Folk/Country — All Formats  

A rare album by the legendary guitarist John Fahey. Despite a cheesy cover, and the proclamation that the record features Fahey "and his orchestra", the record's mostly just has Fahey's spare haunting guitar – although a few tracks have some larger arrangements, with sort of that Burbank-kitsch old time sound that was so popular with Van Dyke Parks and the Warner crew. Titles include "Bucktown Stomp", "Om Shanthi Norris", "Beverley", and "Horses".

Raw & rambling folk sounds from Michael Hurly – recorded in early '72 – some of his better material of the era, living up to if not surpassing his Armchair Boogie of a couple years earlier! Michael's in seemingly amiable spirit here on some tunes, and a standing on shakier ground and in scarier waters at other points, with some country rock tinged jams and weirdo troubadour numbers. Titles include "Blue Driver", "Water Train", "The Sun Is Slowly Sinking", "I'm Worried, I'm Worried", "In Florida", "Lilly Pads Upon The Pond", "Trinidad" and more.

A heck of a discovery – early recordings Townes Van Zandt cut in mid 60s Nashville – a couple of years before his official solo debut, and a soul shakingly beautiful mix of his country folk blues storytelling and some more rollicking numbers that work exceptionally well! One of the things that's most striking about it is how wise and knowing his songs and his voice are this early in his game, with the more intimate voice and guitar numbers sounding great. The few songs with busier instumentation work, too, and that's even more surprising give the Townes loner folk ouvre. We didn't think there could be much Townes left unreleased, especially of this quality! Titles include "Black Widow Blues", "Maryetta's Song", "Hunger Child Blues", "Black Jack Mama", "When Your Dream Never Dies", "Big Country Blues", "Gypsy Friday", "Colorado Blues", "Black Crow Blues" and more.

A beautiful 2CD set of long buried Townes Van Zandt recordings from the early 70s – a period that you can easily argue was his peak – even though few people were buying his records at the time! You get a pretty solid representation of 2 sides of the Townes sound on this great compilation from Omnivore. Disc One features alternate studio versions of some of our favorite songs – a good deal of which were produced by Cowboy Jack Clement at his Nashville studio in 1972 – plus a handful that Townes recorded in LA a year earlier. These have a sound that are fleshed out enough instrumentally, but without the horns, strings and some of the other grander aspects of the officially released album versions in hopes of breaking Townes through to a larger audience at the time. Ironically, it's the rawness and intimacy that Townes fans are drawn to – and that's what you get here! The second disc features demos that mostly feature just Townes's voice and acoustic guitar – and it's achingly beautiful! Despite the familiar track list, every song on this 2CD set is previously unreleased – and essential for longtime Townes fans and newbies alike! Includes "T For Texas", "Who Do You Love", "Sunshine Boy", "Pancho & Lefty" (an alternate 1972 mix without strings and horns), "Sad Cinderella", "Lungs", "Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold", "White Freight Liner Blues", "Two Hands" and more on the studio sessions disc – and the titles on the disc of demos includes "Heavenly Houseboat Blues", "Diamond Heel Blues", "Tower Song", "Hightway Kind", "Old Paint", "Standin'" and more. 28 tracks in all – and it features some excellent notes by Colin Escott.

Amazing sounds from Roscoe Holcomb – a set recorded in the mid 70s, but one with a timeless quality that belies Holcomb's deep roots in eastern Kentucky! All tunes feature just a bit of guitar or banjo, and Holcomb's incredible vocals – inflected with a life's worth of rich experience into a mode that's almost more blues than folk at points – a key illustration of the way the genres can blur across cultural lines, if you know where to look. Titles include "Motherless Children", "Train That Carried My Girl From Town", "Frankie & Johnny", "In London City", "Walk Around My Bedside", and "The Village Churchyard".