Todd Albright — Blues For Dexter Linwood (April 17, 2026 / Misfortune Records, 2026)
Todd Albright’s Blues For Dexter Linwood finds the Detroit fingerpicker turning a baritone 12-string acoustic guitar into a whole band: bass thrum, treble sting, and the rattling ghost of a dance floor that closed a century ago. In Albright’s hands, the guitar is restless, exacting, joyfully possessed.
Albright raids the repertoires of Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lead Belly, and deep-cut names you’ll want to scribble down, then plays them as if they were written last week.
Albright has participated in key modern American roots events: Third Man Records’ tenth anniversary, AmericanaFest, SXSW’s Third Man showcase, The Luck Reunion at Willie Nelson’s place, Juke Joint Festival, MerleFest (four times), Mile of Music Fest, plus opening slots for the Raconteurs, Cedric Burnside, the Wood Brothers, and Dick Dale.
The first single, “Step It Up And Go,” brought producer Charlie Parr in on slide guitar alongside Dave Hundrieser’s harmonica, a lean, crackling song. This is Albright’s fourth album, and the first on his own Misfortune Records.
It’s worth noting that Todd Albright spends time at a nail salon where he asks for acrylic nails on thumb, index, and middle fingers. He first fell for John Lee Hooker and Dave Van Ronk, with Van Ronk discovered the old way: through a public library shelf. Teenage Albright caught Van Ronk and “Spider” John Koerner in concert, then later saw Hasil Adkins and R.L. Burnside in the early ’90s, before landing in Detroit, renting a $100 room in a house owned by someone in the Gories’ orbit.
His mentor was Paul Geremia, a direct conduit to the original well of blues music: Pink Anderson, Fred McDowell, Skip James, Son House, Howlin’ Wolf.
Author: Ryan Emmert
