No Country for New Nashville

As we have for the past few years, we have ranked all of our collective favorite records of 2015 from both a National and Nashville perspective. To come up with a list, our staff nominated their top local records, and then we had a vote to rank the results.

If you saw our Best National Records of 2015 post, then you know that Jason Isbell and Kacey Musgraves are included in that list, so they were excluded from this Nashville poll to add more variety. Even after removing votes for those records, we still had 43 album submissions to tally.

Below, have a look at top 10 (11 because of ties) Nashville albums of 2015 to find out where all of our tastes overlap. If you need to play catchup, or you’re in the mood to revisit the best of last year, we’ve provided links to Spotify. Stay tuned for our favorite live shows of 2015 coming this week. READ MORE…

Big news for fans of East Nashvillian alt-Americana songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan; his new record, In The Blazes, is out today! So, in its honor, we are premiering another great track (see this post too) entitled “Judee Was A Punk.” The new album was recorded with Delta Spirit producer Eli Thomson, Dan Bailey (Father John Misty’s drummer), and solo artist/multi-instrumentalist David Vandervelde … plus Aaron is no slouch either, cutting his teeth as a touring guitarist for the New York Dolls, Drivin N Cryin, and Alberta Cross. READ MORE…

If you are looking to find your new favorite band tonight, head to fooBAR on the east side to catch Atlanta’s Spirits And The Melchizedek Children. The band has been touring relentlessly in support of their most recent release So Happy It’s Sad, which the AV Club described as “Richly layered meditations that float in the cold zone between forlornness and a vast cosmic awe.”

We’ve been spinning this record in fairly heavy rotation over here, and can’t get enough of the dreamy psychedelic post rock sounds. READ MORE…

We’ve already told you about Tesla Rossa‘s upcoming self-titled, debut full-length, which is set to drop Nov. 11, and, along with that announcement, brought you lead single “Vacation.” Today, we’re brining you another taste of Tesla Rossa in the form of an exclusive premiere of revamped take on the group’s track “Kinetic.” LISTEN HERE…

Just a week and a half ago, we had the distinct pleasure of hosting indie rock/soul musicians Willie and the Giant at our weekly showcase over at Acme Feed and Seed, but it turns out that’s not the only thing this talented bunch of musicians have been up to recently. In fact, the group just entered the release cycle for the upcoming self-titled debut effort, and on Tuesday, September 9th, dropped two new singles: “Ain’t Gonna Wait” and “Poor Boy”. The tracks are, for lack of a better word, phenomenal, and really pay testament to the musicality the four players possess. The tracks are very engaging and rich, and harken back to the era of tape and live cuts, which makes sense seeing as they were cut in Nashville’s own Welcome to 1979. We’ve got the tracks available after the jump for you to formulate your opinions of, but really: it’s quality rock and roll, done the way it should be done. What isn’t there to like? LISTEN HERE…

We’ve been jabbering about The Wans and their upcoming release, He Said, She Said, for a good part of the summer.  We brought you the first single, “I Can’t Fix You” back in June, and named them a must see in our Forecastle lineup.  Well, the wait is up, and the album is out.  We are going to offer you a stream below, but that should really just incite you to visit your local record store to buy a physical copy.

No local dates on the books as of right now, but we expect that to change in the coming weeks.  Keep your eyes on No Country for updates on that front, and keep your ears on The Wans for an impressive debut full length, and another solid band who are setting the pace in Nashville’s exploding rock scene. LISTEN HERE…