From the heart of Nashville, Grammy-nominated bluegrass band Sister Sadie returns with their fourth studio album, All Will Be Well. A sweeping, genre-blurring body of work that reaffirms their place not only as instrumental powerhouses but as storytellers rooted deeply in resilience, community, and emotional truth.
Out now via Mountain Home Music Company, All Will Be Well arrives on the heels of a triumphant award season for the group. With co-founder Deanie Richardson earning Fiddle Player of the Year and guitarist Jaelee Roberts taking home Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2024 International Bluegrass Music Association awards. The band itself, which formed in 2012 after a one-off performance at Nashville’s Station Inn, has long defied the limits of genre and gender in bluegrass, having been crowned IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year in 2020 and Vocal Group of the Year for three consecutive years prior.
What makes All Will Be Well especially poignant is its emotional and stylistic breadth. From the first notes of “Winnebago” to the soulful closer “Can’t Let Go of Your Love”, Sister Sadie pulls from a palette that fuses 90s country nostalgia with classic bluegrass instrumentation. Guitarist and vocalist Dani Flowers, who co-wrote over half the album, describes it best: “From the studio to the stage, the songs from this record have brought us back to life and connected us to each other in brand new ways.”
One of the most arresting tracks, “Let the Circle Be Broken”, tackles generational trauma and domestic abuse with raw honesty. It’s an exorcism wrapped in harmony, somber and unrelenting, yet ultimately redemptive. This willingness to marry vulnerability with musical precision is Sister Sadie’s signature, and it’s on full display throughout the album.
The band also invited a stellar lineup of collaborators to join the journey. Steve Earle lends harmony on “I Wish It Would Rain”, while legends like Russ Pahl (pedal steel), Catherine Marx (keys), and Dave Racine (drums) elevate the record’s sonic landscape. With these contributions and performances from musicians like Seth Taylor and Mary Meyer, each track is layered with texture, intention, and deep musical kinship.
Standouts like “Make Me Stay or Make Me Go” and “The Devil Don’t Care” offer blistering instrumentation and bold vocal performances. “Orphan Train” and “Prodigal Daughter” lean into narrative balladry, while “This Is Me (You’re Not Talking To)” feels like a line in the sand. Through it all, the band’s vocal chemistry remains unshakable, each harmony feeling earned and essential.
It is a damn good record. But more than that, it’s a generous one. The kind that opens its arms to long-time fans and newcomers alike. Whether you come for the bluegrass chops, the country soul, or the stories that settle in your bones, All Will Be Well is a celebration of Sister Sadie’s evolution. Because in their world, harmony isn’t just a sound. It’s a promise.
Nashville-based artist Sam Varga released his new single “Minute Man” on July 4th. Varga is an rock/alt-country artist and has one full-length album he released in 2024 titled Shadow Work. His music is a unique combination of the distinct sound of country with some clear alternative and emo influences. Some of his songs lean more acoustic and it’s just his voice and the guitar, and others have that more alt-pop sound.
“Minute Man” has a modern country sound, and is a relatively simple production. There are a few minutes where it’s just the guitar playing, which switches up the main beat of the song. But Varga’s style makes this song different from any other country song, as the alternative elements are just as present here. Sam Varga’s vocals feel much more in line with an alternative style than the traditional country singer. The vocals don’t have the high pitch that is often present in emo music, but the tone is much brighter than country usually is. The drums are also more reminiscent of the alternative genre, which manages to give this song a complex sound with the simple production.
The single is also political in a way that’s fitting for our current world, a distinction from Varga’s other work. Different cultural references are sprinkled throughout the song, which catches the listener’s attention. It’s less of a specific political message than it is an observation of just how broken our world and society is right now. The song also mostly references different ways that the world is ending or “broken,” like the threat of nuclear war and the polar ice caps melting.
But the main “story” of the song is about falling in love with this apocalyptic background. It’s an interesting contrast between this love and the very current threat of the world ending. The lyrics “two kids kissing under bleachers in the fallout” are immediately followed by “heard you say we’re gonna die young anyway.” It’s dark, but the takeaway isn’t totally depressing. The title comes into play here, as the lyrics “I just need a minute, man” end off the chorus. “Minute Man” is interested in how screwed up our current political world is, but it isn’t a totally nihilistic song.
Amy Jay‘s latest single, “Can’t Go Back” is a indie pop track that delves into displacement, detachment and loneliness in a place that you think of as your home. Amy Jay is a self described “alt folk indie singer songwriter” who is currently based in New York City. “Can’t Go Back” is the first single off of Jay’s upcoming album, Mnemonics, out November 7th.
“Can’t Go Back” is the perfect song for soul searchers, introspectives, and who has ever felt out of place or invisible. Amy Jay’s inspiration—feeling lost in New York City—is a universal concept even if you don’t have millions of people on your doorstep. Community is a hard thing to find, and Jay delves into that struggle deeply on “Can’t Go Back.”
The track begins with immersive bass beats with deeply personal direct lyrics targeted to a former friend/lover. She reminsces on what once was, and their final dinner, mentioning the isolation that followed. Her soft vocals are intimate and reflective of the songs sensitive nature.
The tracks shining star is it’s lyrics. When Amy Jay writes, “I can’t tell if it’s New York, or if I’ve grown up, or if I’ve grown up in New York”, she speaks to the dismantling of identity and placement, and the way we become misaligned with our home and self.
As she writes that the city is “shaping her”, she is discussing all the change you go through during youth and how malleable your identity becomes. It’s so easy to lose yourself in new environments and experiences, and forget where you even began, which is exactly what Jay seeks to discover. Describes Jay of the inspiration here, “Remember that change is inevitable and sometimes permanent.” She goes on to explain:
Although I wrote this song before COVID, it’s eerily pertinent to how the pandemic drastically impacted our lives. Despite living in the same city long enough to call it home, I question if my sense of displacement comes from New York’s inherent transience or the broader challenges of adulthood. Even before COVID but especially since, many loved ones moved away and my community is constantly shifting, so it often feels impossible to establish lasting roots in such an ever-changing environment. Like experiencing a death, the only way to move forward is to grieve the change and accept the new reality.
The lyrics are enrobed in Jay’s echoey vocals, and the nostalgic reverb that makes the song feel simultaneously distant and extremely close to home, which is exactly the contrast that exists within the narrative of displacement and discovery.
The steady and relatively chill beat and instrumentals are at odds with the anxiety and mourning of loss time and identity within the song, and the tension works amazingly. Jay is up to quietly mourn who we once were alongside her, as the song allows the listener to reflect on their own irreversible moments and lost memories/experiences.
The repetition of the lyrics “We can’t go back” is both disarming and comforting, as it reflects both the uneasiness towards the passage of time, as well as the acceptance of it. “Can’t Go Back” is the soundtrack for travelers, hermits, college students, and pretty much anyone that has felt instability or loss of identity, and Amy Jay packages it skillfully and wonderfully through her velvety vocals and confessional lyrics. If you don’t already relate, unfortunately, someday you will!
Follow Amy Jay on tour here. Pre-save the single here.
Paris Jackson – yes, Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson – is opening for Incubus right now, and is an absolute must-see. Walking out onto the stage at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri on a sweltering Tuesday night in July, she seemed to almost float. Barefoot, and with a flowy outfit befitting a fairy – or, dare I say it, Stevie Nicks – she wasted no time picking up the guitar and belting her heart out through an impressive twenty minute set as the sun set.
Setlist Maker Happiest Day of My Life Zombies in Love Gaslight (with Mike Einziger) The Colour Blue My Buckling Knees
Her simple goodbye to the crowd? She stood up, and said, “I’m Paris Jackson, and I’m from Los Angeles, California.”
A handful of favorites below. More featured on our Instagram.
Incubus is giving the fans exactly what they want this summer by playing fan favorite album Morning View in its entirety at every stop on their tour. On Tuesday, July 8th, they stopped through Starlight Theatre, tucked into a corner covered in greenery in Kansas City, Missouri. With an incredible amount of energy – especially for such a warm midwest evening – these talented musicians graced the stage with an epic, powerful set design and striking lighting and visuals. Smoke and shadows added emphasis to the work, another layer to their artistry continuing to unlock now, 34 years after the band’s conception.
Incubus is giving us an extra special setlist below, for those of you who have yet to experience this epic evening. Check out their remaining tour dates to catch them this month with the indelible Manchester Orchestra and Paris Jackson.
Nice to Know You Circles Wish You Were Here Just a Phase 11am Blood on the Ground (Acoustic) Mexico Warning Echo Have You Ever Are You In? (Phil Collins “In The Air Tonight” outro) Under My Umbrella (Rihanna “Umbrella” intro) Aqueous Transmission
Megalomaniac Anna Molly The Warmth Vitamin (Portishead “Glory Box” outro) Drive Pardon Me
On Independence Day 2025, Kesha detonated a firework of her own: . (PERIOD), her long-anticipated sixth studio album and the first released under her own label, Kesha Records. It’s more than an album. It’s a neon-lit middle finger to expectations and a joyride into the unruly, emotionally raw depths of her artistry.
With . (PERIOD), Kesha returns not just unfiltered, but unshackled. This 11-track collection explodes with irreverence, vulnerability, and a high-octane celebration of freedom. Featuring hit singles like “JOYRIDE.”, “YIPPEE-KI-YAY.” (featuring T-Pain), and “BOY CRAZY.” The album is stacked with unapologetically bold anthems that demand to be blasted at full volume, with glitter smeared across your cheeks and a scream in your throat.
Born in Los Angeles but spiritually stationed somewhere between a dancefloor and the desert, Kesha has long transcended pop stardom. She’s a cultural icon, a survivor, and a provocateur and with . (PERIOD), she’s steering the whole damn ship. Co-produced and co-written by Kesha herself, the album pulls from electro-pop, country, house, and punk, yet feels cohesive in its chaos. It’s as if each song is a new face of the same disco ball, fractured but blazing with light.
The opening track, “FREEDOM.” sets the tone with a thunderous, rallying cry for autonomy. From there, “JOYRIDE.” (released exactly a year prior) feels like a literal ignition. Its video, where Kesha races through the desert dodging helicopters and hitmen, has nearly 2 million views and encapsulates the album’s energy: rebellious, cinematic, and on the run.
Then there’s “BOY CRAZY.”, an infectious dance track paired with a chaotic, sex-positive video that sees Kesha surrounded by scantily clad men. It’s ridiculous. It’s hilarious. It’s art. Co-directed by Kesha herself alongside Brett Loudermilk and Zain Curtis, it’s clear she’s taken the wheel creatively as well as musically.
“YIPPEE-KI-YAY.” is perhaps the wildest track of the bunch. A yeehaw-worthy country-pop fusion featuring T-Pain and remixed by A.G. Cook. It’s absurd in all the right ways. Kesha even brought it to Coachella and Stagecoach in two wildly different live renditions that perfectly capture her range and reinvention.
And if there’s one ballad on this record that cuts deepest, it’s “CATHEDRAL.” A lush, gospel-tinged closer that aches with hope and grief. Kesha’s vocals, often buried under glitter and grit, shine in their full, earnest power here.
But beyond the music, . (PERIOD) is a reclamation. After years of public legal battles and creative restrictions, Kesha’s independence is no longer symbolic; it’s literal. Released through her own imprint, on her own terms, this album reaffirms her role not just as a pop star but as an artist. It’s messy, it’s loud, it’s half-joke, half-confession, and it’s the most Kesha she’s ever been.
Currently on her largest headline run to date, The Tits Out Tour. Kesha is lighting up arenas across the U.S., with sold-out shows at iconic venues like the Kia Forum in LA and Madison Square Garden. Proving once again that Kesha has always had her glittered finger on the pulse of pop culture.
. (PERIOD) is the sound of an artist who’s lived through hell and come out ready to dance on its ashes.
