Release Day Picks: May 25th 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 Del McCoury Band, The Travelin’ McCourys and Wooden Shjips. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Del McCoury Band – Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass

The Scoop: Fifty years after the release of Del McCoury’s debut album Del McCoury Sings Bluegrass comes the Del McCoury Band’s latest release Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass. The bluegrass legend is joined by his longtime band of Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartran on bass for a collection of 14 songs featuring Del’s signature vocals. A third generation of McCourys is represented on the album by Ronnie’s son Heaven McCoury who contributes electric guitar to a cover of “Hot Wired” by Shawn Camp. “What I like in a record is variety of moods, of tempos,” Del said in a statement. “I consider myself traditional at heart, but I don’t have any boundaries. I’m just a guy that likes to sing and play music. Whatever strikes me to do I’ll do it. Without wrecking things.” Listen to the album’s lead single “To Make Love Sweeter For You” below:

Label: McCoury Music Inc

Number Of Tracks: 14

Running Time: 48:42

Guest Musicians: Heaven McCoury

Tracklist:

1. Hot Wired
2. That Ol Train
3. Letters Have No Arms
4. First One Back in Town
5. Build It Up
6. Bottom Dollar
7. Deep Dark Hollow Road
8. Ace of Hearts
9. To Make Love Sweeter for You
10. Joe
11. Love Love Love
12. I’ll Be on My Way
13. You Could Be Me
14. I Fell in Love

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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The Travelin’ McCourys – The Travelin’ McCourys

The Scoop: Nearly a decade after bluegrass legend Del McCoury urged his sons to form their own band, The Travelin’ McCourys have finally issued a studio album. Mandolin wiz Ronnie McCoury, banjo master Rob McCoury, fiddler Jason Carter, guitarist Cody Kilby and bassist Alan Bartram assembled at Nashville’s The Butcher Shoppe and came away with a self-titled, self-produced LP featuring a mix of originals and road-worn covers. “The album definitely shows what we’ve evolved into as a band. And, it’s a pretty good representation of what’s happening with the whole genre,” said Ronnie in a statement. “The old bluegrass material is something I love but it’s been done many times. We’re forging ahead with our own sound. That’s what you have to do to make it all work.” Listen to the track “Lonesome On’ry & Mean” off the new album:

Label: McCoury Music Inc

Producer: The Travelin’ McCourys

Number Of Tracks: 14

Running Time: 64:13

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Let Her Go
2. Lonesome, On’ry & Mean
3. I Live On A Battlefield
4. The Hardest Heart
5. Borderline
6. Crowhop
7. The Shaker
8. Natural To Be Gone
9. Cumberland Blues
10. Days I Wish I Had
11. Southbound
12. Freedom Blues
13. Loser
14. Travelin’

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Wooden Shjips – V.

The Scoop: Vocalist/guitarist Ripley Johnson wrote the seven songs making up V. during the summer of 2017 “as an antidote to the pervasive anxiety both political and natural.” The follow-up to 2013’s Back To Land features Johnson, drummer Omar Ahsanuddin, bassist Dusty Jermier and keyboardist Nash Whalen. The album, whose title is said to be graphic representation of the peace symbol, was recorded with Jason Powers at Types Foundry Studio in Portland, Oregon, with additional vocal and guitar tracking was completed at Johnson’s nearby home studio.“We had huge forest fires just outside of Portland and there was intense haze and layers of ash in the city,” Johnson stated. “I was sitting on my porch every evening, watching ash fall down like snow, the sky looking like it was on fire. It was an apocalyptic feeling. Summer in Portland is usually really chill and beautiful, and we were working on a ‘summer record,’ but the outside world kept intruding on my headspace.” Check out the seven-minute single “Staring At The Sun” below:

Label: Thrill Jockey

Producer:Jason Powers

Number Of Tracks: 7

Running Time: 42:24

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Eclipse
2. In The Fall
3. Red Line
4. Already Gone
5. Staring At The Sun
6. Golden Flower
7. Ride On

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.