You go away on your honeymoon for two weeks and the queer cowpokes keep cranking out amazing music! What the hell!!!
That’s only a good thing, of course. Some of the songs you see today are a few weeks old, and others are piping hot. Scroll down for links to our playlists on Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music!
Jaime Wyatt — “World Worth Keeping”
Jaime Wyatt’s Neon Cross found the actual-outlaw country singer at a crossroads. Shedding years of pain and toxicity, Neon Cross was a cathartic outburst of regret and resolution. “World Worth Keeping” shows Wyatt moving on from those troubled times and finding so much to appreciate around us. The song dips into psychedelia but more so in the thrumming flower child beat. Wyatt and her band still have plenty of Southern rock attitude and lend plenty of twang to this number.
Samantha Rise — “South County Movie Star”
I finally got around to listening to World Cafe’s Black Opry Residency series and was absolutely blown away by Samantha Rise. Samantha seems to be working on new music, but the 2019 song “South County Movie Star” certainly reflects their journey out to Wyoming and subsequent return to Philly. Rise is trained in jazz, and you can hear that in “South County’s” elaborate composition. The teaser clips in the World Cafe episode suggest their upcoming album will be more twangy and sulty, so get on board their train now.
lazypines — “Little Things”
lazypines is one of the first queer country artists I’ve found through Bluesky! The singer-songwriter layers synths and guitars in only the way the Scottish can: with intention, a strong sense of melody, and warmth. This gentle love song bridges genres, with the carefully plucked mandolin strings standing in tension with the looming bass in the background — a production choice that helps the listener feel as if their very heartstrings are being plucked.
Phillip Hermans — “Truck Stuff”
One look at the album art should tell you that Phillip Hermans’ song is really not about trucks. In fact, if you’re at work, you might want to put headphones on. Hermans’ sly wordplay and jaunty guitar work evoke classic country. There’s the old joke that bro country singers wish they could fuck their trucks. Well, here’s a song that responds.
Steve Grand — “All American Boy”
This isn’t a new song, but it’s a good one. I was reminded of it while listening to Sirius XM’s Country Pride channel in June and thought maybe others would like the reminder, too. Grand has been doing his thing in the pop country world for a long time now and deserves plenty of credit. Not only is this song a damn banger, but it was pretty radical when it came out ten years ago.
Listen to this playlist on Spotify!
Thanks to Elliott for making a parallel list on Apple Music!
Listen to the parallel list on Tidal.
Missed a week? Thomas Inskeep is generously keeping an archive of all music featured on this Spotify playlist.