Music

New Album – “Headwaters” out Sept 4, 2026

I am pleased to announce my sixth album in as many years: Headwaters. Herein is a fresh set of eight songs, crafted in my ever evolving (improving?) process of home studio woodshedding & recording, and pushing at the seams of my previous work. We’ve got your folk sounds in here. We’ve also got some of that psychedelic pop, spaced out drones, AOR Rock, and some hefty blurring of any and all of these lines. I’m just making records that should be RECORDS, you know? The kind that I might buy in a heartbeat if they already existed. 

This particular set of songs started as an EP of very political pieces (“Can You Keep Up?”, “Who Wins?” & “Come Along”) continuing on the work from my last album. I had settled on the EP idea and was actively recording the songs when, as I drove through the mountains last August, a new song came along. This tune, largely composed while driving winding mountain roads, would become “Take Me Back”, and is the first single. From there the project grew into a more rounded collection as a flood of additional material came along.

On the technical front, I tapped my old friend, veteran drummer Scott Ferber (The Jauntee), to play drums on some of these tunes, and he definitely delivers. All other recording and performance was done myself at the Shrunken Road Studios. Hamish Benjamin, a new collaborator, did a terrific job on the mixing & mastering.

The album is available both digitally and on Compact Disc via Bandcamp, AmpWall, & Subvert with pre-order beginning on August 7.
https://jmhart.bandcamp.com
https://jmhart.ampwall.com

Also, exclusively on Bandcamp, bonus tracks featuring solo, acoustic renditions of each song will be available for download.

Upon the September 4 release, it will also be available for digital DL via Subvert as well as on all major streaming platforms (aside from Spotify).
https://subvert.fm/jmhart

You can watch the video for “Take Me Back” on YouTube now: 

Brokedown Radio

We’re three episodes in at this point so, I suppose, it’s time to announce that, in the wake of retiring the podcast, I’ve moved on to (internet) radio.

I am thrilled to announce that I have joined the roster at NQRA.live with my new show, Brokedown Radio.

My aim with BDRadio is to continue one of the missions of BDPod and continue to spread great music, both new and old, to as many ears as will turn my way. Across each episode, you’ll hear a broad mix of tunes, jams, sonic experiments, and whatnot. You can follow along on the NQRA website where you’ll find streams of each show along with full playlists for each episode.

NQRA has an outstanding roster of shows covering all kinds of music from selectors around the globe.

Don’t just take it from me…

NQRA delivers genre-free, curated online music content (journalism, DJ mixes, podcasts, and video), made by musicians, artists, critics, industry professionals, and fans. 
Our growing online archive pushes out new, free programmes every day via Mixcloud and YouTube, as well as publishing articles directly here on our website. 
We were borne out of a desire for more exciting options than those offered by algorithmic recommendations. And, because we’re fortunate to be connected to some of underground music’s most exciting, discerning lifers, we have an opportunity to deliver just that.
Our radio contributors aren’t merely crate diggers. They are people who treat curated audio as an art form in and of itself; a medium by which to communicate soundscapes that define their artistic purpose.

From NQRA’s “About” page

Here’s a peek at my first show. Go here for the rundown & track list.

Second Single – “Hanging On”

Check out the latest single, “Hanging On”:


There is some press on this one, thanks to Here Comes The Flood:

Starting out as a Neil Young-esque gentle country-tinged song on which he acts as his own backing vocalist, he goes all out with a lengthy progressive folk instrumental part – for which he goes electric, introduced in the video by inserting a bit footage of the fake towns that were built in the 50s to learn more about nuclear bomb tests in Nevada.

The second single from “Turned Around” is out now and available for download with pre-orders at both Bandcamp and AmpWall. The album comes out on 16 September on cassette, CD, and digital download.

New Album, “Turned Around” – Out Sept 16, 2025

Album art. on a black background sits a rectangular doily. Upon it sits a blurry black and white photograph shot across a river depicting the far bank with houses behind bare trees that lean out over the river. their reflections are seen on the calm water. At the top, text reads, "J.M. Hart" At the bottom, text reads, "Turned Around".

I am thrilled to share my latest album, “Turned Around”, comes out on September 16, 2025. This record marks yet another step forward in my ongoing pursuit of better arrangements, better songs, and better records. My fifth album in as many years, this one features a bit more bombast at times while still seeking quiet moments in between. To assist in this, Ryan Jewell returns on drums for four tracks. He also mixed and mastered the album. Mike Horn (Seawind of Battery) brings his shimmering guitar work to one song, and Mike Gorman (The City of Light) joins from Tyler, Texas with mandolin and vocals on another. The rest is me and the results, I hope you’ll agree, are sound.
But don’t just take my word for it:

“It’s a slow-motion bummer…” sure feels like that – call it hypernormalization, call it imperial decline, but I think we can all agree it doesn’t feel great. This condition grinds, like an engine with old oil, a blister in your boot, like sand in an oyster; ever-present. We can’t candy-coat the destructive nature of these processes, but the last one does still create pearls, right? One such pearl is JM Hart’s new record, Turned Around. A gentle letter full of wise words dropped in your mailbox by an old friend, someone who isn’t afraid to be honest about what scares them, even if it hurts to say it, but who is also there to lend a hand when you’re hurting – to light a candle in the darkness. 
It’s a home-made record you can be at home inside of, straight out of Fredericksburg, VA, with a little help from some friends; session man at-large Ryan Jewell on that Ralph Molina Crazy Horse boom-boom-bap, Mike Horn (AKA Seawind of Battery) lending his vision of Cosmic Americana to the proceedings in the form of drifting tele-melodies, and Mike Gorman (City of Light) doin’ the Dawg on mandolin/back-up vocals. The rest of the production is all JM and if you’ve been following his musical march down the sunken road he’s dialed things up, the psychedelic-pop-folk-country atmosphere here is pure Gene Clark No Other style vibey bliss, there is something for everyone in the movements of these eight honest songs, from the maximal indie-pop-flange-folk of the album opener “Give Me Love” to the sepia-toned Acony-isms of “Central Time” and the epic ruin of the eight and a half minute thesis track, “Holding On.” 
We might be caught in a loop of losing things we take for granted faster than we can clock that they’re gone. “How are you holdin’ on” could become the default greeting for any American with their head screwed on straight, because how the fuck ARE you holding on? Music helps, and it helps more when you can feel the understanding in it. JM Hart understands, and when you listen to Turned Around, it feels like he’s listening to you.
-J.Moss

You can pre-order digital downloads, cassettes, and compact discs starting July 1 via Bandcamp at:
https://jmhart.bandcamp.com/album/turned-around

It’s also now available via Ampwall at: https://ampwall.com/a/jmhart/album/turned-around

Streaming on all sites that don’t rhyme with “modify” available on the release date, Sept. 16.

The first single, “Give Me Love” has a full video available via Youtube as of July 1 as well.
https://youtu.be/X9rm0JdQ9Mw

Update: A second single has been released!

New Album, “As We Know It”, Out Sep. 17

Friends, my new album, “As We Know It”, will be release on Sep. 17. Pre-order will be on Friday Sep. 6.
“As We Know It” is a set of seven songs about such charming topics as climate disaster, war, and the county fair. Dire all, but there is some light in there. If a song is supposed to be a mirror on the world around me, then I suspect that I may have landed quite near that mark. Sonically, the album ranges from the clamor of electric guitars, to the quiet simple sound of strings and wood. There’s a lot in here.

The first single, “Catch Me At The Fall Line” will be available on Bandcamp on 9/6 and features the talents of Ryan Jewell on drums and Dave Heumann (Arboretum) on Lead Guitar.

Both Dave and Ryan appear elsewhere on the album, along with Mike Gorman (City of Light Music) but, mostly, it’s me playing acoustic & electric guitars, bass, keys, banjo, Appalachian dulcimer, and probably a couple of other things I’ve forgotten.  The songs are, as usual, all original and there is even an instrumental number in there. 

Head to the Bandcamp link on Sep 6 to pre-order the DL or the Compact Disc, or pre-save and rock it on your favorite streaming service come Sep 17!