We’re back for a new installment of The Boot’s Weekly Picks, highlighting the best new tracks from country, Americana, folk and everything in between.
Today’s edition spotlights a fresh batch of tracks from artists on the rise and established favorites, including Nickel Creek, Dylan Earl and Sam Williams. Keep reading to check out the latest installment of The Boot’s Weekly Picks, and check back every week for more great tracks curated by our contributing team.
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RVSHVD
“Reverse”
Ahead of his upcoming Sticks and Swamps co-headlining tour with Willie Jones, innovative artist RVSHVD has shared his new infectious new single “Reverse.” The rising talent leans into his trademark mix of country and R&B as he tells the story of the place that raised him and the love that he almost let slip away for good. — Lorie Liebig
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Shea Diamond
“I Am Her (A Capella Version)”
Shea Diamond‘s a cappella performance of her song “I Am Her” is several years old but no less striking in 2023. The trans singer and activist gives her anthem a gospel-like quality in this moving performance.
As Diamond sings about the triple oppressions of racism, misogyny, and transphobia, her arresting voice gains strength. The song is a defiant anthem that finds strength in resilience, its singer adamantly refusing to be laid low by oppression. — Rachel Cholst
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Sam Williams
“Lost Its Allure”
Sam Williams stares at the pieces of his shattered heart in his brutally honest new song, “Lost Its Allure.” Written by Williams, Nate Miles and Andrew Stoelzing, the pensive ballad finds Williams reflecting on the meaning of life after losing a loved one and several devastating events.
“Sometimes, I wish I was still asleep, so I don’t have to see the truth that’s standing right in front of me / Like when God takes your best friend and they say it’s just a lesson / I think, what the hell am I destined for, feels like this life of mine has lost its allure,” Williams reflects candidly in the chorus with an almost audible tear in his voice.”
In a statement to the press, the rising singer-songwriter describes this tune as one that’s “about life kind of losing its shiny-ness and its sparkle, and feeling that and fighting to get it back.” — Jeremy Chua
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Dylan Earl
“White Painted Trees”
Arkansas country singer Dylan Earl revives old-school country sounds on “White Painted Trees.” The song celebrates rural living with only a slightly tongue-in-cheek tone. Earl laments the boredom and desperation of life in the Arkansas cotton fields, even as he celebrates the region’s natural beauty.
The accompanying music video celebrates the splendor of farmland in the winter, even as it pointedly observes the dereliction in these communities. Earl’s voice is pitch-perfect honky-tonk, a modern look and celebration of country living that takes an honest look at its problems.
Earl’s album, I Saw the Arkansas, is out this Friday, March 10. — Rachel Cholst
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Jordyn Shellhart
“Tell Your Mother I’m Fine”
Promising genre-blurring newcomer Jordyn Shellhart dedicates an entire song to her ex’s mom in “Tell Your Mother I’m Fine.” Here, Shellhart delivers the story of a caring girl who, despite being heartbroken after a breakup, decides to mask her emotions in order to not worry “Ms. Miller.”
“Tell your mother I’m fine / Tell her I moved on with my life / I don’t know if she’s worried about me or that you’re a bad guy / But tell your mother I’m fine,” Shellhart sings over a breezy mid-tempo production.
“I love the character in ‘Tell Your Mother I’m Fine’ because she’s everything I wished I was when I had my heart broken,” the Wyoming native says of her self-written song. “She’s maybe not so fine, but she doesn’t need anyone else to see things from her side because I think she trusts her own judgment. And I think that’s cool.”
Shellhart’s Warner Music Nashville debut album, Primose, drops May 19. — Jeremy Chua
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Nickel Creek
“Where the Long Line Leads”
Out today (March 9), “Where the Long Line Leads” serves as the latest single from Nickel Creek‘s first new album in nine years. This plucky, fiery cut from Celebrants, due out March 24, is all about making the most of the moment and living it up while you still can. — Lorie Liebig
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Bonner Rhae
“Forward Address”
Texas native Bonner Rhae channels country and pop in her recent song “Forward Address,” which finds the silken-voiced singer imagining mailing her negative emotions and memories away.
Amidst shimmery production and soothing pedal steel, Rhae reflects on our tendency to focus on the imperfect. Her delivery is wise and comforting, asking us to live up to our best selves. — Rachel Cholst
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Devon Church
“Ephemera”
Devon Church‘s raspy voice grounds his recent song “Ephemera” into a hard-won reality. As he reflects on the random chance and fleeting nature of life, Church celebrates the serendipitous nature of these encounters.
Call it fate, call it Buddha, call it the divine — Church embraces the moments of wonder in an isolating world. The chorus’s repetition calls us to the cyclical nature of life itself in this richly-produced folk song.
Church’s sophomore album, Strange Strangers, is out on April 7. — Rachel Cholst