10 New Country Artists You Need to Know: March 2018

Sounds Like: What the players and songwriters for your favorite country stars do when they want to have fun making music

For Fans of: Sturgill Simpson, the Black Crowes, Wheeler Walker Jr.

Why You Should Pay Attention: Leroy Powell and Tim Jones’ previous credits are too numerous to count, with Powell a go-to session player for Dave Cobb for the past decade and Jones an equally prolific songwriter who fronted the band the Truth & Salvage Co. The two didn’t meet until they attended a party in Los Angeles, where Jones found Powell – there on a date with Winona Ryder – in a hot tub drinking Cristal from a boot. The flamboyantly named Whiskey Wolves of the West made their debut at Stagecoach Festival in 2016, channeling the psychedelic theatricality of Powell’s previous band the Messengers into a good-humored, though genuine, exercise in country fundamentals. Combining an outlaw sensibility with some astute commentary on the Music City establishment, the pair penned songs full of double entendres and allusions to the life of a working musician. Country Roots, the band’s first LP, was released March 2nd via Rock Ridge Music.

They Say: “It’s nice to be a part of so many different things. When you’re playing in a band, you’re doing the same kind of music. Then you get thrust into these other scenarios and you’re able to just play a character. You’re not really working on yourself so much, like an actor,” Powell says of his side work, which includes playing for Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Shooter Jennings. “We’ve lived so many different characters through this,” Jones adds. “We get the sense of irony, we get the sense of entertainment. The first song we wrote, ‘No. 1 (The Ballad of Dallas Davidson),’ I was like, ‘I just want to call it “No. 1″ so we can say the first song we wrote was Number One.’ So [we went] into it with that kind of humor, but then it became a really serious song about songwriting and inspiration. It’s a good mixture of both.”

Hear for Yourself: “Lay That Needle Down,” a loose sing-along jam that crosses Neil Young with Lynyrd Skynyrd, connects the act of songwriting with addiction, romance and the simple joy of dropping the needle on a turntable. J.G.

Sounds Like: A neo-traditionalist exploring the middle ground between Appalachian music and Americana

For Fans of: Sarah Jarosz, Mandolin Orange, Gillian Welch

Why You Should Pay Attention: Born in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Leva grew up attending old-time folk festivals with her parents. “When I was in elementary school and found out that all kids didn’t spend their summers going to festivals too, I had no idea what they did with their lives,” she admits. Now partway through college, she’s pausing her studies to release this year’s Time Is Everything, a solo album filled with country waltzes, string-band workouts, honky-tonk shuffles and traditional twang. Recorded in the bluegrass community of Floyd, Virginia, Time Is Everything shines a light on the past without giving up its place in the present.

She Says: “My parents were really into old-time music, but that’s not the only thing they raised me on. I grew up listening to everything. It all influences my writing, from country to old-time to some of the newer pop stuff. My goal is to respect tradition while continuing to turn that influence into something new.”

Hear for Yourself: Co-written with bandmate Riley Calcagno, Time Is Everything‘s title track is low-key and lovely, focusing on a relationship that’s wound its way to a sad close. R.C.

Sounds Like: Sincere, literate folk-rock that doesn’t hold back on hooks

For Fans of: Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, early Elliott Smith

Why You Should Pay Attention: “New” may be a bit misleading in Woods’ case, as he’s been releasing albums for more than a decade now. The Toronto-based performer has been nominated for Canada’s Polaris Prize, along with seeing his streaming numbers outperform many major label acts and reaching Number One in his native Canada with the 2016 release “What Kind of Love Is That.” He’s also made some significant inroads in Nashville’s songwriting community, landing standout cuts by Tim McGraw (“Portland, Maine”), Charles Kelley (“Leaving Nashville”) and Charlie Worsham (“The Beginning of Things”), among others. His forthcoming album Both Ways synthesizes all those experiences, wedding his quietly moving, detail-rich narratives to expansive production and melodies that wouldn’t sound out of place on FM radio.

He Says: “There’s no story of any of the artists that I am in love with where they just get known for doing a thing and just keep doing that thing forever,” Woods says, laughing. “They don’t say, ‘Well, he’s reliably been releasing similar things for 30 years. We can always count on him to do that thing he does!’ Growth is necessary and part of it and you have to challenge your limitations and move forward.”

Hear for Yourself: “Truck Full of Money,” which steers into full-on symphonic-rock territory with plaintive strings and a sustained electric guitar melody, takes a closer look at the traveling musician’s life with its sundry thrills and hardships. J.F.

Sounds Like: Soulful, laid-back twang-pop with clever lyrics and catchy hooks, all rolled up in a McConaughey-sized blunt

For Fans of: Devin Dawson, Ryan Hurd, Kip Moore

Why You Should Pay Attention: Everette’s first single “Slow Roll” is, among other things, more than likely the first country song to name-check Matthew McConaughey, paying homage to the actor’s famed Dazed & Confused line, “Alright, alright, alright.” On top of that, though, the tune has been a viral hit for the up-and-coming duo, notching over 200,000 streams on Spotify and briefly landing on the service’s influential United States Viral 50 chart. The track is one of three that the duo, made up of Brent Rupard and Anthony Olympia, has released this year since signing to BBR Music Group, home to artists like Jason Aldean and Dustin Lynch.

They Say: “Some days are just meant for blowing off your troubles, your worries, and just going with the flow ‘gently down the stream.’ That’s what ‘Slow Roll’ is all about,” Rupard says. “Like a lot of our songs, the guitar riff steered the ship, the feel and the melody,” Olympia adds. “It’s also a slight nod to a classic nursery rhyme,” says Rupard. “‘Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.'”

Hear for Yourself: “Slow Roll” has all the makings of a summer anthem: a simmering groove, breezy aesthetic and a catchy chorus hook that encourages trading your stressors for a gentle float downstream. B.M.

Sounds Like: The soundtrack to a long, epic nighttime drive through the desert

For Fans of: David Ramirez, Andrew Combs, Rayland Baxter

Why You Should Pay Attention: Josh Desure jumpstarted his career in the music business tour managing for Midland, hitting the road with the trio as they toured their debut album On the Rocks. After a last-minute opening stint for the band in Bakersfield, Desure hung up his tour-manager hat and decided to give music a real go. “Stranded Son” is his only official release, but the song is more than enough to prove Desure’s musical chops, a panoramic slice of folk rock with just enough twang.

He Says: “I’ve been playing music for years, but about this time last year after tour managing Midland, I started to take it a lot more seriously. Those guys really inspired me and made me believe I could do it on a higher level. So I started playing a lot around Southern California and getting my live sound down. Working for them taught me so much: what goes into each show, leading up to it, during, and the breakdown. Tour managing came to an end when they had a show at Buck Owens Crystal Palace and asked if I wanted to open with a few songs. Midland all told me afterward that I should be performing more and not just managing.”

Hear for Yourself: “Stranded Son” is the first piece of solo music Desure has released, and introduces him as a capable steward of both Bakersfield country and Laurel Canyon folk. B.M.

Sounds Like: A folky, more ethereal take on Cat Power’s The Greatest with a touch of Dolly Parton’s warble – and her storytelling, too

For Fans of: Cass McCombs, Brandi Carlile, anything from Laurel Canyon

Why You Should Pay Attention: Born and raised 20 minutes outside of Nashville to musical parents – her mother was a background singer and her father a guitarist – Savannah Conley has been performing since the age of seven and grew up on both the local indie-rock scene and Emmylou Harris. Now 21, Conley first eschewed the omnipresence of country in her hometown, but that all changed when she saw how artists like Jack White and the Black Keys were moving to Music City and using roots to inspire a new generation of progressive sounds. Now signed to Dave Cobb’s Low Country Sound, Conley’s taken her sharp lyricism and potent vocals on the road supporting Brent Cobb, and has opened for Willie Nelson and Brandi Carlile. Her new Dave Cobb-produced EP, Twenty-Twenty, is a brief but emotionally rich collection of tracks full of moody orchestration and whip-smart lines: “Doctor says I’ve got twenty-twenty,” she sings on “Same Old Eyes,” “but I think he’s the one who’s blind.”

She Says: Conley got a call out of the blue to come play some songs for Cobb and the Elektra crew, and what happened next was like something out of a TV show. “I sat down and played a third of a song, and Dave [Cobb] stopped me,” she says. “It felt like he was Simon Cowell saying, ‘That’s enough!’ I think I vomited in my mouth a little bit. But then he said, ‘I don’t need to hear any more. I’m in. Are you in?’ It was a very wild process.'”

Hear for Yourself: “Never Be Ourselves” is equal parts British folk-pop and dreamy Southern singer-songwriter that progresses from gentle acoustic guitar through a dramatic rock-forward conclusion. M.M. 

Sounds Like: Southern country-rock, sung with a honeyed croon rather than a piss-and-vinegar bark

For Fans of: Randy Travis’ baritone, Sturgill Simpson’s accent, Blackberry Smoke’s swampy stomp

Why You Should Pay Attention: Raised in small-town Kentucky, Carmichael cut his teeth fronting the house band at Austin City Saloon, the Lexington-area honky-tonk where his two uncles – Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery and solo artist John Michael Montgomery – kicked off their own careers. He kept himself busy offstage, too, landing a publishing deal while still in high school and moving to Nashville shortly after graduation. Produced by Dave Cobb, his solo debut, due this summer, is stocked with songs that nod to Outlaw country while still making room for Carmichael’s stunning, standout voice.

He Says: “This album lives somewhere between outlaw country and Southern rock. I’m looking to guys like Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd and David Allan Coe. That’s the kind of music I’ll sing for the rest of my life.”

Hear for Yourself: With help from pedal-steel legend Robby Turner, Carmichael sings about life’s uncomplicated pleasures in his first single, “It’s Simple.” R.C.