A country soul musician, Arkansas jug band players and an English post-punk band walk into a bar. Or something along those lines?
This week’s Fresh Picks, by Music Director Kari Hedlund and Host/Volunteer Coordinator Dan Gannon, gets an assist from our Audience Engagement guru, Julia Schrenkler, and we are better for it!
Check out this week’s suggestions, which includes new names in the music scene, Big Benny Bailey, and familiar voices and players, like Billy Strings and Swamp Dogg.
Albums
Album of the Week: Sad Daddy – Ozark Shine
Melissa Carper is omnipresent in today’s old-school country scene, where jazz and blues music has as much influence as fishin’ and drinkin’. With Sad Daddy, she rolls out with a crew of Arkansas-based musicians: Brian Martin on guitar, Joe Sundell playing banjo and Rebecca Patek on fiddle. Together, they recorded a timeless amalgamation of ballads (“Let’s Go Fishin’ ”), jug band songs (“Did We Turn Off the Stove?”) and up-tempo swingers (“Don’t You Take My Dollar Bill”).
Recorded at the all-analog Nashville studio The Bomb Shelter (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff), Ozark Shine sounds like a back porch hootenanny with some of your coolest musician friends. The musicianship and vocal harmonies are top-notch, but Sad Daddy also uses humor, whimsy and kazoos to great effect. “Did We Turn Off the Stove?” is a prime example of the sly cleverness Sad Daddy brings to their music while also being completely relatable. Who hasn’t left the house wondering if all the necessary things were turned off, locked up, fed, put away, etc.? -DG
Swamp Dogg – Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife
At 83 years old, the cult musician Swamp Dogg is finding new audiences for his second, third and maybe fourth time? Since the beginning, he has seen life through a clever and funny lens and has incorporated that outlook into his music. While musically high energy and incredibly executed, the lyrics are focused on the end of life, delivered with humor.
The tone of the album is summed in the song “Please Don’t Bury Me,” a funky New Orleans number that doles out his organs and body parts to anywhere else but in the ground, with the last verse ending with, “Send my mouth way down south and kiss my ass goodbye.” However, the album is bookended with a truly contemplative side of Swamp Dogg in the lead and final tracks: “Searching for Heaven” and “Final Approach.” -KH
Singles
The Wolfgang Press – “Speakers Don’t Speak”
4AD trackers got a present in the form of “Speakers Don’t Speak,” a new single sneaked out from The Wolfgang Press. Fans will joyfully recognize the band’s hallmark sound in the first 11 seconds, and can then happily sink into Michael Allen’s grinding, crooning vocals. It’s four minutes and change of the band’s trademark polished points balanced with deep grit, like meditating while grinding teeth … in the most satisfying way. The Wolfgang Press delivers with this lil’ trip of a song, and you might enjoy the groove ride. It’s speculation, but I can imagine they’re having fun in production, and as a longtime fan, I dig it. -JS
Devon Gilfillian – “IRL (ft. Cory Wong)”
Off Gilfillian’s new LP, Time Will Tell, this cut is straight up funky, like the bottom of your favorite take-out container! “IRL,” aka “In Real Life,” is more than just an online contraction but a real quandary for all of us as we balance our lives between online realities and the beautiful world outside. Gilfillian makes it clear he is opting for face-to-face interactions, including one with Minnesota musician Cory Wong, who is featured on the song. -DG
Angus & Julia Stone – “Monroe”
The Australian sibling duo is back with “Monroe,” a song they recorded in the south of France. Funky and sultry, it also somehow channels ’90s R&B while singing of the very real highs and lows of a relationship. -KH
Big Benny Bailey – “Ain’t No Getting Rid of Me Yet”
Made up of Ben Pierce and Shamir Bailey, Big Benny Bailey is a modern-day bluegrass and country group in so many ways: proudly queer, multi-racial and talented to boot. Check the lyrics, “Cause they hate what they see/ When they lay their eyes on me/ Non-conformity like a target on my head.” BBB creates a joyous bounce to this defiant song while keeping it real. 2026 bluegrass for all you back porch enthusiasts. -DG
Billy Strings – “Burn The Other End”
The bluegrass powerhouse announced last week he’s coming out with a new album, So Much For Goodbyes, to be released Aug. 28. His new album is a dedication to his mom, who died unexpectedly in 2025. Immediately on hitting play, you can feel a weight of sadness and grief — the weight of experiencing life in all its beauty and pain. String’s statement about the album said, “To notice and embrace this very significant period of grief in my life and make art from it. To turn my heartbreak into songs while using my guitar as a coping mechanism as I always have. It’s always been there for me to lean on through the hard times, and I figure it always will … until it’s my time to say goodbye.” -KH
Pick From ’76
Marvin Gaye – I Want You
On I Want You, we find Marvin Gaye continuing to expand his own artistry and sound, moving away from the Motown hit machine that produced so many massive songs.
This album is an ode to a lover and is filled with a sultry funkiness that was uncommon at the time. In fact, the music on I Want You sparked the creation of a new sub-genre of R&B called “Quiet Storm,” where the rhythms were a bit slower, the songs often about love and heartache and an overt sensuality was expressed in the music.
After self-producing his previous two records (What’s Going On? and Let’s Get It On), Gaye enlisted the help of singer-songwriter Leon Ware, who had previously worked with both Michael Jackson and The Miracles. Ware co-wrote all of the material on the album with Gaye. It was recorded at Gaye’s brand-new home studio, Marvin’s Room, where he and Ware made sure that the Funk Brothers — Motown’s studio band — were involved in the recording. The addition of strings and synthesizer created a smooth-yet-spacey sound that was very unique in its day.
The title song is notable on many fronts. The intro alone is iconic with Gaye’s voice combining with a subtle funky bass and soaring strings to get you ready for a tune that mixes desire, loneliness and epic musicianship. No wonder the tune was sampled by zillions of hip-hop acts!
Marvin Gaye’s legacy as one of the music world’s most talented singers is untouchable, and all of us on planet Earth are lucky to hear his art!
Music
June’s wrap-up of music includes songs from Pigeon, Racoma, Orquestra Pacífico Tropical, Suki Waterhouse, and albums from Bella White, Joey Quiñones and Lizzie No & Co.
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