If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Mama Hot Dog John Anderson is a blind spot in my country music knowledge, but after hearing Sierra Ferrell's cover of his song "Years," I may need to change that. Ferrell has become an absolute master of cover songs, and her version of "Years" may be her most mainstream sounding song yet. While she has nailed that old timey country, jazz, bluegrass, folk, etc. sound that skirts on the edge of hokey without ever going too far, this is a straight up classic country song. Hearing Ferrell stay so true to the original without straying far from it shows a deep reverence for John Anderson's work that will have you wanting to check out the country legend's entire catalog. You can watch the video for Sierra Ferrell's version of "Years" below. Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson is due out August 5 on Easy Eye Sound, and can be pre-ordered here . For more on Sierra Ferrell, check out the artist's website .

Last year Sarah Shook & The Disarmers's Sidelong  was my #2 album of the year. This year, their album Years  is my #3 album. It says a lot for one artist to land in my top 3 two years in a row, but such is my love of Sarah Shook & The Disarmers. Years  is a tiny bit more polished than it's predecessor, but ever so slightly. No one out there is doing country punk better than this group nowadays. It's such a raw sound that hearkens back to classic country without being a throwback at all. Normally when a band cleans up their sound and gets a little less raw I'll be that guy and whine and complain. Sure, I missed the rawness of Sidelong on my first listen of Years . But that didn't last long at all. Shook is an amazing songwriter, and with Years that is what shines through. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers are one of the rare bands I root for being as huge as they can be. True country fans will love this, but unfortunately most country fans want to hear songs ...

Photo by John Gessner We're less than two weeks from the release of the new album from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and we can check out a new single, "New Ways to Fail." "New Ways to Fail" is everything we want in a Sarah Shook & the Disarmers song. It's just about as country as can be, in that old fashioned outlaw country way. It's a little bit less punk sounding than some of her songs on Sidelong  but only in the musical way. With a chorus that starts with  "Cause I need this shit like I need another hole in my head," she's got the attitude of punk, and isn't punk really more of an attitude? You can listen to "New Ways to Fail" below. Years , the new album from Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, will be out April 6 on Bloodshot Records. You can pre-order your copy here . For more information on the band, check out their website . Tour dates are below the song. 4/6 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle w/ Spider B...

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers's Sidelong was my #2 album of 2017. Since they just released an album last year, I assumed we'd have longer to wait for a follow up. Turns out Sidelong  was released in 2015 and last year was a reissue (Whoops!), so we have a follow up coming out soon. Right now we can hear the first song from the new album, "Good As Gold." If you liked Sidelong , you're going to like "Good As Gold." It's more of the rock n roll country punk that we loved from the previous album. "Good As Gold" is decidedly more mellow than most of our favorites from Sidelong , and it's definitely more melodic. It's showing a definite growth in songwriting, and has us even more curious than we were before. Plus, it's a great way to ease your more mainstream friends into Sarah Shook & the Disarmers. You can watch the lyric video for "Good As Gold" below. Sarah Shook & the Disarmers's new album, Years , w...