John Moreland can hardly remember writing many of the lyrics to his new album Birds in the Ceiling. That’s because in the early months of the pandemic, the Oklahoma singer-songwriter found himself settling into a new songwriting routine: After his wife went to sleep, starting around midnight, Moreland would light up a joint, turn the lights off, and begin watching YouTube videos by the user Rambalac, who films himself taking long walks around Tokyo at night.
A few hours later, Moreland would look up and he had written a new song.
A few hours later, Moreland would look up and he had written a new song.
- 8/2/2022
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
John Moreland finds himself full of big questions and remorse in “Ugly Faces,” the Oklahoma singer-songwriter’s first release from his new album. Birds in the Ceiling, the follow-up to 2020’s LP5, will be released July 22 via Old Omens/Thirty Tigers.
“Ugly Faces” nods to some of the stylistic evolution Moreland demonstrated on LP5, putting a solemn piano together with a slow-but-funky programmed drum groove. “You’re seeing ugly faces in your dreams,” he begins, eventually piling on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and live drums before he turns apologetic. “I couldn...
“Ugly Faces” nods to some of the stylistic evolution Moreland demonstrated on LP5, putting a solemn piano together with a slow-but-funky programmed drum groove. “You’re seeing ugly faces in your dreams,” he begins, eventually piling on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and live drums before he turns apologetic. “I couldn...
- 4/21/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
S.G. Goodman feels the lingering impression of someone who didn’t return her love in “Teeth Marks,” the first preview and title track of the Kentucky singer-songwriter and activist‘s follow-up to 2020’s Old Time Feeling. Teeth Marks will be released June 3 via Verve Forecast.
As a fingerstyle electric guitar picks out a vaguely country rhythm, Goodman launches a wounded plea at an unavailable lover. “Well I laughed a bit when you pulled that card/tellin’ me you’re gonna bless my heart/Well it is, it already is,” she sings.
As a fingerstyle electric guitar picks out a vaguely country rhythm, Goodman launches a wounded plea at an unavailable lover. “Well I laughed a bit when you pulled that card/tellin’ me you’re gonna bless my heart/Well it is, it already is,” she sings.
- 3/2/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Hayes Carll was in the middle of a performance last week when he managed to sum up what many musicians and fans have been feeling for months.
“I tell people for the first four years of my career and for the last 16 months of my career, I’d finish a song and nobody clapped,” the Texas songwriter said, as midnight neared and cool winds blew into the open-air Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheater in Key West, Florida. “In between, I had a pretty nice run where people clapped. So, it’s...
“I tell people for the first four years of my career and for the last 16 months of my career, I’d finish a song and nobody clapped,” the Texas songwriter said, as midnight neared and cool winds blew into the open-air Truman Waterfront Park Amphitheater in Key West, Florida. “In between, I had a pretty nice run where people clapped. So, it’s...
- 5/3/2021
- by Blake Ells
- Rollingstone.com
John Calvin Abney had a busy spring lined up thanks to his day job as John Moreland’s guitar player, but the pandemic obliterated those plans in March. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, musician and singer-songwriter instead hunkered down and began working on a new batch of his own songs, with his pal Moreland providing some instrumental assistance.
Abney’s new album Familiar Ground arrives November 20th and follows his 2019 release Safe Passage. His latest song from the project is the gorgeous, hopeful single “When This Blows Over.”
In the gentle, country-tinged tune,...
Abney’s new album Familiar Ground arrives November 20th and follows his 2019 release Safe Passage. His latest song from the project is the gorgeous, hopeful single “When This Blows Over.”
In the gentle, country-tinged tune,...
- 10/9/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
Kentucky-based singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman has issued the new song “Red Bird Morning,” along with its accompanying video. Goodman’s upcoming album Old Time Feeling was co-produced by My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James and will be released July 17th via Verve Forecast.
A plaintive acoustic ballad, “Red Bird Morning” shows off the powerful clarity of Goodman’s voice as well as her skill for mixing narrative with impressionistic touches. “See me smoking on this cigarette/Same kind that took all our Nana’s breath/It’s the only flame...
A plaintive acoustic ballad, “Red Bird Morning” shows off the powerful clarity of Goodman’s voice as well as her skill for mixing narrative with impressionistic touches. “See me smoking on this cigarette/Same kind that took all our Nana’s breath/It’s the only flame...
- 4/17/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
“There’s alternative, Triple-a and pop. So why can’t there be pop-country and country-country?” Nikki Lane once wondered to Rolling Stone Country. “We just need two genres.”
With a new playlist, Spotify is hoping to answer that call. Indigo, launching Tuesday, will be the streaming giant’s conduit for “country-country” — where artists like Tyler Childers, Margo Price, John Moreland, and Lane, who rarely see the light of day on terrestrial country radio, will find a home. Indigo will also boast classics like Waylon Jennings and album cuts from major...
With a new playlist, Spotify is hoping to answer that call. Indigo, launching Tuesday, will be the streaming giant’s conduit for “country-country” — where artists like Tyler Childers, Margo Price, John Moreland, and Lane, who rarely see the light of day on terrestrial country radio, will find a home. Indigo will also boast classics like Waylon Jennings and album cuts from major...
- 3/31/2020
- by Marissa R. Moss
- Rollingstone.com
“Being a musician in 2020 was already hard,” synth-pop singer-songwriter Caroline Rose says. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down all live music and touring for the foreseeable future, thereby drying up the primary source of income for the vast majority of working musicians. For countless touring artists who rely on constant touring income to stay afloat, the next few months will be dire.
To put it plainly, musicians need help. The main concern for artists like Rose, who released a new album this month and had to cancel the accompanying two-month spring tour,...
To put it plainly, musicians need help. The main concern for artists like Rose, who released a new album this month and had to cancel the accompanying two-month spring tour,...
- 3/17/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and Maren Morris have been named as headliners for the 2020 Railbird Festival, set for August 22nd and 23rd in Lexington, Kentucky. The full lineup was announced on Wednesday.
Also confirmed for this year’s edition of Railbird are a diverse collection of indie rockers, country royalty, and Americana darlings, including the Head and the Heart, Young the Giant, the Decemberists, Tanya Tucker, Trampled by Turtles, Colter Wall, Whiskey Myers, and Shovels and Rope.
Other artists performing include City and Color, the Dead South, Cat Power,...
Also confirmed for this year’s edition of Railbird are a diverse collection of indie rockers, country royalty, and Americana darlings, including the Head and the Heart, Young the Giant, the Decemberists, Tanya Tucker, Trampled by Turtles, Colter Wall, Whiskey Myers, and Shovels and Rope.
Other artists performing include City and Color, the Dead South, Cat Power,...
- 2/19/2020
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
“Since I was 18,” says John Moreland, “I’ve made a lot more hip-hop music than folk music.” For longtime fans of the 34-year-old songwriter, who has become known for his desolate acoustic finger-picking over the past decade, such a statement may come as a surprise. But it’s true: For many years, the Tulsa native has been making beats on electronic drum machines “almost every day.”
It’s just that until his new album, LP5, out February 7th, Moreland never thought that his electronic music-making could ever have anything to...
It’s just that until his new album, LP5, out February 7th, Moreland never thought that his electronic music-making could ever have anything to...
- 2/6/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
In our new series, we look at eight cities where live music has exploded — from legendary hubs like New Orleans and Nashville and Chicago, to rising hot spots like Raleigh, North Carolina and Portland, Maine. The latest: Tulsa, where history, social consciousness and barroom jamming make it one of the most fun places to visit right now.
Jack White remembers the first time he stepped inside Cain’s Ballroom, a 1920s Tulsa dance hall where Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys once broadcast their weekly radio shows. “I basically almost...
Jack White remembers the first time he stepped inside Cain’s Ballroom, a 1920s Tulsa dance hall where Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys once broadcast their weekly radio shows. “I basically almost...
- 1/27/2020
- by Jonathan Bernstein
- Rollingstone.com
The Wild Feathers’ new road anthem, Brian Fallon’s hushed love song, and Brad Paisley’s inspiring “Alive Right Now” are among the fresh country and Americana songs to hear this week.
The Wild Feathers, “Jacksonville to Jackson Hole”
For years, the Wild Feathers have planted their feet on both sides of the country-rock divide. They fully step into twangier territory with this Eric Church and Casey Beathard co-write, which finds the group singing the praises of cross-country road trips, truck stops, and heat-lamp chicken tenders. The song’s secret...
The Wild Feathers, “Jacksonville to Jackson Hole”
For years, the Wild Feathers have planted their feet on both sides of the country-rock divide. They fully step into twangier territory with this Eric Church and Casey Beathard co-write, which finds the group singing the praises of cross-country road trips, truck stops, and heat-lamp chicken tenders. The song’s secret...
- 12/16/2019
- by Robert Crawford
- Rollingstone.com
John Moreland sings about war, religion, and commerce in his new song “Harder Dreams.” The track is the latest release off his upcoming album LP5, due February 7th.
Minimally produced by Matt Pence, with a brushed beat and accents of plinking notes, the song is carried by Moreland’s pained vocal. “Is the truth a work of fiction?” he asks at one point, before delivering a devastating line about possession and self-image: “I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me/you’ve got ads to sell,...
Minimally produced by Matt Pence, with a brushed beat and accents of plinking notes, the song is carried by Moreland’s pained vocal. “Is the truth a work of fiction?” he asks at one point, before delivering a devastating line about possession and self-image: “I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me/you’ve got ads to sell,...
- 12/10/2019
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Lauren Alaina tugs at the heartstrings, John Calvin Abney bids farewell to his father, and Jason James gets bombastic in this week’s list of must-hear country and Americana tunes.
Jillian Cardarelli, “I Never Do This”
Produced by behind-the-scenes powerhouse Alex Kline, “I Never Do This” finds Jillian Cardarelli getting her groove back over Shania-sized rhythms and banjo hooks. It’s a song about dressing up and getting down, rooted in the same supersized stomp as your favorite hit-the-town epics from the Nineties.
John Calvin Abney, “Maybe Happy”
Written during...
Jillian Cardarelli, “I Never Do This”
Produced by behind-the-scenes powerhouse Alex Kline, “I Never Do This” finds Jillian Cardarelli getting her groove back over Shania-sized rhythms and banjo hooks. It’s a song about dressing up and getting down, rooted in the same supersized stomp as your favorite hit-the-town epics from the Nineties.
John Calvin Abney, “Maybe Happy”
Written during...
- 10/4/2019
- by Robert Crawford
- Rollingstone.com
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit are set to headline the 2019 edition of Old Settler’s Music Festival, where they’ll be joined by Brandi Carlile and a host of other artists that were announced Tuesday morning.
The Texas music and camping festival, which showcases a wide range of roots music including Americana, bluegrass, and Tejano, celebrates its 32nd edition next spring and its second installment in the town of Tilmon, located between Austin and San Antonio. This marks a return appearance for Isbell, who also spent the past several days...
The Texas music and camping festival, which showcases a wide range of roots music including Americana, bluegrass, and Tejano, celebrates its 32nd edition next spring and its second installment in the town of Tilmon, located between Austin and San Antonio. This marks a return appearance for Isbell, who also spent the past several days...
- 11/13/2018
- by Jeff Gage
- Rollingstone.com
There’s a point in recent Lucero shows when frontman Ben Nichols pulls back from his anthems of last calls and heartbreaks and leads the band in “Hello, My Name Is Izzy,” a lighthearted country shuffle penned for his two-year-old daughter. Sometimes she even comes onstage, earmuffs on, to dance.
That moment held a special joy for Nichols at the band’s annual Lucero Family Block Party in Memphis in April, where they celebrated their 20th anniversary over two days with support from friends like Turnpike Troubadours and John Moreland.
That moment held a special joy for Nichols at the band’s annual Lucero Family Block Party in Memphis in April, where they celebrated their 20th anniversary over two days with support from friends like Turnpike Troubadours and John Moreland.
- 7/31/2018
- by Jim Beaugez
- Rollingstone.com
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