After 30 years, uber-populist band, Indigo Girls – Amy Ray and Emily Saliers – are still blending American folk and rock with their signature harmonies and hook-filled songs. “Look Long” (Rounder), their first album in five years, continues their long-standing tradition of writing separately, with Ray penning five tracks, Saliers six. Recorded in England at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, the album opens with the edgy aptly-titled, “S*#! Kickin’,” an upbeat ditty, peppered with a bit of gospel and scratchy guitar. The track, a self-belief anthem about pushing through life despite obstacles, stays true to their M.O. The eleven tracks cover themes ranging from romance and parenting, to gun culture and gay identity. The duo do their best to rinse the salt out of a few wounds and also take a little preventative measure. Standouts include the mandolin-driven “Muster,” while “Change My Heart” focuses on cosmic vibrations and the consequences of “American schism.” They even get autobiographical on “When We Were Writers,” a song about looking inside to rediscover a fire that still burns, even though the circumstances that sparked it may be long gone. “Wrestle the beast that leaves you diminished,” they advise, “it’s alright you will never be finished.” Ray and Saliers say they’re still “a bar band at heart.” On “Look Long,” that’s not a promise, it’s a mission statement.

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Alt-country hero Steve Earle is back with a gripping, ripping new CD with his band the Dukes, on “Ghosts of West Virginia” (New West), a testimony to the real-life coal-mining tragedy of 2010 that left 29 miners dead. Filled with Appalachian bluegrass and guitar twang on cuts like “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground,” “Ghosts” gets ethereal despite Earle’s gravel and whiskey-soaked vocals. The singer-songwriter, known for his liberal views, tackles a project that lends a voice for those on the other side of the issue of coal mining. Earle is earnest and empathetic on the song, “It’s About Blood,” a fanfare to the common man. He goes to extremes, listing the names of the victims from that 2010 incident, his voice more anguished with each name read. Though the songs that make up the bulk of “Ghosts” don’t point fingers, you can hear the sound of that gauntlet being thrown down. By emphasizing the humanity of the people that live in the region, Earle approaches the story with an affinity and an attempt to understand what’s mostly missing these days. “I thought that, given the way things are now,” Earle explains in the press materials to the album, “it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did.” Producing the record himself with the help of engineer Ray Kennedy at Jimi Hendrix’s famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the result is a set of songs firmly in the legendary singer-songwriter’s wheelhouse championing everyday people.

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit roars on the lively “Reunions” (Southeastern Records), as Isbell provides the steel spine for the Americana outfit with haunting detail. Mentored by the late John Prine, Isbell got his start playing guitar for Drive-By Truckers and was tapped to help create the roots-rock sound for Bradley Cooper’s character in “A Star Is Born.” There’s a Nashville vibe to the record, fueled by the soulful opener, “What I Done To Help” replete with swelling Memphis-style strings, a funky, R&B bounce and a cameo by David Crosby. “Thought I was alone in the world/Until my memories gathered round me in the night,” he jams. “Reunions,” if anything, sounds predictably good, which isn’t a bad thing. The bittersweet and lovely “Dreamsicle,” practically serves as Songwriting 101, as Isbell writes of a kid’s view of life in a broken home: “New sneakers on the high school court,” is immediately subverted with “when you swore, you’d be there.” Isbell reflects the image of the perennial loner, forced to grapple with his own failures and frustrations. He sings a bit circumspect, but on a record that reminds the listeners of the likes of Springsteen and Mellencamp, Isbell indulges on creativity and contemplation. Not a bad one-two combo.