We are only halfway through 2024 and there has already been so much great country music released this year! In no particular order, here are 12 of our favorites!
Drake Milligan- What I Couldn’t Forget
With the lead track on his new EP, Jukebox Songs, Milligan offers a throwback to early 2000s country. Equipped with plenty of steel, fiddle and Milligan’s signature vocals, “What I Couldn’t Forget” is irresistible to sing along to every time the chorus comes around again.
Randall King- Right Things Right
There’s a handful of songs on Randall King’s Into the Neon record that feel like smash hits, with “Right Things Right” being first and foremost. Delving into a tried-and-true country music theme of a father imparting wisdom on his son, King delivers his always rock-solid delivery to a song that feels made for the radio.
Zach Top- Use Me
It literally takes less than three seconds into “Use Me” to know you are in for a stone-cold country heartbreaker. Top goes on to deliver four minutes of the countriest song that will be released this year. Who doesn’t love a good cheating waltz? We do, Zach does, and he’s proven that sad songs and waltzes are selling this year.
Maggie Antone- I Don’t Wanna Hear About It (featuring Brendan Walter)
Maggie Antone’s voice is so unique. The first verse of this heartbreaker feels conversational before she puts her impressive raspy vocal range on display in the chorus. Brendan Walter adds a similarly poignant verse and chorus as the duo’s voices mesh perfectly together throughout the song.
Scotty McCreery- Slow Dance
Even before Scotty McCreery’s brilliant baritone enters “Slow Dance,” the steel and fiddle opening is beautiful. It’s impossible not to sing along to the chorus, and “Slow Dance” not only feels like it should be a single sent out to country radio, it will certainly be a song many couples will dance to for years to come.
Kylie Frey- So You Think You Want a Cowboy
Kylie Frey has been on a roll with consistently releasing stone cold country tunes lately. “So You Think You Want a Cowboy” is a fun, steel and fiddle-laden up-tempo song made for both the dancehalls in Texas and honky tonks in Nashville.
Mitch Rossell- Texas Hold ‘em
Some songs hook you in from the very first line, and that is exactly what happened with “Texas Hold ’em.” Rossell sets the scene perfectly as he spins a tune about chasing a neon rainbow at the expense a relationship. The lyrics are beautifully heartbreaking, as an acoustic guitar and fiddle-lead melody allow the story to stand front and center.
Cameron James Smith- Hair Tie in My Truck
Cameron James Smith has consistently shown a knack for writing some of the catchiest choruses we’ve heard in recent memory (see his song “Two Left Feet” for another prime example). “Hair Tie in My Truck” offers a heartwarming sentiment of the smallest reminder of a lover brightening one’s day, and as always, Smith delivers it excellently.
ERNEST- Honkytonk Fairytale
“Honkytonk Fairytale” is another prime example of an opening line immediately drawing us into a song. The way the chorus flows, rises and falls is expertly done, and the song is dripping with steel guitar from start to finish. It’s a sad ol’ song done to perfection.
Emily Ann Roberts- Working on Love
We wrestled with including each of the three bonus songs on Emily Ann Roberts’ excellent Can’t Hide Country album, but at the end of the day, we kept landing on “Working on Love.” The bluegrass-led number is so damn catchy, and it would’ve sounded just as perfect in the 90s as it does today.
Tyler Booth- All This Could Be Yours
Everything about how “All This Could Be Yours” was recorded is perfect. The production is lush, the lead and backing vocals are layered perfectly, and the instruments play so well off of each other. It captures a smoky bar feel while also coming equipped with a charming lyric of trying to win over a belle.
Cole Goodwin- When You Get Home
“When You Get Home” stopped us in our tracks on first listen. Our introduction into Goodwin’s music was this lonesome number about distance in a relationship. By the time the fiddle and steel solo hit, we knew this song was going to land on this list. It’s heartbreaking, it’s real, and delivered expertly.
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