Tag: Good Country

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Swamp Dogg, Allison Russell, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Another week, another batch of excellent new roots music! You Gotta Hear This…

There’s plenty of Good Country to enjoy below, as we kick things off with Dallas Burrow’s brand new track, “Underdog.” In his heart of hearts, Burrow has always considered himself something of an outsider. He channels the angst and emotion of being an underdog through the rocking, passionate crescendo of the gritty country track. Then we immediately follow that up with more from similar sonic territory, as Whey Jennings and Karen Waldrup join forces on a song they co-wrote, “Damned If I Stay.” We’re sharing the new video for the number, a thoughtful Outlaw-steeped ballad that was begging for the duet treatment – which Jennings and Waldrup execute very well. It’s as relatable as it is personal.

In bluegrass (or from nearby!), banjoist Max Wareham launches his new album, If The Cosmos Were Whiskey…, today. To celebrate, we’re sharing the music video for “Closer To You,” as cosmic and enchanting as the record title. It’s experimental string band music that falls somewhere in the nebulous territory between neo-folk, indie, and trance. The psychedelia of jamgrass, but more deliberate and “slowed down.” When you read Wareham’s inspiration behind the track, these connections make even more sense.

Also arriving directly from the magical musical cosmos is a new track from the ethereal Allison Russell. Timed for release on Juneteenth, “Black Lavender” features Brittney Spencer and is a song about extending grace, comfort, and care – and the importance of community to lift each other up. “We saved this song for Juneteenth for a reason,” she explains. “Black women have been showing up for each other in this way as long as we’ve been here, and we can’t stop, won’t stop now!” Listen to the timely track below.

You’ll also want to hear new music from an Americana legend Swamp Dogg. His new album, Swamp Dogg Contemplates The Afterlife, is out today. But the Dogg doesn’t want you to be too concerned that our roundup selection, “Final Approach” is about mortality. “‘Final Approach’ uses an airliner metaphor, but it’s more about a homecoming than dealing with the end of life,” he explains via email. “[But], I’m OK with this ‘final approach,'” he continues. “I’ve been blessed and that’s something to sing about.” The song is smooth, grooving, and dripping with Swamp Dogg’s personality.

It’s all right here on BGS and You Gotta Hear This!

Dallas Burrow, “Underdog”

Artist: Dallas Burrow
Hometown: New Braunfels, Texas
Song: “Underdog”
Album: Modern Day Vagabond
Release Date: June 17, 2026 (single); September 25, 2026 (album)
Label: 40 Below Records

In Their Words: “Like the character Dally from The Outsiders – a rebel through and through – in my heart of hearts, I’ve always felt like a little bit of an outsider, an outlier, an underdog, but I always found that, on some level, to be a point of pride. It gives you a unique perspective when you’re on the outside looking in. That’s the basic spirit of this song, though it was also inspired somewhat by my own experiences within the music business, where so many people are telling you who they think you are and how things ought to be done. Usually in some attempt to conform you to their vision of who you ought to be, when each of us, ultimately, has our own path.

“I grew up listening to hard rock and metal as a kid, before I got into the more restrained approach of the singer-songwriters who I have come to love and admire. But there’s always something in me that, at some point, wants to dig in, let loose, and rock out, so it was very liberating for me to lay this track down. It gave me a chance to scream my heart out a little bit in the song’s crescendo; a guttural catharsis that is hard to achieve through any other means except rock ‘n’ roll.

“The band really brings this one to life: Mark Tokach’s searing electric guitar, Larry Chaney’s booming distorted baritone, Kullen Fox’s fiery B3 organ track, Katie Shore providing her tastefully avant-garde harmony part in the chorus, legendary producer Mike McClure on second acoustic guitar, and Adam Odor on bass, and finally Cameron Martin from my touring band on drums, who comes from a rock ‘n’ roll background – and who were all chomping at the bit to rock this one out.” – Dallas Burrow

Whey Jennings & Karen Waldrup, “Damned If I Stay”

Artist: Whey Jennings
Hometown: West Texas
Song: “Damned If I Stay” with Karen Waldrup
Album: Baptized By Fire
Release Date: June 18, 2026 (video/single)
Label: Dirt Rock Empire

In Their Words: “‘Damned If I Stay’ is about being caught between staying and leaving when both choices hurt. It’s that tension a lot of people don’t talk about. This song called for a duet and Karen’s voice added the contrast that helped bring the full emotion of the story to life.” – Whey Jennings

“Writing this song with Whey Jennings was such a career highlight for me. He is such an emotional singer and that’s what this song needed. I have such a special friendship with Whey and it’s incredible to see that friendship spotlighted on such a personal song for both of us from our own life experiences.” – Karen Waldrup

Video Credits: Director/producer – Gio Gotay.

Allison Russell, “Black Lavender”

Artist: Allison Russell
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Song: “Black Lavender” with Brittney Spencer
Album: In The Hour of Chaos
Release Date: June 19, 2026 (single); July 10, 2026 (album)
Label: Fantasy Records

In Their Words: “We are swimming in rivers – flash floods! – of adrenaline right now. ‘Black Lavender’ is a song about extending grace and soothing comfort to a chosen sister… the kind I have trouble extending to myself. But the beautiful thing is, she’s the same way – and she gives it all back and some. Brittney Spencer is a voice for all the ages who we need right now. We saved this song for Juneteenth for a reason. Black women have been showing up for each other in this way as long as we’ve been here, and we can’t stop, won’t stop now! Incomparable . That’s what we all are, you know? Precious… magical.” – Allison Russell

Video Credit: Directed by Athena Kulb.

Swamp Dogg, “Final Approach”

Artist: Swamp Dogg
Hometown: Portsmouth, Virginia
Song: “Final Approach”
Album: Swamp Dogg Contemplates The Afterlife
Release Date: June 19, 2026
Label: S-Curve Records

In Their Words: “‘Final Approach’ uses an airliner metaphor, but it’s more about a homecoming than dealing with the end of life. That’s something that’s inevitable, but the life I’ve lived has been truly fulfilling and I remain both hopeful and thankful. I cite some of the music pioneers – Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Chuck Willis – who went before their time. While I’ve come as far as I have for as long as I have, and that’s something spiritually uplifting. The great work of those guys lives on and so do I, which is why I’m OK with this ‘final approach.’ I’ve been blessed and that’s something to sing about.” – Swamp Dogg

Max Wareham, “Closer To You”

Artist: Max Wareham
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Closer To You”
Album: If The Cosmos Were Whiskey…
Release Date: June 19, 2026

In Their Words: “I wrote this one thinking about 8th-century Chinese mountain poets and Milarepa, the Tibetan yogi who sang his way to enlightenment in a cave, which is either the most pretentious thing you’ll read this week or the most honest. There’s a figure wandering through it, searching for something that keeps shape-shifting: person, place, idea. The song refuses to say, and that refusal is the whole point. To me, it has the patience of something that’s been waiting a long time.

“Chris Sartori, formerly of Twisted Pine, plays an inspired bass part like he’s keen on the trail of this ghost. Give it a listen and see what you think you’re looking for.” – Max Wareham

Track Credits:
Max Wareham – Banjo, vocals
Jack Holland – Guitar
Chris Sartori – Bass
Karl Helander – Percussion
Lily Sexton – Harmony vocals

Video Credits: Grant Bouvier

Photo Credit: Swamp Dogg by Cooper Davidson; Allison Russell by Mason Poole.

Country + Disco?
Country + Bluegrass?

Posted on by Shelby Williamson

Editor’s Note: Each issue of Good Country, our co-founder Ed Helms shares a handful of good country artists, albums, and songs direct from his own earphones in Ed’s Picks.

Dailey & Vincent
Dailey & Vincent

A premier modern bluegrass duo, Dailey & Vincent return today with a brand-new album, A Beautiful Life. Their harmonies, polish, and showmanship are unparalleled in bluegrass – and beyond. Yes, they have bluegrass and string band music in their bones, but limiting them to just ‘grass would be selling them short. They’re also country, gospel, Americana, and so much more.

Watch for more coverage of Dailey & Vincent and A Beautiful Life coming soon to BGS.

Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert

From Sturgill Simpson to Abbie Callahan, from the Cowgays to Miranda Lambert, the intersection of country and disco is a hoppin’ address at the moment! Lambert’s quippy, light, and fun track built on a portmanteau of the two genres is as Southern as it gets, from vegetable shortening to the dance floor sparkling under a disco ball. Country-disco is a decades-old tradition and we’re here for this resurgence.

The Red Clay Strays
The Red Clay Strays

Speaking of blending styles, the Red Clay Strays are doing it better than almost anyone these days. To the GC team, the skyrocketing Alabama outfit always sound like country, but it’s obvious their sound is so much more – rockabilly, soul, grunge, punk, golden-era rock and roll, garage country. Whatever they infuse into their music, it always feels right at home in Good Country. Their brand new album, Grateful, is out now.

Joshua Ray Walker
Joshua Ray Walker

Last month, Texan country crooner Joshua Ray Walker returned with a new LP, Ain’t Dead Yet. Don’t be dissuaded by the thread of winking mortality and silly macabre that he continues to trace through his songs; after his own brush with death – he was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 – Walker’s sardonic and witty style of country & western has found a charming and entertaining edge by staring the shortness of life dead in the eye. (Pun intended?) Another excellent set from an essential contemporary traditionalist.

Bella White
Bella White

Another excellent artist who bridges country, bluegrass, and more – but perhaps from the opposite end of the continuum from Dailey & Vincent. Bella White’s music feels elemental, channeled from across time, but never anachronistic. Her songwriting and style feels in the vein of other country oracles like Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, and Lucinda Williams. But it’s also all her own. Her latest album, A Sign In The Weather, was released June 5.

Listen to this issue of Ed’s Picks in one YouTube playlist here.

Listen to the full Ed’s Picks archive playlist here.

Photo Credits: Dailey & Vincent by Gregg Roth; Miranda Lambert by Robert Ascroft; The Red Clay Strays, Grateful album cover; Joshua Ray Walker by Mike Dunn; Bella White by Tamara Flemming

Caleb Caudle Has Learned to Trust Himself

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

For nearly two decades North Carolina folk singer Caleb Caudle has traveled the country bringing his music to fans wherever they’ll listen, but on his forthcoming eighth studio record he adds a new role to his repertoire – producer.

Released June 5 via his newly launched imprint Hand Plow Records, Heavy Thrill looks to be his most ambitious work yet, as it melds his personal evolution and artistic journey into one singular vision. Whether he’s ruminating on a bumpy road to self-improvement on “Slow Growth,” analyzing self-doubt with “Anxious,” or examining how people deal with adversity on “Path of Desire,” Caudle’s words tell the story of his individual journey through a world that’s changing too fast for him to keep up with.

Although the bulk of the record was recorded at Johnny Cash’s former retreat-turned-studio, the Cash Cabin, Caudle actually recorded his bits for the album at a friend’s studio in the Pocono Mountains – before returning to Tennessee to wrap things up at the same place he captured his projects Better Hurry Up (2020) and Forsythia (2022). He says that the familiar setting not only helped him hone in as a producer, but also helped him to tap into the building’s history as continues chipping away at perfecting his retro modern sound.

“I feel like I’ve started to develop my own sound over the past 20 years that marries traditional elements with more modern sounds,” Caudle tells BGS.

“Because of that I’ve never been afraid to try new things. In many ways I think of what people like Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, or myself are making as modern country music, but in a different timeline where people aren’t as focused on songs about pickup trucks and shaking your ass,” he continues, laughing.

Caudle spoke with BGS about learning from other producers, fatherhood, artificial intelligence, and more.

This is your eighth studio record, but your first time self-producing one of those projects. What motivated you to finally take the plunge?

Caleb Caudle: It’s been one of my end goals for a really long time. I’ve always wanted to produce my own records, but I wanted to go and work with people first that I could learn from. Each has brought different things to the table I’ve picked up on. I’ve also always been involved in the process and have a good idea for how I wanted things to sound. Then after talking with some of my past producers and telling them my plan they all gave me their votes of confidence.

Once I jumped in I wound up doing a lot more pre-production than I’d ever done in the past. I also had great mixing and mastering engineers – Jacquire King and Pete Lyman – who were my safety net in case anything went off track. It turned out to be a really fun experience that even has me thinking about producing records for other folks someday.

While producing the record was new for you, the place you did most of it at – the Cash Cabin – was not. Tell me about what drew you back there to record for the third time?

That place is like my second home now. I’ve done several video sessions there and written with John Carter Cash a bunch. This time around I also kept the band leaner there than I had ever done before. It was just five people total, with no features or guest vocalists like some of my past records have had. I instead wanted to make something that was more self-contained. I knew I could make a record the other way, so I wanted to see what it’d feel like if I took some of those pieces out and really relied on my own instincts above everything else.

It’s also a place with so much history that I’m able to tap into even though I’m writing mostly about my own modern-day experiences. At the end of the day, I love Ralph Stanley just as much as I do Big Thief. They all come from a place that’s honest to that person, which is what I’m after, too. I love what indie rock bands like Bonny Light Horseman do with melodies, but I also love Flatt & Scruggs. It’s all music to me – I’m just trying to take bits and pieces from all of it that I feel would suit my sound.

With that in mind, I also think it’s important to listen to music outside or your own genre. Sometimes when I’m struggling with songwriting I’ll start listening to a ton of jazz to provide that spark that gets me writing again. Other times I’ll go a month listening to music with no lyrics before I grab the pen again. Whether it’s a playwright, actor, poet or songwriter, I always find myself drawn to folks that are passionate about what they’re doing.

Tell me about the writing process for this record… Did anything stand out compared to previous writing sessions? And how many leftover songs did you pen for it that didn’t make the cut?

I’ve had extras every time I’ve made a record. For me, there’s the obvious ones that are going to make the record that everyone feels good about, then there’s another batch of songs that I wouldn’t call “filler,” [that] are less immediate. We do our best to decipher which of those are the missing puzzle pieces for the story we’re trying to build. It’s like having brother and sister songs on the record where something on Side A reminds you of a tune on Side B – it’s all very cohesive. Trimming the fat is such a big part of songwriting for me. As a writer you want to focus on giving people what they need and not all the fluff surrounding it.

Since writing and recording these songs you and your wife learned you’re expecting your first child this summer. How has that knowledge shifted the perspective you have of these songs?

While I didn’t know I was going to be a dad before I wrote it, it almost feels like a record that’s preparing me for that whole process. It’s a really measured and honest look at where my life is right now. There’s a lot of mass confusion in our world currently with artificial intelligence and inflation that feels out of my control. That’s the macro side of it, but I’m also looking at things on a micro level by taking care of the earth and those around me.

With this new label I’ve set up, with every 100 records I sell I’m providing 1,000 meals to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. I want to do all I can to help the people around me in a meaningful way. I’m not saying to disregard the big stuff by any means, because I do believe it’s important to be tapped into what’s going on in the world, but for me personally I feel like my time is best placed in my own community with the people of Appalachia around me.

You just mentioned your label, Hand Plow Records. Tell me more about launching that and the intentionality behind its name?

I live across the street from my great uncle who has a single-horse hand plow that belonged to his great-grandfather and goes back multiple generations. My parents used to plow tobacco near Winston-Salem and sold it to RJ Reynolds, so it’s something I’ve always been around. It also seems like really hard work, which has me drawing lots of parallels between what I do as a musician and the farming they did. I weather storms the same way they did, by putting in the work, planting seeds and constantly nurturing them while they blossom and grow. Farmers are critical to our way of life, so I wanted to use the name to honor them for their hard work and sacrifice.

Is “Slow Growth” reflective of that hard work and change, whether it be on a farm, internally, or in society at large?

That’s a song about honing your craft and trying to become a better person each day. I’m not out here looking for shortcuts, even though so much of society right now is about “how I can get things done the quickest,” especially with AI – which in music feels like cutting corners on something I’ve dedicated 20 years of my life to. I don’t know that anything meaningful will ever come of that process, because lessons learned are the whole point. I don’t think I’d be writing the songs that I’m writing now had I not written the songs that I had before them.

AI feels like a very cheapened version of real life, and I’m not interested in that. It’s a huge threat to the existence of art and creativity – both things that can’t be faked or fast-tracked. It’s a slow process where you have to put the work in every day. There’s days where I pick up and play for two hours but don’t write a single word, but it still feels important. It feels like part of this bigger process where I’ve dedicated my life to this thing, so the fact that someone could use AI to generate a song that sounds like me is scary. It can give them an approximation of what I may sound like, but it’s not getting at where I’m at currently. It’s replicating what’s already been made, but I’m out here trying to tell new stories. It’s the opposite of progress.

Another song that reminds me of stepping away from technology and plugging into the moment is “Sequoia Polaroids.” Tell me about what inspired that one.

I’m constantly trying to pay attention to the small details. [My wife] Lauren and I were on a solo tour opening for Ray Wylie Hubbard in California a while back and we made a trip out to Sequoia National Park. That song is almost like a page from that day. We wound up taking a bunch of Polaroids and throwing them on the dash of the car. The song is about being present in those moments and spaces that feel ancient and vulnerable.

Places like Sequoia are majestic and big and we have an opportunity as humans to help preserve or destroy them. Those spaces are so important to me, so it was really cool to get a song out of that day. The trees out there shrink you in a way that’s very humbling – it’s a beautiful thing.

Nature is a great way to get in tune with yourself, just how vinyl is a great way to interact with music on a deeper level. On that note, I know the physical version of Heavy Thrill incorporates some cool imagery taken from its title track. How did that come to be?

I’ve got to shout out Skillet Gilmore, who did the art. He’s an incredible artist in Raleigh that I love working with. The ants carrying the peach pit [that appears on the center of Heavy Thrill on vinyl] come from a lyric in the title track about how an army of ants can lift up a peach. [That] is symbolic of our chaotic world and how we’ve got to work together to get things done, setting aside our differences along the way in order to find some common ground. When we do that you’ll realize we all have a lot more in common than we think and that our goal should be to help everyone be happy and thrive. A rising tide lifts all ships, so it’s important to work together and show empathy to your fellow humans, because you never know what sort of hard times they’re going through. It’s like Mr. Rogers once said: “Look for the helpers.”

One of my favorite parts of the record is the instrumental transition two thirds of the way through “No Show,” which feels like a new composition entirely. How did it come about?

That instrumental piece is something I’ve been playing at sound checks for a couple years called “June Bug Crawl.” I included it on the record because I was always a fan of when folks like Doc Watson included instrumentals on their records. I thought the song was really cool even though it’s in a different key than “No Show” is, but I still wanted them to live together on the record. I give a lot of credit to my buddy Philippe Bronchtein, who played pedal steel and keys on the record. He’s very good with the more electronic side of things. We basically had to get the instrumentals into a different moment to execute that transitional moment. It was executed flawlessly and really works well given the context of the song and record.

On a more reflective note, what has bringing Heavy Thrill to life taught you about yourself?

It’s taught me to trust myself. This is the first time I’ve seen an album all the way through calling the shots myself. I’ve spent 20 years doing this and developed good instincts over that time, so it’s important to believe in those and remain confident in what I’m doing.

Photo Credit: Joseph Cash

Are the Brudi Brothers More Cowboy Than You?

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

With three-part sibling harmonies and acoustic arrangements that harken back to the music of the 1940s, the Brudi Brothers are still somehow right in step with the modern era.

Seattle-based brothers Johannes, Conrad, and George Brudi charmed millions on social media with “Me More Cowboy Than You,” a catchy and clever number written after a winter trip to San Francisco. In the midst of tech workers in puffy L.L. Bean jackets, the brothers couldn’t help but notice the occasional random guy in 1960s cowboy attire. The anachronism naturally lent itself to some gentle ribbing. Who among us hasn’t seen someone, camera in hand, doing a country fit check?

When “Me More Cowboy Than You” took off on TikTok in January 2025, the Brudi Brothers already knew how to sing loud and hold a crowd, giving them a runway to a touring career. They’ve signed business deals with Mom and Pop Records and CAA, but they’re still leaning toward the DIY aesthetic. (For example, their best friend from school is their tour manager; he even built out a trailer for them.)

@brudibrothers Wrote a mean song because we’re bad boys. Let us know if you want to hear more of it #folk #country #americana #blues #fyp #fypシ #guitar #seattle #LA #local #localmusic #harmony #bass #nationalguitar @Welles ♬ original sound – The Brudi Brothers

In the summer of 2025, the brothers broadened their audience on bills with fellow former busker, Sierra Ferrell. They’ll join her on dozens of dates this summer, too. Last November, the band made their Nashville debut at the Ryman Auditorium on a bill with 49 Winchester and Noeline Hofmann. While the brothers weren’t familiar with the history of the venue, being from the Pacific Northwest, they are well-versed in the golden era of country music.

“Being in the back of the Ryman, we saw all these photos of these legends of the national country scene from the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘70s,” Conrad Brudi says. “In the photos, you can see that you’re standing in the same doorway as the photo was taken. That was pretty exciting.”

Already this year they’ve opened select concerts for The Head and The Heart, headlined a club tour, and confirmed a pair of hometown dates in Seattle warming up the crowd for Kacey Musgraves. They’ve also brought in one of their favorite folk musicians, Eleni Govetas (violin and percussion) to tour with them, adding not only musical dexterity, but also a hint of instrumental mystique.

Good Country tracked down the Brudi Brothers by phone somewhere in Ohio, as they spent a day off driving to their next gig to promote their new Dark and Stormy EP.

When you hear the phrase “dark and stormy,” you might think of that literary line, “It was a dark and stormy night.” Or you might think of a rum cocktail. Now it’s the title of your EP released in April. What was it about that phrase that kind of sparked your interest?

Conrad Brudi: Actually a dream that Eleni was having. She was talking in her sleep while we were camping, and she said, “Who’s your Mr. Handsome Darkened Prairie?” – a weird character in her dream that was like a sexy version of Mr. Clean. I woke her up, like, “What’s going on?” And she said, “It was like this sexy, bald guy on a burnt prairie.”

[The title] “Mr. Handsome Darkened Prairie” would be a little bit too avant-garde. So I just changed it and wrote a song about a guy we used to busk with who died, from the perspective of his dogs. This guy was a real piece of work. Basically, there were some girls that liked him, but mostly just his dogs liked him. And I figured his dogs must miss him. So I wrote that song sort of about these two dogs who stuck with him despite the fact that he was kind of a bad guy.

You’ve been performing since you were young, right? How old were you when you started?

CB: We have been doing this since we were teenagers. I was 16 or 17 when I started. George was 14. So we have over a decade of busking and learning traditionals and standards and all these folk songs of jazz and ragtime, and bluegrass standards. We busked a lot in Europe. We were, at times, one of very few American acts in a city at that time. For much of our busking career, we’ve been sort of a novelty in town. And so coming back to America, it was daunting, not knowing how we would be accepted in the actual American music community.

How did you get linked up with Sierra Ferrell?

CB: It was just being part of the same busker circuit. All of her friends are buskers or in that community, so we know so many people who busked with her in various groups that she was part of or leading. We’ve sort of missed [crossing paths with] her for years now, but we’d always known about her and saw her online stuff and heard stories about her. So we met her on the first of May last year, officially, and we played a show with her in Albuquerque on May Day.

George Brudi: But how we got linked up is a lot less romantic than just happenstance. It was our agent who linked us up.

CB: We had been told by bookers before that we should sign with their booking agency because we could play with people like, say, Sierra Ferrell.

That’s a good pitch, right?

CB: We said, “Nah, we’ll pass on this one.” They’d say, “I guess you’ll never play with Sierra Ferrell.” So we ended up playing with her anyway.

At the Exit/In show in Nashville, you played “Moon Over Montana,” and it’s not that often you hear a Jimmy Wakely shout-out. What made you want to record that song for this EP?

CB: It’s one of those songs that does well busking, and we enjoy singing it. And it’s a fun, three-part harmony tune. Then you have that cool violin part for it. So, it was sort of thrown in last minute, actually. We were trying other songs because we wanted to put one cover on the EP. We were trying all these other things. We tried recording “Goin’ Up the Country” and we didn’t really like that. Then we tried “Moon Over Montana.” It came out naturally and sounded much better than anything else that we had tried, cover-wise, that session.

Listening to that song on the EP, you’re an impressive whistler. How did you learn to whistle?

CB: From cowboy movies, like The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Ennio Morricone, “The Ecstasy of Gold.” I loved whistling that when I was a kid. That was my favorite movie, and we had really good acoustics in the bathroom where we went to school. That’s where I learned to whistle.

At that show in Nashville, you were playing originals, but you pulled out a Lonnie Johnson song and a Lead Belly song and a Sons of the Pioneers song. How did you discover this wealth of music? Where did you hear about these older artists?

CB: Our grandparents. We lived with our grandparents, and our grandpa was a Dixieland banjo player and harmonica player. Also our dad had a lot of CDs, and played fiddle and guitar. We just grew up with it. Some of it was the atmosphere we were in that led us to discover the kind of music we actually related to, as opposed to just listening to whatever our friends in school were listening to, the Top 40 or something. I think all of us have an aversion to music that doesn’t feel good to us. I don’t know how else to say it.. We all don’t listen to a whole lot of music, but when we do listen, we’ll obsess over one artist or one song or one album. And so it’s not necessarily a wide breadth, but it’s a deep trench. [Laughs]

George, when did you gravitate towards playing the upright bass?

GB: It was a little more than a year ago, right before we played “Me More Cowboy.” I was telling Johannes that I should get an upright bass and we should sing into one microphone. The bassist standing in the middle, then two guitars on the side, and we sing three-part harmony. And then I got the bass without really realizing you actually have to learn how to play upright. So, this last year, I’ve been trying as fast as I can to figure out how to play the instrument.

How did that go for you? Did you pick it up pretty quick?

GB: I think I picked up the basic technique of it quickly, then I plateaued really heavily. I’m slowly digging myself out of it, because it’s hard to make notes, but to have them be in tune is the harder part.

How did “Me More Cowboy Than You” change the game for you?

GB: It’s the reason why we’re able to tour now and why we have a record deal and all that stuff. It’s like, that’s to thank for it. But I hope that it’s seen as a jumping off point, and isn’t just like the thing that people recognize, and then they’re like, ”All right, moving on.”

Are you getting that vibe? It seems like it fits in pretty well with a general show.

CB: It’s more of our concern that the suits will see it that way. “Well, write another hit,” you know? … There was even a write-up in a big magazine that put an article out saying that “Me More Cowboy Than You” was clearly about our experience in Nashville. I looked into it. The writer was from London. It was just sort of him guessing.

I noticed as soon as you played that song in Nashville, all the phones came out. “The flickering screens,” right on cue. It’s got to feel good to have a song that everybody’s excited to hear. What is it like to travel the country with a song that people love?

GB There’s nothing really to compare it to. We played the Ryman last November and when we played that song, looking at the stained glass windows and the crowd of people in the beautiful theater, that was a pretty cool moment to realize, like, “Wow, this is the reason why we’re here.”

Photo Credit: Kat Vandergriff

You Gotta Hear This: New Music From Wyatt Flores, Larry Keel, and More

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

New Music Friday is here! And here’s what we’re listening to today. You Gotta Hear This:

Kicking us off, Western North Carolina’s premier bluegrass outfit Balsam Range bring us a bluegrass classic: a train song. “Life I Left Behind” is out today, the latest single from the IBMA Award-winning group is soulful and brooding, built on strong harmonies and the clean modern bluegrass sound the band has become known for. Below, bassist and singer Tim Surrett describes how the track is personal to him and his family.

From north of the NC border and a few steps towards jamgrass, guitarist and singer-songwriter Larry Keel has dropped a new, hilarious song this week entitled “Butt Dial.” Yep, it’s about exactly what you think it’s about – and it was co-written with bluegrass legend Peter Rowan. Keel and Rowan each tell us about the song and its inspirations and you can take a listen as well.

Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light share a new music video today for “Yodelay,” a cozy and vibrant song about the afterglow of good times and fellowship. Written by Sumner and Dinty Child of Session Americana, the group tracked the song at eTown in Colorado after winning studio time at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest last year. An EP, also titled Yodelay, is on the way later this month.

Country star-on-the-rise Wyatt Flores has a new single out this week as well, as he looks ahead to his next album, Scared of Heights, coming in late July. “Half The Man” showcases the level of contemplation and introspection always evident in Flores’ writing and the grit and red dirt he brings to modern, mainstream country.

Rounding out our collection this time is Memphis-via-New York singer-songwriter Kate Prascher, whose new song “Jubilee” was inspired by a stroll across an old train trestle in the Hudson River Valley. Folky in a timeless fashion with a delicious and slow sonic build, “Jubilee” carries some of the eeriness Prascher felt when writing the song walking that train track.

Trains, butt dials, good times with good friends – exactly what we want in our weekly round-up! Enjoy, ’cause You Gotta Hear This!

Balsam Range, “Life I Left Behind”

Artist: Balsam Range
Hometown: Haywood County, North Carolina
Song: “Life I Left Behind”
Release Date: June 5, 2026

In Their Words: “There has always been a connection between bluegrass and trains. It’s personal for me because my dad worked nights for 30 years on the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Sometimes he would take me to work with him so I could ride the trains all night. There is a mysterious romantic quality about the freedom of the rails, and I think this new song has a bit of that. There’s a conflict between the freedom of going and the life left behind.” – Tim Surrett

Track Credits:
Caleb Smith – Acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Tim Surrett – Upright bass, resonator guitar, harmony vocal
Marc Pruett – Banjo
Alan Bibey – Mandolin
Stephen Hudson – Fiddle, harmony vocal

Wyatt Flores, “Half The Man”

Artist: Wyatt Flores
Hometown: Stillwater, Oklahoma
Song: “Half The Man”
Album: Scared of Heights
Release Date: June 5, 2026 (single); July 31, 2026 (album)
Label: MCA/Island Records

In Their Words: “I finally feel like I know who I’m supposed to be, right here in this moment. I’m not second-guessing myself anymore on what the music’s supposed to be, what I’m supposed to be chasing, or who I’ve become. This is who I am now in 2026. Still figuring out my struggles and mental health but finally getting the confidence to step back into this and to believe in myself again.” – Wyatt Flores talking about his upcoming album, Scared of Heights.

Larry Keel, “Butt Dial”

Artist: Larry Keel
Hometown: Lexington, Virginia
Song: “Butt Dial”
Release Date: June 3, 2026

In Their Words: “‘Butt Dial’ is a real-life, happy accident story that led Peter and a friend to reconnect and have a fun, late-night phone conversation. The lyrics are mostly Peter’s and I tweaked some words and phrasing to sync with the music I wrote for the song. Collaborating with Peter is such an easy, natural process. Can’t wait for more!” – Larry Keel

“Butt dialing is one of those phenomena of the guess times we live in. Sometimes you are listening to a soundtrack of a friend’s life, like entering someone’s dream, you can only wonder what is going on! In the song the butt dialing friends finally connect! Writing with Larry Keel is like that, jumping into an unknown dream!” – Peter Rowan

Track Credits:
Larry Keel – Guitar, vocals
Winston Mitchell – Mandolin
Justin Doyle – Bass
Kyle Tuttle – Banjo

Kate Prascher, “Jubilee”

Artist: Kate Prascher
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee
Song: “Jubilee”
Album: Sunday Afternoon
Release Date: June 3, 2026 (single); August 28, 2026 (album)
Label: First City Artists

In Their Words: “‘Jubilee’ follows a ghost train. I wrote it while walking on an old train trestle in Rosendale, New York, a town ringing with the eerie history of a stone quarry, carrying memories of my hometown across it. By the time I climbed down from the track, the song was mostly written. It’s a lyrical exploration of the word ‘jubilee’ as both a signal of celebration and of forgiveness.” – Kate Prascher

Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light, “Yodelay”

Artist: Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Song: “Yodelay”
Album: Yodelay
Release Date: June 5, 2026 (single); June 19, 2026 (EP)
Label: Bridge & Key

In Their Words:  “‘Yodelay’ is about having such a good night out that you decide to dwell in that feeling a little longer. Instead of jumping right back into work or the next thing on the calendar, it’s about lingering in the glow of a great evening, sleeping in, and appreciating life, love, and light. Dinty Child (Session Americana) and I wrote the song together after the chorus came to me before a show we were playing. We ended up finishing it from separate songwriting retreats, sending ideas back and forth over text. The song felt playful from the beginning and I loved the way the title seemed to carry more than one meaning. I’ve always been drawn to songs that let sound and language blur together a little bit.

“After Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light won the Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest last year, part of our prize was studio time at eTown in Boulder, Colorado. We decided to use it to record a cowboy EP featuring a mix of old songs and new originals. ‘Yodelay’ became the title track because it captures the spirit of the record so well – inviting and fun on the surface, with a little more waiting for the listener underneath.” – Rachel Sumner

Track Credits:
Rachel Sumner – Guitar, vocals, songwriter
Kat Wallace – Fiddle, vocals
Mike Siegel – Upright bass, vocals
Dinty Child – Songwriter

Video Credits: Video by Dylan Ladds.
Title artwork by Dan Blakeslee.

Photo Credit: Wyatt Flores by Matt Paskert; Larry Keel courtesy of the artist.

Maoli Fully Embraces His “Island Country” Point of View

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

In an era of polarization, social division, and dissent, Glenn Awong, the Hawaiian country reggae star better known as Maoli, believes we’ve all got more in common than not. Awong came to this realization in the late 2010s while he was touring through the US with his band. Show by show, he discovered that life in the American South wasn’t too dissimilar from the cattle ranches and pineapple fields where he grew up on Maui’s North Shore.

Once Awong had those shared realities in mind, he observed that island reggae pop and the soulful sides of country, folk, and bluegrass weren’t that different either. Emboldened, he began to cover popular contemporary country hits like Brett Young’s “Mercy” and “In Case You Didn’t Know,” imbuing their lilting melodies, range-roving rhythms, and plainspoken storytelling with a breezy, coastal shuffle. The results spoke for themselves, catapulting the big-hearted singer into a new tier of success, paving the road towards 2023’s hit-laden Maoli Music Overload album and the innumerable singalong singles that have followed.

Prior to his transformative revelations about island and country, Awong and his band had spent a decade building audiences across Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and the American West Coast. Once he wholeheartedly embraced his fusion style, the rest of America and locations as far flung as Australia and New Zealand welcomed him with open arms. Since then, it’s been one rodeo after another.

Ultimately, the secret, as Awong has come to understand it, is leaning all the way into his island country upbringing and lifestyle. He didn’t need to disguise himself as someone else. He just needed to be the most unapologetic version of himself.

“I’m really that island guy, but I can go into the country right now and do my rodeo cowboy thing,” he says, grinning from ear to ear on a video call from Maui. “I can hunt, go down to the beach, enjoy a beer, jump in the water and start fishing, all in the same day.”

Several weeks before the release of his latest single, “Runnin’ Me Off” featuring Nashville’s Maddie Font (formerly of Maddie & Tae), Awong spent 45 minutes in conversation with Good Country. Punctuating his thoughts with an infectious laugh, he spoke generously about his musical heroes, island and country life, his experience in Nashville, and the realities of life on the road as an entertainer.

I noticed you follow Aaron Neville on Instagram. What does he mean to your music?

Maoli: Aaron Neville is one of my musical heroes. My grandmother introduced him to me when I was a kid. I was always fascinated by his music. His voice is super unique. He moved me in a way that made me feel like he was the greatest. I used to try to mimic him. You can hear it in my music.

I grew up on his music as well. I was impressed by how effortlessly he could work across genres while always sounding like himself.

I really loved it when he sang a cover of “The Grand Tour” [by George Jones]. I love it more than the original. He’s transcended genre multiple times. He did what I’m trying to do right now. I look up to people who take risks and do things that are not normal. He didn’t limit himself. I love people who take that to heart.

What do you see as the values that underpin your music?

When it comes to country and reggae, it’s really like a lifestyle for me. It’s really who I am. Reggae music comes from Jamaica. Jamaica is an island, but so is Hawaii. We can relate in Hawaii, because we’re both island people. A lot of people don’t get to see this, but in Hawaii, we live country lives as well.

If you weren’t a singer, who do you think you’d be?

I’d probably be some type of farmer or cowboy. I’d probably be cowboying for a living, or I’d be a construction worker, like a lot of people out here. I’d be in some line of labor work.

Which would have probably led you to write songs anyway.

Yeah, that’s true. That’s how songwriting is done. You’re inspired by things that happen around you.

I like how you’ve identified that your music is the outgrowth of a lifestyle.

I see a lot of artists try to copy other people. What they’re missing is that you have to find out who you are. I studied the greats as well, but I always wanted to find my own voice.

What you’re talking about is a durational exercise. It doesn’t happen overnight.

I didn’t find crazy success until five years ago. People don’t understand this, but I was in the game for 15 years before that. I was trying to discover my voice, and it led me back to where it all began, my country lifestyle.

Who are the gold standards for you in country music?

There are so many good country songwriters. Zac Brown is one of them. I love his style, which also comes from that Jimmy Buffett feel. Then Kenny Chesney or George Strait, but I can’t say George was a writer, but I love his songwriters. That type of country. George Jones. I’m an old school guy.

Songwriting, recording, performance. These are all art forms that have to work together. Often, it takes a team.

That’s what I’ve learned in the business. I’ve done covers. I used to get a lot of shit for doing covers. If that’s a crime, you might as well take Whitney Houston and Elvis Presley out of the picture. A lot of your favourite artists do not write their own music.

There’s a process where you find the great songwriters, you find the perfect producer, the perfect engineer, and all that stuff. You gotta create that team. You can’t always do it all yourself. The best of the best have teams.

What are some of your favorite covers to sing, and what did you learn from them?

My favorite cover to play live is “Every Night, Every Morning” [by Maddie & Tae] because that’s the only time I can rest. The crowd sings the whole song. [Laughs] Doing covers helped me as a songwriter. I get to see how these people put these masterpieces together. I don’t just do any cover; it has to move me. The melody and lyrics have to move me.

I thought I was a good songwriter until I went to Nashville and started writing with the best songwriters. They really know what they’re doing. What I learned with them is you gotta have good storytelling, the melodies just gotta come, and all that stuff. It was cool going out there and learning how to write.

What do you think makes a good story?

It has to come from a place of truth. It can’t be fake. I’m not going to name names, but I’ve listened to songs where they’re talking about drinking and partying, and they’ve never touched a beer in their lives. How do you understand that energy if you’ve never partied?

Not everyone will be familiar with the relationship between country music and Hawaii.

People ask me all the time what my shows are like. I always say it’s something you have to experience. It’s the same with our relationship with country music. I’d really have to take you where I’m from so you could see how we live.

Country is country, right?

The country that I love is the songs that really talk about that cowboy life. Hard work, heartbreak, leaving when times are rough, and finding yourself in a bar, drinking your sorrows away. That’s real shit, right there. That’s where the relationship between island and country is very similar in ways. I spent a lot of time in Texas and Nashville. If Polynesians knew how these cowboys really live, they would realize that we’re the same.

If I asked you to name-check some Hawaiian musicians who were combining country and reggae music before you, who would you mention?

I would have to shout out the Kaʻau Crater Boys. They’re the original group that brought country covers and gave them an island reggae feel. I’d also have to say Kapena. Those are the two groups I looked up. They’ve done this stuff longer than I have. I can’t say I created it. They were really popular here. Some people didn’t know their country reggae songs were covers. They became a staple in Hawaii. Even Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, one of our greatest singers, did a cover of “Country Roads” by John Denver. It was one of the biggest songs in Hawaii. People here thought that he wrote it.

At this point, there’s a back-and-forth relationship between American country music and different scenes all over the world.

People don’t always understand. Even for me, when I started going to Nashville, it took me a while to get used to their customs and culture. I would sit in on songwriting sessions with some really incredible songwriters who had written platinum songs and had never heard of me before. I sold 42,000 tickets in Hawaii. I sold out shows in Tahiti and Samoa. I’m not trying to brag, I’m just saying that, for example, I could do all of that, and they still had no idea who I was in Nashville. When they found out who I was and what I could do, they wanted to write with me. If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have known who they were either.

It’s an interesting situation to be in. When you’re building a career like you have, you might be famous in one country and unknown in another. How do you keep yourself grounded through it all?

I don’t let any of it get to me. I stay neutral. If you tell me I’m the goat, I’ll say thank you. If you tell me I’m a piece of shit, I’ll say thank you. The way I feel is whether I’m selling 42,000 tickets or an unknown in Nashville, I’m the same. You’ve got to be humble in your success. I love going places where they don’t know me, because I can really be myself and not worry about people pulling out their phones to film me.

It seems like a hard thing to navigate in the social media era.

I’ve gotten better at the post-and-ghost thing. When you have a certain level of success, everyone on social media has an opinion. I try to spend as little time as possible on that stuff. There are great things about it as well, but I have a team to handle that stuff. I don’t let it get to me. You can get trapped on social media. Whether what they’re saying is good or bad, you don’t always need to hear it. I don’t want to break my humility. I’m just a regular guy doing my thing.

How important has the West Coast of America been to your growth as an artist?

I think it’s been really important. They were my voice when it came to the States. I started in small little bars with maybe fifty people showing up. I remember playing in venues where I counted 10 people, including security. I just told myself one day I’m gonna sell out arenas. The West Coast really helped me with that. They helped me to cross over to the Midwest and the East Coast, too. The West Coast has always been good to me. I consider them my voice when it comes to the mainland. It all started there.

Those ten people at those shows had a good time, right?

Right! I think the security guards even bought me a couple of drinks. [Laughs]

You must have had some interesting conversations with fans.

People have told me I brought their marriage closer, or I stopped them from committing suicide. There are those people who just come up, say thank you, and tell me they loved the experience. It’s all over the show.

It’s a lot of energy to give out and take in.

It takes a lot of energy to go on stage every night. At the end of the night, I just go back to my bus, green room or hotel, and decompress. It takes a lot, but you get a lot back. I’ve been backstage puking my guts out, or on an IV drip to get hydrated before performing, because I know there is someone in the audience who spent months saving to watch me. I’ve had fans drive 400 miles or fly halfway around the world to see me perform. I don’t take any of that lightly.

Did you watch cowboy movies when you were younger?

I wasn’t really a television guy. We spent a lot of time outdoors. On the weekends, I’d help dad with the pigs and goats, or herding the cows. That was my lifestyle for a long time.

If you could go back, what would you say to that kid?

I would tell that kid to just keep going. Be passionate about what you do, and never give up. They’re going to tell you that you’re crazy, but just keep going. As long as you don’t give up, you’re destined to succeed.

One of the hardest things to master in life is patience. When you’re planting, it takes time. It takes time for the plants to grow and bear fruit. You’re not going to plant the seed and get the fruit tomorrow. You’ve got to water it, let the sun do its thing, and be patient. Everything happens when it’s supposed to happen.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Cole Chaney: In His Own Words

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Editor’s Note: Last month, we featured an interview with singer-songwriter Cole Chaney on the site for the very first time. The Kentuckian artist was more than generous with his time, spending a couple of hours speaking to BGS and Good Country contributor Alison Richter. 

Many lovely portions of their interview ended up cut for length, so we’re excited to share a few selections from those edits here as a bonus follow-up to our feature conversation. Below, enjoy Chaney discussing how songs morph and change over time, his practice regimen, guitar and songwriting as crafts and forms of expression, and much more. 

Songs Evolving Over Time

The intention is the same as it was back then [when they were written], but your taste grows as you develop as an artist and musician.

When you listen to the Mercy version of “Ill Will Creek” (above) and the Live AF version, those are two almost completely different songs, but they’re still the same. The thread, the root of the song, remains the same. They’re just wearing a different coat.

Practice and Technique

I don’t have a concrete practice routine. I’ve never been able to sit down and make myself do scales or anything like that. I’d probably be a lot better guitar player if I did more technical playing.

I’ve always idolized guys like Hendrix, and if you look into how he looked at it, he didn’t have time to practice because he was always writing riffs and coming up with cool guitar licks or creating in some capacity. That’s what I do when I have a guitar in my hands. I warm up and play some scales or whatever, but it eventually turns into, “Oh, man, that sounds cool. What can I attach to that?” and I start writing riffs. That’s just how I do it.

I would be a much more technically proficient guitar player if I actually did sit down and make myself practice a lot. But I think a lot of that creativity comes out of me having a weird picking style and not being necessarily educated on what is supposed to sound good and where that’s supposed to go, and just letting stuff happen where it happens.

Guitar As Expression

Especially in recent years, as we talked about the bands I’m influenced by – very guitar-heavy bands, for me – it always starts with a riff. I like chunky, heavy stuff a lot of the time. A song doesn’t always call for that; sometimes you write something that may sound a little more sensitive, but the direction it’s gone with me has been catchy riffs that stay in your head when you play it. That’s when I know I’ve got something cool and that I should keep plugging away.

I sat down last night with a little $300 Breedlove and plucked away at this riff I’ve been messing with for two-and-a-half hours, just seeing what I could add in here, if this would sound cool there. And so, yes, the guitar is just as important, if not more, to my music as the lyrics.

The Craft of Songwriting

It’s not always riffs first, lyrics second, but I find that is most often the way it goes down. I don’t know. I can’t give you a way my songs come together. It feels like it happens in a different way every time. I’m very melody-driven; it’s the way I listen to music. Everybody’s got different things they’re trying to get out of the songs, but, for me, the melody is the most important thing.

Reinterpreting “Spirit” for In The Shadow Of The Mountain

It was a work in progress, because there’s a challenge in having songs be out for two or three years on their own as solo acoustic pieces.

I kind of look at the OurVinyl [Sessions] as demos– in a way, that was not necessarily what I saw as the finished product for any of those songs. And then they get the attention, that becomes the versions of the songs that people know and love, and it puts pressure on the situation of, “Oh, damn, people care about this song now, so I have to do it justice.’ It has to be tasteful, it can’t be too much, and all these things. It’s an equation that you’re trying to find the answer to.

“Spirit” maybe took the longest out of all of them. There’s me and Duane Lundy and Zachary Hamilton co-producing. If you talked to them, they would probably tell you the same thing – it took us the longest to get that song to where we were all feeling really good about it.

We were maybe one day away from having to have the mix completely wrapped up on everything and send it off to be mastered. I was listening to “Spirit” on my way to the studio and I was like, “This sounds really good, the groove is there, but something’s missing and I don’t know what it is.” It was driving me nuts. I was wracking my brain. “What would sound good on this? What would sound good?” And I was like, “It needs a piano, an actual piano.”

I’m a huge Bruce Hornsby fan, so I wanted something nimble like that. The one person I knew I could lean on to do it was Aaron Bibelhauser. I called him, and it was one of those “something that’s meant to be” type of things. It was, “Man, I don’t know if you can get in here today. We’ve only got one day left to finish this thing, but ‘Spirit’ really needs a piano on it. And if you’re around” — he’s from Louisville — “and you can make the trip, I’d love to get you to put some piano on it.” He said, “I’m actually in Lexington right now, so I can just run right on over.”

I think it really tied the whole song together and made it the full picture that I had been envisioning for that song the whole time.

Looking Ahead

I still write and love to write folk songs, but I keep running into this issue while I’m writing folk songs of trying to make them a little too brooding or complex when they don’t need to be all the time. You can have complex folk songs. I think Billy Strings is a good example of that. “Gild the Lily” is a fantastic song, and that’s complex, but it’s still very much a string band song.

There’s a lot of creative energy flying around in the Cole Chaney realm right now. I don’t know what it looks like yet, so I can’t step out on a limb and say a whole lot about it, because there’s nothing certain happening.

But we’re all working on contributing towards something that will be really interesting and cool, if it ends up coming to fruition, which I think it will. It will probably be a thing on its own. I need to do a dedicated rock project — I’ll just leave it at that. I think it’s safe to say at some point there will be electric guitars involved.

Read our full interview with Cole Chaney here.

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Photo Credit: David McClister

Artist of the Month: Jo Dee Messina

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Jo Dee Messina wants to know where the real cowboys are.

“Well, are they in some greener pastures?” she asks on “Where the Cowboys Ride,” a spicy sendup of Tecovas-rocking poseurs and a standout on Bridges, Messina’s first album in over a decade, out June 5.

Sometimes cheeky, often affecting, Bridges condenses a lifetime of lessons into 12 tight tracks. Whether she’s taking a narcissistic partner to task (“It’s All About You”), warning about the dangers of self-medication (“Message in a Bottle”) or setting the record straight on scripture (“The Jesus I Know”), Messina explores life’s complexities with her signature mix of grit and hard-fought joy.

Lead single “Some Bridges” is a power-pop-country belter that recalls the triumphant highs of 1998’s I’m Alright, which spawned three consecutive No. 1s and cemented Messina as one of the leading voices of country pop’s golden age. Like “Bye Bye,” Messina’s indelible ode to putting “a lead foot down on my accelerator” and leaving a bad relationship in the rearview, “Some Bridges” reminds listeners that self-preservation sometimes means burning things down.

“You have to learn to forgive, but do you go back to that abusive situation?” she says. “Do you go back to that addiction? You don’t have to subject yourself to these things.”

Jo Dee Messina is our Artist of the Month for June 2026. She sat down with Good Country to talk burning bridges, her “sweet” relationship with Ella Langley, and what she hopes fans will take away from this new era. Check out our interview and don’t miss our Essential Jo Dee Messina playlist below, too.

Why was now the right time to put out new music?

Jo Dee Messina: Because it was done. [Laughs] I’ve been writing a lot with people, and [my co-writers] are just so encouraging. We’d write a song and they’d be like, “Man, you should record this.” It happened so many times, and I was like, “Well, I think I’m at a stage right now where I have time I can dedicate to a project,” releasing the songs and a tour schedule to support it. It just seemed like the right time.

Do you feel like you’ve gained confidence as a writer as your career has gone on?

I’ve always been a songwriter. I do believe that in the last few years, my songwriting has had time to develop and I’ve written a lot more. I’ve had more time to write, so I’ve had a lot more content.

To hear songs like “Some Bridges” on the radio kind of brings tears to my eyes, because it’s like, I actually wrote this. I actually wrote the songs on this record.

“Some bridges are meant to burn” is a great lyric. Do you feel like you’ve had to burn bridges in your career?

I wouldn’t say career. But with life, sometimes there are situations that aren’t beneficial, or jobs or that really take the life out of you. I think everybody has experienced that. And it doesn’t have to be heavy. It could just be like, “I feel like my talents aren’t being used, and so I’m going to move elsewhere.”

With that song, we were in the writers’ room, and somebody brought up the idea that you can’t be burning bridges. But what if they’re meant to burn? What if that bridge leads you to pain and abuse, or to a job that sucked the life out of you? Forgiveness is for us, we’re not built to carry the weight of unforgiveness, but you can forgive from the other side of the bridge.

“Where the Cowboys Ride” is such a fun song. Did that song come out of any experience in particular?

It’s funny, because it’s not portrayed in the song, but the truth of that song is that a friend of mine went down to Lower Broadway [in Nashville] one weekend and came back and had his foot in a sling. I’m like, “What is the deal? What happened?” And he’s like, “I wore my cowboy boots down to Broadway this weekend.” I was like, “I’ve never seen you in cowboy boots. You wear sneakers every day.” But he dressed the part.

There’s a line in the song about how you don’t see them around here on a Friday night. I want to see the guys that are slinging dirt for a living. I want to meet the guys that will lay their life down for their family. All the things that a true cowboy does.

Everyone’s certainly throwing on the cowboy boots right now. Any theories as to why country music is having such a moment?

Country music tells the story of life. The messages don’t change as far as the relatability to different generations. Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” in the ’60s, and then it came back in the ’90s, and people are still cutting it. You ask seven-year-olds and they know that song because their parents are singing it. With some songs, the emotion and the life story behind them doesn’t go out of style.

Of course, some of your older songs have been getting renewed attention as well. You recently performed “Lesson in Leavin’” with Ella Langley at the Ryman Auditorium, and then the two of you interviewed each other at Country Radio Seminar (CRS). Can you tell me about your friendship with her?

That started off with us messaging each other online. She sang “Lesson in Leavin’” on TikTok, and I reached out to her. We talked about writing together, but then life got crazy. Then when she played the Ryman she reached out to me and was like, “Hey, do you want to do this deal with me?” And then she did CRS and asked if I wanted to do that.

I think it’s just a mutual admiration. I’m really proud of what she’s doing and how she’s handling it. We both know Jesus, and we both love Jesus, and so I’m able to have that connection with her, and just say, “Hey, if you need prayer, I’m here. If you need a safe space, I’m here.” It’s a sweet friendship.

“If He Knew Jesus” is one of a couple songs on that album that takes up the topic of faith. What’s the backstory behind that song?

I’ve been a single mom for a while, and it’s difficult because you can’t split yourself up. Especially if you have more than one child, you can’t go to one’s recital at school and one’s hockey game, so one of them is always missing something. Someone had asked me if I would ever consider dating somebody, and my first response was that he would have to love Jesus. And so in these conversations with other moms is where we came up with the line, “If you knew Jesus, there’d be no raising these babies alone.”

I started to cry in the writing room when we wrote that. I was like, “That’s the saddest thing,” and then I went on to other examples: “He wouldn’t crush you beneath all that he did,” all of the hurt and pain and abuse and whatever, where Jesus raises us up. He protects us, and He cares for us, and He puts us first, and He dies for us.

What’s the best thing someone can tell you about what your music means to them?

I think, “It gave me hope. It made me not feel alone.” That would be the greatest thing. “It made me not feel alone in my situation,” whether it’s a happy situation, a lonely situation, a feisty situation, because the songs cover everything. Keep in mind the enemy tries to separate us so we feel alone, and when we’re alone, all sorts of crazy things go through our brains.

Who’s the enemy?

Satan. It’s like, if you get alone, your mind starts going, “Why am I alone? Oh, because nobody likes me, or I’m not good enough.” All these crazy thoughts go through your head, and so you don’t start to think, “Wow, I’m beautiful, and I’m worth it, and I’m treasured.” That’s why it’s called the enemy of who you really are and who God created you to be. He’s working against it.

Are there experiences you’ve had in life where you felt like you were alone?

I think we all have. So I just want to be sure that people know you’re never alone. Even if you don’t see another person in the room, you’re still not alone. Period. God’s word tells us you can never go too high, too low. He’s there. We just have to open our hearts and see it.

I work with teenagers and I remember a teenager saying, “I don’t even think my parents hear what I say.” It was such a sad statement, and it inspired the song “Can Anybody.” In my inner circles, I’ll call that song “The Teenager’s Lament,” because they all feel invisible. It’s why they’re doing things on social media and hanging out with certain people. It’s why they sometimes don’t talk to their parents.

That’s where the first verse came from, and then the second verse came from myself: “I’ve got a history of trying to save myself/ But God, if you’re listening/ I’m screaming out for help.” That’s me. I’m a doer, and I have a history of thinking, “I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it.” But there are some things I can’t fix. You can’t fix someone else’s health or their mental state. After my mother had anesthesia, she was confused, and I couldn’t fix that. I tried and drove myself crazy. I’d made her photo albums, and I made her song playlists, and, and I couldn’t do it. She was still confused. It made me realize the humanity of myself and the limits of a human.

Photo Credit: Madison Sharp

Braxton Keith’s Real Damn Deal is Country Through and Through

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

After years of building up a fan base through high-energy shows and viral social media posts, nobody is more ready for Braxton Keith’s debut album than… Braxton Keith. Raised in Midland, Texas and living in Nashville, Keith is only half-kidding when he says he’s probably listened to the new project five thousand times. Now he’s eager to hear what everybody else has to say.

His fans won’t be surprised that Real Damn Deal sounds like country through and through. Released on Warner Records on May 15, the album picks up the momentum of Keith’s gold-certified 2024 single “Cozy” and the unlikely embrace of his reverent cover of George Strait’s “The Chair.” Although he was skeptical about re-recording it, Keith found that his take on “The Chair” is serving as a gateway for his younger fans into the trenches of classic country.

Keith co-wrote a majority of the songs on the new album, but also included compelling material by Country Music Hall of Fame member Roger Miller, Americana all-star Jim Lauderdale, and some of Music Row’s most creative writers – such as Jessie Jo Dillon, Tony Lane, Liz Rose, and Morgane and Chris Stapleton, among many others. In this interview with Good Country, Keith talks about discovering country’s legends through his grandparents, learning to love the English language because of dyslexia, and hearing those inescapable ’90s country comparisons.

On this album, “Under Them Neons” sets the scene of a night in a country bar. It has a reference to Keith Whitley in it, too. He had a bluegrass pedigree, as you know, before he became a country star. Did you ever get interested in bluegrass?

Braxton Keith: I would say I have always been interested in bluegrass. Now I, by no means, am a bluegrass picker or anything of that sort, but I’ve always been interested in bluegrass, for sure. It’s such an interesting form of country music, I’d say. Very intricate, and it’s really cool to just watch. In fact, “I Ain’t Tryin’” on this record is written by Brice Long, Carson Peters, and Will Jones, and Carson is a bluegrass picker. He plays in a bluegrass band [Carson Peters & Iron Mountain] and opens up for us every once in a while.

How did you get introduced to Keith Whitley’s music?

Keith Whitley’s probably always been in the background for me. But definitely through listening to whatever was on the radio, listening to my grandparents’ old records and stuff. Keith Whitley has definitely been one that I’ve known about for a long time. I would say him, George Strait, Marty Robbins, and Ronnie Milsap … all the deep divers that you got to go in and figure out yourself.

Is that what you did? Figured it out for yourself?

I just tried to figure out what I liked the best. I really was attracted to these older artists because of the storytelling, but also they have a technical skill about their writing – and their melodies. Some of their melodies are pretty insane that I was trying to emulate, longing to hear again, or to make new.

You say you were listening to your grandparents’ records. Were they vinyl records?

Yes, sir. I don’t remember how old I was, but I remember sitting down and listening to Marty Robbins for the first time and Porter Wagoner. I remember hearing “The Carroll County Accident” and just thinking, “What is this? This is a whole different type of music that I’ve never even experienced before.” I think I was like 13, maybe even younger than that.

Every time we went over there, the Grand Ole Opry was on TV, or CMT was on at least, so we were always exposed to it. I guess I just didn’t realize what was going on until I got a little bit older. I got an iPod, and I think it was the Shuffle. It didn’t even have a screen. You just had to know what your songs were. That was the first time I really got interested in checking out music for myself. I didn’t have to listen to exactly what my parents were listening to anymore.

My mom was a big ‘80s rock person. She really didn’t like country music very much at all, because it’s very sad, she thinks. [Laughs] And my dad was listening to country music, but just whatever was on the radio. He wasn’t very specific in what he liked to listen to.

I’d read that your brothers were athletic, but you were not. However, you had musical talent. Is that accurate to say?

I would say, yeah. I tried to be athletic. I wanted to be, but they definitely had a leg up on me, on the sports and stuff. When I was a little kid we did this thing called Greater Midland Football League. From when you’re in third grade to when you’re in sixth grade you can go after school and do a football program. I never got to do that, because in third grade I actually figured out I was dyslexic. So, every day after school, I would go to classes and learn about the English language, which is probably why I ended up liking writing. So it all works out in the end. I was just a couple years behind when it got to football.

When you were learning about the English language, did you like to read too?

No. That was my big deal, that I struggled – I still do struggle – with reading. It just takes me a little bit longer and I have to really slow down and be thinking about what I’m reading to understand it. I like audiobooks a lot. Anything that I can do where I’m listening to somebody else read helps. But I would say I just liked writing. Before it was songs, I liked writing essays or whatever the assignment was. I’ve always liked writing. Coming up with my own stuff.

Did you play instruments during this time?

Yeah, absolutely. I played piano since I was in kindergarten, and I ended up playing for a while. I played for six to seven years and then I ended up quitting piano. I started piano because I loved Elton John. He was my big inspiration behind music when I was really young. I really wanted to learn “Crocodile Rock” and my piano teacher just wouldn’t let me do it. So I was like, “Man, I gotta go do something else.”

That was about the time I started picking up guitar, because my little brother was playing guitar at the time. So I was like, “Well, I’ll just go to lessons with him.” I started picking it up, got my first guitar, and never looked back. He doesn’t play anymore, but we started out together picking “Hotel California.” I remember us just sitting there for hours trying to get that thing down.

On this album, “Wind Blows” reminds me of how country music sounded in the ’90s. It reminds me of a Tim McGraw deep cut. What do you like most about “Wind Blows”?

I like the story it tells. You know, I grew up in Midland, Texas. And if there’s anything we know about Midland, it’s that there’s a lot of wind blowing in Midland. It’s kind of telling the story of how, when I lived in Midland, Midland was the end of the earth to me. There was nothing else there. And once I left, I never looked back. I went to Angelo [State University in San Angelo]. I’ve moved to San Antonio and Nashville, and we’re traveling all over all the time, just running and gunning. And the road keeps on going, you know? It’s cool to reminisce on the past, but my time in Midland’s gone and it ain’t coming back. That’s kind of what “Wind Blows” means.

Do you like it when people use the ’90s country comparison? Do you think that’s flattering? Or do you have an opinion when people say you sound like ’90s country?

I don’t have an opinion. The thing is, I don’t know if I’ve ever labeled it, which is funny to me. … You’ve heard the record. I would say it’d be very hard to pin that as ‘90s country. I would say that there’s some ‘90s elements in there, but there are elements from a lot of different dates in country music within that. I would just say we’re country, and we’re just trying to be country.

Well, you do start with a Western swing tune on this record.

Absolutely. Have you heard Jake Worthington’s new record? He has a song called “My Home’s in Oklahoma” and that one is a Western swing song. I heard that one after I’d been on a big Bob Wills kick. I just came back from Houston. Most of the rides that I do, I try to listen to different music every time. I was listening to a bunch of Bob Wills. When I heard that Jake Worthington swing tune, it was like, “Oh, son, we’ve got to have a Western swing tune on this record!”

So we called in Brice and Carson. That’s when Carson’s bluegrass magic came out. They ended up writing that beautiful “I Ain’t Tryin’” Western swing song. You couldn’t ask for a better song to start this record off. It’s upbeat, gets you in there. We’ve been ending the set with “I Ain’t Tryin’” lately, and it’s really fun. The crowds dig it. It’s a good one to just swing around to.

Did you ever get pursued to be on The Voice or American Idol or shows like that?

Not until after I was already pursuing this pretty heavily, and at that time, I was trying to stay away from those avenues. I’ve heard some nightmare stories about their contracts and how you are allowed to put out music after the show. And I just kind of knew where we were going. That’s the cool thing about being a Texas artist. There’s so many other Texas artists that are running around on the road, booking their own shows, that you can just learn from some of those guys. That’s basically what I did.

Jake Worthington [who was on The Voice in 2014] had a long talk with me about what he thought about TV and the way that it impacted his career. At that time in my career, I just didn’t think that it was necessary for me to do anything like that. I definitely think it helps put your name out there a lot more. But it also can have some hindrances sometimes.

How did you find the Roger Miller tune, “Am I All Alone (Or Is It Only Me)”?

I do believe Jamey Johnson was talking to William Beckmann one day and telling him, “Man, that’s such a great tune. You should cut that on your next record.” And then me and William ended up going and having a couple drinks, which turned into a bunch of drinks. And he was like, “Man, I listened to this song, and I’m kind of thinking about cutting it.” So I started listening to it. I was like, “Yo, are you gonna cut that song? Because if not, I’m cutting it. Like, I’m going to the studio tomorrow. I’m cutting it.” He was like, “Yeah, go ahead.” So we ended up putting it on the record. It’s one of my favorite songs to play live. It’s one of my favorite songs on the record. It’s such a beautiful song. Every time that I hear it, I’m like, “That is such a well-written song.”

Are there other songs on your record that you would like people to know about?

I would say the only other thing that we didn’t talk about is, there’s a Mae Estes collab on there, “Hurt by Heart.” I met Mae on the road about two years ago, like, less than 100 miles south of Canada somewhere, at a festival. She was singing and just blew me away. Her voice is so beautiful. She has such a great classic timbre to her voice that I knew I needed her on this record.

We’d been looking for a duet piece for a long time. Ended up writing “Hurt by Heart” [with Trent Tomlinson and Scotty Emerick] and pitched it to her. She came over to the studio one day, dressed and ready for a show that she had in Nashville somewhere. She cut her part in 10 minutes and then I spent the next two hours trying to make my part sound as good as hers. [Laughs] I just can’t brag on Mae enough. The audience that hasn’t heard Mae should definitely check her out. Her music is really good.

You’re surrounding yourself with good people. You got Mae Estes, William Beckmann, Jake Worthingon… It’s refreshing to see this new generation cheering each other on.

That’s the way you gotta do it, man. We’re all in this together. Everybody needs to be cheering each other on and helping everybody out. That’s the way I see it.

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Photo Credit: Benjamin Humphrey

Roots Songs All About Mental Health

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but for those with lived experience, every day is about mental health awareness. During the most difficult times, many creators and listeners turn to music. It’s where we connect through lyrics and melodies that express the things we so often cannot, will not, dare not say.

The intersection of music and mental health is nothing new. Long before memes and catchphrases about “break the stigma,” Hank Williams did just that with “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Years later, Porter Wagoner exposed the ugly unspoken truth about “The Rubber Room.” 

Thankfully, through incremental steps, times have changed – although not enough – in terms of media portrayal and public discourse. With great courage, more and more artists are coming forward about their struggles. Dozens of artists and musicians have spoken openly with BGS and Good Country about how mental health challenges move them to create songs and albums that make us all feel a little bit less alone. (Scroll to find our playlist of roots songs all about mental health below.)

Artists and bands like Becky Buller, Courtney Marie Andrews, Sister Sadie, and Tenille Townes give us glimpses at how mental health and self-care inform their creative processes and how they craft their songs, albums, and sets. Groups like Southern Avenue and the Band Loula – who make music built on the sonic and storytelling traditions of the South – subvert regional expectations about what’s “allowed” to be spoken about in the light of day with their approaches to infusing mental health awareness into their songs. Still more conversations with artists like Fruit Bats, Cole Chaney, Emily Scott Robinson, and Chely Wright reinforce that mental health in roots music isn’t a fad or passing trend, it’s an intentional through line. Songwriting and roots music are perfect vehicles for this sort of vulnerability and these once forbidden topics.

The proliferation of YouTube and democratization of music videos in the 2000s and 2010s opened up new dimensions for artists, giving them more formats in which to express themselves, depict their work, and consider mental health. Additionally, of course, it offers live performances that go beyond anything a studio recording can capture.

“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” – Randy Newman

Randy Newman’s masterpiece has been covered many times, and the internet is full of those recordings – as well as his. This performance, however, at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, may very well surpass them all.

“God, Can You Hear Me?” – Dax

Dax is fearless in addressing the most difficult and “taboo” topics. “God, Can You Hear Me?” asks the unspoken question within the context of a subject that far too many people refuse to address: suicidal ideation. (Content warning: graphic.)

“Let the Circle Be Broken” – Sister Sadie

In genres predicated upon generational legacies and “handing down” tradition, Sister Sadie’s song of release, letting go, and stepping out from underneath the long shadow of generational traumas is more than powerful. By the same token, that it was written and is sung and performed by a band of all women makes it a truly transcendent message. Some circles are meant to remain unbroken, others must be demolished.

“Bench Seat” – Chase Rice

Chase Rice broke down walls and stereotypes and opened doors to discussions about suicide with this multiple-award-winning video. Country needed this. Country needs more of this. (Content warning: graphic.)

“Hurt” – Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash. Enough said.

“I’m Gonna Be the Wind” – Laurie Lewis

Bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis has penned many a fine song tackling issues of mental health, but this is the song for when you’re ready to stride out anew again. It’s a song of strength, resilience, of realizing that often one of the primary forces keeping us down is our own mindset. Tired of being a blade of grass, bent and bruised by the wind? Be the wind!

“Sunday Morning Coming Down” – The Highwaymen

Mickey Raphael described them as “like Mount Rushmore onstage” and called Kris Kristofferson “the Shakespeare of our time.” This is why.

“Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” – Bonnie Raitt

One of the best songs Bonnie Raitt has ever sung and released was recorded for the 2004 animated film Home on the Range. Devastating, endlessly relatable, but ultimately hopeful, the film cut of “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” is hard to track down on streaming services and online, but it’s truly lovely. A gem of a soundtrack find from an often overlooked Disney children’s movie from the aughts.

“Alone Again (Naturally)” – Gilbert O’Sullivan

In 1971, Gilbert O’Sullivan bravely addressed loss, grief, heartbreak, loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, and questions of faith, wrapped them up in a lovely melody, set them to a catchy beat, and rode to the top of the charts with one of the most gutting, most accurate depictions of mental health challenges ever put to song. Decades and numerous cover versions later, stripped down to keyboard and guitar, his voice aged like fine wine, “Alone Again (Naturally)” remains poignantly accurate and relatable.

“Bad Mind” – Erin Rae

A song so perfect in its illustration of how we project and ascribe mental health, onto ourselves and others. We all may know, somewhere inside ourselves, that there is no such thing as a “Bad Mind,” but stigma and internalized expectations leave so many of us feeling broken and “incorrect.” Listening to Erin Rae sing this lovely, devastating song brings an immediate feeling of needing to reassure the singer that there really aren’t bad minds… and thereby the realization we should also apply that grace to ourselves.

Below, you’ll find our full playlist of nearly 8 hours of roots music created by the teams at BGS and Good Country that features some of the many excellent songs that address mental health. For Mental Health Awareness Month and beyond.

Photo Credit: (L to R) Cole Chaney by Anthony Simpkins; Sister Sadie courtesy of the artist; Dax by Annie Devine.

Additional curation and contributions by Shelby Williamson and Justin Hiltner.