Singer, guitarist, and folk music interpreter Jake Xerxes Fussell has distinguished himself asone of his generation’s preeminent interpreters of traditional (and not so traditional) “folk”songs, a practice which he approaches with a refreshingly unfussylack of nostalgia. Byrecontextualizing ancient vernacular songs and sources of the American South, he allowsthem to breathe and speak for themselves and for himself; he alternately inhabits them andallows them to inhabit him. In all his work, Fussell humanizes his material with his owncuratorial and interpretive gifts, unmooring stories and melodies from their specific eras andorigins and setting them adrift in our own waterways. Fussell’s new albumGood and Green Againwas released Jan 21, 2022 viaParadise ofBachelors. Produced by James Elkington, the record navigates fresh sonic and compositionallandscapes and is, perhaps, his most conceptually focused to-date. Fussell and Elkingtonenlisted a group of formidable players hailing from Durham, North Carolina (where Fusselllives) and elsewhere, including regular bandmembers Casey Toll on upright bass, LibbyRodenbough on strings, and Nathan Golub on pedal steel. They were joined by welcomenewcomers Joe Westerlund (Megafaun, Califone) on drums, Joseph Decosimo on fiddle, AnnaJacobson on brass, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, who contributes additional vocals.