Blog Archives

Elvie Shane Kicks Off 2024 with New Track “What Do I Know”

January 5, 2024/in Blog, New Music, News /by Erica Zisman

Elvie Shane shares brand new track “What Do I Know,” out now, January 5th, on all streaming platforms. Listen to the new track below.

As fans gear up for the release of Elvie Shane’s sophomore album, Damascus, the singer is plugging away at releasing new music. To kick off 2024, Shane is adding to his impressive catalog of tunes with a head-turning, new song called “What Do I Know.”

In true Elvie Shane fashion, “What Do I Know” is full of truth-telling and personal lyrics. Much like the singer-songwriter’s previous releases, the song highlights Shanes’ hard-working and country upbringing. Once again, the singer expresses how proud he is of his roots and being a son of an average Joe. The song portrays an effortless confidence without trying too hard, something we have come to love from Shane’s music.

“I think red lipstick on a woman’s lips look sexy // I think coke’s okay, but it’s way damn better with jack // I think the outlaws, Waylon and Johnny are gone forever // I think Jesus // He’s coming back // Oh, but what do I know // what do I know // I’m just a hard-working, beer-working, son of an average Joe // Like to think there ain’t nothing that I can’t fix with a hammer and crescent wrench, oh, but what do I know // what do I know // what do I know”

Shane continues to showcase his staying power, song after song. “What Do I Know” is a perfect addition to the singer’s repertoire.

Elvie Shane shares new song, “What Do I Know,” out now, on all streaming platforms.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Elvie Shane releases.

To keep up with Elvie Shane, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

“What Do I Know” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

5 Things to Expect from Hannah Ellis’ Debut Album ‘That Girl’

January 4, 2024/in Blog, New Music, News /by Erica Zisman

We chatted with country songstress, Hannah Ellis about her debut album, That Girl, out Friday, January 12th. Here are five things to expect from the upcoming project.

That Girl features stories from many different times and phases in Ellis’ life and career.

“It covers a lot of ground. It covers the stories I was writing when I first moved to town and when I got here and when I met Nick [Wayne] and our relationship growing together, and also my growth as a person myself, my struggles, and also the things that I’m super confident and secure in.”

The debut project encapsulates a true one-of-a-kind introduction to the songstress.

“I always knew that this first record was kind of my introduction, my “nice to meet you,” and I really wanted to choose songs that told all the different parts of my story, not just where I am at right now, but how I got here.”

For Ellis, it was important to share different stories and musical arrangements that felt like “her” rather than to stick to a theme or specific sound.

“We didn’t get too hung up on ‘does this go with that or is this sound identical’ because I think – just like my personality, there’s a lot of different facets to the music that I love and there’s a lot of music that was a part of my musical raising if you will, and we just leaned into all the different aspects of me as an artist and me as a person.”

The single, “Too Much & Not Enough” was inspired in the writing room by the experiences of being a woman in today’s landscape, something any woman can relate to.

“We started talking about what it feels like as a woman in the industry and just as a woman in general, and sometimes the things you love the most about yourself, the things you do really well, somehow also end up being the things you’re insecure about. […] It’s exactly how I feel all the time. I love these big sides of my personality, but they also feel like something I am constantly fighting or trying to put in their right place.”

There is a special song on the record called “Still” that embodies the relationship between friends. It reads as a conversation between two friends too.

“I wrote it from the perspective of one friend to another, and I wrote it for my friend, whenever she kept kind of going back to the same guy every time he would apologize. […] It’s kind of a song of ‘hey loving someone is not always enough to constitute that person being right for you’, and I think it’s a unique song to me, because I am the person that my friends go to for advice. […] I don’t think there’s a ton of songs out there of one friend talking to another.”

Hannah Ellis’ debut album, ‘That Girl’ will be released on January 12th.

Check back on January 12th for our full album review of Hannah Ellis’ record That Girl.

To keep up with Hannah Ellis, follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Hannah Ellis releases.

Who is George Birge? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

January 2, 2024/in Blog, News, Swag Spotlight /by Erica Zisman

Who is George Birge? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…

Quick Facts:

Full Name – George Birge
Birthdate – November 28th
Hometown – Austin, Texas
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Gary Allan, George Strait, Jason Aldean, Eli Young Band
Label – RECORDS Nashville
Current Single – “Mind On You” // as of date of article: 01/02/2024

The Beginning:

In our first spotlight of the 2024, we are highlighting the incredible career of singer-songwriter, George Birge. Birge has been a Nashville-transplant for about nine years, and his career is one of determination, grit, and integrity.

“I was born and raised in Austin, Texas, and country music is kind of in your blood down there,” shared the singer. “I fell in love with it literally listening to the radio in my dad’s truck. It was the genre to me that told stories and made you feel something, and was like real life.” At a young age, Birge recalls appreciating country music and its knack for storytelling.

“I grew up idolizing George Strait and Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and all the classic guys,” he shared. Adding, “For more modern, Eli Young Band were a huge influence on me. They were the first guys I saw make it out of Texas on a National scene.”

Birge took his love of country music to heart, even learning to pen lyrics at an early age and playing live gigs just a few years later. “I started writing songs in middle school, started playing guitar by high school, and then started a band at 14,” he shared.

“I started playing live music on 6th street at 14 or 15 years old. We would play downtown Austin with x’s on our hands. We always played original music, which I felt like was different than any other city. […] They were terrible songs, but it was a really cool way to learn how to write music, learn how to connect with other people, and learn what resonated with people. I was instantly hooked to the collaborative culture.”

The Turning Point:

After graduating high school, Birge played music through college. “I played music through college. I went to University of Texas, played golf there briefly. Then I ended up chasing the music thing. By the time I graduated, I had a job, but I was playing every night and weekend in little bars around Austin.”

Because of his hard work and dedication to his craft, the singer grew a following in the Texas music scene. “I never toured before, but we started to get a pretty big following to where we were selling out every Friday and Saturday night, little 300-400 people club. We started to make some noise, which was something I always dreamed about but never thought I could do it professionally.”

This led to Birge catching the ear of some people in Nashville, who came out to see him play, and ultimately offered him his first record deal in 2015. The singer and his new wife moved to Music City upon landing his first deal. Birge started a duo called Waterloo Revival, who achieved a moderate amount of success including touring and radio songs.

Despite the early success, the singer started to feel burnt out on the path he was heading down. “In 2020, when the world shut down, I had kind of run out of steam, and honestly had given up on the artist thing. I asked out of my record deal. I had decided for about an 8-month window there that I was just going to be a songwriter.”

With a plan to just be a songwriter moving forward, Birge began writing songs and getting cuts by bigger artists in town, which would eventually lead him to a new record deal with RECORDS Nashville. “I had written some songs for some bigger artists in town and had some folks start believing in me, supporting my songs, and started putting them on the radio, and then just through the motivation of some family and friends, I got talked into sneaking some of my solo stuff into social media that ended up blowing up and getting me my own record deal.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, Birge is finally making music the way he always dreamed of. “This iteration as a solo artist, I promised myself that if I was going to do this again, I was going to do it this my way and I was going to write and record songs that I believed in, and I was going to pick producers, players, and direction, and I was lucky enough to find a label that believed in that with me. It’s taken off faster than anything I’ve done in my career and I think that’s probably because I was able to really believe in myself, be authentic, and write music that’s honest and comes from a real place for me. It’s the most exciting time in my life right now, and it has definitely been a long journey to get here.”

His current radio single, “Mind On You” has been a huge success both according to fans and radio. It is hard to believe that the song almost went to another artist. “I wrote it at the end of 2020, when I was kind of between the artist thing. At the time, I was under the influence that I was just going to be a songwriter. […] I knew it was special, but I had no intentions of putting it out because I wasn’t doing the artist thing, so we originally pitched it to Jason Aldean and 24 hours later, I get an email back from Aldean’s team, saying don’t play this for anybody, Jason loved it and he wants it for his new record and that was the biggest thing to ever happen to me.”

Eventually after a call from his label head, who said “That song that you’re going to give away to Aldean, I think it was a mistake, you need to call and ask for it back because it’s going to be your first single, and it’s going to change your life,” and some prayer and guts, Birge decided to ask for it back.

“Mind On You” is the first of many incredible songs to come from Birge. He is already working on his album and more new music is slated to come out early this year. “Making and writing music is my favorite thing in the world to do, so we are going to put out as much music as we can next year, and I’m really excited about that.”

Connect:

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future George Birge releases.

To keep up with George Birge, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.

George Birge’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

The Best Country Albums of 2023: Team Picks

December 30, 2023/in Blog, Team Picks /by Team Country Swag

2023 brought us a ton of great new country music. As we look back on the new albums released, here are our team’s picks for out favorite country albums of 2023.

Stephanie Wagner, Founder
Favorite album: Bluebird Days – Jordan Davis

Choosing a favorite album was especially hard this year after all of the incredible new music that was released. However, when thinking about what were truly my go-to listens, I very quickly narrowed it down to Jordan Davis’ Bluebird Days. From top to bottom this entire album is incredibly well-written. I consider myself a ‘day-one’ Jordan Davis fan and seeing the maturity and growth in this album confirms to me that this singer-songwriter is one we will be hearing many hits from for a very long time. His music is clever, catchy, and relatable. It’s the kind of music you can have on in the background or dive deep into the lyrics. It’s the storytelling in each song that makes me excited to share his music with others and watch them become fans too. This project has been on repeat for me and rightfully deserves a spot as one of the best albums of 2023.

Erica Zisman, Content Manager
Favorite album: Lucky – Megan Moroney

While there were a lot of noteworthy albums to come out of 2023, Megan Moroney’s debut album, Lucky stands out. I have had this record playing on repeat from the minute we gained access to it. Moroney’s star-power and songwriting prowess shine bright throughout the record. Specifically, the song, “Mustang or Me,” might be one of my favorite songs of the year too. The songstress is headed for superstardom. It is only a matter of time!

Nicole Piering, Contributing Writer
Favorite album: High & Low – Caitlyn Smith

While there were many incredible albums released in 2023, one that I’ve had on repeat is Caitlyn Smith’s High & Low. With her incredible voice and stunning lyrics, the album manages to capture both the best and worst parts of life, sounding much like a peek into her most personal diary. With songs like “Maybe in Another Life,” “High,” and “Writing Songs and Raising Babies,” this was one that I listened to endlessly. However, if you’re only going to listen to one track, the clear standout is “Alaska,” which is easily one of the best songs of 2023.

Dylan Bestler, Contributing Writer
Favorite album: the mockingbird & THE CROW – HARDY

I was immediately drawn to HARDY once I saw him open for Florida Georgia Line in 2019. His music has grown so much since then, even crossing genre lines. I loved this album’s whole vibe. My favorite moment is in the title track when it transitions from country into hard rock (the track was my #3 song this year, and “Sold Out” was #4 last year). I’m thrilled “wait in the truck” took off and and won all those awards because it’s so different from what you usually hear on the radio. The music video literally gave me chills! I’m really looking forward to HARDY’s next project, whatever genre it may be.

Abby Kaye-Phillips, Contributing Writer
Favorite album: Bigger Houses – Dan + Shay

Dan + Shay have given fans a range of vibes and a varied sound across their last few projects, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from their latest release, Bigger Houses. What I found was a beautifully crafted album that felt both refreshingly new and also reminiscent of their first record from almost 10 years ago. From the heartfelt “For The Both of Us”, to the sentimental “Always Gonna Be”, and the poignant title track “Bigger Houses”, to the fun and flirty “We Should Get Married”, there is so much to love. I’m thrilled the band decided to continue making music together, and I know this album will remain special to the artists and the fans for years to come.

Lucie Bernheim, Contributing Writer
Favorite album: Rolling Up The Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini has always been one of Nashville’s strongest songwriters, but her latest project, Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, proves that she is here to stay as an artist and visionary. It’s not about the bells and whistles of Music City. It’s about the truth and authenticity, and figuring out ways to tackle and share the difficult and messy words. Written and produced solely by Ballerini and close friend/powerhouse Alysa Vanderheym, they take you truly behind the curtain of a woman growing and messing up, in a way that embraces multiple sides of the story and the different stages of grief. “Just Married” is one of the most clever and heart-wrenching country songs to have been released, and “Leave Me Again” is stark in production and full in lyrical purity. There is a reason this album has transformed Ballerini’s career, and it is not because of the news articles that follow it – it is because it is honest.

Rebekah Milsted, Contributing Writer
Favorite album: Stereotype Broken deluxe – Cole Swindell

Stereotype Broken is my favorite album of 2023 because Swindell took an already great album and made it even better. He did this by going back to his love for 90s country. With “Sad Ass Country Song” honoring the classics and legends and “She Had Me At Heads Carolina Remix” featuring Jo Dee Messina, you feel like you traveled back in time. As a new mom, lullabies have become a constant listen in our household. Swindell created an adult version to add to the album. It may be about a breakup and be upbeat but it brings back memories of the classics instantly. This record continues to show Swindell’s talent as an artist and songwriter. I can’t wait for album five!

10 New Country Songs of 2023 That Should Be On Your Playlist

December 28, 2023/in Blog, New Music, News /by Erica Zisman

2023 was full of amazing country songs. Here are ten new songs released in 2023 that may not have hit the number one spot on charts (yet), but we believe should be on your playlist! Learn more here.

“West Of Tulsa” – Wyatt Flores

Artist to look out for, Wyatt Flores is winning the hearts of country music lovers everywhere. His song, “West Of Tulsa” showcases his songwriting prowess, his storytelling artistry, and his incredible vocals. The track is a true standout of 2023.

“Man Made A Bar” – Morgan Wallen & Eric Church

Morgan Wallen joined forces with one of his musical heroes, Eric Church on this iconic collaboration. “Man Made A Bar” is one of the best off Wallen’s latest album, and a true must listen to of 2023!

“I’m Not Pretty” – Megan Moroney

Megan Moroney is quite possibly the biggest breakout start of 2023. Her debut album Lucky boast many incredible songs, including “I’m Not Pretty.” The song resonated with fans across the genre, making it an absolute top new song of the year.

“Sometimes She Stays” – Kip Moore

When Kip Moore released his record, Damn Love, we knew it would be one of our favorites. The music video for the standout track, “Sometimes She Stays” was filmed in New York City, adding to overall likability of the beautiful song.

“Penthouse (The Healed Version)” – Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini’s Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (For Good) EP is one of the best of the year. The Grammy-nominated record boasts incredible songs that speak to Ballerini’s heartbreak and healing, including this one, “Penthouse.”

“Creek Will Rise” – Conner Smith

Conner Smith is a rising artist with a bright future in the genre. His current single, “Creek Will Rise” is one of his best to date. The uptempo, stage-ready song is exciting, fun, and primed for the live show. We imagine that this song will continue to do big things for Smith’s blossoming career.

“In Your Love” – Tyler Childers

Tyler Childers is one of the most prolific, yet underrated artists in country music. His song, “In Your Love” challenges the norms of country music. The song expresses a story of same-sex love that is both beautiful and empowering.

“screen” – HARDY

HARDY’s ‘the mockingbird & THE CROW’ is one of the best projects released in 2023. His song, “screen” is a true standout on the mockingbird side of the record. “screen” is a motivational anthem about the use of technology in the world, and how we can be a better society when we are more present. As the song progresses it cleverly weaves through different variations and definitions of the simple word and makes for a clever yet relatable track.

“Part Of It” – Jordan Davis

One of our all-time-favorites, Jordan Davis is an artist who deserves to be named up there with the top entertainers. Many of his new songs released this year reached the caliber to be included on this list, but one of our favorites is “Part Of It.” The beautiful song speaks to a universal experience that we all understand.

“Bench Seat” – Chase Rice

Chase Rice is arguably in his best era of music in his career at the moment. “Bench Seat’ is undeniably one of his best songs in his impressive catalog. The song is a moving story about mental health and other relatable variables.

Listen to these ten songs and more recently released music on our New Country Music Playlist below. Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future releases.