John Scofield, Eels, JP Chrissie, JJ Grey & Mofro, S. Carey, Charlie Musselwhite, Ronnie Earl, Jon Langford, Marty Stuart, Ricky Skaggs, Dylan LeBlanc, Dale Watson, Imani Winds, Ra Ra Riot, Ray Lamontagne, John Mellencamp, Shannon Whitworth, John Mayall (box set), Budos Band, Lost In The Trees, Eli Paperboy Reed, Superchunk re-issues, Barb, Mt St Helen Vietnam Band, Black Crowes, Dr John, Los Lobos, Gov’t Mule, Arcade Fire, Wavves, and more and of course plenty of it is in stock on vinyl

GENE PICK: JJ GREY & MOFRO – Georgia Warhorse
Ups the ante on JJ’s heady mix of Southern rock, blues and swampy soul. From the swaggering, slide-drenched title track to the duet with reggae icon Toots Hibbert on “Sweetest Thing” to the hypnotic build of “King Hummingbird,” this is the work fo a world-class songwriter and artist at the top of his game. Guitarist Derek Trucks also guests. “Inspired, deliriously funky, deep-in-the-pocket front porch soul.”–Chicago Sun-Times

NEW PICK 1: DYLAN LEBLANC – Paupers Field CD/LP
On Dylan LeBlanc’s debut album, Pauper’s Field, a lost world is brought to life – both in the carefully sculpted songs and rich well of country soul from which those songs emerge. Although the Golden era of Alabama’s fabled Muscle Shoals sound had passed by the time Dylan was born in 1990, his ancestral roots and family background connected him to one of the most significant sources in the rich tapestry of American music. His father’s position as a Muscle Shoals session player and songwriter meant that early in life Dylan was privy to the sights and sounds of an unvarnished, vanishing epoch and such legends as Spooner Oldham. 19 year old Dylan LeBlanc was born in the Parish of Caddo in northwest Louisiana. He was exposed to a wide variety of music whilst growing up in Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Inspired by Willis Alan Ramsey, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt and Tennessee Williams, he joined the House of Fame as a writer at 18. Dylan’s approach to music is to truncate to event blog here write and sing about things that are real, that convey humanity, so all can relate. His inspiration comes from experience, and watching, listening, and absorbing everyday life around him. Despite his age, Dylan’s worn yearning voice already has the mark of aged experience. Neither the feel nor sound of the album, nor the haunted ghost summoning songs he has written, can be faked. “If Time Was For Wasting” seems to be wrenched from the heart of ever-present currents in Deep South life – where the pull of the past is unavoidable. Ghosts and demons emerge from the mist in compositions featuring archetypal characters such as “Emma Hartley” and “The Outlaw Billy John”.

NEW PICK 2: CHARLIE MUSSEWHITE – The Well
Harp legend returns to the foot-stomping blues of his heyday, with 13 gritty, intensely personal Musselwhite originals driven by his haunting vocals and fiery, graceful harmonica playing. Two tracks feature Charlie on guitar, and Mavis Staples guests on the gospel-ized blues “Sad & Beautiful World.” “Superb, original and compelling…Harmonica master Musselwhite sets the standard for blues”–Rolling Stone

NEW PICK 3: S. CAREY – All We Grow CD/LP
The debut album from S. Carey, All We Grow, is the result of a young lifetime spent immersed in music. As a band member of Bon Iver from the very beginning, Sean Carey witnessed a flip of his formal training to step firmly into a worldwide-touring rock band. His performance degree in classical percussion from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and his love for jazz drumming prepared him for a central role in the inspiring force of the Bon Iver live show.

All We Grow is a convergence of Carey’s Waltz For Debby-era Bill Evans inflected jazz tendencies, and traditional rock band experience, taking leads from Mark Hollis’ Talk Talk. It also retests the waters of modern classical composition, investigating the moodiness generated by percussive repetition in a manner familiar to fans of Steve Reich. In his downtime on tour with Bon Iver, Sean would spend time pining for his soul-mate’s arms, and in that context, dreaming and composing. During infrequent tour breaks at home he would patiently record these pieces, adding layers each time. Two years later, the parts converged to make an album.

For as much room to breathe as Carey allows his compositions, there are incredibly dynamic moments of bombast held right next to moments of subtle depth and texture. Engineered by Jaime Hansen and Brian Joseph, intermittently at home and at April Base (Justin Vernon’s studio outside Eau Claire), All We Grow is an all-encompassing headphone experience as intimate as chamber music and as ambitious as a symphony.

While many are familiar with the cabin mythology of Bon Iver, the story behind Sean joining the band is equally kismet. After hearing through mutual friends that Justin was looking to put together a band, he spent two weeks in his bedroom listening to For Emma, Forever Ago on Myspace, dissecting and learning the drum and vocal parts so well that Justin invited him to join the band upon Sean’s approach.

All We Grow is a classic album born without expectation and met with adoration – a cathartic result of Carey’s extraordinary and vibrant life experiences that resonates loss, dreams and heart in a manner so instantly relatable, you feel as though you can touch it.

NEW PICK 4: EELS – Tomorrow Morning

The last of a trilogy of albums written around the time of Mark “E” Everett’s divorce, Tomorrow Morning presents Everett as you’ve rarely heard him before: happy, fulfilled, almost optimistic. The bottomless pit of despondence that generally provides his subject matter has been supplanted by, well, not joy, exactly, but a recognition that life doesn’t always suck. “For all the wear and tear, I look OK,” he marvels on What I Have to Offer; on the crunchy, electro-punky Baby Loves Me, he decides that even if “the record company hates me”, things are fine because “my baby loves me/ Unlikely but true”. Sonically, he makes more use of electronics than usual, reaching a crescendo of chirps and drum loops on the fade-out to This Is Where it Gets Good, but he’s just as likely to use a church organ or distorted guitars. An intriguing addition to the Eels canon. ––Caroline Sullivan guardian.co.uk