Last month The Bitter Southerner website* posted Let Her Cook: The Best Southern Albums of 2024, an eclectic list of 20 albums curated by the TBS staff. There are well-known names (Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Brittany Howard) and everything from folk to pop to rock to rap. Today I’ve focused on six of these artists to highlight names and music that, with one or two exceptions, may be new to you. Each segment quotes from the TBS article and includes one video (except when there are two.)
Enjoy!
Joy Oladokun
Nigerian American singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun was born in Delaware, raised in Arizona, and is now based in Nashville, that hotbed of country and Americana music. In many ways, Oladokun reminds me of the folksingers of my youth, as I wrote in a 2023 post. She has a beautiful and soulful voice, often heard over the delicate sound of her acoustic guitar. Her songs are poetry for today’s America, sung with pain and passion.
“Joy Oladokun’s Observations from a Crowded Room feels like a deep exhale after holding it together for way too long. Blending folk, pop, gospel, and touches of R&B, it’s smooth and meditative but still knows how to groove. Oladokun explores the exhaustion of constantly pushing through—fitting into spaces where you don’t feel welcome, balancing faith, family, substances, and the endless weight of vulnerability. The album opener ‘Letter from a Blackbird’ is written like a reflective contemporary response to the iconic Beatles’ track. ‘Flowers’ and ‘Good Enough’ are gentle, acoustic, and sweet, offering moments of quiet reflection. In contrast, ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Drugs’ hit harder—raw, intense, and emotionally charged, capturing the ache of navigating a life that drains you . . . It’s an album about being tired but honest, creating something beautiful even when you’re at your limit.”
The Bitter Southerner
Here I pair Letter from a Blackbird with Oladokun’s beautiful cover of the Beatles’ original that inspired the new tune.
Sierra Ferrell
One of the brightest young stars in roots music today, Sierra Ferrell brings “a dose of beautifully strange magic to everything she touches.”
“Whimsical, wild and yearning, Sierra Ferrell’s Trail of Flowers is a force. Ferrell pays homage to her roots and those of country, bluegrass and soul genres, weaving it all together with her timeless velvety voice. This album spans decades, creating a mix of sounds and feelings that are both contemporary and classic . . . Somehow hopeful and heartbroken all at once, Sierra Ferrell has mastered the art of loneliness, love and good-old-fashioned country music.”
The Bitter Southerner
Madi Diaz
“Madi Diaz’s Weird Faith feels like cracking open someone’s diary and reading the messiest, most unfiltered pages. The lyrics are blunt, intimate, and shift moods so quickly it’s almost hard to keep up, but that’s what makes it so painfully relatable. Diaz has created an undeniably pretty album, with soft sweet acoustic guitar and stunningly clear vocals throughout. The album hones in on the early stages of a relationship, when you’re spiraling over whether you can trust them yet . . . Tracks like ‘Hurting You’ and the Kacey Musgraves duet ‘Don’t Do Me Good’ are slow and syrupy, while ‘Obsessive Thoughts’ and ‘Worst Case Scenario’ explode with raw, chaotic energy.”
The Bitter Southerner
Maggie Rose
Born in Potomac, Maryland, the Nashville based singer-songwriter Maggie Rose has been making a name for herself in rock-and-roll, soul, folk, funk, and R&B for several years, as I noted in 2021. A gifted vocalist, Rose has worked with some of the top names in the field.
“Right out of the gate, this album [No One Gets Out Alive] is beautiful and powerful. Its title track opener has so much energy, and its classic emotive soul sound brings the great Carole King to mind. Maggie Rose’s vocals are truly stunning throughout—she has technical skill and vulnerability out the wazoo. This album has a timeless wisdom, celebrating intuition alongside honesty and self worth . . . On the so-dang-funky ‘Underestimate Me,’ Rose’s cup runneth over with swagger and confidence as she literally begs someone to let her prove them wrong. ‘Only Time Around’ is a sweet song about trusting yourself and living in the present, reassuring advice we can all use in these times of transition.”
The Bitter Southerner
We’ll feature that funky Underestimate Me followed by the album’s title track.
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
I have loved the aching, soulful music of Welch and Rawlings for more than two decades. They have a deceptively simple yet oh so deep style, as I wrote in a 2020 MTC post.
“Gillian Welch’s voice is as golden as ever, and David Rawlings’ technical skill on guitar is mesmerizing. This year, the two country and folk legends brought us the smooth, steady and beautiful Woodland . . . With a more orchestral production than older projects, this album stands out most on tracks like ‘What We Had’ and sticks to their timeless folk sound on tunes like ‘Here Stands A Woman.’ The harmonies are effortlessly balanced, showcasing years of intuitive collaboration. No drama, no overpowering. Just pure magic.
This record, released three months before November, leaves us wondering if they’re psychic. How else could they create something so melancholy before we even knew we’d have to be?”
The Bitter Southerner
Two songs perfectly exemplify this melancholy vibe: Empty Trainload of Sky and What We Had.
Hurray for the Riff Raff
“Old soul lyricism, rich metaphors and even richer vocals shine on The Past Is Still Alive by Hurray For The Riff Raff. This record is smooth and silky on ‘Colossus of Roads’ and ‘Ogallala,’ with a bit of crunch on tracks like ‘Hawkmoon’; and it all flows. Through this project, Alynda Segarra gives sage advice: you can try and outrun the past, but you won’t get far—and maybe that’s not such a bad thing . . . This fall has been painful, and as they told us even before the election, ‘we’re reckoning with our history and thinking about how our country was formed, and also how we might envision a future.’ Like a lightning bug, Segarra has captured a full human experience: rusty trains, midwest sunrises, garbage, Narcan and the beauty of queerness glow in the palm of their hand.”
The Bitter Southerner
Let’s end with Hawkmoon from Hurray for the Riff Raff’s new album along with their cover of the timeless Townes Van Zandt tune Pancho and Lefty.
More to come . . .
DJB
*From the website: A beacon from the American South and a bellwether for the nation, The Bitter Southerner is an Athens, Ga.-based independent publisher, founded in 2013, that connects an activated and vocal global community working to make the South, and America, a better place. Today, The Bitter Southerner publishes three print magazines annually, books under its BS Publishing imprint, the “Batch” podcast, and offers iconic apparel and home goods in the BS General Store.
Photo of antique equipment on South Georgia farm by cbrennan poole on Unsplash
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David – Do you know about my friend from high school days, Cris Williamson? She’s an icon in feminist folk/rock circles, and with Judy Dlugacz, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Association in 2018 (link to the award presentation and Cris’ acceptance speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzu_-dWlbEk).
She recorded her first record (it was a record) when she was 16, I believe, and has produced 33 albums to date. Her early music was very much in the folk genre, and then turned more folk/rock/country. Now her voice has ripened with age, and her songs are more contemplative these days, though still with a folk/country beat. Her breakout album, The Changer and the Changed, came out 50 years ago, and helped put the first women-owned recording company, Olivia Records, which she founded, on the map. She does song-writing workshops with Bonnie Raitt (one of your favorites, I know).
This past week I streamed a live concert of hers from The Freight in Berkley, CA. It was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Changer and the Changed, though she sang songs in the first half of the program from her most recent release, Ravens and Roses. During the pandemic she streamed concerts from her home and wrote enough songs for a 2-CD set, Pray Tell.
She has been a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community, as well as for other social justice issues. If you haven’t discovered her, you might check her out. Here’s a link to her website: https://www.criswilliamson.com/
And here’s a link to her YouTube channel where you can listen to her songs (note: these are not professional videos, just the songs): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8qOC5UzMUNN_Xl_1qs5ZOA
Sandy
Sandy,
Thanks so much for introducing me to Cris Williamson. I’ve not been aware of her music, but she has clearly made a broad impact. I’ll dig into this in the next few days. Thanks for the links, and the backstory. Fascinating!
DJB
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