Whether you listen to music via a streaming service, CD, or record player, you’ll want to turn these C&I–approved tunes up a notch.
In our January 2022 issue, we rounded up some of our favorite entertainment options in the Western world. Here, see our recommendations for country, Americana, Indigenous music, and more.
Music
C.J. Garton
C.J. Garton has been writing and singing for as long as he can remember. Working on the ranch with his dad as a kid in Oklahoma helped cement his lifelong dedication to authentic country sounds. “You were surrounded by George Strait, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson tunes, and working cattle, and waking up early.”
Now in his late 30s, Garton has made a career of country music and works out of Nashville, but he still returns to the family land in Oklahoma to reconnect with his roots. He’s lived without his dad since losing him in the early 2000s. A single from Garton’s new double album, Tales of the Ole West and Other Libations to Please the Palate, addresses grief and memories the artist still carries. “If Daddy Could See” hits home with earnest lyrical sentiment and powerful baritone vocals (of which Whitley and Haggard would be proud).
The other tunes on Tales of the Ole West mine the greatest lyrical traditions and styles of late-20th century country. Garton’s dedication to the classics bodes well for his new album, which was initially made available in a premium vinyl edition. Intricately designed by Scott Yousey with a holographic cover depicting both a cowboy and a Native American (the dichotomy of the West), it speaks to Garton’s grand vision for the project. The song titles on the back are listed in English and in Cherokee text. In the visuals and the music (co-produced with frequent collaborator and accomplished Nashville fiddle player Joe Spivey), Garton aims to honor both the cowboy and Native culture of his Oklahoma home.
“I really connect with what the Cherokee did, and the tranquility of earth and Mother Nature, and just the natural God-given environment that we have.”
The traditional sounds and heartfelt messages on Garton’s new album began to take shape in 2019, when he set out with his son on a remarkable journey. What started as a crazy idea to spend more time together became a father-son horseback ride from Tennessee to Oklahoma. Garton and son dubbed their monthlong trip “Riding for Real Country: The Ride Back Home,” and connected with folks on every stop regarding their love for traditional country music.
“When I approached [my son], I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to go hop on a horse and ride 700 miles back to the cattle ranch. And I’m planning on doing it in 30 days. You want to go with me?’ He just looked me and said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it with you.’”
The trip was a rousing success not only for Garton’s own songwriting inspiration, but for the bond he strengthened with his son. They spent countless hours together on their horses, Pancho and Lefty, and met people from every walk of life.
“I loved the idea that we’d wake up in hammocks, and there’s a light rain coming down and the sun’s coming up over a cornfield, and we’re getting ready to hop on a horse, me and my son, and just ride, you know?”
Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers
Ramble in Music City: The Lost Concert
(emmylouharris.com; available now)
The year was 1990. The Hubble Telescope would be launched. Germany would be reunited. And Emmylou Harris would form her all-acoustic band, the Nash Ramblers. After 15 years of touring and performing with her Hot Band, she got finger-picking all-stars together and showed everyone — again — how it’s done. The Nash Ramblers consisted of Sam Bush (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Roy Huskey Jr. (bass), Larry Atamanuik (drums), Al Perkins (dobro, banjo, vocals), and Jon Randall Stewart (acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals). The concert at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center was recorded, but the tapes would be shelved somewhere and forgotten.
Until now. This newly unearthed live recording dropped like manna from country music heaven on the Nonesuch label. Featuring music by A.P. Carter, Rodney Crowell, Ruth Franks, the Louvin Brothers, Doc Pomus, Paul Simon, Townes Van Zandt, and Harris herself, it’s a different set of songs from (and every bit as wonderful as) the ones on the Grammy-winning At the Ryman, which was recorded the following spring, and which would help spur the multimillion-dollar restoration of country’s “Mother Church.”
Emmylou, now 74, seemed pleasantly stunned when the old recording from that night was found. “When James Austin, in my humble opinion, the world’s best and certainly most devoted music archaeologist, unearthed the tapes of this ‘lost’ concert, I was taken aback by their very existence, like finding some cherished photograph misplaced so long ago the captured moment had been forgotten,” Harris is quoted on the label’s website. “It only took one listen to realize not a single note was out of place or in need of repair, a truly extraordinary performance by these gifted musicians. What a joy it was to share the stage with them.”
John Mitchum’s Unabashed Love of Country, Cowboys, and God
(johnmitchumworld.com; available now)
The late John Mitchum was known for his acting work, especially roles in Clint Eastwood films such as High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales, but he also wrote poems and songs that became cherished in the Western world. He composed “America — Why I Love Her.” Famously recorded by John Wayne, the poem gets an updated reading by Robert Duvall on this Mitchum tribute album. Duvall is far from the only luminary to voice poems over stirring music. You’ll hear Wilford Brimley, Red Steagall, Barry Corbin, and dozens more.
Connor Chee
The Navajo Piano (Revisited)
(connorchee.com; available now)
The accomplished Navajo pianist has released an updated version of his award-winning classical record — the results are hypnotic. You’ll hear traditional Navajo songs as well as the piano adaptations of them that Chee arranges so deftly.
Home in this World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads
(elektra.lnk.to/homeinthisworld; available now)
Some of the top Americana artists today have lovingly covered tunes from the cultural-landmark 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads by folk legend Woody Guthrie. It’s amazing how relevant the messages remain. Highlights include Lee Ann Womack’s “Dusty Old Dust” and Colter Wall’s “Do Re Mi.”
Charley Crockett
Music City USA
(charleycrockett.com; available now)
The Texan troubadour continues his journey through vintage sounds and styles on his second LP in the span of a year. This collection finds his gifted vocals flirting with honky-tonk steel, soul horns, and toe-tappin’ rhythms.
Natalie Hemby
Pins and Needles
(nataliehemby.com; out in mid-2022)
Hemby is one of Nashville’s most prolific and talented songwriters. She’s also been part of the supergroup The Highwomen in recent years. But now’s finally her time for some solo shine. Hemby’s new album is packed with country-rock earworms that won’t seem out of place on a playlist next to Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, or Sheryl Crow.
The Mavericks
En Español
(themavericksband.com; available now)
The band’s first all-Spanish album has been my turn-it-up go-to since it came out, and it hasn’t lost a bit of its luster for all the repeat playing. The Mavericks have been making fabulous (Grammy-winning) music for several decades on the fringes of country, but hearing Raul Malo’s sublime voice singing in Spanish in honor of the band’s Latin American heritage is another level. Watch the video of “Recuerdos” and you’ll see what makes Malo pure magic and Eddie Perez one of the coolest guitar slingers ever. And check out the album cover art on Amazon by C&I favorite Dolan Geiman.
Leah Turner
Lost in Translation
(leahturner.com; available now)
“Vaquera and the Cowboy” was Leah Turner’s second release in 2021 and one of the songs on her new EP, Lost in Translation. It’s a rhythmic, melodic love story that takes as its inspiration her parents: her mom, a first-generation Mexican American and jewelry artist; her dad, a true cowboy and rodeo champion. She embraces her heritage in her music, with hip-moving rhythms, some lyrics in Spanish, and the occasional and highly effective castanets.
Mickey Guyton
Remember Her Name
(mickeyguyton.com; available now)
September saw the long-awaited first album from Mickey Guyton, Remember Her Name, following her critically acclaimed EP Bridges, which included the Grammy-nominated “Black Like Me.” She’s made the cover of Billboard and co-hosted the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards. But it’s the music that will make you remember her name. “This album is the closing of a chapter,” Guyton says in press materials. “All those years ago, I set out to create music that would make people feel self-empowered, loved, and comfortable with being themselves, and this album holds true to all of that.”
The Flatlanders
Treasure of Love
(theflatlanders.com; available now)
Texas troubadours Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock got together again for their first new record since 2009’s Hills and Valleys. The boys are in fine form, with licks aplenty. Can’t remember the last time harmonica sounded this good. Sittin’ on top of the world, indeed.
Ya Tseen
Indian Yard
(galan.in; available now)
The Guardian describes Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit, Unangax̂) — the immense creative force animating the musical project/band Ya Tseen — as “the Alaska-based star mixing psych pop and giant political art.” His recent record, Indian Yard, ranges from the potently political to the tenderly personal — “Knives” (featuring Portugal the Man) is according to Galanin, “a love song about softening a calloused heart and experiencing the edge of magnetic desire, romantic connection, vulnerability, and risk that love opens us up to.”
From our January 2022 issue
Photography: (Cover image) courtesy C.J. Garton
