10 Roots Music Releases for Your Record Store Day Black Friday Shopping List

Unless you’ve been hiding from the world and your inbox lately, you know all too well that Black Friday is coming up this week (Nov. 24), and everyone’s after your hard-earned money.

Walmart and Best Buy will be just fine, but your local independent record store truly values each and every purchase, and those participating in Record Store Day Black Friday have been hard at work stocking their shelves with some special releases to get you to stop by.

Search a list of participating stores here. Please note that stores request the special releases they think their customers will want, and limited numbers means some orders don’t get fulfilled, so not all stores will have every title. Part of the fun is locating something on your list, and discovering other good finds along the way!

You can find the full list of Record Store Day Black Friday releases here — there are 171 of them this year. We’ve got a full story about one of the releases, Honeysuckle Switches, a “RSD First” album from Amos Lee that pays tribute to one of his musical heroes, Lucinda Williams. And below are 10 more projects we think deserve a spot on your Record Store Day Black Friday shopping list. Click on the title of each album to learn more about it:

1. Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels—The Last Roundup: Live from the Bijou Café in Philadelphia, March 16, 1973

Pedal steel player Neil Flanz heard something special on the third night of Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels’ stint at Philadelphia’s Bijou Café in 1973. He asked for a copy of the soundboard tape of that performance and now, after a circuitous journey and some meticulous restoration and engineering, the recording is available. The 2 LP set captures the intimate harmonies of Parsons and Emmylou Harris and the energy of The Fallen Angels hitting on all cylinders and burning through honky-tonkers like “We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes” and “Six Days on the Road” and delivering aching love songs like “Love Hurts.” The performance closes out with a rollicking rock-and-roll medley of “Hang on Sloopy”/“Baby What You Want Me to Do”/“Boney Maroney”/“Forty Days”/“Almost Grown.” The Last Roundup takes us into this special night, the next-to-the-last club date for The Fallen Angels. — Henry Carrigan

2. Various Artists – Let’s Go Dancing: A Compilation Celebrating the Songs of Kevn Kinney

The first of four tribute albums to be released each quarter over the coming year, Let’s Go Dancing celebrates Drivin N Cryin’s guiding force by showcasing his mastery of both introspective singer-songwriter folk and crushing hard rock. Artists including Patterson Hood (with Peter Buck), Jason Isbell, and Shovels and Rope deliver a dozen tracks that sample many of Kinney’s best and lesser-known gems from his long career. So many highlights, so little time. — Michael Elliott

3. Billy Strings featuring Willie Nelson – “California Sober”

This single is nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song (ND story), and now fans of bluegrass phenom Billy Strings can pick up a special 12″ version on green vinyl. The RSD Exclusive Release has just two songs: Side A is the original song, recorded with Willie Nelson himself. Side B features Strings covering Nelson’s “Whiskey River” live at the Hollywood Bowl during the Red Headed Stranger’s 90th birthday bash last April. — HS

4. JD McPherson – The Warm Covers LP

Who doesn’t like getting cozy under some warm covers? This RSD Exclusive combines two of McPherson’s covers EPs into one album. The first Warm Covers EP, from 2014, found McPherson interpreting music from Nick Lowe, Alabama, and Jimmy Hughes. Vol. 2, released in 2022, has covers of songs by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and more. — SC

5. The Bottle Rockets – Bottle Rockets (30th Anniversary)

It was a bummer when this foundational alt-country band announced its end in 2021, but there’s still plenty of music to remember them by. This reissue, with the band’s blessing, brings their first album to vinyl, with new mastering from The Bottle Rockets’ original engineer, Scott Hull. — SC

6. Various Artists – Light in the Attic and Friends

This 20-track, 2-LP collection celebrates the Light in the Attic label’s two decades of reviving out-of-print recordings by challenging a wide variety of artists to cover some of their favorites. While some of the songs were previously released as 45s and digitally for the label’s Covers Series, about half are brand-new recordings. Among the selections are Iggy Pop and Zig Zags performing Betty Davis’ “If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up,” Ethan and Maya Hawke covering Willie Nelson’s “We Don’t Run,” Swamp Dogg, John C. Reilly, Jenny Lewis, and Tim Heidecker on The Louvin Brothers’ “The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea,” and Angel Olsen singing Karen Dalton’s “Something on Your Mind.” — Stacy Chandler

7. Justin Townes Earle – Yuma [EP] 

Justin Townes Earle’s first EP is the last of his records to be available on vinyl. Long out of print on Bloodshot Records, the relaunched, revamped label is reissuing this EP of five tragic songs on a gold slab of wax for Record Store Day Black Friday. Additionally, this version includes new liner notes since Earle’s passing, as well as a previously unpublished photo. Fans of the late singer-songwriter can also pick up the Live at Grimey’s LP, originally pressed for RSD 2015 and repressed this year on baby blue vinyl. — Hilary Saunders

8. Leon Russell – Hank Wilson Vol. II 

This year has been a big one for fans of Leon Russell, whose music is experiencing a bit of a resurgence thanks to the new book Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time’s Journey Through Rock & Roll History by Bill Janovitz (ND review) and the tribute LP A Song for Leon (ND review). Dark Horse Records (originally founded by George Harrison) is reissuing Russell’s second country LP on vinyl for the first time since its original 1984 release. To learn more about Russell, subscribe to No Depression and check out the forthcoming Winter 2023 issue! — HS

9. Noah Kahan – Cape Elizabeth [EP]

Before Stick Season, Noah Kahan went through the same season we all did of worry and alarm as he left New York to return to his home state of Vermont as COVID-19 set in. To process all of that, and to challenge himself creatively, he gave himself a week to come up with and record a set of songs, and Cape Elizabeth was the result. This RSD edition is on color marble vinyl and includes some tracks that have become fan favorites, like “A Troubled Mind” and “Glue Myself Shut.” — SC

10. Margo Price – Strays (Live at Grimey’s)

Appropriately for Record Store Day, this release captures Price’s live performance inside Grimey’s New and Pre-Loved Music in Nashville to celebrate her 2023 album, Strays. Seven of the album’s tracks are included in this sangria marble LP. — SC