10 Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know

It's time for our monthly round up of the 10 Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know.

This month we’ve got a bagpipe playing pop country superstar in the making from Prince Edward Island who intriguingly describes her sound as "Bra Country," an Oklahoma five-piece who are boldly reimagining heartland country rock and a 21-year-old from Greenwood Springs, Mississippi, who isn't afraid of walking in the footsteps of the country greats.

We've also got an exclusive first watch of the brand new video from LGBTQ+ country artist Jenna DeVries, 'Strut.'

All this and more as we dive into another of Holler's monthly roundups of our latest loves; a who's who of the most exciting prospects to begin leaving their mark on the country and Americana landscape.

Here's Holler's 10 New and Upcoming Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know for November 2024:

Growing up in the city of Stephenville, Texas, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, Hudson Westbrook's songs are proudly authentic to his upbringing.

"I was surrounded by livestock and a blue-collar way of life which influenced me to work hard from an early age," he says. "My experiences growing up there equipped me with the tools to portray a hard-working, honest country lifestyle from someone who has genuinely lived that life. The values I learned from being raised in a small town like Stephenville taught me how to be friendly to anyone I meet. This upbringing also instilled in me the importance of considering every fan when I’m writing music. The support and connection to fans are essential to my music, and I strive to reflect this in every song."

Listening to his distinctly contemporary take on classic country, it's easy to pick out influences like Turnpike Troubadours, Parker McCollum and Koe Wetzel, but they sit in there with older influences like Gary Allan, Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers and George Strait. Maybe that's why it's so difficult to pin him down.

"My sound is a unique blend of Texas country, with its distinctive storytelling and heartfelt lyrics and a variety of melodies," he says. "I want my tracks to sound like you are listening to a live band but balanced enough to be friendly to all listeners' ears."

His debut self-titled seven song EP comes off the back of a string of viral hits including 'Two-Way Drive,' '5 to 9,' and 'Dopamine,' as well as Westbrook’s latest single, 'House Again.' His debut song, the charmingly rough-around-the-edges 'Take It Slow' was released in April and surpassed 14 million streams in just six months.

Since then, he's clocked up over 30 million global streams and supported the likes of Midland, Eli Young Band and Cole Swindell.

“So far, everything has been instant with my music career, and a lot has changed in my life quickly,” says Westbrook. “As an artist, everything around you changes constantly, but the most important thing is keeping constants in your life. Over the last six months, I’ve learned the value of time. When you’re with the people who mean the most to you, it’s important to make the most of it.”

“When writing these tracks for the EP, I was reflecting on how I pray for the important people in my life, whether we are together or apart. The unwavering support from my fans has given me the confidence to release this project, and I believe these songs truly represent who I am as an artist. I hope they provide a special experience for listeners.”

“Four months ago, I was a normal college kid, and now I’m on tour,” he says. “The best part is going out and watching people singing your lyrics back. I wrote it in an empty room on a random piece of paper, and now people are screaming at the top of their lungs.”

Hudson Westbrook's self-titled EP is out on 15th November on River House.

Listen If You Like: Wyatt Flores, Parker McCollum, Tyler Childers

"It’s like if Jason Aldean and Avril Lavigne had a baby… who plays bagpipes," says Alli Walker. "I describe my sound as 'Bra Country' instead of 'Bro Country' because I’m influenced by such a wide range of artists and genres. I have songs that are more rock-heavy country, some that reflect small-town values, and a few that lean into Celtic influences within country music."

Born and raised on Prince Edward Island, a tiny island on the east coast of Canada, her unconventional upbringing helped shaped the unique sound she's made her own since relocating to big city Nashville via Toronto. Along the way venturing into the world of print and commercial modelling and even starring in the hit TV show Suits.

"I was exposed to all types of music and learned to play different instruments, thanks to the island’s culture," Walker explains. "Like many people here, I’m of Irish and Scottish descent, so I grew up listening to Celtic music and playing the bagpipes professionally. I’ve competed in places like Scotland and Ireland, and I even received a scholarship to the University of Arkansas for bagpiping. At one point, I thought bagpiping was going to be my life path, but I eventually chose country music instead! I’d been writing, recording, and releasing country music for 13 years when I finally merged my bagpipes with my songs. 'The Whiskey’s Gone,' along with playing electric bagpipes in my live set, has been so much fun. It's now my most engaged-with song, and people are always requesting more bagpipe music. It’s a perfect example of how where I’m from has shaped the music I’m making today."

She even showcased her bagpipe skills on stage with Shania Twain earlier this year, where she joined her fellow Canadian superstar for a Celticised run through 'Any Man of Mine.' Along with her love of Celtic music, she grew up listening to "a little bit of everything, whatever the radio, CMT, MTV, and MuchMusic were playing," she says.

"I especially loved Avril Lavigne and was a huge tomboy," she adds, a passion that's still reflected in her sound and look to this day. "She inspired me to start playing electric guitar and drums, and I became a fan of pop-rock. I listened to Nickelback, Sum 41, and Our Lady Peace, among others. As a teenager, I was really influenced by Taylor Swift and her songwriting. She inspired me to write my own music and made me realize that I wanted to pursue this career 15 years ago. I also loved a lot of country artists like Gretchen Wilson, Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn, and Alan Jackson. In my 20s, I was into Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean. Over the last few years, I’ve been loving Hardy and Morgan Wallen."

If you can imagine all those disparate influences bundled up together in one big country pop ball then you'd still only be halfway to imagining the fun jammed package that is Alli Walker.

Since signing with renowned record label RECORDS Nashville, Vector Management, and Sony Music Publishing, she's released a string of pop country singles that perfectly capture her charisma and oddball take on country music, from 'I Like Big Trucks' and 'Dirt On Us' to 'Nashville' and her recently released single 'Kitchen Floor.'

“It's a nostalgic and personal song about looking back on the memories your childhood home holds, specifically the scratches and dents that were left on the kitchen floor." she says about the reflective country ballad. "The idea of 'Kitchen Floor' came to me when I was living with my in-laws and noticed all the scratches in their heritage home and asking them where they all came from and the stories. It reminded me of my childhood home, and all the memories that are held in the scratches and dents in the walls and floors and how so many people share the same sentiments surrounding their childhood homes.”

'Kitchen Floor' is available now on RECORDS label.

Listen If You Like: Alana Springsteen, Shania Twain, Keith Urban

Hailing from the small river town of Savannah, Tennessee, sitting about 30 minutes from the Alabama state line, Hayden Blount fills his rough and ready country storytelling with perfectly rounded portraits of the characters that bring his particular corner of rural America to life.

"There’s not much to do besides listen to music, tell stories, or get into trouble and I did a pretty decent job of staying out of trouble," jokes Hayden Blount. "But no, with it being so small I’d say it’s easier for experiences to have more significance which makes it a little easier to write about the things that happen to me. When there’s not much going on, the things that do happen hold more weight when it comes to shaping who you are as a person and are going to mean more to you."

"For me, if something has any meaning to me, I’m going to want to do it justice when telling or writing about it," he says. "Also, everybody knows everybody, and people are going to know when they’re a part of something and won’t be afraid to call you on your bullshit. That just adds a little extra motivation to tell things how they happened. I belief authenticity is the key to doing anything long term and enjoying it."

Growing up in small town Tennessee, he remembers listening to Eric Church on the radio with his dad, but admits he naturally drifted away from country music in high school, only to be brought back into the fold again with Jon Pardi and Luke Combs, before Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan gave his simmering passion its boiling point a few years ago.

"That’s when life started getting a little heavier and music started meaning a little bit more to me," he remembers. "It’s been fun discovering everyone within that sub-genre of country music the last few years."

Like a lot of country singers, he writes about love, heartbreak, family and growing up in Tennessee, but there's a deeper truthfulness that Hayden Blount somehow drills down to in his songs that belies his simple, straight-to-the-point delivery.

"All my songs have real people playing real instruments on them," he says. "None of it is perfect and I don’t want it to be. My music sounds the way I think it should and the way I want it to. It all goes back to authenticity for me. I won’t ever write or record a song I wouldn’t listen to myself. So, ultimately, I hope other people would describe my sound as authentic."

Currently enjoying a viral moment with 'Heaven on Earth,' his loose, roughly struck acoustic guitar sound owes as much to folk singers like Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliot and contemporary pop artists like Ed Sheeran as it does Zach Bryan.

Up, Out, and Leaving is out now self-released exclusively distributed through Santa Anna

Listen If You Like: Sam Barber, Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers

2024 has already been an annus mirabilis for LGBTQ+ country artist Jenna DeVries, and now she's seeing it out with the timely anthem of rebellion and resilience, 'Strut.' Going off like an incendiary device planted underneath country music's heartland, DeVries calls out hypocrisy and hollow morality as she takes us on a journey through the heart of the American South.

“Country music is for everyone," Jenna DeVries says about her latest single. "There are so many artists breaking through old thought patterns and making space in the genre. ‘Strut’ is an anthem celebrating this new wave of country artists AND the women in country who lead the way for them. It’s a song that celebrates some of my favorite female artists - who I really look up to - artists who have always celebrated and made space for everyone. Right now is a really scary time to be a woman, LGBTQIA+, or a person of color. I hope, while we fight for the country we want to live in, that this song can give people a bit of hope and honestly make them smile. Country music, much like equal rights, should be for EVERYONE.”

The follow up to 'Hell is Real' from September, her latest single is another sign that the singer isn't showing any signs of slowing down after releasing her full length self-titled debut in June.

“Only country queens know how to strut,” she sings in the chorus, invoking the legacies of Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire, with nods to Chappell Roan and even Beyoncé in her unapologetic rejection of empty words and demands for authenticity and strength.

Jenna DeVries' has the origin story of a comic book superhero and every song she sings serves as a fiercely empowering theme tune for her fight against injustice. She grew up in a fundamentalist cult, was married off at 19 years old to "an incredibly abusive man" and "was in an abusive relationship for about four years," only to find herself forced into a "conversion therapy camp."

"When I left him, I was completely ostracized by my entire community," she told People. "And when I came out a few years later after my divorce, it was like that entire community just abandoned me again."

She confronted her cult past in the video for her 2023 single 'RIP.'

Raised on Gospel music, she learned how to sing in church and took piano lessons from when she was just 5 years old, writing her first song when she was 14 and recording her first EP when she was 15. She took part in two national singing competitions, including taking a coveted spot in the top 24 of season 15 of American Idol.

After that she moved to Nashville from NY, publicly came out, lost her voice and her family and got married to the love of her life, Audrey Mattoon.

The songs inspired by that life are boldly unapologetic anthems of empowerment and self-belief, delivered with an acerbic, eye-rolling wit and a playful spirit of rebellion as she sets off on her one-woman mission to turn country music on its head and “Put the yas in amen and the ho down in holler,” as she sings in 'Strut.'

'Strut' is out now on Heart Songs Corporation

Listen If You Like: Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Ingrid Andress

If you're gonna step into the shoes of the country greats then you're gonna need some pretty big kickers, and if those country greats happen to be George Jones, Reba McEntire and Conway Twitty then you must have feet the size of a sasquatch. We haven't seen Belle Frantz's tootsies but judging by the three absolutely heart-wrenching classic country covers on her debut EP, there's not a little piggy among them.

The 21-year-old native of Greenwood Springs, Mississippi but has been making waves in Nashville for the past year and the recently released Why I Sing This Way EP features her takes on George Jones' 'Grand Tour,' Conway Twitty's 'Hello Darlin'' and 'The Last One to Know,' originally a hit for her ultimate role model, Reba McEntire, back in 1987, a good decade and a half before Belle Frantz was even born.

"I always say I got my voice from God and Reba," she says. "But truly, my voice is probably a mixture of all the ones that came before. I’ve always found the classic country artist voice so interesting. The way they phrased their words and all having a very distinct sound. I listened to them my whole life, so I probably have some of their tendencies."

Frantz grew up close to her grandparents in Greenwood Springs, and it was in her grandfather’s shop that she was exposed to classic country artists early on that soon became her music of choice, including George Jones, Patsy Cline and KT Oslin. When her grandfather passed away, 12-year-old Frantz went through a basket of his old CDs and the first new one she discovered was McEntire’s Last One To Know.

“The Last One To Know” is the song and album that changed my life," she says. "After I heard that song, I knew I had to start praying (immediately) and figure how to sing like that. That song came at a really dark time in my life when I was 12 years old, and my granddaddy had just passed. I credit that song as the song that got me here and I thought it would be a great start to my career."

The album became the catalyst for her love of singing and the songwriting process, which she studied intently and at age 16, Frantz started taking guitar and voice lessons.

She began to play local shows to hone her craft and after community college, worked to save money to move to Nashville, where she has been writing with the industry’s top songwriters and recording for her forthcoming debut of originals. Frantz’s TikTok videos for the recently released songs have gone viral and drawn comparisons to Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.

They say you should never judge a book by the cover, but you sure can judge a country singer by one, and if Why I Sing This Way is anything to go by then Belle Frantz's career is going to be one unputdownable page turner.

Why I Sing This Way is out now on UMG Nashville.

Listen If You Like: Lee Ann Womack, Reba McEntire, Carly Pearce

"We've christened our sound 'High Country,'" Jason Scott explains. "It's storytelling on a bed of Honky Tonk, Southern Rock, and Spaghetti Western textures. Someone recently said, 'It's like if Quentin Tarantino wrote a record,' and we're just fine with that!"

Almost all born and raised in Oklahoma, Jason Scott also spent some formative years in Castle Rock, Colorado, a town which gave their debut album its title back in 2022.

A recent addition to the all-star Leo33 roster, their recently released High Country Heat EP builds on the heartland country rock of their debut and massively expands their sound to further push the boundaries of Americana and gives them that distinct air of invincibility that only the true greats fly with. But invincibility doesn't make you invulnerable, and like all the greatest songwriters, it's that vulnerability that give them their strength.

So it is with Jason Scott, a songwriter whose Pentecostal upbringing, years spent as a preacher-in-training, and eventual crisis of faith make him a seemingly ageless, deeply existential storyteller and gift him his unique perspective on life, love and modern struggles.

The band is completed by Gabriel Mor (guitars), Ryan Magnani (bass), Bobby Wade (drums), and Garrison Brown (guitars, keys), along with former bandmate turned producer Taylor Johnson, who has played an integral role in shaping the band’s unique sound.

"I think Oklahoma's leisurely, nonchalant pace, combined with exposure to Midwestern values and rural tropes, is certainly part of this band's makeup," Scott explains. "Wrestling with our upbringing and defining our own convictions have made their way into several songs on past and current records and will likely show up in future songs from time to time."

"I grew up heavily churched, so a lot of my early influences were gospel music, worship songs, and 104.9 FM The Light 105," Scott says. "As for the other guys, they had plenty of exposure to all the greats and later passed some of these influences on to me: Tom Petty, George Jones, Led Zeppelin, Van Morrison, Motown, Dolly Parton, The Band, The Beatles, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, to name a few."

If things keep going the way they're going, Jason Scott & The High Heat will be one of those greats in time too.

High Country Heat is out now on Leo33

Listen If You Like: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Brothers Osborne, Paul Cauthen

Crowe Boys music were always an integral part of their families' travelling lifestyle and the two brothers, Ocie and Wes, have been making music together since they were able to pick up an instrument. It's that brotherly bond that infuses everything they do and gives them that rare sound that seems unique to siblings sometimes. They write and sing together because that's the way it's always been, and it gives their songs a strangely uplifting almost spiritual essence.

"Louisiana has always been the place we call home, but we moved around so much as kids that it’s hard to pinpoint an exact place," they explain. "We’ve both lived in New Orleans longer than most places and all of the most important things have happened to us there. Moving around so much as we did as kids was definitely a major influence on who we are as people. We were given so many opportunities to experience different cultures. We think that’s what opened us up to becoming people who question so much. It birthed our wanderlust for finding life."

Staying positive and sharing hope has always been Crowe Boys' stock-in-trade and it's what has made their virality on TikTok so refreshing. Motivated by a need, that so many of us have, to make connections with each other, their posts on the social platform feel genuine and completely authentic to that. Going through the life changing emotions of losing a parent when they were younger when their mom died from cancer, Crowe Boys encourage and challenge their listeners to live their lives with intentionality and give meaning to every moment of them.

Whether they're remembering childhood road trips or the joys of becoming a parent, their songs are measures of the milestones we all pass. Growing up listening to bands like NeedToBreathe, Switchfoot, and Skillet, as the brothers got older they began to dive deeper into folk, listening to bands like Caamp, Gregory Alan Isakov and Mumford & Sons, and it's those influences that shape their sound most, infused with the emotionality of their early alt-rock indie influences.

"We’ve never really been the kind of people to worry much about genre," Ocie says. "Our music is about helping people be seen and heard. Nothing outside of that really matters to us."

At a time when masculinity always seems to be in some sort of crisis, there is something powerfully openhearted and tender about Crowe Boys' songwriting and their latest single, 'Let Me Feel Alone,' written by Ocie, is a stirring call for us all to get back in touch with our softer sides.

"I wrote the lyrics to ‘Let Me Feel Alone’ and the song for me was crafted around my personal experiences with struggling with understanding my emotions," says Ocie. "I’ve always been one to bottle up and shelf the way I feel. Over the past few years I’ve really tried to give myself space to live in my emotions. Even going so far as intentionally subjecting myself to situations I know will hurt so I can learn to feel it all the way through to the end. I hope this song pushes you to know that it’s okay to be hurt and it’s okay to be confused. Give yourself space for life because most of the time, things turn out very differently than what we expected."

'Let Me Feel Alone' is out now on UMG Nashville

Listen If You Like: Noah Kahan, Mumford & Sons, Michael Marcagi

"I grew up listening to old country music such as Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, Don Williams, Alison Krauss," Hannah McFarland says. "That’s where I found my love for the true storytelling behind a good song."

Listening to the singles she's released so far, it's obvious to see how she's soaked up those early old school influences adding a little contemporary twist to help them make sense to the TikTok generation. There’s something effortless about the way Hannah McFarland sings and a gentle easiness to her songwriting. Following up her single, 'The Bed I Made,' from last year with the contemplative 'Hey Highway' she's marking herself out as being one of country music's quiet geniuses, following her own path through the genre with her blend of country storytelling and Americana earthiness.

She moved to Nashville in 2016, but she was originally from Mobile, Alabama, where she was raised by a cattleman and a portrait artist and has been performing since the age of 15, opening for Kelsea Ballerini, Old Dominion and Travis Tritt, among many others and joining Zach Bryan onstage to sing Kacey Musgraves' part of their duet, 'I Remember Everything.'

"I think my new single is a good example of my love for the story within a song," she says about her latest single. "I enjoy the clever twists when it comes to songwriting, and I believe my co-writer Kaylin Roberson and I were able to incorporate that into this one. This is one of my favorite songs that I’ve been a part of, and I’m so lucky for all the love it has gotten already. I enjoy watching people connect to it on a personal level, and that’s the whole reason that I am a songwriter. I love the connections built through music, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me in this journey."

'Hey Highway' is out now on UMG Recordings inc/The Core Records

Listen If You Like: Lauren Watkins, Carter Faith, Hailey Whitters

"Everything! From Usher to Miranda Lambert, Fleetwood Mac to AC/DC and lots and lots of Jimmy Buffett," is how Lanie Gardner describes the smorgasbord of influences she grew up listening to in Burnsville, North Carolina.

"The music that is mostly played in the Appalachian Mountains is mostly folk, bluegrass, country and Americana," she adds. "However, I’d say the cultural aspects of generations of Gardners, specifically from my dad, passed down the heart for these particular genres rather than the Appalachian Mountains themselves. The people definitely keep the culture alive there."

"I think there’s a touch of many different generic influences, especially from listening to and loving all kinds of music," she says of her own music. "My 'sound' has always depended on seasons of life and my mood. When I’m angry or broken, a lot of rock influences come out. When I’m in love, more R&B and country influences surface. When I’m happy, country and pop influences make their way into my writing. My sound is quite simply, me. Whatever makes its way into the pot, is what I’m cookin’!"

Those rock influences were out in force on 'Chasing the Wind,' her contribution to the soundtrack to Twisters: The Movie earlier this year. A mix of pulsing eighties rock beats and stadium sized pop country, the song was one of the standouts from the album. If 'Chasing the Wind' showcased her more outgoing side then her recently released debut album, A Songwriter’s Diary finds her mining even deeper into her thoughts and emotions with a set of reflective, deeply personal coming-of-age songs that perfectly capture the raw emotionality of those transitional years.

These are the kind of songs you can imagine being played by a low light late at night in a college dorm room. Songs for when you close your eyes and take in the sheer overwhelmingness of the universe, songs that make you feel less alone and a little more able to take on each day. The perfect companion for some of the most complicated and confusing years of your life.

"A Songwriter’s Diary is a compilation of songs that I wrote in high school following into college years," she says about her debut album released at the end of last month. "It showcases girlhood to womanhood, and everything involved with heartbreaks, happiness, ambitions, sweet memories, and bringing light to my roots and where I come from. I wanted to write this project alone so that it was completely honest to me and where music started for me. I will probably cherish this album more than anything I’ll ever create."

A Songwriter's Diary is out now on Bee String Records under exclusive license to This Is Hit

Listen If You Like: Ashley Cooke, Avery Anna, Lily Fitts

Originally from West Virginia, the tradition of Appalachian storytelling has had a huge influence on the way Rett Madison writes songs and with two bona fide Americana album classics already under her belt, she's taking those traditions out to a wider audience.

"I’ve been influenced by many artists across genres, but I hope my sound lives somewhere in between Stevie Nicks and Dolly Parton," she says. "They are two vocalists and songwriters that have really made an impact on my own style of singing and writing and continue to inspire me today."

It's a pairing that makes a lot of sense when you listen to Rett Madison's recently expanded sophomore album, One More for Jackie. Growing up listening to an eclectic array of artists from Fleetwood Mac and Prince to Billy Joel and Brandi Carlile, her songs have a theatrical grandiosity that sit her alongside Rufus Wainright and Regina Spektor more so than her Appalachian contemporaries. If Florence and The Machine ever made a country record it might sound something like Rett Madison's eccentric, stadium sized queer country pop.

Adding four new songs to her acclaimed 2023 full-length, One For Jackie, the new deluxe edition comes out a year on from the album's first release and celebrates a year that has seen her share the stage with Liv Greene, The Fray, Medium Build and The Crane Wives, as well as gracing the stage of Carnegie Hall at The Piano Recital with Mandy Moore, Margo Price and Meg Duffy. Included among the album's extra tracks is Madison's version of Fleetwood Mac's classic 'Everywhere,' a song that ties in with the album written as a tribute to Madison’s mom, who struggled with depression, PTSD and alcoholism for Madison’s whole life before she passed by suicide in 2019, leaving her only child with the harrowing responsibility to try and better understand her mother while she mourned her.

“Writing this album, I was moving through grief,” Madison says. “It was part of my healing process. My mom introduced me to many of my favorite bands and artists that I still love listening to this day. One of those bands was Fleetwood Mac. We’d listen to their Greatest Hits album whenever we’d make the hour and a half long drive to visit my grandmother. On those trips, I often would ask her to play 'Everywhere', or in my own words as a kid 'The Magic Song,' over and over again. We really bonded over that song and whenever I hear it I always think of my mom.”

Watch Rett Madison's Holler Live Session recorded in Nashville presented by Montucky Cold Snacks here.

One More for Jackie is out now on War Buddha Records/Warner Records.

Listen If You Like: Brandi Carlile, Katie Pruitt, Madi Diaz

For more of the monthly editions of Holler's 10 Artists You Need To Know, see below: