This week’s crop of new songs features two sterling collaborations: the first, between Americana music darling Sierra Ferrell and blues-country singer Kashus Culpepper. Also, two traditional country-steeped artists, Randall King and Braxton Keith, team up for a barroom-ready track. Also issuing new songs this week are Tyler Childers, Tanner Adell and Kayley Green.
Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country songs of the week below.
Kashus Culpepper (feat. Sierra Ferrell), “Broken Wing Bird”
Culpepper melds his husky, soulful voice with Ferrell’s plaintive twang on this languid, tender song of loving an injured bird until it becomes strong enough to fly away, as the wounded bird brings back memories of an old lover who was emotionally wounded and stopped trying to spread her own wings. The pared-back acoustics here showcase just how well their voices pair together.
Tyler Childers, “Nose on the Grindstone”
Childers has long included this fan-favorite in his shows, and now fans officially get this song via this newly-released live recording. This theatrical feel and Childers’ gritty, rough-hewn voice tell the tale of a son recalling lingering lessons learned from a father who pulled long hours doing blue collar work, and the hardship in living by those words in a modern world as the son battles addiction. “There’s hurt you can cause time alone cannot heal,” he sings, masterfully weaving lyrics depicting the tension between a son’s desire to make his family proud and the insistent pull of addiction. The track previews Childers’ upcoming album Snipe Hunter, out July 25.
Tanner Adell, “Snakeskin”
Acoustic guitar and Adell’s pristine vocal wind together for a song that blends breezy instrumentation with a venomous warning for anyone who thinks they can easily capture her heart. “I’m a cowgirl/ I’ma gone do my own saving,” she declares in a sweet-toned vocal that also harbors an edge of hard-won toughness. Adell previously issued the heart-wrenching, intensely personal “Going Blonde,” but here she evinces how a tough childhood has long-reaching impact.
Kayley Green, “You’d Still Be Drunk”
On her latest, Green sings of rebuffing any notions that an ex-lover might have potentially followed a redemptive arc should she have remained in the relationship. Sonically, the song has a upbeat, throwback vibe soaked in girl power and attitude that further reinforces Green’s strong vocals.
Randall King (feat. Braxton Keith), “Cheatin’ on My Honkytonk”
Keith and King team up for this barn burner about a guy who has traded in nights at a beloved honkytonk bar for time spent with his enticing lover. “The old me probably wouldn’t know me/ He’d probably disown me if he could see me now,” they sing, with their distinctive twangy vocals weaving together effortlessly. This track has the potential to be a mighty summer lovin’ anthem.
