BONUS TRACKS: New Music From Alabama Shakes, Mary Gauthier, Rhiannon Giddens, A Dolly Parton Musical, and More Roots Music News

Bonus Tracks is back with a double dose of roots music news after taking last Friday off for America's 250th birthday. (Through The Lens columnist Amos Perrine's column about roots music in America is required reading on that topic.)

After more than a decade, roots-rock-tured-experiemntal-band Alabama Shakes finally return! Their third studio record, I Must Be Dreaming is due out August 28 via Island Records. Lead single "I Feel Hope Coming" and a short trailer for the LP are both below.

Pulitzer Prize writer and Grammy award winning instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens announced her seventh studio album titled Hope is the Thing with Feathers. The new, 10-song LP is due out September 18 via Nonesuch Records.

Singer-songwriter and author Mary Gauthier announced a new record titled Reckoning, due out September 25 via Soundly/Thirty Tigers. The title track, a journey more than six minutes long that was co-written with Aaron Lee Tasjan, is available now.

Margo Price surprise-released a new album of protest songs just before July 4. Titled Days of Unrest, the nine-track so-called "mixtape" comprises choice covers of classic songs that address some of the most relevant socio-political issues in America today, as well as two original tunes. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from Days Of Unrest's vinyl edition purchased directly from the artist will be donated to the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. Check out her version of Blaze Foley's song "Oval Room" below.

A new jukebox musical honoring Dolly Parton will premiere on Broadway in New York City on January 19, 2027 — Parton's 81st birthday. The production, titled DOLLY: A True Original Musical, originally opened in Nashville last year and tells the story of the country star's life through both her chart-topping hits and new songs written specifically for this show. Read more details over at Playbill.

A new, 200-person capacity music venue is scheduled to open in New York City's Greenwich Village this fall. Bleecker Bell, from the team behind the folk haunt Café Wha?, Groove, and presenting company Village Presents, marks the legendary neighborhood's first new music venue in nearly two decades. Read more at Pollstar.

WHAT WE'RE LISTENING TO

Swamp Dogg - Swamp Dogg Contemplates The Afterlife (physical copies out today; released digitally last month via S-Curve Records)

Lindsay Lou - "All I Ever Loved Was You" (from her forthcoming album Bluegrass Woman, due out August 14)

Turnpike Troubadours featuring Sierra Hull - “Feelin’ Good Again” (Robert Earl Keen cover)

Trampled by Turtles and Jeff Tweedy - "Love is Everywhere"

Amanar de Kidal - "Aljahalat" (from their forthcoming album,
Kel Tamasheq, due out July 31 via Sahel Sounds)

Dovetailed - "Kethers Street"

The Doohickeys - "Day Jobs"

Phoebe Bridgers - "Lost Boys"

Olive Klug - "What to Make Of Me"

Milo J - Tiny Desk Concert

NEW RELEASES - 7/10/26

Guachinangos - Guachinangos, Vol. 1
Houndmouth - Lordy
Mason Jennings - Dark Wings
Trever Keith - We Drank From A Poisoned Well
Tracy Nelson - Herculese
Chris O’Leary - Blue Collar
Allison Russell - In The Hour of Chaos
Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues
Sophie Wellington - Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still
Tray Wellington - Heart on the Table
Effie Zilch - Higher Calling

COMING SOON - 7/17/26

The Binoculars - Double Whammy
Amy Martin - Bones
Lily Meola - Luck to Be
John R. Miller - The Great Unknowning
Neon Moons - Day Late Dollar Short
Slow Accordion - Slow Accordion
Gary Stewart - One Track Mind
Aaron Lee Tasjan - Underdog
Cinder Well - A Blooming Body