24 New Artists for 2024

Angel White

Describing himself as a “western soul” who aims to “bring to life the beauty that is country music in a new and unprecedented way”, it was busking on the streets of Deep Ellum, Texas, that Angel White first became aware of the transformative power of his voice.

A fifth generation Texas native, the singer fuses country soul, R&B and 70s funk into a sound that feels like a cross-section of the last 100 years of American music.

Flitting effortlessly between glimmering torch songs, raucous country funk and bold sweeping Americana, his songs capture the vastness and grandeur of America as he picks at the tattered seams of its mythologies and reworks them into something enticing and entirely modern.

The Castellows

This trio have been captivating audiences with their masterful harmonies and traditional songwriting throughout 2023.

Hailing from rural Georgetown, GA, and comprised of sisters Ellie (lead guitar), Powell (banjo) and Lily (vocals), The Castellows are set for a promising 2024, especially now they’ve made the move to Nashville.

Their debut single, ‘No.7 Road’ was released via Warner Nashville and featured on Holler’s Songs of the Year 2023 list. We've no doubt their songs will continue to fill up our playlists in 2024.

Dylan Gossett

A fierce independent spirit and a love of cinematic storytelling shape Dylan Gossett's songwriting, as he soaks up the sounds of country outliers like Turnpike Troubadours and Cody Johnson.

It was no surprise when his debut single ‘To Be Free’ exploded on TikTok, amassing over 3 million Spotify streams, but it was his song ‘Coal’ which catalysed his breakthrough, as it closes in on 60 million Spotify streams.

Now signed to Miranda Lambert’s Big Loud Texas imprint, his debut EP, No Better Time, has already proved that the early promise he showed was no fluke, and it doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.

“I’ve always wanted to create a full body of work, and I finally had the chance to with this project,” Gossett told Holler back in October. “Every single sound and noise you hear was created, mixed and recorded from a laptop in my bedroom. Every word was written by me. I think that is why this EP is so special to me; there’s not a single part of it that I didn’t have my fingerprints on”.

Ella Langley

After releasing a string of singles in 2021 and 2022, Ella Langley showed up and showed out in 2023 with her debut EP, Excuse the Mess.

Featuring eight songs that blend muddy country rock with neo-traditional charm, the first taste of music from the Alabama native soared her to new heights throughout the year.

Due to her immediate popularity with country fans, one of the newest female badasses of the genre landed several supporting slots with the likes of Jon Pardi, Riley Green and Morgan Wallen that will be keeping her busy into the new year, too.

Equal parts vulnerable and feisty, Langley stole our hearts in 2023 and we're eagerly looking forward to another explosive year in 2024.

Evan Honer

Evan Honer hails from Surprise, Arizona - a name that perfectly sums up his emergence in 2023.

In 2022, he auditioned for a little singing competition called American Idol, but was told he should essentially stick to his day job.

Thank god he didn't.

Throughout the last 12 months, Honer has become one of the fastest rising entertainers in the folk-country space. Releasing his debut album, West on I-10, in April, as well as a string of immensely popular singles, including the larger-than-life 'idk shit about cars', Honer has celebrated milestone after milestone in 2023 and paved a golden path to stardom.

Honer is heading out on his debut headlining tour in 2024, and has promised that new music will be on the way, too.

Hunter Flynn

Brewing up Appalachian soul down in the hollers of Pulaski County, Kentucky, Hunter Flynn has stunned us with the emotional maturity of his songwriting.

Whether Flynn's feeling defiant on his triumphant singalongs 'Spanish Street Signs' and 'You Just Don't Know Me', or delving into the fragile optimism at the heart of 'East Kentucky Dream', he does so with unique candidness.

Much like his fellow 2024 inductee Josiah and The Bonnevilles, there's an eagerness to Hunter Flynn - a keen fire at his soul that can't be extinguished.

Huntergirl

"It was supposed to be my thinking-about-leaving-Nashville song and ended up being my staying-in-Nashville song," Huntergirl says about her 2023 single ‘Ain’t About You.’

In the same way that Hailey Whitters' ‘Ten Year Town’ was ironically the song that broke her, ‘Ain’t About You’ was able to universalise how it felt to be a struggling singer-songwriter feeling left behind and watching the world moving on without you to become an anthem for dreamers everywhere.

It was her appearance competing on series 20 of American Idol that led Luke Bryan to call her the “new age Miranda Lambert” and his “favorite female country voice”, and 2023 has seen her blossom into one of the show’s genuine break out stars.

Jake Kohn

Not many have made such an immediate impression on us as West Virginian Jake Kohn.

It's easy to see why - gravel grumbles deep in his lungs as they swell, underscoring the tangible emotions at the heart of a song like 'Frostbite', his debut single. There's a physical vividness to his lyricism too; the feeling of nausea from an unfinished cigarette and the disorientating exhaustion in waking from another bad dream simmer inside you as you listen.

Mining beauty from both sadness and growth, Kohn wonders and mulls over the dark peripheries of his mind, refining himself into a songwriter you can turn to when the world feels like it's closing in.

Jessie Murph

You must be doing something right when your ride or dies include Maren Morris, Jelly Roll and Diplo.

She might have been born in Nashville, but it’s the gritty southern twang that Jessie Murph picked up growing up in Alabama that gives her trappy R&B pop its undeniable country edge.

After releasing the full-length mixtape drowning towards the beginning of 2023, Jessie Murph leaned hard into her country roots and put out a string of near perfect pop country singles, beginning with ‘Cowboys and Angels’ and ending up with Jelly Roll collab ‘Wild Ones.’

“I’ve been wanting to incorporate country into what I do for a while because I grew up on it,” she explains. “Now that I’m connecting with my inner child and starting to heal a lot of the painful aspects of my life during that time, I’ve stepped into it more. It’s part of me and where I’m from, so I chose to be in touch with it. I just went back to my roots, while keeping it me”.

Josiah and the Bonnevilles

“I am Josiah, y’all are the Bonnevilles”, says Josiah Leming, the man at the beating heart of his Josiah and the Bonnevilles project.

The rural Tennessee native has been grafting his way through the industry since his first EPs dropped on MySpace in 2007. Now racking up multi-millions of streams and selling out tours, it’s been a long-awaited and hard-earned rise to fame, but in large part thanks to his 2023 album Endurance, Josiah’s gritty, gripping and whiskey-soaked music – and his Bonnevilles community - are well and truly here to stay.

Lauren Watkins

If this is the first you've heard of Lauren Watkins then you must be living under a rock (or have never read Holler before).

One of Big Loud's most exciting prodigies, this Nashville native blew our socks off in 2023, starting with her Introducing: Lauren Watkins EP in April and capped off with her Introducing: The Heartbreak in November.

With a small but mighty discography at her disposal, she hosted her own Nashville residency in the fall – even having to upgrade to a larger venue before the run of shows was over – and she was on hand at the 2023 CMA Awards as the illustrious host of Holler's red carpet coverage.

Watkins is on the fast track to stardom with her hypnotizing neo-traditional sound that feels straight out of the 70s, and she'll be accompanying superstar Morgan Wallen on a handful of stadium dates in 2024.

Lizzie No

The Brooklyn harpist and guitarist kicks off 2024 with their third album, Halfsies. A loose concept album that follows the turbulent journey of its central character, “Miss Freedomland” (a character that represents both No herself and their audience) as she searches for freedom from the depths of despair and an escape from the frightening realities of life in modern America.

Worshipped in the broad church of Americana, like the artists to whom she’s most often compared - Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens and Adia Victoria – Lizzie No’s work pulls from the rhythms and traditions of blues, folk and country. She draws comparisons with Linda Thompson, Karen Dalton and Sandy Denny, with the soulful spiritual folk stylings of Odetta, but comes out the other side sounding like nobody else around.

Lola Kirke

Country gets a little New York City with Lola Kirke. As her discography develops, she's becoming increasingly more twangy and honky tonk-ready in her sound. Her single, 'He Says Y'all' - which featured in Holler's Songs of the Year 2023 list - is perfect example of that.

“What I’ve long loved about country is the room it gives for women to be extremely dynamic and have that heart and that toughness and the ability to be domestic and wild", she says.

Damn straight, Lola. We can't wait to see more.

Meg McRee

Choosing to spend CMA Awards night across the street singing backing vocals for Lukas Nelson at The Ryman alongside Lana Del Rey and Nikki Lane gives you some insight into the singular trail Meg McRee is blazing through Music City.

After signing her first publishing deal at Hang Your Hat, a creative joint venture with Concord Music Publishing and hit-songwriter Hillary Lindsey, McRee has had songs cut by Grace Potter, Elle King, Caylee Hammack, Paul Cauthen, Carter Faith, Ben Chapman, Warren Zeiders and Harper O’Neill, among others. She even wrote our number two Holler Song of the Year 2023, ‘Shirley Temple,’ with Nicolle Galyon and Lauren Watkins.

Now though, it’s very much McRee's turn to take the spotlight. She spent the last year touring with Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wade, Marcus King and Brent Cobb, while releasing not one but two substantial projects; the 9-track mini album Is It Just Me? and the History of Heartbreak EP.

A songwriter’s songwriter, McRee's delightful songs have a light lyrical touch and an awkward vulnerability that only makes her even more endearing. Totes adorbs.

Matt Schuster

Regular devotees of our weekly Holler Best New Country playlist will be no strangers to Matt Schuster. He’s been a monthly feature since he released his first single, ‘Tell Me Tennessee,’ since signing to Warner Music Nashville back in September.

His latest single, ‘Left Me in the Dusk,’ was co-written with Lori McKenna and Jordan Reynolds, but the sweeping country soul ballad ‘Last Fall’ had already hooked us in. Schuster has the kind of voice that makes you want to immediately stop what you’re doing and drop everything just to luxuriate in it when it comes on.

He spent the last half of 2023 out on the road with Ashley Cooke, Dylan Scott and Kameron Marlowe, and 2024 promises to be an even bigger year for the Charleston-born artist who’s as much of a songwriter as he is a singer.

Noeline Hofmann

With all the bloke-folk that's coming out of the foothills and forests these days, Noeline Hofmann is a breath of fresh air.

The Alberta native has been blowing us away with her songs, including the wistful 'Lonely Morning' and wondrous 'Run Horses', and it's all down to her evocative songwriting.

Whether she's singing in exasperation of wrangling horses in the plains or barefoot in a creek ruminating on a passing season, Hofmann paints pictures with her lyricism that are as radiant and colourful as the settings she records in front of.

Nolan Taylor

Throughout 2023 Nolan Taylor amassed a legion of fans through his spellbinding live performances and intricate brand of folk-tinged alt-country.

Somewhere between Appalachian folk and grunge punk, Taylor has been unafraid of delving into dark and heavy topics in his music. Running the gamut of drug addiction, suicide , growing up in poverty and more, his songs mirror his own life as he aims to be a bridge between people and the things they feel uncomfortable talking about.

Signed to Atlantic Records, his career kickstarted in early 2023 when he shared the heartbreaking musing on his strained relationship with his mother, ‘68’, and he ended the year by releasing his Life & Love EP.

The Red Clay Strays

Straight from the red dirt clay of Mobile, Alabama, The Red Clay Strays have been blowing up recently thanks to their viral tune ‘Wondering Why’.

A bluesy, soul-drenched number that nods to Stapleton’s ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ as much as it does the sound of Memphis’ heyday, it encapsulates everything the band can be trusted for: authentic, sincere music that’s rightfully capturing fans across the world.

Add in a healthy dose of brash rock n’ roll and you’ve got an act that’s going to seriously explode in 2024.

Red Shahan

If you've been lucky enough to catch him supporting Colter Wall these past couple months, then you already know why we're getting all giddy about Red Shahan.

While Shahan has been out on the road singing about coyotes and the whine of the highway for nearly 10 years, the West Texan's music is finally being found, his red dirt yelp haunting our thoughts as he observes the dark recesses of human nature and the self.

While his sound has naturally evolved from a ruminative Americana howl to all pistols and brass blazing southern rock, Shahan's songwriting remains bold and combative - we can't wait to see what 2024 brings from him.

Redferrin

When life throws you a curve, lean into it. After his professional motocross career ended following a serious crash in 2017, Blake Redferrin traded in his motorcycles for a quieter life, relocating to Nashville to pursue his passion for music.

He never let go of that thrill-seeking, full-throttle, adrenaline-pumping energy though, and his down-and-dirty party anthems have been cut by everyone from Florida Georgia Line and Nelly to Canaan Smith, Dean Brody and The Reklaws.

Now signed to Warner Music Nashville, last year’s ‘Jack and Diet Coke’ and ‘Miss Summer’ singles have given Redferrin the chance to drop his first name and carve out his own dirt path through country, mixing the brooding swagger of Morgan Wallen with the snappy hip hop-tinged country of Brian Kelley. Grip it and rip it.

Tigirlily Gold

Country music needs a good sister duo, and 2023 showed us that Tigirlily Gold are just the ones to fill that space.

With the mission of brining girl power back to country music, sisters Kendra and Krista Slaubaugh celebrated a whirlwind year that included their coveted Grand Ole Opry debut (and nearly 10 more appearances on the hallowed stage after that), the release of their Blonde EP and their first single to country radio, which peaked in the Top 40.

Since signing with Monument Records in 2021, Tigirlily Gold have been slowly but surely carving out their own space in country music and, if 2023 is any indication, they are on just the right track for 2024 as new music is teed up to arrive at the top of the new year.

Treaty Oak Revival

While Treaty Oak Revival may have only just sprung onto our radar these past few months supporting Koe Wetzel and Zach Bryan, the Texan Country group have been cultivating a cult-like fanbase since 2021.

Things truly kicked into gear for the Odessa band with the slow-burning popularity of their 2021 album, No Vacancy. Releasing their sophomore effort Have A Nice Day in November, they've doubled down on their concoction of whiskey-soaked southern rock, pleasingly emotive punk and punch-the-air melodic country.

One of the most inventive and absorbing groups in the country landscape, TOR are carving out a path all of their own.

Wyatt Flores

When a new act comes onto the scene, it usually takes a while for them to make their bones, but in the case of Wyatt Flores, it just comes naturally.

One of the buzziest and most exciting artists to rise out of 2023, Flores enjoyed a banner year, fit with a packed touring schedule, an onslaught of new music and star power bursting at the seams.

With a perfect blend of red dirt country, Appalachian twang, southern rock and grunge all behind his infectious, sad boi prose, his Life Lessons project arrived in November, but the Oklahoma prodigy has already confirmed that the next two installments will arrive in the new year.

Flores capped off 2023 with his first-ever show at the hallowed Ryman Auditorium as support for Charles Wesley Godwin, and he'll be headed to the legendary Opry stage at the top of 2024.

Keep an eye on this one, he's moving fast.

Zach Top

While 2023 has seen a wave of exciting new connoisseurs of neo-traditional country break through with notable success, none of them quite possess the same star potential as Zach Top.

Top not only embraces the honky tonk romance of neo-trad, but he moulds into his own vehicle - lacing it with a bluegrass sensibility to form something melodically tender and euphoric.

If you don't believe us, go and listen to his 2022 self-titled record - a wondrous concoction of charming love odes and yearning railroad songs, delivered by one of country's finest new songwriters.