Ty's FIRST 5 - Start With These New Songs 1/22/21

This weekend is full of songs that grab my attention! As you’re getting ready for the insane amount of music that will be pouring out from musicians who spent 2020 in quarantine, alone with only their thoughts, here is a peek at what’s to come!

Lainey Wilson is the album to be excited about, and I’ve been curious to hear what Willie Jones had put together for his debut ever since the anthem of Broadway lit up early 2020 (not the Great White Way in NYC, the second Broadway I’ve lived within walking distance of…Lower Broad in the Music City). They’ve both got a song on the list below.

Rather than spend the literal hours it takes to find the music you’d want to share with your friends, I did the work. Let’s GO!

Here are the FIRST 5 songs to start with…

“Neon Diamonds” - Lainey Wilson

I can’t tell you how anxious I am for Lainey Wilson’s new album to drop!  Remember when Luke Combs arrived, and we could tell he was something exciting - Lainey is that same type of artist. She is rooted in who she is, and EVERY song on her upcoming Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ is phenomenal!

“Neon Diamonds” is a tumbleweed’s wedding song. It rocks, it’s Country, and it defines Lainey through her vernacular.  The “downtown” references are for universality as Lainey actually hangs out a skip away from Nashville’s Lower Broadway (try a lil closer to Music Row). Her bar may be on Division Street, but her music will unite us as fans of badass country!  Bring on the album (2/19)

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “Neon Diamonds”

“American Dream” - Willie Jones

The truth behind my love of music and my choice to center my career around hosting a radio show is that it boils down to a desperate desire to create a place where other people feel they are welcomed. As a listener, I hope that you recognize how important people are to me, and that I want everyone to feel like they belong, are appreciated and deserve an equal opportunity for friendships, ambitions, and love. Thats it. Music offers a fundamental truth that allows us all to connect. Its a kinship built on a common understanding (thanks to the insights or incredible art in a song) conveyed by a song that creates an emotional reaction. Emotion can become logic and logic can become action. In comes Willie Jones.

Willie may have built anticipation amongst country fans after a song that was representative of a different slice of life - the party atmosphere that existed in full force in Nashville along a wild street filled with honky-tonks (that were often filled with Bachelor and Bachelorette parties - pre-pandemic Nashville was the top destination for that particular celebration) - capturing the experience with “Bachelorettes on Broadway”

For me, country music was built on the recognition of the grit and difficulties in life. Songs were created to honor the people who face these daily obstacles and to act as a reminder that there was a full nation of people who lived that way, too. Whether it is a heartache that was tempered by alcohol, or the grind of a long work week, or Johnny Cash raising awareness for harsh realities through songs like “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” country music addressed these realities and painted them as a surmountable or even found the bright side!

Willie Jones delivers that exact same country music here - painting a truth, and doing so with optimism and reverence, while still acknowledging the harsh truths of the present. This song speaks so loudly to my values and it fuels a fire that is essential to become an active part of creating a better world. The video is next level powerful, and Apple Music has a FILM EDITION of Willie’s brand new album RIGHT NOW - while you’re checking that out, specifically hit up the title track, and learn more about Willie as a man through the first song on the album “Country Soul”

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “American Dream”

“One Day” - Bexar

The “x” in Bexar is silent - named after the Texas county where band-member Ryan was raised; sidetone: you DO pronounce the “x” in Texas - or not. Or both. I don’t care, I’m not your mother.

This band is very nonchalant about how cool they are. They met at the true home of country music fans: CMA Fest and are built for a Kenny Chesney arena tour. That Kenny invitation would probably show up on the “one day” they’re singing about here. This song is the inside of MY head - so I’m hoping it reflects your own inner thoughts, and points out how likely it is that no one actually has it all figured out!

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “One Day”

“Cheap Thrills” - Sykamore

Similar to the silent “x” in Bexar (above), the “Jordan Ostrom” in Sykamore is silent. Her given name isn’t a secret, but as you listen to her music you’ll understand why she felt compelled to find a memorable pseudonym that reflected the rootsy, organic sound of her music.

And while I’m comparing details of Sykamore with details of other artists, much like Thomas Rhett, she was discovered by TR’s daddy, Rhett Akins 🤪 I loved seeing Rhett’s quote back up Sykamore’s decision to go with an ambiguous name change (who knows in this misinformation era if its a true quote, but I like it anyway): “I read her name, I was curious…I saw her face, I was intrigued…I heard her voice, I was done.”

”Cheap Thrills” works great for those years when we have learned to enjoy life without extra piles of cash, but seems even more connected after a year of being forced to redefine how we experience “fun.” In a socially distanced world, this song points to the accessible thrills that exist. It’ll leave you creating your own list of the cheap thrills you’ve experienced in your own life, and it leaves me wanting to turn off the lazy thrills of Netflix and social media and go LIVE all these truly possible things.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “Cheap Thrills”

“Can’t Fool Your Own Blood” - Sam Williams

Immediately being able to identify an artist through their song is a key ingredient of talent. Sam Williams is not only recognizable vocally, I immediately begin “squinting my ears” (thanks for that modern colloquialism, Devin Dawson) squinting my voice as his arpeggio’d guitar groove kicks in. Its…familiar..

We’re at a point in country music where newcomers are creating more excitement than established stars. There’s been a surge of creativity and Sam is a tie between history and the future. Grandson of Hank Williams, song of Hank, Jr. And its literally undeniable that he’s inherited the X factor gene.

It started for me from the first verse of “The World: Alone” (and continued with “Shuteye” which you’ve heard on my show on Apple Music Radio). I went back and revisited the Williams family (he’s got some talented siblings, as well), and that’s where I first heard this new song - a past showcase, where Sam and sisters, Holly, and Hilary, celebrated the music that is literally a Family Tradition for them. They played hits from their lineage, and then the music that they are creating and this was a standout.

I’m super lucky to have grown up with an extraordinarily dependable family. As I grow, though, I see the troubles or insecurities in myself and the people around me. Most of us hide the pain, just to save others from having to deal with things that should be our own problem. Here, Sam sings about the cracks and clues in a loved-one’s attempt to mask their pain and weaknesses. If it exists in your world, you can’t hear this song unscathed.

LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: “Can’t Fool Your Own Blood”