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It's been a busy 4th of July weekend for all the Zachs (and Zach adjacents) of country music. Zac Brown Band are starting a countdown to something but no one is sure if it's a farewell or a thank you for having me, Zach Bryan has been busy in the comments section and getting more back than he bargained for and Zach Top has finally surrendered to the ice plunge while out on tour with Dierks Bentley with some drawn on abs and a special message for Riley Green.
There's not a single Zach in our round up of all the biggest and best new releases from the world of country and Americana though. We do have a Riley, a Lola and a Gavin though and two Benjamins.
You can listen along to this week's Best New Country on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube.
This week's Best New Country cover star is Dasha. She releases her new single 'Oh, Anna!' today and spoiler alert, it's incredible!
She takes a moment off from the bombastic party bangers to showcase her softer side as she channels The Chicks and Fearless era Taylor Swift with a slide guitar and softly plucked banjo in a song that proves why she's one of the most exciting and versatile artists in country music today.
Written by Dasha, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, and Chris LaCorte, 'Oh, Anna!' finds the singer reflecting on how far she’s come, and the version of herself she never wants to lose sight of. It’s honest and vulnerable and one of the best songs you'll hear all year.
“I’ve had these dreams of doing exactly what I’m doing now since I was a little girl," Dasha explains about the song. "I just knew I was going to be a songwriter, I’m going to tour the world — it’s going to happen. But when everything blew up last year, I felt like I lost myself. It was scary. I was insecure, my confidence was gone.”
“I was in a write and told my co-writers, ‘I don’t even know who I am anymore,' so I decided to write a song that reconnects me with little me — Anna," she says. "My full name is Anna Dasha, and I miss her. I need her back.”
Watch the official video for 'Oh, Anna!' below.
Boasting a combined 14 GRAMMY, 33 Country Music Association and 59 Academy of Country Music awards between them, country heavyweights Chris Stapleton and Miranda Lambert tag team for 'A Song To Song' as their unmistakable voices light up the soon to be classic duet.
“Chris understands this emotion from the inside out, because he and Morgane have both lived it,” Lambert says of their co-write, produced by fellow Grammy winner, Dave Cobb. “To have someone so soulful and willing to go into the heart of the feelings, to share the pull of the road and creative life – and what that means when you love someone with every bit of your being is next level. When we finished it, we both knew we wanted to release it, to share it with everyone.”
Gavin Adcock treats us to another taste of his forthcoming Own Worst Enemy album, set for 15 August, as he finds his inner John Mellencamp on the heartland country rocker 'Sunset,' which finds himself wrestling with where to place the blame for a break up and includes the classic line, "I don't know whose ass I wanna kick more / Mine or that old boy's in the getaway Ford."
We've got new songs from a whopping great seven of our 25 Artists for 2025 in our playlist today, including new ones from Lanie Gardner and Emily Zeck.
"I’m not everybody’s cuppa tea, but that’s okay," everybody's favourite coastal cowgirl says about her new single, 'Blunt'. "I’m a compilation of all the great music, experiences, and trials and errors that have shaped me over the course of my life, and that’s something I’m proud of."
Hudson Westbrook might not have the best taste in lovers but he does have a 'Damn Good Taste in Whiskey,' Ty Myers is 'Leaving Carolina' and Max McNown brings in Cameron Whitcomb for a new heartfelt rendition of 'Night Diving,' as he gives us another one of the 11 never-before-heard songs from the upcoming deluxe LP Night Diving (The Cost of Growing Up) out July 18.
“One of the things I respect above all else is authenticity and honesty in music, and Cam is the epitome of that,” says McNown of working with Whitcomb. “When I started thinking about a feature on that song, I knew there was no better person than Cam to join me. He gave it so much energy and his voice is so distinct, and now the song has a whole new life to it.”
“When Max first pitched the song to me, I barely got halfway through the first verse and called him back immediately," Cameron Whitcomb adds. "I think this song is honest and special, and I’m honored to sing alongside an incredible artist and human being on such an amazing record.”
Watch the video for 'Night Diving (feat. Cameron Whitcomb)' below.
Dylan Earl announces a new album, Level-Headed Even Smile, for 19 September on the always dependable Gar Hole Records with the release of the title track.
Written with Desiree Cannon and Chris Acker, it's a song about finding courage in feeling small and prioritising kindness in harsh times.
"We were out on the west coast," Earl says about writing the song. "One day, topic in the van led to a discussion about how ugly the world has gotten around us and how hard it has been to maintain happiness in spite of it all. I think there are so many folks out there that feel this way right now. There’s almost a guilt about being happy when others are suffering. However, in spite of it all, it’s imperative to do little things to shut the rest of the world out and maintain one’s self. We all have different ways of doing it. I explore that concept in this song. Just one of the ways I keep a smile on my face."
Watch the video for 'Level-Headed Even Smile' below
Elsewhere, Ashley Cooke releases 'the hell you are,' Tigirlily Gold are 'Thinkin' Bout That' and Hayes Carll previews his forthcoming album, We're Only Human, with the title track. Plus, we've got new ones from Karley Scott Collins, Chris Young, Reid Haughton and Sunny Sweeney.
Miranda and Chris aren't the only ones collabing this week. Philip Bowen ropes Charles Wesley Godwin for 'Blue As Water,' Marcus King Band teams up with Jamey Johnson and Kaitlin Butts on 'Here Today,' Brooke Lee and Lukas Nelson duet on 'Dandelion,' Sacha and Restless Road release 'Shooting Star' and Shaboozey & Burna Boy are hoping to 'Change Your Mind' on their new single.
All this plus new ones from Jake Owen, Jessie Murph, Shaylen, Preston Cooper, William Prince, The Band Loula and Kalsey Kulyk. While Lance Roark releases another single from his highly anticipated new album, Bad Reputation, due in November.
It's a big week for new albums this week. We've got songs from Brent Cobb & The Fixin’s Ain’t Rocked In A While, Sam Williams HONKYTONKIN', Tami Nielsen's Neon Cowgirl and Mallory Johnson's over the party. Plus tastes of new albums from Yelawolf & J. Michael Phillips, Madeline Edwards, Paul McDonald, Lucas Hoge and another surprising new one genre switch from Old Crow Medicine Showfrontman Ketch Secor on 'What Nashville Was,' the closing track to his new album, Story the Crow Told Me.
Noah Cyrus releases I Want My Loved Ones To Go With Me and it features collaborations with Blake Shelton and Ella Langley, while Tanner Usrey drops his highly anticipated new album, These Days.
We've got new EPs this week from Danny Kensy, Drake White, Karissa Ella and The Kruse Brothers. Plus, Riley Green releases his new Midtown EP this week with stripped back versions of four of his fan favourites plus a brand new song, 'Bartender in Destin.'
Each week we shine our Holler spotlight on a song that we think deserves a little extra light on it, and this week it's the new single from one of our 25 Artists for 2025, Clover County.
"If Clover County doesn't become one of the biggest breakthrough stars of 2025, then there is no justice in this cruel world and we will spend next Christmas miserably chewing down on our Holler trucker caps bemoaning how the world was too stupid and unfeeling to ever understand ‘Bootgazey' as a concept," we wrote at the time and with the release of 'Virginia Slim' we feel fairly confident we won't be eating hat anytime soon.
The singer announces her debut LP, Finer Things, today for September via her own label Undercover Lover Records in partnership with Thirty Tigers. Produced by Carrie K(Noah Kahan, Maggie Antone, Koe Wetzel), the album is a coming-of-age soundtrack that explores romantic, familial and platonic love with a winking charm and an observing eye.
The first single from the album, 'Virginia Slim,' is released today before she hits the road next monthn with Sam Barber for a run which includes dates in Toronto, Raleigh and more. Featuring a fuzzy guitar, 'Virginia Slim' is one of the best songs you'll hear all year. With a softly sighing fiddle and gently strummed acoustic as accompaniment, her voice should come with a public health warning that it could literally destroy you because it's so beautiful, as she tells the quintessential story of ‘right person, wrong time.'
“‘It's a song about falling for the idea of someone more than the actual person,” Clover shares. “After months on the road and too many blurred connections, I was burnt out. This song became a way to be honest with myself: about craving comfort, about romanticizing what’s in front of me and about choosing to protect a friendship instead of rushing into something I wasn’t ready for. Brad Cook helped me write the last few lines, including the most important of the whole song – ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve known love that wasn’t war.’ My two favorite instruments on this song are the Zippo lighter and the fiddle.”
Living comfortably in the space between folk, Americana and alternative, Clover affectionately refers to the genre she occupies as “Bootgaze.” Equally inspired by the classic country of Dolly Parton and the ‘90s rock of Sheryl Crow as she is by her contemporaries like Waxahatchee and Hovvdy, she blends the twang of timeless country songwriting with tongue-in-cheek observations on modern love.
Watch the video for 'Virginia Slim' below
Check out this week's new country and americana song releases and listen to the full playlist below:
Dasha
Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton
Riley Green
Clover Country
Gavin Adcock
Emily Zeck
Jake Owen
Hudson Westbrook
Lola Kirke
Dylan Earl
Max McNown
Noah Cyrus
Hayes Carll
Brooke Lee
Tigirlily Gold
Ty Myers
Jessie Murph
Benjamin Tod and Madison Hughes
Ashley Cooke
Lanie Gardner
Lance Roark
Chris Young
Karley Scott Collins
Macus King Band
Tanner Usrey
Shaylen
William Prince
Preston Cooper
Sacha
Brent Cobb & The Fixin's
Nicholas Jamerson and Shelby Means
Roman Alexander
Philip Bowen
Greylan James
Priscilla Block
MJ Lenderman
Jake Minch
Madeline Edwards
Evan Honer
Rachel Baiman and Viv & Riley
The Band Loula
Ketch Secor
Brad Cox
Pecos & The Rooftops
Lil Man J
Burna Boy
Tami Nielsen
Dalton Dover
William Clark Green
Sunny Sweeney
Reid Haughton
Kalsey Kulyk
Runaway June
Drake White
Matt Schuster
Hunter Hayes
Steady Habits
Maygen & The Birdwatcher
Mallory Johnson
Karissa Ella
Sam Grow
Jonas Conner
Yelawolf and J. Michael Phelps
Lucas Hoge
Jordana Bryant
Sam Williams
Ryan Griffin
Andy Griggs
Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Tommy Acker
2 Lane Summer
Lane Smith
MōRAH
Alyssa Flaherty
Jordan Fletcher
Teddy Robb
Shi Eubank
Palmer Anthony
Morgan Myles
Mah Moud
Bryan Ruby
July Moon
Ali Angel
Ty Baynton
Tyler Nance
Emma Grace Glover
Gracee Shriver
Riley Roth
Peech.
Creed Fisher and Logan Ruth
Will Jones
Cody Cozz
Chandler Dozier
Faith Schueler
The Wildmans
Brian Dunne
John Fortenbery
Paul McDonald
Danny Kesney
The Kruse Brothers
Be sure to subscribe to Best New Country, listen above and follow Holler on your favourite digital streaming platform.
For more of the finest country playlists from Holler, see below: