Eric Church has been pushing the edge of country music for sometime now. This years Double Down tour is no exception, scheduling two night in most cities with two unique set lists in each city no two shows are the same. Friday nights show the energy throughout the whole arena was high as fans filled up the seats. Church started the show on Friday night with the song “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” and was accompanied by backup singing Joanna Cotten who made multiple appearances throughout the night. Church welcomed the arena to the first night of the double down Chicago tour stop ..read more

Brett Young does it again with this new one. What do you do if the first three singles from your debut album were huge hits? You release a fourth single from that album. Brett Young has had an incredible debut with his album that came out a couple years ago. It really seems like this guy has found his niche in country music. Kind of that sad country song vein that so many people can relate to. I don’t know what it is about sad country songs, but people love them. I guess it’s nice knowing that you’re not alone when you’re feeling down that brings people in. Anyway, here is another sad song fro ..read more

A serious one for you today. Here is the next new song from Michael Lusk. This one just came out this year. It looks like he also put out another single early this year. We’ll have to check that one out later on, but for now we’ll get another example of a great country song about a struggle many people have. Check this one out. Leave a comment. Let us know what you think. A Life That Was Laced With Lies – Michael Lusk The theme going on here is addiction. A struggle to move beyond something that has control over you. There doesn’t seem to be a specific addiction mentioned. We just get the sto ..read more

Raise your hand if you’ve rode in the back of a pickup. Four Nashville power player songwriters combined their talents to write this great song. The writers on this one are Rhett Akins, Ashley Gorley, Ben Hayslip and Ross Copperman. When you have that brain trust working together on a song you’re almost guaranteed a hit. I really like this one. The lyrics are pretty simple. It’s kind of in that vein of “I’m country because of this…” but it takes a different angle. It’s not necessarily talking about country, but just the kind of life that this narrator is living. I Lived It – Blake Shelton Whe ..read more

An uptempo party song. Here is newcomer Robby Johnson with his new party song. Well, he’s new to us here at CML. He and his team sent this one over. It looks like it’s from a new 4-pack EP that he put out just this year. I haven’t seen the accompanying video just yet, but there is a video for it. And from the lyrics of the song I’m curious to check it out. I’d imagine it’s one of those Hangover-type videos. Check this one out and see what you think. Big Time – Robby Johnson The first thought that popped into my head with this song was the debut single from Parmalee. That was from 2012 and was ..read more

The next Montgomery success story in country music? Listened to the Children Of Song podcast recently with John Michael Montgomery and his son Walker. It was an interesting episode. They got into a little of John’s song history and career. Then they got into what Walker is working on. He’s looking to make his own mark in country music. Obviously the family history is on Walker’s side. He has his dad and his uncle (Eddie Montgomery) that have paved the way. You kind of have to think that sometimes going into the same field as family is both difficult and a blessing. You have to almost expect th ..read more

A tip of the cap to the boys at Whiskey Riff for turning me on to the music of Cody Jinks. They mentioned him in one of their podcasts that I heard and since then I’ve been diving into Cody’s music. Last year Cody put out some new music. It’s right in that traditional country vein. Or more in that Texas Country world of today, which is kind of what country music used to be. I love Texas Country. It’s really it’s own thing in the music world. I know they have all kinds of music going on down there, but their country sound is right on point. Here is one of the songs off of Cody’s latest album. T ..read more

Dierks Bentley is back and ready for a new album. Sometimes I feel bad for the fourth single off any given album. The fourth single kind of feels like an afterthought. There’s still a little time before the next album will be ready for release. So it almost feels like the label and the artist put something out. If it hits it hits. If it doesn’t it doesn’t. No big deal either way. It’s almost like the fourth single has to be really good to become a hit. They don’t really put much effort into the promotion unless it starts to catch momentum. I think that happened with Dierks Bentley’s What The H ..read more

Very intriguing one right here. Here is another one that popped up on New Boots. I don’t know what I did before Spotify. I know they’re still figuring out the economics of it all, but for fans there really is nothing better. Access to so much music. Anyway, it also allows fans like me to discover great new music like this new single from John King. I looked back and we did do a song of his from a few years ago. I don’t always remember those. Anyway, this one has been out for a few months, but it looks like it’s picking up some steam. I Still Pick Up – John King This one has a good melody. Not ..read more

A little movement at the top of the chart this week. That new one from Jake Rose has quietly made its way up to the #2 spot. Will it be able to get to the top in the coming weeks? Watch for it. The big debut this week is the new one from Locash. Great to see those guys having continued success after finally breaking out with some hits. Not far behind is Filmore. Also some cool stuff from Kip Moore and Casey Donahew. Listen On Spotify Top New Country Music List (January 22nd, 2018) An Elf Named Moe, Carl Stuck Sleeves, Jake Rose I Got You, Josh Mirenda Tennessee Honey, RF Donovan Lonely Alone ..read more