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It's time for another roundup of this week's biggest new releases from the world of country and Americana picked out especially for you by Holler. Listen along to our Holler Best New Country playlist on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon and Apple Music.
As with every year, as we get towards the end of 2024, everyone begins to pack their bags up and think about going home for Christmas. Some artists imbibed so much Christmas spirit in November they've already released festive country songs and we've got even more coming this month for you. We've got fresh holiday hits from Riley Green, Megan Moroney, Belle Frantz, Mackenzie Carpenter, Emily Zeck and loads more in our separate Best New Country Christmas songs playlist if you're already feeling Christmassy too.
Koe Wetzel and Willow Avalon might pop up with Christmas songs in this week's Best New Country playlist, but it's not completely Christmas quite yet and we've got a few of the country faithful sticking around after Thanksgiving and releasing some big songs for all the seasons this week.
This week's cover stars are The Castellows who release their new Alabama Stone EP today featuring three new songs from sisters Ellie, Powell and Lily.
"We are from Georgia but wanted to tell the story specifically behind Alabama Stone," the band shared on their socials. "Like pretty much everything we write, these songs are a testament to our roots and where we come from. Our hometown borders the state of Alabama, so in many ways we also feel like we are from both Georgia and Alabama. Our grandmother lives in a log cabin in the country in Alabama. The original room in the cabin has a fireplace with a stone in the center shaped like the state of Alabama. Lily saw this and thought 'Alabama Stone' would be an interesting title for a song. That’s how the idea for the song was born, and we thought it was most fitting to be the title track of this EP."
The title track from the EP kicks off our Best New Country playlist today and stay tuned for the video for 'Place to Leave' video premiering later today.
Gabriella Rose's viral smash 'Doublewide' finally makes its way onto streaming. After the singer shared a small snippet of the song on TikTok, the clip has blown up and fans have been impatiently waiting in the comments for her to release it since. The song is included on her new Wait Til I Get My Money Up EP along with the title track and three other songs.
CMA Female Vocalist of the Year nominee Ashley McBryde puts a twist on tales of the old west with 'Ain't Enough Cowboy Songs.' Written by McBryde with Chris Harris and Patrick Savage, the song was inspired by a shared feeling of loss and a desire to reconnect with timeless principles, longing for meaning and clarity in a changing world."
“In the last several years, we’ve all been feeling like something is missing,"McBryde admits "I noticed it in myself and then noticed it in most people I came in contact with. And we don’t always know how to articulate it. For us, this song helped us do that. We are all starving to reconnect with the things that made us who we are. Sometimes that comes as our sense of justice and duty, maybe for some of us it’s work ethic, for some of us it’s a sense of community."
“When we got together to write, the three of us realized the cowboys we looked up to growing up made us want to be the way that we are – the music associated with them and the lives they lead,” she explains. “Those things fully embodied what I am starving for. There’s no substitute for hard work, resilience, kindness, standing up for and with folks in their weaker moments. There’s no substitute for knowing when to take it on the chin and when to give it. And no matter what else we may try to fill that hole with… there ain’t enough of it to ever resemble the real thing.”
We'll take any excuse to put Hailey Whitters in our Best New Country playlist and thankfully Max McNown has given us a great one. One of our Holler 10 Artists You Need to Know alumni, McNown releases 'Roses and Wolves, a beautiful meditation on heartbreak featuring Hailey Whitters. In a year already filled with incredible country duets this is one of its finest.
“The privilege of hindsight helps us accept that relationships don’t always last forever,” shared McNown about the song. “‘Roses and Wolves’ is written from a place of comfort in the realization that the world will keep spinning and heartbreak is part of life. Hailey Whitters’ beautiful vocals created a unique energy and truly brought this song to life!”
Equally as appreciative, Whitters shares, “I was so glad Max asked me to sing on this! He’s an incredible artist and I’m so honored he asked me to be a part of such a great song.”
Watch the super cute new video for 'Roses and Wolves' below.
Another of country music's hottest duo's The War and Treaty are set to release their new album, Plus One, suitably on Valentine's Day, the 14th February next year, and they've given us another taste of it with the soul baring 'Carried Away.'
Dylan Scott has dropped an absolute banger perfect for any office Christmas parties you might be going to this week with 'Country Till I Die' and Tyler Braden is reminding his buddies not to struggle with their mental health alone and to drop him a line if they ever find themselves in a dark place on the emotional country power ballad 'Call Me First.'
Christmas came early when we were treated to a visit to our fair isles from Sophia Scott this week with an absolutely unforgettable show in London playing songs from last year's Barstool Confessions and giving us a sneak preview of what's to come from her next year. Country pop at its absolute best! If that wasn't enough, now she gives us another early Christmas present with the beautiful new, 'Tumbleweed.' Co-written with Ross Copperman and Ava Suppelsa, 'Tumbleweed' is a breathtaking balance of bittersweet reflection and lovestruck gratitude that slips down as easily as a cold tumbler of Baileys.
One of our favourite new breakthrough artists of last year, Olivia Wolf shares her new single 'Cosmic Appalachian Radio.' A '50s typewriter, a tarot card reader in Sedona and hints from the afterlife inspired this psychedelic-tinged country tune. Written by Wolf alongside Sean McConnell 'Cosmic Appalachian Radio' is an escape from reality and a portal to the other side, with a message that reminds us we’re never really gone after we leave.
She's earned recognition from Brent Cobb, Steve Earle and others she has performed alongside and that's more than good enough for us! Taken from her forthcoming album, Silver Linings, written after the accidental death of her fiancé just two weeks before their wedding date, Wolf began writing this album that takes listeners into a journey of heartache, silver linings, falling off the deep end, intense rage, escapism and, eventually, healing and gratitude. The album is out on January 17th and trust us, it's definitely worth a presave.
“I wanted to reflect my own connection to the universe through this song,” says Wolf. “The gold ring, the Southern constellation, the seer in Sedona - all of these represent my personal experiences that have connected me to the cosmos. I hope that this song helps others find that connection for themselves and that the turn of a radio dial helps them escape from reality, even if only for a few minutes.”
After a week of inclement weather in London, we can hard relate to Chase Matthew as he weathers the storm of a romantic force of nature in 'Dancing In The Rain.' Written by Graham Barham, Cole Miracle, Beau Bailey, and Gabe Foustthe power ballad forecasts a volatile connectionof fatal attraction and features the conflicted thoughts of a heart on edge.
Chase Matthew isn't the only one weathering a stormy relationship. On Sheyna Gee's brilliant new single, 'Lonely' she's navigating the emotional landscape of life's struggles and the battle to stay positive amidst adversity. Poignant and melancholic, the song still carries an uplifting message of resilience, reminding us that there's hope on the horizon even in our darkest moments.
"Lonely was written during a truly character-building part of my life in 2024," Sheyna Gee shared, "but like Dolly said, 'If you want the rainbow you’ve got to go through the rain.'"
17-year-old breakout singer Ty Myers shares a bluesy but carefree new song called 'Can’t Hold Me Down,' the latest taste of his hugely anticipated debut album, The Select, due out on 24th January, and Carrie Brockwell follows up the brilliant 'Find a Way' from earlier in the year with another slice of perfect classic west coast country pop on 'Things Are Getting Good.' If you've got a soft spot for Sheryl Crow and Sunny Sweeney you're gonna love this.
“It's all about finding the little things that bring joy in a world of chaos," says Brockwell. "There are so many things happening in our lives right now, and sometimes we just need a little reminder to have gratitude for the things God blesses us with that make life worth living. This is that song and I have loved leaning a bit more into my country side with this one.”
Alt-country legend Lucinda Williams releases the latest in her Lu's Jukebox series as she takes on the Fab Four in their own backyard on Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles from Abbey Road and Ned LeDoux collaborates with his own father nearly 20 years after his tragic passing thanks to a newly unearthed and previously unheard vocal track on the rodeo anthem 'One Hand in the Riggin.''
Canaan Smith double drops 'Chickahominy' and 'Bad News' ahead of his forthcoming album due in January as he continues to reinvent himself from major-label radio hitmaker to soul-stirring independent. On 'Chickahominy,' the album’s title track, Smith evokes hometown nostalgia, reminiscing on his riverside stomping grounds and all the memories he created there, while 'Bad News' is the most honest snapshot of his internal dialogue, addressing and trying to break free from his constant fear of life’s inevitable lows that spurred from the unexpected death of his older brother when he was a child.
“My Virginia people know how much our little town still means to me," shares Smith. "'Chickahominy' is as much for them as it is for me. It also feels good to just say what I’m thinking… 'Bad News' is the unfiltered truth behind the mental struggles I battle daily.”
All this plus new ones from Jackson Dean, Noah Rinker, J.R. Carroll, Evan Honer, Willi Carlisle, Hueston, Alana Springsteen, Chris Lane, Braxton Keith, Cory Marks, Will Moseley, Patrick Davis and lots more.
Check out this week's new country and americana song releases and listen to the full playlist below:
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