I know there’s something intentional behind a release date…strategic.. but I also believe that music is inspired by the moment and we live in a world that allows artists to write it, track it, release it almost in real time! Its an era where music is out before the album because we can’t wait to hear it!

Yesterday, I received an inspiring email from Tim Cook (I work at my dream company, and Apple just celebrated our 45th anniversary!) and the resounding theme of this week - felt in the email and crystal clear in the music - is that we all know there’s electricity in the air!

Looking back at the past months of FIRST 5 posts, I’m really excited to see how much of this world is now represented in country music! I’ve been able to highlight artists delivering fire from around the globe, and I’m also so freakin’ amped about the number of new perspectives that are represented , these days. Artists of color, artists who share their stories along with specific songs that share their life as LGBTQIA+ humans. We have hillbilly rockers, traditional country sounds, and boundary breakers. Its amazing! Its also a lot of music to listen to on a weekly basis, which is why I want to give you a great (and manageable) entry point with just five picks to get you started.

All the stuff I’m listening to this week is on my official playlist TY BENTLI’S DAILY SOUNDTRACK

Here are the FIRST 5 new releases you should hear:

“County Roads” - Elvie Shane

Spoiler: this story ends with me never getting a second date.

Growing up in South Dakota, it was a lot of county roads, back roads, and dirt roads. The one that stands out to me was the windy, hilly dirt road that runs behind a golf course in my hometown. I’d only been on it once before inviting Kendell out on our first date. I can’t even remember if or where we went to dinner (we may have swung into the pizza place we both worked at called Gigglebees, then gone for a drive).

I had a used early 90s Ford Mustang convertible with a killer stereo that my dad had installed for my birthday. I do know we had the music cranked up, and decided to just drive (so that we wouldn’t have to go home). I’d gone to school with her for years and slowly realized my crush on her which finally led me to set up this date. My impression was that she had felt the same way for even longer than I had. To be out in the winter snow, music loud, and the entire world ahead had wiped away anything but excitement. That’s how it feels to be young.

It also might’ve wiped away common sense.

As I turned onto the dirt road, which narrowly wound between the trees of the hilly woods, I realized I may have made a mistake. We were already halfway down a steep hill on the road as I looked ahead and saw the even steeper and longer climb back up. I also took a moment to note that there was a precipitous drop-off to the side of me (one of those parts of the forest that we someone running down in a movie, before they trip and roll for the next 45 seconds, gaining speed until landing in a creek). Long story short, that Mustang was rear wheel drive. That snow was slick. I was able to get enough momentum to get my front tires onto the top of the hill…but just couldn’t make the last push to get the back axle onto level ground. I backed up once and reversed as far up the hill behind me as possible for a more concerted effort…same result. I did it again. Same. On the third reversal, my tires were trapped in the grooves in the snow pile and kicked to the side of the road, dragging us toward that steep embankment. There was no escaping the trajectory…

So I stopped. See, I wasn’t a total dumbass. I was unbelievably embarrassed, at this point. And it only got worse when I admitted we needed to call our parents for help. Both sets seemed very suspicious and annoyed with their kids. My parents tied a tow rope between their suburban and my mustang and dragged me out of the valley. Then, my mom came back to the car and said (verbatim) ‘…were you here necking!?’
That’s about the time I knew I’d have to transfer schools and could never see Kendell IRL again.

I drove her home (I think…unless her parents had come to get her? I can vividly remember how dark that night sky was, and the feels inside…but details get shaky as I probably and genuinely repressed some of it). I saw her at school on Monday - Mom wouldn’t let me drop out - and I never knew how to approach that humiliation, so Kendell and I never went out again. She was in my AP chem class, and I think I got partnered with her a few weeks later, but by then a friend of mine had used my shameful date to boost his own confidence into asking Kendell on a date night. Theirs was more successful. (yadda yadda yadda I found Corri - yadda yadda Unanswered Prayers ;c)

Elvie Shane, with that Chief-resonant twang and lyrical phrasing that also fuels the Church fan in me, tackles memories of a girl who wasn’t right with him and ended up liking his friend better - he brings that fire on this one! I usually won’t mention two artists in a sentence with each other because I don’t want it to take away from the greatness. I’m only doing it here because I don’t want you to miss this song! You love country music, which is why you’re here, but if you specifically love an electric guitar, driving beat, 70s evocative bgvs, and that shameless soul-sung vocal - emoting everything - this is your dude!

Elvie takes us straight into the story of life, with concise lyrics that make the point alongside minute details that just happen to set up a killer payoff on the b-line. Dammit, just turn this on, then lets book a show: Fleetwood Mac, Eric Church and Elvie Shane!

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “County Roads”

“Losing Sleep Over A Girl” - Canaan Smith

I clearly know about a date gone-wrong, that leads to a parental reckoning regarding time and decisions. That’s what was pulled into my mind upon the first lyric to the final track on Canaan Smith’s new album. But then it gets to a lyric about lying in bed thinking of her all night, and a new memory is evoked. About a girl that snuck up on me. I was traveling for work (in this case, I was in Oahu) and had realized that a new acquaintance was on my mind more and more. I found myself just wanting to fly home so I could tell her that I didn’t want to be in the Friend Zone! On those nights (not quite as sleepless as the ones described in this song), I had felt a lot of anxiety about how long it would take to get home & contemplated calling her to just say it…but I waited patiently (maybe texted to stay in touch) and then couldn’t help myself when I got back to LA.

I asked her to come over and show off her new Mini Cooper…but I asked this newish friend of mine to do that around 10:30pm. If we’d been dating, I knew the intentions would clearly have been something else. Since we were literally ‘just friends’ I still thought this to be a very late hour to ask a newish pal to drop by and take me for a spin in her new car. And I did kinda realize that it would indicate where her head was at in regard to friend/crush.

Corri came over ;c) We drove her car around North Hollywood & I remember thinking that the GPS system sucked and was hard to understand. I didn’t want to say anything and ruin her new car excitement, but I hated that car literally evermore because of that GPS and was very happen when she sold it and got a Jeep. I guess that’s a tangent - back to the night. I was a complete gentleman, of course, but that evening I DID say “I have a confession” and told her that I didn’t want to be her friend anymore and I’d really like to take her on a date and be something more. She said yes! And she went home, but I was so excited I didn’t get to bed until around 4am. Losin’ Sleep Over a Girl.

UPDATE: Married her. We had 2 boys until the 9th anniversary of the first time she and I had gone out to dinner - at Baby Blues BBQ on Sunset Blvd - and on February 2nd, this year, we met a new girl to lose sleep over.

Canaan Smith writes a song about his life, shares it with the world, and as he sings his story (every. time.) I feel like I’ve just opened a photo album of my own memories. Its so organic with him that it almost doesn’t seem like the magic that it is, until I start comparing it to other albums or artists - in most other cases, I might have a REALLY strong attachment to songs, or I’ll love the message or the vibe of an album…but not often does an entire collection demand that I look at the photos of my own life. Its phenomenal! This song is the final bookend to an incredible album he just dropped today called High Country Sound

If I hadn’t already dropped a barn-burner from Elvie Shane on this list (above), I’d be pointing you toward “Catch Me If You Can” featuring Brent Cobb (it lives up to the title!). As a songwriter fan and a man in love with two ladies in my life, I went into this song with my fingers crossed that it would play out as I hoped. And “Losing Sleep Over a Girl” not only delivers a conclusion to this album that lit up my world…it surprised me with the memories that were evoked by the very first lyric.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “Losing Sleep Over A Girl”

“So Far So Good” - Kaylee Rose

I love Tik Tok. I can’t be alone. I was there when there were about 9 parkour runners, 3 DIY influencers, and a handful of people who were ALL doing “The Git Up” dance and then some great moves that Corri taught me to “Blinding Lights” then my attempt at doing a staircase shuffle, which ended up in a foot injury and drywall repair (still posted @tybentli)

My algorithm now knows what I’m there for - mostly DIY, parkour, and country music - and a few weeks ago, an artist I know pretty well started just popping up in my FYP every time. New videos every time. And I was like “dang, Kaylee! you’re on top of it!” She was dedicated! Most of the posts were around a song she’d written about her dog…but then she shared this one, and it BLEW UP!

Kaylee will do this: she’ll sneak up on you with a bat and homer a song into you head. It happened with “Love Makes You Blind” and (especially approaching Mothers Day) “Look Like You.” This song just connects!

Tik Tok helped it explode, and she wasted no time getting into the studio. For everyone who has trouble with their thoughts after a breakup and maybe has to spend 2 months falling asleep in their living room to animated films (that’s coming later in this blog), here’s a little help focusing on the upside of a let down.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “So Far So Good”

“The Killing Fields” - Rosanne Cash w. John Leventhal

One of the most powerful things to happen in 2020 - a year that would be defined by a pandemic - was the unavoidable message of racism. The more powerful outcome was something I will remember forever. There was an immediate demand for acknowledgment of the injustice that’s engrained in our systems, patterns and actions as a whole. No honest denial of it is possible for me. I don’t know how anyone can look at things that happened, happen, and are happening and deny that racism and those that encourage it are still in our midst.

I’ve always attempted to be not just accepting of people, but someone who encourages what I believe is right. And 2020 left me stark and ashamed to not have more knowledge about the things I believe in. I was making small impacts, but I hadn’t dug - ruthlessly dug - into the details and figures in history that are the real story of the battle. I didn’t dig - deeply dig - into understanding WHERE the systemic issues I was aware of had actually stemmed from, and I didn’t dig to the roots (which are where you find the real answers about change) until last year.

I most-vividly remember the 4 days I was relegated to our guest bedroom, upstairs, while Corri and the kids stayed at her dad’s home in Atlanta. We were re-staining our hardwood floors, and repainting the living room - so I had plastic sheeting that tarped off the sawdust flying up from the main level, and we sealed the living room completely so that I had to go out the front door and in through the garage if I needed something from the kitchen. I lived 23 of 24 hours in our guest room (where the recording studio, bed, desk, and tv exist). I spent many hours on deep dives into history and people. I was online, on diversity calls, exploring music, and watching historical movies, and modern documentaries. I finally had facts and beliefs that were based on a near doctorate level thesis study. (is that a thing? I didn’t go to college for too many years). I know more about what I don’t know and what I still want to know, and I haven’t let go of the desire and actions to be what we now know as anti-racist.

While I was in my guest-bedroom, Rosanne Cash was watching this same reinvigorated revolution. She was was reliving her experiences seeing racism in action and wanting to scream a message of acceptance and change. One of the reasons I love Johnny Cash is for the integrity he displayed in his passionate fight for equality and humanity - albums like Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian and songs like “Man In Black” were a message.

Rosanne Cash (alongside her husband John Leventhal) picks up that mantle, where her father left off. The storytelling and blunt delivery of what they see in front of them are a tie that binds their music. Direct. Poignant. Challenging.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “The Killing Fields”

“Wouldn’t Hurt” - Redferrin

I specifically remember a breakup in Little Rock, AR. It was the first town I’d lived in that wasn’t driving distance to family (unless 14 hours is “driving distance”) and I wasn’t really sure how to handle a breakup in a new town - with no one to lean on in the way you can lean on family. I also didn’t believe that it was my right to need that…cuz I’d made the decision and been the ‘breaker.’

Instead, I felt super lonely, and hoped I’d made the right choice and spent basically 2 months cooped up in my one bedroom apartment each night.
*actually, I was doing an evening radio show, so I was at work until around 2am, and most weekend evenings I had to host a party at a club or something, downtown LR.

Bigger than self-imposed isolation, though (and maybe I shouldn’t admit this) was that my mind would NOT stop reeling, especially if I watched some adrenaline-fueled movie, so…rather than going into my bedroom, I fell asleep on the futon (not even dropped to a bed, just couch shaped) watching Disney movies. Often Monster’s Inc (was that Disney-pixar?) and feeling alone. I don’t remember what finally got my ass off that couch, but probably just the passing of enough time. And the realization that I was being a nerd.

I FaceTime’d Redferrin the other day and caught up with him the first time ahead of his appearance on my Apple Music Radio show, this week. I totally get why T-Hub wanted to hang with him, and I learned about his background with music - he’d trade performances for entry fees at his Dirt Bike competitions.

Hearing where he came from, I didn’t expect this song - if you heard his debut single “Red In My Last Name” and cuts he’s got with The Recklaws and Dean Brody, you know he can bring a party! Instead, Red shows that he’s a real boy.

This song in particular really perked my ear in the way that music must ping FGL’s. Knowing the artists that have peaked Tyler and BK’s interest and garnered support in the past, you can hear why Redferrin fits into the group. The drawl and lyrics are rootsy and cool.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “If You Change Your Mind”

Its Not Over

I’ve got WAY more new music to share, along with my general favorites to play on The Ty Bentli Show, right now. There are stompers and heartbreakers, and you’ll love it start to finish:

TY BENTLI’S DAILY SOUNDTRACK is on my homepage on Apple Music.

FIRST 5 - Start With These New Releases 4/2