Continuing on from last week's trend of roots musicians running for office, BJ Barham of North Carolina roots-rock band American Aquarium announced via the band's Instagram today that he's running for City Commissioner in his town of Wendell, North Carolina.
According to the website for Wake County, "The Board of Commissioners sets the County’s property tax rate, regulates land use and zoning outside municipal jurisdictions, and adopts the annual budget." Although Barham's candidate website is not yet live, constituents and American Aquarium fans can learn more barhamforwendell.com.
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announced the nominees for its annual Bluegrass Music Awards, as well as its newest inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Highlights are copied below and the full list is available on the IBMA website.
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
East Nash Grass
The Del McCoury Band
SONG OF THE YEAR
5 Days Out, 2 Days Back – Alison Brown, Steve Martin, Featuring Tim O’Brien
Songwriters: Steve Martin/Alison Brown
Producers: Alison Brown/Garry West
Label: Compass Records
Big Wheels – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records
Coal Dust Kisses – The Grascals
Songwriters: Susanne Mumpower/Jerry Salley
Producer: The Grascals
Label: Mountain Home Music Company
My Favorite Picture of You – Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Songwriters: Darin Aldridge/Brooke Aldridge/Dennis Duff
Producers: Darin Aldridge/Mark Fain
Label: Billy Blue Records
Outrun the Rain – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Songwriters: Terry Herd/Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter/Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Arcadia – Alison Krauss & Union Station
Producer: Alison Krauss & Union Station
Label: Down the Road Records
Carter & Cleveland – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Producers: Jason Carter/Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records
Earl Jam – Tony Trischka
Producers: Tony Trischka/Lawson White
Label: Down the Road Records
Highway Prayers – Billy Strings
Producers: Billy Strings/Jon Brion
Label: Reprise Records
I Built a World – Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Producers: Brent Truitt/Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Label: Sugar Petunia Records
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Jason Carter
Red Camel Collective
Wyatt Ellis
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Hot Rize
The Bluegrass Cardinals
Arnold Shultz
Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy announced a new triple-album titled Twilight Override, due out September 26 via the band's dBpm Records. Tweedy, who is also a published author, wrote his own artist bio for the release. In it he describes:
I’m aware the day ends and the sun sets no matter how hard we wish for it to lift itself back out of the ocean. But it rises again. And what we do in the darkness matters. In a way, these three records represent the past, present, and future. A response to the feeling that we’re stuck in the worst part of the day, saying goodbye to the future we woke up to, waiting for it to get dark enough to dream up a new day. In all these songs I’m dreaming. Of who I once was, who you are now, who we could be.
Check out new song "One Tiny Flower" below:
Singer-songwriter Jolie Holland and Max Knouse surprise released a seven-song covers EP titled Wolf Dispatch, which honors the late freak folk artist Michael Hurley. Stream or buy it on Bandcamp.
WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO:
Hermanos Gutiérrez f/ Leon Bridges - "Elegantly Wasted"
YOLA - "Amazing"
The Brothers Comatose - "25 Miles" (from their forthcoming album, Golden Grass, due out September 12)
Dallas Burrow f/ Ray Wylie Hubbard - "Read 'Em and Weep" (from Burrow's forthcoming album The Way The West Was Won, due out September 26 via Forty Below Records)
Lydia Luce - "Mammoth" (from her forthcoming album, Mammoth, due out October 30)
5 Pound Horse - 5 Pound Horse
Katie Pruitt - “Ohio”
Elizabeth Cook - “Mary, The Submissing Years ”
Kirsteen Harvey - “Wild Mountain Thyme"
Fell Line - Hökköpolska
Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
The Band - The Last Waltz
NEW RELEASES – 7/18/25
Jade Bird - Who Wants to Talk About Love
Cam - All Things Light
Dylan Gossett - Westward
Colin Hay - Man @ Work Vol. 2
The Last Revel - Gone for Good
Lord Huron - The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1
Cole Quest & The City Pickers - Homegrown
Alaine Stacey - DUSK
Koko Taylor - Crown Jewels (reissue)
Tray Wellington - Man on the Moon
Alex Williams - Space Brain
COMING SOON - 7/25/25
Tyler Childers - Snipe Hunter
The Dirty Nil - The Lash
Nick Drake - The Making of Five Leaves Left
Fitz and The Tantrums - Man on the Moon
Patty Griffin - Crown of Roses
The Honeydogs - Algebra For Broken Hearts
Cody Jinks - In My Blood
Ben Nichols - In the Heart of the Mountain
Various Artists - The Mighty Rootsmen
Various Artists - Walkin' After Midnight (A Patsy Cline Tribute)
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