“Lonesome Drifter” gives you another good haul of original Charley Crockett songs that are immediately entertaining, and that endear you ever further to the man and the mythos.
Writing and recording divorce records in the era of non-disclosure agreements has to make for a difficult task. But if there’s any wordsmith out there in the world capable of navigating those hurdles, it’s probably Jason Isbell.
By mining his deepest emotions of love, devotion, and thankfulness, Justin Wells composes songs that resonate deeply with anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances, and those who aspire to.
The Devil Makes Three is blue collar music for a bleak world bifurcated between the have’s and have not’s. It’s never pretty. It’s a feral, tattooed, and pierced. But it’s nonetheless inspiring from its dogged persistence.
It very well could be that the son of Hank Williams Jr., and the grandson of Hank Williams will be responsible for releasing the worst song in the entire pantheon of what anyone could ever construe as “country music” in 2025.
It’s the intimate nature of the approach to “Lonely Mountain Town” that brings the emotion of the songs to the surface, and centers the attention of the audience upon the story.
It’s a thing of beauty how the gentle but powerful musings of Juliet McConkey overwhelm your emotional faculties in disarming waves, awakening feelings often left dormant in the passing of everyday life.
Tony Logue and his band have the uncanny ability to cut through all the pretentiousness that seems to permeate most all contemporary music to serve real and raw human emotions free from embellishment.
Even before Jesse Welles wrote, recorded, and released this fully formed 10-song studio album amid sometimes daily song releases on social media, his musical output hovered somewhere near the impossible.
There is no easy or succinct way to regard The War and Treaty’s new album Plus One. It starts off terribly, but goes on to include perhaps some of the best songs of their entire catalog. It’s not really country at all, until it is…
Already opening shows for Zach Top, he’s got a similar sound to Zach, is a good guitar player as well, but it’s Cole Goodwin’s songwriting that is garnering attention, and distinguishing him from other neotraditionalist.
Even those well versed in the wide expanses of the Western music canon will be strongly intrigued and delighted to hear the decidedly singer/songwriter-style of Western music that Cam Pierce crafts.
Similar to many recent Super Bowl halftime performances, the Grammy Awards were primarily dominated by lip-synced performances and choreographic dancing without a live instrument to be seen on stage.
Even among the wave of new country performers, Ty Myers is still unique. At only 17, he’s just a pup with ruddy cheeks. But he stands confidently on stage, writes his own songs, and sings them with a strong and soulful delivery.
Inspired by Lafayette and the greater Acadiana region, expect Cajun, expect country, expect some swamp pop and vintage R&B. But most importantly, expect the distinct, the savory, and the unexpected from Miss Tess’s Cher Rêve.
The name will probably be familiar to independent country fans. Whether you’ve seen it ascribed as TJ McFarland, or his stage name Tennessee Jet, he’s a primary member of the Cody Jinks songwriting collective.
Some folks forget that comedy in some ways is just as integral to the classic versions of country music as fiddle and steel guitar. It’s just that all of these elements have been forsaken by certain modern versions of commercial country.
What happens at Mile 0 Fest in Key West doesn’t stay in Key West. It resonates throughout the Texas/ Red Dirt world, into Americana, and throughout independent country for the rest of the year.
Promising to deliver a unifying moment, Carrie Underwood accomplished that very thing, despite the incredibly polarizing circumstances, and technical difficulties. And she did it through her talent, poise, and grace.
For the people who live along and around 30A—and those willing to travel to it and Airbnb a condo—it’s an incredible opportunity to experience some of the premiere songwriters in the world who travel to attend.
It’s fiddle. It’s steel guitar. It’s songs about raising hell. It’s sentimental songs about the most important things in life. Everybody’s all behind Zach Top, but Josh’s been doing 90s traditional country since the ’90s.
On found vintage cowboy and country clothing, and classic country songs specializing in capturing the sincere emotions ever-present in the pursuit of companionship, Paige Plaisance is a worthy proprietor.
Look Up is not a bad album at all. There’s not a single song or moment on it that will feel offensive to a country fan’s ears. But when you prop Sir Ringo Starr in front of a camera, perch a cowboy hat on top of his head…
Now what the hell is this? What’s the fun or challenge of getting to the top if you sell out to get there? Koe Wetzel is supposed to be one of country music’s bad boys blowing in from Texas, doing things his own way.