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This week in country, Brandy Clark returns with new music, Luke Combs takes on a Tracy Chapman classic, and Rissi Palmer and Miko Marks team up for a powerful collaboration. All that and more below, as Billboard takes you through the new country releases you need to hear this week.
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Brandy Clark, “Buried”
Clark returns with the announcement of an upcoming self-titled album (out May 19), with production by Brandi Carlile (their previous collaboration, “Same Devil,” earned Clark her 10th Grammy nomination). Clark, known for co-penning country hits including “Mama’s Broken Heart” and “Follow Your Arrow,” is well-versed with Nashville’s music row writing rooms and machinations. But here, she moves further away from writing-by-committee, unearthing personal revelations. With the album’s first single, “Buried,” Clark exhumes the sense of emotional tethering to an ex-lover, even as she attempts to move on. “I’ll be an over you achiever, I’ll make you a believer/ That I don’t love you either,” she sings — though the song’s denouement offers a glimpse at the devotion behind the defiance. As she envisions one day getting remarried, she confesses, “But I’ll love you ’til I’m buried.” Above all, Clark continues to convey her inexorable talents as both a song-crafter and vocal interpreter.
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
When Luke Combs released his 18-song latest album, Gettin’ Old, on Friday (March 24), one of the most gut-wrenching songs on the project wasn’t a new track, but his cover of the 1988 blues-folk hit, “Fast Car,” written and recorded by Tracy Chapman. The song’s gritty tale chronicles a woman’s escape from a low-income, alcoholic family situation, only to end up in a similar situation, working a low-income job, living with an alcoholic partner, and once again faced with the decision to leave. The timeless song has earned several cover attempts since its release 35 years ago; Combs’s laudable cover stays steadfast to the song’s iconic guitar riffs, while his gravelly vocal phrasing at times approximates Chapman’s, encapsulating both the aspiration and desolation recounted in the song.
Jordana Bryant, “Penniless & Broke”
Bryant brings an atmospheric, country-pop polish to her new song, while laying waste to a lover’s litany of clichéd excuses for ending a relationship. “We could’ve been giving each other our hearts/ You gave it up before you even tried,” she sings, layering her staccato vocals over this spunky-yet-contemplative track. Written by Bryant with Jason Earley and Jonathan Gamble, this auspicious single melds conversational, ripped-from-the-diary lyrics with deft pop melody and rhythm. “Penniless and Broke” is the first release from Bryant’s upcoming six-song EP, out April 21.
Randall King, “Green Eyes Blue”
King follows his 2020 EP Leanna and 2022 album Shot Glass with his latest single, a nod to the life-changing power of love. “It’s like I was saved from the hell I raised/ When my gaze locked on you,” King sings. Written by King with Randy Montana, this song is so steeped in traditional country sounds that you can nearly smell the sawdust on the floor of the honkytonk. As with all of King’s music, it’s the honeyed, distinctive timbre of his voice and the vitality in his songs that hoist his staunchly traditional sound above the plethora of recently released, ’90s country-tinged songs.
Maggie Baugh, “Mystery Whiskey Woman”
Singer-songwriter and touring musician Baugh teamed with fellow songwriter Larry McCoy for her latest outing, a song which finds Baugh watching a woman alone in a bar, and pondering what circumstances led her to that moment. “Are you drinkin’ ’bout something worth drinkin’ ’bout tonight?” Baugh muses. A sparse accompaniment, stripped down to only guitar and pedal steel, lends a hushed, haunting feel to the track.
Rissi Palmer and Miko Marks, “Still Here”
This swampy track teams Palmer with close friend and fellow Black country artist Miko Marks, for a celebration of perseverance, ambition and ultimately triumph, imbued with sizzling vocals and shades of soul-elevating gospel. Singer-songwriter Palmer also hosts Apple Music’s Color Me Country, while Marks returned to country music in 2021 with her project Our Country, following a decade-plus hiatus from the genre.
The song shares its title with the recently-released PBS documentary, which traces Palmer’s career journey as one of a handful of Black women to have charted songs on country radio — also including Linda Martell, Dona Mason and Mickey Guyton. Starting in May, Palmer and Marks will team up for a co-headlining tour later this year.
Chancey Williams, One of These Days
Williams, a former saddle bronc rider, has previously released five studio albums. On his latest project, the 11-song One of These Days, he continues to wrap his pleasant baritone around a slate of honky tonk songs. The album features production by and nine co-writes with Trent Willmon, a singer-songwriter in his own right, who also produced Cody Johnson’s CMA-winning “‘Til You Can’t.” Among the gems on this project are the coolly swaggering “Bordertown Whiskey,” the gentle-yet-impactful “If I Die Before You Wake” (one of the few outside cuts here, written by Dave Brainard, Dustin Evans and Rick Tiger) and the fiddle-drenched title track (Williams with Jody Stevens).
Ashley Ryan, “Too Far Gone”
In 2018, California native-turned-Nashville resident Ashley Ryan got a career boost when she was invited to sing with Keith Urban at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena during his Graffiti U Tour. Ryan is all swagger on this full-fledged barn burner: “Your mama gave you her mama’s hand-me-down clothes/ My mama gave me a half-smoked pack of Marlboros,” she sneers on the track, contrasting her own down-home upbringing to that of someone else’s relative wealthy origins. Deftly navigating spitfire lyrics, this newcomer brings an abundance of firepower.
Barroom heartbreak country from Jake Worthington, jam band energy from Boy Named Banjo, a hard-charging confessional from Bailey Zimmerman and sophisticated balladry from Erin Kinsey are among the best country songs debuting this week. Check out these and more of our new favorites below.
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Jake Worthington, “State You Left Me In”
Former The Voice contestant Worthington has earned praise (and a publishing deal) from Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn — which is aptly placed, given Worthington’s pure Texas drawl. Worthington’s latest song, which he wrote with Roger Springer and Timothy Baker, is hearty heartbreak country. She’s left for Cabo, while he still resides in the (emotionally shattered) state she left him in. While the influence of staunch country traditionalists such as George Jones and Tracy Lawrence are apparent, he manages to bring his own nuances to wringing the anguish out of every note.
Erin Kinsey, “Always Never”
With a strikingly pure tone — lyrically and vocally — Kinsey conveys the story of a couple struggling to sustain a relationship that’s not meant to be. “You blame it on feelings changing, I blame the dreams I’m chasing/ Neither one of us wanted to say it, but boy it’s never not been fading,” she sings over this dream-pop haze of a track, which she wrote with Sarah Buxton and Josh Kerr.
Bailey Zimmerman, “Religiously”
Zimmerman follows a string of solid singles like “Rock and a Hard Place” with this tear-jerker of a track that finds him taking solace in an old church pew, in a last-ditch effort to soothe the hurt of losing “the only woman who was there for me, religiously.” Despite this artist’s relatively tender age, he brings emotional heft and authority to the throes of heartbreak here, especially on self-recriminating lines like, “You were all about us, I was all about myself/ What kind of man would lose a woman like that?”
Haley Mae Campbell and Julia Cole, “20 Something”
South Carolina-raised Campbell and Texas native Cole forged a friendship in Nashville’s writing rooms, and now team up for this festive tribute to youthful years of fun-fueled late nights, gallivanting and making new friends — because, as they put it, “memories ain’t going to make themselves.” The duo brings a spry verve and synergy that belies the wisened perspective of lines such as “Raise one up to all the mistakes made in the name of being young/ ‘Cause growing up’s good for nothing.”
Boy Named Banjo, “Whiskey Dreams”
Amid the breakneck, banjo/mandolin/harmonica-fueled and seriously wrought instrumentation that has become their calling card, this collective of musicians — Barton Davies, William Reames, Willard Logan, Sam McCullough, and Ford Garrard — depicts a scene of whiskey-drowned worries. “One shot will just stop the hurtin’/ Two will put a smile on your face,” they sing, crafting an enticing invitation to take the moments of nadir and drink them blurry.
Warren Zeiders, “Pretty Little Poison”
Zeiders’ raw, papery vocal rips into this grizzled track he wrote with Ryan Beaver and Jared Keim. For others, alcohol, pills or some alternate vice might fill a need, but he takes a clear-eyed stance that he’s easily swayed by a momentary lover and old memories. “She’ll probably be the death of me/ But damn if it ain’t sweet,” he sings. Zeiders came to the country music forefront on the strength of songs like “Ride the Lightning,” and his latest offers an early look into his upcoming summer album.
Madison Hughes, “You or the Whiskey”
This ambient track, which Florida native Hughes wrote with Rich Deans (with production from Justin Weaver), finds Hughes pondering if an encounter with a charismatic, attentive guy at a bar will amount to more than a whiskey-fueled heartbreak in the making. Florida native Hughes’ delightfully husky voice is underpinned by an understated, yet hook-driven melody, offering high hit potential.
Carrie Underwood offered fans a “birthday surprise” with her new song, while Tim McGraw offers a reflective new track. Megan Moroney heads to the honkytonk, and newcomer Tony Evans, Jr. delves into heartbreak on his smooth four-song EP.
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Carrie Underwood, “Out of That Truck”
Underwood released a “birthday surprise” in celebration of her 40th birthday on March 10, with this track she wrote with David Garcia and Lydia Vaughn. She muses that her former flame will have quite the challenge trying to erase the memory of their relationship — thanks to all the traces of herself left behind in her ex-lover’s stick-shift Chevy, from the scent of her shampoo on the headrest to a strawberry wine stain on the seat.
Thematically, the song shares DNA with one of Underwood’s previous releases, “Ghost Story” — though here, Underwood’s penetrating vocals are framed by free-spirited, ‘90s country-soaked instrumentals. A radio hit contender for sure, and another in a recent canon of songs about reminders of old relationships that linger in pickups, following Tim McGraw’s “7500 OBO” and Dylan Scott’s “New Truck.”
Tim McGraw, “Standing Room Only”
With 29 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits to his credit, including “Just to See You Smile” and “Something Like That,” McGraw has based his career on sturdy, timeless songcraft.
Along the way, he’s more than proven his prowess at uplifting and reflective songs such as “Humble and Kind,” and “Thought About You.” His latest muses on living life in a way that one’s funeral would be a “standing room only” affair, filled with those lives had been indelibly impacted. The song’s message is similar to McGraw’s Grammy-winning track “Live Like You Were Dying,” with his warm, accessible voice wrapping around a meteoric chorus and a message with an eye on mortality and legacy.
Parker McCollum, “Speed”
Texas native McCollum is poised to add to his arsenal of radio hits like “Pretty Heart” and “To Be Loved By You” with this ode to living life in the fast lane, complete with blistering guitar work paired with McCollum’s urgent vocal. He tips his hat to his hometown of Conroe in his new track, and acknowledges a youthful, hard-charging musician’s wanderlust and ambition.
“I remember shakin’ my head when my old man told me/ ‘Boy, one of these days you won’t always be so hung up on speed,’” he sings. McCollum teamed with Ryan Beaver for this track, which marks a first taste of McCollum’s upcoming album Never Enough, out May 12 via MCA Nashville.
Tony Evans Jr., Starless
Indie country artist Tony Evans Jr. offers a succinct, four song EP with Starless, produced by Ron Fair with distribution by The Orchard. The collection of tracks center around heartbreak and regret, elevating Evans’s warm, burnished vocal. The set includes the shimmering, harmonica-laced “If You’re Ever in Georgia,” and the uplifting “Need Somebody.” “Kids We Never Had” is the standout cut, as Evans muses about a relationship that never stood the test of time and what could have been, all in exquisite detail.
Gabe Lee, “Eveline”
Four years after releasing his debut single, “Eveline,” Gabe Lee reconceptualizes the song with a slightly more uptempo beat, propulsive banjo lines and sprightly fiddle. Lee’s evocative voice effectively sells this sparsely dreamy update to this song of regret, over the things he’s had to leave behind in a small town.
Thompson Square, “Without You”
Thompson Square’s Keifer and Shawna Thompson have previously released more than a dozen country radio singles and earned two No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits with “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” and “If I Didn’t Have You.” Their latest release is a summer-ready track, featuring propulsive, banjo-fueled instrumentation that lends it an early Keith Urban vibe. Keifer’s gritty vocal is soothed by Shawna’s piercing, pure voice. Together they forge coolly cozy harmonies that perfectly set up this song, which explores who each would be with and without the other tackling life alongside them. Though the couple didn’t write the track (Anthony Olympia, Tim Nichols and Brent Rupard did), they certainly make it their own.
Megan Moroney, “Lucky”
Following her breakthrough single “Tennessee Orange” and the subsequent “I’m Not Pretty,” Moroney is gearing up for the release of her debut album Lucky (out May 5). The opening guitar riff has shades of the opening to Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” while the song overall feels a little bit Shania and full-on honkytonk, in a manner that would have sounded right at home on ‘90s country radio. Lyrically, it’s chock-full of quirky lines such as “Tonight my only ambition is to make a bad decision/ ’Cause me, my phone, and the neon’s buzzin’” as she makes it clear to her ex-lover that he’s lucky she’s drinking that night. Moroney wrote the song with Ben Williams, Casey Smith and David “Messy” Mescon.
First Country is a compilation of several new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.
Ashley McBryde, “Light On in the Kitchen”
Is Ashley McBryde capable of writing a less-than-stellar song? It seems not. Here, the recent Grammy winner teams with equally sterling writers Connie Harrington and Jessi Alexander for this heartwarming track, which spills over with drops of advice about everything from body image, personal safety and healing a broken heart — advice she’s gleaned from confessional conversations held at all hours of the day and night at a kitchen table, a place with food, drinks and a confidant to listen, “where you can do some cryin’ and some bitchin’.” The song centers around the key line, “So honey trust yourself, you better love yourself/ Cause ‘till you do, you ain’t no good for anybody else,” all delivered with McBryde’s warm, conversational vocal. Another ace from this singer-songwriter.
Brad Paisley, “Same Here”
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Paisley returns with new music and a new label home, recently announcing his new deal with Universal’s EMI Records Nashville. The singer-songwriter hasn’t released an album since 2017’s Love and War, and his most recent solo Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper was 2015’s “Perfect Storm” — though he did team with Jimmie Allen to earn a No. 1 last year with “Freedom Was a Highway.”
On “Same Here,” in a similar vein to a few of Paisley’s previous hits (like “American Saturday Night”), the singer-songwriter espouses the similarities that run through seemingly varying cultures, this time with a gentle reminder that people the world over miss their mamas, worry about their children, and pray for peace and freedom. “Same Here” takes on deeper resonance near the end, which features an audio bit from a phone call between Paisley and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It’s notable that the song, which Paisley co-wrote with Lee Thomas Miller and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, drops one year after Russia invaded Ukraine. Though the war is never directly mentioned, Zelenskyy speaks with pride about his country and his people, their hopes and dreams. While many will appreciate the unifying statement expressed here, no doubt some fans will still long for the clever turn-of-a-phrase songs such as his early career hits “Alcohol,” “Water” and “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” or thoughtful ballads like “Letter to Me.”
Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, “Maybe Love”
The first preview of music from Clark and McAnally’s upcoming Broadway musical Shucked, which opens in April, this tender ballad looks at the concept of love as its own separate entity, one in need of nurture and grace. “Might get frozen in the frost, but maybe love is never lost,” Clark sings, accompanied by McAnally’s harmonies. In vocal and arrangement, “Maybe Love” feels akin to classic ’90s country ballads, and offers a soft-hearted, sonic palette cleanser to much of the country music landscape’s more polished current offerings.
Veronique Medrano, “Running on Empty”
In her new song, Medrano is weighed down by bills and heartbreak, but makes it clear she’s got the grit and inner determination to move forward and transform pain into power. “I followed the rules, colored inside the lines/ It’ll never heal this worn-out soul of mine,” she growls, her formidable voice bringing theatrical flair to the track, further elevated by pummeling percussion and sprightly horns.
Tenille Townes & Bryan Adams, “The Thing That Wrecks You”
This unexpected pairing winningly teams Townes’ tender-yet-sturdy vocal with Grammy winner Adams’ whispery rasp here, as they muse how quickly a fervent emotional attachment can descend into romantic fallacy. “We’re running down a darker road/ Where even angels fear to go,” they sing, on a track Townes co-wrote with Kate York and Daniel Tashian.
Channing Wilson, Dead Man
Wilson is known for writing songs recorded by Luke Combs, Riley Green, The Oak Ridge Boys, Chase Rice and more, but he’s also a vocal tour de force in his own right. His stone-cold country bonafides fill his debut album, Dead Man, including the tender “Crazy Over You,” and gravelly, despondent “Blues Comin’ On,” while he kicks up the tempo on the crunchy blues of the harmonica-laden “Runnin’ Down a Song.” In all, with songs like the swampy, gospel-tinged “Dead Man Walking,” the album is a surefire balm for those who like their country music organic and unvarnished.
Conner Smith, “Creek Will Rise”
Smith broke through with 2022’s “Learn From It,” but this swampy country-rocker of a song elevates his gritty, bluesy voice in a tale of passionate young love on the riverside. The track, written by Smith, Chris LaCorte, Chase McGill and Parker Welling and produced by Zach Crowell, is fueled by a bluegrass propulsion of dobro and fiddle, and features plenty of coy swagger on lines such as “We made a blanket out of that sundress/ And the radio won’t even let me tell you the rest.”
Taylor Austin Dye, “Rest in Peace”
Another entry in the canon of country music’s female artist-sung murder songs, this one from Kentucky native Dye offers a slab of sassy rhythm for a tale of a man whose abusive ways are taken down with some old-fashioned mountain justice, with no need for calling the police. Dye delivers it all with conviction.
First Country is a compilation of the best new country songs, videos & albums that dropped this week.
Luke Combs, “Love You Anyway”
In this ballad from Combs’ upcoming March 24 album, Gettin’ Old, Combs maintains that even if his current love turned to heartbreak, it would all be worth it. Written by Combs with Ray Fulcher and Dan Isbell, the song features lyrics comparing a love to broken glass and ancient Rome, all melded together by Combs’ burnished vocal.
Megan Moroney, “I’m Not Pretty”
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While Moroney’s breakthrough hit “Tennessee Orange” continues to climb Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart, her new release is a cheeky, defiant clapback to her ex’s new lover, who seems intent on scrolling through her Instagram and tearing her down. Here’s she continues with the conversational lyrical stylings found in “Tennessee Orange,” as she sings, “Like the Queen of the Mean Girls committee/ But hey, whatever helps/ Keep on telling yourself I’m not pretty.”
Hannah Ellis, “Someone Else’s Heartbreak”
The initial lyrics on this smooth ballad make the listener think the song’s setup is a woman comforting her close friend with all the usual platitudes after a romantic breakup. But Ellis gives the storyline a twist, as it becomes clear that the advice she would give to a friend is hard to follow when it comes to her own fallout from a fizzled relationship. A sturdy, vulnerable release from Ellis.
Ernest, “This Fire”
Ernest offers up a continuation of his previous Flower Shops project, with Flower Shops: The Album (Two Dozen Roses), out today. The whole project melds traditional country with shades of sleek pop-country. Meanwhile, the rollicking “This Fire” portrays the impact of a heartbreak and alcohol-fueled bender, most keenly on the lyrics, “I’ve done it to myself, I dug a lonely grave/ I walk amongst the ashes of the bridges that I’ve made.”
Darius Rucker, “Lift Me Up”
Rucker lends his powerful, unmistakable voice to this cover of Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up,” from the soundtrack to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Rucker lends gospel overtones to this piano ballad, delivering an understated, yet wisened and fervent vocal rendering that elevates the song’s somewhat generic lyrics.
Reyna Roberts feat. Tayler Holder, “Another Round”
Roberts’ majestic voice is supported by Holder’s gravelly rendering, though their harmonies get slightly muddled through the chorus. Written by Roberts with Laura Veltz and Jimmy Robbins, this slow-burn track finds each vocalist concluding that — just like with booze — they know their limits and when they can’t take another round of a relationship that’s not serving their best interests.
Allie Colleen, “Honest Man”
“You say you love me, I’m calling you out/ Let’s set these plans with a stone,” Colleen sings in this lilting acoustic track, boldly willing to make an honest man of the guy she loves. Her voice is warm and a slightly rough around the edges, a perfect foil to the vulnerability and personal agency of the lyrics.
Michael Warren, What’s Country to You EP
Alabama native Warren’s new four-song EP operates along the same country-R&B lines that have made hits for artists like Thomas Rhett and Jimmie Allen. The radio-friendly title track (and Warren’s debut single), written by Dylan Schneider, Zac Kale and Jake Rose, rattles off a list of potential country bona fides and nods to the genre’s expanding boundaries. The EP follows with a trio of equally smooth tracks that showcase Warren’s agreeable, unassuming voice, including the pleasantly romantic “Another Round,” which namechecks Shenandoah, while “Chevy Shotgun” is nostalgic and bittersweet. “One Beer at a Time” blends elements of a soft R&B vibe as he declares he’s “gettin’ over you girl/ One beer at a time.”