On Friday, May 16, Alligator Records will release Truth Is, the ear-opening new album from Texas’ award-winning, guitar-slinging, straight-from-the-soul singing Carolyn Wonderland. She’s known for her formidable songwriting as much as for her singing and playing, and with Truth Is, she delivers a timeless album for these times. Truth Is will be available on CD, maroon vinyl LP and at all major streaming services.
The roof-raising first song from the album, “Sooner Or Later”, premieres today on all digital service providers. “Sometimes a melody just comes creeping out of the instrument,” Wonderland says of the song’s inception. “Maybe that’s why you gotta spend time listening to what your instrument wants to say instead of shoehorning your will on it, I suppose. The slight melancholy of the lonesome lap steel led me to the lyrics. Hard to say who’s the protagonist when you’re trying to walk in everyone’s shoes, but I felt a longing for connection with these neighbors and adversaries. Can we change when we find we are wrong? Can we make peace with the ghosts of our pasts? I guess we’ll find out sooner or later.”
Southern California rock powerhouse Robert Jon & The Wreck return with their brand-new single, “
After having fun hanging with Kat Riggins and her partner, Victoria, on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, John Nemeth invited Riggins to join him onstage for a few songs. The sparks were flying. Later, on the flight home while listening to Robert Cray’s “Nothing But A Woman,” Nemeth was inspired to sing it as a duet, and instantly thought of Riggins as a great pairing. Touring in Florida, where Riggins lives, with his band The Blue Dreamers, presented the perfect opportunity to record it. Nemeth decided to shake things up by replacing the horns on the original version with Anne Harris on violins instead. The chemistry at the session was powerful, and in only two takes, this fabulous ode to feminal forces was completed and ready for celebrating International Women’s Day 2025!
