Best New Country Songs

In a week that's seen Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen occupying the top two spots on The Billboard 200 albums chart and Megan Moroney teasing a duet with global pop megastar Ed Sheeran it's difficult to know how much bigger country music could actually get at the moment, but with another jam-packed Friday for new releases it might be that country music is going to just keep taking over the world.

This week we've got new songs from big hitters like Jelly Roll, Carly Pearce and Parker McCollum, as well as some future classics from up and comers like KC Bruner, Angie K and Timmy McKeever and household favourites like Trisha Yearwood and Ashley McBryde.

Listen along to our Best New Country playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Amazon.

This week's Best New Country cover star is Carly Pearce. She offers a compassionate re-examination of the beliefs many of us are raised with on her timely and emotional new single 'Church Girl.'

“I’m just a sinner, who’s been where you’re at," she sings powerfully, as she reassures someone who is worrying about their own connection with their faith. "So you like to get high when you talk to Jesus / So you love who you love, and you go out on the weekends / So you drink, and you think for yourself / That don’t mean you’ll go to hell when you leave this world / Just ‘cause you heard it in church, girl.”

Fiercely rooted in the classics, the girl who left her Kentucky home and high school at 16 to take a job at Dollywood has grown into a GRAMMY, ACM, CMA and CMT Award-winning Country star who embraces the genre’s forward progression and she's back with a clear message of acceptance; 'Church Girl' unfolding as a warm, encouraging open letter to anyone still finding their way, delivered through the voice of someone who’s lived the journey. More love, less judgement.

Amen to that.

Watch the video for 'Church Girl' below

Elsewhere in this week's Best New Country, Parker McCollum finally lets us have 'Big Ole Fancy House,' Max McNown releases 'World Change Me' and Ashley McBryde is teasing her first new album since 2023's The Devil I Know with her anthemic, larger-than-life impassioned ballad, 'What If We Don’t.'

“‘What If We Don’t’ came to me, Terri Jo Box, and Randall Clay sitting around a fire pit on a back porch, reminiscing on all the moments that we could’ve made a different choice and wondering if we should’ve,” McBryde shares. “It’s about the leaps of faith that you do or don’t take and having to learn to live with those consequences either way."

Watch the video for 'What If We Don't' below

Conner Smith is having a moment of self-reflection on 'Man I Was Made To Be,' while Cole Swindell drafts in Priscilla Block for a revamped version of 'We Can Always Move On' and Ashley Anne is spiralling while she's celebrating her ex's special day on 'happy birthday.' A song that explores those feelings you get when something you used to be together to celebrate now must be endured apart.

Abbie Callahan and Brendan Walter join forces for '2:38,' pairing two of Nashville’s most compelling emerging voices on an intimate, emotionally charged collaboration that blends raw storytelling with a textured, roots-driven sound, written byCallahan with Ryan Hurd, and Michael Lotten.

“I wrote down ‘2:38’ in my song title ideas for reasons I can’t fully explain, but it clearly stuck with me,” says Callahan. “When I brought the concept into the room with Ryan and Michael, it immediately sparked something. We ended up writing it as a duet, and from the beginning, I knew exactly who the perfect collaborator would be. I met Brendan last year at a writers’ round, and his kindness, humor, and talent made a lasting impression. His note choices and the grit he brings elevate the song in all the right ways. This is the first featured collaboration I’ve released, and one of the most mainstream country songs I’ve made to date, so I’m incredibly excited to share it.”

“Saying yes to this song was instant when Abbie asked," Walter adds. "We all have that person who sneaks into our thoughts late at night, and I swear mine is not Abbie Callahan. She’s a phenomenal artist, and this track is something special. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”

“Abbie is going to be around in a big way for a very long time,” continues co-writer Ryan Hurd. “This song was stuck in my head from the second I heard the demo. Her and Brendan sound like they’ve been singing together for years. '2:38' is such a yearning song, I love it, it is one of my favorites that I have gotten to be a part of, especially with a new artist.”

Paul Cauthen is back to blow everyone's tiny minds with a new album, Book of Paul, due in April and he gives us the first taste of it with 'Texas Swagger,' while Jonny Fritz is giving his Debbie Downers album from last year a woodwind makeover in a preview of the second of three versions of the album.

We've got all that plus new songs from Max McNown, Leah Blevins, Mitchell Tenpenny, The Milk Carton Kids, Austin Michael, Travis Bolt and Kalsey Kulyk. While one of our Holler 20 Artists for 2026, McCoy Moore releases 'Prayin' For Me' this week, a deeply personal track that finds Moore taking a step back to acknowledge how far he's gone as things now start to feel like they're falling into place.

“Early last year, it really felt like everything started coming together for me in Nashville and I thought, man someone must be praying for me," he shares about the song. "I knew there were a few, but there’s got to be some more that I didn’t know about. The song 'Prayin’ For Me' is a thank you to everybody that has prayed for me then, and everybody that still does now.”

Watch the video for 'Prayin' For Me' below

Kashus Culpepper releases his full-length debut, Act I, an 18-song collection recorded in Muscle Shoals that channels all the Alabama-native’s layered influences of country, folk, rock, blues and soul into a cohesive debut project for the ages. Featuring collaborations with Sierra Ferrell and Marcus King, the album includes 'After Me?,' 'Cherry Rose' and 'Alabama Beauty Queen,' featured in our playlist today. Culpepper’s husky, sandpaper growl bellows like a freight train over his self-penned stories that are as raw and real as they are haunting.

Clover County gives her Holler Top 20 Album from last year, Finer Things, the deluxe treatment with three new songs, and we've got the brilliant 'Airpark' in our playlist today, while Ashley Kutcher drops her 10-track Back To My Roots & My Roots Run Deep project and Hudson Westbrook releases his highly anticipated forthcoming EP, Exclusive, which includes the viral smashes 'If He Wanted To' and 'Pretty Privilege' along with three other new songs.

Kelleigh Bannen releases The Live Sessions, a four track EP that includes her version of Red Clay Strays monster viral smash 'Wondering Why' and Kezia Gill is putting it All On Red herself with an album rooted in more than 15 years of industry experience and the culmination of a creative process that draws on blues, Irish folk and Americana just as much as country — traditional and modern.

“It’s a Nashville record with a British heart,” insists Kezia Gill as she describes the genesis of a remarkable album that’s been a lifetime in the making. Major label debut All On Red represents a bold new direction for the queen of British country music: a truly transatlantic showcase of a generational talent that’s as authentic as it is ambitious.

“People say that a UK artist can never compete with anything that’s coming out of Nashville but this record dares to say different,” argues Kezia. “It’s Nashville players with a Nashville production. I’m proudly British but All On Red is the best of both worlds. You can hear in my voice just what it meant to be in a room full of seasoned Nashville musicians, all fully committed to bringing my music to life. I knew that room was where I was always meant to be.”

Produced by Alyssa Bonagura, the two like-minded souls had connected at a festival and clicked instantly. “I told Alyssa that I’d love to send her some demos and she stopped me right there. She said ‘I don't even need to hear the demos. I want to make your record’.” It was the start of what Kezia lovingly describes as a "whirlwind friendship."

“I came away thinking how cool would that be? Two women in the music industry making music in a man's world. I loved the narrative and imagined what could be possible. Alyssa and I are both spiritual. I feel like I've found someone who’s deeply on my wavelength. That became clear when she produced All On Red. Not only did Alyssa do everything I wanted, she did everything I didn't know I wanted! No one's ever done that before.”

Watch the video for 'Gut Feeling' below.

Every week we shine our Holler spotlight on a song that we think deserves a little extra light shining on it and this week we're shining it on a song from SJ McDonald that we've been whistling around the office all week.

Written after attending the National Finals Rodeo, where a new romance turned into a song about the moment you realize someone might actually be the one, 'You Say Vegas' is a sprightly country bop that would make Dolly Parton proud.

Co-written with Ben Williams, known for 'Tennessee Orange' and 'I’m Not Pretty' with Megan Moroney, and Wyatt McCubbin, known for 'Sounds Like the Radio' with Zach Top.

"All it took was seeing my man in a cowboy hat in Las Vegas to make me want to run off and get married by Elvis. BUT… my mamma would’ve killed me, so I wrote a song about it instead. I wrote ‘You Say Vegas’ with Wyatt McCubbin and Ben Williams over Zoom from a random hotel in Texas," shares McDonald. "We even shot the cover photo in my kitchen, where I got to officiate Ben and his wife Bella Hudson’s ‘Vegas’ wedding as Elvis!"

Check out this week's new country and Americana song releases and listen to the full playlist below:

1. 1.

   Church Girl

   Carly Pearce

2. 2.

   Big Ole Fancy House

   Parker McCollum

3. 3.

   What If We Don't

   Ashley McBryde

4. 4.

   Exclusive

   Hudson Westbrook

5. 5.

   Vengeance and Grace (Alone)

   Benjamin Tod

6. 6.

   World Change Me

   Max McNown

7. 7.

   2:38

   Abbie Callahan and Brendan Walter

8. 8.

   Alabama Beauty Queen

   Kashus Culpepper

9. 9.

   Bible and the Bottle

   KC Bruner

10. 10.

    I'm Good

    Jelly Roll

11. 11.

    Texas Swagger

    Paul Cauthen

12. 12.

    Low Key Love Song

    Angie K

13. 13.

    Prayin' For Me

    McCoy Moore

14. 14.

    I Wish I Could

    Timmy McKeever

15. 15.

    Cowboy Crazy

    Kalsey Kulyk

16. 16.

    Airpark

    Clover County

17. 17.

    Diggin' In The Coal

    Leah Blevins

18. 18.

    Useless

    Ashley Kutcher

19. 19.

    We Can Always Move On (feat. Priscilla Block)

    Cole Swindell

20. 20.

    You Say Vegas

    SJ McDonald

21. 21.

    Wondering Why

    Kelleigh Bannen

22. 22.

    Site Unseen

    Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee

23. 23.

    Lose A Friend

    Evan Honer and Winyah

24. 24.

    Man I Was Made To Be

    Conner Smith

25. 25.

    Call It Country

    Hayden Coffman

26. 26.

    You Phase

    Mitchell Tenpenny

27. 27.

    happy birthday

    Ashley Anne

28. 28.

    Spare Key

    Atlus

29. 29.

    Type Shit

    Jay Webb

30. 30.

    Like My Own

    Kylie Morgan

31. 31.

    Different Kinda Hard

    Trisha Yearwood

32. 32.

    Not By You

    Callista Clark

33. 33.

    Whiskey In A Wine Glass

    Kezia Gill

34. 34.

    Can't Tell You No

    Ryan Jesse

35. 35.

    Dream Song

    Bella White

36. 36.

    Already Left

    Max Alan

37. 37.

    Back In The Saddle

    Austin Michael

38. 38.

    I Got You

    Tedeschi Trucks Band

39. 39.

    Let You Go

    Elijah Scott

40. 40.

    Paradise & Hurricanes

    High Valley

41. 41.

    Dead Man Walking

    Sam Donald

42. 42.

    A Friend Like You

    The Milk Carton Kids

43. 43.

    Working and Drinking

    Roc Helton

44. 44.

    Tea Man - Woodwinds

    Jonny Fitz

45. 45.

    Man For That

    Taylor Austin Dye

46. 46.

    Miss You In The Morning

    Lane Pittman

47. 47.

    Let Me Go

    Alex Hall

48. 48.

    Blues At My Funeral

    Travis Bolt

49. 49.

    The Hardest Thing

    Catherine Britt

50. 50.

    Walking Contradiction

    Zoe Clark

51. 51.

    Bandit's Ballad

    Logan Ryan Band and Presley Haile

52. 52.

    I Hope

    Savannah Dexter

53. 53.

    Get It Right

    Ilse DeLange

54. 54.

    Man On The Moon

    William Clark Green

55. 55.

    Life Out Here

    Todd Cameron and Sam Grow

56. 56.

    Over New Mexico

    Jamie O'Neal

57. 57.

    Tulsa County Jail

    The Kruse Brothers

58. 58.

    I Need Tomorrow (feat. Jake Banfield)

    Two Friends

59. 59.

    River

    Esterly and Austin Jenckes

60. 60.

    Love At First Sight

    FILMORE

61. 61.

    Coverage

    Austin Brown

62. 62.

    If I'm Being Honest

    Dylan Burk

63. 63.

    Roll On My Brother

    Ashes & Arrows

64. 64.

    Only Fans

    Kamryn Palmer

65. 65.

    Cold Beer Country Music and You

    Jackie Lee

66. 66.

    Thought About You

    Nate Haller

67. 67.

    How She's Making Out

    Trea Landon

68. 68.

    Freedom

    Lathan Bryant

69. 69.

    The Giver

    Tiera Kennedy

70. 70.

    END OF THE LINE

    Clement Jacques

71. 71.

    When We Die

    Dawson Gray

72. 72.

    Burn to Black

    Brooke Lee

73. 73.

    Smell The Roses

    Landon Parker

74. 74.

    Take My Man

    Madison Olivia

75. 75.

    Keep Telling Yourself That

    HAYDEL

76. 76.

    Chickens in the Backyard

    Payton Sullivan

77. 77.

    When I'm Old

    Annabelle

78. 78.

    Drive Away

    Zac Hart

79. 79.

    Good Grief

    Brandon Wisham

80. 80.

    Two Inches

    Trey Lewis

81. 81.

    Knew You Then

    Ty Wilson and Mason Keck

82. 82.

    Merlot Dodge Dart

    Sophie Gault

83. 83.

    The Long Surrender

    NEEDTOBREATHE

84. 84.

    Go Down Drinking a Beer

    Cody Hibbard and John Daly

85. 85.

    Future Tense

    Cece Oakley

86. 86.

    I Want My Rib Back

    Kyle Gates

87. 87.

    demons

    Josiah Queen

88. 88.

    Pull Me Through

    Paul Minnich

89. 89.

    Another Time

    Cat Clyde

90. 90.

    World of Trouble

    The Montvales

91. 91.

    Highway Junkie

    Andy Thomas

92. 92.

    Distant Seasons

    Danny George Wilson

93. 93.

    Mirrors & Smoke

    Hadlie Jo

94. 94.

    Out Of My Hair

    Stella Lain

95. 95.

    Work Work Work

    Lucky Dog and Joey Myron

96. 96.

    I Talk About You

    Donovan Woods

97. 97.

    Hunger

    Julian Taylor

98. 98.

    When I Grow Up

    Chad Sellers

99. 99.

    Let Me Be That Man

    Austin Bohannon

100. 100.

     Buzzkill

     Jobi Riccio

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For more of the finest country playlists from Holler, see below: