Charlie Parr's eponymous album - his seventeenth in as many years (counting compilations) - was originally intended to be a live album. It just didn’t work out that way. Instead, it’s a studio album comprised largely of songs Parr has recorded before, alongside some he borrowed from other writers and four new originals. Though fans have likely heard many of these tunes before, they’re delivered here with a care and fit that can only come from being worn in—the way a pair of jeans eventually takes the form of the person who wears it.

With her new release, Is It the Kiss, Ana Egge adds some great, honest songs to the collective consciousness — songs that show us her heart in order that we might see our own reflected in it. There is sorrow here, and suffering. But so, too, exists hope and calm amidst the hurt and chaos. Egge makes sure of that, time and again, letting us hear every nuance of her voice. The cracks, the slides, the strains, the breaths — it's all right there on display.

Even amidst so many albums that we love, there are a few in each person's life that save us, soothe us, heal us, and hold us again and again for decades. Their timelessness is found mainly in the songwriting with a story-telling so deep and true that not even years can diminish the potency.

Shawn Colvin is set to release 'Steady On (30th Anniversary Acoustic Edition) on September 13th. Watch as she performs an acoustic version of the title track from her seminal, debut album from 1989.

The topic at hand finds the narrator calling someone out on the carpet for living in either denial or dishonesty about how they are handling their current, seemingly destructive, situation. It's a tale as old as time, made new again by a refreshing voice who will, with any bit of luck, continue to impress to at least the degree she does here.

It's a wondrous moment in life when a person finds their place in the world, geographically speaking...for the Small Glories — Cara Luft and JD Edwards — that place is Canada, and that seems to be about as fine a point as they are willing to put on their new album, Assiniboine & the Red, which wanders across provinces and prairies, from coastal towns to inland cities.

"We Were Together" ft. Taylor Goldsmith by Heather Maloney, from 'Soil In the Sky' (out June 14, 2019)

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Greg Felden doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. His solo debut, Made of Strings (self-released, due June 14) is a sincere and heartbreaking collection of songs about life and its often-enormous questions, its unexpected twists and turns. So there’s a bit of irony in the fact that the video for the album’s lead single, “Every Time,” is full of puppets, aliens, and ridiculous scenarios.

Ellis Paul has always been a ruminative, deep-thinking songwriter/storyteller, and The Storyteller’s Suitcase is another example of his adept approach to his craft. Once again, we’re treated to his particular brand of narrative lyricism and expressive vocals, his catchy melodies and delightful, easy harmonies.

John Smith is the latest entry into the English folk milieu and a more than welcome one. On his new release, Hummingbird, traditional tunes and contemporary themes effortlessly entangle themselves to create a wonderful and worthy addition to the English folk canon.

Having employed the stage of the historic Sheldon Theatre in Red Wing, MN as her studio and recording the songs, live in a circle, with her band, Mother Banjo's Eyes on the Sky is her most intimate and most personal album to date - documenting six years of dramatic changes in the world and her personal life, including marriage, love, loss, and pregnancy.