#michael-nachmanoff

#michael-nachmanoff

Vienna Teng blends genres like chamber folk, jazz, and electro-pop while homaging her heroes, including Paul Simon and Tori Amos.

49 Winchester will release their new album Change of Plans on May 15 via Lucille Records / MCA. It's their first record for a major label after two on New West, and they made it with producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson). The album includes their cover of Black Sabbath's "Changes," which was released back in November, and the new single from the album is the anthemic rocker "Pardon Me." Watch the video below.

One of the more distinctive, recent sounds in country music comes from Stephen Wilson Jr., according to our rock critic Ken Tucker. Recently nominated as best new artist by the Country Music Awards, Wilson is a former microbiologist who is also a Golden Gloves boxer, who's also, says Ken, writing some of the most intricate and compelling songs around these days. And he's broken through not with huge record sales, but viral clips on social media.

Listen to lead single " In the Middle of It " below. In press materials, Taylor said "In the Middle of It" was inspired by "Highway 10 through the desert towns, Los Angeles to El Paso ... Art Bell's Coast to Coast droning from a bunker in the middle of Nevada. Ghosts and UFOs and vagabonds. The engine sings out over the long lightning fields. In the middle of it: the country, the story, the relationships."

Originally from Illinois and now based in Maine, where he has lived for the past four years, Pokey LaFarge brings a lived-in perspective to American roots music. Drawing from early jazz, blues, swing and folk traditions, his songwriting balances warmth, rhythm and emotional clarity without slipping into nostalgia for its own sake. Over the years, LaFarge has grown into a confident bandleader, known for performances that feel loose but intentional, with space for both musicianship and connection.