Each week the Wide Open Country staff rounds up our favorite newly released country and Americana songs. Here are five new songs we can't stop listening to this week:
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"Getting Good," Lauren Alaina Feat. Trisha Yearwood
Lauren Alaina's advice about living your best life one day at time, "Getting Good," got better with the addition of another dreamer from Georgia, Trisha Yearwood.
"I never could've imagined that this YEARWOOD give me the opportunity to release a duet with one of my favorite singers of all time," the pun-cracking Alaina Tweeted on June 23. "I'm so proud to announce that (Trisha Yearwood) and I are releasing a collaboration of my single, 'Getting Good,' this Friday."
Yearwood was already a fan of the song, which was the title track of Alaina's March 6 E.P.
"I just love the sentiment of this song. We all have these dreams. What you learn, is it's not the goals that you reach that are the things you're really going to remember, it's the journey all along the way," Yearwood reflects in a press release.
-- Bobby Moore
"Redhead," Caylee Hammack Feat. Reba McEntire
Caylee Hammack, the fastest-rising country artist who happens to have red hair, joined forces with the genre's most beloved ginger for rocking country cut "Redhead."
The Reba McEntire team-up describes the type of young hell-raiser destined to attend the same parties as Gretchen Wilson's characters or make ends meet in the small town that exists in Brandy Clark songs.
"This song was inspired by an older cousin of mine with fiery red hair. You don't hear about redheads very much in songs, so I simply wanted to write one for her and all the redheads in my family," Hammack says in a press release. "Then, Reba came in the studio and TRANSFORMED this song. She helped me create an anthem for all redheads. Whether you get it naturally or find it in a bottle, this is for the firecrackers!"
Hammack co-wrote "Redhead" with Trent Dabbs and Natalie Hemby.
It's one of two songs on Hammack's If It Wasn't For You album (out Aug. 14) featuring special guests. The still-unheard "Mean Something" co-stars Ashley McBryde and Tenille Townes.
--Bobby Moore
"Stick That in Your Country Song," Eric Church
As its title implies, Eric Church's new song calls out his peers and challenges them to sing about the realities facing their fans.
Instead of simply implying that there's too many songs about tailgates, tight britches and tequila, songwriters Jeffrey Steele and Davis Naish offer up alternative topics: namely the deserved praise owed to overworked and underpaid public school teachers and the prevalence of poverty in major American cities.
No clue if there's more than three chords being played here, but Church definitely serves up a heaping helping of the truth.
--Bobby Moore
"The Time For Flowers," Emily Scott Robinson
Emily Scott Robinson's stunning "The Time For Flowers" reminds us that there's still room for beauty in the world, even when the pain seems unbearable. In fact, sharing beauty and love with one another is more necessary than ever. In the song's final verse, Robinson looks toward better days when we'll reflect on hard times with gained knowledge and earned strength.
"The time for flowers has come again/ I know it seemed the world would end," Robinson sings. "There were days despair did win/ But the time for flowers has come again."
Robinson says she wrote the song as a reminder that healing is possible.
"This is the song that was born out of quarantine for me. I wanted to write a song that would tell the story of what is happening in the world right now, but also give us hope in the midst of devastation and remind us that healing is within our grasp," Robinson tells Wide Open Country.
Robinson released her most recent album, Traveling Mercies, in 2019.
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
"Pretty," Stephanie Lambring
Stephanie Lambring originally wrote "Pretty" for her 10-year-old self, but the powerful song is sure to resonate with people of all ages. The song, which tackles body image, centers on snapshots of painful moments of bullying and body-shaming and shows how cruel comments can have a lasting impact.
Lambring's forthcoming album Autonomy is out on October 23.
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
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