Every week, the Wide Open Country team rounds up our favorite newly released country, folk, bluegrass and Americana songs. Here are six new songs you need to know.
"Jesus Loving American Guy (Limp Wrist)," Paisley Fields
Singer-songwriter and Lavender Country pianist Paisley Fields puts hometown bullies and religious hypocrites on blast with "Jesus Loving American Guy (Limp Wrist)."
Fields' lyrics deal with serious and timely issues —namely our current political climate— without overshadowing his biting sense of humor.
The song previews the album Limp Wrist (out Aug. 26 via Don Giovanni Records), which a press release describes as "an exploration of where rural queerness intersects religion."
— Bobby Moore
"Mr. Bojangles," Steve Earle
A tribute album to the late Jerry Jeff Walker by fellow musical renegade Steve Earle, Jerry Jeff amplifies more than Walker's best-known composition, "Mr. Bojangles."
"There's a tendency to think of Jerry Jeff around a relationship to one song," Earle shared in a press release. "He was also such a great interpreter of other people's songs. But my main purpose in recording this album was to remind people that he wrote a lot of fucking great songs."
Of course, one song with mainstream exposure —Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did for "Mr. Bojangles" what Glen Campbell did for the equally brilliant John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind"— benefits a writer beyond short-term financial gain if the obvious doubles as an evergreen entry point to a deep and varied catalog. Earle speeds up that discovery process with a sparse, gruff reimagining of "Mr. Bojangles" that's sure to point curious consumers of curated playlists to the rest of the album.
— Bobby Moore
"What My World Spins Around," Jordan Davis
Jordan Davis has released a new summer anthem, "What My World Spins Around," which follows his No. 1 single, "Buy Dirt."
In the song, written by Davis, Matt Dragstrem and Ryan Hurd, Davis sings about the feeling he gets when he is around the ones he loves, including his wife, Kristen.
"To the way that it feels when you lean in and kiss me/The way that you dance when you get kinda tipsy/I'm wrapped 'round your finger like this ring I'm wearing/That look in your eye, girl, when you catch me staring/And I don't even know what it is but now that I found it/I can't imagine me living without this," Davis sings.
The country singer first teased the song on social media, garnering over 139K views.
"To have 'What My World Spins Around,' it could be the kiddos showing up, but I'm kinda like, everything I do now is because of them and for Kristen," Davis said. (quote via Country Now). "I think that's one reason I like this song so much. It's such a look back on what I used to be about to what I am now. I think Matt and Ryan both can relate to that as well."
—Silke Jasso
"One Too," Dallas Smith and MacKenzie Porter
MacKenzie Porter first hit it big in 2020 when she collaborated with Dustin Lynch for his number one hit "Thinking 'Bout You." Now she's back with her fellow Canadian Dallas Smith for a really beautiful breakup ballad. Both singers sing about how they thought each other was "the one" and now have to accept that it's the end.
"I didn't plan on learning how to live without you/ I thought I'd found my settle down the night I found you/ We used to talk about forever now look at what it's come to/ I didn't just love you, I thought you were the one too"
"I couldn't be more thrilled to collaborate with MacKenzie on this song" which is "a gift written by Tom Jordan, Mitchell Thompson (Seaforth) Aylsa Vanderheym and Rocky Block... It's literally a ' One Too ' hit that strikes every chord both personally and musically and I can't think of a better duet partner to share this song with," Smith shared.
— Courtney Fox
"I Feel Fine," Brett Eldredge
Brett Eldredge has released another new song for his upcoming album Songs About You and it might be one of his best yet. "I Feel Fine" is, for lack of a better word, just cool, with a sultry guitar strumming as Eldredge sings about feeling triumphant after moving on from a bad relationship. Eldredge wrote the song with Heather Morgan (who joins in for background vocals) and Nathan Chapman and says he hopes that it empowers listeners to feel just as strong moving on from tough moments in life.
"I hope the fans hear this song and think 'I can also feel strong about myself and in control of my life,'" Eldredge shares in a press statement. "Because things like your worries, anxieties and other people's opinions can really weigh you down and I know how tough it can feel. But if you really find that power within yourself, then no one can dictate how you feel."
"No one gets to make that decision but you. I hope people are encouraged by this song to do that for themselves and be there for themselves," he adds.
— Courtney Fox
"Before the Fall," Vandoliers
Dallas-Fort Worth-based country-punk band Vandoliers preview their fourth album The Vandoliers (out August 12) with the soaring "Before the Fall."
"We wanted to make an album that had the same power as our live performance — a tight, big sound," frontman Joshua Fleming says. "Through trial and error, label closure, fatherhood, sobriety, relapse, the album grew on its own stylistically. After the hardest two years of my life, we created a collection of songs that push us as musicians, songs that reaffirmed my place as a songwriter and a faith in ourselves as a band I don't think we had before."
Vandoliers are set to open for Turnpike Troubadours at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on July 29 before kicking off their summer headlining tour. They'll also tour with Old 97's this fall.
— Bobbie Jean Sawyer
