100 Best Americana and Country Songs of 2023

12/23/2023

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by Julian Spivey

Photos: Southeastern Records, Warner Records, Warner Music Nashville & Bossier City Records

100. "The Jealous Kind" by Charles Wesley Godwin
Album: Live from The Church
Writers: Chris Knight & Gary Nicholson

99. "The Man from Uvalde" by Vincent Neil Emerson
Album: The Golden Crystal Kingdom
Writer: Vincent Neil Emerson

98. "Allegheny Lullaby" by Old Crow Medicine Show
Album: Jubilee
Writers: Ketch Secor & Mason Via

97. "I'm In Love" by Hailey Whitters
Album: I'm In Love
Writers: Cameron Bedell, Lee Thomas Miller & Nicole Galyon

96. "Crosswind" by Chris Stapleton
Album: Higher
Writers: Chris Stapleton, Dave Cobb, Derek Mixon & J.T. Cure

95. "Cool Little Bars" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil I Know
Writers: Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson & Trick Savage

94. "Moonshine Run" by Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Album: Living in a Song
Writers: Thomm Jutz & Trey Hensley

93. "No Place to Fall" by Rodney Crowell
Album: The Chicago Sessions
Writer: Townes Van Zandt

92. "City of Gold" by Tanya Tucker
Album: Sweet Western Sound
Writer: J.T. Nero

91. "Daylight" by David Kushner
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: David Kushner, D.J. Livingston Jr., E.B. Eason, H.R. Hubers, Jeremy Fedryk & J.B. Williams

90. "Paul Revere" by Noah Kahan
Album: Stick Season (We'll All Be Here Forever)
Writer: Noah Kahan

89. "I Will Be with You" by Joanna Sternberg
Album: I've Got Me
Writer: Joanna Sternberg

88. "Forever" by Karen Jonas
Album: The Restless
Writer: Karen Jonas

87. "A Cat in the Rain" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain
Writer: Evan Felker

86. "When You Miss Someone" by William Prince
Album: Stand in the Joy
Writer: William Prince

85. "Bubbles Up" by Jimmy Buffett
Album: Equal Strain on All Parts
Writers: Jimmy Buffett & Will Kimbrough

84. "Patina" by Brent Cobb
Album: Southern Star
Writer: Layne Cobb

83. "Where Will I Go" by Logan Ledger
Album: Golden State
Writers: Logan Ledger & Anthony da Costa

82. "Once Upon a Time in New Orleans" by Jason Eady
Album: Mississippi
Writer: Jason Eady

81. "More Than Friends" by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and Lainey Wilson
Album: Sticks and Stones
Writer: Lukas Nelson

80. "The Devil I Know" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil I Know
Writers: Ashley McBryde, Bobby Pinson & Jeremy Stover

79. "Break My Heart" by Bella White
Album: Among Other Things
Writer: Isabel Farley White

78. "Miles" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes
Writer: Jason Isbell

77. "Spinnin'" by Flatland Cavalry
Album: Wandering Star
Writers: Cleto Cordero & Ben Chapman

76. "So Many Summers" by Brad Paisley
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Brad Paisley, Lee Thomas Miller & Ross Copperman

75. "Miles Away" by Old Crow Medicine Show
Album: Jubilee
Writers: Ketch Secor & Molly Tuttle

74. "I C U" by Adeem the Artist
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Kyle Bingham

73. "Even Jesus Got The Blues" by Gabe Lee
Album: Drink the River
Writer: Gabe Lee

72."Dear Insecurity" by Brandy Clark & Brandi Carlile
Album: Brandy Clark
Writers: Brandy Clark & Michael Pollack

71. "Molly, My Dear!" by Phoebe Hunt
Album: Nothing Else Matters
Writers: Phoebe Hunt & Robert Alzapiedi

70. "No Horse to Ride" by Luke Grimes
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Luke Grimes, Jonathan Singleton & Tony Lane

69. "Old Kanawha" by Philip Brown & Charles Wesley Godwin
Album: Old Kanawha
Writer: Philip Bowen

68. "Golden State" by Logan Ledger
Album: Golden State
Writer: Logan Ledger

67. "The Rut" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain
Writer: Evan Felker

66. "Midland" by Kat Hasty
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Kat Hasty

65. "Diamondhead" by J.R. Carroll
Album: Live From Jean Pump
Writer: J.R. Carroll

64. "Wagon Girl" by Dee White
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Dee White & Sergio Sanchez

63. "White Horse" by Chris Stapleton
Album: Higher
Writers: Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson

62. "You Drive Back" by Aaron McDonnell
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Aaron McDonnell

61. "Rustin' in the Rain" by Tyler Childers
Album: Rustin' in the Rain
Writer: Tyler Childers

60. "Take Me Home" by Tanner Usrey
Album: Crossing Lines
Writer: Tanner Usrey

59. "Paint the Town" by Nate Fredrick & the Wholesome Boys
Album: Nate Fredrick & the Wholesome Boys
Writer: Nate Fredrick & Frank Patrick James

58. "All Again" by Charles Wesley Godwin
Album: Family Ties
Writer: Charles Wesley Godwin

57. "This Ain't It" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes
Writer: Jason Isbell

56. "The Town in Your Heart" by Lori McKenna
Album: 1988
Writers: Lori McKenna, Dustin Christensen & Jessie Jo Dillon

55. "The Medicine Will" by Brad Paisley
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Brad Paisley & Lee Thomas Miller

54. "East Side Love Song (Bottoms Up)" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain
Writer: Evan Felker

53. "Country Star" by Marty Stuart & his Fabulous Superlatives
Album: Altitude
Writer: Marty Stuart

52. "This Damn Song" by Pecos & the Rooftops
Album: Pecos & the Rooftops
Writers: Pecos Hurley & Kalen Davisa

51. "Louder Than Guns" by Old Crow Medicine Show
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Ketch Secor & Mike Harris

50. "I Miss That Dog" by Erik Dylan
Album: Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities
Writers: Erik Dylan, Andy Sheridan & Wyatt McCubbin

You’re almost always going to win me over with a tribute to man’s best friend – as long as you don’t get too schmaltzy. Erik Dylan’s “I Miss That Dog,” off his latest album Stray Dogs & Homegrown Calamities, is a softly sung, slowly picked tribute to an important part of any pet owner’s life – their dog. I had the feeling the song, co-written by Dylan, Wyatt McCubbin and Andy Sheridan, wasn’t just fiction plucked from thin air, and sure enough it was based on Dylan’s dog Maude, whom he lost in February after 14 years together. He told American Songwriter: “She quite possibly prevented me from ever wanting another dog. She set the bar too high.”

49. "Maestro (Tears Don't Lie)" by Wilder Woods
Album: FEVER / SKY
Writer: William Rinehart

“Maestro (Tears Don’t Lie)” by Wilder Woods, off his album FEVER/SKY, will have you wanting to get on your feet and show off your best dance moves – I dare you, listen to it and try to stop your body from moving along. It’s one of those songs where the music is kind of deceptive because the lyrics are darker than the tone given off with the narrator trying to convince a lover, who may be ready to call it quits, to stay and stick it out. ‘Maestro’ has a soulful R&B kick to it, especially with its church choir-like background vocals. Wilder Woods is the side project of Bear Rinehart, the vocalist of the Christian-Rock group NEEDTOBREATHE, showing off that soul has multiple meanings.

48. "Keeping Tyler" by Posey Hill
Album: No Clear Place to Fall
Writers: Doug Burnett, Megan Burnett & Kristian Miller

Posey Hill keeps it all in the family with this band out of Central Arkansas consisting of a trio of sisters (Kristian, Erin and Megan) and their father (Doug Burnett) and they have hit on a creative breakup song with “Keeping Tyler.” The narrator of the song is sick and tired of her deadbeat man and is ready to hit the road and she’s packing lightly in doing so – the man can keep everything but her Tyler Childers records. It was smart of the group to single out Childers, a true-blue country singer with a constantly growing fan base, in hopes of the song, co-written by Doug, Kristian and Megan, finding a bigger audience – but the songwriting and sisterly harmonizing should have those who’ve found them sticking around on their own merit.

47. "Best Ones" by Brandy Clark
Album: Brandy Clark
Writers: Brandy Clark, Benjy Davis & Jessie Jo Dillon

Brandy Clark’s self-titled fourth studio album finds the excellent singer-songwriter at the most polished of his career, thanks to a keen ear from producer Brandi Carlile. It’s still country music, Americana music, whatever you want to call it but with a bit more crossover appeal than ever before. One of the album’s highlights is “Best Ones,” co-written by Clark, Benjy Davis and Jessie Jo Dillon, a song reminiscing about relationships with such lovely lyrics as: “Yeah, the good nights/don’t have rainy blue eyes that wreck me without warning/they don’t taste like wine and cigarettes and melt into morning/they don’t end up with me waking up with you/No, the good nights don’t, but the best ones do.” Sung in Clark’s crystal blue vocals it’ll make you fall in love with her.

46. "Border Radio" by John Baumann
Album: Border Radio
Writers: John Baumann & Charlie Stout

“Border Radio,” written by John Baumann and Charlie Stout for Baumann’s album of the same name, finds the narrator listening to the staticky, in-and-out music of a Mexican radio station while on the road and despite not being able to make out most of the Spanish lyrics being sung he can completely identify with and feel the feelings this singer does in his bones. He just knows it’s a song about longing to go home and, “if she’s singing of her homeland, that’s where I’m bound to go.” Baumann and Stout truly paint a lovely picture that plays out in your mind during Baumann’s softly sung performance.

45. "Holler Rose" by Pony Bradshaw
Album: North Georgia Rounder
Writer: James Bradshaw

I’ve never quite been certain what Pony Bradshaw’s “Holler Rose” meant despite spending most of the year listening to it and loving the sound of the chorus: “Holler Rose, the pious moonshiner” repeated. Honestly, I thought the titular character was a woman – but according to Pony Bradshaw from an interview with Holler.Country in December of last year it’s man and “He’s complex. Like most of us.” Pony Bradshaw tells the website: “I realize now that ‘Holler Rose’ us a juxtaposition between piety and stubborn individualism. Holler, the character, is a devoutly religious man who makes his living selling homemade whisk; an illegal act.” Pony Bradshaw added: “[He’s] someone whom I admire; his obstinate pursuit of happiness. He feels wise to me. He’s someone who lives on his own terms. A dissenter. A quiet rebel. A wise anarchist.”

44. "Wrong Kind of Right" by Rhiannon Giddens
Album: You're the One
Writer: Rhiannon Giddens

Rhiannon Giddens sounds like an angel and on “Wrong Kind of Right,” from her latest album You’re the One, maybe one that’s fighting the demon on her other shoulder when it comes to a relationship. Hearing her sing, “I’m just the wrong kind of right,” makes me sit up and exclaim: “yes, ma’am you are and if it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.” Even though the song appears on her 2023 album it apparently – even though I had seen the episode I didn’t remember it – had appeared in a 2007 episode of the TV drama “Nashville,” as sung by Giddens’s character Hallie Jordan.

43. "Hominy Valley" by Steep Canyon Rangers
Album: Morning Shift
Writers: Graham Sharp, Barrett Smith & Aaron Burdett

The Steep Canyon Rangers are the bluegrass group that seems to appear the most on my annual Best Americana and Country Music lists with their excellent combination of storytelling and musicianship and they’re back on the list again this year with “Hominy Valley,” from their album Morning Shift. The song is based off the neighborhood in West Asheville, N.C., where the band’s banjoist Graham Sharp lives, which is evidently cursed by a Cherokee spirit who was tracking Army General Griffith Rutherford’s men on their mission to eradicate the Cherokee in the 1700s and was poisoned and killed in the process and reportedly was buried sitting upright beneath an oak tree by a comrade so he could keep watch over the valley. Supposedly the land where this took place is under dispute to this day by developers and residents. Bass player Barrett Smith takes the vocals on “Hominy Valley,” an interesting historical tale that most of us likely never would’ve known with Steep Canyon Rangers.

42. "Tongue Tied" by The Lone Bellow
Album: Love Songs for Losers (Deluxe Edition)
Writer: Brian Elmquist

One of my favorite vocals of the year is “Tongue Tied” by The Lone Bellow, which I assume is led by usual lead vocalist Zach Williams with the wonderful harmony of bandmates Brian Elmquist and Kanene Donehey Pipkin mixing. The song seems to be about a relationship where the narrator is in love but can’t be with the one they love and the pain felt as a result. However, Elmquist who wrote the song said via a Dualtone Records email to their subscribers: “I wrote ‘Tongue Tied’ as a goodbye to NYC (New York City), the place we called home for almost a decade. I allowed myself one last page of revelry. One last night getting lost in the city that I loved. We’re very proud of this song and so glad it made it [emoji of Earth].”

41. "Heartaches After Heartbreak" by J.D. Clayton
Album: Long Way From Home
Writer: J.D. Clayton

J.D. Clayton, a songwriter from Fort Smith, Ark., really broke out in early 2023 with his release Long Way From Home as a singer-songwriter to pay attention to in the Americana/country music world. There were a handful of songs on that album that could’ve made this list but my favorite was the rocking “Heartaches After Heartbreak,” which has a little bit of a Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real sound to it. The guitar-heavy song gives a little more defiance to a devastating heartbreak than many songs on the subject, which truly gives it an anthemic punch.

40. "Wrong Side of Town" by Joe Stamm Band
Album: Fort Smith (EP)
Writer: Joe Stamm

“Wrong Side of Town,” of Joe Stamm Band’s EP Fort Smith, is the kind of heartland Americana you might have gotten out of Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp in the mid-‘80s. In the heartland, that stuff still plays. It tells the familiar tale of a town that was once a great place to live and for one reason or another – likely because those in charge have failed its citizens – has gone to hell. Tragic but something all too familiar for many places around the country.

39. "Made For This" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil You Know
Writers: Ashley McBryde & Travis Meadows

One thing is for sure – the music life on the road isn’t easy but Ashley McBryde was certainly made for it. She doesn’t paint a pretty picture of playing in dives, living in vans with smelly bandmates and all the things one has to do just to keep awake and going – but don’t you get the feeling she kind of loves it? This propulsive track off her excellent third solo studio album The Devil I Know will have you wanting to throw your hands in the air and tagging along.

38. "Norfolk Blues" by Drayton Farley
Album: Twenty on High
Writer: Drayton Farley

When I first heard Drayton Farley’s “Norfolk Blues,” off his album Twenty on High, early in 2023 I swore it was a new Jason Isbell song – that’s a pretty big compliment from me as Isbell has been my favorite songwriter of the last decade-plus now in the Americana realm. “Norfolk Blues” tells the story of a man having to bust his ass at work just to make a living and provide for his family who lives multiple states away, giving it the added tinge of homesickness to go with his blue-collar tenacity. Farley repeats the line “it’s all the way it’s always been” many times to end the song hitting home the point of generations having had to do the same.

37. "Love Go By" by Elle King
Album: Come Get Your Wife
Writers: Elle King, Joe Janiak & Geoffrey Warburton

Elle King began her music career with the breakthrough pop hit “Ex’s & Oh’s” in 2014 and while that song was pretty freakin’ good for pop music I never thought there would come a point where she’d release a pretty damn good country music album. But in early 2023 she came out with Come Get Your Wife with standouts like “Tulsa” and “Jersey Giant,” which is one of my favorite songs of the year but I chose another artist’s recording of it for this list. King ends her album with the smooth love song, “Love Go By,” which truly shows off her unique, smoky-twanged voice and includes a truly catchy chorus penned by her, Joe Janiak and Geoffrey Warburton.

36. "Runaway" by Lydia Loveless
Album: Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again
Writer: Lydia Loveless (I assume - couldn't find listed songwriters)

Wikipedia refers to Lydia Loveless as an alternative country singer and that’s fine, I guess. It adds at the end of the opening paragraph that she combines pop music, classic country, honky tonk and punk rock – this combination and mixing truly gives her a unique sound. She released her sixth studio album Nothing’s Gonna Stand In My Way Again in September and it included what’s probably my favorite song to date by her, “Runaway.” I absolutely love the line: “I don’t like to run/I just like to run away.” I can feel that deep in my bones, especially the high-note quiver in her voice.

35. "IDK Shit About Cars" by Evan Honer
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Evan Honer

The first time I heard Evan Honer’s non-album single “IDK Shit About Cars” I got a good chuckle out of it. There were certainly parts of the song’s lyrics I identified with, including the title itself, but I didn’t think at the time it would be a top-40 song of the year for me. But I kept listening and kept listening and, you know, sometimes it’s just nice to have a fun, catchy song as one of your favorites of the year. And it’s also a bit deeper than it seems on the surface with lines like “I still break my heart” intertwined with the not knowing shit about cars. Also, cool Jason Isbell reference.

34. "Tanqueray" by William Prince
Album: Stand in the Joy
Writer: William Prince

William Prince has one of my favorite voices in any genre of music these days. He’s a pretty damn good songwriter too. In 2020, his song “The Spark” was my No. 2 song of the year. “Tanqueray,” off his latest album Stand in the Joy, is my favorite of his this year with its smooth-sounding tale of lovers embarking upon a new relationship after some false starts with them in the past. The chorus about “Tanqueray on your lips then mine” is one of the most romantic of the year, especially with Prince’s lush, soulful vocal.

33. "Ain't No Harmin' Me" by The War and Treaty
Album: Lover's Game
Writers: Michael Trotter Jr. & Tanya Trotter

The War & Treaty, the married couple of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, have this soulful harmonizing bond that will blow you away on almost all of their recordings, especially the ones from their 2023 release Lover’s Game, the duo’s fourth together. My favorite track off the album is “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me,” which the couple wrote together as they mostly do, a song that sees them going up against the Devil himself and coming out stronger on the other side. Michael Trotter Jr. told American Songwriter: “Love is the foundation of our new record and ‘Ain’t No Harmin’ Me’ reminds us that no matter what troubles are waiting around the corner the power of love will pull us through. We wrote this together as a personal testament to ourselves … we aren’t afraid to face the hard times knowing we have the other by our side. It felt like an awakening for us, and I hope fans can feel that same energy when they hear it." We can, Michael!

32. "Back to You" by Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Album: Paint Horse
Writer: Benjamin Dakota Rogers

The intensity and fervency in Benjamin Dakota Rogers’s vocal on “Back to You,” off his 2023 album Paint Horse, enamored me from my first listen. It’s not exactly one of the cleanest, flawless vocals you’re going to hear but the emotion he’s able to capture in his performance makes the song one of my favorite to sing along to this year. There’s a longingness in this song to get back to a lover elsewhere that you can absolutely feel deep down in your bones and you know based on that stirring vocal it must’ve been a true feeling for its songwriter.

31. "Evangelina" by Colter Wall
Album: Little Songs
Writer: Hoyt Axton & Kenneth Higginbotham

One of the best things about Canadian singer-songwriter Colter Wall is his love for traditional folk and Country and Western songs and how he brings this sound of yesteryears to today and makes it cool for younger folks who may have never heard some of these songs. Case in point, my favorite track from his latest album Little Songs called “Evangelina,” which evidently was a Hoyt Axton song from 1976 (I really need to know more Axton songs). “Evangelina” is a Western-themed song about a cowboy, whom I’m assuming based on the performer and the songwriter is white, and his love, Evangelina, being a Mexican woman many miles away and his longing to get back to her. It’s a familiar theme when it comes to the Western aspect of Country and Western but one that never seems to fail.

30. "Gatlinburg" by Cory Branan
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Cory Branan

Cory Branan released a wonderful new album in 2022 with When I Go I Ghost, his first in half a decade, so I was surprised to see a three-song EP in June of this year but was thrilled when I heard “Gatlinburg” from the Memphian singer-songwriter. The song tells the tale from the perspective of a divorced man thinking of his ex-wife and how she said she never wanted to return to Gatlinburg, Tenn., but last he heard she’d found herself a new man and wound up in the place she said she’d never be.

29. "Basic Channels" by Josiah and the Bonnevilles
Album: Endurance
Writers: Josiah Leming & Teal Douville

“Basic Channels” by Josiah & the Bonnevilles, the final track of the group’s album Endurance, is such a cute, simple song about pure love – the kind you know is going to last forever and doesn’t need any fancy frills. It’s a stripped-down performance that will have you wanting to hold your love tight beside you while listening or long for love like the one in the song if you haven’t found it yet.

28. "Death Wish" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes
Writer: Jason Isbell

I, myself, have never loved a woman with a death wish and am grateful for that but Jason Isbell sure makes it seem scarily intriguing in the track from his latest, excellent album Weathervanes. Isbell’s vocal performance and the frantic playing by the 400 Unit give the song the urgency to match the lyrics. As is the case with any high-profile music relationship – even though it probably isn’t appropriate to do so – I can’t help but wonder if Isbell wrote the song about his wife Amanda Shires. Or perhaps it’s written from her perspective from the times he’s been self-destructive and the genders have been flipped?

27. "Puppy and a Truck" by Jenny Lewis
Album: Joy'All
Writer: Jenny Lewis

“Puppy and a Truck” is one of my favorite songs of the year in the sense that it just makes me smile and laugh every time I hear it – it’s also probably one of those times where I’m getting a bit loose with the terms Americana and country, though Wikipedia does have “alternative country” as one of Jenny Lewis’s genres. “Puppy and a Truck,” off her latest album Joy’All, comes out of the pandemic of 2020 when we were all trying to find ways to remain sane and happy – evidently Lewis’s way was getting a puppy (a cockapoo) and a truck (unsure what kind). Lewis debuted the song online in 2021, but I hadn’t heard it until it made its way to her album this summer.

26. "Changes" by Joy Oladukon
Album: Proof Of Life
Writer: Olubukola Oladokun & Dan Wilson

Sometimes when the world has gotten you down you need to make some changes and even if you want the world to change on a grand scale it can be helpful to make changes in your own life on a smaller scale. Joy Oladukon’s “Changes,” off her latest album Proof Of Life, seems to get this. Watching the world burn around you can be scary, it can make you want to ball up in a fetal position and panic, but attempting to keep up with the changes of the world and continuously building yourself as a better person is better than the alternative. Also, Oladukon’s voice mixed with the gently strummed guitar, soft saxophone and pitter-patter of the drums makes for a beautiful listen.

25. "Family Ties" by Charles Wesley Godwin
Album: Family Ties
Writer: Charles Wesley Godwin

West Virginian singer-songwriter Charles Wesley Godwin seems to have his priorities in line – family first and music career second. That might mean we need to cherish every album we get from him because if songs like “Family Ties” and “All Again,” which appeared earlier on this list, from his excellent third studio album of the same are any indication he may walk away from the music business early to spend his days with his wife and daughters. Family is the theme of the album and the title track, which opens the album after a short instrumental overture, is a love song to his family tree, his family homeland of generations and the overall importance of the family unit. One of the most striking vocal moments all year is the way Godwin hits the line “STRIKE me down if I cut family ties,” with such force that you instantly know he means it.

24. "I Remember Everything" by Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves
Album: Zach Byan
Writers: Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves

Zach Bryan is an interesting character in modern country music. He’s not always the most likable person, especially if you follow him on social media, often seeming full of himself. His fan base seems fairly toxic, as is the case with a growing number of music fan bases. And he’s not mainstream country – though, hell if I truly know what is anymore as I don’t listen to radio – but he sells tickets and has a following as if he were. I don’t think he’s the greatest thing since the invention of the fiddle like many of his followers seem to believe but I can admit the guy writes some damn good songs and one of the best he’s released in his career thus far is “I Remember Everything,” a thoughtful duet with Kacey Musgraves, off his most recent self-titled album. The rare country song to crossover into the pop world and top the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, Bryan and Musgraves co-wrote this song seeing two different sides to the end of a relationship and somehow makes something tragic into something beautiful.

23. "Boy and a Bird Dog" by Colby Acuff
Album: Western White Pines
Writers: Colby Acuff, Ben Chapman & Meg McRee

Sometimes you just want something fun that you can identify with and a feeling you’d like to feel and Colby Acuff’s “Boy and a Bird Dog” is that for me. I don’t give a damn about hunting. But I do love my dogs. The breezy song, with the year’s most fun whistling, about a young man going out to the fields with his best friend, his bird dog, and just spending a day together under the sun and sky sounds like a dream. I get the feeling the narrator doesn’t even care if he doesn’t bring home a kill. There were a remarkable amount of great dog songs this year – there are three on this list alone! – and this was my favorite of them.

22. "Running Out of Hope, Arkansas" by Brennen Leigh
Album: Ain't Through Honky Tonkin' Yet
Writers: Brennen Leigh & Silas Lowe

I love it when a songwriter can get a dual meaning out of a line and that’s exactly what Brennen Leigh and Silas Lowe have done with the wonderful title of Leigh’s “Running Out of Hope, Arkansas” from her album Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet. It’s a great song about trying to escape your hometown to find something more to life and has a terrific bluegrass sound to it with fantastic mandolin, fiddle and twangy guitars that truly makes it sound timeless like it could’ve been released at any time past or present.

21. "22 Days Too Long" by Adam Hood
Album: Adam Hood's Different Groove
Writers: Adam Hood & Pete Anderson

There are a few songs on this list this year about artists longing to get back home to their families while making a living as touring musicians. One of my favorites with that theme is Adam Hood’s “22 Days Too Long,” an ode to longing to be home with your kids. One of my favorite parts of the guitar-driven song is the travelogue-ness of the verses talking about all the tour stops along the way and you get the feeling these map dots are all just standing between the narrator and his children.

20. "Congratulations & Condolences" by Greensky Bluegrass
Album: Non-Album Single
Writers: Paul Hoffman & Joshua Davis

I’ve always loved the musicianship of bluegrass but one criticism I’ve often had of the genre is the lyrics often don’t seem to go very deep – but that’s certainly not the case with the single “Congratulations and Condolences.” The song was a track that didn’t make the cut on the group’s 2022 album Stress Dreams (what a great album title) but instantly caught my attention as it reminds me of friendships of the past that have faded away as the one talked about in the song, which was penned by Paul Hoffman and Joshua Davis. Michael Broerman wrote about the song for liveforlivemusic.com saying: “What was once an almost familial bond slips away with the passage of time, reduced to ‘trying to keep up on you through the status on the screen.’” I have at least one member of my past in mind when this song pops up. I’m sure many have these relationships.

19. "Lucky" by Rodney Crowell
Album: The Chicago Sessions
Writer: Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell has always struck me as a wise man and it seems it may have taken him a few tries but he’s found the right person to stand by his side, one that keeps him going, gives him a reason to wake up each day and survive. I feel I’ve gotten that kind of lucky to with the better half in my life. It’s such a relatable jam for me complete with a catchy chorus and terrific musicianship, like the piano that opens the song and keeps it driving all the way through.

18. "The Returner" by Allison Russell
Album: The Returner
Writers: Allison Russell, Drew Lindsay & JT Nero

Allison Russell has one of my absolute favorite voices in music right now – it’s so sultry and smooth and just makes you feel like flying – and it feels like it could stand the test of time like the greats who came before her. “The Returner,” off her second studio album as a solo artist of the same name, is such a glorious mixture of Russell’s voice with lush string instruments, which I believe are SistaStrings (Monique and Chauntee Ross) on violin and cello. Critic Ken Tucker in his review for NPR said of Russell’s album: “Russell makes a kind of rhythm and blues that mixes gospel with soul.” You can certainly hear that in the title track as Russell seems to be soaring with a type of glee that I assure you is infectious.

17. "Keep It on A Burner" by Margo Cilker
Album: Valley of Heart's Delight
Writers: Margo Cilker

My favorite song off Margo Cilker’s impressive 2021 debut album Pohorylle was “Tehachapi,” which had a terrific reference to the great Little Feat song “Willin’.” My favorite track off her sophomore release Valley of Heart’s Delight this year is “Keep It on A Burner,” which includes a reference to one of my favorite Creedence Clearwater Revival songs “Lodi.” So, maybe what I really just want from Cilker is terrific classic rock references in her music – but I think these references show not just a terrific taste in music but also a musical kinship with some of the legends of the past with her influences coming out in her music and helping to give it a great throwback feel. “Keep It on a Burner” will have you swaying along to the melody while marveling at her stream-of-consciousness songwriting.

16. "Can I Be Country Too?" by Will Hoge & Friends
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Will Hoge

Will Hoge has never been one to shy away from saying exactly what he thinks and feels in his songs and that’s what makes him one of the most honest and best songwriters of the last couple of decades. This summer there were a couple of country songs – both of which actually hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – in Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” and Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” that attempted to sew discord among listeners of the genre. It coincided with an artist like Maren Morris no longer she believed in the country music genre do to her opinions on certain topics that some would call political, while others would just think as human or humane. For a while there it seemed like country music was trying to be taken as a white conservatives-only genre, which is absurdist bullshit and Hoge knows that. So, he wrote “Can I Be Country Too?,” a tongue-in-cheek song with brilliant lyrics like: “What if I pray a different way than you do?” “What I believe that black lives matter?” “What if I vote for a democrat politician?” “What if I think gays getting’ married’s OK?” and it all culminates in the sarcastic question, “Can I be country too?” And then after writing the song he sought out the help of some others who might be considered country music outsiders or outcasts to help sing it in members of the Black Opry Revue, the diverse Country Any Way Collective and the black and gay duo the Kentucky Gentlemen. Country music is and shall always be for anybody and everybody.

15. "Bad Imagination" by Sundy Best
Album: Feel Good Country
Writers: Nicholas Jamerson & Adam Landry

This must have been a particularly moody year for me based on many of my favorite songs of the year and Sundy Best’s “Pure Imagination,” from its album Feel Good Country, is certainly one of my most listened-to of the year. The song, co-written by Nicholas Jamerson and Adam Landry, sees a narrator who’s stopping himself from being happy in life and features one of the year’s most unique, original and simply interesting melodies. Jamerson also cut a version of the song for his solo album, Peace Mountain, which is quite a bit different in its overall sound (I prefer the Sundy Best version) but still worth a listen for sure.

14. "Thundertown" by Tony Logue
Album: The Crumbs
Writers: Tony Logue

You can tell from the first listen of Tony Logue’s “Thundertown,” the track that leads off his third album The Crumbs, that it was inspired by Bruce Springsteen. I believe the song to be most certainly inspired by Springsteen’s 1978 classic “Racing in the Street,” the song just shares too many similarities for it not to be. But unlike racing cars in the street to make a living, Logue is doing it with his musical talent and his band driving across the land in a van and playing small venues to earn their stripes. “Thundertown,” hell it even sounds like it strung together Springsteen titles, is one of the best examples I’ve seen of taking a sound, theme, etc. and making it your own. It’s an homage for sure whereas it could’ve just been a rip-off.

13. "Macon If We Make It" by Lucero
Album: Should've Learned by Now
Writer: Ben Nichols

Lucero’s “Macon If We Make It,” off the veteran band’s latest album Should’ve Learned By Now, was my favorite Southern Rock jam of 2023. Propulsive guitars, especially a ripping solo by Brian Venable, lead the way, as they truly should in any Southern Rocker, as frontman and songwriter Ben Nichols uses an impending storm to draw parallels with a relationship that’s circling the drain like the eye of a hurricane. Nichols told Grateful Web: “We were on tour in Georgia and a hurricane was coming through. Someone asked where out next show was and we said, ‘Macon, if we make it.” Sometimes witty quips in conversation make for the best song titles and plotlines.

12. "In Your Love" by Tyler Childers
Album: Rustin' in the Rain
Writers: Tyler Childers & Geno Seale

Tyler Childers isn’t exactly a stranger to love songs – “Feathered Indians” off his debut Purgatory has become something of a modern country classic but with a bit of an edge to it. “In Your Love,” off Childers’ latest Rustin’ In The Rain, loses that edge and comes at you with absolute sweetness (as well as a music video that’ll likely make you cry) about how hard he’ll work for the one he loves. It has this mixture of tenderness wrapped up in the language of a hardworking, blue-collar man that makes me believe it’ll become a classic modern love story of its own.

11. "Cheap Paradise" by Erin Viancourt
Album: Won't Die This Way
Writers: Erin Viancourt, Pearl Aday & Ward Davis

One name new to me in 2023 in the country music and Americana circles that I’m no doubt going to be on the lookout for going into the future is Erin Viancourt, whom Wide Open Country called “Country Music’s next breakout indie artist.” Her debut album Won’t Die This Way is filled with many terrific tracks, including “B24” and “Should’ve Known Better,” but it’s the first track on the album, “Cheap Paradise” that stood out to me the most. On the track, Viancourt sings about finding joy in the little things during a busy life, like finding the right bar with an old jukebox and cold Michelob. If I found a bit of paradise in 2023 in my favorite musical genres it was no doubt Erin Viancourt.

10. "Burn It Down" by Jason Eady
Album: Mississippi
Writers: Jason Eady & Adam Hood

One of my favorite lyrics of 2023 is: “Every time things start to go my way I burn it down like a temple on judgment day.” I can identify with that so much. I’m sure many of us can. Jason Eady’s “Burn It Down,” off his terrific album Mississippi, sees the narrator telling of his destructive ways while a nice, electric groove is being laid down underneath it. Eady has been no stranger to this list in past years but usually with more subdued songs that let the lyrics speak for themselves. “Burn It Down” has found a way to give me one of my favorite lines of the year while also making me feel that groove deep down in my soul.

9. "Mean Old Sun" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain
Writer: Evan Felker

“Mean Old Sun” was the first single we got from the new Turnpike Troubadours reunion album A Cat in the Rain when it was released in May some months ahead of the album. It’s understandable to be a bit nervous about one of your all-time favorite bands coming back from a long hiatus, one you didn’t know if they’d ever return from, with new music but from the very first listen of “Mean Old Sun” I knew songwriter/vocalist Evan Felker and the boys in the band hadn’t lost a thing. “Mean Old Sun,” the band’s first new song in six years, sees Felker and the group defiant in their return with the terrific chorus ender: “that mean old sun better rise up soon if it’s ever gonna set on me.” With that Turnpike was back and better than ever.

8. "Middle of the Morning" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes
Writer: Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell has been my favorite songwriter in the Americana genre for more than a decade now going back to the first time I heard his song “Alabama Pines” off his 2011 album Here We Rest. I think the songwriters we wind up liking the most are the ones who write songs we can identify the most with as humans and for better or worse few songs had me identifying with them more in 2023 than “Middle of the Morning,” off Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Grammy-nominated Weathervanes. Isbell knows the feeling of being a Southern man and all the bullshit that comes with it – having to be tough when you feel the furthest thing from it and the like. And the lines about his significant other being scared of him because of these unspoken, depressive feelings hit me hard. The great songwriters will do that to you.

7. "Cool About It" by boygenius
Album: the record
Writer: Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers & Paul Simon

I’m honestly not sure if boygenius – the super trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus - should be included in the seemingly ever-encompassing Americana genre (Indie rock and folk rock are what their Wiki page labels them), but I like the song and it’s close enough, so it’s here. “Cool About It” has the trio beautifully singing over a softly picked guitar about a seemingly young relationship that isn’t working out. I particularly love the line: “I can walk you home and practice method acting.”

6. "Amarillo and Little Rock" by Caitlin Cannon
Album: Non-Album Single
Writer: Caitlin Cannon

Caitlin Cannon’s “Amarillo and Little Rock” will just about drop you to your knees with its story of breaking down – both figuratively and literally - somewhere on the road between Amarillo and Little Rock. I completely understand lines like: “always running behind, never can catch up.” It’s such a well-written song by Cannon with a nice conversational tone and a vocal that will knock your socks off.

5. "Light On in the Kitchen" by Ashley McBryde
Album: The Devil I Know
Writers: Ashley McBryde, Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington

Ashley McBryde is one of the best singer-songwriters currently in the country music genre and the great thing about her music is it’s crossed over a bit into the mainstream – even if it hasn’t been as successful in the mainstream as it should be. She really gets the country life down in her music and “Light on In the Kitchen,” which she co-wrote with Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington, is a perfect example of this as an advice song from one’s elder about life.

4. "Jersey Giant" by Josiah and the Bonnevilles
Album: Country Covers
Writer: Tyler Childers

“Jersey Giant” is freakin’ everywhere. The song was written, but never recorded by Tyler Childers, why I don’t understand, but he made it available recently for other artists and multiple ones immediately bit the hook. I first heard the song from the wonderful rendition by Elle King on her latest Come Get Your Wife, but my favorite performance of the song is by Josiah and the Bonnevilles off their Country Covers album. “Jersey Giant” sees the narrator recalling a past love and all the good times they had together and how he’s more than willing to relive some of them if his love just says yes.

3. "Chipping Mill" by Turnpike Troubadours
Album: A Cat in the Rain
Writers: R.C. Edwards & Lance Roark

There are a lot of great songs on the Turnpike Troubadours comeback album A Cat in the Rain – half of the album appears on this very list, in fact – but if there’s one song on the album that I think will most stand out to fans it’s “Chipping Mill,” which I feel like has multiple meanings throughout when he says, “I always kept the best for you.” There’s the feeling of vocalist Evan Felker reuniting with his wife Staci, the reunion of the band and coming back together in front of their long-time and passionate fans. I’m not sure if bassist and songwriter R.C. Edwards had all of that in mind when he co-wrote the song with Lance Roark but it’s what I hear when Felker sings it. Like many of the band’s best songs, the instrumentation – especially the driving guitar of Ryan Engleman and excellent fiddle playing by Kyle Nix – is top-notch.

2. "Buried" by Brandy Clark
Album: Brandy Clark
Writers: Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon

Brandy Clark’s “Buried” is one of the most beautiful and devastating songs I heard in 2023 or really any year for that matter in its tale of undying, but unreciprocated love. In the song she tells of all of the things she can do to pass the time and not think about her past love like reading “Lonesome Dove” and falling asleep to “Hallelujah,” but you can tell by her vulnerability in her voice that it’s next to impossible. The final line of the song will flatten you. “Buried” reminds me a bit of one of my all-time favorite country songs – “I’ll Think of Something” (Mark Chesnutt’s version).

1. "King of Oklahoma" by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Album: Weathervanes
Writer: Jason Isbell

Many of my favorite Jason Isbell songs over the years have been ones that I felt were really personal to him and what was going on in his life. “King of Oklahoma,” my No. 1 Americana/Country Music Song of 2023, is Isbell looking outward and coming up with a short story about an Oklahoman who used to live a good, simple life until it was all shot to hell due to an accident and opioids. With driving guitars throughout – likely both Isbell and Sadler Vaden – Isbell tells the tale of a blue-collar man’s tribulations by getting into his head and telling his story through his thoughts and feelings, though as someone open about his past addictions (though different ones) there is some personal baggage I’m sure that was pulled from to paint the portrait. The chorus is one of the most devastating of the year and there are moments in some of the verses like: “Molly’s gonna leave me/says she don’t believe me/I got nothing left to lie about/she’s going back to Bixby/tired of trying to fix me/says I got some shit to figure out” that have such a fantastic melody it’ll leave your mouth watering.

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100 Best Americana and Country Songs of 2023

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