In this week’s crop of new tunes, we highlight Luke Combs releasing a tender song that feels tailor-made for weddings, while Laci Kaye Booth unleashes a haunting ballad with a heartbreaking twist. Elsewhere, Pecos & the Rooftops issue a deeply-felt track, memorializing a late grandfather whose influence still abounds. Others releasing top tunes this week include Tenille Arts, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Lily Meola.
Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.
Luke Combs, “Giving Her Away”
On his latest, Luke Combs offers up a tender ode to the parallels between a groom and a father-of-the-bride on the wedding day. “Only she could’ve got us both in suits,” he sings from the perspective of the groom, as the song finds him going on to vow to “do my best to fill your shoes.” Combs is known for heart-tugging tracks such as “Even Though I’m Leaving” and “Forever After All,” and this track serves as a continuation in that legacy. Josh Phillips, Josh Mirenda and Gary Garris wrote the song, and Combs’ unmistakable soulful-yet-burly tone makes the song feel tough yet genuine.
Laci Kaye Booth, “I’m in Love With a Man”
Laci Kaye Booth cuts deep with this gorgeous, haunting ballad with gut-wrenching pivot. She begins by detailing the positive characteristics of the man she’s fallen for, a man who pays attention to her and loves her unconditionally — but then twists the knife by revealing the man she’s fallen for isn’t the one she’s currently with, but the man she hopes he’ll become. “Do I stay because I love you or just love your potential?” she questions, as her lush vocal wraps around each lyric with nuance. Booth wrote the song with Tofer Brown and Lauren Hungate.
Pecos & the Rooftops, “Looking Down Proud”
This Texas-formed band has long been fusing its unique mix of rock and country, but the group’s latest song is a deeply personal one, a tribute to lead singer Pecos Hurley’s late grandfather. Bolstered by acoustic guitar, understated percussion and tender harmonies from Hurley’s mother, the song is also an unflinching look at the highs and lows he’s weathered since then, with Hurley’s unfaltering pen etching both moments of poor judgement, but also moments that he’s sure would have made his grandfather proud. This song is a potent reminder that this group can convey the emotional depth of a heart-tugging track with the same intensity that they can a churning country-rocker.
Tenille Arts, “Don’t Ruin Flowers”
Tenille Arts gears up for an upcoming project with this emotionally charged ballad, as she pleads for a disappointing lover to refrain from bringing her flowers and a tepid apology. Tender acoustic guitar and muted percussion gives Arts’ lilting, ache-filled voice plenty of space to lay out her appeal. “Don’t turn a beautiful thing into something I hate,” she sings, while the song’s bright, refined percussion keeps the song from feeling too somber. The song’s instrumentation and production frames Arts’ tender vocal admirably.
The Infamous Stringdusters, “Dancing on the Moon”
The Infamous Stringdusters kick up a stunning mix of jangly guitar, exemplary bluegrass picking and bluesy vocals on this sweeping track. “Just like a dream we will never come back down,” they sing, capturing the wishful longing to fulfill far-flung ambitions, and meshing it with a gritty, danceable groove. The song previews The Infamous Stringdusters’ upcoming album 20/20, out Feb. 13, 2026.
Lily Meola, “Bolo Blues”
On her latest, Meola builds upon previous releases such as the EPs Heartbreak Rodeo and Daydream, as she continues to convey self-aware lyricism while etching a song both strikingly melodic and packing an emotional punch. “You won’t break my heart/ But damn if you don’t let it bend,” she deadpans, pining over a lover’s constant plight of wanderlust. This lilting country-soul ballad serves as essential vessel for Meola’s molasses-rich, elegant vocals, and serves as an intriguing introduction to her forthcoming project.
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