Achingly real, passionately delivered, What Else Can She Do is short in length, but long on heart. From the broken relationship of “It Won’t Always Be This Way” to the familial sorrows of “Blood,” Kaitlin’s voice is a warm hand holding ours as we walk through a bleak landscape of addiction, bad jobs, and lost dreams. Despite that dour description, it’s somehow an uplifting journey.
The future is now as 49 Winchester delivers on all the buzz with this boozy, honky tonk banger. There are party tunes that don’t make you feel pandered to and tearjerkers that aren’t paint by number. I started to list the standouts, but realized that most of Fortune Favors the Bold's 10 songs fit the bill.
Mixing Red Dirt, pop punk, and other influences, Vandoliers have quickly become one of my favorite bands. Their ear-pleasing, danceable music sounds like nothing and everything you’ve heard before. A well oiled live act, they bring that vibrant sound to their records better than most, and this album’s no exception. More than most bands in the “scene,” Vandoliers sound like they ought to have big hits… somewhere, somehow.
Sprawling, weird, messy, endearing. From the title to the run time to the occasional vocal idiosyncrasies, Dragon can be a beast to get into for the musically unadventurous, but it’s well worth your time. Equal parts folk, country, and indie rock, the album is an epic listen that somehow leaves you wanting more. The melodies are the heart, and the lyrics are the soul - sometimes abstract, sometimes hilariously to the point.
This is an album you could put on at a party and not a soul would complain, despite nobody having any idea who’s singing. There’s the fun Brad Paisley-esque humor of “10 Feet of Regret,” the soulful barroom sadness of “Strangers,” the welcoming mid-tempo swagger of “Kentucky Deluxe,” and everything in between you could ask for. It’s a songwriter’s record, in the Nashville sense of that description, but it’s as big in message as it is in wordplay.
Sounding as mystical and eternal as the Appalachian mountains, Ian has another winner with River Fools. It’s timeless stuff, digging into your soul with Noe’s Dylan-with-vocal-lessons delivery and setting the hook with the lived-in stories. There’s an undeniable magnetism in this music that’s both hospitable and intimidating at once. Ian’s a force of nature.
Another songwriter’s record, Single Wide Dreamer isn’t afraid to get silly and grimy, like the seedier side of Kacey Musgraves’ trailer park. Drawing from influences like Prine and Roger Miller, and backed by some of Nashville’s finest, Raitiere sings with a conversational tone, a knowing wink, and a hinted at darkness. Hilarious and comfortably cynical, Single Wide Dreamer is a nimble look into the mind of one of Nashville’s best ‘unknown’ writers.
Those harmonies. That’s all you need really, but then there’s the expert musicianship and resonant songs to go along with those spine chilling vocals, and The Wilder Blue have a true gem of an album. The bouncy 70s vibe laden “Feelin’ the Miles” is the standout for me, but there’s not a clunker in the bunch. These guys deserve a shot in the upper pantheon of Americana, and one of these days they’ll get it.
Bursting with country soul, Feel Like Going Home will take you from church to the blues dive with a stop at the country store along the way. Feel Like Going Home sounds like the best parts of 70s AM radio (when they played all genres on the same stations) put together on one record. Miko sings wonderfully, the band kicks ass, and the songs are thrillingly moving. Memphis, the Delta, Nashville, New Orleans, Muscle Shoals - Feel Like Going Home finds its heart at the midpoint of these legendary music towns.
To these ears, the prettiest album released this year, Oh to Be That Free sounds blissful and even wistful, but there’s plenty of depth to be had here. “Chasing Days” documents Anne’s move toward settled independence after a chaotic childhood. “Mountains and Mesas” seeks solace in a darkening world. Michaela’s writing reveals complex emotion with simple words, often bringing to mind Robert Frost’s conversational tone that hides meaning in plain sight. It’s a beautiful album with so much more to offer in repeated listens.
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12. Joshua Hedley - Neon Blue
13. Wade Bowen - Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth
14. Arlo McKinley - This Mess We’re In
Honorable Mentions: Zach Bryan - American Heartbreak, The Sheepdogs - Outta Sight, Jason Scott & The High Heat - Castle Rock, Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry, Hailey Whitters - Raised, Drew Kennedy - Marathon, American Aquarium - Chicamacomico, Whiskey Myers - Tornillo, The Cactus Blossoms - One Day, Sunny Sweeney - Married Alone, Randy Rogers Band - Homecoming, Emily Nenni - On the Ranch, Charley Crockett - The Man From Waco, Kendell Marvel - Come on Sunshine, Red Clay Strays - Moment of Truth, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway - Crooked Tree, John Calvin Abney - Tourist.
You are between the ages of 14 and 19. You drive a VW Bug that has had the transmission replaced twice since you got it. You’ve asked your parents if you can just skip the rest of the school year since you’re going to have to repeat it anyway. You are dating someone ‘from another school’ who your friends have never met. Or you write for Country Universe.
You put this at #1 because you can’t show weakness when it comes to defending Carrie’s honor. She’s the best even when she puts out this uninspired collection, which you’ve only listened to twice but have left streaming overnight 5000 times. You started therapy this year after yet another Entertainer of the Year loss. Your boyfriend is terrified of you.
Beard oil, wash, conditioner, balm, nor wax has ever touched your face mane, yet it is still resplendent and makes hipsters jealous. Your favorite whiskey drink is whiskey. Whether pro or anti gun control, you own a small arsenal. You are so emotionally screwed up, sad feels like happy.
You will just as soon fistfight a republican as a democrat. You have a hunting-related tattoo. You haven’t been to church in 7 years but know the Bible better than your ‘rain or shine’ friends. You make fun of the people who complain about Tyler set-lists, but haven’t actually been to a show since he stopped including “White House Road.”
You pretend to find meaning in the title of this album. Other hipsters call you a poser. Your degree in poetry analysis hasn’t come in handy in the real world. You feel that country music is beneath you, despite half this album being more country than anything on the radio.
You are the friend everybody goes to for advice, despite your life being a raging garbage dump inferno. You have a tattoo that it takes five minutes to explain. There’s some weird family issue like your dad divorced your mom and married her hair-dresser or something, but you get along with everybody and get free hair cuts now. You didn’t know there was an unwritten rule about not drinking before 5 pm.
You are pretty basic, but also a genuinely nice person. Regardless of your gender, you installed your own catalytic converter anti-theft device. You are politically oblivious. Regardless of your gender, you own more than 5 articles of clothing with your name on them.
You are 100% for sure not a Republican, but have a lot of beliefs and habits that would get you cancelled by the left. You drive an electric vehicle which has run out of charge by the outlet mall no less than 4 times this year. You’re pretty deep, but also an Instagram influencer.
Someday someone will make another good Thanksgiving movie, right?
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