Your weekly dose of brand new music is here! Check out this Friday’s roundup of track, song, and video premieres from bluegrass, Americana, country, folk, and beyond.
From the bluegrass camp, Southwest Virginia string band Big Country Bluegrass bring us their new track, “Heading for the Mountains,” which they pulled from the catalog of fellow Virginians, the Bluegrass Kinsmen, from just over the mountains. Plus, supergroup Sister Sadie return with another new single, “Do What You Want,” which was co-written by band members Dani Flowers and Deanie Richardson as well as Music Row songwriter and artist Erin Enderlin.
Chicagoan Chris Walz debuts his new number, “Alabama Bound,” a solo blues outing that references a classic recording by Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull while still putting his own spin on it. From the country and honky-tonkin’ realms, Pug Johnson bemoans a “Hole in Me” with an acoustic performance of that new track that’s full of hurt and tinges of Texas. Plus Iowa-based Katie and the Honky Tonks give the direction to “Mind Your Business” – especially when it comes to social media. Check out a new video from The Mallett Brothers Band, too, featuring stunning views of their Maine home turf and cameos from their own “Dogs and Horses.”
From the genre-blending fringes of indie, folk, and Americana comes Anne Harris’ new artful video for “I Feel It Once Again,” a broad and lush track that centers on violin and is built around a haunting guitar riff. Also, singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh delivers a truly unique sound with “Little River,” a song about learning to ride the flow of life wrapped up in an indie-folk-pop package that defies categorization while still feeling down to earth and real.
There’s a little bit of something for roots music lovers of all stripes here. You know what we think… You Gotta Hear This!
Big Country Bluegrass, “Heading for the Mountains”
Artist: Big Country Bluegrass
Hometown: Independence, Virginia
Song: “Heading for the Mountains”
Album: Carry Me Back To The Bluegrass
Release Date: February 21, 2025 (single); March 28, 2025 (album)
Label: Rebel Records
In Their Words: “Back in 1989 when I heard the Bluegrass Kinsmen perform this song, I immediately loved it! When it came time to look for music for this album, I dusted off my recording and played it for the band. They loved it too and so here we are. ‘Heading for the Mountains,’ an upbeat song, is a great fit for Eddie Gills’ distinctive tenor and makes for a memorable duet when Teresa Sells joins him on the chorus. And like the chorus says, ‘the city life is not for me.'” – Tommy Sells
Track Credits:
Eddie Gill – Guitar, co-lead vocal
Teresa Sells – Guitar, co-lead vocal
Tommy Sells – Mandolin
Daniel Martin – Banjo
Billy Hawks – Fiddle
Tony King – Upright bass
Anne Harris, “I Feel It Once Again”
Artist: Anne Harris
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Song: “I Feel It Once Again”
Album: I Feel It Once Again
Release Date: February 21, 2025 (video); February 25, 2025 (single); May 9, 2025 (album)
Label: Rugged Road Records
In Their Words: “A while back I unearthed a guitar riff that my friend, blues artist/producer Dave Hererro, had sent me. It had been sitting in my inbox for a long time but I hadn’t got around to listening to it.
“One day I was sorting through my inbox and finally listened down to it and I was immediately swept up by that haunting riff; in one sitting I wrote the lyrics and arranged a song around Dave’s sketch. It was one of those rare instances for me where I felt as if I was channeling the song.
“The song is about the resurfacing of grief during the night, when the veil is thin. It reveals itself at a time when the mind begins ruminating over all that stays hidden during the light of day.” – Anne Harris
Track Credits:
Anne Harris – Vocals, violin
Colin Linden – Guitars
John Dymond – Bass
Jerry Roe – Drums
Video Credits: Stan Miskiewicz – Video producer, director, director of photography
Ara Krossovitch – Dancer
Pug Johnson, “Hole In Me”
Artist: Pug Johnson
Hometown: Beaumont, Texas
Song: “Hole in Me”
Album: El Cabron
Release Date: March 28, 2025
Label: Break Maiden Records / Thirty Tigers
In Their Words: “A simple honky-tonk hurting song with a Texas shuffle and fiddles to boot! I pulled from some past experience and tried to take the Willie approach by saying a lot with very little. I think it is the most country thing I’ve ever done, and it’s one of my favorites on the record.” – Pug Johnson
Track Credits:
Pug Johnson – Vocals, guitars
Paul “Sweet P” Walker – guitars
Jason Baczynski – Drums
Josh Hoag – Bass
Caleb Melo – Pedal steel
Jan Flemming – Keys
Patricia Badgett – Backup vocals
Cody Braun – Fiddle
Video Credits: Directed by David Allison and Joel Malizia.
Produced by Pilot Moon Films.
Katie and the Honky Tonks, “Mind Your Business”
Artist: Katie and the Honky Tonks
Hometown: Waterloo, IA
Song: Mind Your Business
Album: Ain’t No Shame
Release Date: February 28, 2025 (single); June 27, 2025 (album)
In Their Words: “‘Mind Your Business’ came into fruition after years of participating in the social media game. From witnessing one meaningless argument over the internet to the next. We all have opinions, but what entitles us to think our opinion is 1) correct, and 2) needs to be spoken publicly? Minding our own business is something we all could do a little more of, myself included. Like the song says, if it ain’t hurtin’ anyone then why don’t you just let me have my fun? I think that’s a mantra that we could all live by.” – Katie Jo
Track Credits:
Katie Jo – Vocals, acoustic guitar
Brian McCarty – Bass, backing vocals
Bryan Hendrickson – Lead guitar, lap steel, backing vocals
Luke Jerry – Drums
Danny Mitchell – Hammond B3
The Mallett Brothers Band, “Dogs and Horses”
Artist: The Mallett Brothers Band
Hometown: Portland, Maine
Song: “Dogs and Horses”
Album: Higher up in the Hills
Release Date: April 4, 2025
In Their Words: “‘Dogs and Horses’ is a song that came from my real life, trying to balance the drastically different lifestyles of a touring musician and a working farm. My wife runs a horse farm here in Maine, where we keep anywhere from 13-18 horses on the property. Hay needs to be put away every season, fences always break, water systems need maintenance, etc. Meanwhile, I spend over 100 days a year in a van traveling to gigs and have to play catch-up when I get home. The song is about supporting each other and building an unconventional life that suits us both. This music video was filmed at our farm; the dogs and horses are actually our dogs and horses and it was fun to capture a day in life when the grass was still green. The counterpoint to the farm shots was our annual show at the State Theatre here in Maine, which is one of the coolest shows we get to play. Our friend CC at Just One Look Media did a great job with the video, and it was a lot of fun to shoot
“This is the only track on the record to have a special guest, featuring the legendary Chuck Leavell of the Allman Brothers Band and Rolling Stones fame on keys. We were lucky to be a part of the Maine episode of his PBS show America’s Forests With Chuck Leavell, and we were very excited when he agreed to contribute to this song. His parts added the perfect finishing touch and really brought it to another level.” – Luke Mallett
Sister Sadie, “Do What You Want”
Artist: Sister Sadie
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Song: “Do What You Want”
Release Date: February 21, 2025
In Their Words: “‘Do What You Want’ came from Dani Flowers, Erin Enderlin, and myself sitting around talking about life. How hard it can be. How we have so many expectations put on us, especially being women. How we are all divided. No matter what you do, someone is going to have something good or bad to say about it. So don’t worry about what everyone thinks. ‘Just Do What You Want.’ This was a very fun and somewhat therapeutic song to write. Maddie Dalton, being the youngest in the band, was the perfect voice for this one.” – Deanie Richardson, fiddle
“I absolutely love this song and I’m super happy I’m the one that got to sing it. I relate to it as I’m sure so many other people do too. I’m just excited for the whole world to hear it.” – Maddie Dalton, bass and lead vocals
“’Do What You Want’ was a really fun song to write. We’re all just tiny dots on a planet, spinning around a sun, in a gigantic galaxy for a tiny blip of time. When I zoom out and look at it that way, it makes the things I spend so much time worrying about seem pretty silly. This song is about keeping that perspective.” – Erin Enderlin, co-writer
Track Credits:
Deanie Richardson – Fiddle, gang vocals
Gena Britt – Banjo, gang vocals
Maddie Dalton –Upright bass, lead vocals
Jaelee Roberts – Harmony vocals
Dani Flowers – Harmony vocals
Mary Meyer – Mandolin, piano
Seth Taylor – Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, gang vocals
Dave Racine – Drums, gang vocals, percussion
Jon Weisberger – gang vocals
Luke Sital-Singh, “Little River”
Artist: Luke Sital-Singh
Hometown: London, England, United Kingdom
Song: “Little River”
Album: Fool’s Spring
Release Date: February 21, 2025
Label: Nettwerk Music Group
In Their Words: “‘Little River’ is a song about learning to flow with life no matter what is happening to you. I was inspired by a quote from meditation teacher Stephan Bodian: ‘You’re not sitting on the bank of the river, waiting for a better moment to float past. You are the river itself – filled with being, filled with infinite potential.’ This idea became a guiding theme in my life as I was making this record.” – Luke Sital-Singh
Chris Walz, “Alabama Bound”
Artist: Chris Walz
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois (since 1988)
Song: “Alabama Bound”
Album: All I Got and Gone
Release Date: February 28, 2025 (single); March 14, 2025 (album)
Label: Chris Walz Music
In Their Words: “I’ve heard various versions of ‘Alabama Bound’ for years. The one I recorded is inspired by a version done by two guitar players and singers named Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull. The duet recording was put out on the box set The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records. I tried to make this two-guitar-and-vocal duet into a solo piece. There are so many versions of this song that the point of origin is hard to pin down, although Jelly Roll Morton claimed to have written it in 1905. The Kate Adams in the song was a Mississippi riverboat line. Jackson is in Central Mississippi and McComb is south of there about 80 miles. Half the time, the song title is ‘Don’t You Leave Me Here,’ taken from the recurring line that ends with, ‘Just leave a dime for a beer.’ Times have changed.” – Chris Walz
Photo Credit: Sister Sadie by Allister Ann; Big Country Bluegrass by Brenda Killon.
