Not Another EOTY Post

we gotta do it (i think)

What a year! For me, it has been one of long term goals and dreams made manifest. From releasing a second record to selling out my release show and playing the Levon Helm Barn and Mountain Stage (with Jeff Tweedy on the bill and my best friend Milo Snyder in the audience!), while touring all over the country — it has been a banner year at OEL HQ. Thanks for all of you that listened, supported, bought a ticket or an LP or both.

Here’s the bad news: Overall, 2025 was year of Cynicism. Even my indie, DIY inflected take on such a thing has been tainted with a kind of algortithmic-driven, nihilistic, what-can-you-do-about-it level of cynicism that I have found it difficult to Trust Any Takes, even from tastemakers that I once found credible.

Here’s my gentle take: Everyone is scared. Everything is falling apart. Nothing is working the way it used to. People are just going along to get along. Money is…tight. Even when you’ve got it, it’s tight.

But I can’t help myself so here’s what I really think: tik tok based musicians and algorithmically derived success is an A/B test for AI generated music, AI generated video, an AI-based entertainment ecosystem. The flat, repetitive and derivative music that most social media famous music performers create will not save us, it will not feed us, it will not make us feel better- it is however really good at training robots to emulate addictive hook-y material that will continue to deprive us of our precious free time and creative expression and culture.

But hope springs eternal, and that wellspring lives in a small music venue somewhere near you. One need to only go see a Ken Yates show, go to a Midnight Ramble with your mom (or mentor of choice), catch a bit of Sophie Gault’s new record live, sit quietly while William Matheny plays songs that beg the question “what if Richard Thompson was from a small town in West Virginia?” or find a spare second to see Katie Martucci at Lunático, Sunny’s or wherever she is (please pay particular attention to when she is singing her original music, especially the song about her aunt)- to be reminded that the work we do can be spiritual and good and real, even if it does not land on three sevens at the digital slot machine.

By the way, I just slipped some of my favorite live music moments from 2025 into that little Luddite inspired diatribe. I’ll add two more to the pile: Mary Chapin Carpenter at Newport Folk Festival brought me to a place of unrelenting joy and tears on a Sunday morning (the best church service I attended all year) and I was embarrassingly clocked weeping openly in a packed room of ~150 people watching Lucinda Williams at the opening of her namesake bar in the village earlier this year (at least I’m pretty sure this was about me - I think a few of us were crying that night).

However, sometimes the good guys win (even on the internet) so I’ll say this:

Many of you learned about brother Nathan Evans Fox via social media this year. And to that I say WELCOME TO THE TEAM HOMIE. In a move that will surprise absolutely nobody, Nathan has taken his newfound Instagram fame and tried his best to support and uplift all of his people AND released absolute banger after banger (3 bangers this year, a full record out next year) all while preparing for his second turn at fatherhood (send him money!!!!). Nathan’s songs are full of conscience and grit and they don’t try to sound like anybody or anything except for Nathan, thank gawd. His substack is updated more often than mine and he has a great essay on Roger Miller and country music that I think you’d dig.

Even with the advent of NEF niche internet fame, My wish for you (and for myself) in 2026 remains this: that may we be released from the shackles of the algorithm. For diversion, I would recommend that you consume locally sourced entertainment whenever possible. Even your local open mic is better for the soul (and you might make a few friends, god forbid).

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On the non-traditional album release buzz/cycle this year, my bestie Lizzie No went ahead and put out a live record at the beginning of this year. Commie Country is, among other things, proof that sometimes releasing music is also about releasing yourself and your creativity from the confines of What is Expected And Being Asked Of You By Short Sighted People With Too Much Arbitrary Power. You might’ve missed the release (it was in January….remember January?!) but Good Music Lasts Forever so you still have a chance to check it out. My favorite Lizzie No Song is Annie Oakley - but there are some absolute heaters in Lizzie’s Forthcoming Song Pile and anyone who doesn’t absolutely drown this person in cash to fund the creation of their next project is depriving all of us an opportunity to be musically healed.

ok here are some other records I liked that got some buzz that I think is really valid and here’s why:

-Snipe Hunter, Tyler Childers I will not shut up about this record. It is the one thing anybody with an opinion got right this entire curséd year. A record written entirely in his (our) vernacular, about the things we keep and the things we leave when country kids get above their raising. At once thoughtful and feral, this record is nerdy, jammy, twangy, NERDY, and gives folks some great advice on hunting and foraging and getting through life. I fucking love this record, and while I’ve long admired Childers I haven’t connected to his work this poignantly since he sang “All I know is that when I am good and sober I am leaving West Virginia For A While // I don’t know Why But every time I cross that River Lord, there’s something tears me up, it makes me wild” . Tyler and I have both grown a lot since Charleston Girl was released, and lord am I in awe of his craftsmanship and grateful for his songs.

-Euro Country, CMAT I will also not shut up about this one. Lord Let That Tesla Crash is genius level writing and the kind of personal, confessional work that makes all of us feel a bit less alone in our specific grief. CMAT is funny and reverent and sings circles around most people. Most of all - she’s honest, through this whole record, in a way that truly clarifies what Good Songs are for. They’re for shaking ass and crying and you can do both at the same time through almost this entire record.

-Planting by the Signs, SG Goodman I’ve been an SGhead for a minute, but this record is beautiful in all of the ways it untangles small town life and occupies both literary and musical space. I kept returning to this record, listening to snippets over and over again to ask the question ‘how did they do that’. Snapping Turtle and Heaven Song are tied for first with me on the record but its a zero-skip all the way down for me.

ok enough of that, here are some songs that I dug (i also dug all of the records that these songs were from and if i was slightly more energized I would do write ups on all of them):

• Wrango, Ken Pomeroy

• Vending Machines, Mariel Buckley

• Bottleneck, Nathan Evans Fox

• Your Heart’s a Tin Box, Kassi Valazza

• Perennial, Ken Yates

• Some Room Left, Brian Dunne

• Wildfire Season, Jobi Riccio

• I Love Smoking, Ramona & The Holy Smokes

• Dumpster Diving, Brennen Leigh

• Break the Jaw, Madison Cunningham

• The Kick, Jackson & The Janks

Probably some other stuff too. That’s just what came to mind now, as I was writing this. And as always, Good Songs from Other Years hit me in the chest several times this year, and maybe there’s a whole other substack post about Old Songs I discovered for the first time this year. After all, there’s still a whole month left in 2025.

Many (though not all) of the people listed here are my pals. That is my blessing for 2025. In a year where I was often gritting my teeth and trying to give myself air to breathe in all of my big accomplishments without letting them freak me out too much, I kept looking around to see that I was surrounded by genius level songwriters and musicians of integrity. In my worst, most uncertain moments over this strange life, I am comforted and galvanized by the realization that I get to be in community with so many people who are not only talented, but also generous and good critical thinkers and very, very funny people. In the face of cynicism and screen time and the world crumbling like a very stale cookie in our hands, it is an immense joy to make music with people I admire. I hope I get to keep doing it next year, and maybe even the year after that.