Rolling Country 2024

We don't post our year-end roundup until the first week of January; unranked list of 60 best country singles of 2023 is here. Playlist is at the end of the post for those disinclined to read the various essays.

Top 30 country albums of 2023 kicks off here. Again, with a playlist at the bottom of the post.

Had no idea Jaime Wyatt released a new album this year -- thanks!

The traditionalist factions took issue with the change in style on the Wyatt album, but I dug it.

Full list of t30 albums, with a playlist, is live now. Wrote a long essay on Jason Hawk Harris' album.

Thanks! Lots I haven't heard.
Commentary, incl. much by Carlene, on June Carter Cash, re new doc:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/17/june-carter-johnny-cash-documentary-movie
review:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/17/june-review-country-music-legend-who-was-much-more-than-johnny-cashs-wife

Finished listening to everything from 2023 that I wanted to. Here's my rundown...

Albums
AOTY: Margo Cilker - Valley of Heart's Delight (fav track: "I Remember Carolina")

Also Great:
Jess Williamson - Time Ain't Accidental (fav track: see below)
Nick Shoulders - All Bad (fav track: "It's the Best?")
Kelsea Ballerini - Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (fav track: "Mountain with a View")
Pony Bradshaw - North Georgia Rounder (fav track: "Foxfire Wine")
Brennen Leigh - Ain't Through Honky Tonkin Yet (fav track: "Running Out of Hope, Arkansas")
Various Artists - I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100 (fav track: Nora Brown - "Am I Born to Die")
Charles Wesley Godwin - Family Ties (fav track: "Family Ties")
Bella White - Among Other Things (fav track: "Rhododendron")
Ashley McBryde - The Devil I Know (fav track: "Coldest Beer in Town")
Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan (fav track: "I Remember Everything" feat. Kacey Musgraves)

Solid/Honorable Mention:
Lori McKenna - 1988 (fav track: "Happy Children")
Florry - The Holey Bible (fav track: "Drunk and High")
H.C. McEntire - Every Acre (fav track: "Shadows" feat. SG Goodman)
Megan Maroney - Lucky (fav track: "I'm Not Pretty")
Tyler Childers - Rustin in the Rain (fav track: "Rustin in the Rain")
Turnpike Troubadours - A Cat in the Rain (fav track: "Brought Me")
Drayton Farley - Twenty on High (fav track: "Stop the Clock")
Whitney Rose - Rosie (fav track: "Can't Remember Happiness")
Amanda Fields - What, When and Without (fav track": "2 Steppin'")

Tracks
SOTY: Jess Williamson - "Hunter"

Also Great:
Julie Williams - "The Prince"
Allison Russell - "The Returner"
Aly & AJ - "Blue Dress"
Jordyn Shellhart - "Who Are You Mad At?"
Emily Ann Roberts - "Whole Lotta Little"
Luke Combs - "Fast Car"
Fanny Lumsden - "Millionaire"
Rachel Baiman - "Annie" feat. Erin Rae
Iris DeMent - "Workin on a World"

Solid/Honorable Mention:
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - "Strawberry Woman"
Cody Johnson - "The Painter"
Chris Stapleton - "White Horse"
Molly Tuttle - "El Dorado"
Stephen Wilson Jr. - "American Gothic" feat. Hailey Whitters
Laura Cantrell - "Bide My Time"
Lainey Wilson - "Wildflowers and Wild Horses"
Joy Oladokun - "Sweet Symphony" feat. Chris Stapleton
Gabe Lee - "Drink the River"
Esther Rose - "Chet Baker"
Cory Hanson - "Housefly"
Colter Wall - "Evangelina"
Colby Acuff - "White Western Pines"
Brit Taylor - "No Cowboys"
Jason Eady - "Way Down in Mississippi"
Dean Johnson - "Faraway Skies"
Maren Morris - "Get the Hell Out of Here"
Alex Hall - "Women and Horses" feat. Brandy Clark
Josie Toney - "City Girl Blues"
The Malpass Brothers - "I've Got Her on My Mind Again"
Katie Pruitt - "Blood Related"
Morgan Wallen - "Last Night"

sweet list! thanks for sharing.

Love that Margo Cilker album a lot.

Indexed - not trying to poke holes or anything, but none of the tracks on your album of the year were among your 30ish favorite songs of the year? Just curious if that's really the case or you just kept her off the tracks list or something.

Here (as in my other ILM voting) I try to keep them as wholly separate lists. Anything on my albums list has many tracks that I love; I use the Tracks list to highlight artists whose albums didn't quite hold up for me or who released a great single/EP. There are occasional exceptions where one of my absolute favorite tracks (e.g., "Hunter") has to be mentioned, but I rarely will have more than a couple repeats on my ballots.

Also, missed this track -- should be in my "Also Great" list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMXI2QzeBHg

Also going to take this opportunity to share this one from my extended Tracks list bc I think it'd be a hit here. Rippin guitar record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuz1vufyMYA

Got it. Thought that might be the case.

At the same time, I could see someone holding the opinion that Cilker's album is terrific because it's full of great songs that are all similarly great - but none that stop you in your tracks or whatever.

But your answer makes more sense. :)

https://wapo.st/47OD392

Brittney Spencer

Ned R mentioned her on Bluesky.

Freelancer Emily Yahr for Washington Post says - Brittney Spencer makes ‘universal’ country music. Nashville’s listening.
In a genre that has historically sidelined Black singers, she broke through with a viral video and a debut album that blends country sensibilities with rock and R&B.

Jon Pareles in NY Times re Sarah Jorosz, Americana singer trying a Nashville pro approach sorta this time--

In modern Nashville, songwriting is often a matter of professionalized co-writing: planned, mix-and-match collaborations by appointment, musicians sharing a room to come up with sturdy material.

It’s a method that Sarah Jarosz had largely shied away from until she made her seventh studio album, “Polaroid Lovers.” The LP, arriving Friday, includes songs she wrote with behind-the-scenes Nashville stalwarts including Jon Randall, Natalie Hemby and the album’s producer, Daniel Tashian, who worked on the country-psychedelia fusion of Kacey Musgraves’s “Golden Hour.”

On “Polaroid Lovers,” Jarosz reaches toward a broader audience while still maintaining her individuality. The songs are more plugged in, muscular and reverberant than her past albums, which were intimate and largely acoustic. But her particular perspective — at once clearheaded, thoughtful, vulnerable and open to desire — comes through.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/arts/music/sarah-jarosz-polaroid-lovers.html

Pareles in NY Times re Jarosz link

Thanks for the heads up, this is a really enjoyable record, plus I see that she is playing here in a couple of weeks.

The Jarosz album isn't my favorite of the year so far-- that's the new Lizzie No, with Willi Carlisle and Randall King not far behind-- but it's awfully good. Other early favorites are the Brittney Spencer, Hannah Kaminer, Colby T Helms, and Chatham County Line.

I liked the Colby T. Helms but holy moly that's the most "sounds like" another artist I've heard in some time. He's going to have to push past his lifetime of listening to Childers somehow.

Just saw hype for the return of Brooks and Dunn, with their 1st album in 12 years - Reboot

Their album titled Reboot came out in 2019? Or is there a "career reboot" album on the way?

reboot rescootin boogie

yep

NEW ALBUM ‘REBOOT’ AVAILABLE NOW
Brooks & Dunn’s collaboration project REBOOT is available now! Click below to buy or stream at your favorite retailer.

LISTEN NOW
https://smarturl.it/brooksdunnreboot

REBOOT – Track List:
1. Brand New Man (with Luke Combs)

2. Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You (with Brett Young)

3. My Next Broken Heart (with Jon Pardi)

4. Neon Moon (with Kacey Musgraves)*

5. Lost and Found (with Tyler Booth)

6. Hard Workin’ Man (with Brothers Osborne)

7. You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone (with Ashley McBryde)

8. My Maria (with Thomas Rhett)

9. Red Dirt Road (with Cody Johnson)

10. Boot Scootin’ Boogie (with Midland)

11. Mama Don’t Get Dressed Up For Nothing (with LANCO)

12. Believe (with Kane Brown)

Produced by Dann Huff
*Produced by Dann Huff and Kacey Musgraves
https://www.brooks-dunn.com/brooks-dunn-buckle-up-for-the-reboot-tour-2024/

... Yeah, that's the one that's been out since 2019. Super uneven in terms of the collaborators' pulling their weight.

https://people.com/brooks-and-dunn-announce-reboot-2024-tour-dates-tickets-8547766

From ny Scene ballot comments:

Brooks & Dunn's Reboot is 12 of their hits rerecorded with popular young 'uns, mostly one at a time, except for LANCO (sic, sorry), a man band. Wiki sez their greatest hit was featured on ABC's The Bachelor, and I believe it: this version of "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up For Nothin'" sounds like Hall & Oates wannabees (incl. B&D) making thrift store yacht country with Casio cowbells, but not as well-done as that could be. (Midland's a band too, right? Adding nothing much to "Boot Scoot Boogie," but once again, and as usual on this set, neither do B&D). Programmed beats do signify on "Neon Moon," which is now mostly Kacey Musgraves keenly keening for certainties or at least passing solace---her most and only compelling performance ever, far as I've heard. B&D seem to be living the dying of "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" all over again, or still, and Ashley MacBryde keeps the ballad momentum building, ditto Kane Brown on "Believe." Damn that could have been so blustery, but it's not. Reminds me of my favorite line in "Red Dirt Road, " where they learned that "happiness on Earth was not just for high achievers." Such a relief! Cody Johnson does no harm to that one. Oh, and good, if slightly too long, re-reboot of BW Stevenson's 70s hit, "My Maria," with Thomas Rhett.

saw kacey cover "neon moon" live when she was touring right before golden hour & it was really wonderful, the version that ended up on this album is disappointing overall but especially in comparison

Looks like I thought it was her at her best, but my take on KM has gotten to be more the reverse of most listeners', maybe applying to this track as well.
From Scene ballot comments re 2012:

Kix Brooks' New To This Town brings that well-known early 00s bluesy boogie, Southern Rock as mainstream country thang, plus weekends in Memphis, even "let's put some Otis Redding on" w Cropperesque licks on or leading into the steel guitar. "There's The Sun" is a pool party w the Hi Rhythm Gang (in effect).(Saturday soul sunshine in Kelly Clarkson and Vince Gill's hand-in-hand single, "Don't Rush"; if only their singing was as strong as the groove.) Brooks' title track is like why has no one ever done this before, although it might be risky on a mainstream country album, what will the Chamber of Commerce think of somebody who wishes he was new to this town, cos he's sick of this town, cos he knows it too well, and vice versa. of course because it is mainstream, has to be tied in with a relationship, every street is where they used to walk happy together, and she's still around etc., but that's a good subject too ( could incl they still have the same friends, but that could lead to a sequel). Mostly songs about cutting loose, the other obligatory homefires songs usually fit in better than expected, and the closer, "She Knew I Was A Cowboy", is more affecting than 90 percent of all songs containing the word "cowboy", Ah believe. (no songs about kids, he doesn't push his luck that far). Lots of good video soundtracks here, re what I still think of as the early 00s-type marketing.

Musgrave's "Neon Moon" >>>> B&D's

and I'm not a KM fan

it's a lovely song, km version rules (although I've long overplayed it)

Late honky tonker James Hand got auto-compared to Hank Williams, and the few uptempo tracks on Charley Crockett's trib Ten For Slim can seem Hank Yoakam, in a good way of course, but Crockett def gets Hand's catchy ballads, bringing out a somewhut early-Willie, thus Floyd Tillmanesque, not to mention Gary Stewart, winsome doom (sucks for him, relatable fun for us)---can especially imagine Stewart doing this, although it's unmistakably crunchy Crockett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svlmMjMzheY

Hand's own Master of Depression was the re-titled (for a signature sadcore cutie, done right by Charley), and otherwise slightly tweaked 2022 10th Anniversary Edition of Mighty Lonesome Man(originally and duh-named for one of the few clunkers [as written and unredeemed] on Crocket's alb).
From Scene ballot comments again, here's what I said about the first edition:

James Hand's Mighty Lonesome Man tracks the fine print white line of life's little ups and downs with mighty fine timing--unafraid to venture beyond deft wordplay into details that could easily keep him orbiting in mental and emotional rituals eternally--but 12 items, 34 minutes, as Windows Media Player sums up, hand him off, pass him along in the alone-together jukebox of honky tonk pop (where he can be a-t with Billy Joe Shaver, for instance). Good in the background or foreground; I'm tempted to say he'll be there when you get there--he's a stand-up guy--but whatcha say James? "Let's do it now, before they use a plow, 'cause then I won't be no earthly good to you."

10 for Slim was 2021; 2022 'sJukebox Charley is mostly good-to-amazing, and starts well, with "Make Way For A Better Man." Track Two brings the cuckold's commiseration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtlHw-Z7mFQ

Current fave on Jukebox Charley: "I Hope It Rains At My Funeral"----people don't cover Tom T. Hall much these days, do they?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtlHw-Z7mFQ

Sorry! Here tis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEPkG4A1Z3k

The new Sierra Ferrell single still doesn't capture how good she is live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3FQpE99zCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2W8kCk1qnU

enjoyed that dollar bill bar a fair bit

Lainey Wilson won best country album Grammy for her Bell bottom Country one. It was her first Grammy

.@KaceyMusgraves becomes the first artist in HISTORY to win all four country categories at the #GRAMMYs. pic.twitter.com/c007bKMsfY

— Kacey Musgraves Access (@KaceyAccess) February 6, 2024

Of course she's also got an AOTY award.

One more thing about xetcpost Charley Crockett: on a previous RC, I found myself disappointed by The Man From Waco, which I took as an art project deconstruction/rehash of The Red-Headed Stranger, which I had never actually listened to. You could indeed call Crockett's album a deconstruction--of a revenge killer, or the mindset and possible behavior patterns of someone so inclined---who is also smilin' onstage, an embodiment of "Cowboy Candy" ("I hope I got enough")---always fearful, always travelling, running from and toward, but mainly around and around, to a woodblock beat, in his cage of ritual, connecting and mostly low-key-sliding dots on the map (for instance, he's also "The Man From Atlanta," chasing his gal, or anyway reciting where she was born and grew up and ran off to, as he follows (his tail)---though a sense of context accrues, despite the possibly nonlinear sequence, the variation of production touches from track to track, as well as the settings, the recurrence.
One nice afternoon, for instance, he seems to see her around them ol cottonwood trees, driving that "ol' blue truck---it wadn't much, but she loved it, kinda like she did me": aw shucks---but on this album, the keyword seems to be "drove." She drove the blue truck that wadn't much, and also the narrator who always feels his inadequacies/low ratings---later, long after dark she slides through a brief nightmare in a "Black Sedan."
It's the process of breakage, fear and rage and blood being spilled---he doesn't enjoy it---but he'd rather run and feel all the shit he's been feeling than turn himself in to the shady spooky normcore people--at one point he processes himself into "Tom Turkey," the Dylan song, with some lyrics added by Crockett, but still "Billy you're so far away from home," with his friend Pat Garrett leading the eternal replay posse.
There is no other mention on here of anybody being on anybody's trail. There is a sweet-sounding mention of "July Jackson," "a woman with a couple of kids," and a more successful revenge killer, whose cool incl. statement of self-satisfaction, when questioned before the whole town (no mention of court; is this a lynching?). Not only her husband, the girl he was with turns up dead, this time under merely suspicious circumstances----"but that's not how the paper read." Why wouldn't they try to pin it on her? Is it some kind of cover-up? Did the narrator spot something suspicious anyway? What does he know about it and how? Is this whole songful situation another reverie only? He's gone to "Trinity River" to wash his filth in the dirty water of dreams, he's been pretty up front about that---also to "Horse Thief Mesa," seeking a "Grand Finale." Ha.

Does the ever-frontin' candy cowboy habitually dream all this other, or is it his past, his future, or does the killer dream of being up in lights (and still feeling inadequate/played), or does someone else dream of both?
Crockett kind of undersells, justs suggests all of this, in the course of all these details, and many more, always musical, sliding by: a tad simple-subtle for me, but now I got it and he's got me.

Paramore singer Hayley Williams decried a Tennessee House of Representatives dustup this week where a Republican lawmaker blocked a resolution honoring the Grammy win of Black musician Allison Russell while allowing a similar resolution honoring Paramore to go forward.
...Artists like Russell and Americana Music Association award-winner Margo Price were active participants in protests against the House's April 6, 2023 expulsion of Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis. The pair were expelled for breaking House decorum rules to lead a brief gun reform protest from the chamber floor after the mass shooting at The Covenant School. An effort to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, failed by one vote.

I've been a bit perplexed by my kid's love of Zach Bryan. From my perspective I couldn't figure out why she (and I guess many of her peers) was jibing with this guy's relatively raw downbeat tales of hardship, but then she revealed she thinks of him as someone like Noah Kahan, who I hear as more run of the mill slickly produced singer-songwriter. I was a bit surprised she couldn't or didn't hear a difference. She considers both of them just broadly "folk," but I hear someone like Kahan as more akin to (fellow Bryan collaborator) the Lumineers, just kind of milquetoast and at least seemingly outwardly kinda safe and inauthentic. Anyway, found it interesting.

a whole generation of people just think of them both as "Spotify Roots Music Playlist Music" i think

it's a bummer - no slag on yr daughter, of course. it's just the way kids are coming up.

i have noticed a surge in Reddit posts in recent years that ask "what genre is this?"

oops, i hit send too soon

anyway, i just think streaming playlist culture is increasing the desire in people's brains to put the music they listen to into one of the genre categories they see every time they open the app.

i can see how this is somewhat contradictory with my post about Kahan and Bryan (i.e. lumping them together) but at the same time, they kind of feel like two different symptoms of the same disease or something.

I know my kids get defensive when they play something new or unfamiliar to me and I ask them where they learned about it. They don't believe me when I insist I'm just curious. Like, they don't listen to the radio. There's no MTV. There are literally endless Tik Tok posts they scroll through, so it's a miracle anything sticks. Stuff like Noah Kahan, sure, I guess I get it. It's super marketable/accessible. But Zach Bryan's whole deal is kind of an earnest, no frills middle aged (in spirit) red dirt dude with a truck vibe, not some floppy hat Vermont hippie. But maybe I'm hearing them both wrong.

fwiw the other night her playlist included Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan and Tyler Childers, which to me all sounds like different denomination coins maybe jingling in the same pocket, as opposed to her main currency of Taylor Swift and cohort (Gracie Adams, Sabrina Carpenter, Lana del Rey).

Isn't the common denominator there though that Zach Bryan's earnest and anti-ticketmaster spirit started independent style and he's not a radio friendly country singer singing just about drinking beer and his pickup truck. She can hear Bryan, Kahan, Swift and even del Ray as folk.

I think she does! She was telling me that Lana del Ray has a lot in common with Springsteen. I asked her in what way, and she said they both exude a similar Americana esthetic, or something like that.

Lately she's been complaining that the kick-off to Zach Bryan's (never-ending?) tour here next week is three sold out nights at the United Center where the cheapest secondary market tickets are about $200 each. I told her, please don't feed the beast, that's a rip-off. Suppress that fomo and see how things shake out the morning-of.

x-post -

https://wapo.st/45NXEuR

Jeremy Tepper obit

Tucker Wetmore

How is this not the product of Random Country Music Singer Name Generator on the fritz?

Ha, exactly

I see you Tucker Wetmore and raise you Corb Lund.

I've not kept up with Landes but love her voice and have seen her perform with Hem. Found out about this from Natalie Weiner & Marissa Moss's newsletter:

Just now signed up---thanks, Indexed! https://www.dontrocktheinbox.com/

Lorrie Morgan's back---on Cleopatra---but looks like it might be okay:

This album is very special to me,” shares Morgan. “Sadly, it turned out to be the final producing credit by my longtime friend and collaborator, Richard Landis, who passed just before its completion. Dead Girl Walking ties together a career journey from my career-making album, Something in Red, to the top 10 album, 'War Paint,' both produced by Richard and up to this new album. Richard also co-wrote the Billboard-charting single "If You Come Back From Heaven." Also in 1994, Landis was one of 14 producers to receive a CMA Album of the Year award for 'Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles,' and produced me on the last track on the album, my cover of "The Sad Cafe." Richard’s brilliant, creative touch is all over this album..."
Dead Girl Walking’ Track List:
1. “Hands On You” (Ashley Monroe, Jon Randall)
2. “Dead Girl Walking” (Kelly Lang)
3. “Me And Tequila” (Ashlee Hewitt, Matthew Morgan)
4. “I Think It’s Jesus” (Kelly Lang)
5. “Mirror, Mirror” (Kelly Lang, Lorrie Morgan, Mark Oliverius)
6. “Days Like These” (Kris Bradley, Marty Morgan)
7. “What Will I Do?” (Mickey Newbury)
8. “I Think You’re The Greatest” (Marty Morgan, Johnny Garcia, Katrina Burgoyne)
9. “I Almost Called Him Baby By Mistake” (Larry Gatlin)
10. “You Send Me” (Sam Cooke)

Got good players, such as Dan Dugmore, Pat Buchanan.

Listen/download/purchase ‘Dead Girl Walking’ orcd.co/lorriemorgan_deadgirlwalkingalbum

also:

Morgan launched her ‘War Paint with Lorrie Morgan’ podcast in 2023, featuring guests including Larry Gatlin, Jessie Keith Whitley, Morgan Whitley, Pam Tillis, Vince Gill, and Nancy Jones, with many more to come. Listen to ‘War Paint’ wherever podcasts are found. (We suggest Audible, Apple, iHeart, or Spotify!) The program has been picked up for broadcast television, launching on The Heartland Network July 12, 2024.

Trying that link again:
https://orcd.co/lorriemorgan_deadgirlwalkingalbum?ct=t%282024-07-01_LorrieMorgan_DGW_album-out-now%29

https://www.billboard.com/music/country/the-mavericks-lead-singer-raul-malo-health-update-1235720646/

Took me too long to get to the Adeem record but glad to be late to the party. He hopscotches around in styles picking up bits of Dwight Yoakam, John Prine, and Jason Eady, both their sounds and narrative styles. All of it's done so well. "Nightmare" is the track I keep coming back to, its upbeat pace and strong back beat a perfect match for the anxiety-inducing message. (I'm also a sucker for the overlapping male/female vocals, which amps the thing up even more.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6qyY85AEGY

get to White Trash Revelry, too. it is excellent.

I don’t love the new Kaitlin Butts album all the way through, but I do appreciate her ambition and guts to make a country album in the form of musical theater.

thoughts on the new Zach Bryan?

as usual, a bit too long (as opposed to way too long), he needs to stop with the spoken word poems, a few cringey tracks, a few keepers, starts a bit weak, ends v strong, the Springsteen track is a tantalizing look if he went full pop

my favourite LP he's done so far

don't think it's as consistent as the S/T or has the highs of American Heartbreak

I absolutely love the Kaitlin Butts album-- every one of her big swings connects-- but I'll concede that it's not going to be to everyone's liking.

What I wrote about the Bryan set:
Z. Bryan, ... (***): CTRL+V: A few stunners to justify the roar of the crowd ("28," "Oak Island"), and a whole lot that could've been cut for concision and quality. Lack of growth is troubling, but with a vocal cult of devotees and little self-reflection, where's the motivation to do, be better?

Ashley Monroe has released three new tracks thus far in 2024, with very little fanfare. The best of the three is a cover of a Fred Eaglesmith rarity ("I Like Trains"), but all three are strong.

The opening (and best) track on the uneven Lorrie Morgan set mentioned upthread is a cover of Monroe's "Hands On You," incidentally.

xp agreed, the Kaitlin Butts is one for the ages. I was very high on What Else Can She Do, but Roadrunner! surpassed any expectations I had and then some.

Keep listening to Roadrunner! I hear bits of Kacey’s Pageant Material, Miranda’s Platinum, and Elizabeth Cook’s Balls. Similar to those, it’s dressed up as a throwback — in this case, country & western — record but is thoroughly modern. Though her voice struggles to keep up with her ambitious writing, in places, when she softens it, it can be startling.

Favorite tracks: “Roadrunner!”, “Come Rest Your Head (On My Pillow), feat. Vince Gill”, “Spur”, “Elsa.”

Tracking the new box office smash Twisters through tornado territory, Midwest and Deep South audiences eating it up even more ravenously than projected, Deadline gets to:

Of all the marketing lynchpins that heightened the movie’s profile was its country-infused soundtrack. What a pop Dua Lipa-Billie Eilish laced soundtrack did last summer for Barbie, a country fried one was essential for Twisters with 29 tracks by such artists as Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, Bailey Zimmerman, Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett, Shania Twain, Charley Crockett, Flatland Cavalry, Tyler Childers and Megan Moroney.

Speaking of Barbie, when Uni was meeting with record labels, they decided to work with Atlantic’s West Coast President Kevin Weaver over a Nashville-based company, as the exec was coming off the success of the Barbie soundtrack. Weaver has also assembled such soundtracks and cast albums as Hamilton and The Greatest Showman.

Combs’ “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” was released on May 16, the lead single off the Twisters soundtrack. The song was tied to the second trailer launch and ultimately busted into Billboard’s Top 10 Country Airplay chart. Combs performed the song during his summer tour which further propelled it to 120M+ global audio streams to date and 36K+ creations on TikTok totaling more than 225M views. As we told you over the weekend, Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos showed up on stage Friday night at Luke Combs’ concert at Jets stadium.

In total, the Twisters soundtrack has amassed 175M+ streams to date since dropping on May 29. Uni released one song a week for the past 10 weeks — plus a song a day this past week. The Jelly Roll Twisters song “Dead End Road” was used in the TV trailer for the pic. Other music highlight included a pic partnership with Bobby Bones, the No. 1 iHeart network country DJ.

A little too much of that mebbe---but what I had meant to say: today's revive of Prine thread reminds me of Todd Snider's "Handsome John," on the somewhut misleadingly, imposingly (wryly?) titled First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder, alb otherwise more suited, in a fine wine way, with words worth checking on AZlyrics, for the Country Funk thread---whereas this is just voice and piano, rolling on, fond but never overselling,"I didn't know him as well as I tell everyone I did":
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=todd+snider+handsome+john#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:238f7e88,vid:WnKWetl2rtE,st:0

Another one about friends etc.: Jessi Colter, "Angel In The Fire," and I'm influenced by the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHUCGgXKO8

Chris Willman on next Miranda:

Miranda Lambert has set a release date, title and tracklist for her first album under a new deal with Republic Records. “Postcards From Texas” will be out Sept. 13, and in the meantime, the country star’s fans can collect “Alimony,” a track issued concurrently with the album news on Wednesday.`

The 14-track album is self-produced by Lambert along with frequent collaborator and fellow Texan Jon Randall; she co-wrote 10 of the tracks, although the album-closer is reserved for a David Allen Coe classic, “Living on the Run,” from the country outlaw hero’s 1976 album “Longhaired Redneck.”

“Alimony” was co-penned by Lambert with two of country’s most in-demand songwriters, Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby, as was another track with an obvious Texas theme, “Looking Back on Luckenbach.”

Oops, just saw newsletter. She adds:

Each song is a letter from me to you. Xo, Miranda

PS: It’s Honky Tonk as Hell.

From an earlier interview with Willman, re moving to Republic/Big Loud, setting up her own imprint, Big Loud Texas, and I'm mostly interested in how she wants to cultivate new artists

I’ve got a meeting today for the Big Loud Texas label side of it, which is also really fun. I’m loving getting to learn that side of it and really kind of step into the role of being an artist (advocating) for the artist. Because I’ve been through pretty much all of it, so I can understand the phases and what goes on in an artist’s brain; I’m just there to help and it’s been really cool.

Anything you would say about releases that are coming through your label?

Well, I don’t have any names I can say yet, but we’ve got some really cool things up our sleeve, and Dylan Gossett is our flagship artist and he’s killing it out there. I’m real thrilled to watch his star rise, and it happened really fast and I’m so thrilled that it’s part of what we’re building. I mean, our label is about a legacy of the outlaw movement that came from Texas that inspired all of us — not just country music, even. You know, Willie inspired everybody, I’m pretty sure. So I just feel like Jon and I want to keep that legacy going, and we’re glad to be a tiny part of it.

As he gears up for tonight’s first concert on his Last Call: One More for the Road Tour, Alan Jackson reveals good friend Lee Ann Womack will join him as his special guest at upcoming shows in Grand Rapids, MI (Saturday, August 24 at Van Andel Arena) and Fayetteville, AR (Saturday, September 28 at Bud Walton Arena).

I missed that Charley Crockett put out a second album this year (of course he did). I like this one more than $10 Cowboy although both, for me, have begun to signal diminishing returns for this ultra prolific artist.

Randall King - never really paid attention to him and probably just assumed he's another faceless mid-tier country dude (my bad) but ... the album out earlier this year is ... great? Am I wrong?

or is it just good and i'm in the honeymoon phase?

speaking of young dudes bringing the '90s vibes: new Muscadine Bloodline album is out Aug. 16

There are a bunch of acts who have put out records in the same 90s Hat Act vein as king this year, and I think King's is the best of them. It's a great album, especially for how many tracks are on it.

Zach Top, Amanda Kate Ferris, David Serby, and Kimmi Bitter all put out strong albums with similar vibes.

The new Amanda Anne Platt album is exactly as good as all other Amanda Anne Platt albums.

Heard a couple of hers
from Scene ballot for 2016 albs:

The Honeycutters, On The Ropes---something of a---I don't quite wanna say "antidote"---but a refreshing change from the derivative, predictably enjoyable limits of Margo Price's debut (a Loretta Lynn knock-off would have more of a kick if emulating LL's daring-for-the-times topical testimonials, and oops here's the original back with a good new album of her own). Amanda Anne Platt doesn't sound like anybody else I can think of: she and her bandmates (especially the drummer) grab my attention right away, in a straightforward yet detailed way; obviously they've been around, gaining the confidence not to oversell the pictures from life's other side, and their well-traveled set list. However, her plain voice could use a bit more of her good overdubbed harmonies (some harmonies are also credited to the musicians, but I haven't noticed male voices yet). And she should leave more room (shut up more often) for solos, though the accompaniment gets breathing room, even swirling room at times, without things getting crowded--except, done this way, her songs can seem wordier than they might in a different kind of production. Still, track by track, I already like and am intrigued by most of it--well def keep listening, which seems to be the plan.
(One exception: will prob keep fast-fwding past the sole cover, an exceedingly long-ass version of L. Cohen's "Hallelujah"---enjoyed Willie's version, but jeeez, Rufus Wainwright's, Jeff Buckley's, who knows how-many others...this is not one if your more performer-proof songs.)

Fllow-up:

Amanda Anne Platt/Honeycutters: S/T
The Honeycutters’ 2016 On The Ropes had only one problem that tipped the scales from Hon Mention to About Half Good (still 60-odd % good songwise), and that problem was that the lead singer-songwriter never shut up long enough to let the band take us a little bit further---into the thinking/breathing/sinking-in room at least or most, that’s all I ask; no set-the-night-on-fyre picking is required, though nothing against it. Here she (Anne Amanda Platt!) slaps her name in front of the band’s, and gives them and listeners enough room---Brandy Clark had to learn to do that too---and, while I still can’t find purchase in the philosophical wordmill of opener “Diamond In The Rough” grabs me at the drummer’s kick-off, and thence through the goalposts of life/the rest of the album, especially “Eden,” which starts with an appreciation of the heartland as idyll, but quickly and methodically deconstructs the narrator as she connects so many things that cling to the view; just what kind of crap is her L’il Opie’s towhead getting crammed with, over at the little schoolhouse on the prairie? “Learning How To Love Him”----not really “Again,” but she and hub are approaching what they never really had, cruising familiar sights with a gradually changing view, and she’s “sitting by your bed in a little white room.”

So that was better, was really looking fwd, but Live at the Grey Eagle I just tagged as "Milk Dud" (sluggishly sincere, I think was the basic, maybe only, impressions over several listens).

Although even Grey Eagle might be good for cherry-picking--- made last place in

About Half Good (60-45%), in descending order of Goodness or goodness:

AAP & The Honeycutters are one of those bands that could be a bullseye for me. That kind of jangle-country is exactly what I love most. But they do just consistent stay right in the middle - nothing is bad, and nothing is really transcendently great either.

Uh-oh, that title:

We’re excited to announce the upcoming release of Willie’s latest album, LAST LEAF ON THE TREE, set to drop on November 1.

This album is more than just music—it’s a heartfelt family creation.

Thanks to the extraordinary talent of Willie’s son, Micah Nelson, LAST LEAF ON THE TREE brings a new level of artistry and personal touch to Willie’s legacy. Micah not only produced the album, he played many of the instruments, designed the cover, and created captivating visuals.

To celebrate this special family project, we’re offering an exclusive pre-order edition. This special 2xLP version will include a limited-edition woodcut print created by Micah himself.

Only available here in Willie's shop.

...Last Leaf On The Tree finds Willie covering songs from moody indie rock (Beck), psych alt-pop (The Flaming Lips) and punk-informed folk (Sunny War, Micah’s Particle Kid) to thought-provoking soul jazz (Nina Simone) and lesser-known gems from legends like Tom Waits, Neil Young, Keith Richards, and Warren Zevon.

In addition, the album features new takes on one of Willie’s oldest songs (“The Ghost” from 1962) plus a new one penned with Micah (“The Color Of Sound”) that joins Willie’s collection of Zen-soaked classics. In addition to producing, Micah Nelson plays many of the instruments and even designed the album cover. He is joined by a host of celebrated musicians plus guest spots from legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois, John Densmore of The Doors and harmonica master Mickey Raphael, who has played alongside Willie for over 50 years. On 2xLP amber swirl vinyl with a lithograph.

Track Listing:

Side A
1. Last Leaf
2. If It Wasn’t Broken
3. Lost Cause
4. Come Ye

Side B
1. Keep Me In Your Heart
2. Robbed Blind
3. House Where Nobody Lives

Side C
1. Are You Ready For The Country?
2. Do You Realize??
3. Wheels

Side D
1. Broken Arrow
2. Color Of Sound
3. The Ghost
4. Lookin’ For Trouble

I would like him to do one titled Texas, incl. "In The Jailhouse Now," "I'll Be There Before The Next Teardrop Falls, " "Spanish is the Loving Tongue," "Get It While You Can," and "You're Gonna Miss Me."

Not that familiar w David Olney, but considering contributors (whose own New West albums are on related sale), this should be worth a listen.
Release date Oct. 25, on vinyl and colored vinyl as well as CD:

“Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard.” – Townes Van Zandt

TRACKLIST:

Deeper Well - Lucinda Williams
Sister Angelina - Steve Earle
Voices on the Water - The McCrary Sisters
Jerusalem Tomorrow - Buddy Miller
If My Eyes Were Blind - The Steeldrivers
Women Across the River - Willis Alan Ramsey
1917 - Mary Gauthier
Always the Stranger - R.B. Morris
If It Wasn’t for the Wind - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Running From Love - Anana Kaye
That’s My Story - Greg Brown
Sonnet #40 - David Olney
Titanic - Afton Wolfe
Steal My Thunder - Dave Alvin with the Rick Holmstrom Trio
Delta Blue - Jim Lauderdale
She’s Alone Tonight - Janis Ian
Illegal Cargo - Townes Van Zandt

Luke Bryan Mind of a Country Boy album out today. He's gonna be on Good Morning America Monday Sept 30 and on Jimmy Fallon October 2. He's got a writing credit along with others on the title track, and on a song called "For the Kids." The other songs on the album appear to be written by Nashville country songwriters

https://www.billboard.com/music/country/luke-bryan-album-mind-of-a-country-boy-1235786806/