Neil Young Hits Fifty — And Bob Seger Opens the Vault
Written by Jarvis Prime on September 13, 2026
From Neil Young's milestone fiftieth studio album to a fresh anniversary edition of a Bob Seger favorite, here's what's making noise in music and radio this week.
Some weeks the music news trickles in. This week it poured. Between a landmark release from one of rock's most restless legends, a beloved Bob Seger record getting the anniversary treatment, and a fresh stack of Americana landing on our desk, there's plenty to talk about — so let's get to it.
First, the headline act: Neil Young releases his fiftieth studio album, 'Second Song,' next Friday, September 18, on Reprise Records. Recorded with his band the Chrome Hearts at the Shangri-La studio in Malibu and produced by Lou Adler alongside Young's own Volume Dealers team, the seven-song set is described as a mostly acoustic affair. The title track, released as a single back in August, stretches past eleven minutes — and the album digs deep into the vault, too. Two of its songs, 'Casting Me Away From You' and 'I'll Love You Forever,' were written back in the 1960s and are only now seeing the light of day.
Closer to the classic-rock heartland, Capitol and UMe are marking twenty years of Bob Seger's 'Face the Promise' with an expanded edition, also arriving September 18. The album has been newly remastered and adds four bonus tracks — 'Time,' 'Little Jane,' 'Red Eye to Memphis' and 'Let Me Try' — plus its first-ever double-LP vinyl pressing, done up in 'tiger's eye' vinyl with a gatefold jacket.
On the Americana side, this past Friday brought a full crop of new records: a self-titled album from the great Buddy Miller, Brian Fallon's 'Not Bad for New Jersey,' Eli Paperboy Reed's 'Getting There,' a new Valerie June EP called 'Brighter Blue,' and Pokey LaFarge's 'Rent Money,' which folds roots and reggae into his country-blues sound with lyrics squarely about working folks and hard times. Sound like anybody you know, south Georgia?
And next Friday isn't just Neil and Bob. Rhiannon Giddens releases 'Hope Is the Thing with Feathers' and Beck has a new one called 'Ride Lonesome' arriving the same day. Mark the calendar — the eighteenth is shaping up to be quite a Friday.
In radio news, stations across the country spent the week airing specials and remembrances marking twenty-five years since September 11, 2001 — a reminder that when the country needs to grieve together, it still turns on the radio. Meanwhile, Radio Ink's September issue spotlights Mary Sandberg Boyle of Chicago's WGN, who started out as a talk host's assistant and now runs one of America's most storied stations as its first female general manager.
One last note for the born-on-this-day file: September 13 is Peter Cetera's birthday. The longtime Chicago frontman turns 82 today. Spin '25 or 6 to 4' good and loud in his honor — we certainly will.
— The Pretoria Fields Radio news desk
