From the Dirt is an Americana band from central Maryland fronted by Daniel Kenny, with Jeff Karn (Mandolin), Megan Leigh (harmony vocals), and Eddie Dickerson (fiddle). Their harmony-soaked songs reveal Bluegrass, Celtic, Americana and rock & roll influences. The songwriting is imagery and wordplay, with songs of heartache, addiction, love, loss, and loneliness.
The new Album, Colored Edge of Memory was produced and recorded by Jerry Brown (Doc Watson, Lucinda Williams, Watchhouse / Mandolin Orange, Steep Canyon Rangers) at The Rubber Room studio in Chapel Hill, NC. Guest musicians include Joseph Terrel (Mipso) on guitars, Joe MacPhail on drums and keys, Rick LeFleur (banjo), and Robbie Link (Townes Van Zandt) on upright bass.
In “Silver Maple Spinners” we hear a dream of a lost love - back as a ghost - set against a tense Celtic rhythm. “Afterwards, on the Greyhound” is an atmospheric tale of strangers, together in their loneliness, with a crescendoing outro of fiddle virtuosity. Bluegrass songs such as “Angeline” and “Trainwreck at the Bluegrass Jam” pick up the tempo and reduce the tension, while “Quitter” and “Trick of the Dark”, songs of addiction and loss, raise it up again. “Luthier” is a tour-de-force anthem about the joy of playing music together, the beauty of woodworking, and the threads that tie us to those who have come before.
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Ahead of her first ever UK tour starting next week, acclaimed US singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd just launched a new single ‘Reno Cure’. Written with and produced by Todd Wright (Lucy Woodward, Butch Walker, Toby Lightman), ‘Reno Cure’ is an epic, emotionally packed, Americana-tinged track that sees Juliet once again dealing with the ending of her relationship.
“I thought I was done writing about divorce,” says Juliet. “My last album, Carnival, was full of songs inspired by the experience of going through it, the aftermath, and moving on. Turns out I wasn’t quite done with the topic. Last year, I read a book about the famous “divorce ranches” in Reno, Nevada in the 1950s. At the time, Nevada had the loosest divorce laws in the country. All you had to do was reside in the state for six weeks, and you could get a no-fault divorce.”
Shortly after releasing her sophomore album in 2007, US-based singer-songwriter Juliet Lloyd walked away from music completely for more than 10 years, feeling burned out and unhappy with her career progression like so many other independent artists. After going through a divorce in 2019 and in the midst of a global pandemic, she found herself pulled back toward the siren call of songwriting and again making the leap to pursue it full time. Her latest album ‘Carnival’, released in 2024, is in many ways the culmination of those decisions, and the reintroduction of an artist who now has the wisdom of experience.
There’s an unmistakable urgency you can feel when a song is written and performed from a place of complete honesty. That feeling permeates ‘Carnival’. “I’ve always been envious of writers who say they write songs because they have to, because they had these things they just had to get out of themselves,” Juliet says. “I had never really felt that way until this album. I’ve become someone who writes because they have to.”
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Chwaer Fawr is the solo project of 'Mari Morgan', known for her time with Rogue Jones, Bitw and Saron. Her debut album (released this weekend), oxymoronically titled Diwedd ('end'), is a quiet turning point marking both a conclusion and a beginning. Written and recorded slowly, at home and with friends, Diwedd grew organically and patiently. After years of playing in other people’s bands, this time it's her own quietly defiant voice that's front and centre.
Sung entirely in Welsh, Diwedd explores the tension between innocence and responsibility, between personal vulnerability and quiet resistance. It hints at the duality between the wonder of new motherhood and the anxiety of the modern world, threading in themes of peace, hope, and the urge to rise above it all. Birds and flight are recurring images throughout as symbols of freedom, fragility, and defiance. The album doesn’t seek resolution, but offers space to sit with discomfort, wonder and change.
Musically, Diwedd lives in a wonky, artful corner of alt-pop. It balances off-kilter textures with melodic clarity, gentle warmth and sharp detail. The record features contributions from a reliable circle of collaborators, including Llŷr Pari (Gwenno, Omaloma), Alex Morrison (Cate Le Bon, H. Hawkline), and Gwion Llewelyn (Aldous Harding, Villagers), with production from Gruff ab Arwel (Bitw, Y Niwl), who helps shape its tender strangeness.
Despite it's title, 'Diwedd' isn’t a full stop; rather, it’s the exhale after a long breath in. It marks the end of the slow, steady making of a debut, and the start of a more personal musical chapter. The album is both a personal journal and a quiet protest, not against one thing, but against forgetting what matters. It might not shout, but it stays with you. Sometimes, an ending is the most powerful way to begin.
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This weekend, the 21-year-old Washington State-based artist Mollie Elizabeth released her debut EP, titled Dirty Blonde via Neon Gold / Virgin Music. Known for her whimsical, melancholic, and empowering songs, the Pacific Northwest artist describes her music as “tiny worlds”, a refuge shaped by her upbringing in the Washington woods, suffused with old-Hollywood elegance and emotional depth.
Mollie co-produced her newest song, “Doe Eyes”, along with her Dirty Blonde EP with Dean Reid (Lana Del Rey, Marina) and co-written with Reid and GRAMMY-nominated Casey Smith (Olivia Rodrigo, Ashe, Benson Boone).
Mollie Elizabeth about her debut EP: “I always knew my first collection of work that I put out would have a story to it, a through line that connected all of the songs together. “Dirty Blonde” represents the tale of most every relationship I've ever experienced, romantic or otherwise - it starts out with a story of self love and discovery, taking yourself out for dinner and gathering crushes on the beach, before galavanting into the riptides of love and loss. I hope you can find your story in it too!”
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