Alluringly anonymous Austin-based alt-country/indi-folk quartet Boomershack sounds somewhere between Buddy Holly and The Deslondes, crossed with a stop on the continuum between Houndmouth and The Band of Heathens.

In some sense, a singer/songwriter’s most essential function is observation: to collect and catalogue the ordinary and extraordinary into relatable stories. They’re set to music, and sung out loud just so, so that the listener feels something and maybe, if they — or the songwriter is extra lucky — learns something, too. Durham, North Carolina-based musician Lou Hazel inhabits this role as curious spectator, with a particular bent toward minute and absurd circumstances, and evoking with his slightly-twisted kaleidoscope of revealing, thoughtful ruminations, the likes of John Prine and Dave Van Ronk.

Raised in the high desert of Idaho, Valley James found refuge from her turbulent family life in the vast landscapes of the American West. Her cinematic blend of Gothic country, Americana, and alt-pop meditates on themes of liminal space, death, and redemption.