Putting It All Out There

Albums may be the standard way of delivering music to people who can’t (or won’t) come see you play every night, but, especially in the realm of roots music, nothing can match a live show. The rawness of the music, the energy in the room, the unexpected things that can throw the singer off or whip the music into a place it never could have otherwise gone … the stage tends to be the place where roots musicians put it all out there. Luckily, we get a little bit of all of that from this week’s spotlights. They include an actual live record from Dale Watson, a solo debut from Jason Isbell’s guitarist Sadler Vaden, a bit of magical harmonies from the Stray Birds, and some damn-fine country music from Kelsey Waldon. Enjoy!