Best New Country Songs

It's been another busy week in the world of country and americana. Country music's finest have been sweating it out, belting out hits and bringing out special guests in the Californian desert at Stagecoach Festival, while the ACM Awards have been busily dishing out all their awards early ahead of the ceremony this Thursday 8 May and Beyoncé has kicked off her COWBOY CARTER tour in LA.

If that wasn't exciting enough, it's time for another one of our weekly roundups of all the biggest and best new country and Americana releases. We've got big songs this week from Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs, Eric Church, Max McNown and lots more. Listen along to our Holler Best New Country playlist on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon and Apple Music.

This week's Best New Country cover star is Kacey Musgraves. The 8x GRAMMY® Award-winning singer songwriter announced this week that she's signed to Nashville-based Lost Highway Records, which coincidentally makes her not only the first artist signed by the relaunched label but also the final artist signed to Lost Highway. She signed with the label in 2011 before it was absorbed by Mercury Nashville in 2012 while she was working on her debut studio album, Same Trailer, Different Park.

“Lost Highway was always a musical stable for artists who might be considered outliers or outlaws; those who live on the fringe,” recalls Kacey Musgraves. “In 2011, when other record labels questioned my songwriting and my more traditional country sound, Lost Highway believed in me, signing me to my first label deal and helped me take my music around the world. That journey has now come full circle in such a special way with John Janick and Interscope and I’m deeply honored to be able to once again call Lost Highway my musical home.”

Kacey marked this momentous new beginning by releasing her interpretation of the song for which the label is named – the Leon Payne-penned 'Lost Highway, which Hank Williams covered in 1949 - and it's kicking off our Best New Country playlist today.

"I didn't think it needed some avant-garde reimagining," she told Hollywood Reporter about the song. "I wanted to bring it back to life. When I was in the studio, I looked into the genesis of the song, and I was taken aback to find it has real ties to where I'm from. Hank Williams recorded the version we know and love, but the songwriter is Leon Payne."

"The story goes he was attempting to hitchhike from California to Alba, Texas. His mother was sick, and he was trying to get to her. I almost fell out of my chair - Alba is the next town over to the teeny, tiny town I'm from, Golden. Alba has no more than 500 people; I ve never heard it referenced anywhere in pop culture. This song is full circle for me, in terms of where I started and where I am now, my label."

Kacey's 88-year-old grandpa even features on the voiceover at the start of the song to make it even more of a hometown family affair.

"Also, this is kind of interesting," Kacey adds. "When I was down in Texas, I was at this weird, little junk shop, and they had this rattlesnake tail for sale - a rattler from a real rattlesnake. It sounds like a shaker instrument. I bought it and thought, 'I'm going to use this somehow, somewhere.' I'm playing the rattlesnake tail on 'Lost Highway.' It's just a little percussive part, but there's a rattlesnake tail on there."

Personally, we can't think of anything more country than Kacey Musgraves covering Hank Williams with a rattlesnake tail shaker and her grandpa doing a Country Hour style voiceover!

After his Opry debut on Tuesday, the five-time ACM and two-time CMA awards winner HARDY releases his COUNTRY! EP, a five-song project that includes the previously released homages to country living, 'Favorite Country Song,' and 'Buck On The Wall.' With three more new tracks out this week, we've got 'Girl With A Gun,' with its tender-yet-clever turn of phrasing, in our playlist today.

Holler fave Hailey Whitters gives us another taste of her new album, Corn Queen, ahead of its release in June, with 'I Don't Want You,' and she's enlisted the help of another Holler favourite, Charles Wesley Godwin, for the perfectly paired duet.

Hot off his mane stage performance at Stagecoach this weekend, Niko Moon sets sail for the summer with a nautically themed good time country classic.

“I was talking to a fan while out on tour and they said, ‘Man, you make the best boat songs.’ That line stuck with me,” Niko shared about the appropriately titled 'Boat Song,' adding, “As a songwriter, you live for those little sparks in everyday conversation-and as an artist, I don’t think there’s a better compliment than being the music someone plays out on the water. That’s where the memories happen, the energy’s light, and everyone’s just feeling good. So when we started writing this one, we made sure it lived up to that kind of moment.”

Now all we need is a boat.

Emily Ann Roberts explores the internal conflict of being in a seemingly perfect situation but feeling deep down that it’s not where you’re meant to be in 'The Fence.'

“Sometimes in love everything makes sense on paper, but no matter how hard you try to convince yourself, you know deep down it’s just not the right fit," Emily Ann Roberts shared. "When I wrote this song with Jessi Alexander and Paul Sikes we put ourselves in the moment of trying to tell yourself it’s perfect and then fighting with the fears and doubts that it may not be.”

Watch the video for 'The Fence' below

Brooke Eden celebrates her country roots and embraces the joy and freedom of the dance floor with her new single 'Giddy Up,' a track destined to become this summer’s crossover Pride anthem. From two-stepping at her hometown bar to performing alongside the biggest names in music, Brooke’s newest release marks a thrilling new era – one where authenticity takes center stage and everyone’s invited to the party.

“Line dancing has always been a place of belonging for me,” says Eden. “I grew up performing in my dad’s line dancing band, and the community and joy of those nights inspired my new single. I wanted to create a song that brought the queer and the line dancing communities together, no matter who you are or where you’re from, to move, connect, and celebrate.”

Elsewhere we've got new ones from Gabriella Rose, Graham Barham, Max McNown, Dylan Gossett, Gareth, Lily Rose and lots more, including the new duet from Bailey Zimmerman and Luke Combs, 'Backup Plan.'

This week's biggest album release comes from a seven-time ACM Award winner, four-time CMA Award winner, one-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and 10-time GRAMMY nominee. Eric Church releases his eighth studio album, the new 8-song project, Evangeline vs. The Machine, his first since 2021’s Heart & Soul triple album.

We've included 'Johnny' in our playlist today, a soul-stirring reinterpretation of 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' inspired by the Covenant School tragedy.

“About a year ago, we had a shooting here in Nashville at the Covenant School," Church explains about the song. "Where my kids go to school, my two boys, is about a mile from that school. I will tell you something, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life – parent or otherwise – is dropping them off at that school the day after the shooting and watching them walk inside. I sat in the parking lot for a long time, and as fate would have it, as I was pulling out, Charlie Daniels was playing, ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ I remember thinking, man, we could use Johnny right now, because the Devil’s not in Georgia, he’s everywhere. I went home and wrote ‘Johnny’.”

Read more about the new album in Still the Chief: Eric Church’s Legacy, Longevity, and New Era in 2025 on Holler.

Elsewhere we've got songs from new albums Maddie & Tae, Kassi Valazza, Esther Rose, Sterling Drake, Maddox Batson and lots more. Plus Maddie & Tae release their new album, Love & Light.

Every week we shine our magical Holler spotlight onto a song that we think deserves a little extra light shining on it and this week we've picked 'Uh Huh' by Chloe Kimes.

Kimes had a big year following the release of her 2024 viral hit, 'Coors Light,' spending it on and off the road opening up for the likes of Jelly Roll, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and Lola Kirke among her own headlining spots in listening rooms and bars across the states.

'Uh Huh' is an instant country club classic, blending the quirky indie sensibilities of Stella Donnelly and Faye Webster with the effortless alt-country cool of early Lucinda Williams and Mary Lou Lord for our first real feel-good hit of the Summer, and the Summer hasn't even begun.

"I like my live set to ebb and flow a reflection of all of my facets, and for how angsty I have been feeling in the current climate, the set was missing some of my angry punk," Chloe Kimes says. "Then I wrote, 'Uh Huh.' It’s a release of energy charged with attitude and rage fiddle. I’ve always taken influence from women before me who like to scream, like Fiona Apple and Janis Joplin, so I’m happy to reflect some of that in this new song."

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

1. 1.

   Lost Highway

   Kacey Musgraves

2. 2.

   Bleed On Paper

   Eric Church

3. 3.

   Backup Plan (feat. Luke Combs)

   Bailey Zimmerman

4. 4.

   Necklace

   Gabriella Rose

5. 5.

   Girl With A Gun

   HARDY

6. 6.

   The Fence

   Emily Ann Roberts

7. 7.

   I Don't Want You (feat. Charles Wesley Godwin)

   Hailey Whitters

8. 8.

   American Trail

   Dylan Gossett

9. 9.

   Uh Huh

   Chloe Kimes

10. 10.

    Chasing Babies & Raising Dreams

    Maddie & Tae

11. 11.

    WTH Just Happened

    Graham Barham

12. 12.

    Category 6

    Darren Anderson

13. 13.

    Giddy Up!

    Brooke Eden

14. 14.

    Same Questions

    Max McNown

15. 15.

    I Need A Truck

    Maddox Batson

16. 16.

    Monsters - Take 2

    Low Gap

17. 17.

    Found

    Cody Jinks

18. 18.

    BOAT SONG

    Niko Moon

19. 19.

    Yo-Yo

    Abbie Callahan

20. 20.

    Seein' Blue

    Lily Rose

21. 21.

    I Went To The Bar

    Kelsey Hart

22. 22.

    What Hurts The Most

    Rascall Flatts and Backstreet Boys

23. 23.

    Daddy's DNA

    Brandon Lake

24. 24.

    Bringing The Angels

    Trisha Yearwood

25. 25.

    wasted potential

    Erin Gibney

26. 26.

    I Ain't Country

    Jess Moskaluke

27. 27.

    Run

    HALIE

28. 28.

    Palm Tree Country

    Brian Kelley

29. 29.

    Brother Song

    Crowe Boys

30. 30.

    The Shape I'm In

    Sterling Drake

31. 31.

    Steal Your Thunder

    Gareth

32. 32.

    I Still Do

    Logan Mize

33. 33.

    Her and My Hometown

    Seaforth

34. 34.

    I'm Not Him

    Tyler Nance

35. 35.

    For The Broken

    Don Louis

36. 36.

    Calling It Now

    HAYS

37. 37.

    Better Highways

    Kassi Valazza

38. 38.

    MORE THAN YESTERDAY

    David J

39. 39.

    White Trash

    Colin Stough

40. 40.

    Legacy

    Onoleigh

41. 41.

    Undressed

    Clever

42. 42.

    Half Past Three

    Ruston Kelly

43. 43.

    Talk Is Cheap

    Clayton Johnson

44. 44.

    Asking for a Friend

    Brendan Walter

45. 45.

    Tennessee

    Clara Mae

46. 46.

    Busted Heart

    Nate Good

47. 47.

    Happy and You Know It (Drink A Beer)

    Coffey Anderson

48. 48.

    Virginia's Daughter

    Benjamin Dakota Rogers

49. 49.

    I've Learned

    Matt Lang

50. 50.

    Out of My Control

    Carson Wallace

51. 51.

    Más Maria

    Louise TheSinger

52. 52.

    I'm Not Dumb

    Morgan Johnston

53. 53.

    Shot of Jesus

    Ty March.

54. 54.

    Make It Easy

    The Woods

55. 55.

    Beautiful Breakdown

    Rob Williford

56. 56.

    Bettin' On You

    Becca Bowen

57. 57.

    Alone

    Zac Hart

58. 58.

    Outrun the Grey

    Moose Miller

59. 59.

    Neptune Baby

    Samantha Crain

60. 60.

    Want

    Esther Rose

61. 61.

    Nightshades

    Jedd Hughes

62. 62.

    Lately

    Jenny Alvarado

63. 63.

    back to you

    Charlotte Morris

64. 64.

    The Road

    Mac Cornish

65. 65.

    Kentucky In Me

    Tyra Madison

66. 66.

    Someone to Someone

    Eddie and The Getaway

67. 67.

    Heavy as Heaven

    Kai Crowe-Getty

68. 68.

    Scotty's Tyres

    Ella Spencer

69. 69.

    Car Crash

    The Bones of J.R. Jones

70. 70.

    Landlocked Heart

    Will Overman

71. 71.

    Good Time

    Ashley Harding

72. 72.

    Pumping on the Heartbreaks

    Nick Cain

73. 73.

    Let the Music Get Down in Your Soul

    Miko Marks

74. 74.

    Make A Right

    Cody Pennington

75. 75.

    Farmboy

    Colt Ford and Caden McGuire

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