As we pack our bags for the weekend (and try to escape to the most nationalistic bit of Scotland – friendly advice please…), we leave you with the new track by Neko Case which is taken from her forthcoming album ‘Hell-On’ which is due out June 1 via the ANTI label and features appearances from (in no particular order) Beth Ditto, k.d. Lang, AC Newman, Eric Bachmann, Kelly Hogan, Doug Gillard, Laura Veirs and Joey Burns. “That lot” as Alan Partridge would say. ‘Curse of the I-5 Corridor’ is an epic seven-minute affair and features some rather lovely vocals from Mark Lanegan. Have a good one dear readers.
Following on from the track we posted yesterday, Yep Roc Records have announced the simultaneous release of two records from Nashville legend Jim Lauderdale on 3rd August – ‘Time Flies’ and ‘Jim Lauderdale and Roland White’. Both are “new,” but only the former was recently recorded. Lauderdale’s 30th and 31st studio albums respectively, the records mark the two-time Grammy award-winner’s long-awaited return to the ace Yep Roc roster after a decade apart. 
Aussie alt-country/Americana outfit Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes have announced their return to the UK next month including an appearance at Maverick Festival; along with the European release of their fourth album ‘Some Girls (Quite) Like Country Music’ on June 29th. The album opens with the band’s semi-political brand new single ‘I Hope That I’m Wrong’ which you can hear below. 
The fabled Delta Lady, Rita Coolidge, is currently on a rare four day residency at Canary Wharf’s Boisdale in London promoting her latest album, ‘Safe in the arms of Time’. The Grammy winning singer-songwriter is best remembered for her string of solo albums back in the seventies along with discs recorded with her then husband, Kris Kristofferson, while prior to this she sang with a veritable host of superstars including Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills. Russell wrote his hit song Delta Lady inspired by Coolidge and she featured alongside Russell and Joe Cocker in the film Mad Dogs and Englishmen. 
Richard Thompson has announced an extensive UK tour for October and November 2018 in advance of a new studio album which will be released later this year on Proper Records, kicking off in lovely Liverpool’s Philharmonic on 11th October. Last year, Thompson released two volumes of acoustic recordings: ‘Acoustic Classics Vol. II’ featuring acoustic renderings of songs from the Richard Thompson catalogue, and ‘Acoustic Rarities’ featuring new recordings of some of the more obscure songs in his repertoire. He celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fairport Convention, the groundbreaking band he co-founded as a teenager in the ‘60s, with a performance at its annual Cropredy Festival last August. He also briefly did a remarkably authentic stint as Abe Simpson when he berated the state of modern music at the AMAUKs last year. 
News in from the AMA overnight (the US version) of their list of nominees for their honours and awards for 2018, and there’s good news for Mr Isbell, Margo Price and Brandi Carlile among others – in fact the lists are dominated by the 3 artists, although they are also joined by Mary Gauthier for her excellent “Rifles & Rosary Beads” record, nominated for album of the Year), John Prine (nominated for Artist of the Year), and Lee Ann Womack (nominated for Song of the Year). 
A new festival hits the decks this June in, and we know this won’t surprise you, Arisaig. It’ll run over a weekend – 23rd-24th June to be precise – and offers an afternoon of free music workshops focusing on Bluegrass guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin. This is followed up by a two part concert starting at 7PM and finishing at midnight (or thereabouts). What bands? Well – The Jellyman’s Daughter and Crow County Pickers (who include Mairi Orr in their number) make up the first half with the late gig being The Wynntown Marshals and The Daddy Naggins. 
Spin are reporting today that Neil Young has announced a personal exodus so he can spend more time with his online archive which he’s been busy updating over the last six months at NeilYoungArchives.com. They report: “In a new post on Facebook, the songwriter says that he will be leaving the platform to focus on expanding Neil Young Archives, which he here calls “a giant time machine cabinet” filled with “albums and tracks, bits and pieces, manuscripts and art, film and video.” 
Black Deer is like that kid showing off at school who always has the best stuff and today they’ve got one more (well a few more) thing(s) to brag about since they’ve announced the final names to their already fairly exciting line-up including Catherine McGrath, Wallis Bird, Colin Macleod, Josh Okeefe, Jeannine Barry, Keywest, Marc O’Reilly, Dan Clews, Thomas Wynn & The Believers, Cattle & Cane and Carousel.