@Kelli Denney

Few things can turn heartache into humor like a good country song. With a little tough love and a lot of wisdom, these songs are calibrated to help shake your blues and get you back on your feet—because it isn't about the hits, it's about how you take them. Our editors regularly update this playlist. If you like a song, add it to your library.

As much as it tips its hat to tradition, country music is always moving forward. This set highlights that next wave of newcomers, conversation starters, trailblazers, and risk-takers—names and tracks you might not have heard before but we figure you might as well get used to. Our editors are always rotating new stuff in, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

From Willie and Waylon through alt-country and Americana, country music has a long history of artists planted in the present but still connected to tradition. These songs offer an alternative to country-pop polish—modern country that calls back to the form at its most stripped-down and direct. Our editors regularly update this playlist. If you like a song, add it to your library.

Whether it comes from Nashville or beyond—nodding to tradition or looking to the future—if it’s new and it’s country, you’ll find it right here. Our editors update selections here regularly, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Few sounds capture the American spirit—its hopes and dreams, its heartache and resilience—like country music. A mix of classic and contemporary, celebratory and solemn, these are the tracks that salute the red, white, and blue. We update this playlist regularly, so if you like a tune, add it to your library.

Listen to a good country ballad and you get the feeling that there's nothing people haven't been through—and nothing they can't get over. Heartbreak, disappointment, even death: What sets these songs apart isn't how sad they are, but how resilient. In other words, here are some for the hard times—and the better times that come after. Our editors regularly update this playlist. If you like a song, add it to your library.

A handpicked selection of lesser-known gems and album cuts from the classic country archives. Our editors regularly update this playlist—if you hear something you like, add it to your library.

Sometimes you need a little boost to get into the saddle. This country playlist is designed to rouse you from your fog and give you that get-up-and-go. Whether you’re waking up, working out, or just trying to stay motivated while getting down to chores, we’ve got you covered. Our editors add new tracks each week, so if you hear something you like, add it to your library. Now let’s get after it.

Country music exploded in the ’90s. Early in the decade, stars like Brooks & Dunn and Shania Twain had people line-dancing to their crisp, tight beats. By the end of it, they—alongside a new generation of stars—were selling out stadiums and topping the pop charts—feats almost unheard of even a decade earlier. Of course, the sound of country music grew alongside its audience. With female stars often in the lead, artists energized their records with the flashy guitar sounds and big production tricks of classic rock and metal without ever losing their signature twang.

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 Kacey Musgraves with her buzzed-about Miranda Lambert collaboration “Horses and Divorces.” Off Musgraves’ just-released seventh studio album <i>Middle of Nowhere</i>, “Horses and Divorces” is a surprising collaboration from the pair of country stars, who publicly haven’t been the best of friends in the years since Lambert recorded the 2011 Musgraves co-write “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Fences can be mended, though, and on “Horses and Divorces” the artists find common ground in their Texas roots and sharp senses of humor, turning in a wry, winking track with a Tex-Mex sound. Check back here early and often for updates, and if you hear something you like, add it to your library.