@@@ Doug Paisley: Say What You Like (Outside, 2023) I got to this chill sitch, hippie-ish country music via this week’s All Music notable release email. The energy does indeed stretch into super stoned out Grateful Dead territory. Interestingly there’s a pretty noticeable Dire Straits kinda thing going and that vibe smashed into the Grateful Dead flavors is not common. What’s old is new again as a classic Dead type guitar solo kicks off in the third tune Wide Open Plain. I don’t usually get into this kind of music but there’s something charming and authentic to my ears in this record. If you like the description I’ve laid forth here then check it out, there’s some hippie redneck chill on offer here.
@@@ Nell Mescal: In My Head (LAB Records, 2023) I’m running into a lot of super huge, dramatical female singer songwriter rock in the last buncha days. This single, which I got to via the Line of Best Fit is right in there, tense in the verse, contemplative and then blasting off in the chorus with the vocal hook that about it all being in her head. The sounds are rooted in ’80s rock, sorta simple stuff with synths layered over the top.
Deep In the Music 