A couple outstanding Americana/folk/alt-country albums I've discovered recently:

Richter - Patchwork

This is a South American band I'm pretty sure, though I don't remember exactly what country. Bottom-line: these dudes know their Americana and execute it flawlessly. Released in 2007. Their MySpace page.

Emily Barker - Photos. Fires. Fables.

Excellent folk-rock album. The lyrics on this one are quite outstanding as well; they're clearly sung so it's not hard to decipher them. It's 14 songs long and stellar all the way through. Came out in 2007. Her MySpace page.


EDIT: I decided to add links to their MySpace pages.

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Oh, and one other one that I forgot to mention which may be the best of the three:

Lewis & Clarke - Blasts of Holy Birth

Also a 2007 release, this one consists of 8 excellent and unconventionally structured folk songs. I wouldn't call them experimental, because it's fairly conventional in some ways, yet it's a far cry from standard verse-chorus-verse folk songs. Really some spectacular stuff to be found here. Great lyrics as well. Here's a link to their MySpace page.

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Linda Draper

Steve Von Till - A Grave is a Grim Horse

anyone know the guy? discovered this tonight. mellow/slow, dark-ish americana. really enjoyed the first listen.

I've heard his album If I Should Fall to the Field and like it a lot. He's the lead singer of a metal band actually, I think Neurosis. Obviously, his solo stuff is vastly different.

Romantica - America

This album came out last year. It's excellent. Just classic alt-country/folk music. There's a stretch from tracks 4-7 which is phenomenal. It's a bit hard to find on the web, so PM me if you need some help.

Great Outdoors - Food, Booze, & Entertainment

I've talked about this one before, but it's fantastic, and I don't think anyone else has heard it. Lead singer Adam Nation has a great, gruff voice, and this one has some of the best folk-pop songs I've ever heard. Again, I almost guarantee you will not be able to find this one on the internet, so PM me for help. If you like it I highly recommend buying it as it has some of the coolest packaging I've ever seen. It actually comes in a slim hardcover book with a page layout for each song and a neat library-card holder thing in the back that holds the CD and a fake library card with the band members' names on it.

They've got a 3-song EP coming out any day now, and they're releasing 3 more EP's this year, one for each season. The first one is playing on their MySpace page and all 3 songs are good.

I'd recommend Seth Lakeman, and would like anyone with similar recommendations to recommend them to me.