This week’s crop of new country tunes includes the debut major label EP from newcomer Braxton Keith, a sterling, introspective look from Ashley McBryde at the values that embody a “cowboy song,” Kameron Marlowe’s haunting look at the impact of addiction and depression, and Ned LeDoux offering a collaboration with his late father and country great Chris LeDoux.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country releases of the week below.
Braxton Keith, ‘Blue’
Keith, newly signed to Warner Music Nashville, turns in a slab of stone-cold country on his new EP Blue. This five-song collection, forged from the depths of the Texas honky-tonk circuit, highlights Keith’s unmistakable, conversational singing style, as he weaves through songs of sly warning (“Cozy”), romance (“Fall This Way”) and post-heartbreak acceptance (the fiddle-drenched “Giving Up On You”).
Ashley McBryde, “Ain’t Enough Cowboy Songs”
Grammy winner McBryde sings of a longing for more songs that embody the essence of the values of freedom, hard work, responsibility and love of the outdoors, and grieves for the struggles of those who are still doing their best to live up to that ethos. “There’s a few of us left trying to circle the wagons/ But we’re barеly holding our ground,” she sings. Her voice, as always, rings with an earthy authenticity and earnestness.
Kameron Marlowe, “Never Really Know”
Marlowe just released the gripping music video for this song, one that showcases not only his commanding, gritty voice, but also a storyline that is unfortunately all too familiar to so many people — who don’t notice the pain and impact of shattered dreams, depression and addiction until it is too late. Marlowe wrote this song with co-writer James McNair, and it’s one that further positions Marlowe as an all-around vocalist-writer-artist worth paying attention to.
The Castellows, “Alabama Stone”
The title track to this sibling trio’s new three-song EP, “Alabama Stone” further solidifies The Castellows’ top-flight songwriting. Written by the trio’s Powell Balkcom, Eleanor Balkcom and Lily Balkcom along with writers Josh Dorr and Caroline Watkins, the song’s crux turns on the various meanings of “Alabama Stone” that keep the song’s protagonist connected to her Alabama hometown — whether that be her familial home, the wedding ring on her hand, or, at the end, the stone that marks her final resting place. The track gets bolstered by reverential piano and the trio’s ethereal harmonies.
Chris & Ned LeDoux, “One Hand in the Riggin’”
In a song set to be featured on Ned LeDoux’s upcoming 2025 album, he duets with his late country singer/rodeo champion father Chris LeDoux on the song “One Hand in the Riggin,’” with Ned pairing his vocal alongside what he calls the final vocal track his father ever recorded prior to his death in 2005. The song nods to the twin pulls toward home and the road, maintaining a family while chasing the endless thrill of “one more rodeo.” All together, it is refreshing hearing Chris’s voice again — especially on a song that feels this timeless, and given how his and his son’s vocals blend so well together.
Evan Honer, “High School Reunion”
After seeing his career surge on the strength of Tyler Childers covers, followed by the release of his own projects such as Fighting For and Different Life, Honer delves into the complication emotions surrounding the notion of seeing a former high school lover at their 10-year high school reunion — his cut-to-the-bone style of songwriting and rugged vocal revealing an anxious pondering of how that teenage relationship might have progressed. “High School Reunion” marks the third single from Honer’s upcoming EP annabelle, out Dec. 13.
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