Elena See

The Head and the Heart is one of many new folk groups that bend tradition while keeping it alive.

For a guy who grew up in a sort of musical royal family, it's surprising that Earle has only been making music publicly for a little more than two years. On Sept. 14, he'll release his third recording, Harlem River Blues. Until then, hear it here in its entirety.

Mellow, rhythmic and captivating, the band's new record once again demonstrates the way Crooked Still, as singer Aoife O'Donovan says, rediscovers old music and makes it new. Hear Some Strange Country in its entirety until its May 18 release.

Back in January, Vanguard Records signed "the poet of the common man," country-music legend Merle Haggard, to its roster. His new album for the label, I Am What I Am, is his first recording since 2007, as well as an unapologetic declaration of self-awareness.

Listening to the Oregon band's debut is like walking onto the set of an HBO show about fear, longing, betrayal and loneliness. Black Prairie was founded by two members of The Decemberists, and its songs evoke images of barren Midwestern landscapes. Hear Feast of the Hunter's Moon in its entirety a week prior to its release on April 6.

Virtually everyone has heard the siren song of the open road at some point or another. Out of the thousands of great road songs, here are five which provide a soundtrack to that long journey we're all forced to take at least once: to try to figure out what we're supposed to be doing with our lives.