Release Day Picks: February 17th New Album Highlights

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Ryan Adams, Marco Benevento, Alison Krauss, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Nikki Lane and Strand of Oaks. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Ryan Adams – Prisoner

The Scoop: Singer-songwriter Ryan Adams’ 16th studio album was recorded with Don Was and his longtime collaborator Johnny T. Yerington in New York City following Adams’ divorce. Adams was inspired by listening to records by Bruce Hornsby, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and ELO during the recording of Prisoner. Initially starting with close to 80 songs, Was became integral in editing down the album’s 12 tracks. Give a listen to the Prisoner lead track “Do You Still Love Me?:

Label: Pax AM/Blue Note Records

Producer: Don Was, Ryan Adams

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 42:57

Guest Musicians: Johnny T. Yerington

Tracklist:

1. Do You Still Love Me?
2. Prisoner
3. Doomsday
4. Haunted House
5. Shiver and Shake
6. To Be Without You
7. Anything I Say To You Now
8. Breakdown
9. Outbound Train
10. Broken Anyway
11. Tightrope
12. We Disappear

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Marco Benevento – Woodstock Sessions

The Scoop: This past summer keyboardist Marco Benevento brought his trio featuring bassist Karina Rykman and drummer Andy Borger to Applehead Recording in Woodstock, New York for a session performed in front of a capacity crowd. Today, Marco releases Woodstock Sessions, the resulting performance that was recorded at Applehead. Benevento’s Woodstock Sessions includes the entire 22-minute “The Story Of Fred Short” suite from last year’s studio album of the same name, as well as older cuts “Greenpoint,” “At The Show” and more. Watch Marco Benevento and his band record “Heavy Metal Floating Upstream” for Woodstock Sessions:

Label: Woodstock Sessions/Royal Potato Family

Producer: Marco Benevento

Number Of Tracks: 7

Running Time: 60:48

Guest Musicians: Andy Borger, Karina Rykman

Tracklist:

1. Dropkick
2. Heavy Metal Floating Upstream
3. The Story Of Fred Short
4. Bus Ride
5. Coyote Hearing
6. At The Show
7. Greenpoint

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Alison Krauss – Windy City

The Scoop: Today, 27-time Grammy winner Alison Krauss has released Windy City, her first solo album since 1999. Krauss picked 10 country and bluegrass classics to record along with producer Buddy Cannon for her Capitol Records debut. Among the songs on the album are “Gentle On My Mind,” a signature song of Glen Campbell’s, and “You Don’t Know Me,” which was a hit for Eddy Arnold and Ray Charles. There’s also Willie Nelson’s “I Never Cared For You” and “All Alone Am I,” which was originally recorded by Brenda Lee. Listen to “Losing You,” the first single off Windy City:

Label: Capitol

Producer: Buddy Cannon

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 47:41

Tracklist:

1. Losing You
2. It’s Goodbye And So Long To You
3. Windy City
4. I Never Cared For You
5. River In The Rain
6. Dream Of Me
7. Gentle On My Mind
8. All Alone Am I
9. Poison Love
10. You Don’t Know Me

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Robert Randolph & The Family Band – Got Soul

The Scoop: It’s hard to believe that while Robert Randolph has been an integral part of the jam scene since around the turn of the century, Got Soul marks just his fifth studio album. After a more refined departure in his last album, We Walk This Road (produced by T-Bone Burnett), this one finds Randolph back to his jam and gospel roots – where the pedal steel guitarwork that’s generated critical acclaim is most at home. All the essential jam components are here: funky hip shakers, strong instrumental numbers, special guests, big solos, and even segues. Check out the collaboration and official video with Darius Rucker on “Love Do What It Do” off the new record: (Ed note: New York City-based readers might recognize the venue in the video which was shot at Billiards Hall located across the street from Webster Hall.)

Label: Dare Records/Sony Masterworks

Producer: Matt Pierson

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 45:00

Guest Musicians: Anthony Hamilton (vocals), Darius Rucker (vocals), Cory Henry (organ)

Tracklist:

1. Got Soul
2. She Got Soul
3. Love Do What It Do
4. Shake It
5. I Thank You
6. Heaven’s Calling
7. Be the Change
8. Find a Way
9. I Want It
10. Travelin’ Cheeba Man
11. Lovesick
12. Gonna Be All Right

Stream / Download / CD/Vinyl

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Nikki Lane – Highway Queen

The Scoop: Nikki Lane was a little ahead of the curve of the current outlaw country revival with her 2014 Dan Auerbach-produced album All Or Nothin’. At the time Sturgill Simpson was slowly gaining national attention with Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, while Margo Price was still honing her chops with her blue-eyed soul band Buffalo Clover. Though Lane certainly received her fair share of accolades, it didn’t quite turn into the widespread success both Simpson and Price found in 2016. With her third studio album Highway Queen, Lane looks become the next breakout star from that same Nashville scene. The singer-songwriter, who has built a reputation for her rowdy live shows and eye-catching vintage-chic attire, is putting her own stamp on the genre with her take-no-prisoners blend of Waylon Jennings meets Emmylou Harris & the Hot Band. Check out the video for the album’s title track:

Label: New West Records

Producer: Nikki Lane, Jonathan Tyler, Collin Dupuis, Matt Pence

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 36:56

Guest Musicians: Ryan Ake, Shelly Colvin, Steven Cooper, Daniel Creamer, Collin Dupuis, Ben Eyestone, Josh Hedley, Ricky Ray Jackson, Scott Lee, John McTigue, Alex Munoz, Russ Pahl, Matt Pence, Taylor Powell, Dave Roe, Jeff Saenz, Jonathan Tyler, Eric Whitman, Erika Wolf

Tracklist:

1. 700,000 Rednecks
2. Highway Queen
3. Lay You Down
4. Jackpot
5. Companion
6. Big Mouth
7. Foolish Heart
8. Send the Sun
9. Muddy Waters
10. Forever Lasts Forever

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Strand Of Oaks – Hard Love

The Scoop: Philadelphia-based rocker Timothy Showalter returns with Strand Of Oaks’ follow-up to the 2015 intensely personal LP HEAL. The new album was said to be inspired by Showalter’s “love of Creation Records, Trojan dub compilations, and Jane’s Addiction, and informed by a particularly wild time at Australia’s Boogie Festival.” Though much more upbeat and “party” oriented than emotionally charged HEAL, this record features more honest songwriting and reoccurring themes of family, drugs, heartache and perseverance – including the impact of Showalter’s 27-year-old brother’s near fatal cardiac failure. For a sample of Hard Love, here’s the video for the single “Radio Kids”:

Label: Dead Oceans

Producer: Nicolas Vernhes

Number Of Tracks: 9

Running Time: 40:37

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Hard Love
2. Radio Kids
3. Everything
4. Salt Brothers
5. On The Hill
6. Cry
7. Quit It
8. Rest Of It
9. Taking Acid And Talking To My Brother

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Ryan Dembinsky, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.