Star Anna‘s latest, Go To Hell (Spark & Shine Records, September 24, 2013), is a dark, haunting collection of songs that capture the essence of betrayal, regret, and hope. Go To Hell delivers melodic, soaring folk-rock with an Americana heart, best described as Americana-soul. Endorsed by Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, he says, “She is the real deal. She will be a talent that we can all say that we saw her when. Guaranteed.”

“For Anyone,” is the fiery opening track — a keyboard-drenched soulful number that seeps melody, but also packs a punch with its deep, rich groove. The album includes a cover of Tom Waits’ “Come On Up to The House.” Other songs (like “Let Me Be”) were co-written with someone that is not in the band, her friend Shane Tutmarc, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter.

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“For Anyone” by Star Anna

Born out of Dallas, Texas’ rich music scene, The O’s deliver a melodic, catchy pop sound, achieved with folk-minded acoustic instrumentation, drawing influences from the modern and traditional Americana scenes. Comprised of Taylor Young (acoustic guitar, kick drum) and John Pedigo (banjo), the duo had spent time in numerous Dallas bands, including Polyphonic Spree, before coming together in 2008 to form The O’s.

They released a debut in 2009 titled We Are The O’s, and a follow-up in 2011 titled Between The Two. The latest, Thunderdog, was released on July 23, 2013.

Thunderdog was recorded at the famed Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, just along the Mexican border near El Paso. Sonic Ranch is a state-of-the-art, top-notch studio where the band could stay on-site and record without distractions. The band felt the environment would provide them a chance to get more creative and break out of their standard mold.

Expanding on their banjo-driven style, the band stays true to themselves, while experimenting and pushing the envelope.

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“Outlaw” by The O’s

The Owl and the Full Moon is the latest from Los Angeles, California-based singer-songwriter and producer, Adam Marsland. It offers ten emotionally revealing pop and soul tunes, the offspring of Marsland’s fertile but fatigued creative mind. The album has begun to reveal itslef as the best and most focused work of Marsland’s career.

Marsland was hiking in Santa Monica on a dark, warm, beautiful night. The moom was huge and an owl flew over his head and perched on a nearby tree. He felt peace and inspiration in that moment and he went home and wrote the music to The Owl and the Full Moon.

“Life isn’t about the crap. That’s the background noise. It’s the beauty in small gestures, the warmth of a friend, the smile of a stranger, the quality of the journey, the great moments… that’s what life’s about,” says Marsland of his recent journey.

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“Contamination” by Adam Marsland

John Moen; drummer and harmony right-hand for the Decemberists, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Elliott Smith, and Robert Pollard’s Boston Spaceships, as well as the former front man of Portland’s legendary Maroons; released his own album of gorgeously crafted pop-rock tunes, Revise Your Maps, on June 25, 2013 under the name Perhapst on Jealous Butcher Records.

The record kicks off with “Birds off a Wire,” the perfect introduction to Moen’s impossibly keen melodic sense. The title song tugs on the heart with a refrain that’s equal parts teary and hopeful. Revise Your Maps is a grown-up record full of all the love, want, and peacemaking that come to a husband, dad, and musician who’s been playing on stages since he was a teenager.

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“Willamette Valley Ballad” by John Moen (The Decemberists)

On September 17, Kenny Feinstein, frontman for Portland, Oregon-based roots-bluegrass-punk outfit, Water Tower, will release Loveless: Hurts To Love, a tribute to My Bloody Valentine, on Portland, Oregon-based Fluff & Gravy Records. As Feinstein’s debut solo album, it will contain all eleven tracks from the My Bloody Valentine classic, plus “Swallow” from their 1991 Tremolo EP.

Feinstein played the majority of the instruments on the record, but enlisted the help of Kaphan and Kazor and infamous singer-songwriter Richard Buckner, who lent his voice and ukelele.

How was Feinstein’s love of Loveless born? …

“I forced myself to listen to Loveless over and over because I did not understand it. I was confused by the sounds coming from it. Finally, when listening to ‘Loomer’ while driving around a mall in Fort Lauderdale I had an epiphany during the chorus. I could not tell if the sound was being made by a human, a synth, a guitar, a bass or anything, but I did not care, all I could gather was that it was the most blissful sound I had ever heard.” ~ Kenny Feinstein

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“Loomer” by Kenny Feinstein

Blog-approved mp3 provided by Alex Steininger at In Music We Trust PR.

Seattle, Washington-based Massy Fergusons’ Victory & Ruins was released on Seattle’s indie label, Spark & Shine Records.

Often referred to as alt. country or roots-rock and Americana, Massy Ferguson, has been described by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as “the people’s band” and a “roots Americana quartet” that “combines steady, blue-collar alt. country with Southern rock…” The quartet is comprised of Ethan Anderson (vocals/bass), Adam Monda (guitars, backing vocals), Tony Mann (piano), and Dave Goedde (drums).

The album opener sets the tone, quickly proclaiming, “Hello! It’s good to see you all again, but you’re really not my friends ’til you see me at the end” with a steady rhythm and hooky guitar leading the way.

You may preview the music video for “Hello!” here.

“Our sound reminds me of landscapes and places I saw while looking out of an old jalopy car, sitting in the backseat with the windows down, in rural Snohomish County, sitting on ripped upholstery with no seat belts.” ~ Ethan Anderson

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“Hello!” by Massy Ferguson

Shreveport, Louisiana-based Super Water Sympathy released their full-length, Hydrogen Child, on April 23, 2013 on Portland, Oregon-based indie In Music We Trust Records. As part of their album’s launch celebration, the band debuted songs from Hydrogen Child at this year’s SxSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas.

This album is the next chapter in the development of the band’s self-made genre, Water Pop. It is a twelve-track synthesis of classic symphonic ambience with modern rock ’n’ roll anthems.

Formed in 2010, the group consisting of brothers Billy and Clyde Hargrove (bass and guitar, respectively), Ryan Robinson (drums), Jason Mills (keys), and Ansley Hughes (vocals) clicked from the start, sharing a similar vision for the band’s sound.

“There is a definite cohesiveness insofar as the arrangement and lyricism,” says guitarist Clyde Hargrove. “We honed in on a few songs from Vesper Belle [2011 self-released debut album] that we thought were most representative of the musical direction we are going, and used those as a benchmark for the tone of the album. Vesper Belle is much more eclectic in style and Hydrogen Child is more of a concept album.”

The concept being transformation whether through love, death, or rebirth.

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“Sunday School Dress” by Super Water Sympathy

The Culmination EP, the latest from Los Angeles, California-based acoustic-pop-rock singer-songwriter Eric Mellgren (aka Shotgun Honeymoon), is just that, the culmination of a lot of hard work following up Shotgun Honeymoon’s 2007 debut, Forgone Conclusion.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, but picking up the guitar in his college days at Florida State University, Shotgun Honeymoon played throughout Florida, honing his craft during college, often times supporting his high-school music teacher’s band. Getting an itch to take music more seriously, Shotgun Honeymoon moved to Los Angeles, got a job at a major record label, and began working in the industry. All the while writing songs that would become Forgone Conclusion.

The Culmination EP, delivers a five-track collection of songs that find the songsmith further exploring the sounds he created on the debut, while also being more adventurous with the assistance of his backing band. Shotgun Honeymoon shows growth both lyrically and musically from Forgone Conclusion, without losing the loving, and passionate vibes that made his debut a warming, soothing collection of acoustic pop.

You may watch the official video for the track “Up to Something” on YouTube.

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“Up To Something” by Shotgun Honeymoon

Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Barry Brusseau spent twenty years playing everything from metal to hardcore punk, with fifteen of those years spent touring in the pop-punk band The Jimmies, before they eventually disbanded.

That journey lead to Brusseau’s complete one-eighty with the release of his debut solo album, A Night Goes Through, released exclusively on vinyl and digitally. Now, he has returned with his sophomore full-length, folk-based The Royal Violent Birds.

Brusseau went to Jackpot! Studios to work with Larry Crane. Larry recorded some of Brusseau’s old punk material and his resume is full of great projects, including Sleatery- Kinney, Quasi, Elliot Smith, and Tape Op Magazine. Guest musicians for Brusseau’s new record include his brother Tim Ward, Tyler Tornfelt on bass, Aubrey Webber on cello, and jazz horn player Michael Paul.

Watch the making of the special edition canvas vinyl on YouTube.

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“Love and Adoration” by Barry Brusseau

Portland, Oregon-based pianist/singer-songwriter, Sara Jackson-Holman, has released her sophomore full-length album, Cardiology, on Expunged Records.

Cardiology expresses a very personal journey – centered around themes of love and loss and Jackson-Holman’s experiences with each. Some songs, like “Do I Make It Look Easy” and “For Albert” are about realizing and accepting that you can’t change people. She also wrote songs to sort through what it means to lose someone you love.

Featuring contributions by Skyler Norwood (Point Juncture, WA) on drums and bass, Jack Norwood on bass, Jessie Dettwiler (Alameda) on cello, and Basho Parks (Jenn Rawling & Basho Parks) on violin, Jackson-Holman’s songs are fleshed out by a cast of strong supporters.

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“Do I Make It Look Easy” by Sara Jackson-Holman