This week, Jordan Davis pairs with Marcus King for a guitar-driven ode to Davis’s homestate, while BigXthaPlug and Ella Langley team up for an acerbic song that meditates on revengeful karma. Chase McDaniel offers up a deep-cutting portrayal of generational trauma on “My Side of the Family,” and folk singer Mon Rovia gives a stark assessment of current political narratives and greed on “Heavy Foot.”
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.
Jordan Davis with Marcus King, “Louisiana Stick”
Jordan Davis and Americana stalwart Marcus King pair up on this swampy, churning collab, which Davis wrote with Paul DiGiovanni, Chase McGill and Ashley Gorley. The song centers on a potential lover intent on enticing someone who found big cities in California and New York underwhelming to try out the sights of moonlit cypress trees in Louisiana, with its swamplands and sounds of Zydeco. King’s fierce harmonies and ferocious, bluesy guitar riffs up the ante here, while the track also showcases Davis’ vocal range and highlights a rock-oriented side to Davis’s warm, conversational vocal tone, one not always as readily apparent on his slate of more tender country hits.
BigXthaPlug feat. Ella Langley, “Hell at Night“
BigXthaPlug teams up with “You Look Like You Love Me” hitmaker Ella Langley for a gritty country-rap mesh about hoping that karma takes revenge on a troublesome ex-lover. Langley’s smoky twang balances BigX’s powerful rapped verses, highlighted by lines like “I hope you hear me every time you play a song / I hope you meet the right person but y’all never get along.” Together, their vocal interplay encapsulates both the sad heartbreak and the betrayal-fueled anger of a jilted lover.
Chase McDaniel, “My Side of the Family”
Chase McDaniel issues one of his most introspective songs to date, addressing generational trauma and his hopes that his family’s legacy doesn’t include addictions and short tempers passed down to another generation. “Do I got those same demons running in my blood?” he ponders, his voice crackling with vulnerability, his song laced with fiddle, guitar and banjo. “Is loving me dangerous?” he later questions, shaping a clear-eyed description of his hopes of having a son, but also his fear that his son might take after his family’s history of self-destructive inclinations. In releasing one of his most unshielded songs, he’s welcoming in a wave of listeners to face their own fears surrounding fatherhood and legacy.
Mon Rovia, “Heavy Foot”
Mon Rovia, who recently made his Grand Ole Opry debut, confronts greedy governments, gun violence and hunger on “Heavy Foot,” blending folk lyrics and stylings to form an anthem of strength and resistance. At first, the song’s steely lyrics contrast with a sprightly melody and upbeat acoustic guitar rhythm, but by the end, his lyrics mesh into proud defiance, as he declares, “They never gonna keep us all down.”
Ashley Monroe, Tennessee Lightning
Ashley Monroe’s new album, Tennessee Lightning, traverses a range of sounds, from free-wheeling country-rock to pensive, acoustic numbers and even a Southern gospel song, as she welcomes a collective of friends and musical cohorts including Marty Stuart, Waylon Payne and Brendan Benson. She explores sultry R&B-tinged pop on “Bitter Swisher Sweet” with Brittney Spencer, infuses gospel-tinged harmonies on “I’m Gonna Run” with T Bone Burnett, and offers an enticing take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.” Throughout, her signature dusky vocal leads listeners through a complex tapestry of sounds, rummaging through styles and genres, without ever abandoning her musical core. Co-produced by Monroe and engineer/producer Gena Johnson, this project further evinces Monroe’s vulnerable songwriting and free-spirited innovation.
Ryan Larkins, “If Heaven Had a Mailbox”
Singer-songwriter Ryan Larkins has already proven he knows how to craft a sturdy country song, as a writer on songs like the Cody Johnson-recorded “The Painter,” the Bill Anderson/Dolly Parton duet “Someday It’ll All Make Sense” and his own “King of Country Music.” He returns with a tender ode to loved ones who have passed on. Steeped in traditional country sounds, this song feels timeless, as he ponders what it would be like if there were a direct line of communication with loved ones in heaven. “I’d be writing nonstop, sending up an airmail every day/ Up there to a gold street,” he sings. As ’80s and ’90s country sounds continue making a comeback, Larkins’s conversational singing style and solid song craft put him in a prime position for breakthrough success.
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