Put a Record On: Morgan Wade, Jordyn Shellhart, Brandy Clark and more
Put a Record On: Morgan Wade, Jordyn Shellhart, Brandy Clark and more
She's a psychopath, I'm an asshole, we're all on a piano bench getting wasted
Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox! Marissa here — I’ll be taking you through today’s music recommendation post (with a few extra picks from Natalie), which will be for paying subscribers only starting in June! If you dig it, subscribe here. Let us know what you think, and happy listening!
The Good
“On a Piano Bench Getting Wasted” by Jordyn Shellhart: There are few more specifically human emotions than that feeling of being nostalgic for something you’ve never had - it’s different than deja vu, different than fear of missing out. It comes from deep in the gut where the shadows are, and that’s where this song by Jordyn Shellart lives, whose excellent, captivating album Primrose, is out today. Shellhart’s voice - just barely gracing the words sometimes in a way that keeps everything delicate but never shoegazey, full of careful intention - grounds it all, with a lyrical approach that’s asking all the questions we do late at night. “Well the loneliness is pervasive, on a piano bench getting wasted,” she sings. “How can I miss who I’ve never met?” It’s possible, and she knows it. A standout song form a standout album.
“Psychopath” by Morgan Wade: starting a song called “Psychopath” with a sweet, twangy intro is the kind of bold move and perfect contradiction that makes Morgan Wade so special, and this song lives up to those first few notes. I love how she doesn’t use her second record to polish up the rough edges - her voice is raw and rare, the lyrics conjuring that kind of all consuming love that can make you feel a little crazy. I take my coffee black, too, Morgan, btw.
“Dear Insecurity” by Brandy Clark (featuring Brandi Carlile): In the most humble brags of humble brags, I got to watch this song debuted on a beach in Mexico at Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival (I know, I’m an asshole - especially since Brandy and Brandi sang it together, too. I had a beer in my hand, a friend by my side, I was in a bathing suit. I am a lucky asshole!). Clark is one of the all-time greatest writers and singers around, country or otherwise, and forging a creative partnership with fellow Pacific Northwesterner Carlile was a stroke of predestined genius. This song, from new new album produced with Carlile, speaks to me for how deeply it speaks to what’s within us all. To get rid of the monsters, sometimes you have to simply call them out.
“Fam Damily” by Chapel Hart: This trio debuted with a stroke of genius - a response song to “Jolene” called “You Can Have Him Jolene” that was hilarious, funny and slyly feminist. Their new album - Glory Days, out today - has plenty of tunes that could easily live on country radio, and plenty of sentimental ballads, too. “Fam Damily” is a hilarious ode to being united in dysfunction, loaded with enough fiddle to make you forgive even the most offensive relative.
“Fast Car” by Luke Combs: This Tracy Chapman cover has been out a minute, and, if you know Combs, in his rotation for nearly as long as he’s been an artist. But I’m putting it here because it’s getting traction on country radio, and how damn great would it be to give Chapman her flowers - and cash - that comes with a potential number one?
“Too Much of a Woman” video by Roberta Lea: an important visual moment, staring Neisha Himes, a domestic violence survivor turned boxer and founder of G.R.O.W. Foundation (Girls Recognizing Our Worth), by an important artist who can turn a rhyme about BBQ sauce into a love song one moment and make a statement of strength and perseverance against abuse the next.
“Best of Me” by David Nail: With a guitar riff that’s definitely been written by someone who listens to a lot of John Prine, “Best of Me” isn’t a country rarity - a love song, asking a dad for someone’s hand in marriage. But Nail is, a guy who always seemed just outside of a mainstream breakthrough, even with some radio success. Maybe he’s a little too sentimental, his voice a little too warm, his compositions a little too heavy on the steel. This is his wheelhouse though, where he’s leaning into instead of away.
“John Prine,” Kacey Musgraves: So this is far from new, and I’ve known about this song for a while — but I never knew that Kacey had recorded a studio version until I heard it last week on KNON, my (and the Musgraves’) local community station. A little googling, and suddenly I was in a sea of unreleased (or little released) Kacey music (“It Is What It Is” worktape, are you kiddingggg me?). Sort of feel bad sharing because I don’t want it to get taken down, but also I can’t not! So “Keep It To Yourself”…😜 — NW
“Sunday Best,” Lainey Wilson: Another old one — but I’ve loved this song since I first heard it, and now that everybody’s seemingly on the Lainey train (she’s already sold out her Fort Worth date…which is in September…), I’m bringing it back. A little funky and nicely rough around the edges, it’s just so much more fun than 90% of what’s on the radio. — NW
“Lowland Trail” by Margo Cilker: Easily one of my favorite records of 2021 was Cilker’s Pohorylle, and the new song from her follow-up, Valley of Heart’s Delight, lives up to that promise - it’s a new traditional for an old world, a traveler’s tale if you’re looking for the right path, the right lover, or just the high road. Her forthcoming new LP is one of my most anticipated of 2023, for sure.
The Mid
“But I Got A Beer In My Hand” by Luke Bryan: Shocked see Luke Bryan here? You shouldn’t be - shitting on the men of mainstream country simply for existing is boring (plus, there are tons of other valid ways to shit on them sometimes). I perked up when I first heard the verse on this one - it has a line-dancing vibe and a little nineties Eddie Rabbitt flavor, banal references to various country singers and country things aside. It goes south on the chorus, though, where everything gets Aldean-icized with aging metalhead guitars. Points for trying, I guess.
“Till The Day I Die,” Chayce Beckham: The opening fiddle riff just makes me think of “Won’t Back Down,” and I was ready to write this one off based on name alone (sounds like male country singer AI, to steal Natalie’s joke from her ACMs post). But Beckham is a solid singer, a potential Ryan Bingham for the mainstream set. There’s promise here.
The Bad
“Tough Crowd” by Jason Aldean: Look, I don’t want to shit on Aldean in every newsletter. It’s too easy. But I need to simply go on record to say this song is such a pandering mess, it deserves to be.
The Ugly
Not a song, but worth mentioning here, that the silence from the country music community around the Jimmie Allen allegations has been deafening.
The Kind of Unrelated But Still Great
Maren Morris’ dad makes salsa. I’m buying what he’s selling - he made a good daughter, so the salsa is probably pretty solid.