Music Country

In September of 2020, Tyler Childers released one of country music’s most powerful statements on racial injustice, his song “Long Violent History.” The track, driven by banjo and fiddle, put listeners squarely in the hills of Appalachia, where a “white boy from Hickman” may have had to sometimes deal with …

Margo Price is celebrating her deep roots in country music on her upcoming album. On Tuesday, the musician announced that Hard Headed Woman, her fifth studio album, is out Aug. 29. The musician made the LP — her first album in Nashville — at RCA Studio A alongside producer Matt …

Carin León brought a touch of Mexico — and a whole lot of country-rock swagger — to Spotify House on Friday night. The música mexicana star surprised the crowd at Ole Red with a late-night performance that included a soulful cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and a singalong to …

Not even the storm delays could dampen the excitement over CMA Fest’s Friday headliner Kelsea Ballerini. The country-pop star closed out the Nissan Stadium festivities with a set that included a pair of duets with her friend and collaborator Noah Kahan. After opening her set with “Blindsided (Yeah, Sure, Okay)” …

Nikki Lane has been on a Nashville tear this week, culminating with a pop-up appearance Wednesday night during Lukas Nelson’s headlining show at Chief’s, during which she sang “Born Runnin’ Outta Time,” off Nelson’s upcoming album American Romance. By show’s end, Lane was once again onstage, harmonizing on another song …

Bailey Zimmerman had a special announcement during his Spotify House set Thursday night: His new album, Different Night Same Rodeo, drops Aug. 8. During the CMA Fest performance, the singer also debuted a new track from the project, “Comin’ in Cold.” “For the last two years, I’ve been working really …

One night, sitting at the piano, Ruston Kelly found God. “It was like a mushroom trip without the mushrooms,” he tells Rolling Stone. “In a moment of deep gratitude for just simply being able to play and sing, it happened. I wanted to know if God was like, a real …

Travis Roberts is emphasizing the “alt” in alt-country. On his debut album, Rebel Rose, coming Aug. 1 on New West Records, the Amarillo, Texas, songwriter channels the punk sounds of Jimmy Eat World, the power-pop of Gin Blossoms, and the grit of the album that changed his life, Steve Earle’s …

“The next time hell starts freezing over/be sure to give a call,” Rodney Crowell sings with Ashley McBryde on the new duet “Taking Flight,” a soaring blues-rock ballad about the miles and years separating former lovers. Ending with an electrifying solo by Tyler Bryant, “Taking Flight” appears on the songwriter’s …

Over the past few years, an array of musicians, historians, researchers, and critics have helped upend the history of country music. They’ve brought overdue attention to the myriad, yet long-ignored contributions of Black musicians to country’s origins, stressing the way record company owners overlooked Black artists for recording sessions, or …