Newest Adds to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist (#113)
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist is built to keep you informed on all the best songs and albums coming out right here, right now in country and roots music. It’s available on most all streaming formats (see below), or you can just use the song, artist, and album recommendations to find something new to listen to. New songs just added.
Newest Additions:
El Dorodo – “Life of Sin” – So basically, elements of Tyler Childers’ backing band The Foodstamps have just released a (surprise?) album on Tyler’s Hickman Holler Records called Unincorporated, and few if anyone knows about it. Lucky for you, you’re dialed in to Saving Country Music, and so you’re the first to know. More info about this band and their debut album soon.
Jonathan Peyton – “Denial” – As first heard in the parking lot of Zach Bryan’s Red Rocks show after his opening set was cut due to a snow storm, Jonathan Peyton has released the first taste of a Sadler Vaden-produced project, showing off his superior writing skills behind thought-proving sentiments.
Molly Tuttle – “Dire Wolf” – A bonus track off the recently-released Deluxe Edition of her excellent album Crooked Tree, bluegrass maestro Molly Tuttle traces her influences back to this iconic Grateful Dead song from their landmark country album Workingman’s Dead.
Myron Elkins – “Wrong Side of the River” – He’s only 21, by Myron Elkins sounds like some 70-year-old cat in polyester butterfly collars crooning out stories of blood and bruises through a voice eroded from decades of unfiltered Kool menthols, and enough drams of whiskey down the gullet to match the water displacement of an oil tanker. His new album Factories, Farms and Amphetamines is one of the best early realeases of 2023.
Michael Cleveland with Billy Strings – “For Your Love” – Perhaps the greatest fiddle player on the planet joins forces with perhaps the greatest bluegrass guitar player on the planet, and as you can imagine, greatness ensues, especially with the other cast of characters assembled around them. Michael Cleveland’s highly collaborative new album Lovin’ of the Game is out on March 3rd.
Elijah Ocean – “Middle of a King-Sized Bed” – Really great traditional country songwriting here from this Elijah Ocean single, and coupled perfectly with a traditional country sound.
Pony Bradshaw – “Holler Rose” – From one of the most profoundly literary songwriters around, Pony Bradshaw has folks singing the praises of his new album North Georgia Round not just for the writing, but the strong sense of melody he brings to the record, perhaps exemplified best in “Holler Rose.”
– – – – – – – – – –
The Saving Country Music Top 25 Playlist primarily lives on Spotify, but is also available for those who use Amazon Music, YouTube, Apple Music, and Tidal. For those who don’t stream music, you can still find the song recommendations in list form below.
CLICK HERE to follow Saving Country Music on Spotify, and/or follow the Spotify Top 25 Playlist.
Please Note: The songs on this playlist are curated for listening pleasure and flow. Otherwise, they are not in any specific order.
Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Current Playlist:
- “Wrong Side of the River” – Myron Elkins – Factories, Farms, and Amphetamines
- “Jersey Giant” – Elle King – Come Get Your Wife
- “Life of Sin” – El Dorodo – Unincorporated
- “.38 Special” – Rattlesnake Milk – Chicken Fried Snake
- “For Your Love” – Michael Cleveland with Billy Strings – Lovin’ Of The Game (3-3)
- “Straight Up Country Music” – Wylie & The Wild West – Bunchgrass
- “I Dream Of You” – Kimmi Bitter – (single)
- “Camioneta” – Wynchester – (single)
- “Holler Rose” – Pony Bradshaw – North Georgia Rounder
- “Neon Night” – Jered Ames – (single)
- “Denial” – Jonathan Peyton – (single)
- “Let It Play” – Kasey Lee Rogers – (single)
- “Dire Wolf” – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway – Crooked Tree (Deluxe Edition)
- “Dig A Little Deeper In The Well” – Dailey & Vincent – Let’s Sing Some Country!
- “Kentucky Blue” – Brit Taylor – Kentucky Blue (2-3-23)
- “Final Stages of Hank” – Zachariah Malachi – Local Bar Opry Star
- “Country Star” – Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives – (single)
- “Back to the Honky Tonks” – Wesley Hanna – Brand New Love Potion
- “Blues Comin’ On – Channing Wilson – (single)
- “If The Loneliness Don’t Kill Me” – Whitehorse – I’m Not Crying You’re Crying
- “I Found Trouble” – Teague Brothers Band – Love and War
- “Middle of a King-Sized Bed” – Elijah Ocean – (single)
- “The Rooster And The Hen” – Emily Nenni – On The Ranch
- “Rock Bottom” – Alex Williams – Waging Peace
- “I Was The Train” – Adam Pope w/ James Carothers – (single)
- “Something Good” – Felicity Urquhart, Josh Cunningham – (single)
January 29, 2023 @ 9:29 am
Incredibly excited for the Jonathan Peyton record. Saw him and his wife Abigail perform twice last year, first time solo acoustic, second time with a full band at the Greenville Country Music Fest. He sold me a shirt and I chatted with them briefly – super talented, super nice folks.
February 3, 2023 @ 10:54 am
Ditto – loving ‘Denial’. Those harmonies are wow.
January 29, 2023 @ 11:55 am
I realize I’m in the minority on this subject, but I think Michael Cleveland overplays and is so technical that he’s lost touch with the musicality of the songs he plays on. I guess that’s often the bluegrass way, sadly.
January 29, 2023 @ 3:20 pm
Another song worthwhile checking out is the Lone Bellow’s Homesick. Off the new album and, evidently, inspired by John Prine. Beautiful song that would have fit well on Prine’s last album, in my opinion.
January 29, 2023 @ 6:38 pm
I personally don’t like Elijah Ocean’s singing abilities but maaaan he puts out some great tracks – both songwriting and band/arranging etc. I’m really surprised that he didn’t make it into the Ameripolitan nominations.
January 30, 2023 @ 3:01 pm
I don’t know who he sounds like
January 30, 2023 @ 11:05 pm
He doesn’t sound like a specific other artist, he just sounds like someone who isn’t naturally a great singer. I still love his music but his voice could use some work.
I think there are quite a few folks, especially men, in the independent honkytonk scene who have a career because they’re good bandleaders and songwriters, but aren’t the same level of vocal ability as the pioneers who made that same kind of music in the 50’s/60’s with Nashville’s system behind them.
Sometimes I think almost all of the women of independent country music are (generally) better singers than the men, maybe because they HAVE TO be in order to get anywhere with their music. There are a lot of men fronting great independent country bands whose singing is just … meh- not as good as their band and guitar playing and songwriting. This is something that could be improved with some lessons and a chance to explore their vocal tools with a coach but people often don’t know what they’re missing. I’m not talking about learning to oversing and sound like a pop star or R&B artist or a 90’s rock frontman or something. However there’s a big difference between say Faron Young and Wynn Stewart and of course George Jones or even someone like Shane Smith or Randall King or Jason James or even Conrad Fisher, and the majority of the self-produced honkytonk we love so much. The difference is tone and dynamics and other good stuff that can be a part of fast dancey honkytonk just as much as it is part of the Randall King type crooning.
January 30, 2023 @ 11:07 pm
and I’m sorry to pick on this one artist- there are a lot of guys who are doing roughly the same kind of independent honkytonk who have this kind of fairly underdeveloped vocal thing in my opinion.
Again, I still love his music regardless of what I just said.
January 30, 2023 @ 11:39 am
So excited to see myron elkins on this list he is an incredible singer and song writer his voice is over the top if you haven’t heard him you really should check him out!!! Going places and fast!
January 30, 2023 @ 9:10 pm
I spent this last few days putting together a playlist of Ameripolitan (mostly honkytonk and some western swing and a little bit of neotraditional) artists who put out albums in the last 3 years:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5FmxmDNyLWWrQjs9fzNPhTee0mtTce7V
January 31, 2023 @ 11:40 am
Songs from Bill McAlister’s Illinois Opry CD should be on your list
January 31, 2023 @ 8:00 pm
Just a heads-up that “El Dorodo” is spelled wrong above. Took me a minute to find them, since there are other groups called “El Dorado” (with an “a” in the middle of Dorado).