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On their own, the words \u201cbest,\u201d Texas\u201d and \u201ccountry\u201d are pretty easy to define. But put them together and it\u2019s a whole other matter. There\u2019s no real definition of what makes a song or an artist \u201cTexas country,\u201d certainly not one on which the genre\u2019s diverse fanbase could ever agree upon. It\u2019s an unscientific calculation that involves a little history, a little geography, a mix of sounds and styles and a whole lot of intuition.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll be the first to admit that you don\u2019t have to be from Texas to find yourself lumped into Texas country. So, yes, native Texan Robert Earl Keen is obviously a Texas country artist, but as far as we see it, so too is Kentucky great Chris Knight and North Carolina\u2019s epic American Aquarium.\u00a0Don\u2019t ask us why, it\u2019s just that way.<\/p>\n
When you mention Texas country to fans in the know, it\u2019s often synonymous with red dirt, a subgenre especially near and dear to country music fans of North Texas, although it\u2019s native to Oklahoma. Artists such as Cody Canada, Mike McClure, Stoney LaRue and Jason Boland took what they learned from the likes of Bob Childers and Tom Skinner, who knew how to blend rock, folk, blues and country into one satisfying stew. In fact, red dirt shares a number of traits both sonically and philosophically with Texas country.\u00a0It\u2019s often rebellious and rootsy to a fault.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whittling down a list of the best Texas and red dirt country songs of the last 30-plus years makes for an exhaustive task, one that inevitably sparks much debate. That was certainly the case when we originally ran this list in 2015. And since so much music has been released over the past nine years, and some pretty major developments have occurred in the scene, we decided now was a good time to update it. The addition of some new songs means that some from that original list are now gone. And while we were at it, a couple of songs that should\u2019ve been included in the 2015 list but weren\u2019t are now noted here. Hindsight is pretty cool like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important to specify here that this list contains far more than the biggest hits of the past few decades. Sure, we chose some ubiquitous tunes that everyone knows, but we also picked some deep cuts and tunes that might merely be an artist\u2019s third or fourth most popular song for this list.<\/p>\n
When we last published this list on June 19, 2024, it had 53 songs. We wanted to reshare it today in honor of Parker McCollum\u2019s self-titled album that came out June 27, 2025, containing some of his most thought-provoking songwriting and honest songs to date. This list has McCollum\u2019s \u201cHell of a Year\u201d originally. He\u2019s in a different place, becoming a husband and father, and songs like \u201cSolid Country Gold\u201d and \u201cWhat Kind of Man\u201d would make great inclusions here. His covers of Danny O\u2019Keefe\u2019s \u201cGood Time Charlie\u2019s Got the Blues\u201d and Chris Knight\u2019s \u201cEnough Rope\u201d were emotional tributes that hit you in the heart. With that, we put these songs in a Spotify playlist for your enjoyment because we\u2019re on Spotify now (follow us<\/a>).<\/p>\n