Artists like Gram Parsons, Keith Richards, Chris Hillman, and many more have been drawn to the High Desert’s community of creatives congregated in a psychedelic-like atmosphere without the often soul-sucking population density of the big city.
Last year saw a small avalanche of recordings by Trevor Bates. The Little Rock singer-songwriter released three LPs two, "In the Eleventh House" and "On the Golden Precipice," consisting of what what he calls "esoteric Americana" and "Ritual Wants," a collection of lo-fi, noisy, garage-grunge.
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has devoted its largest rotating exhibit space to three experiences in a row centered on different American places covering roughly the same period - the 1960s and 70s. Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats (2015-2018) looked at Music Row here in the capital of country music. Outlaws And Armadillos (2018-2022) touched on Nashville but was chiefly about the burgeoning scene in Austin, Texas. Now, the Hall’s curators have turned their attention to Los Angeles and the astonishing confluence of talent and cultural upheaval that gave us country-rock. It wasn’t designed as a trilogy, but now it feels like one.
In the US this week, it’s time to fill up. On food, on family, and on vinyl during Record Store Day Black Friday! The elves at No Depression have made a list of the roots music offerings that have caught our eye, and we offer it here because we know you’ve been very, very good this year.