Fresh off his win for Best Traditional Country Album at the 2026 Grammy Awards, Zach Top had some great insight into this moment in country music from his perspective as an artist.
#1 song in all of music at the moment is from a country artist. Even more remarkably, it’s from a woman in country. Even more inexplicable, it’s fair to characterize the song as traditional country.
It’s one of the most difficult and scrutinized performances any singer can commit to. But if you turn in a memorable rendition, it could be a defining moment in your career. It’s the National Anthem.
The sum total of country’s participation in the 3 1/2 hour show was the 4 minute, 44 second performance. While voting and Grammy membership is not entirely in the Grammy’s control, the performances are.
Only appropriate that as the recently svelte Jelly Roll sauntered up to the stage to deliver his shake shack snake oil sermon, you heard Jelly Roll singing via the walk-up music, “I ain’t nothin’ but a liar.”
Zach Top’s popularity probably helped play a role in the Grammys deciding to make a new Best Traditional Country Album category for 2026. All the more fitting that Zach would walk away with the trophy.
The song is hard enough to sing, especially to a national audience. Putting a signature, twangy spin on it is something else, especially since Zach had to hold his attention as the jet flyover came a shade too early.
Chris Stapleton isn’t riding off into the sunset anytime soon, and he also doesn’t appear to be taking a step down from an arena/stadium level. If anything, he’s looking to step up his game in 2026.
The “Choosin’ Texas” phenomenon is now starting to break out of the country realm into the wide consciousness, and puncture the zeitgeist. This week, the song went Top 5 in the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s the ever-present shame of actual country music fans out there who must witness what passes for “country music” in the minds of corporate stooges when it’s featured on a national stage.
With Single of the Year, we’re simply looking for the toe tappers and boot scooters—the songs that unlock the joy in music. That doesn’t mean that a Single of the Year cannot be meaningful or momentous though.
Irrespective of the definitions, the point of highlighting the best “mainstream” albums each year is to reward artists and the industry when they get it right within the closest proximity to Music Row.
It’s a classy move by Charley Crockett, and perhaps a vote for Charley can be seen as a vote for Turnpike as well, especially since as he rightly points out, it was the Turnpike Troubadours who seeded his career.
What is it about the Grammy system that doesn’t allow that one consensus album of a given year to rise to the top like it should, like it didn’t for the Turnpike Troubadours in 2025?
It might be an awkward Thanksgiving around the Nelson household. Actually, probably not. They seem like the kind of clan that’s not especially competitive with each other and is more supportive.
With nominations in all of the categories he was eligible in, Tyler Childers leads all nominees in country music with four. Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert tie Childers.
The nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards were announced on Friday morning (11-7), with extra interest this year in country due to how the Grammys split the Best Country Album category into two categories.
Tell anyone you owe money “tough luck,” they’re gonna have to wait because you might be mortgaging the farm if that’s what it takes to make it to Montana next summer for the Under The Big Sky Festival.
For next year’s festivities June 6th and 7th, 2026, Railbird is once again mining talent from other genres for some of their headliners. But this time it’s from the roots side of indie rock.
Opportunities are opening up for older artists, many of whom were put out to pasture during the Bro-Country era, or forced to capitulate to the current sound. There might not be a better example than Joe Nichols.
Don’t look now, but there has been a dramatic shift in the trajectory of two of country music’s hottest up-and-coming stars, and it doesn’t bode well if you’re advocating for the continuance of country music’s resurgence
It’s a very real possibility that Zach Top doesn’t win a single trophy at the 2025 CMA Awards. But in some respects, it doesn’t matter if he does. He’s already won as a traditionalist on an independent label.
Summer is winding down, and it’s time to put away the swimsuits and party songs, and bust out the sweater and sad bastard tunes. There’s so much great music coming out right now, it’s kind of ridiculous.
Zach Top illustrates the timeless appeal of true country music. He isn’t just making music that’s curiously popular for its older sound. He’s ushering in an entirely new era for the country music genre.