This week’s crop of new music features Luke Combs getting “Back in the Saddle,” Greensky Bluegrass teams with Billy Strings for a new spin on a Greensky classic, while Karissa Ella details the fortunate losses that come with an evolution of confidence.
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Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.
Luke Combs, “Back in the Saddle”
Fresh off his determined anthem with Bailey Zimmerman, “Backup Plan,” Combs again conjures feelings of passion, strength, ambition and competitiveness in his latest single, which comes with an accompanying video starring Combs with NASCAR stalwarts Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Petty. “This time I’m takin’ what’s mine/ Like a long lost out West outlaw outta his mind,” he sings over searing guitars and a steely, relentless rhythm. This song feels like a multi-award winner and mainstay chart-topper declaring his intentions to remain leading the pack when the checkered flag waves.
Greensky Bluegrass feat. Billy Strings, “Reverend”
As bluegrass stalwarts Greensky Bluegrass celebrate 25 years as a band, they welcome Billy Strings to lend guitar and vocals on a remake of the song “Reverend,” from the group’s 2008 album Five Interstates. Strings has covered the song in his own concerts, transforming the classic at times into a nearly 15-minute riveting jam session, so to hear Strings and Greensky Bluegrass on an official recorded version of the song just feels right. Two decades after the song’s release, lyrics such as “There are reasons I worry/ There are answers I fear” sound as relevant and as haunting as ever.
Karissa Ella, “Growing Wings”
Ohio native and Belmont University graduate Karissa Ella blends the polish of pop-country with her unmistakable twang and a neo-traditional sound as she crafts a musical narrative of heightening maturity and confidence. She catalogs the items and habits that she’s realized she’s had to leave behind as she evolves to new levels of self-assurance, eschewing everything from old jeans to former timid habits. “Growing Wings” is the title track to Ella’s new seven-song EP.
The Droptines, “Take Too Much”
Newly signed with Big Loud Texas, Austin-based band The Droptines play off of each other with ease, forging a primal fusion of country, Americana, blues and rock on their new song, “Take Too Much.” Frontman Conner Arthur details a relationship so fledgling that “it’s too soon to talk about her.” That relationship seemingly takes a dire turn, as he quickly follows with the lyrics, “I’m knee deep now/ Another hole I dug my way down in.” This barnstorming, fervent rock instrumentation, spearheaded by Authur’s burly voice, melds to create a surefire crowd pleaser.
Jake Worthington, “My Home’s in Oklahoma”
Neo-traditionalist Jake Worthington continues release one ace song after another, with his latest, a slice of Western swing in “My Home’s in Oklahoma.” Written by Worthington, Will Banister and Roger Springer, the song centers on a Texas native who finds love can lead him to do things he never thought he’d do–like leave his beloved Lone Star State to be with his lover in Oklahoma. Swirling fiddle from Jeneé Fleenor and bright piano from Gordon Mote lead this groove, further elevating Worthington’s George Jones-esque vocal timbre.