The ND Roundup: Johnny Cash Poems, RIP Leonard Cohen, and Fleet Foxes Return

Welcome to the ND Roundup! This is where we’ll be sharing daily news from around the roots music world. This week we’re still reeling from a wacky election, so let’s take a listen to some new tunes and try focusing on the positive aspects of our Americana community. Positivity. That works … right?

Forever Words: The Unknown Poems, a new collection of poems from the late Johnny Cash, is available in stores now via Blue Rider Press. The book contains 41 unpublished works from throughout the Man in Black’s life. Included are copies of Cash’s poems, scrawled by hand, written from age 12 to right before his death in 2003. [The New York Times]

British folkster Michael Chapman is back with “Sometimes You Just Drive,” a new tune propelled by a seething acoustic line and an industrial anvil beat. Chapman’s next record 50 is out in January via Paradise of Bachelors. [Stereogum]

Punch Brothers frontman and A Prairie Home Companion host, Chris Thile, sat in with Jon Batiste & Stay Human on last night’s “Colbert” for a delightfully rambunctious version of “My Oh My.”

Speaking of A Prairie Home Companion, the great Jason Isbell stopped by the radio program over the weekend to deliver a four-song set which included “24 Frames” and “Cover Me Up.” [Rolling Stone Country]

It’s been a rough week for roots music with the death of Leonard Cohen. The singer-songwriter was buried last week before news of his death made the headlines. The poet’s son, Adam Cohen took to Facebook to thank the family’s fans and to eulogize his beloved father: “There’s so much I wish I could thank him for, just one last time. I’d thank him for the comfort he always provided, for the wisdom he dispensed, for the marathon conversations, for his dazzling wit and humor.” Read the entire moving post right here.

If you’re a fan of Spotify, you should check your storage settings. The popular music streaming app could be writing gigabytes worth of junk data to your hard drive. [Ars Technica]

“I am not a protest singer, not in any obvious way… But those who do not understand how the personal and political are deeply interconnected do not understand art,” says M. C. Taylor, of Hiss Golden Messenger. The singer’s interview with Amanda Petrusich is a must-read for all music fans and musicians post-2016 election. [The New Yorker]

Soundbreaking, a new PBS series featuring more than 160 original interviews with some of the most celebrated recording artists, producers, and music industry pioneers of all time is set to premiere this week. Tune in at 10PM E.T. tonight to watch the latest episode, The Human Instrument. [Soundbreaking]

Conor Oberst and the National’s Matt Berninger had a wide-ranging discussion about art and politics on The Talkhouse podcast.

Everyone’s favorite autumnal acoustic chamber band Fleet Foxes is “almost done” with a new record. The band announced that their first comeback show in several years will be at BBK Live festival in Bilbao, Spain in 2017. [Pitchfork]