100 Best Americana & Country Songs of 2018 - Part 3 (#60-41)

by Julian Spivey

60. "No Ordinary Blue" by John Prine 

​“No Ordinary Blue,” co-written by John Prine and Keith Sykes, is one of the loveliest vocals and melodies of John Prine’s illustrious career. Prine does loneliness maybe better than any songwriter I’ve ever heard – just check out the amazing “Hello In There” off his 1971 self-title debut (he freakin’ wrote that when he was in his 20s!!). He gets that loneliness and regret down pat again in “No Ordinary Blue,” a tune about an aftermath of an argument and possible break up. It’s sad, but beautiful in a way few but Prine can accomplish. 

59. "Hold Out Your Hand" by Brandi Carlile 

​“Hold Out Your Hand” sounds completely different from most of the other tracks on Brandi Carlile’s excellent By The Way, I Forgive You, but at the same time has similar themes of just trying to survive in a cruel world that is constantly trying to knock you down. The fast-paced verses are about these things out there being thrown at us, but then we get to the slowed down and hopeful chorus: “Hold out your hand/take hold of mine and then/round and round we go.” Carlile told NPR that at the end of the day she just wants everybody to love everybody, “I love people so much, you know? I love people that don’t think the same way I think, and I do want to hold out my hand and be joined to other people that are different than me.” 

58. "Weed, Whiskey & Willie" by Brothers Osborne 

​Brothers Osborne have shown me over the last couple of years that they can do fun country music with “It Ain’t My Fault” and “Shoot Me Straight,” but “Weed, Whiskey & Willie” shows me they can also do heartbreak in a unique manner. The song is somewhat similar to Eric Church’s recent hit “Record Year” in that the Brothers Osborne are taking comfort after a breakup in music and a little help from some intoxicating substances. T.J. Osborne’s vocals hit the right vulnerability of a man getting through a breakup. 

57. "Hell on Fire" by Dusty Rust 

​One of my favorite albums of 2017 was Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives Western concept album Way Out West, with its songs inspired by the Great American West. The closest thing I heard to that album this year was “Hell on Fire” by Dusty Rust, which is a great story song about a Bonnie & Clyde like relationship that eventually turns sour and leads to this Bonnie turning on her Clyde. 

56. "We Lost It" by Jesse Dayton feat. Brennan Leigh 

​There’s a lot to love on Jesse Dayton’s 2018 release The Outsider, but my ultimate favorite is the George Jones-esque heartbreaking tune of a broken relationship that is “We Lost It.” This is tear in your beer stuff right here. The melancholic ballad features terrific backing vocals by Brennan Leigh, which gives the song more emotion as if this failed couple is going through all of this hurt together right in front of our eyes. 

55. "Come Back When You Can't Stay" by Parker Millsap 

​Parker Millsap’s 2016 album The Very Last Day is one of my 10 favorite Americana or country music albums of the last decade and had a remarkable six songs on my annual best of list that year. Millsap took a major swing on his 2018 release Other Arrangements incorporating a more pop-sound (though not like mainstream country pop, but in a good way). The result wasn’t a grand slam like his previous release, but maybe a run-scoring ground-rule double. The best track is the lonesome “Come Back When You Can’t Stay” about trying to get through a bad break up through a one-night stand. Millsap is one of the best vocalists in the Americana genre because he has such an emotive voice, and this is one of his best vocal performances. 

54. "Masterpiece" by Pistol Annies

​“Masterpiece” is a Pistol Annies song but make no mistake it could’ve been a stellar track on Miranda Lambert’s previous solo album The Weight of These Wings or perhaps a future release. The song talks about a perfect relationship that all of a sudden turns to nothing – no doubt inspired by her failed marriage to fellow country star Blake Shelton. The poignant ballad is filled with great imagery comparing this failed relationship to a rodeo cowboy not quite making it to the bell and references to George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s relationship – another country music marriage that didn’t quite end in a fairytale. 

53. "Manitoba Sunrise at Motel 6" by Tami Neilson 

​Traveling musicians being away from their home and family is a theme that popped up a lot in 2018 and is one of the great themes throughout the history of country music. We feel Tami Neilson’s pain from the very first line “Eight thousand miles from home/I just looked it up” in the beautiful vocals of “Manitoba Sunrise at Motel 6” detailing the Canadian-born, but New Zealand-based singer performing shows far from home and living life in motels. 

52. "Diamonds & Denim" by Shooter Jennings 

​After a bit of a foray into electronic music with 2016’s Countach (For Giorgio), Shooter Jennings returned to his traditional/outlaw country roots in 2018 with a self-titled release featuring “Diamonds & Denim,” a nice jam-ballad about a strong woman fed up by the end of a hard work week who just wants to get dressed up and go dancing on Saturday night.  

51. "Love to Try Them On" by Shane Owens

​Shane Owens’ “Love to Try Them On” is essentially the modern day answer to George Jones’ 1985 classic “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes,” which asked the question of which artists would carry along the torch of country music and its tradition. Owens doesn’t say he can fill these shoes, but “he’d sure like to try them on,” and that’s damn sure more than most of the pretty boys being played on mainstream country radio are doing. I think if Jones was around to hear “Love to Try Them On” he’d be mighty proud.  

50. "What Am I Supposed to Do?" by Whitey Morgan & the 78s

​Whitey Morgan is known mostly for being an outlaw country hellraiser with a blast of a live show. But, the song off his most recent album Hard Times and White Lines that struck me the most is the Springsteen of the Reagan era like “What Am I Supposed to Do?” This is a perfect example of the ‘hard times’ in Morgan’s album title with its story of a factory worker who has worked at the same place for more than 30 years and all of a sudden sees it taken from him during a recession and wondering how he’s going to take care of his family. 

49. "Nobody Makes It Out" by Traveller

​I think anybody who’s grown up in a small town can identify with Traveller’s “Nobody Makes It Out,” probably the best song I heard in 2018 about being stuck in a place you’re trying to get out of (which as a Bruce Springsteen fan is one of my favorite themes in music). Lines like “I look around here and nothing’s changing” and “This little town’s got no sense of humor/can’t even laugh at itself” are such great descriptors of being so tired of small-town life, but my absolute favorite moment of the song is when Robert Ellis talks about jumping off a cliff at the quarry on Friday night (such a small-town thing to do) and cheekily references Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” with: “I was willing, but she wasn’t ready/the only tape in my car.” 

48. "Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don't" by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers 

​“Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t” by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers is one damn fine foot-stomping hellraiser. Shook has become one of the biggest badasses in the independent country music scene and it’s numbers like this that show how she’s accomplished that. “Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t” is a song about “being out until the goddamned cows come home” and then having to go home to your significant other, but not to worry they weren’t going to be happy with you anyway you swing it. The Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot said: “[It] comes off as a rogue’s excuse, a shrug more than a plea for forgiveness.” 

47. "Then Here Came Monday" by Dwight Yoakam

​A few years ago for the 50th anniversary of the CMA Awards, Dwight Yoakam and Chris Stapleton teamed up for a performance of the Willie Nelson and Ray Charles classic “Seven Spanish Angels.” I loved that performance so much it made my best songs of the year list, despite not actually being released in any form. I’m thrilled that Yoakam and Stapleton got together to write, and the result is the unique and Country (with a capital C) “Then Here Came Monday.” The song begins with “Thursday came and went without a reason/That’s the kind of thing that Thursdays will often do,” which just drops my jaw every time I hear it because it’s such a great line. The song talks about how the narrator can fake his way through a weekend without thinking of his lost love, but once Monday comes along the hurt creeps back in. 

46. "All My Shades of Blue" by Ruen Brothers 

​I know that artists always want to stand out on their own, and ultimately, they do, but when a newer artist reminds you of a legend from the past you can’t help but be excited by it. From the moment I first heard the Ruen Brothers “All My Shades of Blue” I immediately conjured up images of Roy Orbison performing it. This is what the best classic pop of the late ‘50s/early ‘60s sounded like with its lush instrumentation and deep-down crooning that works its way into your soul. Yes, it sounds as if from another era, but in a way that makes it completely new today.  

45. "Earthly Justice" by Western Centuries

​“Earthly Justice” by Western Centuries is one of the most fun songs I heard all year with its comical approach to barroom brawling and hardcore honky-tonk sound. Cahalen Morrison takes lead on this track for the group that includes three vocalists and his serious reading of truly hilarious situations adds to the humor. The sublime steel guitar throughout the track and the fiddle solo around the three-minute mark will make you want to give this group a standing ovation.  

44. "Srinivas" by Marc Ribot & Steve Earle 

​Acclaimed guitarist Marc Ribot teamed with many artists from different genres this year for Songs of Resistance 1942-2018 and made the perfect choice of teaming with Steve Earle, never afraid to speak his mind politically, for “Srinivas.” “Srinivas” tells the story of the racially motivated murder of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Olathe, Kan. in early 2017 by a white man. The song pulls no punches with lines like: “A madman pulled the trigger/Donald Trump loaded the gun” speaking of the President’s rhetoric leading to bigots feeling they have the right to do such things. One of the most touching and yet angering moments of the song is during Ribot’s great guitar solo at the song’s end while Earle shouts the name of people wrongfully killed in this country simply for being different, names like Eric Garner, Heather Heyer, Tamir Rice and more. It’s the protest song we need right now. 

43. "Best Years of My Life" by Pistol Annies

​The Pistol Annies’ “Best Years of My Life” sounds wistful, but there’s certainly a deep undertone of unhappiness abounding on it. The song, written by all three members Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, is probably the best melding off all three of their voices on their newest album Interstate Gospel. It’s a song about being stuck in a bad relationship when you felt like the rest of your life was going to be spent happily ever after. It’s also three incredibly talented songwriters and vocalists at their best.  

42. "Monsters" by Eric Church

​“Monsters” is the most Eric Church-sounding song off his sixth studio album Desperate Man, in which Church plays around with new sounds and genre influences. What I mean by that is “Monsters” could’ve appeared on pretty much any of his previous albums. It’s a touching song coming from the father of two boys (much like his stellar “Three Year Old” from his previous album) about realizing what’s most important in life and praying that everything remains OK in a world where dangers are lurking seemingly around every corner. 

41. "Wouldn't It Be Great" by Loretta Lynn

​If there was any song that absolutely ripped my heart from my chest the first time, I heard it this year -- it was Loretta Lynn’s “Wouldn’t It Be Great.” Most people know about the complicated relationship Lynn had with her alcoholic husband Doolittle over their almost 50 years together and if you know anything about it, this song will likely bring a tear to your eyes. The heartbreak and emotion in Lynn’s voice when she sings about wishing her husband would love her more than the bottle is devastating. Lynn revealed on Twitter that it was the last song she wrote for her husband before he died in 1996. “I sang it to him when he was dying,” she said. Getting this real and honest about your life – that’s real artistry.