Our Top Six Albums July 2025
Top Six Album Releases
July 2025
Our Top Six Albums July 2025
By Rob Dickens
The Horsenecks
In The West
Tiki Parlour Recordings
27 June 2025
I close my eyes. I’m back in the USA (it must be my 16th time?). First, I picture a warm day, and I’m on a front porch in Oregon listening to the most divine, traditionally authentic music. Next, I’m in a community hall on a balmy evening and the same beautiful tones capture the building. There’s frenetic dancing, laughter and warmth. It is joyful. I open my eyes and I’m in my living room. The Horsenecks‘ music is still there. I smile.
James McMurtry
The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy
New West Records
20 June 2025
His father Larry was an acclaimed novelist and screenwriter. James McMurtry is a lyrical chip off the same block. An unparalleled creator of both witty and fierce observations (sometimes simultaneously), together with a consummate skill for dramatic imagery. The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy is his first album in four years, continuing a legacy of the finest songwriting. Wonderfully supported by Sarah Jarosz, Charlie Sexton, Pat Macdonald, Bonnie Whitmore, Bukka Allen and his backing band – BettySoo, Cornbread, Tim Holt and Daren Hess.
Kelsey Waldon
Every Ghost
Oh Boy Records
20 June 2025
If you love your music Twangy, Tough and Tall, Every Ghost is for you. The album shows a toughened-up Kelsey Waldon. The subject matter covers the need to wise up, dealing with grief, broken men, a grandmother who’s passed and her bloodlines. The dramas are no more evident than on “My Kin” – “Been knocked down a time or two/But give me a chance and I’ll come on through/I’ll still be singin’ like an old violin/I’m the best and worst of my kin.” Passionate and strong.
Lukas Nelson
American Romance
6 Ace Records/Sony Music
20 June 2025
Lukas Nelson had a monster song on his 2017 album Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real – “Forget About Georgia” – ah, that riff! Maybe it’s been a while since he attained that level, until now. His collaboration with the statuesque Stephen Wilson Jr on “Disappearing Light” is perhaps an even higher peak. There are plenty of other treats on American Romance, which sees Nelson clean shaven (looking a little Ben Mendelsson?) and introspective (I love the cover). This is a triumph.
Stillhouse Junkies
The Ballad Of Charlie Avalon
Common Loon Records
4 July 2025
Talk about ambitious. Stillhouse Junkies founder and songwriter Fred Kosak started working on this narrative of a musician (loosely based on the real-life experience of Mississippi John Hurt) in 2020. A sprawling, concept-album account of the trials and travails of the music business. Overflowing with inspiration and a delicious blend of bluegrass, folk, swing and rock over twenty-one tracks. Ambitious projects are always the most satisfying to achieve.
Via Resounding Strategies
Trenton Wagler
This Might Be My Prime
Independent
20 June 2025
Trenton Wagler was raised on Mennonite harmonies and a rural upbringing to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The front man of the twenty-year-long bluegrass, soul and gospel outfit The Steel Wheels goes to the spotlight without his trusted band members and delivers a defining solo album. Maybe he felt the need to air some commentary on matters not normally within the vibe of the band. Here, he does so with ease, and his trademark crisp vocals and sublime clawhammer banjo playing are remarkable. Topics here include armed weaponry, international conflict, bad decisions and even a county fair tractor pull.
Via Resounding Strategies
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Our Top Six Albums July 2025
Our Top Six Albums July 2025
Our Top Six Albums July 2025
