by Julian Spivey The 2024 Country Music Hall of Fame class will be announced on Monday, March 18 by Hall of Fame duo Brooks & Dunn at 10 a.m. (CST) from the Hall of Fame rotunda in Nashville. Each year’s class features a member from the Modern Era, Veterans Era and Non-Performer, Songwriter and Recording/Touring musician category. The Modern Era consists of artists eligible for induction 20 years after they first achieved “national prominence.” The Veterans Era will be an artist eligible 40 years after they first achieve “national prominence.” The Non-Performer, Songwriter and Recording/Touring musician category is rotated every three years. In 2022, music executive Joe Galante was inducted. In 2023, songwriter Bob McDill was inducted. So, 2024 will see a recording and or touring musician inducted. Because of the selectiveness of the induction process only having three people inducted per year and one per category, there’s no shortage of talented and deserving members of the country music family waiting in line to be inducted. Here are the three artists I would include on my ballot this year if I were a voting member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Modern Era This would be a good time for the Country Music Hall of Fame to induct Toby Keith, who undoubtedly deserves induction into the hallowed halls based on his volume of hits, record sales, popularity, etc. It would’ve been nice for him to be inducted while he was still among us but the truth is he probably was still behind some other candidates. His death in early February from cancer at age 62 may expedite his induction. Though, Keith was somewhat of a controversial figure, even within mainstream Nashville, due to political views and his role in helping oust The [Dixie] Chicks from the industry. That might cost him some votes. But if I had to guess he’ll likely be the inductee in this category this year. However, despite believing Keith is a worthy candidate he wouldn’t be on my ballot because the Hall of Fame continues to snub the artist who has been my preferred inductee for many years now … Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam is closer to being eligible for the Veterans Era choice now, his debut album came out 38 years ago, and I think he’ll likely have to wait for that to happen before he’s inducted. Yoakam truly helped save country music in part when he burst onto the scene in the mid-80s by keeping the Bakersfield Sound made popular by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard alive and well and for nearly 40 years he’s always stayed true to that sound. Yoakam has sold more than 25 million records in his career and has the admiration of nearly everyone in the business, but he never had many country radio megahits or won many country music awards and having been based in California for his career he might be considered too much of an outsider to rack up enough votes in a company town. He’ll continue to be my choice in either the Modern Era or eventually the Veterans Era categories until he’s eventually inducted. Veterans Era One artist who passed into the Veterans Era category within the last few years and should have somewhat of an easier time making the Hall of Fame now that he’s reached this status is John Anderson. Anderson never had all that many huge hits with five No. 1s to his name (“Wild & Blue,” “Swingin’,” “Black Sheep,” “Straight Tequila Night” and “Money in the Bank”) but has always been a beloved figure among his fellow artists. The most fascinating aspect of Anderson’s career for me is he had some huge hits in the early-to-mid ‘80s and then kind of disappeared on the charts throughout the second half of that decade before making a huge comeback with 1992’s Seminole Wind, which spawned four top-10s hits including “Straight Tequila Night,” which might be his most famous. Anderson has one of the most unique voices in all of country music and it’s time he’s put among the legends where he belongs. Recording or Touring Musician The Country Music Hall of Fame seems to like to induct living members into the Hall of Fame, which is understandable but can sometimes lead to deserving musicians who have been gone a long time getting the short end of the stick. I feel that’s been the case for Don Rich, maybe one of the most famous sidemen in the history of country music. Rich, who was as synonymous with the Bakersfield Sound as anyone (can you tell I love the Bakersfield Sound?) as Buck Owen’s guitarist, fiddler and band leader in The Buckaroos. Unlike most acts in country music at the time, in the early ‘60s, The Buckaroos would perform with Owens both in the recording studio and on tour. It is Rich playing lead guitar on most of Owens’s biggest hits like “Act Naturally,” “Together Again,” “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” and “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me).” Tragically, Rich’s life was cut short at just 32 years old when he was killed in a motorcycle accident on July 17, 1974. His achievements as one of the greatest guitar players in country music history should’ve been awarded by now, but it’s never too late.
0 Comments
by Aprille Hanson-Spivey The “Queen Bey” has made her way to country radio. It seems like there’s no shortage of opinions about this move since Beyoncé expertly dropped her first two singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” during a Super Bowl LVIII commercial on February 11. It was a teaser to the full album Cowboy Carter which will debut March 29, the second act to her 2022 Grammy-nominated Renaissance album. “Texas Hold ‘Em” specifically is historic, hitting No. 1 on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and staying there for the past four weeks. She’s the first Black woman ever to claim the top spot on the Billboard Country chart and has two songs in the top 10 with “16 Carriages” at No. 9. Obviously, the fans approve. But I have to say I’ve seen a lot of negativity online — big shocker — acting like Beyoncé shouldn’t make country music. I saw one meme circulating about cutting off the song as soon as it started. I don’t get that vitriol at all, though making sense of online negativity is a losing battle. In my mind, I’m shocked it’s taken her this long to make a country album. She’s a Texas native, a powerhouse singer-songwriter and already dabbled with country successfully on songs like “Daddy Lessons” on 2016’s Lemonade. Plus, she’s Beyoncé. She’s earned the right to take whatever musical risks she wants. While I’ve never done a deep dive into her discography, I will always have my favorite Beyoncé songs floating around my Spotify playlists, dating back to Destiny’s Child. “Texas Hold ‘Em” is now one of them. The song is written by Beyoncé and five other writers, Brian Bates, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nathan Ferraro and Raphael Saadiq, which honestly seems like a lot for this song. It’s probably way fewer than normal sadly since country songs these days are either written solo or by an entire football team. Right from the first lyrics “This ain't Texas (woo), ain't no hold 'em (hey) / So lay your cards down, down, down, down,” the song hooks you. It’s got a fun Texas swing style about it, particularly the lyrics about “headin’ to the dive bar we always thought was nice.” It’s basically about a woman persuading her man to swing her around the dance floor. Sure, it throws in some random “country-ish” things — tornados, rugged whiskey, a heat wave, a hoedown — but at least it doesn’t mention a truck. In Beyoncé’s song, it’s a Lexus. I applaud that honestly, because not every Southern person owns a truck. I love that she enlisted masterful musician Rhiannon Giddens to play banjo and viola on the track, giving it an even more country vibe. The song does throw in a pop-ish sound and lyric in the middle of the catchy chorus: “Don’t be a bitch, come take it to the floor now (woo).” I find myself singing that line randomly, so it was a solid choice, even if it meant wandering a bit into a city club sound. What keeps this from being a great song overall is the last few lines. Sure, it’s fine to deviate a bit, and throw in that catchy ‘bitch’ line, but what in the name of Texas is up with the whispery lines, “Furs, spurs, boots / Solargenic, photogenic, shoot.” Both lyrically and musically they don’t match the rest of the song and it’s unnecessary. I hate that the song didn’t stick the landing because the rest is fun. If ‘Texas’ is a must-have popular radio hit, then “16 Carriages” serves as the more retrospective country ballad. Written by Beyoncé, Atia Boggs, Dave Hamelin and again Saadiq, the song, likely an ode to her rise to fame, has had a good amount of critical acclaim. In an American Songwriter article, Alex Hopper pointed to the most likely fan theories about what “16 carriages” actually refers to, her time touring or specifically when her career launched as a teenager. To me, it seems likely that both are true. While the song isn’t exactly classic like Willie’s “On the Road Again,” when he talks about touring, it’s an important song for Beyoncé to release. It’s her opportunity to share, from a more country perspective, what she’s been through in the spotlight for so many years, with lyrics like, “It’s been umpteen summers, and I’m not in my bed / On the back of the bus in a bunk with the band / Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself / Undеrpaid and overwhelmed / I might cook, clеan, but still won’t fold.” I love how later in the song she refers back to these lyrics, changing it to “38 summers and I’m not in my bed” and pointing to how much she misses her kids. In those old Westerns, there were sacrifices for a cowboy lifestyle. In ‘16,’ Beyoncé is painting that picture of sacrifice with a Western backdrop, but for her art. While it’s nowhere near as catchy as, say, the Destiny’s Child song, “Survivor,” it’s very much a survival story. The percussion in the song makes the listener feel the drudgery in the journey of making her art. Yes, Beyoncé has a blessed life, but she’s worked hard for it. Creative people know the grind and the sacrifices made to chase our dreams, so the song is very relatable. Much like the great choice to include Giddens, Robert Randolph is the steel guitarist star on this track. It just gives it a very country feel, even with Beyoncé’s fast pacing on the verses. I’ve been more drawn to “Texas Hold ‘Em” because it’s the fun song out of the two. But I think “16 Carriages” should be praised. I hope these two singles indicate the kind of musical mix the Cowboy Carter album has in store for fans. by Julian Spivey February marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Jimmy Buffett’s Living and Dying in ¾ Time, his fourth studio album overall but his second after going down to Key West, Fla. and developing the type of beach bum Shakespeare persona he would take to stardom. Here’s a look at Living and Dying in ¾ Time track-by-track: “Pencil Thin Mustache”
This is such a Jimmy Buffett way to kick off an album with a wild song waxing nostalgic about some of the popular culture of his childhood that many probably remembered fondly at the time but few probably understand today. Whether you get the references or not – and my favorite is the autographed picture of Andy Devine (which, yes, I’ve searched on eBay for) – it’s a helluva lot of fun to sing along with. I don’t understand why pencil mustaches were ever en vouge but thank God they were if not for anything other than this song. “Come Monday” For as long as I can remember there’s been Jimmy Buffett in my life thanks to my dad and for as long as I can remember my favorite Buffett song has been “Come Monday,” the second track off Living and Dying in ¾ Time. Maybe it’s because in addition to constantly hearing it on multiple albums my dad had: this one, the Beaches, Boats, Bars & Ballads compilation and every live album Buffett ever recorded, it was also one of two widely played Buffett songs on the radio, along with “Margaritaville,” of course. Buffett is a very underrated songwriter and I think this lovely little three-minute ditty about longing to get back to the one you love is the best he’s ever done. Written for his future wife while he was on tour it has some of the loveliest sentiments ever put to song with the line: “We can go hiking on Tuesday/With you I’d walk anywhere” being one of my all-time favorite lyrics by any songwriter. “Come Monday” would be the first song to put Buffett on the map as it was his first Billboard Top 40 going to No. 30 on the chart and has seen long-lasting life on oldies, classic rock and classic country radio formats. “Ringling, Ringling” I can’t help but wonder if my dad didn’t spin Living and Dying in ¾ Time as much as some of the other Buffett albums when I was growing up because the next three songs on side A of the album: “Ringling, Ringling,” “Brahma Fear” and “Brand New Country Star” are three I don’t remember hearing all that much growing up and are probably still among the least listened to tracks from Buffett’s ‘70s output today. “Ringing, Ringling” is a nice little country tune about the tiny town of Ringling, Mont., which used to be a station stop on the transcontinental main line of “the Milwaukee Road,” a train line that went out west from the Midwest until such travel stopped being as prevalent and the town pretty much died off. Buffett sings about the “dying little town,” but though some of the lyrics sound depressing, the country and western sound gives it more of a bouncy sound than one might expect. “Brahma Fear” Living and Dying in ¾ Time is more country-sounding than Buffett’s previous album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean from the year before and much more country-sounding than A1A, which would come at the end of 1974. The steel guitar whining on “Brahma Fear” proves as much. “Brahma Fear” sees Buffett reminiscing on how he wanted to join the rodeo but discovered upon growing older that a whaler boat is more his speed. Buffett would find himself singing about having a “Caribbean soul and some Texas hidden in his heart” on his next album, but “Brahma Fear” sees him experiencing that mixture earlier. “Brand New Country Star” “Brand New Country Star” is Buffett’s first co-write on Living and Dying in ¾ Quarter with Vernon Arnold. I can’t be convinced Buffett isn’t singing about himself in the titular role, especially with a chorus that ends with: “He can either go country or pop.” The “go country or pop” was always a hard line to toe for Buffett during his career, especially in the ‘70s and probably explains why he would both have trouble with radio hits but also found a new sound all his own. “Livingston’s Gone to Texas” “Livingston’s Gone to Texas” has always been one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett deep cuts and it must’ve meant something dearly to Buffett himself because it’s one of a few songs he recut from his first two more folky albums from earlier in the ‘70s. “Livingston’s Gone to Texas” appeared on Buffett’s sophomore album for Barnaby Records called High Cumberland Jubilee in a more stripped, lowkey folk-sounding song that I prefer to the more produced, more beachy, more strings version on Living and Dying in ¾ Time. The song should be a sad folk-country ballad, so I don’t vibe as much with the beachy keys Michael Utley gives it here, which folks are probably more familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, the Living and Dying version is still pretty country with its whining pedal steel guitar courtesy of Doyle Grisham. “The Wino and I Know” Jimmy Buffett opens side B of Living and Dying in ¾ Time with “The Wino and I Know,” which has always been one of my favorite deeper cuts from Buffett’s discography. In 2020, when artists couldn’t tour and perform live due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Buffett asked fans which of his deep cuts they most enjoyed, and a handful were picked out and turned into a docuseries on YouTube directed by his daughter Delaney. “The Wino and I Know” was one of those songs and in the video, he calls it one of the first songs he ever wrote when working as a bar singer in New Orleans and wanted it to be about New Orleans street life. I’ve always loved the couplets that follow the title in the lyrics, especially “the wino and I know the pain of back bustin’/like the farmer knows the pain of his pickup truck rustin’.” “West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown” Speaking of terrific Jimmy Buffett deep cuts, next up on the album is “West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown,” which is certainly one of my favorites and one of the most biting songs ever recorded by Buffett. It’s one of those my dad always skipped when we were younger because of the dreaded “F-word” in the lyrics, but damn if it’s not one of the best “F-bomb” drops in music history. The story talks of a Nashville woman who came from a well-to-do upscale family but never quite fit in and was ostracized from their community. I’ve always identified with the rebelliousness of the woman in the song. “Saxophones” “Saxophones” is an interesting track for Jimmy Buffett in that it doesn’t have any saxophones (there are horns on it). But that’s kind of the point too. The song is about how Buffett can’t even get played on the radio by the local DJ in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., but maybe if his music had a big baritone sax on it they would play it. It’s a fun little number that Buffett updated for his 2003 greatest hits compilation Meet Me in Margaritaville to feature the sax more prominently. I like Buffett’s vocals better on the original but the updated version is certainly funkier with the addition of the titular instrument. “Ballad of Spider John” “Ballad of Spider John” might be the most underrated song on Living and Dying in ¾ Time and it’s one of the best non-Buffett writes of his discography. It’s a song I find myself loving more and more as the years go by. The song was written and originally recorded by Willis Alan Ramsey on his 1972 self-titled album that wound up being his only album seemingly partially due to a record label conflict but also of his own accord. “Ballad of Spider John” sees an older con man telling a stranger of his regrets and how his life of crime cost him the one thing he dearly loved in life – his sweet Lily. The tale is one of nostalgic despair and ends with an all-time great lyric: “Old spider got tangled in the black web that he spun.” “God’s Own Drunk” “God’s Own Drunk” is an interesting track for Jimmy Buffett in that it’s one of the few spoken word performances of his career. “God’s Own Drunk” was a monologue by early American comedian Lord Buckley about a non-drinker tasked with watching his brother’s moonshine still before becoming inebriated off it and coming into contact with a Kodiak bear. The comedic monologue set to music became an early concert staple for Buffett before he was sued by Buckley’s son in 1983 for copyright infringement. Buffett would perform an unrecorded song called “The Lawyer and the Asshole” in concert in place of the song. It’s unknown what the result of the case was but Buffett would go in to occasionally perform the song again live beginning in 1988. This year, I made a New Year's resolution that would shock everyone!
Since 2007, I have been a diehard Swiftie. After realizing my best friend would never love me the way I loved her, I got into my red 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier on a rainy afternoon to escape. I turned on KSSN 96 FM, our local country music radio station and the first lyrics I hear are: "I bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about, and she's got everything that I have to live without." This tale of unrequited love completely captured the love, the pain, the sadness, the helplessness, and the overwhelming feeling of longing for her to be with me. Taylor Swift's "Teardrops On My Guitar" took a really sad moment in my life and offered me the spiritual hug that I needed. She let me know she had experienced the same thing I was going through and made my feelings feel validated. I was not alone. When an artist connects with you in that way, you want to hear more, so I did. The more I heard from Swift, the more I fell in love with her. It is a completely normal thing for people to feel connected to particular songs because of the way they relate to our lives. In my experience with this though, it might be one or two songs from an artist that applied to me and I did not connect with other entries in their catalog. This has never been the case with Taylor Swift throughout all 18 years of her career. Every album has helped me unlock feelings that I either presently have or have had in the past but could not put into words. It felt like Swift was unlocking all of the pain for me and being the therapy I needed to finally process so many emotions that I had never dealt with before. So, as the years went on and more albums released, I became more and more obsessed with this artist and her validation of my feelings. I feel like we as a society do not talk about what we go through enough. People seem to live their dream lives with their dream jobs, their dream children, and their dream white picket fences. It is an isolating feeling for someone who knows they do not have their lives together and knows they can never attain that level of "perfection" that others put out into the world. Through many experiences in my life, I have felt completely gaslit about the way things have transpired. I have been made to feel crazy for the way I think and have people tell me that the feelings I have are not genuine or meaningful. While I have had to deal with this, Swift has been there for me through a song telling me it is going to be OK. While this bond that formed between me and Swift's music was innocent and in a way, beautiful, it turned into something that is not OK. I may be a Swiftie, but I am also a Christian. I believe that there is one God and that He created the heavens and the Earth. I believe that He sent His Son, Jesus, down to die for my sins because of his overwhelming love for me. I believe that if you repent and get baptized for the remission of your sins, you will be in Heaven if you continue to remain faithful to God throughout your life. I believe that I should be living my life for Him, studying the Bible, and seeking to live my life in a way that would be pleasing to my Creator. I feel like I should be searching for ways in my life to please Him instead of spending so much time listening to my favorite musical therapist. Now, we have arrived at the New Year's resolution that I made: I have decided to start limiting how many Taylor Swift songs I am allowed to listen to in a single day. She has become a complete obsession and an idol in my life. It is not a bad thing to like music or to like an artist but it IS sinful to idolize a person. All of the time I am devoting to Swift, I should be devoting to God. I do not think it is wrong to listen to Taylor Swift’s music so I will continue to but do so in moderation. The overwhelming hours I have given to Taylor Swift, I should be giving to God. The amount of time I have given God this last year needs to be the amount of time I give Taylor Swift this year and vice versa. The important thing to remember here is that God is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14 says, "For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." While I would not blatantly say that Taylor Swift is a god out loud or necessarily think of her that way, I have been placing her on the pedestal that I should be placing God on. Whether I have been intentionally doing it or not, it is still wrong. The parameters that I put on myself were for me to listen to only six songs per day for the first week, go down to five songs for the second week, four songs a day for the third week, and get down to three per day. Three per day is what I will be allowed to listen to when it is all said and done. I did give myself one condition. If it is an album release week, I can listen to the new album several times and not only have to listen to three songs per day. After seven days with the new album though, I return to just three songs per day. Does this mean that I am going to lose my passion and intense love for Taylor Swift's music? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I am still so excited that Swift just became the first artist to win the Album of the Year Grammy Award four times, that she was TIME Magazine's Person of the Year, and I will be at the store on April 19th, ready to purchase my copy of her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. I also have become a huge fan of the Kansas City Chiefs! I started watching just because of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, but now I love the entire team and enjoy watching them. I have never really enjoyed watching sports but my son has and this has brought us closer together. This is not an article bashing Swift in any way, shape, form, or fashion. She is in my opinion, the greatest artist of our lifetime, the G.O.A.T., and an amazing role model for my daughters. I think we can let anything in our lives get in the way of us having a relationship with God and that it does not always intentionally happen. Some of these things are even good things. Like, it is not wrong for my son to play baseball but is it right for him to play a game on a Sunday morning instead of going to worship? NO! He is picking a worldly thing over the opportunity he gets to give God the glory and the praise that he deserves! My New Year's resolution of limiting my consumption of Taylor Swift’s music is a decision I made to bring me closer to God. When I am standing before God on Judgment Day, I know that this decision will have been the right decision to make. I think it is important for us to always self-reflect and make decisions that will help us become the best version of ourselves. This decision will bring me closer to being the person that God has called me to be. by Julian Spivey Cody Johnson brought his Leather Tour to Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. on Saturday, February 10 for a fantastic night of country music that included many tracks off his 2023 album that shares the tour’s name. Johnson is an interesting and truly rare case of an artist who got his start in the sort of subgenre of Texas Country Music and eventually found success in the Nashville mainstream after years of hard work because his music was both just too good to continue being hidden away and had enough of that mainstream shine to it to appeal to a wider swath of fans. He spoke often about work ethic – both of his own and that of Americans in general during his show on Saturday – and while I don’t necessarily believe him when he claims a lack of work ethic in today’s world in general, I do believe his hard work through nearly two decades of performing in smaller venues had led to today where he’s able to sell out the state’s largest venue. Johnson began his set on Saturday night with a couple of my favorite tracks from his 2014 album Cowboy Like Me, which was the first album of his that I bought and made me pay attention to his music – this was back when he was a budding star in the Texas Country Music scene. Those songs were “Me and My Kind,” about a girl who’s had enough with cowboy exes that she’s sworn them off for good, and the lovely “Dance Her Home,” about finding love in a honky tonk. They were two of my favorite performances of the set. One thing I learned from Johnson’s set is I didn’t give his most recent release Leather all that much of a listen-to after it was released in November of last year – late-year releases tend to fly a bit under my radar. He performed six songs off the album on Saturday night, including real gems like the title track and “Work Boots.” But it’s the song “Dirt Cheap,” about an older gentleman’s refusal to sell his farm and the reasons why, that has me believing it to not only be the best track on the album, but an instant classic in Johnson’s repertoire. Some of my other favorite performances from Johnson’s set included the beautiful love song “With You I Am,” from his 2016 album Gotta Be Me, and “On My Way to You” and “Dear Rodeo,” both on 2019’s Ain’t Nothin’ to It. I enjoyed Johnson and his talented backing back The Rockin’ CJB’s rip-roaring cover of the Charlie Daniels Band classic “Long Haired Country Boy.” The moment that truly made the entire night was when Johnson saved his best for last with his first No. 1 hit “’Til You Can’t,” off his 2021 double-album Human. “’Til You Can’t,” which won Song of the Year at the 65th annual Grammy Awards in 2023 for its writers Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers, and Single of the Year at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards for Johnson, is a terrific reminder of all of the important things you shouldn’t put off until tomorrow because tomorrows are never promised. It was truly an amazing concert moment seeing and hearing the sold-out audience singing along with Johnson on the song. After the song finished, Johnson took the time to sign many autographs for fans along the front rows of the arena, which you rarely see from artists at these types of venues. He would come out for a great two-song encore that included the fantastic “Diamond In My Pocket,” from his 2011 album A Different Day, the oldest song of his discography performed on Saturday night. He ended the evening with a nice rendition of the Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings classic “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Johnson’s set was fantastic, but having to endure the performance of Chris Janson before him took a lot of mental fortitude on my part – though it honestly became so ridiculous that my wife and I just basically made a joke out of the whole thing. The great thing about Johnson is his authenticity. You can tell he’s for real. Janson, on the other hand, felt like if Larry the Cable Guy was a country singer – it was every dumbass redneck stereotype you could think of rolled into one. The guy broke into the Pledge of Allegiance abruptly, he got down on one knee as if to pray to show his appreciation for the crowd, he had his son come out to sing a song with him in which the young boy sang about loving beer, he had his “smoking hot wife” come out and after she left made a joke about how much time he spent “doing that.” It was like “Hee Haw” on meth. Janson went through his “hits” and also seemed to enjoy throwing much better classic country songs into his set willy-nilly like he couldn’t get through one of his own without playing someone else’s better song. Among the biggest hits of his career that he performed on Saturday were “Drunk Girl,” “Fix a Drink,” “Good Vibes” and his biggest hit from 2015, “Buy Me a Boat.” Dillon Carmichael opened the evening and if you enjoy country songs about beer and trucks you’ll probably enjoy his stuff, but I know from hearing some of his earlier stuff that he’s a bit better than what he appeared to be on Saturday night. by Julian Spivey Every year I like to rank the performances on the Grammy Awards telecast from my favorite to least favorite. But please keep in mind these are simply the subjective opinions of one man. I will note that I didn’t think there was a single bad performance on the Grammys telecast Sunday night so it’s not like I believe there were any crimes against music perpetrated during the Grammy Awards – I think you may have to go back to Justin Bieber performing a slow piano version of “Peaches” in 2022 for something like that. I will mention that 13 performances seem low for the Grammys and the show even went three and a half hours. The show also desperately needs to do a better job at getting its biggest nominees to perform, though I know they must’ve asked some of these artists and were turned down. 1. “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell & Friends I was very much looking forward to seeing Joni Mitchell make her Grammys debut, despite having previously won nine Grammy Awards (she’d add a tenth this year for Best Folk Album for Joni Mitchell at Newport), but I didn’t really know what to expect and I certainly didn’t realize how touched I would immediately be. I know at 80 years old Mitchell isn’t the same singer she once was, especially after major health scares that included a brain aneurysm rupture in 2015. But within the first three words of her singing “Both Sides Now,” one of her most iconic songs, I was already teary-eyed. It was fantastic to see her perform live with her newfound family of wonderful musicians including Brandi Carlile, whom Mitchell fans owe a lot to for getting her back into the performing aspect of music, Allison Russell, Lucius and Sista Strings. It’s one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever seen at the Grammy Awards. 2. “Turn the Lights Back On” by Billy Joel OK, I can feel the young’ns laughing at me and switching for something else online now. No, I’m not a boomer. I’m only 36. But I love the classics and Billy Joel is one of my favorites. He hasn’t had new pop music since his 1994 album River of Dreams, as he kind of fell out of love with the songwriting process. Joel’s new song “Turn the Lights Back On,” which I heard for the first time last week, instantly floored me. I didn’t know what to expect from his first song in 30 years but I didn’t think it would possibly be this good. I loved the video package shown before the song, which explained how it was Joel’s meeting modern songwriter Freddy Wexler, 37, and striking up a friendship that led to at least a bit of a rekindled flame for songwriting – though I don’t get the feeling we’ll be getting another Joel album. “Turn the Lights Back On” is the perfect song for a legendary singer-songwriter who put away the pen and reclaimed it again after so many years. 3. “You May Be Right” by Billy Joel Hey, if I’m going old school I might as well go all in, right? If I were to rank my favorite Billy Joel songs – which quite frankly I’m surprised I haven’t yet done – I think his 1980 top-10 hit “You May Be Right” off his Glass Houses album would make the top 10. Joel ended the 2024 Grammy Awards telecast on CBS with a rocking version of the song, as the credits rolled, including that terrific saxophone solo by Mark Rivera. OK, kids, I’ll get to the new stuff … well, sort of … 4. “Fast Car” by Luke Combs & Tracy Chapman So, Luke Combs's cover of Tracy Chapman’s iconic “Fast Car” is new, but the song itself is 36 years old. I’ve been dying to see the two perform this song together and felt that last November’s CMA Awards, in which the song won Song of the Year for its songwriter Chapman, might be the chance but it came and went. So, I felt Chapman, who’s kind of become something of a recluse, might just be sitting back at home enjoying the royalties from the song’s latest popularity. But when I heard Combs was chosen to perform at the Grammy Awards, I once again got my hopes up and thankfully the dream performance happened. I always felt Combs’s cover of “Fast Car” was loving and well-done and was happy he didn’t change lyrics to alter the gender, but I also had concerns about fans not digging deep enough to realize it wasn’t his song and might ignore the importance of Chapman. To his credit, Combs didn’t seem like he was about to let that happen and I loved the video package before the performance with him talking about his dad playing the song when he was a child and how he immediately fell in love with it. Chapman still sounds as smooth as ever. This was her second time performing the song on the Grammys, having done so to close out the 1989 show after winning Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for it. 5. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish Director Greta Gerwig’s movie “Barbie” was everywhere last summer and is still a behemoth of award season for movies, but its soundtrack was also a megahit that’s resulted in Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” which is truly the heart and soul and captures the overall vibe and theme of the film, being everywhere over the last few months winning awards at film award and now music awards. It’s to the point where I hope it doesn’t become oversaturated and ultimately despised by the public, especially given the fact she’ll probably be performing it live again in another month at the Oscars. The song won Eilish and her brother, songwriting partner and producer Finneas O’Connell, Song of the Year on Sunday night and she performed an incredibly emotional and downplayed performance of it with her brother accompanying on piano. It was a gorgeous performance and moment. 6. “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo I could easily have flipped-flopped Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo’s performances here – “What Was I Made For?” and “Vampire” have been my two favorite pop songs of the last year. I like a bit of angst in my pop music, which probably explains why Eilish and Rodrigo have released some of my favorite pop songs of the last half-decade, and Rodrigo certainly has that in spades in “Vampire,” about an older lover who preyed on her naivety and took advantage of her before she eventually came to this realization. In another similarity between Eilish and Rodrigo, Rodrigo begins “Vampire” with this plaintive whisper before really ramping up the song and her vocals by the end for a powerhouse performance. The fake blood over her arms and face was a nice touch – though I understand why some wanted to see her go full-on “Carrie.” But, who really wants to have to take a shower mid-award show? 7. “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus At times during the Grammy Awards telecast it looked like Miley Cyrus was having the most fun of anyone and with good reason – she won her first career Grammy Award when “Flowers” took home Best Pop Solo Performance early in the show – and was doing her best Tina Turner performance when she took the stage. When she egged the audience to sing along when performing the song you could tell she was having a great time. Later in the evening, she would take home Record of the Year, which some consider to be the top prize at the Grammys. 8. “Snooze”/”Kill Bill” by SZA SZA’s performance of “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” was, without a doubt, the most cinematic performance of the 2024 Grammy Awards, including sword wielding stunt man fighting and flying all over the place while SZA, the most nominated performer of the Grammys this year, performed her biggest hits off the R&B Album of the Year SOS. 9. In Memoriam: “For Once In My Life” & “The Best Is Yet to Come” by Stevie Wonder, “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Annie Lennox, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me” and “Optimistic” by Jon Batiste and “Proud Mary” by Fantasia Barrino This wasn’t my favorite Grammy In Memoriam and much of that has to do with not giving much spotlight to Jimmy Buffett, who I understand never won a Grammy Award and only received two nominations for country music collaborations late in his career, but he was a singer-songwriter and musician who meant so much to me and millions around the world. It came off a little disrespectful. There were only half of the performances in this In Memoriam that I enjoyed. The segment, which had to have been the longest of the telecast, began with Stevie Wonder paying tribute to Tony Bennett with a performance of “For Once In My Life,” which was done as a duet with Bennett via an old video recording. I just didn’t like the idea of this. It got better when Wonder performed “The Best Is Yet to Come” afterward, but the spot could’ve been used to tribute Buffett or Gordon Lightfoot or anyone else. I enjoyed Annie Lennox’s tribute to Sinead O’Connor on “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which she sounded terrific on. Then Lenny Kravitz announced a tribute to music executive Clarence Avant, who was known as “The Godfather of Black Music,” and Jon Batiste performed a medley of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me” and “Optimistic,” which by the end felt like Batiste may have forgotten there were images and names of deceased music legends scrolling on a screen. The In Memoriam segment ended with a terrific performance of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” by Fantasia Barrino. 10. “Training Season”/”Houdini” by Dua Lipa Debuting music on an award show is hard because it’s not conducive to really hearing the lyrics, especially when done as a two-song medley and while being a part of a spectacle as the Dua Lipa performance was. So, while on first listen “Training Season” and “Houdini” from her upcoming album didn’t stand out to me like some of her hits from the past, they may grow on me over time. Opening the Grammys is certainly an honor. 11. “On Form”/”City Boys” & “Sitting On Top of the World” by Burna Boy feat. Brandy & 21 Savage The Grammy Awards celebrate music from all over the world so it was nice to see Nigerian performer Burna Boy, who’s won a Grammy and was nominated for four this year, make his Grammy telecast debut with a medley of songs off his most recent album I Told Them … He performed “On Form,” “City Boys” and then was joined by Brandy and 21 Savage for “Sittin’ on Top of the World.” Hopefully, we’ll see more performances like this in future years from the Grammys. 12. “My Eyes,” “I Know?” and “FE!N” by Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti I don’t dislike rap but of all of the major musical genres, it’s the one I listen to the least and understand the ins and outs of the least. So, please chalk this ranking up to that fact. Travis Scott performed a three-song medley (I do hate medleys though) off his Grammy-nominated album Utopia: “My Eyes,” “I Know ?” and “Fe!n,” which featured Playboi Carti. The performance was one of the most cinematic of the evening, by far, with Scott performing amidst a burning set and at the end trashing the place with folding chairs, which looked so cathartic. My biggest issue was the constant censorship of some of the lyrics which made the performance hard to follow. While some might blame that on Scott I just wish CBS/network TV standards weren’t so prudish – it was after 10 p.m. (CST) after all when he performed. 13. “Atomic City” by U2 I understand that U2 opening the one-of-a-kind (for now, at least) The Sphere venue in Las Vegas with a residency was one of the big music stories of 2023 but I never really got U2 performing at the Grammy Awards. I was sort of holding my opinion on it to see what they would perform because, even though I’m not a big U2 fan if they had performed a classic like “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “Where the Streets Have No Name” or especially “With or Without You” I would’ve been pleased. Instead, we got “Atomic City,” which was written as a promotional tie-in for their Sphere residency (you know the kind of stuff rock & roll is all about), and the performance didn’t appear to my eyes to be live but a previously shot, hectically with a drone performance. The whole thing seemed robotic and lifeless. OK, maybe I should go back up and edit the part about there not being a bad performance on the show – but there wasn’t a bad “live” one. What was your favorite performance at the Grammy Awards? by Julian Spivey The Grand Ole Opry, the oldest show in country music, apologized recently after performer Elle King appeared on the Friday, January 19 show inebriated, slurring her words and using profane language. King’s performance was during an episode celebrating the 78th birthday of Country and Rock Hall of Famer Dolly Parton, which included King saying: “You ain’t getting your money back,” to a heckler and adding: “I’ll tell you one thing more: ‘Hi, my name is Elle King [and] I’m fucking hammered.” Now, I get that those in attendance were disappointed at this one segment during a show that features multiple performers and King should be ashamed of her behavior at the venue (I won’t ever condone an artist giving less than they should for an audience) but for the Grand Ole Opry itself as an entity to publicly apologize for King’s behavior seems unnecessary to me, especially given the fact that there are numerous things the Grand Ole Opry has done throughout the years worthy of an apology that hasn’t happened. Here are five things I’d now like the Grand Ole Opry to apologize for if it is all of a sudden on an apology tour: 5. Helping the decline of the genre it claims to love by inducting members who have helped set the genre back. Most of the members of the Grand Ole Opry are completely deserving of the honor and uphold the standards of what the genre of country music should be and others have done the job mostly well, while also slipping with the occasional foray into money-chasing idiocy (Trace Adkins/Jamey Johnson I still can’t forgive y’all for “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk). But the Opry has also inducted some head-scratchers – Rascal Flatts, Kelsea Ballerini, Dustin Lynch. Now the Opry is pretty strict about its membership with a certain number of performances one has to meet for induction into the club but if you look at the names of the legends not involved (Willie Nelson, George Strait) and compare it to those involved you’ll see the Opry isn’t all it's cracked up to be. 4. They banned Neko Case for what? Neko Case may not be a household name in the country music genre and I completely understand that. Her music is maybe more aligned with that of indie rock, folk rock and Americana but she was closely enough aligned with country music that the Opry once had her perform at the venue’s Grand Ole Opry Plaza Party just outside the Grand Ole Opry House in the summer of 2001. Anyone who’s ever lived down south can tell you summers get blazing hot and when Case was performing the show and began to feel signs of potential heat stroke. When her requests for water went unheard and she started to feel dizzy from the heat she removed her shirt to help cool off. Now, sure, the Grand Ole Opry has always been deemed a family-friendly show but it’s not like Case was just flashing her breasts to the public, she was wearing a bra, which is as revealing if not less so than the average bathing suit seen at any summer outing. She was banned from the Opry and has never been back. Maybe it’s a woman thing? Is there a double standard? Getting back to King for a moment, Dolly Parton’s sister Stella Parton, who for some reason has become quite the social media star, tweeted: “But let me just say this, it wouldn’t be the first time a Hillbilly went on the stage of the Opry ‘hammered,’ but I guess it’s OK if you’re a male. But good lord don’t ever let a girl behave that way folks! Double fucking standard if ya ask me. So the Opry is apologizing! Lol.” I should note Stella Parton’s tweets weren’t all friendly toward King. 3. This is the same Grand Ole Opry that once fired arguably the two most important artists in the history of country music. The Grand Ole Opry once fired both Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. That’s what they should be apologizing for! Williams was fired by the Opry in 1952 for failure to show up for a performance – which, again, the artist should always do their best to show up for a performance, but canning the guy who is maybe more synonymous with country music than anybody ever was or would ever be is ridiculous. The Opry could have reinstated Williams’ membership posthumously but never has. The Opry has, however, inducted Keith Whitley, who had many similarities to Williams, posthumously (the only time that’s ever happened). The Opry also banned Johnny Cash and yes, at the time you could argue he deserved it, as he went on an inebriated rampage smashing the stage’s lights out with the mic stand. The Opry did eventually invite Cash back to play the venue in his later years, but the “Man in Black” was never inducted as a member – maybe he didn’t have the status of a Chris Janson? 2. Drunken Cursing is Bad, But Racist Slurs Are Apparently OK in the Eyes of the Opry So, I considered making this number one, but I simply can’t get over the timing of what they did for the No. 1 choice on my list. But, I find it incredibly discouraging that the Grand Ole Opry had country mullet king Morgan Wallen at its venue in January 2022 less than a year after being caught on camera drunkenly using the N-word. Despite what some called a “cancellation,” Wallen remained a top-selling star throughout the entire time he was supposedly being punished and being on what many consider country music’s most hallowed stage less than a year later came off as a blessing of the artist. It was a moment that dismayed many within the Nashville community, though more so within the adjacent Americana community than the mainstream country music one. Black performer Joy Oladokun wrote: “Morgan Wallen’s thoughtless redemption tour is the nail in the coffin for me realizing these systems and this town is not really for us.” The quick and painless return of Wallen into the country music community is the most damning moment for the Opry in modern times. 1. They invited President Nixon DURING the Watergate Scandal Country music has the stereotype among many of being a bit backward and those of us who love the music can often be hurt by that image – but then the gatekeepers of the genre will do things like the top two things on this very list – that makes us have to explain to others that “we ain’t all like that.” On March 16, 1974, the Grand Ole Opry debuted its brand new venue after relocating from the famed Ryman Auditorium, which would go into years of non-use and dilapidation after the move and the institution should apologize for that too, and to kick off the big bash it invited President Richard Nixon to dedicate the venue and also lead the audience in renditions of “My Wild Irish Rose” and “God Bless America.” But you see 1974 was right amid the Watergate Scandal in which President Nixon had been involved in the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters and its attempted cover-up and lying to the American public about it. The Opry didn’t seem to care, President Nixon was its President. It was just another instance of country music looking out of step with the rest of the country. President Nixon would become the first and to this day only President of the United States to resign in shame. God Bless America. by Julian Spivey Turnpike Troubadours and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit have without any doubt been the two artists I’ve listened to the most over the last dozen years since I became acquainted with their music. So, the chance to get to see the two acts perform live together was truly the stuff dreams are made of. So, when it was announced the two would be performing together for two nights only in Oklahoma City, Okla. last fall I knew I had to attend one of the shows. The dream came true on Saturday, January 20 at the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City. To sweeten the evening even more, the opener for the shows was West Virginian singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin, who has released three albums thus far in his career and seems destined to break out big on his own. He’s an artist I’ve had tickets to see twice in Little Rock, closer to my home, but COVID-19 wiped out the first show and the second show was canceled without a reason ever given. Godwin began his set around 6:40 p.m. with “Cue Country Roads,” a track off his most recent album Family Ties, which was released in September of last year. The album is a tribute to Godwin’s loved ones and how he wishes he could spend more time with them but the traveling life of a musician takes him away more than he’d like. Godwin would perform five songs of the new album, which was one of my favorites of 2023. The performances of “Family Ties” and “All Again,” my two favorite tracks on the album, were among the highlights of his set and when he hits that first “strike me down” line in “Family Ties” you could just feel him capture the still filling in Paycom Center crowd. He would also play “Another Leaf” and his cover of the John Denver classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” as any good West Virginian would off the album. The performance of ‘Country Roads,’ which turned into a sing-along with the audience, was the final performance of his nine-song set. A couple of my favorite performances of Godwin’s set was his stellar cover of Chris Knight’s “The Jealous Kind,” which he debuted on a live EP Live from the Church last year and became one of my most played songs of the year, and the terrific “Hardwood Floors,” which was on his 2019 debut album Seneca and instantly became one of my favorites on that album from the first time I heard it that year. It felt like a lot of people in the audience didn’t know Godwin at the time his set began, which is somewhat surprising to me because you’d think if this many people loved the Turnpike Troubadours they’d be familiar with similar artists but I could tell his all-out performance and his incredibly talented band the Allegheny High captured their attention to the point where they likely won’t ever forget his name. I had been a bit worried about Isbell’s performance and whether or not he’d even be able to ahead of the show as he had to cancel a couple of shows a few days before his OKC shows due to illness. When he performed night one of the OKC stand on Friday night my fears were assuaged but when I heard him struggle to hit some of the notes on his opening song, “Save the World,” I leaned over to my wife Aprille and said, “I hope he’s not going to hurt himself.” If there are three things Isbell is most known for it’s 1) his amazing songwriting 2) his talented guitar work and 3) his wonderful voice. His voice was not at peak performance from the illness, at least at the beginning of the show. But, honestly, this was only noticeable on a few songs throughout his set and, for some reason, mostly on the new stuff off his Weathervanes album, which he released last year. Isbell is one of the artists I’ve seen most in my adult life and I try to see him nearly every time he releases a new album and was looking forward to whatever tracks he played off Weathervanes. I was surprised by how early in the set he broke out “King of Oklahoma,” in front of the Oklahoman audience, but enjoyed what I ranked as the No. 1 Americana or Country Music Song of 2023 on this website. He also performed “Strawberry Woman,” “Cast Iron Skillet” and one of my favorite rockers on the album “This Ain’t It.” Isbell has been my favorite singer-songwriter of the last decade-plus so whatever he chose to perform on Saturday night was going to be among my favorites of his repertoire but I couldn’t have imagined just how great it was going to be. “Alabama Pines” is my favorite Isbell song and has been ever since I heard it for the first time, probably in late 2011 after it won Song of the Year at the Americana Awards. It was the song that introduced me to Isbell and I’ll always be grateful for that. But it’s a song, that while I may not have experienced similar things to the narrator of it, has always hit me deep in my soul and I’ve always felt a kinship to it. Isbell performed the song the very first time I saw him live in 2013 and I’m not sure I’ve heard him play it live the many times I’ve seen him since. So, to finally hear my favorite song live again after more than a decade was a blissful concert moment for me. Isbell always seems to play at least one of his songs from his days in the Southern Rock band Drive-By Truckers in his sets and lately, when I’ve seen him that song had been “Never Gonna Change,” off the Truckers’ 2004 album The Dirty South. That’s a great song, but I’ve really been wanting to hear him do “Decoration Day” again, which I’d probably only seen him do live once, as well. And, on Saturday night Isbell tore the house down with a roaring version of it. Had Isbell only played those two songs and walked off the stage I’d likely have still wound up with a smile on my face. This was the first time I’d gotten to see the newly configured 400 Unit – though not 100 percent complete with guitarist Sadler Vaden (who I’ve seen with the band many times) away on paternity leave. Longtime bassist Jimbo Hart recently departed the band and has been replaced by Anna Butterss and multi-instrumentalist Will Johnson has been added to the band. Both musicians did a kickass job on Saturday night, as did guitarist Audley Freed, who has been filling in while Vaden is away. Drummer Chad Gamble and keyboard/accordion extraordinaire Derry DeBorja are still holding it down for the oldies in the group. Among the other fantastic performances in Isbell’s set on Saturday night were fan favorites like “Super 8,” “Stockholm,” “Last of My Kind,” “If We Were Vampires” and “Cover Me Up,” which he ended his set with. Another great surprise thrown in the mix was “Speed Trap Town,” one of the standouts on 2015’s Something More Than Free. Isbell was considered a “co-headliner” for the evening, but let’s face it the show was in the Turnpike Troubadours’ home state so they got the longer setlist of the two, but as far as a shorter Isbell set goes this was a pretty perfect one. The Turnpike Troubadours took the stage around 9:30 p.m. to uproarious applause from the home-state crowd. The band, which reunited in 2022 after a multiple-year hiatus and released its first album in six years last August, pretty much sticks to what I call “the greatest hits” setlist. This isn’t a problem because I love all of these songs so much but it was rather shocking how few of the songs from their latest album A Cat in the Rain they’ve been playing on tour recently, including at the home shows over the weekend. The band only performed three songs from that album on Saturday night – “Brought Me,” “Mean Old Sun” and “Chipping Mill” – and did so all in unison late in the show (songs No. 14-16 in the set). I understand if the band thinks playing more new songs might turn off some of the crowd – and it was quite dismaying to see some take this opportunity to use the restroom or buy more beer – but I think much of the fan base would love to hear the new stuff. The band doesn’t surprise me much with what they choose to play sticking to mostly the same songs but there were at least a couple of lovely surprises in the set on Saturday night and they came back-to-back. The only live Turnpike debut for me as a fan that wasn’t from the new album was “Unrung,” which is a terrific standout from their 2017 release A Long Way from Your Heart, and then straight into “The Mercury,” which is my favorite track off the group’s 2015 self-titled album, and one I don’t think they play live enough. “The Mercury” is about as raucous as the band gets and I love it. Diamonds & Gasoline, from 2010, wasn’t the band’s debut album but it kind of is for many of us as the true debut Bossier City from 2007 isn’t in print and didn’t have much of an impact. This album is the one that is still my favorite Turnpike album and even though I just called on the band to perform more new stuff I do love that they feature so much of this album in their live sets. It’s still the album that sees the most performances live from their repertoire, with seven of its tracks – “7&7,” “Every Girl,” “Shreveport,” “Whole Damn Town,” “Kansas City Southern,” “Long Hot Summer Day” and the title track – all being performed on Saturday night. I love that the band’s vocalist and primary songwriter Felker got the chance to do “Diamonds & Gasoline” solo with just a bit of accompaniment by Hank Early. It’s such a lovely song and a terrific showcase for Felker. Bassist R.C. Edwards, who’s the band’s other songwriter, always gets his chance to shine on vocals once a show too and along with Kyle Nix on fiddle and Ryan Engleman on guitar performed “For the Sake (When It Comes to Loving You,” which he said he’d written for his wife and doesn’t appear has been recorded yet either by the Troubadours or by Edwards’ other project RC & the Ambers. It would simply take too long to rattle off every little moment and song from the Turnpike set that I loved but the crowd seemed to love the performances of “The Bird Hunters” and the cover of John Hartford’s “Long Hot Summer Day.” A few more of my favorites personally were “Good Lord Lorrie” and “Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead,” which are my favorite tracks off the band’s 2012 release Goodbye Normal Street, as well as “Pay No Rent,” one of my favorites of A Long Way from Your Heart. All in all, Saturday night at the Paycom Center was truly one of those magical concerts for me as a music lover and a moment I didn’t expect to ever happen where I’d be able to see Turnpike Troubadours and Isbell & the 400 Unit together. It’s one I’m probably going to be talking about for years to come. by Julian Spivey My favorite way to spend an evening is with my wife, Aprille, listening to an amazing band or singer-songwriter live in concert and losing ourselves among a crowd of folks who share a common interest of being entranced by the words and sounds of a particular musician. I attended 15 wonderful shows in 2023 but these were my five favorites. 5. The Mavericks – Thursday, May 18 at Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Ill. There were bands and artists I saw this year that I enjoy more in general than The Mavericks and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing multiple times like American Aquarium, Dawes and Hayes Carll that put on terrific concerts where I knew the majority of the words and screamed along but seeing The Mavericks randomly while on vacation in Illinois at one of the most beautiful venues I’ve ever attended a concert in was too cool of a moment to pass on. I’ve always wanted to see The Mavericks and their unique style of Latin-infused country and Americana music since I bought their terrific 2013 album In Time. The thing that most interested me is the stellar voice of frontman Raul Malo and seeing him live is worth the price of admission alone. Hearing songs like “Come Unto Me” and “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down” live was a moment I won’t forget. Read the full review HERE. 4. Jason Boland & the Stragglers – Friday, March 10 at The Revolution Room in Little Rock, Ark. Something I don’t think I’d ever done before this year was see the same artist twice in a year, but I saw Jason Boland & the Stragglers twice in Little Rock this year. Both times were amazing shows but the one I want to focus on here was the most unique one of the two – when Jason Boland & the Stragglers played an all-acoustic set at The Revolution Room, one of my favorite local venues, in Little Rock on Friday, March 10. This is almost hard for me to believe but in all of my years attending concerts, in which I’ve now seen well into the triple digits of shows, I’d never seen an all-acoustic concert until this one. I’ve seen Boland and the Stragglers more than any other artist at this point in my life – and still believe they’re ridiculously underrated – and seeing them perform my favorites in a different manner made for a wonderful night of music. The great thing is the intensity of the group was still there despite not being plugged in. Read the full review HERE. 3. Turnpike Troubadours – Friday, February 24 at Simmons Bank Arena in Little Rock, Ark. This show was truly a glorious night for both my wife and me as there were times we didn’t think we’d ever see the Turnpike Troubadours, one of our favorite bands, in concert again after the band went on hiatus in 2019. They reunited for a few shows in 2022 and began touring again full-time this year with their first Arkansas show on Friday, February 24 being a co-headlining event with The Avett Brothers, who I’d never really gotten into before but sure were fun to see live. Despite being a glorious night of music, it was a bit weird seeing the Troubadours, a band we’d seen from the front of the stage at a small one-room club many times from a great distance. The hiatus did wonders for the band’s ever-growing fan base. I don’t think we’ll ever get that up-close experience with these guys again – which kind of sucks, to be honest – but they’re always going to give us fantastic performances. Read full review HERE. 2. James McMurtry – Thursday, October 5 at White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Ark. The White Water Tavern in Little Rock, Ark. has become my favorite venue to see shows at. It’s an incredibly intimate and small one-room bar in seemingly the middle of nowhere within the city but provides the most magical concert experiences. I’d seen James McMurtry, one of Americana’s finest singer-songwriters, open for Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at Robinson Center in Little Rock before but it wasn’t the greatest showcase for his music as a short opening set. I’d wanted to see him perform at White Water before but tickets for his shows, even when he does two-night stands, sell quickly at the venue. I got lucky this time and saw tickets were available on the venue’s website before they advertised them and got to see McMurtry on the second night of his stand. I was late to McMurtry’s music but when I heard “You Got to Me” and “Copper Canteen,” still my two favorite songs of his, from his 2015 release Complicated Game I became entranced by his songwriting. His 2021 release The Horses and the Hounds wound up being my favorite from that year with nearly every song on the album being a slice of Americana perfection. It was a wonderful night hearing just about every McMurtry song I could hope to hear live. Read the full review HERE. 1. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – Saturday, February 18 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band are my all-time favorite band. So, pretty much any time I have the honor of seeing them live in concert – and February of 2023 was the third such chance I’ve gotten – it’s going to be my favorite show of the year. There’s always something special about seeing Springsteen and E Street in concert and the third time was no different with special moments including seeing “Backstreets,” off the classic Born to Run album, for the first time live, as well as seeing the amazing “Badlands,” “Thunder Road,” “Born to Run” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” all played in succession – I don’t think there’s any possible song grouping played in a row like that by any artist that could top that. It was magical and the thing about a Springsteen show is you can feel everyone in attendance experiencing the magic at the same time. Read the full review HERE.
by Julian Spivey
50. "I Miss That Dog" by Erik Dylan
Album: Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities Writers: Erik Dylan, Andy Sheridan & Wyatt McCubbin You’re almost always going to win me over with a tribute to man’s best friend – as long as you don’t get too schmaltzy. Erik Dylan’s “I Miss That Dog,” off his latest album Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities, is a softly sung, slowly picked tribute to an important part of any pet owner’s life – their dog. I had the feeling the song, co-written by Dylan, Wyatt McCubbin and Andy Sheridan, wasn’t just fiction plucked from thin air, and sure enough it was based on Dylan’s dog Maude, whom he lost in February after 14 years together. He told American Songwriter: “She quite possibly prevented me from ever wanting another dog. She set the bar too high.”
49. "Maestro (Tears Don't Lie)" by Wilder Woods
Album: FEVER / SKY Writer: William Rinehart “Maestro (Tears Don’t Lie)” by Wilder Woods, off his album FEVER/SKY, will have you wanting to get on your feet and show off your best dance moves – I dare you, listen to it and try to stop your body from moving along. It’s one of those songs where the music is kind of deceptive because the lyrics are darker than the tone given off with the narrator trying to convince a lover, who may be ready to call it quits, to stay and stick it out. ‘Maestro’ has a soulful R&B kick to it, especially with its church choir-like background vocals. Wilder Woods is the side project of Bear Rinehart, the vocalist of the Christian-Rock group NEEDTOBREATHE, showing off that soul has multiple meanings.
48. "Keeping Tyler" by Posey Hill
Album: No Clear Place to Fall Writers: Doug Burnett, Megan Burnett & Kristian Miller Posey Hill keeps it all in the family with this band out of Central Arkansas consisting of a trio of sisters (Kristian, Erin and Megan) and their father (Doug Burnett) and they have hit on a creative breakup song with “Keeping Tyler.” The narrator of the song is sick and tired of her deadbeat man and is ready to hit the road and she’s packing lightly in doing so – the man can keep everything but her Tyler Childers records. It was smart of the group to single out Childers, a true-blue country singer with a constantly growing fan base, in hopes of the song, co-written by Doug, Kristian and Megan, finding a bigger audience – but the songwriting and sisterly harmonizing should have those who’ve found them sticking around on their own merit.
47. "Best Ones" by Brandy Clark
Album: Brandy Clark Writers: Brandy Clark, Benjy Davis & Jessie Jo Dillon Brandy Clark’s self-titled fourth studio album finds the excellent singer-songwriter at the most polished of his career, thanks to a keen ear from producer Brandi Carlile. It’s still country music, Americana music, whatever you want to call it but with a bit more crossover appeal than ever before. One of the album’s highlights is “Best Ones,” co-written by Clark, Benjy Davis and Jessie Jo Dillon, a song reminiscing about relationships with such lovely lyrics as: “Yeah, the good nights/don’t have rainy blue eyes that wreck me without warning/they don’t taste like wine and cigarettes and melt into morning/they don’t end up with me waking up with you/No, the good nights don’t, but the best ones do.” Sung in Clark’s crystal blue vocals it’ll make you fall in love with her.
46. "Border Radio" by John Baumann
Album: Border Radio Writers: John Baumann & Charlie Stout “Border Radio,” written by John Baumann and Charlie Stout for Baumann’s album of the same name, finds the narrator listening to the staticky, in-and-out music of a Mexican radio station while on the road and despite not being able to make out most of the Spanish lyrics being sung he can completely identify with and feel the feelings this singer does in his bones. He just knows it’s a song about longing to go home and, “if she’s singing of her homeland, that’s where I’m bound to go.” Baumann and Stout truly paint a lovely picture that plays out in your mind during Baumann’s softly sung performance.
45. "Holler Rose" by Pony Bradshaw
Album: North Georgia Rounder Writer: James Bradshaw I’ve never quite been certain what Pony Bradshaw’s “Holler Rose” meant despite spending most of the year listening to it and loving the sound of the chorus: “Holler Rose, the pious moonshiner” repeated. Honestly, I thought the titular character was a woman – but according to Pony Bradshaw from an interview with Holler.Country in December of last year it’s man and “He’s complex. Like most of us.” Pony Bradshaw tells the website: “I realize now that ‘Holler Rose’ us a juxtaposition between piety and stubborn individualism. Holler, the character, is a devoutly religious man who makes his living selling homemade whisk; an illegal act.” Pony Bradshaw added: “[He’s] someone whom I admire; his obstinate pursuit of happiness. He feels wise to me. He’s someone who lives on his own terms. A dissenter. A quiet rebel. A wise anarchist.”
44. "Wrong Kind of Right" by Rhiannon Giddens
Album: You're the One Writer: Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens sounds like an angel and on “Wrong Kind of Right,” from her latest album You’re the One, maybe one that’s fighting the demon on her other shoulder when it comes to a relationship. Hearing her sing, “I’m just the wrong kind of right,” makes me sit up and exclaim: “yes, ma’am you are and if it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.” Even though the song appears on her 2023 album it apparently – even though I had seen the episode I didn’t remember it – had appeared in a 2007 episode of the TV drama “Nashville,” as sung by Giddens’s character Hallie Jordan.
43. "Hominy Valley" by Steep Canyon Rangers
Album: Morning Shift Writers: Graham Sharp, Barrett Smith & Aaron Burdett The Steep Canyon Rangers are the bluegrass group that seems to appear the most on my annual Best Americana and Country Music lists with their excellent combination of storytelling and musicianship and they’re back on the list again this year with “Hominy Valley,” from their album Morning Shift. The song is based off the neighborhood in West Asheville, N.C., where the band’s banjoist Graham Sharp lives, which is evidently cursed by a Cherokee spirit who was tracking Army General Griffith Rutherford’s men on their mission to eradicate the Cherokee in the 1700s and was poisoned and killed in the process and reportedly was buried sitting upright beneath an oak tree by a comrade so he could keep watch over the valley. Supposedly the land where this took place is under dispute to this day by developers and residents. Bass player Barrett Smith takes the vocals on “Hominy Valley,” an interesting historical tale that most of us likely never would’ve known with Steep Canyon Rangers.
42. "Tongue Tied" by The Lone Bellow
Album: Love Songs for Losers (Deluxe Edition) Writer: Brian Elmquist One of my favorite vocals of the year is “Tongue Tied” by The Lone Bellow, which I assume is led by usual lead vocalist Zach Williams with the wonderful harmony of bandmates Brian Elmquist and Kanene Donehey Pipkin mixing. The song seems to be about a relationship where the narrator is in love but can’t be with the one they love and the pain felt as a result. However, Elmquist who wrote the song said via a Dualtone Records email to their subscribers: “I wrote ‘Tongue Tied’ as a goodbye to NYC (New York City), the place we called home for almost a decade. I allowed myself one last page of revelry. One last night getting lost in the city that I loved. We’re very proud of this song and so glad it made it [emoji of Earth].”
41. "Heartaches After Heartbreak" by J.D. Clayton
Album: Long Way From Home Writer: J.D. Clayton J.D. Clayton, a songwriter from Fort Smith, Ark., really broke out in early 2023 with his release Long Way From Home as a singer-songwriter to pay attention to in the Americana/country music world. There were a handful of songs on that album that could’ve made this list but my favorite was the rocking “Heartaches After Heartbreak,” which has a little bit of a Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real sound to it. The guitar-heavy song gives a little more defiance to a devastating heartbreak than many songs on the subject, which truly gives it an anthemic punch.
40. "Wrong Side of Town" by Joe Stamm Band
Album: Fort Smith (EP) Writer: Joe Stamm “Wrong Side of Town,” of Joe Stamm Band’s EP Fort Smith, is the kind of heartland Americana you might have gotten out of Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp in the mid-‘80s. In the heartland, that stuff still plays. It tells the familiar tale of a town that was once a great place to live and for one reason or another – likely because those in charge have failed its citizens – has gone to hell. Tragic but something all too familiar for many places around the country.
39. "Made For This" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil You Know Writers: Ashley McBryde & Travis Meadows One thing is for sure – the music life on the road isn’t easy but Ashley McBryde was certainly made for it. She doesn’t paint a pretty picture of playing in dives, living in vans with smelly bandmates and all the things one has to do just to keep awake and going – but don’t you get the feeling she kind of loves it? This propulsive track off her excellent third solo studio album The Devil I Know will have you wanting to throw your hands in the air and tagging along.
38. "Norfolk Blues" by Drayton Farley
Album: Twenty on High Writer: Drayton Farley When I first heard Drayton Farley’s “Norfolk Blues,” off his album Twenty on High, early in 2023 I swore it was a new Jason Isbell song – that’s a pretty big compliment from me as Isbell has been my favorite songwriter of the last decade-plus now in the Americana realm. “Norfolk Blues” tells the story of a man having to bust his ass at work just to make a living and provide for his family who lives multiple states away, giving it the added tinge of homesickness to go with his blue-collar tenacity. Farley repeats the line “it’s all the way it’s always been” many times to end the song hitting home the point of generations having had to do the same.
37. "Love Go By" by Elle King
Album: Come Get Your Wife Writers: Elle King, Joe Janiak & Geoffrey Warburton Elle King began her music career with the breakthrough pop hit “Ex’s & Oh’s” in 2014 and while that song was pretty freakin’ good for pop music I never thought there would come a point where she’d release a pretty damn good country music album. But in early 2023 she came out with Come Get Your Wife with standouts like “Tulsa” and “Jersey Giant,” which is one of my favorite songs of the year but I chose another artist’s recording of it for this list. King ends her album with the smooth love song, “Love Go By,” which truly shows off her unique, smoky-twanged voice and includes a truly catchy chorus penned by her, Joe Janiak and Geoffrey Warburton.
36. "Runaway" by Lydia Loveless
Album: Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again Writer: Lydia Loveless (I assume - couldn't find listed songwriters) Wikipedia refers to Lydia Loveless as an alternative country singer and that’s fine, I guess. It adds at the end of the opening paragraph that she combines pop music, classic country, honky tonk and punk rock – this combination and mixing truly gives her a unique sound. She released her sixth studio album Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again in September and it included what’s probably my favorite song to date by her, “Runaway.” I absolutely love the line: “I don’t like to run/I just like to run away.” I can feel that deep in my bones, especially the high-note quiver in her voice.
35. "IDK Shit About Cars" by Evan Honer
Album: Non-Album Single Writer: Evan Honer The first time I heard Evan Honer’s non-album single “IDK Shit About Cars” I got a good chuckle out of it. There were certainly parts of the song’s lyrics I identified with, including the title itself, but I didn’t think at the time it would be a top-40 song of the year for me. But I kept listening and kept listening and, you know, sometimes it’s just nice to have a fun, catchy song as one of your favorites of the year. And it’s also a bit deeper than it seems on the surface with lines like “I still break my heart” intertwined with the not knowing shit about cars. Also, cool Jason Isbell reference.
34. "Tanqueray" by William Prince
Album: Stand in the Joy Writer: William Prince William Prince has one of my favorite voices in any genre of music these days. He’s a pretty damn good songwriter too. In 2020, his song “The Spark” was my No. 2 song of the year. “Tanqueray,” off his latest album Stand in the Joy, is my favorite of his this year with its smooth-sounding tale of lovers embarking upon a new relationship after some false starts with them in the past. The chorus about “Tanqueray on your lips then mine” is one of the most romantic of the year, especially with Prince’s lush, soulful vocal.
33. "Ain't No Harmin' Me" by The War and Treaty
Album: Lover's Game Writers: Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter The War & Treaty, the married couple of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, have this soulful harmonizing bond that will blow you away on almost all of their recordings, especially the ones from their 2023 release Lover’s Game, the duo’s fourth together. My favorite track off the album is “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me,” which the couple wrote together as they mostly do, a song that sees them going up against the Devil himself and coming out stronger on the other side. Michael Trotter Jr. told American Songwriter: “Love is the foundation of our new record and ‘Ain’t No Harmin’ Me’ reminds us that no matter what troubles are waiting around the corner the power of love will pull us through. We wrote this together as a personal testament to ourselves … we aren’t afraid to face the hard times knowing we have the other by our side. It felt like an awakening for us, and I hope fans can feel that same energy when they hear it." We can, Michael!
32. "Back to You" by Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Album: Paint Horse Writer: Benjamin Dakota Rogers The intensity and fervency in Benjamin Dakota Rogers’s vocal on “Back to You,” off his 2023 album Paint Horse, enamored me from my first listen. It’s not exactly one of the cleanest, flawless vocals you’re going to hear but the emotion he’s able to capture in his performance makes the song one of my favorite to sing along to this year. There’s a longingness in this song to get back to a lover elsewhere that you can absolutely feel deep down in your bones and you know based on that stirring vocal it must’ve been a true feeling for its songwriter.
31. "Evangelina" by Colter Wall
Album: Little Songs Writer: Hoyt Axton & Kenneth Higginbotham One of the best things about Canadian singer-songwriter Colter Wall is his love for traditional folk and Country and Western songs and how he brings this sound of yesteryears to today and makes it cool for younger folks who may have never heard some of these songs. Case in point, my favorite track from his latest album Little Songs called “Evangelina,” which evidently was a Hoyt Axton song from 1976 (I really need to know more Axton songs). “Evangelina” is a Western-themed song about a cowboy, whom I’m assuming based on the performer and the songwriter is white, and his love, Evangelina, being a Mexican woman many miles away and his longing to get back to her. It’s a familiar theme when it comes to the Western aspect of Country and Western but one that never seems to fail.
30. "Gatlinburg" by Cory Branan
Album: Non-Album Single Writer: Cory Branan Cory Branan released a wonderful new album in 2022 with When I Go I Ghost, his first in half a decade, so I was surprised to see a three-song EP in June of this year but was thrilled when I heard “Gatlinburg” from the Memphian singer-songwriter. The song tells the tale from the perspective of a divorced man thinking of his ex-wife and how she said she never wanted to return to Gatlinburg, Tenn., but last he heard she’d found herself a new man and wound up in the place she said she’d never be.
29. "Basic Channels" by Josiah and the Bonnevilles
Album: Endurance Writers: Josiah Leming & Teal Douville “Basic Channels” by Josiah & the Bonnevilles, the final track of the group’s album Endurance, is such a cute, simple song about pure love – the kind you know is going to last forever and doesn’t need any fancy frills. It’s a stripped-down performance that will have you wanting to hold your love tight beside you while listening or long for love like the one in the song if you haven’t found it yet.
28. "Death Wish" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes Writer: Jason Isbell I, myself, have never loved a woman with a death wish and am grateful for that but Jason Isbell sure makes it seem scarily intriguing in the track from his latest, excellent album Weathervanes. Isbell’s vocal performance and the frantic playing by the 400 Unit give the song the urgency to match the lyrics. As is the case with any high-profile music relationship – even though it probably isn’t appropriate to do so – I can’t help but wonder if Isbell wrote the song about his wife Amanda Shires. Or perhaps it’s written from her perspective from the times he’s been self-destructive and the genders have been flipped?
27. "Puppy and a Truck" by Jenny Lewis
Album: Joy'All Writer: Jenny Lewis “Puppy and a Truck” is one of my favorite songs of the year in the sense that it just makes me smile and laugh every time I hear it – it’s also probably one of those times where I’m getting a bit loose with the terms Americana and country, though Wikipedia does have “alternative country” as one of Jenny Lewis’s genres. “Puppy and a Truck,” off her latest album Joy’All, comes out of the pandemic of 2020 when we were all trying to find ways to remain sane and happy – evidently Lewis’s way was getting a puppy (a cockapoo) and a truck (unsure what kind). Lewis debuted the song online in 2021, but I hadn’t heard it until it made its way to her album this summer.
26. "Changes" by Joy Oladukon
Album: Proof Of Life Writer: Olubukola Oladokun & Dan Wilson Sometimes when the world has gotten you down you need to make some changes and even if you want the world to change on a grand scale it can be helpful to make changes in your own life on a smaller scale. Joy Oladukon’s “Changes,” off her latest album Proof Of Life, seems to get this. Watching the world burn around you can be scary, it can make you want to ball up in a fetal position and panic, but attempting to keep up with the changes of the world and continuously building yourself as a better person is better than the alternative. Also, Oladukon’s voice mixed with the gently strummed guitar, soft saxophone and pitter-patter of the drums makes for a beautiful listen.
25. "Family Ties" by Charles Wesley Godwin
Album: Family Ties Writer: Charles Wesley Godwin West Virginian singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin seems to have his priorities in line – family first and music career second. That might mean we need to cherish every album we get from him because if songs like “Family Ties” and “All Again,” which appeared earlier on this list, from his excellent third studio album of the same are any indication he may walk away from the music business early to spend his days with his wife and daughters. Family is the theme of the album and the title track, which opens the album after a short instrumental overture, is a love song to his family tree, his family homeland of generations and the overall importance of the family unit. One of the most striking vocal moments all year is the way Godwin hits the line “STRIKE me down if I cut family ties,” with such force that you instantly know he means it.
24. "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves
Album: Zach Byan Writers: Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves Zach Bryan is an interesting character in modern country music. He’s not always the most likable person, especially if you follow him on social media, often seeming full of himself. His fan base seems fairly toxic, as is the case with a growing number of music fan bases. And he’s not mainstream country – though, hell if I truly know what is anymore as I don’t listen to radio – but he sells tickets and has a following as if he were. I don’t think he’s the greatest thing since the invention of the fiddle like many of his followers seem to believe but I can admit the guy writes some damn good songs and one of the best he’s released in his career thus far is “I Remember Everything,” a thoughtful duet with Kacey Musgraves, off his most recent self-titled album. The rare country song to crossover into the pop world and top the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, Bryan and Musgraves co-wrote this song seeing two different sides to the end of a relationship and somehow makes something tragic into something beautiful.
23. "Boy and a Bird Dog" by Colby Acuff
Album: Western White Pines Writers: Colby Acuff, Ben Chapman & Meg McRee Sometimes you just want something fun that you can identify with and a feeling you’d like to feel and Colby Acuff’s “Boy and a Bird Dog” is that for me. I don’t give a damn about hunting. But I do love my dogs. The breezy song, with the year’s most fun whistling, about a young man going out to the fields with his best friend, his bird dog, and just spending a day together under the sun and sky sounds like a dream. I get the feeling the narrator doesn’t even care if he doesn’t bring home a kill. There were a remarkable amount of great dog songs this year – there are three on this list alone! – and this was my favorite of them.
22. "Running Out of Hope, Arkansas" by Brennen Leigh
Album: Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet Writers: Brennen Leigh & Silas Lowe I love it when a songwriter can get a dual meaning out of a line and that’s exactly what Brennen Leigh and Silas Lowe have done with the wonderful title of Leigh’s “Running Out of Hope, Arkansas” from her album Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet. It’s a great song about trying to escape your hometown to find something more to life and has a terrific bluegrass sound to it with fantastic mandolin, fiddle and twangy guitars that truly makes it sound timeless like it could’ve been released at any time past or present.
21. "22 Days Too Long" by Adam Hood
Album: Adam Hood's Different Groove Writers: Adam Hood & Pete Anderson There are a few songs on this list this year about artists longing to get back home to their families while making a living as touring musicians. One of my favorites with that theme is Adam Hood’s “22 Days Too Long,” an ode to longing to be home with your kids. One of my favorite parts of the guitar-driven song is the travelogue-ness of the verses talking about all the tour stops along the way and you get the feeling these map dots are all just standing between the narrator and his children.
20. "Congratulations & Condolences" by Greensky Bluegrass
Album: Non-Album Single Writers: Paul Hoffman & Joshua Davis I’ve always loved the musicianship of bluegrass but one criticism I’ve often had of the genre is the lyrics often don’t seem to go very deep – but that’s certainly not the case with the single “Congratulations and Condolences.” The song was a track that didn’t make the cut on the group’s 2022 album Stress Dreams (what a great album title) but instantly caught my attention as it reminds me of friendships of the past that have faded away as the one talked about in the song, which was penned by Paul Hoffman and Joshua Davis. Michael Broerman wrote about the song for liveforlivemusic.com saying: “What was once an almost familial bond slips away with the passage of time, reduced to ‘trying to keep up on you through the status on the screen.’” I have at least one member of my past in mind when this song pops up. I’m sure many have these relationships.
19. "Lucky" by Rodney Crowell
Album: The Chicago Sessions Writer: Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell has always struck me as a wise man and it seems it may have taken him a few tries but he’s found the right person to stand by his side, one that keeps him going, gives him a reason to wake up each day and survive. I feel I’ve gotten that kind of lucky to with the better half in my life. It’s such a relatable jam for me complete with a catchy chorus and terrific musicianship, like the piano that opens the song and keeps it driving all the way through.
18. "The Returner" by Allison Russell
Album: The Returner Writers: Allison Russell, Drew Lindsay & JT Nero Allison Russell has one of my absolute favorite voices in music right now – it’s so sultry and smooth and just makes you feel like flying – and it feels like it could stand the test of time like the greats who came before her. “The Returner,” off her second studio album as a solo artist of the same name, is such a glorious mixture of Russell’s voice with lush string instruments, which I believe are SistaStrings (Monique and Chauntee Ross) on violin and cello. Critic Ken Tucker in his review for NPR said of Russell’s album: “Russell makes a kind of rhythm and blues that mixes gospel with soul.” You can certainly hear that in the title track as Russell seems to be soaring with a type of glee that I assure you is infectious.
17. "Keep It on A Burner" by Margo Cilker
Album: Valley of Heart's Delight Writers: Margo Cilker My favorite song off Margo Cilker’s impressive 2021 debut album Pohorylle was “Tehachapi,” which had a terrific reference to the great Little Feat song “Willin’.” My favorite track off her sophomore release Valley of Heart’s Delight this year is “Keep It on A Burner,” which includes a reference to one of my favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival songs “Lodi.” So, maybe what I really just want from Cilker is terrific classic rock references in her music – but I think these references show not just a terrific taste in music but also a musical kinship with some of the legends of the past with her influences coming out in her music and helping to give it a great throwback feel. “Keep It on a Burner” will have you swaying along to the melody while marveling at her stream-of-consciousness songwriting.
16. "Can I Be Country Too?" by Will Hoge & Friends
Album: Non-Album Single Writer: Will Hoge Will Hoge has never been one to shy away from saying exactly what he thinks and feels in his songs and that’s what makes him one of the most honest and best songwriters of the last couple of decades. This summer there were a couple of country songs – both of which actually hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – in Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” and Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” that attempted to sew discord among listeners of the genre. It coincided with an artist like Maren Morris no longer she believed in the country music genre do to her opinions on certain topics that some would call political, while others would just think as human or humane. For a while there it seemed like country music was trying to be taken as a white conservatives-only genre, which is absurdist bullshit and Hoge knows that. So, he wrote “Can I Be Country Too?,” a tongue-in-cheek song with brilliant lyrics like: “What if I pray a different way than you do?” “What I believe that black lives matter?” “What if I vote for a democrat politician?” “What if I think gays getting’ married’s OK?” and it all culminates in the sarcastic question, “Can I be country too?” And then after writing the song he sought out the help of some others who might be considered country music outsiders or outcasts to help sing it in members of the Black Opry Revue, the diverse Country Any Way Collective and the black and gay duo the Kentucky Gentlemen. Country music is and shall always be for anybody and everybody.
15. "Bad Imagination" by Sundy Best
Album: Feel Good Country Writers: Nicholas Jamerson & Adam Landry This must have been a particularly moody year for me based on many of my favorite songs of the year and Sundy Best’s “Pure Imagination,” from its album Feel Good Country, is certainly one of my most listened-to of the year. The song, co-written by Nicholas Jamerson and Adam Landry, sees a narrator who’s stopping himself from being happy in life and features one of the year’s most unique, original and simply interesting melodies. Jamerson also cut a version of the song for his solo album, Peace Mountain, which is quite a bit different in its overall sound (I prefer the Sundy Best version) but still worth a listen for sure.
14. "Thundertown" by Tony Logue
Album: The Crumbs Writers: Tony Logue You can tell from the first listen of Tony Logue’s “Thundertown,” the track that leads off his third album The Crumbs, that it was inspired by Bruce Springsteen. I believe the song to be most certainly inspired by Springsteen’s 1978 classic “Racing in the Street,” the song just shares too many similarities for it not to be. But unlike racing cars in the street to make a living, Logue is doing it with his musical talent and his band driving across the land in a van and playing small venues to earn their stripes. “Thundertown,” hell it even sounds like it strung together Springsteen titles, is one of the best examples I’ve seen of taking a sound, theme, etc. and making it your own. It’s an homage for sure whereas it could’ve just been a rip-off.
13. "Macon If We Make It" by Lucero
Album: Should've Learned by Now Writer: Ben Nichols Lucero’s “Macon If We Make It,” off the veteran band’s latest album Should’ve Learned By Now, was my favorite Southern Rock jam of 2023. Propulsive guitars, especially a ripping solo by Brian Venable, lead the way, as they truly should in any Southern Rocker, as frontman and songwriter Ben Nichols uses an impending storm to draw parallels with a relationship that’s circling the drain like the eye of a hurricane. Nichols told Grateful Web: “We were on tour in Georgia and a hurricane was coming through. Someone asked where out next show was and we said, ‘Macon, if we make it.” Sometimes witty quips in conversation make for the best song titles and plotlines.
12. "In Your Love" by Tyler Childers
Album: Rustin' in the Rain Writers: Tyler Childers & Geno Seale Tyler Childers isn’t exactly a stranger to love songs – “Feathered Indians” off his debut Purgatory has become something of a modern country classic but with a bit of an edge to it. “In Your Love,” off Childers’ latest Rustin’ In The Rain, loses that edge and comes at you with absolute sweetness (as well as a music video that’ll likely make you cry) about how hard he’ll work for the one he loves. It has this mixture of tenderness wrapped up in the language of a hardworking, blue-collar man that makes me believe it’ll become a classic modern love story of its own.
11. "Cheap Paradise" by Erin Viancourt
Album: Won't Die This Way Writers: Erin Viancourt, Pearl Aday & Ward Davis One name new to me in 2023 in the country music and Americana circles that I’m no doubt going to be on the lookout for going into the future is Erin Viancourt, whom Wide Open Country called “Country Music’s next breakout indie artist.” Her debut album Won’t Die This Way is filled with many terrific tracks, including “B24” and “Should’ve Known Better,” but it’s the first track on the album, “Cheap Paradise” that stood out to me the most. On the track, Viancourt sings about finding joy in the little things during a busy life, like finding the right bar with an old jukebox and cold Michelob. If I found a bit of paradise in 2023 in my favorite musical genres it was no doubt Erin Viancourt.
10. "Burn It Down" by Jason Eady
Album: Mississippi Writers: Jason Eady & Adam Hood One of my favorite lyrics of 2023 is: “Every time things start to go my way I burn it down like a temple on judgment day.” I can identify with that so much. I’m sure many of us can. Jason Eady’s “Burn It Down,” off his terrific album Mississippi, sees the narrator telling of his destructive ways while a nice, electric groove is being laid down underneath it. Eady has been no stranger to this list in past years but usually with more subdued songs that let the lyrics speak for themselves. “Burn It Down” has found a way to give me one of my favorite lines of the year while also making me feel that groove deep down in my soul.
9. "Mean Old Sun" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain Writer: Evan Felker “Mean Old Sun” was the first single we got from the new Turnpike Troubadours reunion album A Cat in the Rain when it was released in May some months ahead of the album. It’s understandable to be a bit nervous about one of your all-time favorite bands coming back from a long hiatus, one you didn’t know if they’d ever return from, with new music but from the very first listen of “Mean Old Sun” I knew songwriter/vocalist Evan Felker and the boys in the band hadn’t lost a thing. “Mean Old Sun,” the band’s first new song in six years, sees Felker and the group defiant in their return with the terrific chorus ender: “that mean old sun better rise up soon if it’s ever gonna set on me.” With that Turnpike was back and better than ever.
8. "Middle of the Morning" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes Writer: Jason Isbell Jason Isbell has been my favorite songwriter in the Americana genre for more than a decade now going back to the first time I heard his song “Alabama Pines” off his 2011 album Here We Rest. I think the songwriters we wind up liking the most are the ones who write songs we can identify the most with as humans and for better or worse few songs had me identifying with them more in 2023 than “Middle of the Morning,” off Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Grammy-nominated Weathervanes. Isbell knows the feeling of being a Southern man and all the bullshit that comes with it – having to be tough when you feel the furthest thing from it and the like. And the lines about his significant other being scared of him because of these unspoken, depressive feelings hit me hard. The great songwriters will do that to you.
7. "Cool About It" by boygenius
Album: the record Writer: Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers & Paul Simon I’m honestly not sure if boygenius – the super trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus - should be included in the seemingly ever-encompassing Americana genre (Indie rock and folk rock are what their Wiki page labels them), but I like the song and it’s close enough, so it’s here. “Cool About It” has the trio beautifully singing over a softly picked guitar about a seemingly young relationship that isn’t working out. I particularly love the line: “I can walk you home and practice method acting.”
6. "Amarillo and Little Rock" by Caitlin Cannon
Album: Non-Album Single Writer: Caitlin Cannon Caitlin Cannon’s “Amarillo and Little Rock” will just about drop you to your knees with its story of breaking down – both figuratively and literally - somewhere on the road between Amarillo and Little Rock. I completely understand lines like: “always running behind, never can catch up.” It’s such a well-written song by Cannon with a nice conversational tone and a vocal that will knock your socks off.
5. "Light On in the Kitchen" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil I Know Writers: Ashley McBryde, Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington Ashley McBryde is one of the best singer-songwriters currently in the country music genre and the great thing about her music is it’s crossed over a bit into the mainstream – even if it hasn’t been as successful in the mainstream as it should be. She really gets the country life down in her music and “Light on In the Kitchen,” which she co-wrote with Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington, is a perfect example of this as an advice song from one’s elder about life.
4. "Jersey Giant" by Josiah and the Bonnevilles
Album: Country Covers Writer: Tyler Childers “Jersey Giant” is freakin’ everywhere. The song was written, but never recorded by Tyler Childers, why I don’t understand, but he made it available recently for other artists and multiple ones immediately bit the hook. I first heard the song from the wonderful rendition by Elle King on her latest Come Get Your Wife, but my favorite performance of the song is by Josiah and the Bonnevilles off their Country Covers album. “Jersey Giant” sees the narrator recalling a past love and all the good times they had together and how he’s more than willing to relive some of them if his love just says yes.
3. "Chipping Mill" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain Writers: R.C. Edwards & Lance Roark There are a lot of great songs on the Turnpike Troubadours comeback album A Cat in the Rain – half of the album appears on this very list, in fact – but if there’s one song on the album that I think will most stand out to fans it’s “Chipping Mill,” which I feel like has multiple meanings throughout when he says, “I always kept the best for you.” There’s the feeling of vocalist Evan Felker reuniting with his wife Staci, the reunion of the band and coming back together in front of their long-time and passionate fans. I’m not sure if bassist and songwriter R.C. Edwards had all of that in mind when he co-wrote the song with Lance Roark but it’s what I hear when Felker sings it. Like many of the band’s best songs, the instrumentation – especially the driving guitar of Ryan Engleman and excellent fiddle playing by Kyle Nix – is top-notch.
2. "Buried" by Brandy Clark
Album: Brandy Clark Writers: Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon Brandy Clark’s “Buried” is one of the most beautiful and devastating songs I heard in 2023 or really any year for that matter in its tale of undying, but unreciprocated love. In the song she tells of all of the things she can do to pass the time and not think about her past love like reading “Lonesome Dove” and falling asleep to “Hallelujah,” but you can tell by her vulnerability in her voice that it’s next to impossible. The final line of the song will flatten you. “Buried” reminds me a bit of one of my all-time favorite country songs – “I’ll Think of Something” (Mark Chesnutt’s version).
1. "King of Oklahoma" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes Writer: Jason Isbell Many of my favorite Jason Isbell songs over the years have been ones that I felt were really personal to him and what was going on in his life. “King of Oklahoma,” my No. 1 Americana/Country Music Song of 2023, is Isbell looking outward and coming up with a short story about an Oklahoman who used to live a good, simple life until it was all shot to hell due to an accident and opioids. With driving guitars throughout – likely both Isbell and Sadler Vaden – Isbell tells the tale of a blue-collar man’s tribulations by getting into his head and telling his story through his thoughts and feelings, though as someone open about his past addictions (though different ones) there is some personal baggage I’m sure that was pulled from to paint the portrait. The chorus is one of the most devastating of the year and there are moments in some of the verses like: “Molly’s gonna leave me/says she don’t believe me/I got nothing left to lie about/she’s going back to Bixby/tired of trying to fix me/says I got some shit to figure out” that have such a fantastic melody it’ll leave your mouth watering. |
Archives
March 2024
|