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This week, Megan Moroney offers up valuable wisdom enveloped in a lilting ballad, while Maddie Lenhart sings of longing for a carefree night of throwing romantic caution to the wind. Storied songwriter Kent Blazy, bluegrass ensemble Steep Canyon Rangers and Koe Wetzel also offer up new tracks.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.
Megan Moroney, “Beautiful Things”
Megan Moroney turns her potent pen to crafting a song of encouragement and wisdom for her younger niece on this insightful, gentle ballad. Sketching scenes of a girl who’s been left off a party invite, or who is learning to survive through heartbreak, Moroney relates how “Lies can break a fragile heart/ And doubt can crush your dreams,” before reminding that “The world is hard on beautiful things.” This song has the makings of an essential track for young women facing harsh headwinds, feeling like wise perspectives and a warm hug wrapped together. The song is set to be included on Moroney’s upcoming third studio album.
Maddie Lenhart, “Drive Me Crazy”
With her latest song, Virginia native Maddie Lenhart emerges as a singer-songwriter with a gift for distilling life’s messy moments into songs of emotional acuity. On “Drive Me Crazy,” she’s ready to jettison caution in favor of a carefree night spent on a romance that has equal chances of flourishing or fizzling. The song follows previous releases including “Shooting Stars” and “A Rock,” and marks her current status as a rising artist with artistic depth and a nuanced approach to her work.
Koe Wetzel, “Werewolf”
Just in time for Halloween, Wetzel releases this musical warning shot filled with unbridled energy and a nod to expecting the unexpected. “I don’t need a full moon/ To be howling like a d–n fool/ Tearing up everything I see,” he sings, fully embracing the havoc that can come with being a rebel soul. Urgent percussion, brash guitars and Wetzel’s commanding vocal meld mightily on this new track.
Kent Blazy, “American Dreamers”
Storied songwriter Kent Blazy understands better than most the well-traveled road of those who dare to build a life in music. As a songwriter behind hits such as Garth Brooks’ “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up),” as well as Chris Young’s “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song),” Blazy has seen firsthand how the right song can skyrocket a career. On this heartland rock-style track, he nods to artists including the Eagles, the Byrds and Bob Dylan, as he turns his attention and gritty vocal tones to the scores of dreamers who wrestle melodies and ideas into songs, then take those songs out into the world to create a spark of connection between artist and listener. “American Dreamers,” written solely by Blazy, appears on his new album, Where I Am Now.
Steep Canyon Rangers, “Circling the Drain”
Steep Canyon Rangers lend their musical mastery to this bluegrass jamband vibe, filled with blistering fiddle and expert picking, as they sing from the perspective of someone who has survived the devastation that remains in rural communities following the loss of “big coal” and influx of “big pharmacy” that “came to ease that pain like a buzzard to the bleaching bones.” Together, the group’s Graham Sharp (banjo), Aaron Burdett (guitar), Barrett Smith (bass), Mike Guggino (mandolin), Mike Ashworth (drums) and Nicky Sanders (fiddle), turn in a sharply clear-eyed observation, wrapped in a party-ready musical foil.
Trending on Billboard On Saturday (Oct. 25), ESPN’s College GameDay will take place in Nashville, being held at Vanderbilt University’s FirstBank Stadium for the first time since 2008, and there will be a strong country presence when College GameDay visits Music City. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Country artists Kenny Chesney and Dierks […]
Trending on Billboard Country music has a rich history of incorporating themes of rowdy Saturday nights, evenings spent drinking in bars, heartbreak anthems, cheatin’ songs and romantic odes, but the genre’s artists have also also woven in storytelling that intertwines words of faith and deep-rooted spirituality. Country artists have long sung of their spiritual faith […]
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On June 28, Mexican-American country singer MŌRIAH and artist Ana Bárbara turned a room filled with apprehension into a powerful moment of unity, prior to a boxing matchup between American boxer Jake Paul and Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. in Anaheim, California.
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“The tension in the room was palpable,” MŌRIAH recalls, as the matchup came amidst heightened political strife. MŌRIAH and Bárbara met in Bárbara’s green room and felt “an instant connection and an immediate understanding of what we had the opportunity to do in that moment.” Bárbara took the stage first to perform the Mexican anthem.
“Almost every person in the arena sang every word,” MŌRIAH remembers, who then followed Bárbara onstage, to perform the American national anthem accompanied by a guitarist fusing the song with mariachi sounds. By the song’s end, Bárbara had joined MŌRIAH as they held hands and sang the final line together.
“It felt like the room just exploded with people applauding and screaming,” MŌRIAH says. “For that brief moment, it was like, ‘This is what it looks like if we set those differences aside and we band together, we own both parts of who we are.’ That unity was so powerful, that we were like, ‘This is the beginning of something.’”
On her two new EPs, MŌRIAH also celebrates her full heritage and family. She will release the six-song English-language version, Nice Life, on Friday (Oct. 24) on F2 Entertainment, followed by its Spanish-language counterpart, Buena Vida, on Oct. 31.
The cover art for MŌRIAH’s EP ‘Nice Life’
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She and acclaimed producer Paul Mabury (Lauren Daigle, MercyMe) began working on the songs nearly three years ago, shortly after Mabury attended MŌRIAH’s 30th birthday celebration—a joint party also honoring her grandmother, who was battling health challenges at the time.
“I brought in mariachis, and my friends learned a traditional dance,” MŌRIAH recalls. “The next time we were in the studio, my producer showed me a photo from that night and said, ‘This is beautiful. This is what we need to write about.’”
MŌRIAH was no stranger to releasing music, but those songs would mark a turning point in her artistry. She was raised in California, in a home where mariachi music was played at family gatherings and quinceañeras were celebrated. Summers were spent with family in El Paso, Texas. In 2014, her CCM album Brave reached No. 9 of Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart. She also released the 2022 EP Curtain Call.
Her producer’s encouragement dovetailed with the music and journal entries MŌRIAH had been quietly creating backstage while touring churches across the country.
“I would sing songs that had been written for me, then go backstage and write about my family,” she says. “It’s funny to me now how I kept those two worlds so separate.”
Last year, she released the breezy and dreamy “Hasta Mañana,” a song recorded at Texas’ famed Sonic Ranch studio.
“That song was an exciting peek into where we could go,” MŌRIAH says. The EPs build upon that song, fully celebrating themes of family, love and emotional struggle, wrapping it in sounds intersecting modern country and Latin music. The title track delves into finding happiness and contentment in simplicity, while “Sombrero” lends itself to a Western-flaired romance.
On “Supermujeres,” which serves as a centerpiece on MŌRIAH’s new project, she teamed again with Bárbara. Bárbara sang her own version of the Spanish lyrics, but also backed MŌRIAH on the chorus, singing the harmony line in English.
“She was like, ‘I’m making this the Mexican version,’” MŌRIAH says. “We tracked together in the studio, and I never asked her to sing the English chorus because it’s a lot to ask someone to do that and sing in their second language. But a week later, she heard the demo and was like, ‘When you’re singing the chorus in English, it sounds lonely. I want to support your voice in English, too.’ She worked so hard and her articulation was so beautiful.”
The artwork for the EPs features images in tin nichos, Mexican folk art shadow boxes used to honor loved ones. The Spanish-language EP features a tin nicho with a photo of MŌRIAH wearing a sombrero de charros, while the English-language version features a similar photo, but with the sombrero placed on a table in front of MŌRIAH.
“I wanted to have the sombrero in the image, because that’s what I’m honoring, the culture,” she says. “I’m honoring where I come from, so the cover of the Spanish EP is with the sombrero on and then for the English one I have the sombrero on the table, because I’m honoring the fact that my family learned English, a whole new language.”
The cover art for MŌRIAH’s EP ‘Buena Vida’
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So far, the year has brimmed with new milestones. MŌRIAH was named to CMT’s Next Women of Country class of 2025. Last month, she made her Grand Ole Opry debut, which followed her debut at CMA Fest in June, where she performed the national anthem and featured mariachi dancers onstage with her.
“My dad played bass onstage with me, which was such a special moment,” she recalls of performing at CMA Fest. “I think sometimes you can’t be what you can’t see, so just to be able to show up onstage and represent something that feels different gives people a sense of celebration.”
MŌRIAH, who is working with Nashville industry vet Fletcher Foster, now finds herself connected with a lineage of artists weaving together Latin and country sounds, from Freddy Fender, Linda Ronstadt and Johnny Rodriguez to newer artists including Angie K, Frank Ray and Sammy Arriaga. Meanwhile, Carin Leon made his Grand Ole Opry debut earlier this year, and Grupo Frontera is set to play the Opry in November.
“I’ve been looking for a female Latin country artist for years since the CMA Research study came out and just have found the right one for me. MŌRIAH has it all,” Foster tells Billboard in a statement. “Beyond a ‘triple threat’ the talent from songwriter to performing, acting, to speaking [MŌRIAH recently took part in a TedX talk in Nashville] is at another level. I’m looking forward to her bringing these two worlds together not just creatively but culturally.”
“I think that most people who are shaping culture don’t look at themselves as shaping culture—they’re just doing the work that’s in front of them and working hard. It’s not until you look back a bit and realize all that time invested, it did something that was bigger than me,” MŌRIAH says.
She will play her first show in Mexico later this month and is planning a full-length album for 2026, accompanied by more live shows. The multi-faceted creator is also an actress, film and music producer, who has acted in films and television shows including The Chosen, Reagan and Because of Gracia, and co-produced the 2024 film Unsung Hero, which chronicles the journey of her husband Joel Smallbone (of For King & Country)’s family from Australia to America. She’s already working on more upcoming film projects.
As she’s approaching the work’s long hours and creative output, she’s aware of the legacy building inherent in her rise.
“It’s what feels like pressure, but I count it a privilege to carry that pressure. It’s only two generations back that my grandparents were working in tomato fields and in factories,” she says. “They paved the way. They’ve sacrificed so much for me to be able to be able to work this hard and to be able to point back to their story and their narrative. It’s beautiful how in a family, one generation’s ceiling becomes the next generation’s floor and it just keeps building. That’s what I’m hoping to do with this music, too, is create a new threshold for the next generation to springboard off of.”
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Since Jelly Roll arrived on the country scene over the past three years, he’s always put his wife Bunnie Xo and their relationship front and center at awards shows and on red carpets. But there was a time years ago when the hitmaker was struggling with substance abuse issues and their marriage wasn’t always picture-perfect.
During his appearance this week on the Human School podcast, Jelly Roll got candid with host Miles Adcox about one of his lowest points.
“I don’t talk about this publicly at all, but one of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair on my wife,” Jelly said. “Because it was the first time that I was like, ‘I really can’t get this right at all. I know I’m in love with this woman.’ It was just such a, just really, really, really blew me back.”
To get where they are now, Jelly said “I did a lot of work to repair that relationship, you know what I mean? The repair has been special. And we’re stronger than we could have ever been. I wish our story would have went in a way that it never had an affair, but – and I’m in no way glad it happened – but man, I’m proud of who we are today.”
Jelly Roll acknowledged that he was running with a much different crowd when he cheated on Bunnie, and among his friends at the time, abusing drugs and being unfaithful to your partner were par for the course.
“I was hanging around a bunch of people that were cheating on their wives,” he said. “When I was doing cocaine, I was hanging around a bunch of people that were doing cocaine. When I was drinking a lot, I was hanging around a lot of people that were drinking a lot.”
Since then, he’s dropped those friends, gotten clean and devoted himself to the marriage. When it comes to the friends he surrounds himself with now, Jelly said: “I wanted to be friends with people I wanted to be like.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo have been married since 2016 and they renewed their vows in 2023. They share two children from previous relationships and have been very public about their IVF journey, with plans to keep growing their family.
You can watch the full hour-plus Human School interview below, with the affair conversation starting around the 48:30 mark.
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Country fans are getting an early look at Lainey Wilson‘s role in the upcoming film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him courtesy of a trailer released Tuesday (Oct. 21).
The movie — due in theaters March 13 — follows protagonist Kenna Rowan (played by Maika Monroe), who makes a mistake that sends her to prison. After seven years, she returns to her hometown in Wyoming, seeking to reunite with her young daughter Diem. After Diem’s custodial grandparents deny Kenna the opportunity to reconnect with Diem, Kenna forms a connection with a local bar own named Ledger Ward (played by Tyriq Withers).
Wilson, who is one of the leading nominees at November’s CMA Awards, portrays the role of Kenna’s friend and coworker, Amy. In the trailer, Wilson’s character is seen speaking with Kenna.
“What’s your trauma?” Wilson’s character Amy says during a brief scene.
Kenna replies that she just got out of prison and is struggling to find work.
“Sh–, you win,” Wilson replies.
The film is an adaptation of Hoover’s 2022 book Reminders of Him, which sold more than 6 million copies in the United States; Colleen Hoover also wrote the bestselling book It Ends With Us, which was turned into a movie starring Blake Lively last year. The Reminders of Him cast also includes Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford as Diem’s grandparents Grace and Patrick, while Rudy Pankow portrays Diem’s father Scotty. The supporting cast includes Jennifer Robertson playing Kenna’s landlord Ruth, while Zoe Kosovic portrays Kenna’s daughter.
The role in Reminders of Him will mark Wilson’s feature film debut, though she has previously had a recurring role on the television show Yellowstone.
Wilson just released a new EP, titled Peace, Love & Cowboys (Holiday Edition), on Oct. 17. After co-hosting last year’s CMA Awards with Peyton Manning and Luke Bryan, Wilson will solo host this year’s show for the first time. She is also on her headlining Whirlwind World Tour, which has included sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
See the trailer for Reminders of Him below:
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Recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Kenny Chesney will bring his No Shoes Nation back to Sphere in Las Vegas in 2026, when he brings his high-energy concert experience to the venue for five shows in June. The new shows are slated for June 19, 20, 24, 26 and 27.
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“You can’t truly understand until you start playing music with all the people there, feeling that energy and the way the visuals and the songs just consume people,” Chesney said in a statement. “The more I watched the fans having this experience I’m sure they couldn’t imagine, the more ideas I had – both to reconfigure some of last year’s songs, and a few songs that seemed like they should get this immersive treatment – and wanted to do.“I think there are so many ways for people to play this venue, but I feel pretty sure nobody has had more fun there, brought more joy – or that freewheeling Sandbar experience – than No Shoes Nation,” he continued. “And wherever they sat, we could hear ‘em, too. So, if you didn’t get to see it, c’mon! And if you did, well, come live those songs again – because this isn’t something you get to do every single year!”
In May 2025, Chesney launched a 15-concert run at Sphere, thrilling fans with his signature beach-and-party vibe, which celebrates island living and fun times, in addition to giving fans hit song after hit song. In the process, Chesney became the first country artist to headline the 17,600-seat venue, which is known for its immersive sound and visual spectacle.
Tickets for the upcoming 2026 Sphere shows will go on sale starting Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster. The shows will feature a refreshed Guitars, Tiki Bars experience, and VIP package holders will have access to a Vibe Room with a surf shop and bar.
See the show announcement below:
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.
When Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem tour kicks off Friday (June 20) at Houston’s NRG Stadium, all eyes will be looking to see if he continues his trend of walking out to the stage with local pro athletes. It’s become a highlight of the shows and the walk outs — broadcast on the venue’s jumbotrons […]
Kacey Musgraves is recuperating after sustaining an injury from a fall while in Mexico. In a post to Instagram Stories on Friday (June 20), Musgraves shared an image of an x-ray shot of her ribs. She wrote over the image, “Sooo I’m in Mexico with a f—in’ broken rib. Wednesday night it was raining and […]
Kelsea Ballerini is opening up about her close bond with Noah Kahan following their emotional duet at CMA Fest, and she has nothing but praise for her friend and collaborator.
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In a new interview with People, Ballerini shared how her friendship with the Stick Season singer has blossomed beyond music. “I adore Noah,” she said. “I got to know him as an artist and a collaborator, but now we’re dear friends and I just can’t say enough about the human being that he is. He’s a good human.”
The two artists performed together on the main stage at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium during CMA Fest 2025, singing their 2024 duet “Cowboys Cry Too” as well as Kahan’s breakout hit “Stick Season.”
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Ballerini recalled texting Kahan just days before the show. “I was like, ‘I’m sure the answer is you want to be a hermit right now, but just in case, do you want to come play CMA Fest?’” His response? “‘I’ve never done CMA Fest. I’ve never played a stadium.’ I was like, ‘Didn’t you headline Fenway?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but a proper football stadium.’”
According to Ballerini, Kahan said yes at the very last minute. Even after her set was cut short due to rain, she insisted on performing “Stick Season” with him. “You came all the way down here with your friends and your family,” she said. “We have to do ‘Stick Season.’”
“[Noah] is just a joy to be on stage with,” Ballerini added. “He has that ‘I’m just happy to be here’ mentality, which I love.”
The pair first teamed up for “Cowboys Cry Too,” released in April 2024, which Ballerini previously called a career highlight. “Thank you @noahkahanmusic for adding your uninhibited perspective and songwriting brilliance into this song,” she wrote at the time. “I couldn’t be more proud to put this music and message out alongside such a lovely artist and friend.”
Both artists have had busy years. Kahan’s Stick Season (Forever) reissue debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200 in February, while Ballerini made a return to the main stage at CMA Fest and is now a brand ambassador for energy drink Celsius, which she affectionately calls “Kelsius.”
