Turn Turn Turn – All Hat No Cattle
Inspired by years of touring and a love for country and folk traditions, Turn Turn Turn is releasing its third album: All Hat No Cattle a genre-spanning journey through American roots music.
The album fuses folk ballads, honky tonk, norteño, Western gothic, bluegrass, and a dash of 1960s pop. “We wanted the music from our third album to feel like a road trip across time and place in America,” says band member Barb Brynstad. “Expect echoes of Dylan, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, George Jones, The Louvins, Emmylou Harris, and Gram Parsons—but with a fresh, original twist.”
Turn Turn Turn is an Americana trio of singer-songwriters based in Minneapolis, MN, and Eau Claire, WI, featuring Savannah Smith (vocals, guitar), Barb Brynstad (vocals, bass), and Adam Levy (vocals, guitar). Known for their close harmonies and inventive interpretations of American roots traditions, the band has been performing together since 2019. If their first two records leaned toward psychedelic country-rock, this album feels more acoustic and bucolic, featuring banjos, mandolins, pedal steel, twangy guitars, and back-porch rhythms.
Levy, who plays nearly all the stringed instruments on the record, calls it “a guitar fest.” The album’s title is tongue-in-cheek, poking fun at weekend cowboys and rodeo-costumed city folk. “None of us have horses or farms,” jokes Smith, who brings her love of vintage Western style to the band’s aesthetic. Levy’s deep study of country guitar greats and Brynstad’s unconventional bass stylings round out the trio’s distinctive sound.
The record’s characters are vivid and relatable—from the woman breaking free of tradition in Smith’s “Magnolia Tree,” to Brynstad’s feminist twist on the murder ballad in “Trouble,” to Levy’s honky-tonk confessional “Last Drink.” Other standout tracks include “Hungry Ghosts,” a haunting ode to lost love, and “Solid State,” a sharp-eyed commentary on modern life. The opening track, “Antietam,” a Civil War ballad, sets the tone for an album that feels both timeless and urgent. Themes of resilience, cultural identity, and human connection run throughout, as the music evokes desert highways, rolling hills, and ghostly industrial towns.
All Hat No Cattle was recorded in Adam Levy’s home studio with contributions from drummer Josh Kaplan, pedal steel player Joe Savage, and keyboardist Peter J. Sands. “I wanted this record to feel fresh and not overproduced,” Levy explains about his production approach. “It’s very much au naturel; mistakes were left in. It has a rustic feel, like many of my favorite records. Chris Furst did a magnificent job mixing it.”
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