Celebrating the Best in Country and Americana: That Nashville Sound’s Top Albums of 2024

In this extraordinary era of music, the ways we discover and experience country and Americana tunes are being revolutionized. The internet, YouTube, and an array of digital platforms have become vital arenas where independent artists shine, showcasing their talents to audiences far and wide. As traditional gatekeepers like country radio maintain their hold on the airwaves, a thrilling shift is underway. Creativity and sheer talent are breaking barriers, proving that exceptional artistry will always find its way to the spotlight.

These albums stand as testaments to the evolving and ever-enriching world of country music, a genre that continues to grow and touch souls globally, thanks to the boundless opportunities provided by the digital age.

A Look Back at That Nashville Sound’s Past Winners

Before diving into this year’s exceptional picks, let’s honor the legacy of groundbreaking albums that have previously topped our list. These winners are more than collections of songs; they are narratives, experiences, and emotions that have defined the past two decades of country and Americana music.

Previous Year Winners:

2005: Gary Allan - Tough All Over (tie) & Lee Ann Womack - There’s More Where That Came From
2006: Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
2007: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raising Sand
2008: Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy
2009: Eric Church - Carolina
2010: Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give
2011: Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
2012: Marty Stuart - Nashville Volume 1: Tear The Woodpile Down
2013: Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
2014: Don Williams - Reflections
2015: Chris Stapleton - Traveler
2016: Ryan Beaver - RX
2017: Jason Eady - Jason Eady
2018: Ashley McBryde - Girl Goin' Nowhere
2019: Erin Enderlin - Faulkner County
2020: Hailey Whitters - The Dream
2021: Mike and the Moonpies - One To Grow On
2022: Lainey Wilson - Bell Bottom Country
2023: Cody Johnson - Leather

Those That Move Us Change Us

We are profoundly grateful for the artists who dedicate their lives to making music a career, pouring their hearts and souls into every note and lyric. The artistry they express daily not only entertains us but, when done at its pinnacle, touches something deep within, moving us in ways words often can't. It’s the magic of music—resonating with our souls, sparking joy, reflection, or healing, and leaving behind a small but indelible imprint of the songwriter's spirit in our own DNA. These are the artists who, this year, have done that the best.

The Winner

Three Times A Lady - Live at 3rd and Lindsley

In a year overflowing with extraordinary country and Americana music, Three Times A Lady’s Live at 3rd and Lindsley stood out as the crown jewel of 2024. A magical tapestry of harmony and emotion, this live album encapsulates the best of what country music offers: raw talent, heartfelt storytelling, and the kind of vocal chemistry that sends chills down your spine.

Three Times A Lady is the powerhouse trio of Lauren Mascitti, Kennedy Scott, and Hannah Blaylock—three singer-songwriters whose individual talents alone could anchor any stage. Lauren Mascitti, a seasoned songwriter and performer, brings a soulful, introspective voice that anchors the group’s emotional depth. Kennedy Scott, with her sharp wit and velvet-like tone, adds a contemporary flair while staying rooted in the traditions of country music. Hannah Blaylock, formerly of Eden’s Edge, rounds out the trio with her crystalline voice that cuts through the mix with heart-stopping clarity. (Following the album release, Victoria Camp has replaced Lauren in the band- and yes, they're all still friends.)

What began as a tribute to the iconic Trio albums by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris has blossomed into something even more profound. Three Times A Lady initially joined forces out of a shared love for those legendary harmonies, crafting a setlist of inspired covers that celebrated the roots of their artistry. But as they began weaving in their original songs, it became clear they weren’t just revisiting history—they were making it. The album Live at 3rd and Lindsley captures this evolution in real time, blending reverent nods to their heroes with bold, modern takes that are distinctly their own.

Harmonies have always been a cornerstone of country music, threading through its history like a golden thread. From The Carter Family to The Judds, the blending of voices has served as both a technical marvel and an emotional anchor, creating a communal intimacy that resonates deeply with listeners. Three Times A Lady carries this tradition forward with harmonies that feel both effortless and divine. The way their voices intertwine on songs like “Those Memories Of You” and “Mary Magdalene” is a masterclass in vocal synergy. Each note, each blend, each dynamic swell seems to transcend the mechanics of music, connecting straight to the heart.

In my life, I can count on one hand the number of musical performances that have given me genuine goosebumps. One of those rare moments was witnessing Three Times A Lady perform live in Northern California. The sheer power of their harmonies left me breathless, as if time itself had paused to let their voices fill the universe. That same magic has been captured in Live at 3rd and Lindsley. It’s not just the technical brilliance of their singing but the emotion and authenticity behind every word that leaves you spellbound.

Live at 3rd and Lindsley isn’t just a great album; it’s a cultural artifact. It’s a vital reminder of why harmonies matter, why storytelling matters, and why country music has always been, at its core, about connection. The trio’s ability to take the listener on a journey—from the joy of love to the ache of loss—cements this album as one of the most important releases of the year.

The fact that Lauren Mascitti, Kennedy Scott, and Hannah Blaylock aren’t household names yet feels like a crime against artistry. Live at 3rd and Lindsley isn’t just an album; it’s an invitation to experience the power of music at its purest. These three women have delivered something that will stay with you long after the last track fades. Do yourself a favor: listen to this album. Get goosebumps for yourself. 

Best of the Rest

Blaine Bailey – ᎣᏪᏅᏒ (Home)

Blaine Bailey’s ᎣᏪᏅᏒ (Home) is a heartfelt journey that pays homage to his Cherokee heritage and personal roots. The album seamlessly blends traditional Native American melodies with modern Americana, creating a soundscape that feels both ancient and refreshingly contemporary. Tracks like "Home Again" and "Colorado Soil" transport listeners to a place of cultural pride and introspection, making this a standout release that bridges the past and present.

Willie Nelson – The Border

In The Border, Willie Nelson proves once again why he remains an icon. This reflective album explores themes of unity and division, inspired by Nelson’s observations on humanity and nature. Songs like "I Wrote This Song For You" and "Hank's Guitar" are imbued with his signature wit and wisdom, while the rich, warm instrumentation provides a comforting yet thought-provoking experience. It’s a timeless addition to his storied career.

Cody Jinks – Change the Game

Cody Jinks lives up to the promise of his album’s title with Change the Game, delivering a bold and innovative take on country music. Combining traditional outlaw country elements with modern production, the album balances grit and polish seamlessly. "Deceiver's Blues" and "Take This Bottle" showcase Jinks’ versatility, proving that he’s unafraid to push boundaries while staying true to his roots.

Maggie Rose – No One Gets Out Alive

Maggie Rose’s No One Gets Out Alive is a genre-defying triumph, blending rock, soul, and country into an electrifying package. Her powerhouse vocals command attention on every track, with songs like the title track and "Another Sad Song" radiating confidence and authenticity. The album’s unapologetic energy and raw emotion make it a standout among this year’s releases.

Will Hoge – Tenderhearted Boys

Will Hoge delivers a deeply personal and poignant album with Tenderhearted Boys. Through vivid storytelling and lush arrangements, Hoge captures moments of vulnerability and resilience. Tracks like "My Daddy's Eyes" and "End Of The World" paint a picture of rural Americana that feels nostalgic yet grounded in reality, making this album a heartfelt ode to life’s simple joys.

Stephanie Lambring – Hypocrite

Stephanie Lambring’s Hypocrite is an unflinching exploration of contradictions and complexities in human relationships. Her lyrical prowess shines on tracks like "Purity Ring" and "Hospital Parking," where she dissects societal expectations with a sharp wit. Lambring’s rich, soulful voice brings an extra layer of depth to her introspective narratives.

Johnny Cash – Songwriter

A posthumous release, Songwriter compiles rare and unreleased tracks that showcase Johnny Cash’s unparalleled ability to tell stories through song. Each track feels like a rediscovered treasure, from the tender "Hello Out There" to the rollicking "Drive On." This collection reaffirms Cash’s legacy as one of the greatest songwriters in American history. Each new track feels like it belongs in the Smithsonian.

George Strait – Cowboys and Dreamers

George Strait returns to form with Cowboys and Dreamers, a record that celebrates the timeless themes of love, loss, and the open road. Strait’s smooth, iconic voice pairs perfectly with lush arrangements on tracks like "Honky Tonk Hall of Fame" and the title track. This album feels like a warm embrace for long-time fans and a reminder of why Strait remains the King of Country.

Lainey Wilson – Whirlwind

Following up her breakout success, Lainey Wilson continues to dazzle with Whirlwind. This album builds on her signature sound, blending traditional country with modern flair and was a VERY close second to my favorite album of the year. Tracks like "Whiskey Colored Crayon" and "Good Horses" showcase her ability to craft catchy, heartfelt songs that are both fun and deeply relatable.

Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty

This tribute album brings together some of country music’s finest voices to honor the legendary Tom Petty. Standout performances include Dolly Parton's haunting rendition of "Southern Accents" and The Cadillac Three’s soulful take on "Free Fallin’." Petty Country is a heartfelt homage that breathes new life into Petty’s classics while staying true to his spirit.

Hannah Blaylock – The Fall and Rise

Hannah Blaylock delivers a masterful album with The Fall and Rise, an album that is as raw as it is captivating. Her vocal performance is hauntingly emotive, weaving together tales of love, heartbreak, and redemption. The intricate instrumentation, featuring a blend of acoustic strings and ethereal harmonies, serves as the perfect backdrop to her storytelling. From the introspective "Burned The Forest" to the brilliant "Man From Memphis," Blaylock captures the beauty and pain of life in a way that resonates universally.

Connie Smith – Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches

Connie Smith delivers a profound exploration of life’s trials and triumphs with Love, Prison, Wisdom and Heartaches. Her seasoned vocals lend authenticity to tracks like the reflective "World of Forgotton People" and the hopeful "The Wayward Wind." This album is a testament to Smith’s enduring legacy as a storyteller and her ability to connect deeply with her audience.

Scotty McCreery – Rise and Fall

With Rise and Fall, Scotty McCreery reaches new heights, blending heartfelt ballads and anthemic tracks. Songs like "No Country For Old Men" showcase his rich baritone, while "Porch" captures rural living without pandering. McCreery’s growth as an artist is evident, making this album a standout in his discography.

Alex Key – Outdated

Alex Key delivers a nostalgic yet fresh sound with Outdated, an album that pays homage to traditional country while addressing modern themes. Tracks like "Once Upon A Time" and "Waylon, Willie & Mama" are brimming with sincerity, and Key’s warm, earnest voice makes the album feel like a conversation with an old friend.

Mavericks – Moon and Stars

The Mavericks shine brightly on Moon and Stars, a genre-blending album that fuses country, Latin, and rock influences. Songs like "And We Dance" and "Turn Yourself Around" are vibrant, dynamic, and irresistibly fun, showcasing the band’s unmatched versatility and energy.

Red Shahan – Loose Funky Texas Junky

Red Shahan’s Loose Funky Texas Junky is a gritty, spirited record that captures the essence of Texas outlaw country. Tracks like "Evangeline" and "Big Wide Open" are unapologetically raw, filled with swagger and a touch of irreverence. It’s an album that feels like a wild, dusty ride through the Lone Star State.

Josh Turner – This Country Music Thing

Josh Turner’s unmistakable baritone anchors This Country Music Thing, an album that feels both timeless and fresh. Tracks like "Down in Georgia" and "Unsung Hero" celebrate the heart and soul of country music, with Turner’s voice effortlessly evoking nostalgia while keeping things contemporary.

Post Malone – F-1 Trillion

Undeniably pop, but with some great ear-worm songs, Post Malone ventures into country-inspired territory with F-1 Trillion, blending his signature style with twangy guitar riffs and storytelling lyrics. Songs like "Devil I've Been" and "What Don't Belong To Me" showcase a surprising versatility, making this album a fascinating and successful genre crossover.

Julie Williams – Tennessee Moon EP

Julie Williams shines on Tennessee Moon EP, a collection of songs that beautifully capture her soulful voice and lyrical charm. From the heartfelt title track to the uplifting "southern curls," Williams’ debut is a promising start to what will undoubtedly be a bright career.

Miranda Lambert – Postcards from Texas

With Postcards from Texas, Miranda Lambert offers a love letter to her home state, blending nostalgia and pride with her signature edge. Tracks like "I Hate Love Songs" and "Wildfire" are both deeply personal and universally relatable, cementing Lambert’s place as one of country’s most compelling voices.

Johnny Blue Skies – Passage Du Desir

Johnny Blue Skies creates a lush, cinematic experience with Passage Du Desir, blending atmospheric instrumentation with evocative lyrics. Songs like "Swamp of Sadness" and "One For The Road" transport listeners to dreamlike landscapes, making this album a truly immersive journey.

Dwight Yoakam – Brighter Days

Dwight Yoakam’s Brighter Days is a masterful return to form, filled with twangy guitars, honky-tonk rhythms, and heartfelt lyrics. Tracks like "Wide Open Heart" and "Brighter Days" radiate hope and optimism, making this album a refreshing addition to his storied catalog.

Shawna Thompson – Lean on Neon

Thompson Square's Shawna Thompson’s Lean on Neon is a bold and electrifying record that blends traditional country with a modern edge. Songs like the title track and "Burn It Down" showcase Thompson’s dynamic range and fearless artistry, making this a standout debut.

Lindi Ortega – From the Ether

Lindi Ortega’s From the Ether is a haunting, otherworldly album that blurs the lines between country, folk, and gothic Americana. Tracks like "The Ghost of You" and "The Door" are ethereal and enchanting, showcasing Ortega’s unique ability to craft songs that linger in the soul.

Willie Nelson – Last Leaf on the Tree

Willie Nelson reflects on life, love, and legacy with Last Leaf on the Tree, an introspective and heartfelt album. Songs like "Last Leaf" and "Broken Arrow" are poignant and tender, offering a moving glimpse into the mind of a living legend. It's another historic branch to the anchor tree of country music. 

Jamey Johnson – Midnight Gasoline

Man... it's been far too long to have new music from this music maker. And on this new album, he reminds us why. Jamey Johnson brings his signature grit and soul to Midnight Gasoline, an album packed with raw emotion and stellar storytelling. Tracks like "What You Answer To" and "Saturday Night In New Orleans" are evocative and powerful, making this record a must-listen for fans of authentic, no-frills country music.

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Can I Be Country Too?"

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Ain't How It Used To Be"

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "John Prine's Cadillac"

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Con Man Blues"

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Even The River Runs Out Of This Town"

That Nashville Sound Sunday Newsbytes: New Albums From Clint Black & Will Hoge + New Music Videos

As the music business stands to lose up to 9 billion... that's a billion with a b, folks... from lost revenue from concert ticket sales, it's left the industry reeling. With album sales at an all-time low, streaming revenues that are a joke to the artists, and now concerts all in limbo, now is the time to support your favorite artists. Buy a shirt. Buy some vinyl. Show some support. Heaven knows they need it now more than ever.

~ That Nashville Sound favorite Will Hoge will release his new self-produced project, Tiny Little Movies, on June 26 via Thirty Tigers. It is "a throwback rock and roll splendor, setting the tone well for an album in which Hoge chose to highlight the raw chemistry of his road band. After tackling the arrangements over four days in an East Nashville rehearsal space, Hoge, guitarist Thom Donovan, drummer Allen Jones, and bassist Christopher Griffiths headed into Trace Horse Studio and tracked each song live, together and inspired. “There’s a classic, rock & roll centerpiece to everything this band does, but it’s still a group of four different people, and we all bring different influences to the table,” says Hoge, who turned to Grammy-winning producer/engineer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Lori McKenna) to mix the album at Sam Phillips Recording. “We’ve got a metalhead in the group. We’ve got a Motown fan. We’ve got a guitarist who loves Johnny Marr. It’s a unique hodgepodge of sounds coming together, and we tried to accentuate that.”"

~ Clint Black will release his 23rd album called Out of Sane on June 19. "Out of Sane is made up of all original songs, except for one cover. I recorded it with a varied collection of musicians; some from my band and some with session players. I believe it’s one of my best albums ever and I think my fans will love it. They’ve been asking for new music for a while and I’m thrilled to finally be able to deliver after five years since the last studio album,” said Black.

New music videos:

      Hot Country Knights (feat Terri Clark) - "You Make It Hard"
      Keith Urban - "Polaroid"
      American Aquarium - "Six Years Come September"
      Clint Black - "America (Still In Love With You)"
      Tracy Lawrence - "When The Cowboy's Gone"

      Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen - "Rodeo Clown"

      Trace Adkins - "Tough People Do"

      Blackberry Smoke - "Take The Highway"

      Drake White - "Mix 'Em With Whiskey"

      Lennon Stella - "Older Than I Am"

A h/t goes to the Ryman Auditorium for this list of country artists live-streaming concerts over the next few days:

April 26

Adam Hambrick
Time: 9 a.m.
What: Coffee and a Hymn
Where: YouTube

Tara Thompson
Time: 11 a.m.
Where: Facebook

Chris Young
Time: 1 p.m.
Where: Facebook

Hailey Whitters
Time: 2 p.m.
What: Performance as part of Stagecoach’s “StageCouch” weekend
Where: Instagram

Tyler Rich
Time: 3 p.m.
What: “Leave Her Wild Sunday Brunch” With Tyler, Sabina and Friends
Where: Instagram

The Lone Bellow
Time: 3 p.m.
What: Pickathon’s “ A Concert A Day”, an initiative to help musicians and artist communities through the to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund
Where: Facebook, YouTube and Twitch

Song Suffragettes
Time: 6 p.m.
Where: YouTube

Jon Pardi
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Happy Hour as part of Stagecoach’s “StageCouch” weekend
Where: Instagram

Zac Brown Band
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Sunday Night Live
Where: Instagram

Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Facebook

April 27

Hot Country Knights and Terri Clark
Time: 3 p.m.
Where: Instagram

Temecula Road
Time: 3:30 p.m.
What: Performance
Where: Facebook

Chris Bandi
Time: 7 p.m.
What: Performance
Where: Facebook

Sara Evans
Time: 7:30 p.m.
What: “Closet Chaos” Co-hosted with daughters, Olivia & Audrey. They sing, talk beauty products, tv/film, and host one special guest.
Where: Instagram

April 28

Mitchell Tenpenny
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Instagram

Caitlyn Smith
Time: 8:00 p.m.
What: Country Music Hall of Fame Songwriter Sessions
Where: Instagram

Tyler Rich
Time: 8:30 p.m.
What: “Sing Behind the Scene”: Showcasing the Writer’s and Stories Behind your Favorite Songs.
Where: Instagram

April 29

Clay Walker
Time: 4:00 p.m.
What: Wrangler “Can’t Stop Country” livestream
Where: Facebook

Steve Wariner
Time: 7:00 p.m.
What: Wariner Wednesday

Where: Facebook

April 30 

Sara Evans
Time: 7:30 p.m.
What: “Closet Chaos” Co-hosted with daughters, Olivia & Audrey. They sing, talk beauty products, tv/film, and host one special guest.
Where: Instagram

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "This Grand Charade"

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Nikki's a Republican Now"

That Nashville Sound's Best Albums Of 2018- A Year-End Best Of List

The amount of great music that has been released into 2018 has been nothing short of remarkable. We live in an incredible time. The internet, YouTube and a variety of digital platforms give independent artists a more playing field to get their music heard than ever before- and as a result, we have more options at receiving that music than at any time in our history. From all parts of the world, artists are contributing to this incredible umbrella of music we call country music.  True, a few stakeholders have a clear stranglehold on what's being heard on country radio, but clearly the tide has shifted and we are seeing time and time again, the ability of cream to rise to the top and artists become wildly successful without the support of the radio dial.

Albums still matter. Patrick McGuire wrote this in ReverbNation and I've read it several times and wanted to share: "Albums still matter because they tell the unique story of who a band is at a specific moment of time that one or two singles just don’t have the ability to do. Imagine if the songs from ... The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band were released one at a time over the course of a year. Yes, the songs would still be incredible, but the meaning of these hugely important albums would be far less impactful. Whether it’s a concept album or not, good albums feature some sort of story or larger narrative whether it’s in the lyrics or instrumentation. Singles can’t tell the stories albums can." The platform of the album continues to be a tapestry that unites songs into a thematic quilt.

A handful of those 2018 country music releases stand out above all others. That's where this list comes in.

Here's a list of our favorite albums over the last few years for comparison:

2005 - Gary Allan - Tough All Over (tie)
            Lee Ann Womack - There’s More Where That Came From
2006 - Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
2007 - Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raising Sand
2008 - Lee Ann Womack - Call Me Crazy
2009 - Eric Church - Carolina
2010 - Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give
2011 - Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
2012 - Marty Stuart - Nashville Volume 1- Tear The Woodpile Down
2013 - Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
2014 - Don Williams - Reflections
2015 - Chris Stapleton - Traveler
2016 - Ryan Beaver - RX

2017 - Jason Eady - Jason Eady

These are the albums that struck an emotional chord and moved this listener to fall in love with their projects over and over again.

1. Ashley McBryde - Girl Goin' Nowhere - This album is the epitome of refreshing honesty and authenticity. It brings beautiful vocals and thoughtful lyrics which reflect on timeless and contemporary issues. The record is country with an undeniable rock 'n' roll streak and has gotten her equal radio airplay and critical admiration. The songwriting is smart and manages to provide substance at nearly every turn. But nothing is as strong as the title song. That particular song is about proving wrong all those people who said you'd never amount to much, who told you to give up on your dream of making music for a living. It's a song of well-earned defiance and steely confidence that can make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It's like the Rudy of country songs.

2. Lori McKenna - The Tree - The persistently consistent and fantastic artist and Massachusetts songwriter returns with 10 country songs with ocean-trench depth about the knotty complications of family.  It deals with getting older, disease, family conflict and deserves an Oscar as much as it deserves a Grammy. Just one listen to "The Fixer," a track of how a repairman husband can fix everything with the exception of his cancer-stricken wife, will make your heart ache. More than any other songwriter in Nashville, McKenna knows that the truth hurts. Good music is designed to make you feel- and not just feel good. McKenna can wield the emotional knife as well as anyone in music. And every cut feels just as good as the last.

3. Jason Eady - I Travel On- If Eady's last album was his singer/songwriter project, I Travel On is his jam-band one. Recorded live with his touring band, the troubadour kicks full-tilt into barroom burners and backporch pickers. The resulting sound is his fullest, most rounded-out sonic effort yet.  Remarkably, however, the polish doesn't remove any of the grittiness or emotional impact that's become the hallmark of this Texas artist. Eady's consistency of quality project after quality project should have him mentioned alongside the legendary Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt at some point here soon. They're that good and timeless.

4. 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 to his longtime influences — including 1980s trailblazers like Williams, Whitley, and Vern Gosdin.  It's a profound debut solo album and one we're hopeful that will be the start of many to come. It's brilliant.

5. Will Hoge - My American Dream - Will Hoge is ticked-off at the current political situation and has channeled that frustration into a passionate set of songs lyrically linked to what he believes is deception and a circus-like atmosphere at the White House. If you're supposed to write what moves you, then that means what both inspires and what moves us negatively as well. And despite this reviewer sitting on the opposite side of the political aisle, I admire the passion and discourse through song without it becoming vitriol. Music has long championed social advocacy and Hoge can add his name to a long list of well-known artists that have gotten behind their causes.

6. Dierks Bentley- The Mountain - No mainstream artist straddles the line of commercial viability and radio friendly fare quite like Dierks. The Mountain was written in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains and the result brought something full of earnestness and confidence.  Bentley sings about the importance of family (“My Religion”), the transformative powers of love and monogamy (“Woman, Amen”), and the hard-won perspective found in his forties (“Travelin’ Light”).

7. Steve Moakler - Born Ready - Moakler used life on the road as inspiration for this outstanding collection of tunes, his 5th solo album. Moakler’s idea of life on the road looks different than most touring artists. For him, it isn’t putting miles on a tour bus or collecting hotel room keys from cities across America. It’s been a mix of touring off the beaten path in a vintage camper with his wife Gracie, and sleeping at truck stops in between shows at rock clubs and honky tonks with his band. “I started writing Born Ready with truck drivers in mind, but quickly realized I was telling my own story too,” explains Moakler. “Whether your job has you behind the steering wheel or not, I think the road is a perfect metaphor for life. It’s about closing the distance between where you are and where you want to be.”

8. Eric Church - Desperate Man - Many artists will namedrop their heroes like Church did with Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Ray Wylie Hubbard on his last album, Mr. Misunderstood. Few would track down them as Church did with Hubbard, write with him and then release that song as they debut and namesake of his next album. That's part of what makes Church so special in this day in age. There are no rules. There are no boundaries. There is only his muse and his aviator-wearing swagger allows him the permission to do whatever the hell he pleases. Lucky for us listeners, it's a fascinating collection of songs of substance that have unique production values that make nearly every single damn one interesting as hell.

9. Courtney Patton - What It's Like To Fly Alone - Patton has continued to draw on true life day-to-day autobiographical life experiences filled on her third album, What It’s Like To Fly Alone. The album is phenomenal. In an era in which clichés and bravado is mistaken for bold noteworthiness, there’s something far more brave in peeling back highly personal and emotional open-book songs and delivering them with sensitivity and sentiment. Patton has done just that. She is the consummate storyteller on this project. Heartache isn’t just described, it’s tangibly felt.

10. Ashley Monroe - Sparrow - Monroe recorded Sparrow after what she described to NPR as a series of therapy sessions in which she dealt with downs like the death of her father and as ups as high as the birth of her first child. The songs are phenomenally personal and her unique voice slices like a siren through the sonic waves, hypnotic throughout the album. Each track seems to be drawn from real life, perfectly illustrating the emotions and sentiments we might all recognize and share. It's a personal testimony set to song.

11. Josh Grider - Good People - Grider falls somewhere in between the straightforward modern country music of what you might find on Texas radio and the more singer/songwriter approach of his longtime friends and collaborators Walt Wilkins and Drew Kennedy. The album's title track is a feel-good omen for the balance of the album longing to bring some positivity to the world around us.  It's a reminder that dignity and decency will win out. His baritone voice is welcome and strong throughout the project and it's always a smart write, with clever hooks and strong messaging. He paints a full picture by focusing on the details, and that's a welcome listen nearly every time.

12. Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing - At 85-years-old, it's understandable that Nelson has perspective that is definitely learned the hard way.  He has watched nearly all of his generation- many of them close friends and bandmates- cross over to the great beyond. And yet, Nelson, perhaps our generation's greatest songwriter, uses it as inspiration, drawing on it with the same humor, humility and gravitas that has marked his entire career. It's an album of looking back and asking "what ifs" and "what could have beens."  His voice is thinner than ever and his guitar-playing of Trigger might sound a little more deliberate, but there's nary a spec of rust on his storytelling- and for that we're forever grateful.

13. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon - Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A with Grammy Award-winning Producer Dave Cobb (that would be, yes, Brent’s cousin and longtime collaborator), the 11-song collection sees Cobb cementing his talents as a superb storyteller. His style is funky, swampy and soulful- all in a good way. Cobb weaves together gritty tales that cross fluidly through multiple genres to create a patchwork quilt of Americana that's sure to get your foot stomping and your blood pumping. 

14. Various Artists - Restoration- Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin - Taupin is one of music's most-famous poets and few artists have cultivated the songwriting chops of John. Here, country music's brightest from Little Big Town to Vince Gill to Chris Stapleton put their stamp on their songs, creating new takes on something that already has a warm familiarity.

15. Wade Bowen - Solid Ground
16. Cody Jinks - Lifers
17. Whitey Morgan and the 78’s  – Hard Times and White Lines

18. Kimberly Kelly - Don't Blame It on Me

19. Jimmy Rankin - Moving East

20. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks

21. Lindi Ortega - Liberty

22. Kenny Chesney - Songs for the Saints

23. Maggie Rose- Change the Whole Thing

24. Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel

25. Scotty McCreery - Season's Change

26. Eric Church - 61 Days of Church

27. Charlie Daniels Band - Beau Weavils - Songs in the Key of E
28. Mike and the Moonpies – Steak Night at the Prairie Rose

New Music Video From Will Hoge - "Gilded Walls"

The Skinny: Brand New Projects From Willie Nelson, Tracy Lawrence, Will Hoge, The Band of Heathens & Jimmie Allen

Artist: Willie Nelson
Album: At the Boarding House: San Francisco Broadcast 1975
Label: All Access
Release date: September 7, 2018

By the mid-1970s Willie was writing and performing "Outlaw Country". He performed a dynamic show at San Francisco's Boarding House venue on 7th June '75, playing a selection of tunes from his recent albums, plus a number of covers, this entire show is now available as an album for the first time.



Artist: Tracy Lawrence
Album: Frozen In Time
Label: Lawrence Music Group
Release date: October 12, 2018

An official release hasn't been made on this one, but the timing of this project, along with the name and album cover would lead us to believe this will be a holiday album. No news on whether it will be Christmas standards or originals (or a combination thereof).



Artist: Will Hoge
Album: My American Dream
Label: Cumberland Recordings
Release date: October 5, 2018

The release features eight songs of rabble-rousing political commentary that turns a critical eye on the crisis of conscience and culture threatening to tear apart his country. The album is Hoge's impassioned portrait of what he holds dear - and what we all might risk losing.

Artist: The Band of Heathens
Album: A Message From The People Revisited
Label: BOH Records
Release date: September 14, 2018

The Band of Heathens have shared a new track, their version of "Take Me Home, Country Roads." While best known as a hit song first performed by John Denver, the song was also recorded by Ray Charles on his seminal 1972 album A Message From The People. Today, the Band's new version of the song is from their ambitious re-envisioning of Charles' album in its entirety. Aptly titled A Message From The People Revisited, The Band of Heathens' upcoming record offers new takes on the original album's ten tracks including "Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong," “Hey Mister,” and "Heaven Help Us All" presented in The Band of Heathens' own voice while staying true to the weight and tone of the originals - as well as Charles' own indelible interpretations. The band chose to re-record the often forgotten album because of its moving commentary on social justice, abuse-of-power, and its vision for a stronger, more-unified America.

Artist: Jimmie Allen
Album: Mercury Lane
Label: Stoney Creek
Release date: October 12, 2018

Allen's debut single "Best Shot" is racing up the charts and it appears his debut album is not far behind: “It’s incredibly special to be able to introduce myself to Country music with such a personal song that was inspired by the person who always encouraged me to pursue my dreams,” said Allen. “I’ve always dreamt of what it would feel like to turn on the radio and hear my own song playing through my speakers and I’m so thankful to country radio for helping make that dream a reality.”

 

That Nashville Sound Saturday Newsbytes: Will Hoge, FGL, Lindi Ortega, David Nail, Randy Houser & More

There's lots of new country music news that came out yesterday and we'll try and spill the beans and give you links to everything you should be in on the know for.

- Randy Houser has a brand new single out as of yesterday titled "What Whiskey Does" and you can hear it here.

- After parting ways with his major label, David Nail is back independently as David Nail and the Well Ravens and has an outstanding new track called "Heavy."

- Kenny Chesney has a new music video for "Trip Around the Sun."

- Shot at Battle Tapes Recording in Nashville, "You Ain't Foolin Me" is a new live music video done for Lindi Ortega's brand new album Liberty.

- Florida Georgia Line have a new music video for "Simple."

- Last Monday, the Song Suffragettes did a group cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" featuring Michelle Pereira, Emma White, Candi Carpenter, Tiera and Caroline Watkins.

- Corey Smith made a new sentimental music video for his new song "Halfway Home." 

- Jerry Wiggins, the second drummer in the famed Buck Owens band, the Buckaroos, has died. Check out KF Raizor's obituary here.

- That Nashville Sound favorite Will Hoge will have a new album out on October 5 titled My American Dream.
 

Will Hoge Preps Anchors For August Release- Features Sheryl Crow Duet

Artist: Will Hoge
Album: Anchors
Label: Edlo Records
Release date: August 11, 2017

After a truly brilliant album release in 2015 with Small Town Dreams, Will Hoge is back with another anticipated album entitled Anchors. Will Hoge stands as a shining star example about how you can carve out a career in music doing it independently. Despite a year-and-a-half stint with Atlantic Records, Hoge has developed a significant following of fans and produced ten albums over the course of the last two decades. An extremely prolific songwriter, Hoge has written a small catalog of songs for others and even received a Grammy nomination for Eli Young Band’s number one hit, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”

There's a little background on the new project in a feature for Rolling Stone:

Anchors is about that duality – an anchor itself both weighs things down and keeps them grounded, and Hoge explores the comfort and crush of small towns, the freedom and limits of love, the knowledge that comes from aging at the expense of vital years. The one thing that he does not address, however, is anything political. Hoge is openly anti-Trump on his social media accounts, and Modern American Protest Songs included biting tracks like "Ballad of Trayvon Martin." It's not that he hasn't been thinking about it all, or writing even more modern protest songs. He has. 

"There are a bunch of those brewing constantly," he says, "but after the election – and still – every day you turn on the news it's something else further beyond the pale. I'm too mad to sing those songs at this point. I don't want to put those songs out in anger. I needed to see if I could still feel human."

Songs like the acoustic-led country weeper "Angels Wings" and the Tom Petty-esque closer "Young As We Will Ever Be," that contemplates the constant drip of time, are all dedicated to that which makes us human. Good with bad, pain with pleasure, the glory of some at the price of many. If writing music about that makes him an eternal square peg, then so be it.

"I don't want to have to go and try to write a hit song for what is popular on the charts," says Hoge. "I do want to wake up and try to write great songs. Full stop."

That Nashville Sound’s Top 100 (and something) Songs of 2015

2015 was another fabulous year of country music. Traditional country, bluegrass, modern country and Americana were all represented well and this list proves that out- we’ve cast a wide net over that definition of roots-oriented music.

Here are the rules by which this list was selected. It had to be released off an album that was released in 2015 or is an already-released single off a to-be-released album. If the album came out in 2014 or before, it couldn’t be included- even if it wasn't released as a single until 2015.

Let us hear what you think. Anything we missed? Without further ado, here is That Nashville Sound’s Top 100 (and something) Songs of 2015.

Best of the Best
1. Chris Stapleton - "Tennessee Whiskey" - listen
If anyone needed any more reason to think that this Dean Dillon/Linda Hargrove penned song first sung by David Allan Coe and then George Jones wasn't worthy of the top spot, they just needed to hear Stapleton and Justin Timberlake's live performance at this year's CMA Awards. For those that might have heartburn that a cover song was chosen as number one, Stapleton's interpretation of the original track is so diverse and unique in delivery, production and interpretation, it figuratively (and literally) gave this song new life. It highlights everything so brilliant about Stapleton with his big voice and amazing range.

2. Will Hoge - "They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" - listen
A dedication to his father, the song has a level of intimate poignancy that rivals anything else released to the marketplace in recent memory. Hoge continues to regularly lean on American blue-collar storylines as his muse to write about and this track couldn't be more equal parts autobiographical and perfect for every rural-born individual in these 50 states.

3. Courtney Patton - "So This Is Life" - listen
She channels the heartbreaking story of a stay-at-home mom whose supposed fairytale life crashes around her with such realistic honesty, it can only mirror life experience, which it does on this title track from Patton's album this year. The production is simple, allowing the incredibly intelligently written lyrics to shine. They're equal parts tragic and redemptive, just like nearly everyone's roller-coaster life. Few of us have the ability to write it down with such clarity, however. Patton's Shakespeare in song on this one.

4. Love & Theft - "Whiskey On My Breath" - listen
It seems appropriate that it was only after Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles parted ways with Sony Nashville and released this independently, they would have the freedom to tackle this solemn down-and-out drinking song co-written with Trent Tomlinson. Rumors have the duo working with Thirty Tigers- a connection this critic crosses his fingers for as it means more of this from the talented twosome.

5. Pat Green - "While I Was Away" - listen
Written and released first by Texas troubadour Zane Williams, this site regretfully missed it the first time around. It didn't make the same mistake twice, however. This testament to missing the key components of life occurring with the kids at home while the musician is out making a career on the road is introspective and revealing.

6. Cam - "Burning House" - listen
This is another doozy and the most popular charted hit of this bunch. A house on fire is an analogy for a relationship going down in flames and it's just one of the highlights of a phenomenally brilliant debut album for this multi-lingual artist.

7. Ashley Monroe - "The Blade" - listen
Even when Vince Gill doesn't have a release out in a year, he still manages to have his hands (and strings) involved in some of the best music put out in 2015. He produced this project and with its depth of emotion describing loss, it fits Monroe's angelic voice perfectly.

8. Ashley Campbell - "Remembering" - listen
“Remembering” could just be the most poignant and human song released this year. Written at the conclusion of that fateful tour as the debilitating brain disease took away her father’s memories, the track delivers a heartfelt and heart-wrenching message of that incomprehensible loss with an earnest honesty that can only be earned the most difficult of ways. It’s powerful songwriting at its best and sets a high bar for what comes next for the songwriter.

9. Chris Roberts - "Song for a Girl" - listen
The conclusion of Roberts' brilliant new album The Way West is this lullaby written for his youngest daughter, a beautiful young girl named Abby. It's Roberts, his piano and a simple and elegant testament to the curiosity of a child and the love of a father. Any parent that's had a child filled with questions and wonder about the world around them will see it written not for little Abby, but their own child- and that's the genius of the song. It's written at once for one and at once for all.

10. Darrell Scott - "Born in 55'" - listen
This track off of his album Ten embraces the simplicity of a man, his guitar and the songs and stories of a friend. The album sees Scott taking a step back from song-writing with a haunting compilation of songs written by the late Ben Bullington, who became a victim to pancreatic cancer in November 2013 aged just 58. Scott sets aside his guitar in Born in ’55 and holds us captive with his chilling piano accompaniment perfectly capturing the sorrowful words on the deaths of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King.

Narrowly missed the top ten:
11. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen - "El Dorado"
12. Nick Sturms - "Amen"
13. Reba McEntire - "Love Land"
14. Corb Lund - "S Lazy H"
15. Will Hoge - "Still a Southern Man"
16. Charles Kelley, Dierks Bentley & Eric Paslay - "The Driver"
17. Don Henley - "Waiting Tables"
18. Eric Church - "Mistress Named Music"

Honorable Mention:
Aaron Watson - "The Underdog"
Abbey Cone - "When I Find You"
Alan Jackson - "The One You're Waiting On"
Ashley Gearing - "Love Can Go To Hell"
Ashley Monroe - "If the Devil Don't Want Me"
Brennen Leigh and Sunny Sweeney – “But You Like Country Music”
Carrie Underwood - "Little Toy Guns"
Carrie Underwood - "The Girl You Think I Am"
Chris Stapleton - "Traveller"
Cody Jinks - "David"
Cody Jinks - "What Else Is New"
Darius Rucker - "So I Sang"
Daryle Singletary - "Sunday Mornin' Kind of Town"
Daryle Singletary - "There's Still a Little Country Left"
Dean Brody - "Sweet Lola"
Eddie Bush - "Buffalo"
Elle King - "America's Sweetheart"
Emily Hearn - "Annie"
Eric Church - "Three Year Old"
George Strait - "Everything I See"
George Strait - "Rock Paper Scissors"
Hailey Whitters - "Black Sheep"
Jamey Johnson - "Alabama Pines"
Jana Kramer - "The Last Song"
Kacey Musgraves - "Pageant Material"
Kid Rock - "Ain't Enough Whiskey"
Kristian Bush - "Walk Tall"
Levi Lowery - "A Maritime Song"
Little Texas - "Rednecks Do Exist"
Logan Brill - "Don't Pick It Up"
Mickey Guyton- "Better Than You Left Me"
Ray Wylie Hubbard - "Mr. Musselwhite's Blues"
Ray Wylie Hubbard- "Bad on Fords"
T. Graham Brown - "Which Way To Pray"
The Statesboro Revue - "Like the Sound"
Wade Hayes - "Let You Go"
Whitey Morgan and the 78's - "Waitin' Round To Die"
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard - "Live This Long"
Zac Brown Band - "Dress Blues"

Best of the Rest:
Aaron Watson - "Rodeo Queen"
Aaron Watson - "That's Why God Loves Cowboys"
Ashland Belle - "Whiskey Prayers"
Ashley Monroe - "On To Something Good"
Billy Currington - "Good Night" (featuring Jessie James Decker)
Billy Currington - "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To"
Billy Currington - "Soundtrack"
Brett Eldredge - "Illinois"
Brett Eldredge - "Lose My Mind"
Bri Bagwell - "My Fisherman"
Bucky Covington - "Happy Man"
Carrie Underwood - "Choctaw County Affair"
Carrie Underwood- "Church Bells"
Chris Roberts - "Heartless World"
Chris Roberts - "Love Gets Gone"
Chris Young - "I Know a Guy"
Chris Young - "Sober Saturday Night" (featuring Vince Gill"
Corb Lund - "Washed Up Rock Star Factory Blues"
Courtney Patton - "Need for Wanting"
Darius Rucker - "Southern Style"
Daryle Singletary - "Like Family"
Dean Brody - "Footprints of a Giant"
Dean Brody - "Old Friend"
Diamond Rio - "Beckett's Back Forty"
Diana Upton-Hill - "Aim's Getting' Better"
Don Henley - "Words Can Break Your Heart"
Donna Ulisse- "Workin' On the C&O"
Eddie Bush- "Chapter Two"
Emily Hearn - "The Oak Tree"
Emily Hearn - "Volcano"
Emily West - "Battles"
Glen Campbell - "Long Walk Home"
James Taylor - "Showtime"
Jamie Lin Wilson - "Roses by the Dozen"
Jamie Lin Wilson - "Yours and Mine"
Jamie Lin Wilson (and Wade Bowen) - "Just Some Things"
Jana Kramer and Steven Tyler - "Bullet"
Jason Michael Carroll - "What Color Is Your Sky?"
John Anderson - "Louisiana Son of a Beast"
John Anderson - "Song of the Mountains"
JT Hodges - "Locks on Doors"
Kacey Musgraves - "Dimestore Cowgirl"
Kacey Musgraves - "Somebody To Love"
Kid Rock - "Jesus and Bocephus"
Kirsten Kelly - "Fire"
Kristen Merlin - "A Little While"
Kristian Bush - "Southern Gravity"
Levi Lowery - "A Father's Love"
Levi Lowery - "Put Your Badge Back On"
Little Texas - "Slow Ride Home"
Logan Brill - "The Woman on Your Mind"
Pat Green - "Day One"
Pat Green and Lyle Lovett - "Girls from Texas"
Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen - "In the Next Life"
Reba McEntire - "Livin' Ain't Killed Me Yet"
Sammy Kerhaw - "I Had To Give That Up Too"
Steeldrivers - "Day Before Temptation"
Steeldrivers - "River Runs Red"
Stoney LaRue - "Empty Glass"
T. Graham Brown - "People Get Ready"
T. Graham Brown - "Power of Love"
The Mavericks - "All Night Long"
The Mavericks - "The Only Question Is"
The Mavericks - "What You Do To Me"
The Statesboro Revue - "Undone"
Toby Keith - "35 MPH Town"
Tom Paxton - "The Losing Part"
Tom Paxton - "Time To Spare"
Tyler Farr - "Suffer In Peace"
Wade Hayes - "Remember the Alimony"
Watkins Family Hour - "Hop High"
Whitey Morgan and the 78's - "Goin' Down Rockin'"
Will Hoge - "Middle of America"
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard - "Missing Ol' Johnny Cash"

That Nashville Sound’s Top 40 Albums of 2015

For those that follow this site on a semi-regular basis, you recognize that we cast a very wide net with our definition of country music. The genres of traditional classic, bluegrass, Americana, red-dirt, pop-country and even a little Delta blues make it across these pages. Hell, we even give some print to the bro-country movement sweeping the FM dial. But for the most part, it isn’t that proverbial radio dial that is producing what That Nashville Sound considers to be the finest music released thus far this year.

Before I get commentary about how we consciously exclude any modern trends or mainstream artists, let it be known that they represent on the list as well. But clearly the finest music being released thus far is far from the party-first summer dirt road anthems that are claiming to be more country than you. No, these artists are releasing deep lyric-first songs with drama. They make you feel. Pleasure. Pain. Happy. Sad. They tell stories that, like a great movie, run the gamut of emotions and make you stop and take notice. And there have been some fantastic releases so far.

There will certainly be some names on here that you don’t immediately recognize. I encourage you to track them down and sample some of their music. I promise you will not be disappointed in the least. Without further ado… That Nashville Sound’s Best Albums of 2015. 

    1.    Chris Stapleton - Traveller

As I had written in an interview with Stapleton at Saving Country Music: It isn’t often that a musician achieves an illustrious 15-year career that includes five number one hits, Grammy Award nominations, feature film contributions, producer credits and the respect of his peers before he ever releases his first solo album. But Chris Stapleton isn’t your average musician. The near-universal critical acclaim that has been heaped upon his debut album Traveller has been nothing short of amazing.

With a ZZ Top look-alike beard, Stapleton doesn’t look like your average country artist. With a booming voice that Rolling Stone’s Jon Caramanica called “liquor-thick and three-drinks limber,” he doesn’t sound like your average country artist. And with an incredible songwriting sensibility that draws as much inspiration from blues and soul as it does from country in his birthplace of Kentucky, his music doesn’t even sound like the average country artist—which is one of the reasons, for nearly everyone who listens, it stands out as a superior piece of art.

His songwriting credits span all genres and include artists like Adele, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Josh Turner, and Jason Aldean. His work with the The SteelDrivers gave the band nearly unprecedented success in bluegrass circles. He even dabbled with some southern rock with a project under The Jompson Brothers. But it is Traveller that has brought the proper spotlight on Chris Stapleton as a solo artist.
 

    2.    Will Hoge - Small Town Dreams

As I had written in an interview with Hoge for Saving Country Music: With all the hullabaloo surrounding recent radio executive comments about the importance of radio in validating a country artist’s career, Will Hoge stands as a shining star example about how you can carve out a career in music doing it independently. Despite a year-and-a-half stint with Atlantic Records, Hoge has developed a significant following of fans and produced ten albums over the course of the last two decades. An extremely prolific songwriter, Hoge has written a small catalog of songs for others and even received a Grammy nomination for Eli Young Band’s number one hit, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”

What comes next is (the) release of Small Town Dreams, a new album produced by Marshall Altman and assisted by the likes of Chris Stapleton, Gary Allan and Vince Gill. Now with two boys at home, Hoge seems to have entered a new phase in his songwriting with plenty of nostalgia. It’s pure Americana. It’s Americana in its sound at times, but much more so in its topic of storytelling. He’s telling the small town American story of growing up, moving away to chase dreams, looking back and making a new home.

The album also includes “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To,” which should be one of the early favorites for Song of the Year. A dedication to his father, the song has a level of intimate poignancy that rivals anything else released to the marketplace in recent memory.
 

    3.    Courtney Patton - So This Is Life

As I had written in an interview with Patton for Saving Country Music: Come hell or high water, Courtney Patton was determined to make a true country record. Her Kickstarter headline read, “A Traditional Country Record.” Her notes on that same crowdsourcing campaign describe the end-product perfectly: “It’s country. And it’s full of waltzes. And I’m not apologizing for either of those things.”

The hell might be the life material that she’s been handed to draw upon for autobiographical lyrical fodder. It includes a divorce of her parents after 30+ years of marriage, a death of a college-aged sibling, a divorce of her own and the trials and tribulations of being a female singer-songwriter in the hugely male-dominated radio airspace that’s called Texas. (A location that just might be even more difficult to cut through the glass ceiling than even Nashville.)

The high water? It could be the title from her 2013 critically-acclaimed second album, Triggering a Flood. It could also be the devastating Texas floods that impacted Patton’s friends and family within the last month.

But like a diamond, true talent has a tendency to shine through the darkness and Patton’s skill as a singer-songwriter has done just that. She is quickly becoming a driving force within the Red Dirt and Texas music scenes. Patton married fellow musician Jason Eady in March of last year and released So This Is Life.

The album is phenomenal. In an era in which clichés and bravado is mistaken for bold noteworthiness, there’s something far more brave in peeling back highly personal and emotional open-book songs and delivering them with sensitivity and sentiment. Patton has done just that. She is the consummate storyteller on this project and her producer Drew Kennedy lets the soft arrangements breathe and let the truly intelligent lyrics be the focal point. Heartache isn’t just described, it’s tangibly felt. Nowhere is this more evident than on the title track. She channels the heartbreaking story of a stay-at-home mom whose supposed fairytale life crashes around her with such realistic honesty, it can only mirror life experience. It’s clearly one of the best songs of 2015.
 

      4.    Pat Green- Home
 

After a brief affair with a major label, Pat Green returns to his independent (and largely Texas) roots with a fantastic introspective album that showcases his songwriting chops. It features one of TNS’s favorite songs of 2015, “While I Was Away,” a track that shares the heartache of living life on the road as a musician away from family. Some accused Green of “selling out” with his big-label releases. (He didn’t.) Some felt like he lost his Texas roots. (He didn’t.) If anything, this release on the Thirty Tigers label simply gave him the freedom and freedom of mind to pursue his muse however it hit him. 
 

"I think it's funny that people thought I sold out," he told Rolling Stone Country. "I'm like, 'Nothing changed; I just got paid more.' Certainly, there are times when you're on a BNA or RCA [label] when they're like, 'We've gotta polish this up for radio.' That's the way it goes. But I think everything else sounded like what I would do, anyway.”
 

"With [Home singles] 'While I Was Away' and 'Girls From Texas,' we weren't going out there gearing for mainstream country radio at all," he continues. "We were going straight at Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana — taking that core audience that is mine and really giving them something for them."
 

"I really just wanted to make a statement to our hometown fans — the ones that were with me forever — and say, 'I recognize that what I did, I did on purpose,'" Green explains. "And it might have distanced me a bit, going out on tour with Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews. I don't regret that, but at the same time, I can understand why there are people out there that aren't the keenest on it. 

5.    Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen - Hold My Beer Vol. 1

The album, produced by Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, Robert Earl Keen), is a studio extension of their Hold My Beer and Watch This Tour, a fun-loving, friends-first trek across Texas and nearby states off-and-on tour that the two have been on for the better part of the past decade.

The album is representative of everything that’s good about friends collaborating. They cover their personal favorites, including a cover of Willie and Merle’s “Reasons to Quit." But it's the originals that stand out on the album including the phenomenal story-song of "El Dorado" and the introspective "In The Next Life." As you would expect, it's full of the Texas-standards of fiddle and steel and is equal parts smiles and deep-thinking. It's terrific enough for us to hope for Volume 2 and beyond.
 

      6    Whitey Morgan and the 78's - Sonic Ranch

The history of country music has no shortage of characters hit by hard luck: the hard-working man who can't seem to make ends meet, the heart-of-gold drunk who just can't seem to put down the bottle, the woman who wants to do right but ends up, time and again, doing wrong. No matter the tragedies at the center of the songs, in most cases those characters come off like just that – characters; inventions of either a particularly gifted songwriter looking to spin a tall tale or a lazy one looking to pad out an album. But in the case of Whitey Morgan, those characters – the drinker, the troublemaker, the struggling, hard-working man – all seem arrestingly real.

That's largely because the stories on Sonic Ranch -- a big, nasty, whiskey-slugging, bare-knuckle bruiser of a country record – are pulled from Morgan's own back pages.

Credit most of the album's fighting spirit to Morgan's childhood in the economically challenged town of Flint, Michigan. A teenager who, in his own words, "got my ass kicked on a daily basis," Morgan witnessed the toll the city's troubled economy took on the people closest to him. "I experienced Flint through my parents and relatives," he explains. "A lot of them lost jobs at General Motors, and I saw a lot of factories close and get torn down." Despite the turmoil, Morgan's family was close. "We never dwelled on the negative. My mom always had dinner on the table and my dad worked every day for GM to make sure there was always food. They never let on that things were getting bad, ever. Growing up in Flint ignited the 'never give up' attitude I apply to every part of my life. That's what you learn when you grow up in that town. You also learn that you don't take shit from anyone, ever."

Morgan dishes it back out on 'Sonic Ranch.' On the grizzled, smoky cover of Waylon Jennings’ "Goin' Down Rocking," he digs his heels in against anyone who would dare try to steamroll him. On "Low Down on the Backstreets," over staggering piano and glistening apostrophes of pedal steel, he's pushing back against a broken heart with country songs and dancing girls. And on the harrowing cover of Townes Van Zandt's "Waitin' ‘Round to Die," he's staring down mortality with his jaw set and his eyes narrowed. "I have loved that song since the first time I heard it," Morgan says. "It's a dark masterpiece that looks in on a not-so-perfect, but not uncommon, life story. I did my best to put my own heart, soul and experiences into my version. I had a vision of making it sound as if it could be the score for the next Sergio Leone classic." Morgan achieved his vision; with its ominous, shadowy guitars and spectral lap steel, the song serves as the album's grim, potent centerpiece.

Even in its lighter moments – the holler-along revelry of "Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore"; the tender ‘Good Timin’ Man,” which tackles the pressures of love and persona – Sonic Ranch embraces the grit while maintaining a determinedly unvarnished sound. Much of that has to do with the relaxed atmosphere in the studio that gives the record its name. "My manager told me about this place he had been to outside of El Paso called Sonic Ranch," Morgan says. "That was a real departure from the usual studio vibe. My manager knows how much I do not like the 'studio' thing -- I never feel comfortable. This was exactly what I needed: a laid-back place with great gear where we could make a great record."

"The goal for me on this album was to keep moving forward musically, and try to give the fans my best album yet," Morgan says. "I don't really look at the big picture, I just always try and outdo myself." On Sonic Ranch, he's done exactly that.
 

7.    Ashley Monroe- The Blade
 

I’m going to borrow a line from wonderful writer Jewly Hight who described this album perfectly in three separate words for Billboard: “exquisite bruised sensitivity.” Ashley Monroe and her producer Vince Gill have earned the right and have been given carte blanche by her label to tackle adult topics in an adult manner. Heartache, loss and emotions are transcribed and delivered with subtle kid gloves, careful not to miss an ounce of care. 
 

Monroe balances the pain with a couple of playful romps as well, though. "Winning Streak" serendipitously suggests that when it comes to losing, the song's subject is on a roll. Similarly, "I Buried Your Love Alive" rocks to a wicked, bluesy groove. Her tone and vocals remind consistently of fellow East Tennessee native, Dolly Parton, who always knew how to use that voice to fit the music, knowing just when to turn up the heat or bring it down to almost a whisper to convey heartbreak. All the while, a fantastic group of musicians are highlighted by exquisite steel guitar and hot electric-guitar work. 
 

    8.    Logan Brill – Shuteye
 

That Nashville Sound first fell in love with Logan Brill with her release of 2013’s Walking Wires. The minute that album started out with the Chris Stapleton penned track, "There's No Such Things as Ghosts," the listener recognized the power in the album. The sound was fresh and the lyrics were poignant. At only 22, her storytelling belied her age. Now two years later, with her sophomore album, Logan ups the tempo ever so slowly with still delivering hauntingly beautiful vocals, particularly when singing of loss and heartache. 
 

“Recording my first record, Walking Wires, was enormously rewarding, but it presented me with a pretty steep learning curve,” says Logan. “When I began to work on Shut Eye, I had a much stronger sense of myself as an artist, and I built a collection of songs—a little blues and Americana and a lot of country and rock—that would reflect my tastes, demonstrate my growth and evolution as an artist, and get people out of their seats and onto the dance floor.”

 

9.    Statesboro Revue - Jukehouse Revival
 

Led by the strong and unique lead timbered vocals of Stewart Mann, The Statesboro Revue have delivered a terrific surprise collection of tracks that rank amongst this year's very best. While leaning a little more on the Americana side of things, the band reminds of some of Zac Brown Band's best work. At times, the guys deliver an intimate acoustic feel, but turn right around and crank it up Southern Rock style with electric licks, organ, harmonica and steel guitar. Delivering a “groove” is something that these guys know how to do very well. The songwriting is impeccable, diving into great depths of blue collar workers, every man day to day duties, relationships and love lost. 

Said Mann about the inspiration process for Revival, “For me, sometimes inspiration isn’t even sparked by a current band, but rediscovering older music. Like, if I’m in the house having a drink and decide to put on J.J. Cale or Jim Croce, who are two artists I was definitely listening to over the course of the last two years, I found myself rediscovering their music and hearing different things. Then, all of a sudden, I’m like, I want to dig further in, and I buy another record of theirs that I don’t have and maybe become inspired by that. I was also listening to some boogie-woogie stuff like Chuck Berry, and there’s really no reason for it….sometimes you just find yourself at a record store, or you are cleaning out a drawer, and you come across some record you haven’t heard in a while and wonder who those artists are influenced by. Then I look into that and find someone I’ve missed, someone I might not know, but someone I probably should....which is usually the case. My brother [Garrett] and I always talk about who we listen to, but he’s worse than I am, to a degree, because he obsesses over bands when he discovers a new one. He listens to everything they ever put out, for months at a time. He takes a different approach, but I think it’s awesome because you start to develop an ear for the little intricacies they use in songs.”
 

  10.Eric Church – Mr. Misunderstood
 

While The Outsiders was all tough guy standing that played to the arenas, it had no cohesiveness and made this listener long for the true genius of Carolina and Chief.  It was a mixtape, not an album. This album picks up where "Chief" left off, with truthful and honest lyrics and perfect instrumental arrangements. The cohesion is present from song to song, and while these songs are distinctively different - sonically and lyrically - they feel like they belong together. It’s a Heartland album with some country, blues, and singer/songwriter influence- with the one exception being "Chattanooga Lucy," which is a bit funky and interesting. More importantly, it’s introspective and revealing, something that was drowned out by electric guitars the last go-around.
 

Lyrically, Eric Church has never been better than on "Mr. Misunderstood." Many of the songs have lyrical highlights including “Three-Year Old” and "Kill a Word." The latter is the anti-bullying song that songwriters have been yearning to write for a long time and has now come to fruition courtesy of Eric Church, Luke Dick and Jeff Hyde.
 

11. Cody Jinks - Adobe Sessions
 

For those traditionalists that are complaining that there’s not real country music being played any longer… please meet Cody Jinks. The album includes one of our favorite tracks of the year, a dark memory retold about a car-wreck that took the life of his friend, “David.” While the listener doesn’t know the victim personally, it’s so well-told through the protagonist, you can’ t help but be emotionally tied to the track. The idea behind the album name actually comes from the place it was recorded. Jinks laid down the album at Sonic Ranch, which is a large residential recording studio complex set on 2,300 acres in Tornillo. Jinks said the old building used to be a border checkpoint, and the owner of Sonic Ranch repurposed it into a recording studio. 
 

“We recorded in this tiny adobe room,” said Jinks. “We got in there and started recording and we just thought the name would be great.”
 

    12. Chris Roberts- Way Out West
 

If songwriting is storytelling set to song, then one must look to a musician’s wishing well of history to see the experience from which they draw from. For Chris Roberts, that well is deep and pure with an undeniable passion for music. Few artists can lay claim to have been born in the Deep South delta blues, grown up in the Wild West of Montana, stood in front of Broadway’s bright lights in New York (in the production of The Civil War), sung blissful harmony across the country radio airwaves (as part of Decca-signed trio One Flew South), shared the stage with Willie Nelson and Neil Young at Farm Aid, published an incredible catalog of songs written alongside some of Nashville’s brightest stars and writers, produce albums for multiple other artists, laid claim to being his church’s music director in a congregation that reads like a who’s who of the music business (St. Augustine’s) and lastly, been as active in using that music gift for charitable and patriotic endeavors.
 

I have been blessed to have listened to much of his rich catalog of material across this new project and beyond, and it provides a reminder that there’s still meaning in the music being made each day in Nashville. While radio can come off as one-dimensional, Roberts’ catalog persuades you that there still can be a diversity in sound and content produced out of Music City. It has meaning in the lyrics, nuances in the musicianship, emotion in the narrative and differentiation in the production. In this cookie-cutter age, it stands out for its content and for a skill for imparting that sensation to the listener.
 

Chris Roberts once told me in an interview I did with the band One Flew South back in 2009 that a song “is an entire novel written in three minutes. It’s a Broadway show in three minutes. It’s an entire lifetime in three minutes. A great country song can be a guiding post for someone’s life.” That musical guiding post, his moral compass, has pointed him to a new home. Catch This Music is a small collective of songwriters/producers/musicians that are skilled in providing a new song one day, record a demo the next, produce an independent album the following day as a recording studio, and release a solo album for one of its artists on day four. It is completely vertical as a music company, the staff is nimble and multi-talented in their abilities.
 

Roberts’ new album The Way West features many of Chris’ favorite co-writers, including Jason Gantt, Sam Ashworth (Switchfoot, Joy Williams, Kris Allen), Johnny Bulford (Lee Brice, Chris Young), Chris Gelbuda (Meghan Trainor, Billy Currington), and Scott Stepakoff (Tim McGraw, Kip Moore). The Way West is an album full of the kind of musical diversity and emotional longing you might expect from a wanderer such as Chris Roberts.
 

13. Daryle Singletary – There’s Still A Little Country Left
 

As he enters the middle of the independent portion of his career, Singletary has taken up as a flag-bearer for those fans that describe themselves as “hardcore country traditionalists.” “My fans are not fans of the bro-country movement, which doesn’t bother me a bit,” he says. “They’re people who like it real, and that’s what I give them.”
 

Singletary delivers an album that is more than just steel guitar and fiddle. It includes some very meaningful stories that carry the storytelling flag as much as they do any traditionalist flag. Combine the two? You get one of our favorite albums of the year. 
 

14. Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free
 

Isbell told the Wall Street Journal: “I’m not very interested in people whose lives resemble `Entourage,’ I don’t want to write songs about my agent. He’s probably got a hell of a story, but I’d rather write about people who hate their jobs but still get up and go to work every day.” And in some ways, Isbell's America is bleak. It matches life. It has ups and downs, joys and sorrows. Somehow, Isbell has documented the American life story in song, recorded the process of living. The lyrics are thoughtful and deliver a full range of emotions over the course of the album. It could be the smartest album put out all year long. 
 

15. Lindi Ortega- Faded Gloryville
 

Armed with one of the most distinctive voices in country music, this Canadian and Nashville transplant utilizes a bevy of unique characters to help build her latest release- following Tin Star (one of That Nashville Sound’s favorite’s in 2013). It’s at times dark and brooding but with a contrast of that vocal element of hers that sometimes belies the message it’s delivering. It’s an incredible mixture of elements.  "Faded Gloryville isn't just about music," Lindi Ortega says about her new album. “It's about anything that brings you down, whether it's dreams not coming true or relationships not working out, and its message is this: you can go to place where you're feeling really down about things, but it's what you do afterwards — do you decide to reside there forever, or do you leave and make the situation better — that matters. You have to travel through Faded Gloryville to get to Paradise."
 

    16. Haley Whitters- Black Sheep
 

“Who really wants to be white as snow, the thing about black is that the dirt don’t show,” Hailey Whitters confesses in the title track of her newest LP Black Sheep. It’s a line that carries forth throughout the entire album, at times candid, vulnerable, sassy, introspective and deep- but always with a trace of imperfect characters that one consistently finds interesting. Flaws and scars make for good stories and the protagonists in Whitters’ songs are the perfect silhouettes for exploring those dark corners and shadows through song. It’s truly a phenomenal album and one that we hope this listener hopes to hear more from. And soon. 
 

17. George Strait – Cold Beer Conversations

18. Don Henley – Cass County

19. Mavericks – Mono

20. SteelDrivers - The Muscle Shoals Recordings

21. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffians Misfortune

22. John Anderson - Gold Mine

23. Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material

24. Elenowen - Pulling Back the Veil

25. Emily Hearn – Hourglass

26. Jamie Lin Wilson - Holidays & Wedding Rings

27. Aaron Watson - The Underdog

28. Alan Jackson – Angels and Alcohol

29. Darrell Scott - 10 - Songs of Ben Bullington

30. Levi Lowrey - My Crazy Head

31. T. Graham Brown - Forever Changed

32. Wade Hayes - Go Live Your Life

33. Maddie and Tae- Start Here

34. Carrie Underwood - Storyteller

35. Corb Lund – Things That Can’t Be Undone

36. Reba McEntire - Love Somebody

37. Stoney LaRue – Us Time

38. Zac Brown Band - Jekyll and Hyde

39. Dwight Yoakam - Second Hand Heart
 

     40. Special mention- Emily West- All For You
 

We include this album as a special nod to an incredible vocalist that has delivered on a promise to herself to finally do an album her own way. West has shifted gears from the pop country music that Capitol Nashville implored her to deliver while on their label to the big voiced standards that got her into music in the first place. It’s less Patsy Cline and more Dionne Warwick. But a second-place finish in America’s Got Talent got her a record deal with Sony Masterworks she made the most of it. A handful of covers are hit out of the park and she finally has an opportunity to showcase that amazing vocal talent of hers that no country song could ever do. It’s her voice first, instruments second. As it should be with a gift like that.