New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Rollin By"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Simple Enough"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Always A Waltz"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "South Texas Girl"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "The Being Gone"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard"

That Nashville Sound's Top Country And Americana Songs For 2023

Ghost Hounds - "Last Train To Nowhere"

2023 has been an exceptional year for country music, showcasing a rich blend of styles including traditional country, bluegrass, modern country, and Americana. This diversity in roots-oriented music is clearly evident in our annual list, reflecting the wide-ranging appeal of the genre.

We're excited to soon reveal our top albums of 2023, but for now, we're focusing on the songs that captured our hearts this year. Many of these tracks may not be mainstream radio hits, but their quality and impact are undeniable, especially for regular followers of our site.

Our selection criteria for this list were strict. Each song had to either be from an album released in 2023, be an independent single not associated with any other project, or be a pre-released single from an upcoming album. We excluded any tracks from albums released in 2022 or earlier, regardless of their single release date in 2023.

Reflecting on the past years, we've encountered numerous songs that deeply resonated with us:

2022: Lyle Lovett - "12th of June"

2021: Jason Eady - "French Summer Sun"

2020: Mickey Guyton - "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?"

2019: Erin Enderlin - "Broken"

2018: Ashley McBryde - “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”

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”

Now, let's dive into the songs from 2023 that truly stood out:

1. Ghost Hounds - "Last Train To Nowhere": This song captures a haunting blend of blues and rock, infused with a sense of nostalgia and longing. Its powerful lyrics and compelling melody create an atmosphere of a timeless journey. It's a roller-coaster of a performance and an awesome wild ride that provided a level of infectious energy that was superior to everything else had in our ears this year. 

2. Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves - "I Remember Everything": A beautiful duet that showcases the incredible vocal chemistry between Bryan and Musgraves. The song's poignant lyrics and delicate instrumentation make it a heartfelt reflection on memory and loss.

3. Chris Stapleton - "White Horse": Stapleton's rich, soulful voice brings a raw emotional depth to this song. Its stirring narrative and the fusion of traditional and contemporary country elements demonstrate his exceptional songwriting skills.

4. Anne Wilson - "Seventh of June": Wilson's angelic voice and the song's gentle acoustic arrangement create a touching and intimate listening experience. It's a tender ode to love and the beauty of simple, enduring moments- with introspective lyrics that will slay you. I won't spoil the storyline, but trust me, listen to this with an open heart and keep the tissues nearby. 

5. Lori McKenna - "Killing Me" (ft Hillary Lindsey): McKenna and Lindsey's harmonies blend seamlessly, elevating the song's emotional impact. The narrative storytelling and poignant lyrics explore the complexities of relationships and the pain of love.

6. Ernest - "Takes After You": This song stands out for its heartfelt lyrics and Ernest's expressive vocal delivery. It's a touching tribute to family and the lasting influence of loved ones, set against a backdrop of warm, traditional country instrumentation.

7. Jamie Lin Wilson & Courtney Patton - "Hard Time Lately": A song that perfectly captures the struggles of everyday life with its honest lyrics and resonant harmonies. The blend of Wilson and Patton's voices adds a layer of authenticity and depth.

8. Julie Williams - "The Prince": Williams brings a unique storytelling ability to this song, weaving a narrative that is incredibly poignant about the topic of consent and what it means in a sexual relationship- and the impact that it can have from the decisions therein. The song's lush instrumentation and her expressive voice create a fairy-tale-like ambiance.

9. Lee Brice - "Save The Roses": Brice's soulful voice and the song's reflective lyrics make it a standout. It's a moving piece about cherishing moments with loved ones, underscored by its rich, melodic arrangement.

10. Oliver Anthony - "Rich Men North of Richmond":  This song was a revelation this year, finding an incredibly large audience organically from its messaging. Anthony's songwriting shines in this track, which tells a compelling story set against the backdrop of Americana. The song's vivid imagery and engaging melody capture the essence of storytelling in country music.

11. Carly Pearce - "We Don't Fight Anymore" (ft. Chris Stapleton): Pearce and Stapleton's duet is a powerful exploration of the complexities of a fading relationship. Their harmonies and the emotional depth of the lyrics make this song a poignant and memorable ballad.

12. Jelly Roll & Lainey Wilson - "Save Me": This collaboration is a testament to the transformative power of music. The raw honesty in the lyrics, combined with Jelly Roll and Wilson's heartfelt and passionate delivery, creates an anthem of hope and redemption.

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Yours & Mine"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - Nighttime Blues"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson & Courtney Patton - "Hard Time Lately"

Courtney Patton Announces Her Upcoming New October 7th Release, Electrostatic

Influence. Webster defines it as the power to have an important effect on someone or something… that if someone influences someone else, they are changing a person or thing in an indirect but important way forever. With a poet’s heart, Courtney Patton fuses the power of lyrics, a healthy dosage of musical influences and narrative to build an incredible set of songs on her new 2022 album, Electrostatic. With one listen, you will be changed how you will think about music.  

To know Courtney Patton is to know that she can do anything and everything. Patton’s a mother, a wife, a producer, a singer, a songwriter, a sometimes personal-tour-van driver and a musician. When the Covid world as we know it stopped concerts in their tracks in early 2020, Patton and her husband, fellow Texas troubadour, Jason Eady, kept the heart of live music alive with a weekly program called Sequestered Songwriters. It included all of their dearest musical friends, from Matraca Berg to Cody Jinks. The shows were themed, doing covers and dedications to bygone country artists some weeks and performing favorite country 90’s tracks other weeks. It was over the course of this year, with weekly and always-beautiful dedications to the likes of Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Vince Gill, The Eagles and Ronnie Milsap, Patton- perhaps consciously, perhaps subconsciously- had her songwriter craft and musical tastes both sharpened and broadened.  

The result on Electrostatic is clear. Compared to previous more-stripped down previous projects, this new album has more depth musically without losing any of the of the highly personal and open-book songwriting that she’s become so loved for. It feels more soulful, more full than previous projects. In spots it feels jazzier, and on one track, even draws on Spanish influences to create an incredibly rich tapestry of sound to go with lyrics that are armed with sensitivity and sentiment. It’s as if she’s internalized the influences of her own musical heroes and manifested it into her own autobiographical dedication to music itself. Says Patton on the project, “I didn’t initially start the project with this intent, but as we were making it, I could hear all of my musical heroes and influences organically coming out in each song. And that brought me so much joy and comfort.”  

The new project follows a wild two years of her own personal deep dive into the back catalogs of nearly every single artist she ever loved, not just listening and hearing the lyrical idiosyncrasies and chord progressions, but actually spending hours upon hours learning how they were played. Studying why they connected with her emotionally. Investigating how they were delivered and what made them so meaningful. Patton became a deeper student of music. And it shows on and through this new project.  

They lyrics themselves are as personal as anything that Patton has recorded before, however. Nowhere is this truer than with the title track, a dedication to her sister whom she lost in a vehicle accident nearly two decades ago. The song is a tribute to the influence that still exudes from those that have passed away. Patton says, “It’s a song about finding the beauty still around you in the memories of those that we’ve loved and lost. If energy can’t be created or destroyed, then we can see and feel them all around us every day and there’s something comforting and beautiful about that in itself.” 

Every piece of the new project has Patton’s fingerprints and influence on it. She co-produced the project with both her husband and the Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist. Musicians on her latest project include a group of all-star musical talents such as Geoff Queen (Kelly Willis, Bruce Robison, Reckless Kelly) on guitar and pedal steel, Trevor Nealon (Jerry Jeff Walker, Rodney Crowell, Jack Ingram) on piano and keyboards, Heather Stalling (Max Stalling, Johnny Lee, The Old 97s) on fiddle, Richard Millsap (Ray Wylie Hubbard, George Strait, Lee Roy Parnell), Naj Conklin on bass and half of the acclaimed band The Trishas on back-up vocals in Jamie Lin Wilson and Kelley Mickwee. Each bring their own unique influences to the project as well.  

The project follows previous solo albums, Triggering a Flood (2013), So This Is Life (2015), her acoustic collaborative project with her husband Jason Eady, Something Together, (2017), and her extremely autobiographical project, What It’s Like To Fly Alone (2018). 

TNS Video History - Jamie Lin Wilson Covers Johnny Cash On "Ain't No Grave"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Just The Other Side of Nowhere"

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "Ordinary People" (Next Waltz Performance)

Hear It Here - Jason Eady's New Song "French Summer Sun"

 With a poet's heart, this new release from Jason Eady will stop you in your tracks and make you ponder about life paths following war. It's an incredibly moving song with his wife Courtney Patton and friend Jamie Lin Wilson on background vocals.

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson - "T Total Tommy"

Hear it Here - Jason Eady's New Single, "Back to Normal" (with Courtney Patton & Jamie Lin Wilson)

Today, That Nashville Sound-favorite, Mississippi-born, and Texas-based artist Jason Eady released “Back to Normal,” his first song release in three years. The new single was produced by the Band of Heathens’ Gordy Quist, and features harmony vocals from Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson.

“‘Back to Normal’ is a song that came from the quarantine but is meant to apply to any situation after a disruption,” explains Eady. “No matter how big or small that disruption is, you have to accept that change is a fundamental part of life, and just keep moving forward. This was recorded in Austin with some of my favorite players I’ve met through the years, and harmony vocals by Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson, and produced by my longtime friend Gordy Quist. This was an incredible way to record a song about weathering the storm.”

“Everything you hear is exactly what happened when we hit record—there’s no studio trickery,” says Eady. “It’s got a real family-band feeling to it, where everyone in the room knew how to play in a way that completely fits with what I do.”

New Music Video From Jamie Lin Wilson & Aaron Watson - "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

Courtney Patton, Jamie Lin Wilson, Reckless Kelly, Parker McCollum, Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Bruce Robison, William Clark Green, Bri Bagwell, Stoney LaRue Among Artists On Cross Canadian Ragweed Tribute Album

Album: The Years: A Musicfest Tribute to Cody Canada and the Music of Cross Canadian Ragweed

Label: Right Ave

Release date: January 22, 2021

At one of America's longest-running music festivals earlier this year, some of Texas music's best paid tribute to Cody Canada and the music of Cross Canadian Ragweed and that music has now been culled into an album and released this week. This past January (and pre-covid), artists gathered together in Steamboat to honor the many incredible accomplishments of the Texas/Red Dirt Legend Cody Canada.

Included in the projected are artists such as Courtney Patton, Jamie Lin Wilson, Reckless Kelly, Parker McCollum, Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Bruce Robison, William Clark Green, Bri Bagwell, Stoney LaRue and many more. 

This tribute concert gave Texas and beyond top artists the unique opportunity to express how Canada’s music has influenced them personally and professionally as they performed their own renditions of his music. Those tributes were recorded live and captured each artist's renditions of Cody Canada's Red Dirt songs. 

1. Constantly - Parker McCollum

2. Bang My Head (feat. Cody Canada) - Copper Chief

3. Don't Need You - Read Southall Band

4. Fightin' For - Reckless Kelly

5. 17 - Jamie Lin Wilson

6. This Time Around - Randy Rogers

7. 42 Miles - Casey Donahew

8. Sick and Tired (feat. Jamie Lin Wilson) - Wade Bowen

9. Carney Man - Mike McClure

10. Breakdown - Bruce Robison

11. Alabama - Courtney Patton

12. Johnny's Song - William Clark Green

13. On a Cloud - Doug Moreland

14. Run to Me - Bri Bagwell 

15. Broken (feat. Cody Canada) - Stoney LaRue

16. Dead Man - Jade Marie Patek

17. The Years - BJ Barham

New Music Video From The Band of Heathens and Jamie Lin Wilson - "You're No Good"

This brilliant Lone Star State collaboration features the guys from The Band of Heathens along with their good friend Jamie Lin Wilson on Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good" from her 1974 album, Heart Like a Wheel. The song was written by Clint Ballard Jr. and was actually first released in 1963 by Dee Dee Warwick. Betty Everett also had a killer version of this tune. Video edited by Jesse Wilson.