Download: CB Brand x Big Freak Mixtape [Audio clip: view full post to listen] The band CB Brand DJs Big Freak on Monday and will be playing their first Troubadour show with Vetiver and Waters on Wednesday, so they have made this mixtape to get you ready for their classically cracked ’70s country—fans of Townes [...]

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Merle Haggard is putting out a new album this October with Vanguard Records. Below, get a free download of the title track, “Working In Tennessee,” an upbeat, happy, swinging tune that sounds grudge-free but, according to the official document, “underscores Haggard’s oft-confrontational relationship with Music City.” Haggard is loved, afterall, for his simple way of [...]

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Sammy Davis Jr. once called Merle Haggard the greatest country singer since Hank Williams. Haggard was in the audience—as an inmate—during three of Johnny Cash’s performances at San Quentin. He recently released I Am What I Am, his 76th album. We spoke to him as he was driving to his cabin in far-northern California with his wife in the front seat telling him not to forget Jesus.

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The Mekons lived Leeds but dreamed Texas and Tennessee and after finding their feet in first-wave punk songs like “Where Were You,” they left the world of Rough Trade for the open range. They are working on a new album tentatively called 100 Years and singer-guitarist-activist Jon Langford speaks as he takes his dog to the vet. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s first job was a rodeo hand after he ran away from his childhood home in Brooklyn. Not long after, he apprenticed under Woody Guthrie. Not long after that, Bob Dylan apprenticed under Jack. His newest album A Stranger Here (out now on Anti) is made up of blues standards and features Van Dyke Parks on piano. He had his hip replaced just last week. This interview by Kevin Ferguson.

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