The most essential music is conceived by real human beings: ordinary, anonymous, often poor—people who stood up and joined together to fight injustice and institutional oppression. This is the story of Working-Class Heroes: A History of Struggle and Song, a collection of American working class, pre-World War II folk songs revived by Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore. Inspired by the legendary American songbook Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, Callahan and Moore compiled this set of songs with renewed focus on the individuals who wrote them, and the causes they held dear.

So, I’m breaking out my camping gear - cleaning out the tent, waterproofing it, freshening up the sleeping bag.  It’s the weekend before Summer Camp Music Festival! Recently, I caught Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and Twiddle on the Road to Red Rocks, and they were on fire! Twiddle is new to me. I really enjoyed the vibe going on between these two east coast bands.  They both are playing Summer Camp festival on a seemingly relentless touring schedule.

The Lil Smokies round out their SnowGhost Singles series with a cover of Tom Petty’s “Learning To Fly”, out today. Listen/Stream here.

“Some artists, even after their time to move on has come, never die,” said guitarist Matthew Rieger (Rev). “Tom Petty is certainly one of them. We hope you'll enjoy our take on one of our favorite tunes of his."

In September, Turkuaz welcomed their fifth studio effort, Life In The City, a nine-track LP inclusive of singles "Superstatic," "If I Ever Fall Asleep" and the sensational title track, "Life In The City." Given that the recording process spanned from 2016 to 2018, it comes as no surprise there are additional tracks to share from the same time period. Today, Turkuaz has announced the Afterlife EP pair, with Vol. 1 available now:

In the worlds of bluegrass and traditional folk, where music is still passed directly from one generation to the next, it’s not unusual to witness young talents astounding crowds with feats of instrumental dexterity. But it’s highly unusual to encounter players like brother-sister duo Giri and Uma Peters, who, at ages 14 and 11, have already performed at the Kennedy Center, jammed and recorded with Rhiannon Giddens and tracked an album at Jerry Douglas’ studio — after gravitating on their own toward American roots music.

Today, The Allman Betts Band released the first track “All Night” from their debut album Down To The River (BMG).

“It goes beyond the fact our dads were in a famous band and supersedes the whole 'sons of' thing. We're a band, and we're going to make sure everyone recognizes that." Allman told Billboard of The ABB.

On the heels of a two-week tour supporting Gary Clark Jr. in Australia (where he joined Gary nightly for his encore), Hamish Anderson returns to the US to celebrate the release of his sophomore album, Out of My Head, produced by Jim Scott (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Wilco). Anderson’s musical chops go deep with this record. Rock and Blues Muse has also said of Anderson’s new release, “There are a lot of impressive young guitarists out there these days, but very few of them can match their physical dexterity with this much vulnerability and lyrical prowess.“

Youssou N’Dour’s new album meditates on moments from a storied career and pays homage to late great African artists, without losing sight of the future ahead. History (Naïve Records release: May 17, 2019) gives new life to tracks from Babatunde Olatunji’s 1970s records, N’Dour’s own cassettes sold on the streets of Dakar in the 1980s, and a 2019 hit by Swedish star Mohombi. N’Dour reinvigorates them all with that inimitable voice—and mature musicianship—that makes Youssou N’Dour the undisputed King of African Pop.

Rising conscious reggae/hip-hop band The Late Ones are set to release their upcoming single “Tell Me Not” on Friday, May 24th via tastemaker label Easy Star Records. The band has been bubbling on the US reggae scene for a few years, while they  put together an album’s worth of material to release. Working closely with the Easy Star Records team over the past year, the group is finally ready to begin releasing material, starting with this single. A full album is due later this year.

The Colorado based band, Trout Steak Revival has announced new tour dates for the Summer. The band will criss cross the country hitting notable festivals like Northwest String Summit, and Floyd Fest as well as playing several headlining shows including a performance at the Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue, Colorado.