100 Best Americana & Country Songs of 2018 - Part 4 (#40-21)

by Julian Spivey

40. "Hangin' Around" by Eric Church

​I’m starting to wonder if Eric Church can do no wrong. “Hangin’ Around” off his latest release Desperate Man sounds absolutely nothing like anything he has ever recorded in his career and it’s just as kickass as most of his discography. “Hangin’ Around” feels more inspired by Stevie Wonder of the ‘70s or Sly and the Family Stone than Waylon Jennings and yet it comes off almost effortless and like it belongs in his repertoire. I dare you to try not to move along to its funky groove. 

39. "May Your Kindness Remain" by Courtney Marie Andrews

​One of the best vocals I heard all year was Courtney Marie Andrews on the incredibly uplifting “May Your Kindness Remain.” It’s truly the kind of song we needed to hear in 2018. Her soulful, almost gospel like vocals on this track hit home the positivity of it. Andrews told Rolling Stone: “I’m not a religious person, but I realized that kindness is my own gospel. In this world we are living in, it’s a hard thing to come by.” 

38. "Everybody Walkin' This Land" by Paul Cauthen

​Paul Cauthen had many country traditionalist fans singing his praises with his 2016 debut My Gospel, but his more alternative country sounding Have Mercy EP this year is Cauthen at his best, especially when he’s channeling one of the all-time great country prophets in Johnny Cash on the foot-stomping “Everybody Walkin’ This Land.” The singer is urging everybody to get right with God, but the part that perhaps reminds me most of Cash is the calling out of bad folks on the second verse: “you racists and fascists and nihilists and bigots, I’m callin’ you out my friend” and the reassurance that it’s not too late for these folks to turn their lives around.   

37. "Young and Angry Again" by Lori McKenna 

​Lori McKenna simply writes perfect country songs, especially when nostalgia is involved as it is on “Young and Angry Again,” which she co-wrote with Barry Dean and Luke Laird. The song wishes to be able to live those younger days again where life was carefree and just all-around more fun. I think it’s a reflection that anybody who’s past their wild and wooly days of youth can identify with. 

36. "Mornin's Gonna Come" by Brent Cobb

​There’s just something so damn infectious about Brent Cobb’s soulful groove on talking-songs like “Mornin's Gonna Come,” my favorite of his excellent sophomore release Providence Canyon. The rocker about regretting what you did last night once the light of morning comes is simply two-and-a-half minutes of fun. I specifically love the way lines like: “watch out for miss comin’ up to you/leanin’ up on you/wanna take you home tonight/she got herself a six-foot-fiver Mac Truck driver/comin’ in hot and he loves to fight” rolls off his thick Georgia accent. 

35. "Day of the Dead" by Wade Bowen

​One of the great things about red dirt country music is it takes from various great forms of country and western music that came before it and Wade Bowen, who has long been one of the best of this subgenre, has taken the best of the Tex-Mex sound and brought it out in “Day of the Dead,” a spooky song of dead love, written by Keith Gattis, that truly makes you feel as if you’re sweating out in the 110 degree Lajitas heat as you’re listening. 

34. "Resignation" by Paul Cauthen

​In the late ‘60s and ‘70s there was something called cosmic country music. It was sorta country music with some of the psychedelia of the era thrown in. Paul Cauthen’s “Resignation” sounds like something that should have the “cosmic country” term applied to it. It sounds like absolutely nothing else I heard this year in such an excellent way. To describe just how different, in their review Wide Open Country compared it at different times to Roger Miller, Jim Morrison and David Bowie. Oh, there’s also a whistle solo. But, most of all it’s funky as hell, but with serious undertones about trying to escape the horridness that this world has become and why can’t we all just hit up our local tavern for a drink. 

33. "Good Kisser" by Lake Street Dive

​Lake Street Dive’s “Good Kisser” is one of the most infectious songs of the year and also one helluva “kiss off” song. The soulful, tongue-in-cheek breakup track takes a unique spin on the breakup anthem with the narrator demanding that if her ex is going to spread the bad of their broken relationship around to at least let them know that she was a good kisser. The powerhouse vocals of Lake Street Dive vocalist Rachel Price are among the most fun I heard all year. 

32. "To My Dearest Wife" by Lucero

​Lucero’s frontman and songwriter Ben Nichols went back more than 150 years for inspiration for “To My Dearest Wife.” He was inspired by letters written from soldiers fighting in the Civil War to loved ones back home and set “To My Dearest Wife” as one of these letters. These letters reminded Nichols of being away from his family as a touring musician, telling Billboard: “That song has more to do with me having to leave, missing my wife and family back home and being gone for work. Obviously, it’s a completely different type of work than a solider fighting a civil war.” “To My Dearest Wife” sees Nichols at his songwriting best. 

31."One Day at a Time" by American Aquarium 

​“One Day at a Time” certainly has to be one of American Aquarium leader B.J. Barham’s most personal songs. It’s the kind of thoughtful ballad that only someone who’s suffered through and overcome something like addiction could likely come up with. One of the most telling lines is “you see songs fulfill a human need/to sit back and watch another man bleed/so for a moment we don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves.” That’s why music is so damn important. 

30. "Better Boat" by Kenny Chesney

​Kenny Chesney set out to get a little more introspective with Songs For the Saints after a Hurricane ripped through the Virgin Islands, a place dear to his heart and where he owned a home, last year. It doesn’t get much more introspective than “Better Boat,” penned by talented songwriters Travis Meadows and Liz Rose. The song reflects life and learning how to overcome the things that get you down. 

29. "Holy Water" by Cody Jinks 

​“Holy Water” is Cody Jinks taking us to the church of country music. There’s no doubt the music business can put one through the ringer and make you start to do things you might not want to do or forget who you once were. I think this is what Jinks is getting at with his very effective and catchy chorus: “I need a shot of holy water/I need it to chase down my demons/and burn ‘em just a little bit hotter/I’ve been having drinks with the devil in this neon town/I need a shot of holy water to wash it down.” That steel guitar whining throughout the song is also taking us to the church of country music. 

28. "Beaches of Biloxi" by Mike and the Moonpies

​One of the many reasons mainstream country music pisses me off so much is you’ll occasionally hear a song that you know should be a hit and would’ve been a hit in a different era, but because of the way the country music industry is today you’ll be lucky if you even hear it on a radio. Mike and the Moonpies’ “Beaches of Biloxi” is one of those songs. By God, it should be a massive hit, with its ear-wormy groove and fantastic story of a gambler who loses it all and has the ride back home to ponder just how he’s going to break it to his wife that he’s lost everything. 

27. "Ryland (Under the Apple Tree)" by I'm With Her 

​Vocals simply do not get more angelic than Aoife O’Donovan’s lead on I’m With Her’s “Ryland (Under the Apple Tree).” I’m With Her is the fantastic roots music supergroup featuring O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins, who released their first album together See You Around in 2018. It’s interesting how the song came about. I’m With Her took jazz guitarist Julian Lage’s “Ryland,” an instrumental guitar track, and turned it into this incredibly beautiful song of budding love with Jarosz and Watkins’ vocals melding terrifically with O’Donovan’s.

26. "Must Be the Whiskey" by Cody Jinks 

​Cody Jinks writes the kind of awesome and catchy country music songs that should be hits, but mainstream country music is so far removed from what the genre should be that he’ll have to settle for outcast or independent superstardom. I think that’s just fine by him, but dammit “Must Be the Whiskey” should be a charting hit. The song about trying to figure out whether or not his feelings for a girl are true or just the whiskey he’s drinking trying to convince him they are. It’s certainly one of the best drinking songs I’ve heard in a while. 

25. "Christmas Eve at Kroger" by Traveller 

​For me, the best Christmas songs are ones that both show unique originality and can be listened to all year long (John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison” comes to mind). Traveller’s “Christmas Eve at Kroger” is one of those songs. It’s also a bit melancholic for a Christmas song, another factor I generally enjoy. Christmastime isn’t always fun for everyone. I’ve felt it before when Robert Ellis sings: “Deck the halls/it’s Christmas Eve at Kroger/wake me when it’s over and the family goes home.” But, it’s not all somber. There’s some nice tradition in there too, like watching “Die Hard” with your mom and helping your dad string up the lights. “Christmas Eve at Kroger” is a Christmas song for people who enjoy songwriting with their tinsel and cheer. 

24. "Shoot Me Straight" by Brothers Osborne 

​Brothers Osborne are one of the few shining mainstream country acts at the moment. The brothers have shown a propensity for being able to play fun country songs without delving into the pop-country or bro-country sounds that’s basically destroyed mainstream country. “Shoot Me Straight” is an example of Brothers Osborne at their best – it’s a fun song to listen to and sing along to, but it doesn’t make you want to shoot your radio. It’s a unique take on a fun drinking song with the fact that’s it’s not really a drinking song, but the narrator wanting his love interest to just give the breakup news and not beat around the bush. 

23. "Drowning Man" by Eric Church

​Eric Church’s “Drowning Man” is a blue collar drinking song for those who feel forgotten in this country. The track co-written by Church and Casey Beathard features one of these forgotten people the country has turned its back on sitting at a bar and not wanting to hear or think about anything, simply wanting to pour $50 worth of whiskey down his gullet. Church told Rolling Stone: “If you go to any bar or concert in America, there are whole groups of forgotten people who are very much alike, who have more in common than not. There’s a lot of madness in the world that makes no sense, and it’s not all high tides and yachts.”

22. "Western Movies" by Traveller 

​I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Ellis since I first heard The Lights of the Chemical Plant in 2014, so I was pretty interested in checking out the trio Traveller that he formed with fellow Americana artists Cory Chisel and Jonny Fritz. The result was pretty awesome. My favorite track off their debut Western Movies is the title track. I don’t quite know why they gave a song about enjoying Western movies sort of a Beach Boys-esque “In My Room” type sound instead of a Western motif, but it somehow works brilliantly. As someone who also loves the Western genre, I get this dreamy feeling of wanting to be in the shoes of our gunfighting heroes. I especially love the tribute line to Paul Newman – “I guess they don’t make them like him anymore.” No, they don’t. 

21. "God & Cash" by Drew Moreland 

​“There’s only two things in life that’ll ever last – it’s the word of God and Johnny Cash – and all the rest will lead you straight to Hell.” Hot damn that’s a perfect country lyric. Texas singer-songwriter Drew Moreland released his self-titled, debut album this year, but with songs like “God & Cash” you’d think he’s a veteran songwriter/performer. The song about a young man who gets some great life advice by an old drunkard who moved in next door is catchy as hell and shows that Moreland could be one of the next big breakouts of the red dirt subgenre.