Wednesday
Bleeds
With Bleeds, North Carolina’s Wednesday stakes its claim as one of the most engaging and dynamic bands today, drawing equally from fellow Tar Heel State rockers Superchunk as well as Merle Haggard. Lead singer Karly Hartzman is at the top of her songwriting game, whether she’s chronicling the demise of a relationship while shrieking vocals over crunchy feedback-soaked guitars or crooning sweet ballads like the gorgeous “Elderberry Wine.”
Charley Crockett
Dollar a Day
Released just months after his other acclaimed 2025 album, Lonesome Drifter, Dollar a Day fuses 1970s country and slow funk into a sound that is distinctly Crockett’s own. With fifteen tracks, more variety in sound, and a grander scope, this is peak Crockett. Co-producer Shooter Jennings infuses the album with imagination, lending thematic scope but keeping it infectious and grounded, while Crockett’s masterful voice and keen detail elevate the hard-living lyrics and down-on-your-luck vignettes. Sadness never sounded so good.
Alabama-born sisters Allison and Katie Crutchfield (the latter also known as Waxahatchee) join together for a bounty of warm, exceptionally written country-rock bangers. Backed by pals MJ Lenderman and producer Brad Cook, Snocaps radiates joyful energy while casually breaking hearts with sly lyrics and melodic turns. Songs like “Coast” and “Heathcliff” give off a twangy Go-Gos vibe, delivering upbeat, singalong gems with beautifully blended voices.
Based in Nashville, DiRusso channels livewire energy into her debut, mixing buzzing garage rock with infectious pop hooks. She explores the pitfalls of getting older with clarity and confidence, crafting deeply personal jewels that feel effortless yet are carefully considered. And her sonic exploration, with ventures into pop, punk, and folk, adds depth while maintaining a cohesive sound.
Sister Ray Davies
Holy Island
On its debut, this Muscle Shoals duo makes music that is as thick and hazy as a summer’s day in Northwest Alabama. But instead of the trademark Shoals muddy funk, layers of soaring guitar on songs like “Aidan” weave together for delicious noise. At the same time, the driving, shimmering rhythms—this is still the Shoals, y’all—of “Big Ships” and “Rowans” dissolve into bliss with frontman Adam Morrow’s ethereal vocals.
Hayden Pedigo
I’ll Be Waving as You Drive Away
Pedigo’s distinct fingerstyle elevates the avant-garde guitarist’s instrumentals to the point where they sing without words, and I’ll Be Waving is his most intricate and gorgeous work to date. Piano notes twinkle in the background on “All the Way Across” as Pedigo’s masterful playing slowly unfurls, finding moments of intimate beauty that get more impactful after each listen. Bonus: Pedigo is also part of one of the year’s most surprising pairings, a collaborative project with fellow Oklahomans and standout metal band Chat Pile. The two teamed up for In the Earth Again, a dusty, lonesome-sounding collection that by and large sheds the screams and shredding for quiet vulnerability.
Waylon Jennings
Songbird
Jennings was country music’s ultimate badass, but this “new” collection of songs—found and restored by son Shooter—shows off the Big W’s sensitive side. The delicate “Wrong Road Again,” written by Allen Reynolds and made famous by Crystal Gayle in 1974, is Waylon at his most remorseful, while a version of JJ Cale’s “I’d Like to Love You Baby” is a sly, come-hither invitation with a twangy bounce. Jennings’s voice rings strong and true, and the album shows off a subtle dimension rarely heard in his catalog.
Mavis Staples
Sad and Beautiful World
The soul legend sprinkles her seven-decade-career fairy dust on a stunning collection of songs written by everyone from Frank Ocean to Leonard Cohen to Tom Waits (the bluesy opener “Chicago” features Derek Trucks and Buddy Guy). But this is more than just a tossed-off covers project. Staples genre-hops and inhabits each song with grit and passion. Her take on the title track (written by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse) heaves with devastating emotion, her voice almost a whisper, backed by pedal steel and a delicate lead guitar part from MJ Lenderman, while her version of Cohen’s “Anthem” is a defiant call to action. Staples said she was going to retire in 2023, but Sad and Beautiful World shows she still has so much more to give.
James McMurtry
The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
McMurtry stands among songwriting’s most vivid storytellers, creating full-blown worlds out of simple details. The title track draws from hallucinations his late father—the acclaimed author Larry McMurtry—experienced while suffering from dementia in his later years. One of his own dogs gets a mention in the slow, soaring gallop of “Back to Coeur d’Alene,” while tracks like the mournful “Annie”—featuring Sarah Jarosz on banjo and harmony—see McMurtry revisiting his interest in political and social commentary, making for a powerful collection.
Eric Church
Evangeline vs. the Machine
One of the year’s most audacious creative endeavors, Evangeline vs. the Machine finds Church flipping his tried-and-true country grit on its head, bringing in a gospel choir, horns, and sweeping strings that pulse through each song. Oh, it’s a concept record, too, exploring themes of getting older and nostalgia for analog days. In less assured hands, Evangeline could be a mess, but Church has never drawn a straight line from point A to point B, and his musical gifts are only eclipsed by a conviction to keep pushing his art.
