Miners (from the album Megunticook available on Match-up Zone Music)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Alt Country torchbearers The Miners stay true to the genre influencers on Megunticook, their recent release. Hints of Gran Parsons through Whiskeytown are found on the branded songs of The Miners. Acoustics start along the path to “Walnut Lane” before the melody courses over a Country backbeat while string bends and chord strums surround the story of “Cardboard Sign”. Megunticook is a true believer of the Alt Country credo. Smart, sometimes snarky, stories told of Country life with a honky tonk backbeat. Mournful rhythms open the somber story of “Day the Drummer Died” and electric notes sparkle like fireflies around “Apologize” as The Miners roll a Country Rock sway underneath “Leaving for Ohio”.
 
Listen to The Miners on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on The Miners website
 
 
 
Jay & The Cooks (from the album Dried Up Dreams available on Justne Une Truce Records)
Raggedy Blue Folk music rattles over Dried Up Dreams, the recent release from French-based Americana outfit, Jay & The Cooks. Beginning in Chicago, Jay began work as a musician, claiming space in Austin, New York, and the west coast. In 1980, a trip to the South of France introduced Jay to French cuisine. He fell in love with the food of France, becoming a consumer and a creator. Dried Up Dreams hears Jay & The Cooks returning to recording. Dusty Southwest U.S. strums give Dried Up Dreams a desert feel, the shaggy chords and rambling harmonica in “Deaf Water”, slow churning chords and beats are the foundation of a tale of loss in “Empty Glass of Love”, and Folk Country twang rattles with the banjo confidently striding across “I Just came to Tell You I’m Going”. The Roots of Jay & The Cooks run deep surrounding the mountain music supporting the story in “Front Line Worker Blues”, Southern Rock straining the seams of “Confederate Son”, the uptown Soul wrapping around “Organic Lush”, and the hint of Zydeco of found in “Dried Up Hearts”.
 
Listen to Jay & The Cooks on Spotify
 
Find more information and purchase options on the Jay & The Cooks website