Banjo meditations, bluesy Blackgrass, old-school honky-tonk, traditional folk tunes, futuristic country-hop: June brought a little bit of everything to the Best Country Music on Bandcamp table. As a reminder, we use a broad definition of the word “country” here, as you’ll see below. Enjoy!
Jim Lauderdale
My Favorite Place
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
This is Jim Lauderdale’s third appearance in Best Country Music on Bandcamp in three years, which is not an indication of a lack of imagination or competition but simply the high quality and remarkable consistency of this Nashville veteran’s work. My Favorite Place is the man’s 37th (!) album, and it finds him returning from a bluegrass detour to his typically tuneful brand of tried and true Americana. He is so good—over and over again—and he’s welcome here anytime.
Jenny Don’t & The Spurs
Broken Hearted Blue
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
This is the first Jenny Don’t & The Spurs album since longtime drummer Sam Henry, a former member of Portland punk greats Wipers and Poison Idea, passed away in 2022 after a battle with cancer. His spirit, however, courses through Broken Hearted Blue, a 10-track smorgasbord of crunchy alt-country, throwback cowpunk, and electrified honky-tonk, with tasty bits of surf rock and Western swing in the mix. Fans of Neko Case’s The Virginian, take note!
Swamp Dogg
Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
It’s Swamp Dogg—of course there are some raunchy lyrics on the cult-fave soul singer’s foray into bluegrass music! But don’t get it twisted: Blackgrass is serious about not only bluegrass—see the all-star backing band of Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull, Noam Pikelny, et. al.—but also about rock-solid songcraft and highlighting the deeply rooted connections between bluegrass and Black musical traditions in Appalachia and the American South. The result is a set of undeniably affecting performances that accomplishes its goals with vigor and respect.
Sammy Volkov & Dana Wylie
The Day Had To Come
Compact Disc (CD)
Sammy Volkov and Dana Wylie are two singer-songwriters from Edmonton, Alberta who have carved out respectable music careers on their own. Put them together, however, and it turns out they’re capable of timeless country duets that stack up admirably against great twosomes like George Jones and Tammy Wynette or Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. That’s high praise, of course, but Volkov’s buttery baritone blends beautifully with Wylie’s sturdy alto on The Day Had to Come, and the songs are rich with feeling and memorably melodic. It’s not a classic yet, but it may just be an instant classic.
Jesse Daniel
Countin’ the Miles
Vinyl LP, Compact Disc (CD)
We feature a lot of hyphenated music here in Best Country Music on Bandcamp—twang-this, folk-that, so-and-so-grass—but there’s no need to smash two or three styles together when you’re talking about Jesse Daniel. The Austin, Texas-based artist’s songs are honky-tonk through and through, the kind you’d hear pouring out of a vintage jukebox in some dimly lit dive bar in the movies (or in real life if you’re lucky). A former punk rocker turned country traditionalist, Daniel packs Countin’ the Miles with boom-chick rhythms, live-wire guitars, and tales of hard livin’, heartbreak, hanging on to hope, and hittin’ the open road—no hyphens needed.
The Smith & Western Jury
Hotel Texas
More than 8,000 miles separate Texas and The Smith & Western Jury’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia, but that hasn’t stopped the band from picking up (and giving off) some serious Lone Star State vibes. Led by singer and guitarist Samantha Lombardi, the Jury specializes in rock-solid alt-country that echoes that genre’s heyday in the late ‘90s and sounds kind of like Neko Case fronting the Old 97’s. On Hotel Texas, Lombardi’s powerhouse vocals pair perfectly with her band’s punchy twang as she sings evocatively of love and loss on songs like “Cowboy Blues” and “Bolo Ties & Bullshit.”
Ben Vallee
Introducing…
Vinyl LP
When Ben Vallee isn’t playing country music, he’s a pâtissier in Montréal, which sounds like a pretty “sweet” job. (Sorry.) But you don’t have to get very far into his debut album to know that Vallee belongs behind a guitar. The opening track of Introducing…, “Unwanted Visitors,” is a three-minute slice of perfect country, with its scratchy fiddle, shuffling pace, weeping slide guitar, tight vocal harmonies, and heartbroken sentiments, and the rest of the songs here showcase Vallee’s sharp songwriting and unassuming spirit. This is a record that sounds carefully crafted and well-captured, but loose and lived-in: a nifty trick.
Wyndham Baird
After the Morning
Vinyl LP
What a quiet little wonder this record is! Wyndham Baird is a skilled singer and guitarist originally from North Carolina who wandered for a while before ending up in Brooklyn, where he found a home in the city’s folk scene. Now, the mighty local label Jalopy Records is putting out a collection of his recordings of traditional songs, ballads, and folk tunes written by artists like Merle Travis, Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, and Merle Haggard. The arrangements on After the Morning are spare–generally voice, guitar, and a bit of harmonica–leaving Baird nowhere to hide. He is up to the challenge, delivering a set of performances that feel disarmingly intimate and engaging.
Benny Bleu
Banjo Meditations / Banjo Jubilations
Compact Disc (CD)
Released one right after the other, Banjo Meditations and Banjo Jubilations are exactly what they sound like: Two collections of banjo-focused tunes from New York musician Benny Bleu, one featuring long, slow instrumental songs that hover and drone, the other by shorter, upbeat tracks pulled from the public domain. Each, Bleu says, “aims to soothe,” and each meets that goal, albeit in ways that are very different, but also kind of the same. If the sound of the banjo feeds your body’s Feel Good System, grab ‘em both and find out how they fit into your life.
Levi J. Burr
Another Domino Map
Vinyl LP
This month’s entry from the far reaches of the twangy universe comes from Australian Levi J. Burr, an acoustic guitarist who, on Another Domino Map, augments his sprightly, finger-picked compositions with beautiful swoops of pedal steel guitar courtesy of guest players like B.J. Cole, Chuck Johnson, and Will Van Horn. The result is an album that finds the peaceful common ground between cosmic country, ambient music, and the American Primitive guitar style. Lovely stuff!
Shaboozey
Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
You can’t scroll through TikTok or scan the radio dial without running into Shaboozey’s big hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” But don’t sleep on the rest of the Virginia-based singer-songwriter’s third full-length album, a seamless blend of country twang, hip-hop beats, and pop hooks. It was featured as Album Of The Day for good reason.
