Every week, the Wide Open Country team rounds up our favorite newly released country, folk, bluegrass and Americana songs. Here are six songs we currently have on repeat.
Videos by Wide Open Country
"Suburbia," Stephanie Jacques
Stephanie Jacques sings about the trauma and heartache that goes on behind closed doors on the stirring "Suburbia."
"Everybody wants to be in Suburbia/ Everybody wants to live the American dream,"
Jacques sings. "Everybody wants to be in Suburbia/ But they don't tell you that it ain't what it seems."
Jacques is currently crowdfuning her new EP Miles Jean. To support the effort, visit here.
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
"When's It Gonna Happen," Tenille Townes
Just in time for the onslaught of Valentine's Day commercials and endless displays of chocolate and roses, Tenille Townes shares "When's It Gonna Happen," an anthem for singles. The upbeat country-rocker isn't down on love or romance; instead, it speaks to the fears and insecurities that can arise when you feel like the last of the singles in your friend group.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm the last one standing/ I look around and all my friends are falling in love," Townes sings. "I'm scared to death I'll end up empty handed/ Can't be the only one thinking 'when's it gonna happen'
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
"Home Run," Joe Nichols
By including "Home Run" on his forthcoming 10th album Good Day For Living (out Feb. 11 via Quartz Hill Records), revered traditionalist Joe Nichols embraced modern sounds and three of Nashville's top pop-accessible country songwriters.
Though the lens of Nichols' personal experience, Ashley Gorley, Ross Copperman and Dallas Davidson's lyrics represents more than a baseball analogy about living life to its fullest.
"When my world starts spinning too fast, I count on my family to be the 'home' that I run to because I'm feeling out of sync or out of touch," Nichols told CMT.
-- Bobby Moore
"Young Man," Jamestown Revival
Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance of Americana duo Jamestown Revival honored their Texas roots with their new album Young Man. The title track is a breezy bluegrass anthem that makes it one of the most notable on the album. Like many artists, Clay and Chance were on tour when COVID first brought a wave of lockdowns in 2020. Young Man is all about the isolation they felt during that time and how they picked themselves up with this stripped-down new music that really plays to their strengths. To say they were successful is an understatement...and can we talk about this seriously cool live recording the duo filmed during a canoe trip on the Mississippi?!
"How far removed from our younger selves have we become? Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that we were full of piss and vinegar and blissful ignorance," Jamestown Revival said in a statement. "We hadn't yet felt the burdens and responsibilities of growing up. Young Man is about trying to identify with our younger selves, someone we know from old photographs and memories that start to feel a little more distant with each passing year, and asking ourselves, is that part of me still there? Do I still have the same fire that I once knew?"
-- Courtney Fox
"Break My Heart Again," Danielle Bradbery
Danielle Bradbery shows her incredible range with her emotional new ballad "Break My Heart Again." The 25-year-old The Voice alum proves that not only can she make boot-stompin' country-pop that rivals '90s Shania Twain, but she's capable of this heartbreaking reflection of lost love. In the song, Bradbery pleads with an ex to come back to break her heart again because it would be worth it for more time together.
So break my heart again, break my heart again/ You could be gone in the morning/ I wouldn't mind if it meant I got one more night," Bradberry sings. "Love drunk on your skin, don't care where we've been/ If I could have you in the end/ I'd let you break my heart over and over again."
"When writing a song, usually it's coming from a place that's personal. For me I'm always trying to put out what's truly real to me and real for my fans," Bradbery told Country Now. "Even though I wasn't in the room when this song was created, there's still something so special about listening to a song that you immediately feel something for, as if you were there writing it."
-- Courtney Fox
"Headstone," Brothers Osborne
The dynamic duo is back at it again, this time adding a little rock and roll to their country style. Brothers Osborne released their latest single, "Headstone," which appears on a deluxe edition of their 2020 album, Skelton.
Skeleton Deluxe will include new songs "Headstone" and "Midnight Rider's Prayer," which incorporates Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" as a tribute to the artist himself.
"I'm not a man of many words/ But my words are as good as gold," the duo sings on "Headstone." "And you can bet your ass/ I'll have your back/ When the rubber meets the road/ Write that on my headstone."
The duo is currently up for a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Younger Me." The song quickly became a fan favorite and was even named No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list of best songs for 2021.
-- Silke Jasso
