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.
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"Cowboys & Dreamers," Carter Faith
Rising country star Carter Faith's "Cowboys & Dreamers" is a shimmering ode to a wild west romance, but it's also about the duality of the human spirit.
"It's a song about a relationship, but it's also about the two sides of people," Faith told HuffPost. "You can be the steady one, or you can be the one up in the clouds. We have to love both sides of ourselves. Both are needed. That's what love is about."
Faith released her EP Let Love Be Love earlier this year.
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
"It Don't Bother Me," Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
Dynamic duo Alison Krauss and Robert Plant have teamed up once again for Raise the Roof (out Nov. 19 via Rounder Records), the follow-up to their Grammy-winning album Raising Sand.
The T Bone Burnett-produced album, a collection of blues, country, folk-rock and soul, features "It Don't Bother Me," a cover of Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch.
"I've been a big follower of Bert Jansch's work since I was a teenager, and of that whole Irish, Scottish, English folk style that has a different lilt and different lyrical perspective," Plant says in a press release. "I was very keen to bring some of that into the picture."
-- Bobbie Jean Sawyer
"This Town," Creed Fisher
Creed Fisher's "This Town" romanticizes common yet life-shaping experiences back home, from Friday nights at high school football games to Sunday mornings with the local congregation. It also waxes nostalgically about personal connections from our younger days, namely those with grandparents no longer with us.
The song and its music video tell Fisher's story in a way that's relatable to most anyone raised in rural America.
"The song is about all the things that influence people and make them who they are," he said in a press release. "It's a reminder for those to recognize the place they grew up in and how it shaped them into the unique individuals that they are. It's about love, loss and real life."
The Michael Graef produced and directed video was shot near Fisher's Texas stomping grounds in downtown Cibolo, Canyon Lake and New Braunfels.
"This Town" appears on Fisher's most recent album, Whiskey and the Dog.
-- Bobby Moore
"Steady Heart," Kameron Marlowe
Promising, young talent and recent Brad Paisley tour mate Kameron Marlowe looked to his parents and grandparents for inspiration when co-writing true love anthem "Steady Heart" with Jessi Alexander and Dan Isbell
"This song is incredibly special to me and because of that I've been holding onto it until the time was right," Marlowe said in a press release. "'Steady Heart' is a love story about finding that person who balances you and makes you better. The lyrics are these striking images, and I'd never written a song as based in visuals as this one. My parents have been together for almost 30 years and their relationship definitely came to mind when we were writing this. There's something about their dynamic that really demonstrated that balance with me. It's inspiring and a blessing to get to witness something like that and I think it shines through in the emotion of the song."
It's the latest Marlowe song to get a streaming numbers boost from his loyal TikTok following.
-- Bobby Moore
"Peaked in High School," Priscilla Block
Rising Nashville star Priscilla Block is quickly making her way up the charts with her previous single, "Wish You Were The Whiskey" and she's following that success with a brand new release "Peaked in High School." The song pretty much stays true to the title; Block sings about moving on from those four years of her life. She also shared a glimpse of her time in high school, incorporating her own photos for a lyric video.
"This song kinda just goes out to anybody that that's ever made me feel not enough," Block told PEOPLE. "And to any young people out there, people tell you that high school will be some of the best years of your life. I am living proof that it is not. I wish I knew that back in the day. I would have saved so many freaking tears."
The single follows Blocks' self-titled major-label debut EP, which was released earlier this year. It's safe to say it's just the beginning of the road for this country singer.
--Silke Jasso
"Slow Down Summer," Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett is back and better than ever, this time with the beautiful ballad "Slow Down Summer." The country singer teamed up with his father Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley, Sean Dougland and Jesse Frasure to write the love song, bringing to life another classic hit. On Twitter, Rhett explained the song would be part of an upcoming sixth studio album called Where We Started, set to be released in early 2022 via Valory Music Co.
Rhett's Country Again: Side B is also set to be released next year as the "other side" of his Country Again: Side A, which was released in April. The album earned the country singer two-country No.1 hits: "Country Again" and "What's Your Country Song." He's set to perform at the 55th annual CMA Awards on Nov. 10. He's nominated as Male Vocalist of the Year.
--Silke Jasso
