Mary Chapin Carpenter , The Dirt and The Stars
Grammy winner Mary Chapin Carpenter continues to wield a surgical scalpel with her latest album, written pre-pandemic but still exploring the questions of the moment. With soothing roots instrumentation, themes of aging, unrelenting change, politics, empathy and more go under the knife.
Daniel Donato, A Young Man’s Country
After putting tips in the bucket for years as the underaged, guitar-slinging phenom behind Don Kelly at Robert’s Western World, Daniel Donato steps to the mic with his own brand of “cosmic country.” Still firing off outlaw riffs with machine-gun dexterity, his vocal betrays a love of the Grateful Dead.
Ruston Kelly, Shape & Destroy
Ruston Kelly further establishes his “dirt emo” sub-genre on his second full effort, but there’s nothing sophomoric about this post-teenage angst. Written while staying sober and staring down a checkered past, undeniable melodies and enlightened confessionals power a quest toward self-forgiveness.