Here are the rules by which this list was selected. It had to be released off an album that was released in 2018, is an independent release not on any other project, or is an already-released single off a to-be-released album. If the album came out in 2017 or before, it couldn’t be included- even if it wasn't released as a single until 2018.
Looking back, there's some amazing songs that moved us more than all the others:
2017 – Sunny Sweeney – “Bottle By My Bed”
2016 - Jack Ingram - "The Sailor and the Sea"
2015- Chris Stapleton - "Tennessee Whiskey"
2014 - Emily West - "Made for the Radio"
2013 - Kacey Musgraves - "Follow Your Arrow"
2012 - Waylon Jennings - "I Do Believe"
2011 - Ronnie Dunn - "Cost of Livin'"
2010 - Joe Diffie - "Route 5 Box 109"
2009 - Dean Brody - "Cattleman's Gun"
2008 - Jamey Johnson - "In Color"
2007 - Miranda Lambert - "Gunpowder and Lead"
2006 – Johnny Cash – “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
Without giving much away, below, I believe it important to note that the top five songs are all by women. Despite what general country radio thinks, some of the most powerful songs and projects are coming from the fairer sex and clearly deserve a better shake at being heard to a wider audience. (Steps down from soapbox.)
Let us hear what you think. Anything we missed? Without further ado, here is That Nashville Sound’s Top Songs of 2018.
The Very Best:
1. Ashley McBryde – “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” – Nevermind that Garth Brooks, the king of country music himself, did one cover of a song this year and it was this one. It didn’t hold a candle to this raw and honest open letter to the world about finding commercial music success after grinding on the proverbial Nashville hamster wheel for nearly a decade. The fact that it more or less was discovered by the world as she made her first Grand Ole Opry performance standing in what might be the most historic country spot in the world made it all the more powerful.
2. Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Lori McKenna, Anais Mitchell, Josh Ritter & Mark Erelli – “By Degrees” - No matter where you sit on the gun control debate, what can't be debated is that as a population we seem to becoming more and more numb and (somehow almost) used to the horrific headlines that seem to pop up almost weekly in our individual news feeds. This thoughtful and introspective song doesn't argue the 2nd amendment to the constitution, only the character flaw that we as humans have that we "can learn to live with anything if it happens in degrees." The additional voices on the project give the message added credence as if they're coming from different parts of a nation.
3. Courtney Patton – “Fourteen Years” - This heartwrenching title refers to the amount of time that has passed since Patton lost her sister in a tragic accident. "I was finally at a place where I could look back and really just appreciate the time that I had with her, but also just longing of— you know, wondering what it would have been like to still have her around with my kids." Time flies and stands still at the same time in her loss and the haunting steel guitar envelopes the track like angel wings. It's equal parts what ifs and a letter to the heavens. It's also poetic genius.
4. Lori McKenna – “The Fixer” - The track is a heart-wrenching glimpse at domesticity from the perspective of a man, as the titular "fixer" distracts himself with household tasks while slowly losing his wife to an unknown sickness. It perfectly draws an analogy with his inability to fix his wife despite a skill of being a handyman everywhere. You can't fix everything. Sometimes life delivers the unfixable. And that's an important lesson in itself.
5. Emma White – “Ten Year Town” - This track is one for the ages. Chasing one's musical dreams is a passion that is done for the love of music and for every one artist or songwriter that succeeds, there are dozens others that are equally as talented (or more so) that never make it over the hump. This track "Ten Year Town" is one of those songs that details the trials and tribulations of chasing the dream inside Music City. It's one of our favorite songs of the year and I implore you to take a minute and listen to it. It's powerful stuff.
6. Chris Janson – “Drunk Girl” - Here lands our first major radio hit on our That Nashville Sound chart. In this day in age where every other song on the radio deals with parties or drinking in some way, dealing with real-world issues of sexual misconduct is important music. Morality matters. It's not that we can't let loose and have fun. But a reminder about the responsibility we have as citizens is important as well- and Janson delivers an extremely well-written song that doesn't come off high-handed at all.
7. Abby Anderson – “Make Him Wait” - Anderson delivers a song well-beyond her years about the trials of our sex-pressured society and the pressures that young ladies face in our midsts. The girl has pipes and the song represents where she is generationally perfectly. The storytelling is strong and here's hoping we continue to hear more from this exciting new talent.
8. James Scott Bullard – “Wicked Ways” - Outlaw music didn't die with Waylon Jennings. It's alive and well- you just need to know where to look. Bullard's ninth album is a modern day Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack and nowhere does it get better than on "Wicked Ways." With full tilt honkytonk guitars blazing alongside a great drum riff and an organ rolling in the back, it just might be the most fun time on this entire countdown.
9. Josh Kelley – “Loves You Like Me” - Kelley channels his inner Billy Joel on this piano-driven dedication to his actress wife, Katherine Heigl. Soaring vocals and introspective lyrics give it immense heart- a storyline of their love story makes it a wedding dance song for the ages.
10. Jason Eady – “Calaveras County” - Call me a homer if you wish, but the fact that Eady uses my Northern California backyard as the centerpiece (and title) for this terrific track off of his phenomenal I Travel On album makes me long for my grandma's long-sold house up in Calveritas, California (population 3). With Grammy Award-nominated duo Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley in the studio, it's easy to hear their bluegrass background through the country track with simply sublime musicianship.
11. Jamie Lin Wilson & Jack Ingram – “Instant Coffee Blues” - Our top duet and first cover on the countdown is one originally done by the legendary Guy Clark. I've gotten to know Jamie and Jack through my Golf & Guitars Music Festival and know that almost no artist holds higher esteem for each them than the legendary Texan that passed away in May of 2016. The good friends use a bed of steel guitar as the foundation to hold together a perfect dedication to their mentor.
12. Terri Clark – “Weddings, Funerals and Empty Hotel Bars” - If anyone doubts why legacy artists should continue writing and recording music past the time their singles are played on country radio, this is why. The question on whether you really can go home is the genesis for this song with more depth than an entire Billboard country chart. The fact that it was co-written by Erin Enderlin makes you say, "Of course it was..." It has her fingerprints all over it, but Clark's point in her career makes it resonate even deeper.
13. Brothers Osborne – “While You Still Can” - This duo proves that critical and radio quality don't have to be independent of one-another. They are quality racking up charted hits and industry awards year after year. This track is the best off of their strong Port Saint Joe. "Nothing ever lasts forever" is the message of this track. Do whatever moves you now "while you still can." It's a positive message in a world that needs a little more of that and exemplifies the brothers excellent work.
14. Erin Enderlin – “These Boots” - Enderlin didn't release an album this year, but she did release a couple of outstanding songs independently including this track about the life of her footwear and the amazing life they live including standing on the Opry stage and digging heels when she wants to be stubborn. She's written for the likes of Lee Ann Womack, Alan Jackson & Randy Travis, and this tender dedication falls right in line with the type of fare that you could hear from any of those artists.
15. Dierks Bentley – “How I’m Going Out” - Legacy. What's yours going to be? That's the question on this track that asks what you're going to be remembered for when "you jump off this carousel." He touts effort and friends he's made along the way among the things he wants to be memorialized for when he becomes a "ghost on Music Row."
16. Caitlyn Smith – “This Town Is Killing Me” - Smith simply slays this country protest track about pouring your life into your art in an effort to receive the attention you deserve and not receiving it. “This Town Is Killing Me” is a modern-day “Murder On Music Row.”
17. Cole Swindell – “Dad’s Old Number” - This was another unexpected hit with Swindell using a phone number of a father who's passed away as a key to a memory and a desire for one more call for advice and to hear that paternal voice that is so important. For anyone who has experienced loss, it's an easy spot to trade places with and a near-universal message. Swindell delivers it with a masterful set of lyrics.
18. Will Hoge – “Nikki’s a Republican Now” - Hoge delivered an entire political protest album earlier this year and the highlight of this project was a country-rocker about a punk-Pixies-loving high school girl who surprisingly takes a turn to the far right.
19. Jeff Hyde – “Norman Rockwell World” - Over the past dozen years, Hyde has written many country hits for other artists, including Eric Church’s chart-topping singles “Springsteen” and “Record Year.” He's penned songs for the likes of Alan Jackson, George Strait, Bobby Bare, Luke Bryan, Charlie Worsham and Nikki Lane. That, my friends, is Nashville credibility. "Norman Rockwell World" roots itself in Hyde’s songwriting profound ability. The music itself is a self-professed nod all the memories of a "bygone age" and how the tilt-a-whirl life we spin around on would be better served sometimes slowing down on a front porch.
20. Wade Bowen – “Death, Dyin’ and Deviled Eggs” - A friends service is the setting for this thoughtful and terrifically-detailed of what it means to say goodbye. A food spread is described and then Bowen says, "It's a helluva a way to say goodbye, I guess." He proclaims that before you go to heaven, you better have Jesus in your soul, but "you better get plenty before you go." It's brilliant.
The Cream of the Crop (21 -40):
Jeff Hyde – “Henry Ford”
Wade Bowen – “7:30”
Mitchell Tenpenny – “Drunk Me”
Scotty McCreery – “Five More Minutes”
Brothers Osborne – “Shoot Me Straight”
Ashley McBryde – “Southern Babylon”
Ashley McBryde – “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega”
Ashley Monroe – “Hands on You”
Brett Young – “Mercy”
Josh Grider – “Good People”
Cole Swindell – “Break Up In The End”
David Nail and the Well Ravens – “Heavy”
Lindi Ortega – “Lovers In Love”
Lori McKenna – “You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone”
Maggie Rose – “It’s You”
Kimberly Kelly – “Prayer and a Six Pack”
Steve Moakler – Thirty”
Eric Church – “Hippie Radio”
Eric Church – “Some of It”
Pistol Annies – “When I Was His Wife”
Carrie Underwood – “Spinning Bottles”
The Upper Crust (41-60):
Charlie Daniels Band – “Mudcat”
Gord Bamford – “That’s What Grandpa’s Do”
Ashley McBryde – “The Jacket”
Erin Enderlin – “World Without Willie”
Avalon Kali – “Country Song”
Carrie Underwood – “Love Wins”
Ashley McBryde – “Orphan”
Lee Ann Womack – “Honky Cat”
Garth Brooks – “All Day Long”
Kenny Chesney – “Get Along”
Love and Theft – “You Didn’t Want Me”
Lori McKenna – “People Get Old”
Maggie Rose – “Smooth”
Jimmie Allen – “Best Shot”
Runaway June – “Wild West”
Cody Johnson – “On My Way To You”
Jimmy Rankin – “These Roads”
Eric Church – “Monsters”
Will Hoge – “Thoughts and Prayers”
Will Hoge – “The Illegal Line”
The Best of the Rest:
Avalon Kali – “Kitchen Dance Floor”
Josh Grider – “My First Band”
Willie Nelson – “Last Man Standing”
Lindi Ortega – “You Ain’t Foolin’ Me”
Shooter Jennings – “Bound Ta Git Down”
Kenny Chesney (feat Mindy Smith) – “Better Boat”
David Nail and the Well Ravens – “Cheating On Me”
Jimmy Rankin – “Highlander”
Steve Moakler – “One More Troubadour”
Carrie Underwood “Ghosts on the Stereo”
Blackberry Smoke – “You Got Lucky”
Love every song Ashley mcbryde does
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