The World Is Such a Beautiful Place

the Good Folk September playlist

Coming in a few days late into the month with this, but I blame it on the very sentiment of this post title: the world is such a beautiful place! September in central North Carolina is full of golden-yellow branches and leaf-strewn trails and crisp mornings and warm afternoons. It is sunlight giving way as I sit on my porch until the world grows dark. It is the emergent smell of smoke in the air as fires are lit across backyards. It is spending every possible moment outside, squeezing every ounce out of this late summer season. There are a few months in the calendar year that constantly seem to remind me how lucky I am to be here; this is one of them.

I had this in the back of my mind putting together this month’s playlist—the title of which I stole from Luke Smith’s album—which closes with the lovely tune “Tornado Season”, which feels to me like a song that would play at the end credits of a summer film (even though Tornado Season technically takes place in the spring—but with the new Twisters dominating screens, one could say it has been the summer of the tornado).

Many of the songs on this playlist contain this dichotomy of melancholy and appreciation: that the world is so incredibly beautiful and yet all the while it is slipping away from us, it is reverting into the background, everything is perfect and wonderful and it is all falling through my fingertips. It cannot be contained, no matter how hard we try. I’ve had hemlock’s “Drive & Drive” on repeat as this feeling—so inherent to the transition between seasons—takes over. I’m also returning to an old classic with Palmyra’s “Medicine”, and especially this live version, recorded at Sill and Glade Cabin in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (catch our pod episode with Palmyra here, from all the way back in 2022!). I love Charlotte Bumgarner’s “Sleepwalking” for capturing this feeling as well.

Of course, because the month kicks off with a long weekend, I had to start this playlist with some energy: Big Boi and Troze’s “Chocolate” and JL Regal’s “Trophy Ballad 22”, which builds beautifully as it nears its end. Such is the feeling of September.

A few other fun ones in here: loving Dylan Earl’s “Morning Star”, which makes me want to drive windows-down alone on a country road with this on blast (the stereo has been broken in my car for the last few weeks, making this feeling particularly apt). We’ve got some new stuff from Peter Stone, a mesmerizing track from Creekbed Carter, and this gorgeous tune from Libby Rodenbough’s 2023 album Between the Blades. I’ll leave you with her lyrics here: But if it all goes south / there will be dancing down there / ‘cause I know that I am not the only one / who needs another world.

If you need me, I’ll be out here on the porch, my face to the sun, imagining that other world.

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