Culture
Suggested Listening 2024: Chad Williams
By: WOUB Culture Team
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WOUB Culture’s Suggested Listening series highlights the music that resonated with WOUB Culture contributors and regional artists in 2024. Today we spotlight Chad Williams, Radio Free Athens and D28+5 DJ.
Me: Esoteric and musically confused farm boy now in Athens hanging out with five generations of ancestors buried all over this county. I rebelled against Casey Kasem at a young age, making my own top 40 every week, and I’m pretty sure that is what inspired me to get into radio. I’m a playlist junkie, and my radio programs, like me, are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get!
Now in my third year as a Radio Free Athens host, here are the 2024 favorites of the plowohio program on Radio Free Athens 1340 AM.
1. Arooj Aftab / Night Reign / Verve Records
I saw Arooj Aftab perform in Cincinnati in 2023 as a guest of The National on their Homecoming festival so I was very excited to see this released this summer. Her sound has matured considerably, incorporating more experimental jazz and trip-hop than usual along with chilling vocals sung in both Urdu and English.
2. Wussy / Cincinnati, Ohio / Shake It Records /
During a six year hiatus, the pride of Cincy developed some of the tightest and most well-written songs of their near 20 year existence. Here they drench their folk-based compositions with the fuzz and reverb that recalls some of the best new wave of the ’80s and ’90s.
3. Clay Parker and Jodi James / Your Very Own Dream / Self-Released /
New duo to me, they seem to be borrow a lot of traditional idioms and imagery from the past, put it all in a big stew mixed with some jangly electric guitars, and out comes this wonderful creation of heart-wrenching blues highlighted by some blissfully bittersweet harmonies.
4. Zach Top / Cold Beer & Country Music / Leo33 /
In the last few years, we have seen country artists like Ashley McBryde and Midland look to revive some of the glory of early 90’s country, and this is where Zach Top slides right in. He serves up 12 tunes that have you right back in those suburban, honky tonk dance halls, both kicking it up to a rolling two-step and swaying along to a sad, sorrowful Texas waltz.
5. Earth Tongue / Great Haunting / In the Red Records /
Hailing from New Zealand, Earth Tongue reminds us that heavy hook-laden rock & roll is alive and well. Armed with electric guitar and drums, this two-piece makes their presence more than felt delivering fuzzy psychedelic hooks and riffs with a heavy, pounding rhythm. Bonus: each of the songs individually, as evidenced by the album’s title, will work well on any Halloween playlist for decades to come.
Hear all of these songs and more on 1340AM on December 14 and December 28, or from one of the streaming services below.
I currently am a monthly rotating host on D28+5, playing bluegrass music old and new. Here are my favorite new bluegrass releases from 2024.
1. The Price Sisters / Between the Lines / McCoury Music /
Hailing from Sardis, OH, the Price Sisters are twins who deliver harmonies like only twins can with a sound deeply rooted in bluegrass tradition. With their 3rd release, they’ve already notched several awards and nominations in bluegrass circles since their debut in 2016. I expect bigger and better things from this group in the years to come.
2. Billy Strings / Highway Prayers / Reprise Records /
Quite simply, Billy is the hottest act in bluegrass today. There is enough of that high lonesome mountain sound here to keep traditionalists like myself invested, and if you want to stretch your legs a little, he ever slightly veers into a psychedelic folk style on occasion. Just when you think you’ve had enough, he is right back at it blazing along with another rollicking guitar run.
3. The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys / Wanderers Like Me / Smithsonian Folkways Recordings /
Coming off last year’s stellar collaboration with Jim Lauderdale, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys step back out on their own with 10 new tracks that sound as blue and lonesome as the best the bluegrass canon has to offer.
4. Missy Raines & Allegheny / Highlander / Compass Records /
Veteran bluegrass bassist Missy Raines is back with only her fifth full length solo album in her 30+ year career. On her latest, she enlists the support of a young, cracker jack cast of musicians, as well as musical luminaries such as Laurie Lewis, Kathy Mattea, Michael Cleveland, Rob Ickes, and many more.
5. Fast Track / IV / Englehart Music Group /
Upon hearing “Race to the Bottom,” Fast Track, evidently subscribes to the style of bluegrass that is steeped in hard country music. The band has remained active and prolific with this being their 4th release since their debut in 2020, which results in some of the tightest playing and singing these ears heard this past year.
Hear all of these songs and more on D28+5 on December 22 from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m., or from one of the streaming services below.