Two to Watch: The Deadstring Brothers - Sao Paulo (Bloodshot) / Sam Baker - Cotton (Music Road) From very different ends of the Americana spectrum, both of the above will be consolidating their growing UK reputations with gigs in early autumn in support of their respective new releases. For their third (for Bloodshot Records), Detroit’s Deadstring Brothers continue to refine a gutsy take on groove-based blues-infused country rock. Emerging some four or five years ago they attracted instant comparisons with the Black Crowes and Exile-era Stones, and the swampy mood of “Sao Paulo” will ably suit anyone who found that approach pleased their palate. Long-time admirers will raise eyebrows at the reduced profile of female lead Masha Marjiet, but hopefully be compensated by the growing studio expertise which has deepened and darkened both sound and mood, particularly on the slower “Adalee”, and the title track itself. All in all the singing and playing on Kurt Marchke’s most accomplished set of songs to date hits new highs and makes for what could well be their breakthrough album. Top class writing of a very different kind, “Cotton” (Music Road Records), the third leg of Sam Baker’s complex “Pretty World” trilogy, should appeal to a slightly more contemplative audience. Like its predecessors (“Mercy” and “Pretty World”) this closing chapter deploys a cast of plaintive characters as vehicles for the artists own reflection on a 1986 near-death experience in a train bombing in Peru. This doesn’t lend itself to casual listening, but the erudite and colourful stories (which consider the cost of forgiveness against the weight of not forgiving, since you ask) are presented in a husky whispered drawl, giving them a compulsive spectral quality, complimented by contributions from a big supporting cast including piano, pedal steel, cello, violin and at least five other voices. Impressively, these combine with a moderation and balance not witnessed since Lambchop’s “Is a Woman”. Check out Sam Baker at Leicester’s The Musician on September 3rd, and The Deadstring Brothers likewise on September 30th. Neil B. Next