“This album feels more true to me than anything I’ve done yet,” mulled Austin’s JM Stevens of his sophomore full-length, Nowhere to Land. “It just feels right in my heart.”

An acclaimed Americana and roots rock/pop singer, songwriter, and producer, Stevens returns three years after his well-received solo debut, Invisible Lines. The new collection, the 10-song Nowhere to Land is an overall mellower, more vulnerable record than its predecessor, though still speckled with some up-tempo rockers. It’s a thoughtful album further set apart by Stevens’ nuanced songcraft, intimate vocals, and organic production.

DittyTV praised Stevens as, “In that sweet spot of pop-rock represented by guys like Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, John Cafferty, Tom Petty, [and] Don Henley,” while The Big Takeover noted how his “Supremely tasteful arrangements keep excess far at bay.”

Stevens grew up in West Point, Mississippi, immersed in Delta blues, Elvis Presley, and ‘70s/’80s AM radio. Inspired by his mother, an accomplished church singer and pianist, and older brother Rogers’ success as guitarist for Blind Melon, he started his first band at age 12.

“My old man couldn’t sing or play a note,” he recalled. “But I never heard the end of it about the time he jumped on stage and played maracas with Bo Diddley in the ‘50’s, and how I’d never top that!”

Having barely survived a horrific rail crossing accident four years later, Stevens spent long months of recovery honing his guitar playing. In 1994, he left Mississippi for Austin, where he spent 15 years leading retro rock band Moonlight Towers before becoming an in-demand producer/engineer and session musician for countless other artists at his studio, EAR (East Austin Recording), and an ascendant solo performer.

“The majority of these songs sound as if they’ve been lingering in the ethos forever,” said Goldmine of Stevens’ solo debut. “Uncannily familiar yet edgy enough to catch immediate attention and resonate well beyond.”

During COVID lockdown, the newly sober Stevens’ dedication to his craft was evident in his joining a songwriting club that required a new song to be submitted every Thursday. “I was writing a lot. I really got into playing acoustic guitar because I could just pick it up and play without any fuss. Just tapping into the feeling that was all around the world,” he said. “And I spent a lot of time outside, trying to escape the isolation.”

Stevens also embarked upon months of weekly livestreams to try out new compositions and keep in touch with listeners. Gradually, he grew to love these creative deadlines (“They helped get me out of my own way and not be so precious about things”).

But as soon as he could, Stevens was racking up tour miles again, road testing new songs the best way he knows – live, in front of people, trying to connect with them one at a time. This led to landing official showcases at SXSW and Folk Alliance International. Only the absolute best from this two-year cascade of creativity made the cut for Nowhere to Land.

Tracking with a trusted band of local ringers and producing/mixing himself, Stevens retained a rare visceral energy on Nowhere to Land. Players include Uncle Lucius luminaries Jonny “Keys” Grossman (keyboards) and Doug Strahan (guitars); drummer George Duron (Jon Dee Graham, Roky Erickson) and  bassist-about-town Dave Wesselowski. Throughout, exquisite harmonizing from lauded Austin folk singer BettySoo underlines the poignancy of key lines, with further cultured contributions from Shinyribs member and longtime Robert Earl Keen bandmate Marty Muse (resonator, pedal steel) and a guest spot on the darkly wistful “Cobwebs” from fiddler/vocalist Beth Chrisman (The Carper Family, Lost Patterns).

From contemplative, optimistic opener “Dry Creek” and the more jaunty but no less questioning title track, it’s a record that preserves the raw emotions of Stevens’ songcraft through admirably restrained production. “I wanted to keep it real open,” he said. “And it sometimes sounds bigger that way, because there’s more space to sink into, more room to breathe.”

Pangs of love, loss and loneliness punctuate Nowhere to Land’s bouts of doubt, jealousy, and recurring hope. Songs search for that old spark as lovers grow apart but often, tempered by empathy, resolve into acceptance and letting go. “After the Storm” came to Stevens almost fully formed while out running in the wake of Texas’ infamous 2021 ice storm, while fellow standout “Cherry Sunburst” takes doing whatever it took to acquire a coveted guitar as a metaphor for losing our senses in all manner of other situations.

More comfortable than ever in his musical skin, Stevens often tours solo, embellishing his sets with the tales behind each tune. His busy 2024 live schedule, juggled around studio sessions, will once again include a prestigious SXSW showcase.

“With Nowhere to Land, I want people to feel like, whatever they may be going through, they’re not alone,” he concluded. “And it’d be really cool if a phrase or melody somewhere along the way gives someone chill bumps like all the music I love does to me; that it sparks a memory – and maybe it’s a good one.”