Even as bassist Billy Talbot prepares for a round of European shows with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, he’s issuing a new studio album with his own band. On the Road to Spearfish is due today from Vapor Records.

What a complex experience this is, modern poetry set in the back seat of a roaring rock ‘n’ roll muscle car. The effect, as Cavalcade unfolds, is at first very visceral and then deeply illuminating.

With a smart assist from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples transforms Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That” from a sing-along slab of greasy-good uplift into this Americana-inflected groover.

To answer the obvious question, yes the Howlin’ Brothers do indeed howl on their major label debut called Howl. They also hoot, holler, bash away at banjos while fiddling as the barn burns down.

If 1987′s Document heralded the moment when R.E.M. started to get away from us, the follow up Green confirmed things: This wasn’t going to be our little secret anymore.

Always out of their time, the Del-Lords made a scruffy early-1980s debut in the age of synthesized MTV flashes in the pan. They return now with a suitably old-fashioned but similarly ageless amalgam of heartfelt lyrics and crunchy licks.

It would be easy enough to tag this as Southern rock, or as blues, or even — at times — as gospel, were Randall Bramblett’s The Bright Spots not so consistently all of those things, and something more.

Early musical collaborator Glen Silverthorn remembers the moment Rick Danko began his journey toward membership in the Band, though his friend eventually had to make the switch from guitar to bass.

For years, John Oates was known for his work with Daryl Hall. These days, he’s working with a dizzying array of big-name collaborators — from Vince Gill to Hot Chelle Rae, not to mention producers for Taylor Swift and Eric Clapton.

Jimmy Vivino’s connection with the Band runs deep, and it continues right through to his upcoming release 13 Live, which was recorded at Levon Helm’s rustic concert space.