Today marks the release of a double LP of The Mavericks' late frontman Raul Malo's final performance. The posthumous new album, BELLA CIAO: RAUL MALO Live In Nashville, was recorded last Father's Day weekend at the 3rd & Lindsley club with his son Dino Malo (drums and percussion), Lazaro Manzano (Cuban fiddle), and Max Abrams (saxophone). As Dino said in a press release:
My father and I spent the last 10 years creating together profoundly, and specifically since COVID, we became even more bonded creatively. While we both immensely enjoyed the full band, rocking shows, the more intimate, solo shows were our true favorites. We would play our favorite songs, some were his, and some were by others. They were a conversation. And for me, they were a master class in musical restraint watching my father. While we did not know this would be the last show, I take great solace in knowing that it was. We had an incredible band with us that evening in Max Abrams and Lazaro Manzano, who added so many beautiful colors. While this may be the last show, this is certainly not the last of my father’s music you have heard.
Buddy Miller announced his first solo record in 15 years! The No Depression cover star (multiple times, including the final print edition of the original magazine) and singer-songwriter's self-titled LP is due out September 11 via New West Records.
Don't forget to become a member of No Depression to read the entirety of the May-June 2008 issue digitally in our complete archives.
Oh Boy Records, the independent record label initially founded by John Prine, shared that the Record Store Day exclusive titled Found Dogs — featuring alternate takes, acoustic solo performances, and five previously unreleased songs from the Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings sessions — will see a widespread digital and physical release on October 9. The lyric video for one of those previously unreleased tracks, "World Without Love," showcases never-before-seen footage of a Prine family vacation in the early 1970s that was shot on Super 8 film.
Joy Oladokun announced a new album titled Hope Is A Heavy Thing, due out September 25 via Concord Records. Oladokun produced the LP herself, with additional contributions from Nigerian producer Spellz. As Oladokun writes in a press release:
“To understand your future you have to confront your past.’ This is the driving theme behind 'Hope Is A Heavy Thing.' ...It’s a collection of 12 songs that I wrote to help myself find my light again after burning out."
Also due out September 25 is the newest from Arkansas folk musician Jude Brothers. Dogwood Maiden Voyage, their first new music since 2023, is set to be released via Gar Hole Records.
The Newport Folk Festival announced a new video interview project titled Sea To Shining Sea. The series, hosted by Executive Director Jay Sweet and musician Devon Gilfillian (ND review), features conversation about "how music unifies communities, forges commonality, lifts up pain and possibility, and has the power to heal," according to a press release. The series is also supported in part by The Hearthland Foundation, an organization that aims to "practice philanthropy as a creative act."
Legendary Austin music venue, Armadillo World Headquarters, will be the subject of a new documentary produced by Texan actor Woody Harrelson and others. As Harrelson told Deadline:
The Armadillo wasn’t just a music venue. ...It was where all kinds of worlds came together: artists, outlaws, hippies, students, dreamers, everyone under one roof. Careers got started there, genres mixed, and what really sticks with me is how it made people feel like they belonged. People came for the music, but what they found was each other. The Armadillo represented something we don’t see much anymore, and that’s a big part of why I wanted to be involved with this film.
Read the full story at Deadline and read more about The Armadillo in this feature from the Fall-Winter 2018 Innovate issue of No Depression.
Guitarist Hayden Pedigo, whose incredible instrumental album I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away came out last year via Mexican Summer, is the beneficiary of a GoFundMe campaign to help his premature daughter. Emerald Pedigo was born two months early with a congenital, but repairable, heart defect, and has been in the NICU for more than 100 days now. The crowdfunding effort will help support medical bills for him and his wife and help offset the cost of his canceled shows. Pedigo's new label Sub Pop shared the following:
Finally, for the 20th anniversary of Crooked Still's album Shaken by a Low Sound, Folk Alley and the band have launched a covers contest. Participants can record themselves performing any song from Shaken by a Low Sound and share on social media with the hashtag #ShakenByALowCover. One grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000, autographed vinyl record, and Folk Alley tote bag. The runner-up will also get an autographed LP and Folk Alley tote. Head to Folk Alley for additional details and submission information.
WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO
Joe Pug - Live at The Old Town School of Folk Music
Oh Pray Tell - "Poor Black Woman Blues"
Sera Cahoone - "Not How I Hoped" (from her forthcoming album, I've Missed You All These Years, due out on August 28 via Sub Pop)
Eli Paperboy Reed (feat. Zaniah)- "Love You More" (from his forthcoming album, Getting There, produced by Swamp Dogg and due out on September 11 via Yep Roc Records)
NEW RELEASES - 7/24/26
Maya De Vitry - All My Faith
Ella Fitzgerald - Live at the Falkoner Theatre, Copenhagen, 6th February 1966
Creekbed Carter Hogan - Peasants Revolt
Punch Brothers - The Unsung Adventures of Punch Brothers
Ma Rainey - Mother of the Blues, The Complete Paramount Recordings, 1923-1928
The Revivalists - Get It Honest
Charles Wesley Godwin - Christian Name
Wild Gods - The Glorious Abysmal
COMING SOON - 7/31/26
GA-20 with Charlie Musselwhite - BLUES NOW
Family Stereo - The The Thread
Wyatt Flores - Scared of Heights
The Family - Delusions of Grandeur
J. P. Reali - Grateful Blues [EP]
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