Carrying on with the desperate attempt to share all the 2018 releases that matter to me. Tonight I’ll have a sort of a Texas video special for your viewing pleasure.

Kicking off from Houston with my favorite song of the past week. Robert Ellis will have a new album Texas Piano Man coming out on Valentine’s Day 2019 via New West Records. The first single Fucking Crazy is like a perfect love song for these insane times. I’m so looking forward to the album and can’t wait to hear what else this wonderful man has crafted for us.

Robert Ellis Website

Next stop Dallas and the new Vanessa Peters album Foxhole Prayers that came out on the 5th of October on Idol Records. It has been a big favorite of mine during the last few months. I’ve already written a few times about it and have also shared this particular song Carnival Barker that is based Warren G. Harding’s presidency and how dangerously the history is repeating itself right now. However, I don’t think I’ve shared the great music video of this powerful song and therefore a revisit is a must.

Vanessa Peters Website

A small step to the west on the map to find Fort Worth and songwriter Matthew McNeal. He has been quite busy in 2018 and has released a full-length album Good Luck in February and two singles Change and All For Nothing during the autumn. The music is a sweet combination of americana, rock’n’roll and soul. Kinda surprisingly I’ve especially loved the ones with laid-back soulful vibes like the last two singles. If you follow the weekly playlist, you’ve heard those already so let’s go with a lyric video of my favorite song from the album. This is Run from the album Good Luck that is out and available on Matte Black Sound Company.

Matthew McNeal Website

Heading down south to Bulverde, TX to meet up with Jerry David DeCicca. He has been been even more prolific than McNeal and has released two full-lenght albums during the year. The laid-back and mellow Time The Teacher came out in February on Impossible Ark Records. A really lovely jazzy album that might cause a sudden hunger for watermelons. The latest Jerry David DeCicca album Burning Daylight is a different affair, but still equally great. It was recorded live to tape and it’s a great rock record inspired by his songwriting heroes like Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Warren Zevon, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. Burning Daylight is now out and availabe on Super Secret Records and this is the video for the title track.

Oh well, have to drop another one too, because it’s so good.

Jerry David DeCicca Website

Another one of these round-up posts before the year-end lists.

The title track of the 2018 Austin Lucas album Immortal Americans has been shared before, but there’s a fairly new music video for the song and therefore a revisit is in order. This magnificent music video was directed by the multi-talented Joey Kneiser who has also written some of the finest americana music both as a solo artist and as a frontman of Glossary (besides music videos, his first full-length film as a director, Mr. Presto is now available on Amazon Prime). Anyway, I love the song and the video. Austin is a preacher that I would believe in and his congregation also contains some lovely familiar faces. The wonderful album Immortal Americans will finally get an UK/Europe release on the 23rd of November. Just in case you were wondering why it disappeared from Spotify and why it has been impossible to get it from a Euro record store.

Austin Lucas Website

If I’m not mistaken, Nashville-based songwriter Kent Eugene Goolsby was a member of Austin’s congregation in the video above. He is also capable of delivering convincing statements himself and has been featured here several times over the years. He just released his new EP Every Way But Easy on the 2nd of November. He has also done some beautiful old-fashioned stuff over the years, but this new ep carries on where his former band The Only Sons left off and contains excellent rockin’ americana. Here’s the opener Take Another Shot.

Kent Eugene Goolsby Website

Some readers might remember that a few years ago I was somewhat obsessed about Pony Bradshaw and especially the song Josephine. I really liked the whole Bad Teeth album too, but then suddenly all the material vanished from Bandcamp. It looks like the reason was that he got a record deal and some of these songs will reappear on the first proper Pony Bradshaw album Sudden Opera that is due out on the 25th of January on Rounder Records. Rightfully so, because this material deserves all the recognition in the world and I’m so eager to hear both new versions of the old songs and the completely new ones when the new album arrives in January. Looks like there’s an interest too, because the most visited entries of this blog during the past month or so have been the old Pony Bradshaw posts. Here’s the gripping first outtake 10×10 from the forthcoming album.

Pony Bradshaw Website

Time to close up tonight’s blog entry with one of the most powerful and important songs that I’ve heard during these last months of the year. Megan Palmer is an Ohio-born, Nashville-based songwriter and violin player. Her new song Stetson is a moving song about her battle with breast cancer and all the proceeds of the song/t-shirt go to Gilda’s Club of Middle Tennessee to raise money and awareness for people and their families experiencing cancer. So pick up a download or a download/shirt combo of an incredible song from her website and do some good simultaneously. The single is out now on Blue Rose Music.

Megan Palmer Website

Another week, another weekly playlist.

Not a whole lot of new album releases anymore, because the year is getting shorter and shorter. However, there are two that are really important, dear and special to me. One of my all-time faves, Finnish alternative rock band Penniless released a new album called X and Australian folk ensemble Grand Salvo led by Paddy Mann released their long-waited album Sea Glass. Both are definitely on the darker side of things, but some people are capable of making the dark shine brightly. Other new albums that ended up on my radar were from Gleeson, Antero Kaksikäsi, Ryley Walker, Christine Fellows, Jonathan Byrd and Ian Wayne. Vanessa Peters album also finally appears on these lists, because it’s now available on Finnish Spotify and therefore I was finally able to share a song from it on these silly weekly lists. Still love the album to bits.

The imaginary song of the week title goes to the Texas piano man Robert Ellis and the first single Fucking Crazy from his forthcoming 2019 album. Absolutely freakin’ awesome song. Lots of other goodies too. Great to hear Andy Shauf’s voice again on his new Foxwarren project for example.

The last song is the first single from the final Willard Grant Conspiracy album. Untethered is a song that Robert Fisher wrote after his cancer diagnosis. It’s a powerful song that will rip you apart and for a little while everything that came before it will feel absolutely redundant.

OCTA Weekly Playlist – Episode #18

1. Robert Ellis – Fucking Crazy (single, New West Records, 2018)
2. Grand Salvo – The Black Coast (Sea Glass, Mistletone, 2018)
3. Penniless – Dark Room (X, Soit se silti, 2018)
4. Joonas Holmen + The Lossy Codecs – Launching Down on Tracks (single, Fuu Recs, 2018)
5. Gleeson – Through the Motions (The Years Have It, 2018)
6. Vanessa Peters – Fight (Foxhole Prayers, Idol Records, 2018)
7. Foxwarren – To Be (single, ANTI-, 2018)
8. Blank Range – Change Your Look (single, Sturdy Girls Records, 2018)
9. Pastis – Valour Valour (single, Stupido Records, 2018)
10. Simone Felice – Puppet (single, New York Pro, 2018)
11. Monteagle – Motel (single, Fire Talk, 2018)
12. Ben Morrison – 25 Miles (single, Antifragile, 2018)
13. Jonathan Byrd – Temporary Tattoo (Pickup Cowboy, 2018)
14. Antero Kaksikäsi – Taidan pysyy tässä (Suomenkielistä kantrimusiikkia, Hyvät levyt, 2018)
15. Luther Russell – Saturday’s Child (single, Fluff and Gravy Records, 2018)
16. Christine Fellows – Roses on the Vine (Roses on the Vine, Vivat Virtute, 2018)
17. Lula Wiles – Love Gone Wrong (single, Smithsonian Folkways, 2018)
18. Stephen Steinbrink – You Could Always Leave (Utopia Teased, Melodic, 2018)
19. Ryley Walker – Raven (The Lillywhite Sessions, Dead Oceans, 2018)
20. Lee Harvey Osmond – Mohawk (single, Latent Recordings, 2018)
21. Buckley – Bakersfield (Las Cruces, Rum Bar Records, 2018)
22. Stoner Control – Gimme Some Space (Alone in the City, 2018)
23. The Wave Pictures – Shelly (Look Inside Your Heart, Moshi Moshi Records, 2018)
24. Shonna Tucker – The One I Do Not Know (Dreams of Mine EP, 2018)
25. Rue Snider – City Living (single, 2018)
26. Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers – I Hate Chicago (Bought to Rot, Bloodshot Records, 2018)
27. Ian Wayne – Girlfriend (A Place Where Nothing Matters, 2018)
28. Golden Daze – Blue Bell (single, Autumn Tone, 2018)
29. Mercury Rev (feat Margo Price) – Sermon (single, Bella Union, 2018)
30. Willard Grant Cospiracy – Untethered (single, Loose Music, 2018)

If you are looking this after a week has gone, the embedded Spotify will show the latest playlist. I’ll just update the same playlist because a) if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each Sunday b) so that I don’t have a trillion of different playlists on my Spotify account.

Oh and do buy the vinyl/cd/download. Spotify and other streaming services are perfect for these introductory purposes, but try to buy at least the music that matter the most to you.