Songlines Magazine Project, GUESTS: Anthony Russell & Steacy Easton on Beyoncé + Orville Peck/Willie Nelson, HearthPR is BACK!
I've got big news from Songlines Magazine, I'm back in the saddle as a music publicist kinda, plus special guests in this newsletter: Anthony Russell on Beyoncé and Steacy Easton on Peck + Nelson!
Once again, I’ve got a whirlwind of music writing coming along that I want to share, but I’m also really happy welcome new voices to this Substack! I’m so inspired by other music writers, artists, and friends, and want to share the moments of inspiration they’ve given to me. I’ve been uncommonly busy recently, which is why this newsletter is a week late, but I’ve got some fun news to share as well!
New Column for Songlines
I’ve taken up writing for Songlines Magazine in the UK. They’re about the last roots/world music magazine left standing, and they stand tall as a proud, beautiful glossy filled with a ton of music reviews and articles. I JUST started writing a new column for them each issue on Roots Music in the US and Canada. This will give me a chance to review some of the rising artists in roots music who might not be on everyone’s radar (but they should be!). The first column reviews Indigenous indie folk from Deerlady (Mali Obomsawin & Magdalena Abrego), stripped-back Québécois trad with Alexis Chartrand and Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Watchhouse’s haunting live album, Justin Golden’s blend of bluegrass and blues, and Cyrille Aimée’s global take on New Orleans.
New Newsletter for Songlines Too!
As part of my new work with Songlines, I’m also embarking on creating a new newsletter for them focusing on North American Roots Music. The first newsletter went out recently and they’re monthly for now with an eye to moving them to weekly soon. Sign up for the newsletter here to keep up with everything that’s going on!
Subscribe to Songlines Magazine’s Newsletter!
My Thoughts on Beyoncé’s New Album!
My thoughts are: I don’t have any. Contrary to what you hear on the internet, we don’t have to have opinions about everything. However, I did ask my FB friends group what they thought and got some great commentary. Anthony Russell here had such a key comment I asked him for permission to repost it here.
Anthony Russell’s Thoughts on Beyoncé’s New Album
Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell is a wonderful Yiddish vocalist and composer whose last album brought together African-American spirituals with the Jewish cantor tradition. He’s also a great music writer (check out this powerful article on Chopin he wrote to read more). I’ve been a fan of his music for a while now and was happy that he agreed to let me republish his comment. Go check out his work while you’re at it!
Steacy Easton on Orville Peck + Willie Nelson Music Video
I’m a huge fan of music journalist Steacy Easton; they’re easily one of the best writers on country and always a great source for me for queer country artists especially. Steacy had a great FB post recently about the Orville Peck + Willie Nelson music video reworking of Nelson’s great “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other”. Their points about how this song has changed from the era of Brokeback Mountain to our current renaissance of queer country are really fascinating. Thank you to Steacy for permission to reprint their post!
HearthPR is Back, Baby!
Ok ok I know that I said this was my sabbatical year and that I was leaving music publicity and I really have. BUT then I got the offer to work on three amazing projects that I just could not pass up.
Kaia Kater’s New Album Coming May 17
I’ve worked with Kaia since really the beginning, and her new album, Strange Medicine, is a major leap forward. She talks about making the album outside of the white gaze, outside of the expectations of Americana, which, as an industry, has often tokenized Black artists. It’s powerful stuff, full of power, rage, and beauty!
Bessie Jones, John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers with Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ed Young
Coming June 14 from Smithsonian Folkways Records, this is a staggering document of a concert from 1965 in New York City. The songs of the Georgia Sea Islands, because of their isolation, have much clearer narratives about the horrors of slavery, and these singers were using these songs to highlight the struggles of the Civil Rights Era. Plus their collaborations with blues legend Mississippi Fred McDowell are amazing, check it out:
New Single from New Dangerfield Coming Friday April 26
Proud to be working with New Dangerfield, a kind of supergroup who are reigniting the Black string band tradition! Jake Blount + Kaia Kater + Tray Wellington + Nelson Williams. Stay tuned tomorrow for their new single!
Best New Music Videos
I’m such a nerd for a great music video, so I thought I’d start up a new spot in the newsletter for recent finds!
Amadou & Mariam - “Mogolu”
The great Malian superstar singers Amadou & Mariam are back with a Best of album coming Fall 2024 and this first single has a killer video filmed in Dakar with TikTok phenom Akamz dancing. Wonderful!
Chris Housman - “Guilty as Sin”
Housman’s got a gift for writing effortless country songs, foregrounding a queer perspective and an ear for clever protesting. “Guilty as Sin” is a pitch perfect love song. Thx to Steacy Easton for posting this one.
Libianca - “People”
I don’t listen to nearly enough Afrobeats, so thanks to buddy Alexa Peters for posting this video from Cameroonian-American singer Libianca. Mellow beat, beautiful vocals, powerful message, what else do you need?
Cécile McLorin Salvant at the Met Cloisters - “Mélusine”
I’m OBSESSED with these videos of celebrated vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant at the Met Cloisters in NYC. Her album brought Baroque music together with historical Haitian song and old French ballads. Plus there’s a theorbo player and that’s a spectacular instrument!
New Hearth Office Mixtape
Got up a new Hearth Office Mixtape on Spotify! BUNCH of new music here! Kicks off with South Indian Carnatic music from Ganesh Rajagopalan of Shakti (I have an article on him coming soon), then Cameroonian rap from Montréal, red-hot stringband tunes, a Cajun contredance, Louisiana queer folk song, Norwegian folk synth, Jazz on Chinese traditional instruments, and more!
That’s it, back in two weeks, thanks for reading and if you made it this far here’s a little surprise, just something I think is cool!