Randall Bramblett’s latest solo album, The Bright Spots, highlights his songwriting and the long-term musical collaboration with Davis Causey–going back before Bramblett’s time with the Allman Brothers, well before their collaboration with Chuck Leavell in Sea Level. Bramblett is known as much for his collaborations as he is for his own songwriting, working in multiple incarnations with overlapping musicians and bands. He’d be perfect for a musical Venn Diagram. To only know his playing with other bands, though, leaves a false sense of who Bramblett is as a musician. His solo records stretch across genres, ebbing and flowing–but always growing. None of his work is nostalgic. The Bright Spots is a great example of continued growth, always looking to cover new ground, not beat a path to a doorway that has already been entered.

Tea Leaf Green considered renaming themselves after their original membership changed, when their bass player and founding member, Ben Chambers, abruptly left the band. Six years and two albums after that realignment, Tea Leaf Green have redefined themselves, continuing to create their own sound honoring the song and lightening their sound. In The Wake is not sparse, by any stretch, but rather than full instrumentation every moment for each song, their is a more careful addition of sounds, guided by producer, Jeremy Black. In The Wake includes more additional sounds than just the members of the band, yielding a lush, clearly “studio” album, rather than a “live,” jamming vibe.  Shaking up their previous recording methods forged an entirely different process and product with this album; it was the first time they recorded separately in the studio and did not road-test songs prior to recording. Their CD release party was the first time they played all of the songs live–giving a new kind of energy to this noted, vibrant (jam) band.

This encore radio program from a conversation in early 2011 includes music from Thompson's prior release, 26 Years, as well as his newer record, Salvation In The Ground.

Ben Tanner might not be a readily recognizable name, but he is the "honorary member" or recording partner of nearly every band from Alabama that we have featured on Country Fried Rock: The Pollies, Belle Adair (coming soon), Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil, St. Paul & the Broken Bones (coming soon), and TheBear, John Paul White (of The Civil Wars), Alabama Shakes, Dylan LeBlanc, Jason Isbell, the Live From The Shoals series, and even Country Fried Rock Vol. 2 For Nuci's Space -- Preventing Musician Suicide. Together with John Paul White and Will Trapp, Tanner formed Single Lock Records recently, launching with three Alabama bands: TheBear (whose songs from Overseas Then Under we have featured on this radio show), Belle Adair , and St. Paul & The Broken Bones (also the current band of Browan Lollar, who we featured here after he left Jason Isbell's band, the 400 Unit). It's a small world in Southern indie music.

Tanner and Corey Hannah have an incredible video series called "Live From The Shoals," too.  Tanner was not on the original recordings by Alabama Shakes, but he frequently sat in live with his friends, and when their popularity expanded exponentially, they wanted to replicate the keys on their recordings in their dynamic live shows, and Tanner came along for the ride, eventually touring relentlessly with the band and becoming an official member.  In their short breaks between tours, Tanner still records the music he loves from his friends' bands, and supports the music they are making through Single Lock Records.  By his own admission, Tanner does not sleep much, and is a bit of a workaholic.  What really makes Tanner special, though, is his commitment to great music coming from his home region and using his own success to bring their albums to a broader audience.  He's one of the good guys.

JD Wilkes & The Dirt Daubers went electric on Wild Moon, and if you only knew their old time acoustic debut, Wake Up Sinners, and have not seen them live recently, you might be as shocked as audiences hearing Dylan go electric at Newport Folk Fest.  Well, maybe not, but that sort of hyperbole is de rigeurfor showman, songwriter, harmonica player, illustrator, author, and cartoonist, JD Wilkes.  Frequently using his honorary moniker of “Colonel,” as in Kentucky Colonel, a distinction given by the governor to notable Kentuckians, Wilkes is the creative mind behind the entire sideshow and brand of the Dirt Daubers, including his latest book chronicling small town picking parties and barn dances across Kentucky.  He is as intense a conversationalist as you might imagine, spewing one-liners and ideas like hot popcorn without a lid.  I love his vision and how he ties everything together — like “performance art.”

Matt Burke of Have Gun, Will Travel has been around the block with label and indie success with his bands over the years. As his previous band saw critical and airplay success, but not a comparable financial reward, his songwriting took a different turn and he forged ahead with Have Gun, Will Travel — initially a solo effort to let the new sounds have a platform, but ultimately becoming a band in itself. HGWT plays extensively throughout the Southeast and will reach much more of the nation this year, with runs joining Shooter Jennings, Railroad Earth, Country Fried Rock alum, Matt Woods and also The Whiskey Gentry, and Radiolucent. Burke is a talented songwriter and the band balances fun, upbeat music with more reflective tracks, not descending too much into SBM that is prevalent in the genre right now. Grab some friends, and go see Have Gun, Will Travel.

Amy Ray‘s new solo album, Goodnight Tender, allows her to explore the country music she has often been accused of writing, but this Georgia songwriter has always refused to be bottled into one form. From her on-going collaboration with Emily Saliers as The Indigo Girls, the foremost folk rock duo from the South for decades, to a reinterpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, to mentoring emerging songwriters and musicians, Ray follows her muse and then determines how her art should be shared. Long-time fans of her music will not be surprised by this album, as hints of Georgia and Ray’s roots have always guided her songs, but now she is not limited by expectations — and The Indigo Girls are still going strong, joined by several orchestras on tour in the coming year.

Dex Romweber Duo's brand new album, Images 13, derives its name from the cover art, an existing piece from Romweber's own portfolio, and not enumerating the tracks (of which there are 12).  Romweber was particularly forthcoming in our conversation, reflecting on his affinity for film noir, working with his friends in music, and how he would frame an autobiographical documentary, in contrast to the cult-favorite, Two Headed Cow.  With a decades long career as a guitarist who rips it up every night he performs, Romweber reflects on how both his music changes or stays fixed, his duos evolved, and how he is feeling his age catching up with him, but is grateful to continue making music.  He left me wanting to talk with him again.

Sam Lewis first crossed our radar on a video from Music City Roots, but the timing was off to feature him on the show. As Lewis has toured more in the US & UK, he has built a following and honed his songs, yielding a his new Waiting On You album, recorded with some of Music City’s Americana elite at an historic studio, Southern Ground (recently purchased by Zac Brown). When folks like Brandon Bell champion you to Darrell Scott, Will Kimbrough, Mickey Raphael, Gabe Dixon, and the McCrary Sisters, then you know that your record will sparkle.

Folk Family Revival moves towards psychedelic folk rock in their latest record, Waterwalker. Taking time to test many of these songs on the road and record and re-record them led to a more mature sound than their debut, which was recorded "cold" from songs left over from previous projects, but never fleshed out with the band nor road tested.

Adam Landry made a ton of records that I love, and several that we featured last year. As the first person who primarily works as a record producer that we have featured on Country Fried Rock, I did not even know that I liked his work until the middle of an interview last season, when it suddenly dawned on me that he was a recurring theme! From #CFRalumni Lilly Hiatt, T. Hardy Morris, Hollis Brown, and Rayland Baxter, to records we have played in our radio show version of CFR, like Diamond Rugs, Middle Brother, and DeerTick, Landry has been the force behind the scenes, helping the songwriters make the records they have inside them.

The title references Shakespeare’s character, Iago, from Othello, but the songs reflect Foucault’s personal life more than any of his other albums. As he prepares for the European leg of his tour supporting the record, his long-time band slips into his groove without missing a beat.

Town Mountain's latest release, Southern Crescent, takes the bluegrass band from North Carolina to Louisiana, to work with noted producer, player, and songwriter, Dirk Powell (Linda Ronstadt, Eric Clapton).  With a face-to-face conversation with host, Sloane Spencer, in a busy coffeeshop in Nashville, this music-intensive radio program connects the dots for listeners who do not regularly listen to bluegrass.