Rainbow Ruckus 7/28: Willi Carlisle, Alabama Shakes, Lawrence Rothman, and More!

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Every week, Rainbow Rodeo brings you the best new queer country music! Listen to this playlist on Tidal! Thanks to Elliott for making a parallel list on Apple Music! Missed a week? TA Inskeep is generously keeping an archive of all music featured on this Spotify playlist.

Please note: we are no longer updating our Spotify playlist.

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• Lawrence Rothman returns to the country music well with their upcoming album Here Lies Love/Sawdust to Stardust (September 25). Their powerful album The Plough That Broke the Plains found Rothman coming to terms with their multi-faceted nature. Here, it's time to reckon with the journey that got them there – and the collateral damage. Rothman and Amanda Shires form a perfect duet on this gentle reckoning.

• When you think about it, it seems like a collaboration between Willi Carlisle and Tyler Childers is inevitable. Carlisle's next album The Universal Bubba (November 6th) is produced by Childers, and features Childers' band the Food Stamps. They popped off on the debut single from the album "The Mason Jar at the Center of the World," which gives us a hint at the exuberantly adventurous nature of this outing.

• This really is just the right time for the Alabama Shakes to gift us with their music. "I Feel Hope Coming" is a masterpiece, drawing on the retro soul and R&B that helped the Shakes explode onto the scene, but with an urgency and artistic inquisitiveness that can only come from these virtuosos working together.

• Nashville's Laura Bryna has been cranking out country pop that's a cut above the rest. On "Drinkin' Town," we get a sense of Bryna's utter command of irresistible hooks. Taking a cue from "Bar Song," there's a cheeky celebration of bar culture, but the song's melancholy bent is a reminder that there could be more out there than the local dive.

• With the deluxe release of their EP what, Brooklyn's Leilani Patao reminds us of their off-kilter folk and incisive lyrics. "what" confronts political apathy and – even more importantly – centrism with crashing guitars and a sickly sweet voice that just gets under your skin in all the right ways. Patao is not uploading their music to streaming services, so be sure to enjoy and purchase on Bandcamp.

Find our Tidal playlist here: