by Julian Spivey

50. "Happy Hour" by Hayes Carll 
Hayes Carll is one of my favorite songwriters of the last two decades and on “Happy Hour,” a bonus track for the deluxe edition of his You Get It All album, he’s collaborated with Drake White on a song about why happy only gets to last an hour. “Happy Hour” is a ton of fun and sees Carll pondering the mysteries of life like “why can’t dogs have conversations,” “why don’t payday come on time,” and “what would Willie do?” 

49. "Love to Spare" by Nicki Bluhm feat. A.J. Croce 
The smooth soulfulness of Nicki Bluhm’s vocal on “Love to Spare,” off her newest album Avondale Drive, instantly stuck with me. It’s a throwback R&B sound that will immediately have you singing along with its chorus before you even finish listening to it for the first time. Bluhm co-wrote and collaborated on the song with A.J. Croce (son of Jim) as a take on middle-aged dating, she would tell The Bluegrass Station, as she was a recent divorcee and he a widower. 

48. "Hill Country Saturday Night" by Aaron McDonnell 
I was introduced to the music of Aaron McDonnell this year (he’s not new, just to me) and I absolutely love his baritone voice. That mixed with a Texas country two-stepper like “Hill Country Saturday Night” is everything you’ll want from country music. This one will make you want to twirl the one you love around a hardwood floor on a small-town weekend. 

47. "When It's My Time" by Brent Cobb 
There was a more high-profile country gospel album this year (and yes, one of those tracks made my “best of the rest” segment of this list), but my favorite country gospel release this year was Brent Cobb’s And Now, Let’s Turn to Page …, which combined traditional hymns with the original tune “When It’s My Time,” co-written by Cobb, his wife Layne and Mike Harmeier of Mike and the Moonpies. Combining gospel, country and blues it’s a song that shows Cobb is comfortable with where he believes he’ll be spending the afterlife and when it’s his time to go bring it on. 

46. "Distance" by John Craigie 
Singer-songwriter John Craigie’s “Distance,” off his latest album Mermaid Salt, is a sweet piano ballad of all the ways he might lose the woman he loves, but the worst of them all would simply be “the distance.” I assume he means distance growing between the two of them due to years together and how horrible it would be for something so beautiful to be torn apart simply by passing time. 

45. "Songs About You" by Brett Eldredge
“Songs About You,” the title track off Brett Eldredge’s latest album, is a theme we’ve seen before – a heartbreak is remembered via songs that either remind the narrator of a past love or moments shared together. In “Songs About You,” co-written by Eldredge with Jessie Jo Dillon and Ben West, songs like Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” are the classics that bring up these memories. Yes, it’s a tried and true theme, but I love those references and Eldredge sells it with his vocal. 

44. "Stealing Dark from the Night Sky" by Arlo McKinley 
One of the coolest sounding tracks of the year that just makes me want to kick back and watch the stars is Arlo McKinley’s “Stealing Dark from the Night Sky,” from his latest album This Mess We’re In. Rarely does heartbreak sound this lovely, but there’s something about the gracefulness of the music, especially the elegant fiddle playing, that has you swaying throughout. NPR’s Joe Kendrick put it beautifully when he wrote: “There is a poetic tension between the darkness at the center of the song and the burning light from which its broken-hearted lovers recoil.” 

43. "Table Manners" by Bri Bagwell 
Texas country singer-songwriter Bri Bagwell truly kicks ass with “Table Manners” off her fifth studio album Corazón y Cabeza where she just lets her man have it verbally for being a worthless lazy mess dragging her down with him. There’s a nice little punk feeling to this track that will have you thrashing your head the entire time. 

42. "Wise River" by Kitchen Dwellers 
I love the mix of bluegrass and folk sounds on “Wise River,” the title track off the latest album by Kitchen Dwellers. “Wise River,” features great picking of banjo, mandolin and guitar, is the band remembering a once prosperous place in their home state of Montana. Songwriter Shawn Swain told Live for Live Music: “The town of Wise River is basically a forgotten spot on the map. It used to be a thriving place with many prosperous mines, but now it’s practically dried up. There’s a hell of a lot of melancholy. In our mind, it symbolizes the overall feeling of being in slowed-down Montana life.” 

41. "San Francisco Blues" by Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway feat. Dan Tyminski 
Molly Tuttle grew up loving bluegrass thanks to her father and banjo-playing grandfather passing it down to her. She knew she had to do a bluegrass album with her band Golden Highway and thus came the incredible Crooked Tree, which features many great collaborations with artists like Billy Strings, Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch. My favorite collaboration on the album is “San Francisco Blues” with Dan Tyminski, a long-time member of Union Station. The song pays tribute to her hometown, but it’s also a sorrowful waltz about how much the Bay Area has changed. She writes on her website: “It’s about how the Bay Area used to be such a thriving artistic scene, but now it’s become almost impossible for musicians, or really most people at all, to afford to live there.” 

40. "Turning Onto You" by First Aid Kit
I talk a lot about nostalgic vibes on the list this year and another example of that for me is First Aid Kid’s sweet single “Turning Onto You” off their latest release Palomino (not to be confused with Miranda Lambert’s album also released this year of the same name). First Aid Kit is the Swedish sister duo of Klara and Johanna Söderberg, but this is pure Americana. The band says they were going for a “country soul” sound, but it’s more reminiscent of Christine McVie’s Fleetwood Mac output or Joni Mitchell to me – and that’s definitely no complaint.

39. "Broken Families" by Lola Kirke 
Heartbreak sounds better in retro vibes. “Broken Families,” the lead track off Lola Kirk’s Lady For Sale, tells of a couple that dearly loves each other but have both come from troubled upbringings making it hard for them to truly trust one another. Kirke told The Line of Best Fit: “It’s about wanting to change and stay the same, being hopeful when you’re feeling hopeless. If that’s not country, I don’t know what is.” Kirk harmonizes beautifully with Courtney Marie Andrews on the song’s chorus. 

38. "Middle of a Heart" by Adeem the Artist
Adeem the Artist has been hailed as one of today’s best songwriters by musicians like Brandi Carlile and B.J. Barham of American Aquarium, who frequently appear on this list, and you can see why with a song like “Middle of a Heart” off their latest album White Trash Revelry. “Middle of a Heart” is a gut-punch song about a man raised from an early age in gun and Southern culture and the importance of serving one’s country. In the end, he succumbs to PTSD. 

37. "Wild Child" by The Black Keys 
Sure, The Black Keys are a rock & roll band, but there’s enough of a blues-rock sound, and the fact that the duo of Dan Auerbach (vocals/guitar) and Patrick Carney (drums) live in Nashville makes it close enough to Americana for me. “Wild Child” is a simple song about wanting to get with a woman and its infectious groove will keep your head bobbing throughout. 

36. "Lafayette" by Orville Peck
“Lafayette” by Orville Peck, off Bronco, is such an interesting-sounding song. You’ve got Peck’s sort of Elvis Presley-styled vocal, a surf-rock type psychedelic guitar solo and – despite the song being set in Louisiana – Peck told Thrillist: “Musically that song is inspired by marabi music, which is essentially South African folk music (where he was born).” I absolutely love the lyric: “You know I recall somebody saying, ‘there ain’t no cowboys left’/But they ain’t met me and they ain’t met you, Lafayette.” 

35. "Old Heartbroke Blues" by Joshua Hedley 
“I’ve got those old heartbroke blues/there’s a cowgirl on the loose” feels like something that should’ve been written and recorded already – maybe 30-35 years ago. That’s the genius of Joshua Hedley and his throwback albums that place his modern music into classic country sounds like the ‘90s neo-traditional era with his latest album Neon Blue. 

34. "Calloway County" by Tony Logue 
Troubles between fathers and sons are an age-old tradition, particularly it seems among Southerners. Tony Logue tells this story well with “Calloway County” off his sophomore release Jericho about a young man looking to escape his family and hometown so he can better himself and have a brighter future. 

33. "Nashville Tuesday Morning" by The Band of Heathens 
“Nashville Tuesday Morning,” off The Band of Heathens Cutting Room Floor EP, is about a touring musician longing to be home with the ones he loves, even if it takes turning a “Nashville Tuesday morning into a Sunday afternoon.” The song, written by band members Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist, has a throwback vibe to it that reminds me of some of the Lindsay Buckingham Fleetwood Mac ‘70s hits, including the guitar solo. 

32. "John Wayne" by Whiskey Myers
One of the best country-rockers of 2022 is “John Wayne” by Whiskey Myers, though the one question I’ve had all year is “why is the song titled, John Wayne?” There’s no reference to the legendary Western star in the song. While I haven’t been able to find out the reason for the title (maybe the band just loves John Wayne? Maybe the actor’s ethos fits with the song’s theme of resilience during hard times?) I do know the groove to this track with its “Southern-fried disco boogie rhythm” as described by Rolling Stone’s Jon Freeman is infectious and will have you moving along the entire time.  

31. "Jamie" by Zach Bryan feat. Charles Wesley Godwin
Zach Bryan and Charles Wesley Godwin are two of the brightest and most gifted young songwriters today in the non-mainstream country world (though you could argue Bryan has broken through). Their duet “Jamie,” which was penned by Bryan and appears on his second album release of the year Summertime Blues, is a tragedy of a man whose beloved has died, and he longs to be with her again and his plan to reunite in the stars with her is via police chase and suicide by cop. It’s heavy stuff but written as a love song. The harmonization between Bryan and Godwin toward the end is a highlight of the track. 

30. "Ships in the Harbor" by Tommy Prine
One of the most emotional songs of 2022 comes from Tommy Prine, the son of the late, great John Prine whom we all loved, in “Ships in the Harbor,” which has clear moments of being about his father and missing him. The 26-year-old began writing more following his dad’s Covid-related death in 2020 as a way to cope with the grief. On his YouTube page, he wrote of the song: “I always get super existential around my birthday, and I had a thought that we as humans can only feel as deeply as we do and love people and fear things and all the other intense emotions because everything we experience is finite, including our own lives.” 

29. "The Man from Waco" by Charley Crockett 
I’m always a sucker for a good Western story and Charley Crockett gives us maybe the finest of 2022 with “The Man from Waco” off his album of the same name. The title track tells the tale of a cowboy who comes home to find his woman in bed with another man and how in a fit of rage he mistakenly shoots and kills her instead of his attempted target the man. All he could do was ride away in shame. I particularly love the guitar line that opens the song and repeats frequently throughout, especially right after he sings the title of the song. 

28. "Love Farewell" by Jake Xerxes Fussell 
North Carolinian folk singer Jake Xerxes Fussell took the traditional ballad “Come Philander” and turned it into a truly beautiful yet heartbreaking song of love during wartime for “Love Farewell,” off his album Good and Green Again. It’s a minimalistic blend of acoustic guitar and tender vocals with the true highlight being the harmonizing between Fussell and Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s backing vocals giving it a haunting vibe it needs to thrive.   

27. "Damn Darlin'" by 49 Winchester
I assume the plot of 49 Winchester’s “Damn Darlin’” is fictional, but I love how songwriter and vocalist Isaac Gibson sets it up with such specificity in the first line: “It was the night before Christmas 1995.” He and the band then go into a weeper of a breakup song of a woman who leaves her man at the Exit/In, a famed Nashville establishment. “Hearts break harder and the old Exit/In” is one of the best lyrics of 2022. 

26. "Tom Barrett" by Ian Noe
The best singer-songwriters craft short stories that just so happened to be placed to music. That’s what Ian Noe has down with “Tom Barrett” on River Fools & Mountain Saints. As Noe states at the beginning “Tom Barrett was a killing man” before going into a portrait of an American vet turned into a killing machine. Noe told Under the Radar: “’Tom Barrett’ is about a relentless soldier’s life, inspired by local vets I used to know, or knew about. I talk about it a lot but juxtaposing dark themes or subject matter with upbeat melody is something I’ve always been drawn to.” 

25. "Open the Gate" by Zach Bryan
Great rodeo songs have always been a part of country music and one of the finest ones lately is “Open the Gate” off Zach Bryan’s expansive double-album American Heartbreak. “Open the Gate” is about how the lifestyle of rodeo and bull riding can get in your blood and become something more of an addiction than a hobby or career with the tale of a family line attempting to conquer a bull named To Hell I Go. 

24. "30 Miles" by William Beckmann
William Beckmann’s “30 Miles” might be the most personal song for me on this year’s list. The first couple of verses is very similar to my life and my first love – who just so happened to live 30 miles away from me. The only difference between Beckmann’s song and my life is I married my first love, whereas the song doesn’t have the same happy ending. It’s such a beautiful and – at least for me – truthful portrait of young love. 

23. "C'mon Baby, Cry" by Orville Peck
Orville Peck has this sort of Roy Orbison vulnerability mashed with Elvis Presley swagger that shines on a retro-sounding ballad like “C’mon Baby Cry” from his excellent album Bronco. “C’mon Baby, Cry” is the narrator giving a shoulder to cry on to a friend who’s been let down by a lover. The chorus is truly where the song hits a high note – both figuratively and literally. 

22. "Collateral Damage" by Shovels & Rope
“Collateral Damage” is my favorite track off Shovels & Rope’s sixth studio album Manticore. The song, written by Cary Ann Hearst, explores the difficulties of life and doing one’s best to get by. I particularly love the song’s chorus: “I get a little hazy on the details/how the whole thing went off the rail/and it got pretty slippery in the deep end/I crawled out of my skin and started over.” I love that the duo Hearst and Michael Trent are a married couple, and they sound so great together on this number. 

21. "I Didn't Know" by The Infamous Stringdusters
Infamous Stringdusters’ fiddle player Jeremy Garrett was stuck at home in 2020 during the pandemic like the rest of us when George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was murdered by a Minneapolis cop. He set out to write something reflecting on that time in America with legendary bluegrass lyricist Jon Weisberger. “From my vantage point, this song is both a reaction to what I saw and what was on my heart, but also about being a white person and being blind to what’s been happening to our black brothers and sisters and acknowledging this and now being part of the conversation toward change, justice and healing,” he told Grateful Web.  

20. "Wild-Eyed George Bailey Heebie Jeebies" by Izaak Opatz 
There are a couple of things I love about this song right off the bat: 1) it’s a reference to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 2) it’s strange as hell (which fits perfectly for a song with “heebie-jeebies” in the title). The song recounts the tale of a relationship in which the woman is ghosting or even gaslighting the guy into thinking it never happened. I particularly love the verse about checking names on gravestones looking for Harry Bailey, George’s brother in the Frank Capra film classic who would’ve died if his older brother hadn’t been there to save him. It’s a creative as hell idea for a song.  

19. "Whose God Is This?" by Will Hoge
Will Hoge is no stranger to using his acid-tongue pen for good in songs I love like “Still a Southern Man” and “Thoughts & Prayers,” and he’s done it once again with “Whose God Is This?,” a comical, spoken word take on a particular type of toxic religion that seems more prevalent since Trump’s America. 

18. "Pine Grove (Madhouse)" by Ian Noe
It’s so hard to choose a favorite track off Ian Noe’s fantastic sophomore release River Fools & Mountain Saints. It’s without a doubt one of the best country/Americana releases of the year. For now, I’m going to go with “Pine Grove (Madhouse)” as my favorite, but that’s always subject to change. Noe has down-trodden, small-town life down pat in his songwriting, and ‘Pine Grove’ is another example of it with its disheveled characters and bleak imagery and circumstances, though a bit more upbeat in its groove than his previous outing. 

17. "Sing Me a Song" by William Prince & Serena Ryder
The duet “Sing Me a Song” by William Prince and Serena Ryder is simply adorable. It’s so “simplistic and gentle,” Prince’s own words to The Sound Café, but it works beautifully. Prince and Ryder’s voices meld terrifically, and you’ll instantly fall in love. It’s the best male/female  duet of the year. 

16. "Pink Sky" by Lola Kirke 
I was a fan of Lola Kirke the actress on one of the underrated shows of the last decade in Amazon Prime Video’s “Mozart in the Jungle” before even realizing she’s also a musician. Her album Lady for Sale has some striking beauties on it with my favorite being “Pink Sky,” about staying at home while your man is out on the prowl. Kirk has a throwback sound to her that absolutely fits this song with its crying guitar perfectly. 

15. "Weatherman" by Matt Daniel
I’m always a fan of creative, new spins for an old theme, and Matt Daniel’s “Weatherman” is exactly that. In “Weatherman” his girl leaves him for another man, but he knew from the beginning it wouldn’t last and she’d come back crying to him. Using weather symbolism like “don’t go telling me the sky is blue” and “I called the storm before it began” before dropping the “Girl, I ain’t your weatherman” line is such a creative way to turn a cheater who’s realized their mistake down.  

14. "First High" by Nikki Lane 
“First High,” the first single off Nikki Lane’s latest album Denim & Diamonds, sees the badass singer-songwriter embracing rock & roll on a track about feeling that “first high” again with nostalgic lyrics like the propulsive chorus: “Take me back to the first dream/501 blue jeans tighter than goddamn Springsteen/take me back to the first show/right back to the first note/when I knew my heart was pure rock & roll.” 

13. "Fancy Boys" by Ray Wylie Hubbard feat. Hayes Carll, James McMurtry & Dalton Domino
Three of my favorite singer-songwriters and Dalton Domino get together for “Fancy Boys,” off Ray Wylie Hubbard’s latest duets release Co-Starring Too, a brutal takedown of mainstream country stars like Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, etc. (even though it doesn’t call them out by name) who “prance around on stages where Waylon once stood.” 

12. "Die When I'm High" by Particle Kid & Willie Nelson
I couldn’t imagine a better tribute to his father than “Die When I’m High” by Particle Kid (Micah Nelson). Micah was playing chess with his father, the legendary Willie Nelson, in late 2020 when Willie looked up from the board and said, “If I die when I’m high I’ll be halfway to heaven.” It immediately struck Micah as “the best song title I ever heard.” He urged his dad to write it, but Willie felt Micah should do it. What came out of the statement was a terrific tribute to his father and a beautiful duet between father and son. 

11. "Wildfire" by American Aquarium 
“Wildfire” by American Aquarium is a different type of song from the band and vocalist/songwriter B.J. Barham – maybe because it’s a happy love song? “We gave in to the simplest of desire and watched that spark turn to wildfire” is such a simple line, but there’s often beauty in simplicity. Lovely isn’t a word that would describe a lot of the American Aquarium output, but it fits with “Wildfire.” 

10. "Broke Again" by Joshua Hedley
Joshua Hedley’s debut album Mr. Jukebox in 2018 had a countrypolitan ‘60s sound. His sophomore release Neon Blue, released in April, takes the sound of ‘90s mainstream country music. The best track off the album is “Broke Again,” which would’ve been a no. 1 smash in the ‘90s. It was honestly a good song for 2022 with prices skyrocketing due to inflation, but also fun enough to briefly forget all that crap. 

9. "Scale These Walls" by Caroline Spence
One of the most beautiful songs – vocally, sonically, lyrically – all year was Caroline Spence’s “Scale These Walls” off her latest album True North. Jeff Gemmill for The Old Grey Cat described the song as an “introvert’s love song” and that’s a pretty spot-on summation. The narrator is fully capable of living and doing things on her own, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be accepting of a love that was able to break through her barriers. The vocal makes it seem she’s yearning for it. 

8. "Paranoid Heart" by John Fullbright 
John Fullbright is one of today’s brightest songwriters – who else is going to throw the word “cerulean” into a song? “Paranoid Heart” is my favorite track of his latest album The Liar, his first in eight years. The song is a call to love that begins slowly before turning into an impassioned rocker with a nice slide-guitar solo from Jesse Aycock. The repeated “I will never speak your name if it’s not out of love again” chorus is so powerful. 

7. "Feelin' the Miles" by The Wilder Blue
“Feelin’ the Miles” is my favorite track off The Wilder Blue’s sophomore, self-titled album, but in some ways, it’s the least country-sounding track on the record. You can even hear some disco vibes in the song (something I generally would turn against). The Wilder Blue have reminded me occasionally of the Eagles on certain tracks and if that analogy continues this would be their “One of These Nights.” Zane Williams’ vocal is one of my favorites of the year. 

6. "Outta Time" by Orville Peck
“Outta Time,” my no. 1 Orville Peck song off his terrific album Bronco, is gorgeous with a catchy, simplistic chorus that’s easy to listen to and verses with the kind of specificity I enjoy from a songwriter - like the second verse mentioning a woman trying to chat the song’s narrator up and mentioning she doesn’t like Elvis, which obviously offends the narrator. 

5. "Something in the Orange" by Zach Bryan
Zach Bryan released about 500 songs this year, but the best of his output is “Something in the Orange,” the heartbreaking ballad off American Heartbreak. In vivid lyricism, Bryan remembers the fall of a relationship he depended on so much but doesn’t believe he’ll ever see coming back his way through the horizon. The vulnerability in Bryan’s scarred voice comes through perfectly.   

4. "Russell County Line" by 49 Winchester
One of the true country music highlights of 2022 is 49 Winchester’s fourth album Fortune Favors the Bold, which will see multiple tracks on this list. My favorite track on the album is the incredibly sweet “Russell County Line,” about longing to be with the one you love back home while having a career as a touring musician. Isaac Gibson the band’s vocalist and guitarist penned the song which truly shows off his made-for-country music voice. 

3. "Carousel" by Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert loves circus imagery in her music, most notably in her 2013 single “All Kinds of Kinds.” “Carousel,” off her latest album Palomino, is the best of her circus imagery songs thus far with its tale of a romance between trapeze artists. Co-written with Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby it makes a perfect album ender, especially with a line like “every show must end/every circus leaves town.” 

2. "12th of June" by Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett’s “12th of June” hits you in the heartstrings like a ton of bricks in its reflection on fatherhood, family and mortality. The date in the song’s title is the birthday of his twin children – one boy and one girl – born in 2017. “12th of June” is Lovett pouring his entire heart out in song to his family and as a result is one of the most beautiful songs of the year. 

1. "Chicamacomico" by American Aquarium
​American Aquarium’s B.J. Barham sure knows how to write an emotional song. “Chicamacomico,” the title track off the band’s newest album, might be his most emotional yet as it tells the tale of a couple trying to get back on track after the loss of a baby (likely via miscarriage). It’s a raw portrayal of something experienced by so many couples in this world and Barham and the band sound terrific. 

Honorable Mentions: 
​
"A Song Can't Fix Everything" by Sunny Sweeney feat. Paul Cauthen

"Angel Band" (Hallelujah Version) by Tyler Childers

"Annabel" by 49 Winchester 

"Antioch" by Whiskey Myers 

"Blue" by Ingrid Andress

"Bored If I Don't" by Kaitlin Butts 

"Borrowing Sugar" by Jenny Tolman

"Bourbon Whiskey" by William Beckmann 

"Burning Down the Prairie" by Ian Noe

"Call's Last Letter" by David Miner 

"Can't Wait to Never See You Again" by Hellbound Glory 

"Come On Loretta" by Drew Moreland 

"Comes in Waves" by Dawes 

"Common Law" by Zoe Cummins & Gabe Lee 

"Daytona Sand" by Orville Peck 

"Empty Cups" by Amanda Shires 

"Everything She Ain't" by Hailey Whitters 

"Hard Way to Make it Rain" by Randall King 

"Hard Working Man" by Marcus King 

"Headstone" by Brothers Osborne 

"High Heels" by Paul Cauthen 

"How the River Flows" by Matt Castillo 

"If These Dogs Could Talk" by Brandy Clark feat. Ashley McBryde 

"Into the Fire" by Yonder Mountain String Band 

"It Feels Alright" by Sam Burchfield 

"Jeremiah" by Cody Howard 

"Jersey Giant" by Elle King 

"Little Devil" by Jesse Daniel 

"Neon Blue" by Joshua Hedley 

"No Mistakes" by Sarah Shook & the Disarmers 

"O Charlene" by Cory Branan 

"Odessa" by Charley Crockett 

"On the Roof" by Sarah Buxton 

"One More Night" by Miko Morris & the Resurrectors 

"P.O.W. Blues" by Ian Noe 

"Pipeliner" by Teague Brothers Band 

"Reasons to Run" by Old Crow Medicine Show 

"Road to Abilene" by Ronnie Dunn feat. Parker McCollum 

"Rusty" by Gabe Lee 

"Southern" by Muscadine Bloodline 

"Tell the Devil" by Aaron McDonnell 

"That Look I Lost" by Cory Branan 

"The Hardest Thing" by American Aquarium 

"The Last Resort" by Midland 

"Too Far to Be Gone" by Shemekia Copeland 

"Unlocked Doors" by John Fullbright 

"Unwanted Man" by Aaron Watson 

"Waking Up the Echoes" by American Aquarium 

"Welder" by Tony Logue 

"When In Rome, When In Memphis" by Cory Branan 

by Julian Spivey
The White Water Tavern is a small music venue and tavern hidden in Little Rock, Ark. that doesn’t seem like much to look at upon entering. It’s just an open floor with a bar near the entrance and the tiniest stage I’ve ever seen at a music venue in the back right corner from the front door. The wood boards under your feet move and creak while you’re moving along to the music and the walls and ceilings are lined with paper posters of past events at the venue.

The place is absolutely magical though. I realized this not long after stepping into the venue for the first time some years ago to see a show by Cory Branan. There’s a mutual feeling of love and camaraderie between the musicians and the audience every time I’ve been. The sound is near perfect. You feel more in love with music while at the White Water than you’ve ever felt. I’ve seen great shows there: Branan, Austin Lucas, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and most recently before Saturday afternoon American Aquarium, for which the venue is so important in the past of the band that songwriter B.J. Barham immortalized it in lyrics to multiple songs, but maybe most notably in the words of “Rattlesnake” with “That first time I saw her, down at the White Water, dancing across those ancient hardwood floors.”

It was one of the local venues I was most concerned about not being able to survive the pandemic in 2020 that shut down music for at least a year and was thrilled when it made it through the other side. And I’ve only been to the White Water a handful of times. Though, I know we have a great future ahead of us.

This weekend (Dec. 2-4) the White Water Tavern hosted its annual Holiday Hangout were musicians both local and from across the country came to this little one-room corner stage to share in the fun and camaraderie and see another year almost ready to end. Over the weekend acts like American Aquarium, Branan, Lucas, Ben Nichols of Lucero, Rod Gator, The Vandoliers and more would perform at the Hangout.

Unfortunately, I did not have tickets for the Holiday Hangout. I hadn’t seen them go up for sale and the night I wouldn’t have wanted to miss (Saturday night) I had already had tickets to see comedian Nate Bargatze across town at Simmons Bank Arena (no real regrets it was the best stand-up set I’ve ever seen live).

Luckily though, the White Water Tavern put on a Songwriter Showcase free to the general public on Saturday afternoon hours before the real shindig got started, and as soon as I saw Barham was one of the songwriters featured I knew I had to go. I’ve seen American Aquarium live three times and they’re a can’t-miss live act Barham has become one of my favorite active songwriters. The event also featured Isaac Hoskins and Isaac Alexander, both of whom I’d never heard before, but the only way to love new music is to seek it out. I would soon learn guys named Isaac know how to write a good song.

The three songwriters would perform 12 songs, four apiece all solo and in the round over the span of about an hour, not including the unplanned roughly 20-minute or so intermission for a medical emergency involving a fellow attendee who collapsed to the hardwood floor with 911 being called to check her out.

I feel bad having not gotten all of the song titles for the performances by Hoskins and Alexander. Luckily, Hoskins just released an album, Bender, at the end of November and at least three of the songs he performed Saturday afternoon are on that album, so they were easy to find. I only caught one song title of the four songs that Alexander performed – even though I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Barham’s music falls along the lines of country-rock but is often a bit more on the rock side for me. Hoskins is a country singer out of Texas. Alexander, a local, is more indie-rock style.

There wasn’t a bad song among the dozen performed by the lot on Saturday.

One of the best moments of the entire show – though I’m not sure Hoskins would agree because he seemed a bit perturbed by an equipment malfunction – was when he stepped out front of the stage and performed his first song (the one I couldn’t find the title of) without the help of a mic. I’d seen this previously at a White Water show from Austin Lucas (though he did it intentionally) and something about seeing a performance done this way just adds to the magic of it all.   

The three songs Hoskins would perform off Bender were “Leon’s Blues,” “Moments I Would Never Trade” and “The Pistol and the Prayer.”

Right when Hoskins started “Leon’s Blues” is when the medical emergency happened and brought things to a screeching halt for a bit. When things got back going Hoskins continued with “Leon’s Blues,” a song about an old dustbowl kid and WWII vet who was lonely and considered an old drunkard by the community, but as the human, he was by the song’s narrator and his mother. It may have gotten the biggest response out of the crowd of any performed during the event. “Moments I Would Never Trade” was inspired by Hoskins’ engagement and was one of the few “happy songs” of the showcase, which the songwriters remarked upon a bunch. I certainly didn’t mind because like Barham says in AA’s “Starts With You”: “sad songs make me happy.” Hoskins would finish with the revenge song “The Pistol and the Prayer,” which he said he had performed the night before on night one of the Holiday Hangout at the tavern.​

Once again I apologize for not being able to locate most of the songs Alexander performed through his Spotify output (maybe they were unreleased?), but I enjoyed his lyrics and style. The one song I was able to locate is “Like a Sinking Stone” off his 2017 album of the same name and you could tell there’s some obvious inspiration from Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” on the track, which is certainly cool.

One of the great things about attending live music is finding new artists to spend your time with. I went to the Songwriter Showcase for Barham but came out a fan of both Hoskins and Alexander and eager to listen to their discographies.

The great thing about seeing Barham solo is you’re likely to get a couple of performances you haven’t already seen him perform live with his band. While I had seen “The Long Haul,” off 2020’s Lamentations before it’s one of his best so I loved hearing it again done as a solo performance. I’d also seen “One Day at a Time” from 2018’s Things Change but hearing him do it with just his voice and his guitar is fantastic. The other two songs were ones I don’t believe I’ve seen him perform live before, so it was truly a treat for this fan. Those songs were “How Wicked I Was” from Lamentations and “The First Year,” a song he wrote about losing his mom, off the newest album Chicamacomico, which came out in June.

I can’t thank the White Water Tavern enough for putting this free event out there for us, especially those of us who couldn’t make the Holiday Hangout. I hope to see these events again in the future and next year I’ll be looking more closely for those Hangout passes! ​