The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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One Liner: Americana leaning into lite rock and roll with great lyrics
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, folk, country, rock Home: Hickman, KY Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 18 Day: Friday at 2pm Weekend Two Only.
BeatBox Stage
Thoughts: When I saw this on the poster, I figured it was S.L. Houser, who was at ACL last year and offers music lessons for Austinites. Nope, another lady using initials to confuse and entertain. (also, not L.P. Giobbi or M.J. Lenderman, who were both at ACL last year. Initial Artists for all!).
Also, she is coming to Bourbon and Beyond in September, so I might get to see her there.
She is pretty good! She was raised in Hickman, Kentucky, which is a tiny town on the Mississippi River, in that little key-tip of Kentucky. I have never been to Kentucky. I am realizing, looking at the map, that it is just north of Tennessee (where I have been), and just south of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri (where I have never been). Recently, someone hit me up for a free ticket to an ACL taping for her. Wish I could have gone.
She was raised in the Southern Baptist church and says she went three times a week. That seems like too much church, but I think I did the same with Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Good times. She has also been driving since she was seven, which is apparently legal in Kentucky.
The tunes are kind of a mix of Sierra Ferrell's quasi-country Americana and Lucinda Williams' soulful, rockin' Americana. I have been enjoying it quite a bit. She got started in 2017 with an album with something called The Savage Radley, and then 2020 was her solo debut called Old Time Feeling. Produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, I think it has a cool combined sound. That one includes her most popular song, "Space and Time," with 10.7 million streams.
Tyler Childers covered this later, likely being the reason it launched into popularity. Here and there, that little vibrato she does for a second in the second line can get to be too much in some of these songs, but overall, I think she is a really good songwriter with some good chill vibes. Like "Snapping Turtle," from 2025's Planting by the Signs, where you believe she is about to join some kids in torturing a turtle before she turns the stick on those little shits and makes them cry - I can see it all in my mind's eye and I really like it. She also does a dope cover of the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" that includes some great guitar.
One Liner: Low key, DIY-feeling country and toothpicks Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is country Home: Cincinnati Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 20 Day: Friday at 5:15 Second Weekend Only
BMI Stage
Thoughts: The top entry in Wikipedia is a dead American ragtime piano guy who wrote songs for a lot of classic guys like Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. There are a bunch of other "famous" guys with this name as well - an Irish hurler, a civil rights activist and judge, an English naval officer, a Scottish football player and coach, etc. etc. I again wonder why so many of the artists on the poster this year are just first and last names.
He grew up in a Rhode Island town named Woonsocket, which is a wonderful town name. His family had a family band that would play around the area, but soon enough he and his wife moved to Cincinnati and started firing out kids and songs. Multiple of his photos include him with a toothpick in his mouth, so I guess that is a thing. There have also been several mentions of God and Christianity, so I think that is another thing here.
First single on Spotify is 2023, then a 2024 EP called Born to be Broken, a 2025 EP called Oh! The Anxiety, and finally a 2026 album called The Heart Sessions. Feels kind of like the Zach Bryan thing, where there are tons of songs - feels like so many singles for only three years. The stream count is nothing like Bryan, but just the prolific output. Top streamer is "Big Enough Mountain", a 2024 single that made it onto that Born to Be Broken EP. 12.7 million streams.
I don't think the sound is in line with the ZB stuff, sounds more like regular county and less stripped down than those who came out of the ZB lineage. "I love you a whole, whole lot" and "I could try, try to count, numbers just don't go that high" are truly terrible lines though. The top YouTube comment is a guy saying he is "going too sing this song too my wife on our wedding day" [sic] and I feel like this says a lot about the people who love this song. That was rude, but I still stand by it.
The top song from the new album is "Deeper Talks" with 7.9 million streams.
That song is a whole, whole lot better than the earlier one. Hey, he has a toothpick! I think the accompaniment is what is making me like it more. Not so sure the lyrics are upping the ante just yet. He may be the best thing during this hour though...
One Liner: Old school classic country by a young UT student
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, this is country, folk, Americana
Home: Austin!
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 22. Weekend One Only. Saturday at 3:30
BMI Stage
Thoughts: My guy is a pretty good whistler. Also, I am guessing he is not the American philanthropist who died in 1978. I did not know, until reading that Wiki entry, that there really was a "Community Chest" - I thought that was just a Monopoly phrase.
Anyway, this fella sounds very much like a throwback to the old school. Songs full of vibrato and whistles and classic country flourishes. It sounds honestly great.
A few EPs and then finally a 2026 album called Lead You Home. His first single is still his most popular track, "Wildflowers & Tears" has 632k streams.
Good, basic country sound right there. Like Chris LeDoux telling me a hard-scrabble story of country pain. He's got Dave Cobb producing him (who also produced folks like Stapleton). He was born in New York, lived in CT until he was seven, but has called Austin home ever since. As he was first releasing this music, he was still a full-time UT student studying English. At first, he had a little band called Coleman Jennings and the Roaddogs, and they would play frat parties and tailgates - anything to get a show together. But now he has signed with Big Loud (massive artists like Morgan Wallen or Miranda Lambert, small local-ish guys like Dylan Gossett and The Droptines).
His top track from the new album is called "Head Spinning" and has 359k streams.
Again, pretty solid. I didn't use any of his songs with the whistling, but I promise that he is a pretty legit whistler. I like a good whistle in a country tune.
Thoughts: She is coming to Bourbon and Beyond, the weekend before Weekend One of ACL, so I recently listened to her stuff and wrote a review for that Festival.
Stella Lefty
One Liner: Unremarkable pop that borders into country Wikipedia Genre: no Wikipedia, but this is pop [since writing that, she has scored an entry]: Country pop, indie folk Home: L.A. Day: Sunday at 2:45 (?!?!)
Weekend One Only.
Poster Line: Second Quarter - Line 7
T-Mobile Stage.
Thoughts: Wikipedia took me to Stella Levy, who was an Israeli soldier and politician. This is not her, as that lady is dead. This gal is an odd sound, where at times I think this is country with drum machines, and then at times I think it is just pop music. And I don't love it, but the (probably AI-written) article I just read about her is hyperbolic in its praise: "Everything about this EP doesn’t just make Stella Lefty feel like she’s one of pop music’s most promising rising acts; it makes her takeover feel all but inevitable. You’re running out of time to be an early fan, after all, so check out Tragic, Really before it’s too late." HER TAKEOVER IS INEVITABLE!!!
Another article claims she is a student at Tulane University. That would be really weird, if true, for her to go play big shows over the weekend and then head back to her Econ class on Monday morning. But pretty limited article numbers out there about her - I'm sure it is because she is young and cool and those people don't want to read an article, they want to watch a TikTok to learn more about her. And I refuse to do such things.
About 15 total songs with no real albums yet. Although she did get a song on the Scream 7 soundtrack, so she's doing something right. Well, that is how my brain works - does anyone else care if a song is on a soundtrack? Dunno. Probably not. Anyway, her top track back in April when I wrote most of this was a 2026 single with 16.8 million streams [now up to 45 million in July, back in April, most of her songs were under a million streams but that is not the case now]. "Thinking 'bout you."
There is that country flavor - doesn't it sound like that could be a Nashville track? It is fine - I'm sure the kids will have fun singing along to her when she plays it, but I will be on the other side of the festival for this show.
Now, in July, there is more information about her and she is blowing up a little bit. The other day, I was on the back patio putting together a truly diabolical oscillating fan to try to combat mosquitos and my youngest had a friend with her in the pool. When my wife asked for a music suggestion, they asked for "Boston" from Stella Lefty, which is now her biggest streamer with 96 million spins on Spotify.
And you may wonder why that one blew up with the teens? I guess TikTok found her. But also, sound is heavily built around a melodic interpolation of "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan, who is credited as a co-writer. Pretty smart to take last year's most popular song among teens, re-jigger it to pop into their brains again, and profit. She sort of sounds like a country-twinged Justin Bieber to me on that song. Weird official video to release where she isn't even singing the right lyrics on lots of it.
Her real name is Stella Lefkofsky, and Wikipedia agrees that she gained prominence following the viral success of her country-pop single "Boston." I bet her crowd is going to be packed with tweens. Her father is billionaire Eric Lefkofsky, the co-founder of Groupon and a bunch of other companies I don't recognize, and has an estimated net worth of six billion dollars. So, I guess it was a pretty easy road to hoe for old Stella here.
My opinion is still the same, I'll let the kiddos go party with this stuff on the other side of the park while I go watch some aging rock star fart around with a guitar.
Although, when I wrote the above, I had not seen that her time is 2:45 in the afternoon? I don't love her or anything, but I think that stage is going to be insanely packed.
One Liner: A pop & country mix that leans a little into Leon Bridges-style soul pop Wikipedia Genre: pop, country Home: Nashville (via Bentonville, Arkansas) Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 16 Day: Sunday at 3:30 Weekend One Only.
BMI Stage.
Thoughts: C'mon y'all. This guy was here last year. he has three new singles since then, none of which appear all that popular. Why can't we get new artists for the Fest?
Jake Hagood was raised in Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart and a bunch of great mountain biking trails. After high school, he moved to Nashville to attend something called Trevecca Nazarene University. "Fancy" was a nickname given to him by his co-workers at Forever 21 during this time. He was performing around town during his college time, until he was discovered by Scooter Braun, the guy that all Swifties hate. He dropped out of college to hit the music thing full-time.
He was originally known as Who is Fancy, in a sort of campaign to make himself be viral or something. The campaign to make him a thing involved his first single being released anonymously. They released a series of psuedo music videos featuring actors lip synching to the song, and the single reached #29 on the Billboard Mainstream chart. WHO IS FANCY?!?!?
How weird, to be the singer of that song, and then see your video featuring some little Bieberite lip-synching your voice. That dude's vibe annoys me for sure. I like it better knowing it is a chunky Arkansasian than that scrawny little model.
A few months later, Hagood "finally" released his identity on a Jimmy Fallon appearance. Funny to me that it was a mystery for all of four months. His second single, performed on Dancing With the Stars along with Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande in 2016, failed to chart, and so the evil Scooter Braun dumped his ass. After some time, he relaunched himself as Fancy Hagood in 2020 with an initial single and some new genres including country, "confessional pop," and glam rock. I'd say that the sound on the two albums aims more directly to the country sound in my estimation.
His first album available on Spotify is 2021's Southern Curiosity. They've just erased the prior music from Spotify associated with his initial attempt to launch. This album feels less like a country thing though. Maybe country adjacent, but it's more like a subdued Sam Smith - he's not quite belting pop ballads, but it feels like he is right below that level here. The top track is called "Forest," with 9.5 million streams. Only one other song gets above a million, just as a measure on numbers for this album.
That one comes on sort of like a Lord Huron track with the vocal delivery, before the chorus at least. We used to have a trunk like that in my house growing up. Always had the dress up clothes in it, which was entertaining. I wonder what Fancy has in his forest trunk? Very pretty song though. The title song is very good too - a little more rollicking and powerful with the full choir involved.
After that album, a few singles, and then a fun covers EP from 2024 called Smothered, Covered & Fried (a Waffle House reference that works just perfectly). Mostly country, except for "Landslide," but not the kind of country classics that I would expect here. i.e. not Waylon and Willie and Dolly, instead you get The Pistol Annies, Shania Twain, Little Big Town, and Eli Young Band covers. It is an enjoyable detour. His tune with Kacey Musgraves, "Blue Dream Baby" is too disco pop for my tastes.
2025's American Spirit is a fun combination of country and soulful pop. It almost sounds like the new Leon Bridges album at multiple points. Not much in the way of streams for that new disc, I guess people aren't getting his schtick anymore. The track featuring Michelle Branch is the top streamer, which feels like it can't be the one I offer up here. So, this is "Through," the top track otherwise. 132k streams.
Feels kind of like the kind of guy who won American Idol and is putting our his tentative foray into Country because his coach was the country guy. His voice feels ready to belt out something at any given moment.
This is fine. Really good voice, kind of unremarkable songs though. I like the newer album more, but that is sort of faint praise. I've gone through it all a few times and while my general vibe is that I like it, I don't know that I would choose him if he was up against something more interesting.
One Liner: A measure of cheesy country and an equal measure of scrubbed-up folk
Wikipedia Genre: Country, folk rock, Americana
Home:Nashville (now, originally from Bend, OR)
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4 (LINE 4?!?!) Both Weekends. Sunday at 4:30
American Express Stage
Thoughts: So, he is on the poster for Bourbon and Beyond as well, and my review of him for that was not great. He somehow gets top billing by being up on the 4th line, and yet I had never heard of him until listening to B&B.
My initial reaction to his first few songs was very negative - cheesy Nashville crap-ola - but if you just let his tunes roll for a while, you get through the TikTok bait and into something a little less awful? Like, "Better Me For You (Brown Eyes)" just feels plodding and manufactured for clicks and singalongs where the crowd is holding up their cell phones with flashlight on.
Funny thing, when I read his name, I was like "wasn't that a quarterback for the Bears?" Close. Cade McNown, this kid's uncle, was drafted by the Bears in the first round in 1999 (and only played there for 2 years). Why does my brain retain these things?
But I just turned on his music again (now in July), and his second most popular song is a deeply cursed EDM song with Kygo that makes me want to die. Like, awful lyrics, terrible vibes, just an awful experience.
Two albums - 2024's Wandering (Love Me Back), which includes the most streamed tune, and 2025's Night Driving, which includes the "Brown Eyes" track - many EPs, and some singles. Honestly a lot of music (although a lot of these are repeats).
His most streamed tune has a Marcus-Mumford-covering-a-Noah-Cyrus-song vibe. "A Lot More Free" has 313.1 million streams.
A little stomp and clap, a little whistle, and you've got a hit. "World Change Me" sounds like a song featured on Yellowstone (non-complimentary). And earlier when I said something more real, I'm not saying it is the greatest music I have ever heard, but kind of what Noah Kahan could sound like if he had an army of producers and songwriters at his side. Like, "Bury Me in my Hometown" is a little trite, but I don't hate it. And the Both Sides of the Blade EP, from 2025, is pretty nice. And then I hear a recent single ("First Born Daughter") and it's not even country, just bad pop. I really don't like it.
Feels like the country lovers really got the shaft this year on this poster. If this is the best they get, then I guess they will come out to watch him, but I'll be somewhere else I think.
One Liner: Pretty great southern rock/red dirt country in the vein of Turnpike/Flatland Wikipedia Genre: No real Wikipedia for the band, but Red dirt country, southern rock Home: Stillwater, OK Poster Position: Last Quarter - Line 22 Day: Saturday Weekend Two Only.
BMI Stage at 5:15.
Thoughts: Southall is a section of London, but in this instance is the current name of what used to be known as the Read Southall Band. They are an American country rock band from Stillwater, OK formed by Read Southall that sounds very much like Flatland Cavalry to me. Rolling Stone did an article in 2023 that I am not allowed to read because of dumb paywalls, but I can see that they are referencing the explosion of Oklahoma country acts that was presaged by Zach Bryan's rise to fame. In that article, they cite to Southall, Wyatt Flores, Kaitlin Butts, and Lance Roark. Flores and Butts have already played Two Step, and are great stuff, so now we get another slice of this world.
Five albums - 2015's Six String Sorrow, 2017's Borrowed Time, 2018's live album, 2021's For the Birds, and then, after the re-branding, 2023's Southall. Let's go old school with the first one. That second album boasts five of their most popular tracks, but "Why" crushes all the others with 124.2 million streams.
Almost sounds like Kaitlin Butts is the harmony-singer on there, like in a bunch of the old Flatland tunes. Good, if very sad, song about losing love. Also, the comments are very sad - loads of people being like "damn, I screwed up with you and I'm sorry and now when I hear this song I'm just so damn sorry." The early single "Clean Slate" is also very good.
I watched a nugget of a documentary called Southall or Nothing, which is super generic and silly. "Man, as long as you are real to yourself, bro, you get what you give, man." But they did note that the band, when the name changed, went from Read being more in charge to it being the whole band giving their input and being involved. Sounds like a good thing to my ears. Looks like maybe they record in an old church? The video did a bad job of actually explaining this.
For the next, let's go with the new sound of the revamped and renamed band. This is "Scared Money" with just about 4 million streams and a real video!
A little more southern rock than Red Dirt in that one. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd on training wheels. I also heard both "Tulsa Time" and Jason Isbell's "Super 8." Also on that new disc, "Out Alive" comes on a little like grunge, maybe if Kings of Leon was covering Soundgarden. "DLTGYD" is almost metal underneath.
I played this for the wife last night as we drove to dinner and she was in. I really like it.
One Liner: Significantly more pop than country for a Nashville star
Wikipedia Genre: Country, country pop, pop, R&B
Home: Nashville (via Arlington, TX)
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 3 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Beatbox Stage at 7:30.
Thoughts: Her biggest song, by miles, is that ubiquitously overplayed EDM song from Zedd called "The Middle." That is not her normal mode in the slightest - she is normally Nashville country, not pop belting over clicks and clacks. Although, now that I am listening to her second-most popular song, it is probably more R&B-seeming than country. Maybe I am wrong about her schtick. I just remember one of her older songs being pretty great (but straight country) and so I assumed I knew the score.
Her debut album was 2017's HERO, and that was the only music that was available back in 2016 when she was last at ACL Fest. In my review back then, I noted that her most popular song was called "80s Mercedes," a poppy, auto-tuned thing that, despite myself, I found myself kind of toe-tapping along with. But the big hit from that album, with 20.4 million streams in 2016 and now 226.6 million in 2025, is a pretty darned good track tying church to listening to music in your car. I like this one, called "My Church."
Excellent song. I like the sound, the imagery, the tunefulness, and her voice a lot. However, I'll admit that the rest of the album leaves me less excited. The tunes span too wide of a sound, leaving me unsure if I'm listening to Rhianna ("Sugar" or "How It's Done"), Jessica Simpson ("80s Mercedes"), Sheryl Crow ("I Wish I Was"), Kelly Clarkson ("Second Wind") or Kacey Musgraves ("My Church") at any given time. And then there's "Rich," which reminds me of Lorde, except it ain't funny like "Royals" was. I can't say I care for the rest of the album as much as I do the hit. It makes me curious as to what her live sound is like - does she bring drum machines and synths, or does she countrify all of the tunes for the stage?
She's a Dallas girl, born and raised in Arlington. Her mom named her after an actress who was in Battlestar Gallactica. Her parents owned an Aveda hair salon, where she spent a lot of time and worked growing up. She started performing as a teen and toured throughout Texas, releasing independent albums. As a late teen, she auditioned for and was rejected by American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, and Nashville Star. That is sort of amazing and just shows how fickle those shows can be to reject someone who has now been listed in Billboard's top 100 country artists of all time. Sooner or later, with the encouragement of friend Kacey Musgraves, she moved to Nashville to chase her dreams and apparently inject her lips with significant amounts of filler. HERO was a big success, with three total songs charting for her, but then it was the 2018 collaboration with Zedd that launched her into the stratosphere. 1.6 BILLION streams.
Her second album was released in 2019. Girl featured her biggest non-EDM streamer overall - "The Bones" - which has 486.6 million streams.
Another tune that doesn't really feel much like a country song. Beats and snaps and light guitar riffs that roll into piano chords and hand claps. Definitely more pop than country.
I actually reviewed her 2022 album, and you can hear some of the same echoes in this review as I have just thought through above. "Maren Morris - Humble Quest. This one has been in my queue for so long that it is starting to feel like an old classic that I have always known. I will readily admit that I don't love Maren Morris - or at least my mind has always registered her name with some disappointment. Like, I get that I am supposed to like her, but then I listen to anything beyond "My Church" and it isn't there for me. But I will admit that this album has adjusted that perception some. She's got a great voice and some clever lyrics in here. Frequently not a country album, like the piano pop of "The Furthest Thing," and sometimes she straight up sounds like an R&B singer from some classic Jive album ("Tall Guys"), but overall I suppose you would call this country. "Tall Guys" is an ode to how great a tall man is, which very much seems like a country singer topic, but the delivery just feels like we are listening to something by early P!nk. "Good Friends" is a fine tune. "Detour" sounds like something she might have released with The Highwomen. But the stream king is the opener, an ode to the aimlessness of life in your small hometown as you try to write hits to get you somewhere else. "Circles Around This Town," with 32.8 million streams [now up to 43.5 in 2025].
Something about her glamming as she sings bugs the crap out of me, like she's trying to emphasize the shape of her lips more than the shape of the words. But I like the song. Overall, I enjoyed the whole album. I am surprising myself with liking traditional Nashville country ladies recently."
She had been married to singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd for a while, but they finalized their divorce in 2024. After that, Morris came out as bi-sexual. I can't decide if that makes the divorce easier or harder.
And then, I had not realized that she released a new album last month in May 2025. D R E A M S I C L E (which was very annoying to type out) doesn't appear to have caught the world on fire with streams. 5 of the songs are still under a million streams, and only one has more than 4 million. And I also do not love it. Just a pure pop album now, for my mind. Ah, I looked it up, and it was partially produced by Jack Antonoff. So, she's making the Taylor Swift album of pop sheen and 80's synths. Not for me, and I wouldn't keep any of it around.
I'll be elsewhere during the Fest for sure - waiting for Cage or Hozier, watching Dr. Dog or King Princess. So the pop country stylings of Ms. Morris can go to someone else.
One Liner: Nashville country tropes but with some enjoyable tunes nonetheless
Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Nashville (via North Carolina)
Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends. Friday.
AmEx Stage at 8:30 (weak to have a 1.5 hour headliner)
Thoughts: I literally just typed Luke Bryan as the title for this. So weird that there are so many dudes with generic ass names in the country game right now, with Zach Bryan and Luke Bryan and Luke Combs and Zac Brown and Kane Brown. We need L.B. Combs to release a country album and come full circle.
As I've said many a time, the Nashville country sound is never where my ears are aimed. Give me the Texas country or red dirt or Americana or outlaw-style country and I'll mostly be okay. But the Kenny Chesney, Morgan Wallen, etc. machine is never going to by my style. BUT, I actually tried out this dude's album of songs about fathers and sons, and I actually enjoyed some of it. Here was my review at the time:
"Luke Combs - Fathers & Sons. Combs is not someone who is on my radar in the slightest, so I'm not sure how this album came to be in my New Stuff list, but I'm honestly glad it was. Cheesy as shit - just absolutely dripping in gooey American, plasticky cheese like a soggy nacho at the bottom of a paper bowl at a little league game - but also endearing to me in an unexpected way. These songs are all, or at least mostly all, about fathers and sons. And being that my son is now away at college for his Freshman year, hearing songs like "The Man He Sees in Me" or "Huntin' By Yourself" brings a different level of poignance that I never would have given them the time for ten years ago. For example, the chorus to "Huntin' By Yourself," with these lines: "I already knew he wouldn't see a thing / Been three more times and it's always the same / 'Cause he moves too much and he talks too loud / But I don't mind 'cause I'm finding out / That even if it's just time we're killin', it's never felt more like livin' / They'll make you cuss and wear your patience thin / But next thing you know, they're all grown up and then / You're huntin' by yourself again." All too damn true. Like I said, sappy and cheesy, but also a well-crafted encapsulation of an emotion that I am living in today. "The Man He Sees in Me" is the top track so far, with 53.3 million streams [now up to 63.8 million].
I also have to note that the backing band on that song is excellent. Sounds like the folks who back up Allison Krauss. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" also rings very true to me, except for the divorce angle to it, but the idea of a song wishing his dad would take him out to the ballgame just to hang out. A friend gave me tickets to go see a Texas basketball game with the boy before he went back to school, and it was a very fun evening. The album is pleasing to me - very basic arrangements, kind of a slow burn of pleasant country tunes about young fatherhood. I guess I don't hate all Nashville country as much as I thought."
There you go - a ringing endorsement! And I will 100% note that now that I am listening to the regular "most popular" tunes in his Spotify, this is more what I was expecting. Heavy twang on the vocals and lyrics that make him sound like an everyman, buying a six pack and getting a Hooter's waitress's number on his bill. Top song is from 2017's This One's For You, "When It Rains It Pours," with just over a Billion streams.
I'm sure dudes who treat their girlfriends like crap play this song as their theme song to justify their assholery. But if I am being honest, even though it is twangy generic-ness, I kind of like the angle on a happy breakup that ends well for the guy. "I've been on one hell of a redneck roll for three weeks now" is where you know it is not a redeeming song though. But still, kind of makes me think of one of those Alan Jackson good times tunes.
Born in Huntersville, N.C., he grew up in Asheville before heading off to Appalachian State University. After five years of school and just 21 hours left for a degree in criminal justice, he bounced on school to move to Nashville and pursue his musical career. Great choice, honestly. HIs debut single from his first full album went to number one on the country radio airplay chart, so he went in the right direction immediately. His first five singles actually all ended up at number one on the Billboard country chart.
I think when he popped onto my radar (and likely for many other folks) was in 2023 when he covered Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." He does a good job with it, leaving the lyrics alone and keeping the arrangement pretty much the same as the original. It sounds very good. 793.5 million streams.
Live version, but you get the idea. Such a good song. At the time of the release, and it's wild popularity, I recall a little bit of controversy about it. On the one hand, people were excited that a black woman was the author of a number one country song, but on the other hand it had people wringing their hands about the success of a white man using that song, in comparison to when a black, queer woman sang the same thing. I just thought it was cool to have that song pop back up into the national consciousness - it is excellent, lyrically, and still very much resonates today.
His second-biggest streamer is from the 2018 album This One's for You Too, and is one that I feel like I have written about before. Or maybe there are just multiple country songs where a guy is like "she's nuts but I love her anyway." That's the one, it was Eli Young Band's "Crazy Girl" that I was thinking of. Anyway, "Beautiful Crazy" has 1.048 BILLION streams.
A billion damn streams for that song is just wild to me. "Yeah she's crazy, but her crazy's beautiful to me" is just like, not actually nice? And there are a lot of comments on the YouTube video that are all like "my husband told me this is my song, I love him so much." Lady, your husband just called you a nutjob and says he likes you despite what a huge psycho you are.
2022's Growin' Up has the classic hallmarks of the generic Nashville stuff that is painful for me. Heavy rock guitars, generic lyrics, soulful belting with a heavy country twang. "Any Given Friday Night" is the classic one - boys chasin' girls and hangin' at the Dairy Queen, etc. But the big song is a rough-edged love song called "The Kind of Love We Make." 640.8 million streams.
Oh hell yeah, grandpa is about to tear that granny to shreds! She was trying to read the classifieds, but PopPop had other plans that involved burning down the entire house while he went to town. I get it - catchy, poppy, soulful - and why it could be a big hit. But that is the kind of song that I would definitely skip if it came on a radio station or mix.
His 2019 album What You See Is What You Get is more of the same - long necks, John Deere, blue collars, fixin' trucks, big mouth bass, whiskey, Brooks & Dunn, honky tonks, rhyming honey with money, etc. etc. etc.
Weird anecdote on his Wikipedia: "In 2023, Combs obtained a $250,000 SAD Scheme default judgment against Nicol Harness inadvertently, who was a fan who had sold $380 worth of tumblers featuring a likeness of Combs. Combs subsequently issued an apology, sent Harness $11,000, and offered to sell the tumblers through his official merchandise store to assist with Harness's medical bills." He inadvertently sued someone and took a judgment? Is that a problem that famous people have, to just accidentally sue people and take the case all the way to judgment? I wish I had that issue.
Anyway, while if this was the headliner for Two Step Inn, I may have gone over to see what he was like in person, but with him likely against Hozier, Cage, or Empire, there is just no way I'd choose him over those other folks.
One Liner: Really great, low-key Americana guy in the vein of Zach Bryan
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but country and americana
Home: Prosper, Texas
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 12 Both Weekends. Friday
American Express Stage at 2:45.
Thoughts: This fella was at ACL in 2023, but I missed the show. But then he came to Two Step Inn for the 2025 rendition, and we got to catch about half of the set. He's freaking awesome. High energy dude with a rock and roll-forward stance.
While on the beach for Labor Day in 2024, a friend asked me about what country artists would be at the Fest for 2024. I told him about Randall King and Morgan Wade, and said that I guess Mumford and Lumineers are in that wheelhouse. But I hadn't yet heard this cat - got a basic but powerful sound that makes me think of Zach Bryan, Charles Wesley Godwin, and personal favorite Chris Knight. That kind of country that leans into southern rock sounds and great lyrics.
Originally from Prosper, Texas, which is one of those far north suburbs of DFW that probably used to be a little slice of small-town nothing, but is now likely a mega-suburb in the making full of cheap D.R. Horton homes and a high school with an 80 million dollar football stadium. Matt Carpenter, LaTroy Hawkins, and Torii Hunter, all accomplished MLB players, were from Prosper, as are Deion Sanders and Dak Prescott. Kind of wild to have that many stars from a little squirt of a town.
He says that he used to belt out music all the time as a little kid, that his family would tell him to shut up. In high school he picked up a guitar and leaned into making music. His favorite band is Whiskey Myers, which is something I have heard of before, but I don't know that I have ever heard one of their songs. He released the Medicine Man EP in 2019, which gathered a bunch of streams, and then was featured on Yellowstone and grabbed even more listeners.
"Come Back Down" was that initial big single that got people streaming - 47.7 million streams.
Basic on the instrumentation, but a classic lost love lyrics tune. Great sound. "Take Me Home," a 2023 single is also great even though it is basic. I have wondered before how it is that Zach Bryan, the most basic of singer-songwriters, using the most basic of acoustic guitar tunes underneath, can turn into such a massively HUGE phenomenon. His show at the first Two Step blew my mind because of the crowd's fervent participation. But listening to this, I can't really see the difference. Maybe it's all about social media or something. Or maybe one is a good-looking ex-Navy guy and the other is a chunky bearded bro? Who knows. "Josephine" is lovely too. Funny thing, the Yellowstone tune doesn't even make his top ten. Only 3.8 million streams - and the opening of it makes me think of Stapleton's song about getting stoned. I'll give you the top tune from his 2023 EP called Who I Am. "Take Me Home" with 28.6 million streams.
Those fan-created slip videos are so weird. Like, setting up in a stairwell to do rock-paper-scissors and then sending that video to a country music artist for a video for a love song? So strange. But I like the song a lot.
Also in 2023, he released his next full album, Crossing Lines. It features that "Take Me Home" track, and it also has his biggest song overall - "Beautiful Lies" which sounds familiar because it was also a 2019 single. Funny thing too, there are two versions on his album, the first one features a woman named Ella Langley, but only has 3.8 million streams. But then the non-duet version at the end of the album fires up 47.6 million streams. I guess it got a lot of play as the 2019 single version and they just decided to add it to the new album a few times?
Parts of the new album go into more of a southern rock country type angle, but this one stays true to my feelings I had before about the Zach Bryan basic vibe. "Down Here at the Bottom" almost sounds like the Black Crowes.
I'd definitely go check this out again - this guy puts on an electric show.
One Liner: Cutesy country with too much tremolo affectation for my tastes
Wikipedia Genre: country
Home: NYC (via Carlton, GA)
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 10 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Ladybird Stage at 3:30.
Thoughts: She was at Two Step Inn this year, so I've already jumped in to check her out just a few months ago. First impression was that this is pretty enjoyable little country stuff, but I have to say that the tremolo that she adds to her voice in a lot of these songs makes me really annoyed. I can't stand when Post Malone does that stuff, and it is creating the same feeling here. Just sing the damn note.
When I looked for TSI, she had no Wikipedia, but for some reason I found is a two-page word document that automatically downloaded to my computer with a very in depth biography of her. She now has Wikipedia, and it says that her real name is Willow Martin. She's from rural Georgia, and her first word was apparently Elvis. She taught herself guitar at age 12, left home at 15, and briefly lived in her car. She now lives in NYC, but when she was 14 she earned an opening gig for the Drive By Truckers in Athens, GA, which is a pretty big deal. "Willow gained overnight fame via a massively viral late-2022 video in which she gave a tour of her apartment, showing off her now-departed pet possum Bowie (whom Willow often dressed in sweaters and cowboy hats) along with such thrifted treasures as a set of medical encyclopedias from the ’40s, a Stainer violin with a rattlesnake tail stuck inside, and the antique typewriter on which she writes many of her lyrics." I couldn't find that video on YouTube, which is too bad. Wikipedia also states that she is the daughter of musician Jim White. I do not know that guy.
Two EPs, 2024's Stranger and 2024's Country Never Leaves, and one album 2025's Southern Belle Raisin' Hell. The early hit single, which ended up on Stranger, is called "Drivin'" and has 6.3 million streams.
I get no country vibes in there at all, just more like a Stevie Nicks thing. That is definitely an outlier compared to the rest of her tunes, which are more directly country for sure. The biggest streamer overall is on both the newer EP and the new album, "Tequila or Whiskey" with 10.4 million streams.
Yeah, it's fine. The vocal affectation is still really bothersome to me, but otherwise it's a cutesy little number that gets my head bobbing. I don't think I'd go see this one though.
One Liner: A pop & country mix that leans a little into Leon Bridges-style soul pop Wikipedia Genre: pop, country Home: Nashville (via Bentonville, Arkansas) Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 20 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
BMI Stage at 1:30.
Thoughts: Jake Hagood was raised in Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart and a bunch of great mountain biking trails. After high school, he moved to Nashville to attend something called Trevecca Nazarene University. "Fancy" was a nickname given to him by his co-workers at Forever 21 during this time. He was performing around town during his college time, until he was discovered by Scooter Braun, the guy that all Swifties hate. He dropped out of college to hit the music thing full-time.
He was originally known as Who is Fancy, in a sort of campaign to make himself be viral or something. The campaign to make him a thing involved his first single being released anonymously. They released a series of psuedo music videos featuring actors lip synching to the song, and the single reached #29 on the Billboard Mainstream chart. WHO IS FANCY?!?!?
How weird, to be the singer of that song, and then see your video featuring some little Bieberite lip-synching your voice. That dude's vibe annoys me for sure. I like it better knowing it is a chunky Arkansasian than that scrawny little model.
A few months later, Hagood "finally" released his identity on a Jimmy Fallon appearance. Funny to me that it was a mystery for all of four months. His second single, performed on Dancing With the Stars along with Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande in 2016, failed to chart, and so the evil Scooter Braun dumped his ass. After some time, he relaunched himself as Fancy Hagood in 2020 with an initial single and some new genres including country, "confessional pop," and glam rock. I'd say that the sound on the two albums aims more directly to the country sound in my estimation.
His first album available on Spotify is 2021's Southern Curiosity. They've just erased the prior stuff from the initial attempt to launch. This album feels less like a country thing though. Maybe country adjacent, but it's more like a subdued Sam Smith - he's not quite belting pop ballads, but it feels like he is right below that level here. The top track is called "Forest," with 8.3 million streams. Only one other song gets above a million, just as a measure on numbers for this album.
That one comes on sort of like a Lord Huron track with the vocal delivery, before the chorus at least. We used to have a trunk like that in my house growing up. Always had the dress up clothes in it, which was entertaining. I wonder what Fancy has in his forest trunk? Very pretty song though. The title song is very good too - a little more rollicking and powerful with the full choir involved.
After that album, a few singles, and then a fun covers EP from 2024 called Smothered, Covered & Fried (a Waffle House reference that works just perfectly). Mostly country, except for "Landslide," but not the kind of country classics that I would expect here. i.e. not Waylon and Willie and Dolly, instead you get The Pistol Annies, Shania Twain, Little Big Town, and Eli Young Band covers. It is an enjoyable detour. His tune with Kacey Musgraves, "Blue Dream Baby" is too disco pop for my tastes.
2025's American Spirit is a fun combination of country and soulful pop. It almost sounds like the new Leon Bridges album at multiple points. Not much in the way of streams for that new disc, I guess people aren't getting his schtick anymore. The track featuring Michelle Branch is the top streamer, which feels like it can't be the one I offer up here. So, this is "Through," the top track otherwise. 90k streams.
Feels kind of like the kind of guy who won American Idol and is putting our his tentative foray into Country because his coach was the country guy. His voice feels ready to belt out something at any given moment.
This is fine. Really good voice, kind of unremarkable songs though. I like the newer album more, but that is sort of faint praise. I've gone through it all a few times and while my general vibe is that I like it, I don't know that I would choose him if he was up against something more interesting.
One Liner: Another Zach Bryan acolyte, from Austin, making good acoustic tunes Wikipedia Genre: Country, red dirt, Texas Country, Americana Home: Austin!
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 7
Friday
Both Weekends
AmEx Stage at 4:30.
Thoughts: This guy was at Two Step Inn two years ago, when it felt like half of that poster was made up of Zach Bryan-ified guys. I like ZB, but it feels like one or two of those stripped down guys is enough, before we'll just have singer-songwriter night on every stage.
He actually grew up in Austin, the son of a school teacher and a high school basketball coach. He tried guitar lessons as a kid, but those didn't pan out. He ended up teaching himself via lessons from YouTube, immersing himself into classic country and some of the new school guys like Turnpike and Flatland. Maybe I need to give the guitar a try again. I wonder how you go about finding the best guitar lessons on YouTube, so that I'm not just wading through garbage for hours? Anyway, he went to A&M, and after he graduated he took a job at the Circuit of the Americas in the Operations team. He kind of reminds me of Jackopierce's early stuff, but also of the kind of guy you would hear in the corner of a bar just rocking out by himself while everyone talks and drinks.
He started posting covers online ("Ophelia" by the Lumineers, for example), and then finally caught on with "To Be Free," which apparently became a thing on TikTok. But it was "Coal" that really blew up and catapulted him into the big time. At 294.9 million streams now. Impressive.
Great central line - "they say pressure makes diamonds, how the hell am I still coal." Good tune, very low key, DIY, basic singer-songwriter vibe. That song blew up, with the New York Times calling it one of 2023's best country songs.
When he came through Two Step, he only had six songs available on Spotify, so there was a limited amount of vibe to figure. "Coal" blew up and he quit his job. Now, he has two EPs - 2023's No Better Time and 2024's Songs in the Gravel. He also scored a single on the Twisters soundtrack, which is kind of cool. He definitely went for it on that song, cranking up the banjo and the tempo. His tune "Somewhere Between" is sort of the same, where he cranks up like a Mumford and Sons freakout. Even with all of those new songs, his second-most streamed tune is still his first sing, "To Be Free" and is lovely. 61.1 million streams.
Still just a boy and his guitar, but that one gets a little more of a snappy tempo going. "Beneath Oak Trees," which is about him getting married in Wimberly under an oak tree canopy, is really nice. "Lone Old Cowboy" is good too, like a REK story song.
Two new singles, and they add in a little more instrumentation, but still stay pretty low key and pure. He still sounds like a singer/songwriter. I'd go catch his set. Even if it is chill, he feels like the kind of guy who may be on the up elevator right now.
One Liner: Whack ass combination of metal, country, and emo Wikipedia Genre: Metalcore, hard rock, electronicore, post-hardcore, acoustic (sure, yeah, why not?) Home: Columbus, Ohio Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 9 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
Lady Bird Stage at 3:30.
Thoughts: I said the name of this out loud as I typed it into Spotify, only then realizing that this was likely a play on Bill Murray. I am very confused by the first tune and it's thick riffage, but that also sounds very much like a current country song. Is this the first metal country song? I know we've done country rap and country rock, but now we've got some gnarly riffage to go with it. And those drums - I don't know what to call that tangled little drum fill that metal dudes use at the end of verses, but that is well-represented here. See what you think with the terribly named "BETTER HELL (Thicc boi)" - 14 million streams.
That bro doesn't look like the voice at all. He is also terrible at mowing the yard - no pattern at all. Oh, he doesn't even have the handle down that keeps the motor running. This video is built on a foundation of lies. But I will admit that the song kind of makes me laugh for a sec.
Johnny Franck, also known as Bilmuri, is this dude. His Wikipedia says that he was formerly the "clean vocalist" and rhythm guitarist for Attack Attack! before he left to start a new band called The March Ahead. I am unfamiliar with the term "clean vocalist" but it apparently means, in the context of metal music, that he is the guy singing in a normal, clear, natural voice, as opposed to the Cookie Monster ass guy doing something extreme to get the nerds turgid. The top ten "clean singers in metalcore" does not include this gentleman. Loudwire seems to tell me that Bjorn Strid, of Soilwork, is the finest in all the land. Sure. Sometimes he goes into the screamo stuff though, so he's not always clean.
Wikipedia claims that Franck left Attack Attack! to focus on his relationship with God. And sure enough, in 2013 his new band played at Liberty University and then he gave his testimony to the audience and fielded questions. So, there is a good chance this dude stormed the Capitol on January 6.
He says his influences are Enter Shikari and Forever the Sickest Kids. I feel like he made up those band names to sound cool.
Fascinatingly, he has released approximately four million albums since 2016: Jaguar Shark (2016), Bilmuri (2016), Letters (2016), Frame (2017), Banana (2017), Solid Chub (2018), Taco (2018), Wet Milk (2019), Rich Sips (2019), Muri and Friends (2020), Eggy Pocket (2020), 400Lb Back Squat (2021), Goblin Hours (2022), and American Motor Sports (2024). The majority of the most popular songs on Spotify are from that last album - most of his early albums don't have anything that cracks a million. One exception is "Near" from 2016's Letters. Let's check that one out. 12.6 million streams.
More of a pure emo/metalcore lite thing. Never been my taste, that sort of whiny soft-loud emotive stuff. His next one with a stream count over ten million is called ABSOLUTELYCRANKINMYMF'INHOG. Which is a sweet title. Sounds like terrible Post Malone trash with the riffage. Very bad music. The track from that same album - 2020's Eggy Pocket - that edges that one in streams is "FLUORIDEINTHEHARDSELTZERWATER." 10.8 million streams and just an exhausting title.
This is all like a joke that gets old the second it starts. I totally agree that it is funny for a second. Like, the kind of thing where a friend is like "oh man, you have to check out this hilarious band that is half metal and half country and half emo" and then they start it and are looking at your face as you listen and you have to provide a wan smile and nod your head a little and be like "yeah, man, funny stuff for sure, bro." And he won't stop watching you listen and so you have to swallow your own tongue and hope to die.
I super did not listen to all of these songs. I did the top ten twice and that early one up above, but please. I'm only a man. If I keep going I'll die.
One Liner: Nashville country with a voice that annoys me Wikipedia Genre: Country, R&B Home: Alabama Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 18 Day: Friday Weekend One Only.
American Express Stage at 1:15.
Thoughts: Huh. I am remembering last year, while writing up Brittney Spencer, and realizing that her top track was actually Beyonce's "BLACKBIIRD" cover. Well, same thing here, and it is weird because you have no opportunity to understand which of the voices in that song belongs to the four extra names that come after Queen Bey. So, this gal's voice is among there somewhere.
Her top single is kind of weird - some sort of industry thing that I just don't understand - because "Found It In You" has 6.8 million streams, and then "Found It In You (Tiera's Version)" has 21.9 million streams. Aren't both versions her version? Did that dickhead who bought Taylor Swift's back catalog already snap up this young lady's 2022 single so that she had to create a copy and her fans wouldn't pay that guy? I dunno. But here you go, the newer version, in its cheesy and terrible glory.
Its the little affectations to the voice that make me immediately want to turn it off. I don't know if those are actually effects being added to her voice through a computer, but they kind of sound like it and they turn me off.
I need to write this up so that I can turn off this music. She grew up in Gardendale, Alabama, which is a northern suburb of Birmingham. She taught herself how to play guitar using YouTube videos, and would play anywhere around town that would let her - including restaurants like Chick-Fil-A and Buffalo Wild Wings. She was planning to attend Belmont in Nashville, but ended up at North Alabama, where she studied for a year before ditching it to head to Nashville. She was on a reality TV show called Real Country, where she was mentored by Shania Twain and won an episode (whatever that means). She signed with Big Machine, was named MusicRow's Next Big Thing, and opened for Kelsea Ballerini.
One album, 2024's Rooted, although somewhat strangely, the songs on it are super low on stream count. Most of them are under 100k, including a confusingly titled song called "Sweet Home Alabama" that is not a cover. "Jesus, My Mama, My Therapist" wins for best title, even if the song is not great. "Alabama Nights" is her second biggest streamer, a 2022 single. 2.1 million streams.
I refuse to listen to that song again, so just know that it is about her love for her home state and involves more of that voice that is making me cringe. Happy for all of her success! I hope that her show is amazing! I will not be there to see it!
One Liner: Funny to think that Zach Bryan has been around long enough to have artists following in his footsteps, but this guy is right there. Wikipedia Genre: country, rock, folk, alternative (err, really tho?) Home: Southeast Missouri Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 7 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
Lady Bird Stage at 5:30.
Thoughts: He was at Two Step Inn in 2023, and to be completely honest, I thought I was about to hear Sam Fender. I am sort of sad that this is not Sam Fender. I was pumped that he might be trying to come back, since his last attempt to ACL was cancelled. Alas, a country guy instead. No offense intended to my man Barbs here, just wanted some of that Hypersonic Missiles action.
Back in 2023, Wikipedia was unhelpful, in that "Sam Barber" there was this: "Samuel Barber (September 17, 1919 – April 18, 1999) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Barber played with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1940, and served in the US Army during World War II. He died in Birmingham in 1999 at age 79."
But by now, this Barber has begun to make a name for himself and has an actual Wikipedia entry. Born in 2003 in Fronha, Missouri, he is just barely old enough to drink. He was raised on his family's ancestral farm in far eastern Missouri, a population of 254 in the town. He started learning to play guitar when he was 16 while messing around with his grandfather's guitar, and by 2021 he was enrolled in State Technical College of Missouri and releasing little music videos on TikTok. He then auditioned for the 20th season of American Idol and received a Golden Ticket to head to Hollywood. However, he was subsequently eliminated, and his performance did not air. Booooooooo.
But his rise has been ridiculously fast - he played the Grand Ole Opry just three months after his first official headlining concert at The Basement, in Nashville, in 2023. His big hit, which has already been certified as Platinum by the RIAA, is "Straight and Narrow", and that remains his top track by a lot. 313.7 million streams.
I love that location - can I please go there right now? Super simple tune, but a powerful message about overcoming setbacks. Wild to think he wrote that while still a teenager. And by the way, in one interview, he admits that he first learned the guitar by playing Zach Bryan covers. He gives a shout out to Tyler Childers, saying that Bottles and Bibles is his favorite album ever. He also includes ZB and Stapleton as his other inspirations. And the comparison to an early Zach Bryan is a quick and easy one to make. Some of these songs have a touch of production going on, but most of them are super stripped-down tunes with this kid singing over his acoustic, and nothing else going on.
One EP - 2023's Millon Eyes - and one ridiculously long album - 2024's Restless Mind. In an interview, he said that his favorite track from the EP is "Save Me," which is funny because it is in the bottom three for streams for the disc. His second-most streamed tune on the EP is a cover - "Dancing in the Sky," originally by something called Dani & Lizzy. 102.4 million streams.
Definitely the track on here with the most production - he leaves behind the stripped-down sound in favor of drums, bass, organ, etc. and it almost actually sounds like he might be somewhere other than his bedroom.
The new disc is an hour and thirty-four minutes and 28 songs, so he is taking another page out of the Bryan playbook by just shoveling everything into one bag and hoping it holds. I actually like the direction he is going, with more production and a richer sound. The top single that isn't a re-released track is "Indigo," featuring Avery Anna. 172 million streams.
Terrible blurry video. But very nice little tune. Her voice is leagues better than his, but it still works together. The playcount on the album is honestly confusing. I guess some songs have made it onto playlists and others have not, because it is literally like 1.7 million, 14 million, 1.6 million 29 million, 1.7 million 1.5 million, 1.8 million, 172 million. For an old person trained to listen to entire albums at once, that is jarring to see.
I'd go see him play. Too bad he is Weekend Two only.
One Liner: Country that veers into a folky pop at times, but sounds great in either
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but country, Americana, folky pop Home:Athens, GA (via Orlando and many other spots) Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 20 Day: Saturday Weekend One Only.
BMI Stage at 3:15.
Thoughts: The first song kind of came at me like a Dayglow vibe, and then she kicks in the singing and it is alluring. I've been through the whole catalog (not a huge feat, relatively limited) and that holds throughout. Walks a fine line between country and folky pop, that sort of brings to mind people like Sierra Ferrell at times.
No Wikipedia, so I have to piece together a background from elsewhere. Her website bio says she was raised in Central Florida. According to Wikipedia, that is usually defined as Tampa to Orlando. Sounds like a deliciously trashy section of the world. She began songwriting at the age of 13, teaching herself to play on her dad's "collection of 1980's songbooks." The idea of a songbook today is hilarious. I had (maybe still have) one of Robert Earl Keen songs from when I thought I would play guitar. Until I tried playing the dang F chord. That one broke me.
A.G. Schiano is her real name. The name Clover County is an homage to the places she has lived. Orlando to Denver to Atlanta to Birmingham to Athens (to attend UGA). Thats a fun string of towns to me. But they don't seem especially prone to clovers? Ah, no, this is metaphorical: "“Clover County'' represents a state of mind, no matter where you’re planted you have the choice to grow." Are clovers especially hearty? Feels like weeds would be the heartiest and able to grow no matter what. I guess Weed County brings to mind a different vibe.
A couple of singles and then one 2024 EP called Porch Lights. To track is "Ultraviolet" from the EP, with 383k streams.
That bright and sunny start is cool, and her voice comes in with a lilt of country but joins in on the bopping of the beat. By the chorus, she just sounds like she's singing a pop song. I like it. "Under These Conditions" is also on the new EP, and is her second-most streamed with 268k.
A little more stripped down, but the steel on the chorus and that piano joining in makes the song for me. That is a really nice song. I am going to share it with the wife right now.
I'd go watch this for sure. I don't know if she will be in the noon area of the schedule where I'll miss out on it, but I really enjoy what she has going on.
