7 For ’25 : A Year End Retrospective

I’ll be honest, I didn’t listen to nearly as much new music as I normally do this year. My top unwrapped genres from the devil machine was a strange mix of Texas Country and Underground Old School Hip Hop, but, that just made the 2025 releases that I did spin over and over again that much more present and meaningful for me.

Red Line Roots is at a strange juncture, where I feel some sense of wanting to get the training wheels back on and hook up a defibrillator to it in order to give it some new life, but also recognizing I have entirely too much else going on with other endeavors and advocacy work at the moment (also, actual life and work). That said, my ears and my heart are always open and I hope if you are reading this you will make your ears open to the following 7 records that I couldn’t keep away from this past year…I like weird odd numbers, so it’s going to be 7. Deal with it. 

Caitlin Canty  “Night Owl Envies the Mourning Dove” – I had the extreme fortune to spend a lot of time with these songs before the release of Night Owl. Both in the context of the record and more stripped down recordings that I was beyond lucky to have recorded with Caitlin and some others, and yet I still find myself wanting more. Almost to the point of where writing something felt wrong, because maybe I was too close. But Caitlin’s songs are so truly transportive and deserve the same time and attention from the listener that she instills into her writing and performance. From dusty endless highways to hilltop cabins overlooking a sea of evergreens. Sepia tinged splendor and sublimity. She has an uncanny ability to envelop and encase you in a feeling, place, a time with her voice and songs, providing snapshots of moments which you then want to continue to stay and visit in, if not just for a few moments. 

Courtney Hartman “With You” – There is something so divine in the ethereal essence of Courtney Hartman’s songs and voice. “Soft” feels like it would have negative connotations in the context of songs and writing, but its that very temperament that she embodies which makes her songs so impactful. Her voice occasionally feeling like a whisper on a breeze, drawing you near to hear of the secrets it beholds. Its that nature of the listening experience, pulling you towards the words being sung that make for such a wonderful experience. Rich tapestries of sonic paint outstretched, whimsical and delicate, but with a strength and weight all the same.

Jesse Welles ‘With the Devil’ – It’s hard to imagine another artist in the “roots/folk/etc” realm that has had a bigger year than Jesse Welles. He seems to write and release at an impossible rate, but yet with each new song or release there is something more to dig into, unearth and allow yourself to relate to and feel. ‘With the Devil’, was just such a case. A reconfiguring of his new studio album Devil’s Den, but with the full band. The best parts of what gave The Band such staying power. Groove and movement and funk and soul, but with each word carving itself into your brain and forcing you to think. Welles is a gift to the folk songwriting world and we are mighty lucky to have him.

Ethan Setiawan ‘Encyclopedia Mandolinnica’– Ethan is quickly becoming one of the most formidable mandolinists in a crowd of increasingly formidable mandolinists. In his new record, there is such a sense of exploration and deep appreciation for the mandolin in this project. A culmination of years and years of long labored practice and influence by mentors and peers. Arrangements ranging from the pensive and serene to the magnetic and unbridled, always resolving in some brilliant fashion.

Joe K. Walsh ‘Trust & Love’ – Two mandolin records on one list? Yes, of course.  I will reiterate what I said back when I first heard this record. Joe is constantly challenging the norms of what instrumental string band music is and can be. And in an ever expanding landscape with no shortage of virtuoso players he somehow continually manages to, not outshine, but instead consistently build upon and bloom in beautiful ways from his previous works. There is something that he builds upon in these arrangements. String music with drums and electric instruments and stretching the potential of his melodies.

John Mailander ‘Let the World In’ – Meditative, transcendent, transportive. That’s the feelings that immediately poured over me when I unwrapped my copy of Mailander’s vinyl and placed it on my turntable. John has a way of taking his arrangements and allow the other artists around him to live, play and breathe in the work. It is pure and brilliantly beautiful the community that is fostered around his work and the Forecast project. Which is why I wholeheartedly stand by it when I say that his work and this record is A pure celebration of creation, art, and collaboration.

Caroline Spence ‘Heart Go Wild’ – Caroline’s 2017 sophomore release “Spades & Roses” is still one of my favorite records of all time, so it’s hard to imagine another record meeting that bar. Buy yet, with each new album she continues to build upon what makes her songs and voice so very beautiful and moving. A singular voice that immediately stands out and on its own. And the words, when you allow yourself to dig deeper, poetic and enchanting. On Hearts Go Wild, Spence explores some sense of freedom from releasing this work independently, and its in that flowing state that she has the ability to shine, untethered and liberated.