@Mckinnon Fox

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Created with FreeYourMusic.com where you can transfer playlists to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

“Hey Siri, play the A Day in Nashville playlist.”

“Hey Siri, play the Tailgating playlist.”

This playlist tracks what’s happening from the heart of the country scene to its outer edges. Find fan favorites you already love next to breakout stars and emerging voices. Topping the list this week is Ella Langley with her HARDY collaboration “Never Met Anyone Like You,” the latest single from the quickly rising country star. The track starts off sweet enough, as Langley tells a lover they’re one of a kind. By the song’s end, though, the vibe shifts—crunchy guitar kicks into gear, Langley dials up the emotion in her vocals, and it’s revealed that the “one in a million” love interest is actually a bit of a creep. Equal parts playful and painful, the song makes the most of the contrast between Langley’s agile twang and HARDY’s rock ’n’ roll grit, with an infectious melody to boot. This spring, Langley shared with fans that she is back in the studio working on a follow-up to her acclaimed full-length debut album <i>hungover</i>. Check back here early and often for updates, and if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

In the ‘10s, country hit an intriguing divide. On one side of the fence, there was the full flowering of hip-hop and R&B influences; on the other were the mavericks stirring things up by combining old-school roots and a kind of neo-outlaw stance. If Luke Bryan's stomping "That's My Kind of Night" and Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" represent the club bangers, then Kacey Musgraves' gently subversive "Follow Your Arrow" and Chris Stapleton's burly "Tennessee Whiskey" exemplify the other side. And with such 20-somethings as Kelsea Ballerini and octogenarian Willie Nelson alike earning attention in the era, ’10s country had something for everybody.

The Trailblazers playlist celebrates groundbreaking artists and sounds past and present that shape—and challenge—country music, shining a spotlight on risk-takers who have helped expand the genre by breaking down barriers. Trailblazers leans heavily into diverse voices, presenting stories and perspectives from underrepresented groups and allies. It also focuses on sonic diversity, highlighting artists who refuse to limit their creativity to fit a certain mold and have redefined the genre along the way. Tune in to hear a new perspective on country music and discover your next favorite artist. And if you hear something you like, be sure to add this playlist to your Apple Music library.

Heartbreak hits differently when it’s delivered through the crestfallen croon of a country singer. Laid over swells of pedal steel, that unabashedly earnest delivery has always set country’s ballads apart. While sounds and styles have evolved since the golden days of artists like Porter Wagoner and Loretta Lynn, some things never change—the songs tend to burn slow, they’re heavy with feelings, and they draw out some of the most stirring vocal performances the genre’s ever known. As always, when it comes to country music, it’s the lyrics that elevate the music. The best songwriters can make listeners swear a song’s images were lifted straight from their own lives, whether those narratives find their homes in the shuffling vintage of the genre’s early ballads, countrypolitan’s sentimental arrangements, or the ambitious production of pop-country torch songs in the ‘90s and beyond. Regardless of era, the country ballad’s allure is eternal—people will always seek to hear that they aren’t alone in their feelings.

Whether you’re just waking up or in the homestretch of a tough workout, here’s a set of stomping tunes—the kind that tip their hats to outlaw country and Southern rock in equal measure—to give you that extra boost. We regularly rotate fresh music into this collection of new and recent songs; if you hear something you like, add it to your library.