BONUS TRACKS: A Jason Isbell Documentary and What a TikTok Ban Would Mean for Music

HBO’s Music Box series is turning its spotlight on Jason Isbell for a film to premiere on the network April 7. Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed looks at Isbell’s creative process and his life and work with wife Amanda Shires, set against the backdrop of the recording sessions for his 2020 album Reunions. The trailer, which you can watch below, features commentary from Shires, producer Dave Cobb, Isbell’s former Drive-by Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood, and Isbell’s band The 400 Unit. Read more about the documentary in this coverage from Billboard. Isbell and The 400 Unit are releasing their next album, Weathervanes, in June (ND story).

TikTok was in the headlines this week as its CEO, Shou Chew, was summoned for a grilling at a hearing before Congress’ Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday. He’s working to reassure the US government about the popular Chinese-owned platform in the face of bipartisan concerns about the security of American users’ data. The Biden administration could try to force ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell its American operation or face the threat of a ban. (The previous administration attempted this in 2020, but was blocked in federal court.) A ban on TikTok probably wouldn’t have a giant effect on roots music — though some of your favorite artists may well be posting videos there — but the platform has become a driving force for pop music, with new artists having a new way to break through and even established artists benefiting from songs that go viral. Read more about TikTok’s impact on mainstream music and the effects a ban might (and might not) have in this story from Rolling Stone (also republished via Yahoo).

The blues has a rich history, one that modern-day blues makers are working hard to preserve and elevate. But like any musical genre, it must evolve to survive and to do what it does best: put the hardships of life at the moment it’s made into sound that connects all listeners. Since 2017, Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label has been at the forefront of both preserving the past and continuing the conversation (as you can read in this excerpt from our Summer 2022 journal), and a just-announced new anthology from the label brings those goals together in one place. Tell Everybody! (21st Century Juke Joint Blues from Easy Eye Sound) is touted as “surveying the current state of the blues,” and across 12 songs it spans generations and geography to do the job. Songs by blues elders like Leo “Bud” Welch and Jimmy “Duck” Holmes are placed alongside new blood like The Moonrisers and Nat Myers and even a previously unreleased track from The Black Keys. The album comes out Aug. 11, and you can check out the title track, from Robert Finley, in the video below:

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Rissi Palmer and Miko Marks – “Still Here”
Mya Byrne and Paisley Fields – “Burn This Statehouse Down”
Henhouse Prowlers – “My Little Flower”
Danielle Ponder – “Spiraling”
Durand Jones – “That Feeling,” from his new album, Wait Til I Get Over, coming in May

Barrie – “Races”
Tommy Lefroy – “Jericho Beach”
Mama’s Broke Tiny Desk Concert
Lukas Nelson + POTR featuring Lainey Wilson – “More Than Friends,” from Nelson’s new album, Sticks and Stones, coming in July

The Revivalists – “The Long Con,” from their new album, Pour It Out Into the Night, coming in June
Bobby Rush – “One Monkey Can Stop a Show”
Alison Brown featuring Steve Martin – “Foggy Morning Breaking,” from Brown’s new album, On Banjo, coming in May