Starting off the new year with a long playlist; while I didn’t quite get through my entire “music to listen to” backlog, I made significant progress. If I did new year’s resolutions, I would maybe retroactively claim “get through that backlog” as one of them.
Anyhow, you can listen to the whole playlist, or read on for some notes on various tracks. I’m still playing with the formatting of these to see what winds up being the easiest to skim through for the comments.
- Oklahoma Smokeshow – Zach Bryan on Summertime Blues – EP
- Hotel Bible – Max McNown on Night Diving
- Azalea Place – Max McNown on Night Diving
- St. Helens Alpenglow – Max McNown on St. Helens Alpenglow – Single
- Flicker – Yoste on Flicker – Single
- American Trail – Dylan Gossett on Westward
- Normal Day – Brendan Walter on Normal Day – Single
- Space in My Heart (Original Version) – Enrique Iglesias on Space in My Heart (Original Version) – Single
- Sea Shanty Medley – Home Free on Sea Shanty Medley – Single
- The Barn – Landon Smith on The Barn – Single
- Loud and Heavy – Cody Jinks on Adobe Sessions
- Did What You Did – Noah Brigden on Bad Habits – EP
- Life’s Worth Living – Nick Folwarczny on Life’s Worth Living – Single
- Cold Shoulder – Zach John King on Slow Down – EP
- Life Behind Bars – Zach John King & Bayker Blankenship on Life Behind Bars – Single
- Man of the Year – Sam Barber on Man of the Year – Single
- Bowery (feat. Kings of Leon) – Zach Bryan on Bowery (feat. Kings of Leon) – Single
- HIGHWAY KIND – Fabrizio on HIGHWAY KIND – Single
- Space – Zach John King on Space – Single
- Gun To My Head – HARDY on COUNTRY! COUNTRY!
- Music for the Soul – Sam Barber on Music for the Soul
- Luckiest Man Alive – HARDY on COUNTRY! COUNTRY!
- American Vintage – Aidan Canfield on American Vintage – Single
- Cheap Shots – Ian Harrison on Cheap Shots – Single
- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Bedrooms In The Sky – HARDY & Stephen Wilson Jr. on COUNTRY! COUNTRY!
- Lose A Friend – Evan Honer on Everything I Wanted
- The Gold – Manchester Orchestra on A Black Mile To The Surface
- Old White Lincoln – The Gaslight Anthem on The ’59 Sound
- Storytime – Majik on Blood, Sweat & Tears
- Road to Gold – Luke Beling on The Good Side of Somewhere – EP
- Oh! The Anxiety – Joe Jordan on Oh! The Anxiety – EP
- Baptized By Rain – Dylan Gossett on Westward
- Drift Away – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- Leave Her Johnny – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Undone (The Bonfire Sessions) – Sons of Habit on The Sticks (The Bonfire Sessions) – EP
- We’re Onto Something (feat. Zach Bryan) – Kings of Leon on We’re Onto Something (feat. Zach Bryan) – Single
- Hardwired – Fabrizio on Hardwired – Single
- Lonely Man (One Take Acoustic) – Cody Jinks on Lonely Man (One Take Acoustic) – Single
- Skull and Bones (2025 Version) – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Something Wicked This Way Comes – Cody Jinks on In My Blood
- The Parting Glass – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Foolish Pride – Slater Nalley on Foolish Pride – Single
- My Side Of Town – Josh Ross on Later Tonight
- Bonnie Ship the Diamond – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Mingulay Boat Song – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Roots – Cooper Alan on Winston – Salem
- Challenge the Sea (feat. The Longest Johns) – Home Free on Challenge the Sea
- Got It All Wrong – Peech. on Small Town America (Vol. 1) – EP
- Atchafalaya (feat. Noah Cyrus) – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- My Side of the Mountain – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- Absolutely delighted to have some more Orville Peck to listen to.
- Te Amo – Rihanna on Rated R
- Pipe Dream – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- Blueneck (Acoustic) – Chris Housman on Blueneck (Acoustic) – Single
- All The Little Sheep – Kings of Leon on EP #2
- You in Universe – Hayden Calnin on Middle Night
- Alright, Alright – Harry Strange on Alright, Alright – Single
- S.S.R.I – Jason Skynet on S.S.R.I – Single
- This feels like some kind of inverse of Drugs, a song that I last had on my playlist in February of 2024. (The ability to quickly look stuff like that up is one fun side effect of doing these monthly write-ups.)
- Fool’s Gold (The Bonfire Sessions) – Sons of Habit on The Sticks (The Bonfire Sessions) – EP
- the floor (fred remix) – Skin On Skin, BEAM & Fred again.. on USB
- Come Back Home – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- Fishing Line – Max McNown on Both Sides of the Blade
- La Perla – ROSALÍA & Yahritza Y Su Esencia on LUX
- The Worst By Far – Cameron Whitcomb on The Hard Way (Deluxe)
- The Other Side – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- A War With Time – Brandi Carlile on Returning To Myself (Commentary Album)
- Oh My Days – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- Back On Deseret – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- This did, in fact, send me on a “have I been pronouncing ‘Desert’ wrong this whole time?” research spiral, so allow me to save you the time: no.
- Sober You Ain’t Thinkin’ – Noah Brigden on Sober You Ain’t Thinkin’ – Single
- Writing On The Rooftop (The Bonfire Sessions) – Sons of Habit on The Sticks (The Bonfire Sessions) – EP
- Teenage Dirtbag – Brendan Walter on Teenage Dirtbag – Single
- Just Friends – Daniel Allan & Heather Sommer on Just Friends – Single
- Enemigos – Ozuna, Beéle & Ovy On the Drums on Stendhal
- doomsday – Shaller on doomsday – Single
- I’m Always On Stage – Sam Fender on People Watching (Deluxe Edition)
- Desire – Fil Bo Riva on Desire – Single
- Deep End – Peech. on Deep End – Single
- Change (Inspired by Warhammer 40K) – Colm R. McGuinness on The Undying (Inspired by Warhammer 40K) – EP
- Pikito – Ozuna & Beéle on Stendhal
- Sympathy Is A Knife – Medium Build & Sydney Rose on Sympathy Is A Knife – Single
- Finish Line – Fabrizio on Finish Line – Single
- Window In The Wall – Max McNown on Both Sides of the Blade
- I Luv U – Fred again.. & Wallfacer on I Luv U – Single
- GET OVER YOU (BIG AND STRONG VERSION) – verygently on GET OVER YOU (BIG AND STRONG VERSION) – Single
- hurt people – Khalid on after the sun goes down
- Tyrants – Sam Fender on People Watching (Deluxe Edition)
- Charon Retires – Vincent Lima on To Love A Thing That Fades
- Songs I’d Rather Not Sing – The Fray on Songs I’d Rather Not Sing – Single
- Home Used To Be – Joe Jordan on Home Used To Be – Single
- Definitely a top pick addition this month, really hits that wistfulness that I think is the core of country music.
- Asking for a Friend – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- MACHINE GHOST – Erin LeCount on MACHINE GHOST – Single
- Caroline (feat. Belle Plaine) – Colter Wall on Imaginary Appalachia
- My friend said “you listen to a lot of ‘sad cowboy’ country, you should check out Colter Wall.”
- Sleeping on the Blacktop – Colter Wall on Imaginary Appalachia
- … he was absolutely right, and this isn’t the last of the Colter Wall that made it into this list, although I think these two are my favorites.
- No One Knows Us – Brandi Carlile on Returning To Myself (Commentary Album)
- All I Know – Tors on All I Know – Single
- Alone – P.A.V on Alone – Single
- 26 – Christian Hayes on 26 – EP
- C’est la vie bébé – Aika Collins on C’est la vie bébé – Single
- Aika’s got some new music coming out sometime soon and I’m excited.
- Dreaded Sundown – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- No One’s Gonna Do It for You – Brendan Walter on Disappearing Days
- Old Flame – Vincent Mason on There I Go
- Someone Around – Nick Folwarczny on Someone Around – EP
- It’s the End of the World – Orville Peck on Appaloosa
- Really, truly love Orville Peck’s music. Turns out the thing I needed to get me into country was “sad cowboy ballads, but make it gay.”
- Tumbleweed – Noah Rinker on The Pines – EP
- Au Pays du Cocaine – Geese on Getting Killed
- Bible Belt – Chris Housman on Bible Belt – Single
- Devotion – Waves_On_Waves, Castles Made Of Sky & Waves On Waves Orange Crush on Devotion – Single
- Pink Skies – Noah James on Pink Skies – Single
- “The kids are in town for a funeral” really hits.
- Jane – Amber Run on Jane – Single
- Back Around – Ole 60 on Smokestack Town
- Johnny Boy’s Bones (feat. The Dead South) – Colter Wall on Imaginary Appalachia
- This one feels oddly related to the sea shanties that’re also in this list.
- Living on the Sand – Colter Wall on Imaginary Appalachia
- Everywhere I Go – P.A.V on Everywhere I Go – Single
- Ale – Ozuna & Beéle on Stendhal
- I keep wanting to read it as “ale” as in the word in “India pale ale,” but no, that’s not how Spanish pronunciation works.
- You Deserve Better – Joe Jordan on You Deserve Better – Single
- How I Got My Name – honestav on How I Got My Name – Single
- yes no maybe – Khalid on after the sun goes down
- LE COSE NON DETTE (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Mahmood on LE COSE NON DETTE (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Single
- Oh, I love Mahmood, this one is great.
- Ballad of a Law Abiding Sophisticate – Colter Wall on Imaginary Appalachia
- Last Colter Wall I’m going to comment on this month; this one wins for funniest lyrics.
- medicine – Khalid on after the sun goes down
- Rodeo – Noah Rinker on The Pines – EP
- S. Machine – Westerman on A Jackal’s Wedding
- Ben Affleck – Medium Build on takeaways
- Ride On – Coleman Jennings on Ride On – EP
- Hell If I Know – Tyler Nance on Hell If I Know – Single
- Really solid chorus; at some point I’m really going to have to listen to the rest of the lyrics.
- My People – H. Kenneth on My People – Single
- These Streets I Know – Jenny on Holiday on Quicksand Heart
- For all the wistful country in here, this one isn’t country but maybe has the most wistful feel to the whole thing. Something about it is really latching onto the feeling of the late 90s/early aughts.
- WE WERE NEVER JUST FRIENDS – Adam Klobi on WE WERE NEVER JUST FRIENDS – Single
- I Don’t Care – Buffalo Traffic Jam on I Don’t Care – Single
- Falling – Shimza & Elderbrook on Falling – Single
- Bound – Darren Kiely on Bound – Single
- Graveyard Whistling – Morgan Wallen on Graveyard Whistling – Single
- Last-minute addition, this, and I’ve been really digging it.