Listening to Weston Day release "Storms" feels a bit like opening a window during a gale just to see if the glass will hold. It’s a rush of air, sudden and brisk. While his style is often bookmarked as "Elvis Costello meets Paul Simon," I hear a man frantically trying to explain a complicated heartbreak before the bar closes. https://open.spotify.com/track/1YxtWM0OIRR0ShlLMhxKmc?si=d5BvDBy8Qdib-_4WhMb-kA Armed with an 8-string baritone acoustic...

Brett L Walker’s new single, “Best Redneck Life,” is a curious and compelling thing. From the opening notes, it leans into its identity with a sound that’s all humidity and frayed denim—a confident strut of swampy, chicken pickin’ guitars that feel both West Coast-baked and Southern-fried. It’s a track that plants its flag firmly in the soil of North Carolina, unapologetic and unconcerned with...