People make a big deal out of "authenticity" in country music, as if acoustic guitars and washtub basses were a crafted aesthetic and not simply the tools artists had at their disposal mid-century. But if Hank Williams showed up today, perhaps he'd be in a hoodie, making beats on Logic. His grandson, Sam Williams, knows he's probably bumming people out by embracing modern sounds and not wearing a 10-gallon hat. Still, he's clearly doing something right: He was just on Colbert.

"My grandfather passed away on the last day of 1952. This is pre-Elvis," Williams tells GRAMMY.com over Zoom from his parked vehicle. "I think that if he hadn't passed away so tragically, he would have been reinventing his sound and bringing rock elements into music that were spreading across America, you know what I'm saying? So it's not really fair to place those trappings." 

Granted, he still makes music with Americana leanings, but Williams is influenced by music from all over the place, including hip-hop and R&B. Still, his debut album, Glasshouse Children, which will be released August 20, ultimately just sounds like him—while preserving country's ability to throw a stark reality at your feet like a frying pan on tile. "I'd say I was forever changed after the fall of '99," he admits in the startling title track. "I got exposed at two years old to demons in my mama's eyes."

Sam Williams is a fresh signee to Universal Nashville and leaps into the music biz with boundless possibilities—far more, he says, than his father, Hank Jr., had when he got into the game. GRAMMY.com spoke with him about sloughing off the limitations of traditional country, Nashville's baby steps toward inclusivity and the artists he believes are pushing the envelope in the 2020s.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

With debut albums, there's often a lot of deliberation about what side of themselves the artist wants to present. What do you hope Glasshouse Children relays to the listener?

I try not to spend so much time thinking, "This is going to be so many people's first impression of me. What do I want to say? What do I want them to think?" and just try and go with my gut and be natural and write the songs that were coming to me and felt the most authentic to me, regardless of subject matter. With that being said, I wanted the first impression that this is really human and not industry-crafted. That these songs come from a really heartfelt and human place.

It's very richly recorded and listenable, but I don't get the sense you're trying to please everyone at once.

Thank you. A lot of the album was produced by Jaren Johnston. He's in a country-rock band called the Cadillac Three. It was really cool to do that because it helped bring some great musicality to it. There's a Nashville producer named Paul Moak who did "Glasshouse Children" and the interlude song, "Bulleit Blues." It was really awesome to bring in a live string section to bring the drama and the theatrics to the opener and bring the listener in.

I imagine you've written songs that reflect various parts of your psyche. What sides of you do these songs particularly contain?

Kind of a coming of age. A lot of contradiction and juxtaposition of loss and gain of heartbreak and healing. Of insecurity and stability. There are many songs that talk about trauma and upbringing and finding yourself.

The reality is that country music to the core is writing songs from the heart and telling your story and projecting your voice and hearing everyone else's voice and different perspectives.

Was there any trepidation about your surname being front-of-mind for people? Perhaps that it would be the horse leading the cart?

I think that with my last name, it's said a lot that it's a blessing and a curse. I think that the music does speak for itself. It's not too similar to any music that's been released in my family or in country music in general. But that being said, I know there's a tremendous amount of people who would like to see me just dressing in suits like my grandfather and forcing an accent that doesn't reflect where or how I grew up. 

They're probably a bit thrown off when they see me wearing an earring or doing something that doesn't feel "country music" to the core to them. But the reality is that country music to the core is writing songs from the heart and telling your story and projecting your voice and hearing everyone else's voice and different perspectives.

Trying to play dress-up with the trappings of the '40s and '50s is pretty silly. Buck Owens was a cutting-edge musician. If your granddad were around today, perhaps he'd play an electric guitar or a synthesizer.

Exactly. I always think that because my grandfather passed away on the last day of 1952. This is pre-Elvis. I think that if he hadn't passed away so tragically, he would have been reinventing his sound and bringing rock elements into music that were spreading across America, you know what I'm saying? So it's not really fair to place those trappings.

What, exactly, is the thesis of country music to you? The cliché is that it's all about the stories, but perhaps it's also a vehicle to deal with some of the roughest parts of being a human.

I studied the entertainment industry at Beaumont in Nashville for a few years, and I remember having a course about the Irish and Scottish songs that you can trace country music back to. They're talking about people getting killed and buried alive. Crazy, crazy songs. One of my dad's songs is called "Knoxville Courthouse Blues" and it's gruesome.

It's just a lot more than what it's been watered down to by Nashville standards nowadays. I just try to kind of keep that out because it would just dampen me as an artist, trying to do something that I didn't feel really connected to. 

I wouldn't say this is country music to me. But as an artist, I like to sing about things that make the listener a little uncomfortable in their head and bring up things they don't typically think about because that's the kind of music I enjoy listening to.

Sam Williams. Photo: Alexa King

What were you pursuing as far as a production aesthetic?

I wanted some of the songs to have the country sound of just acoustic guitars and some live piano in the background and things like that. But a lot of artists that I admire and respect in country have pushed the boundaries of what you can bring into songs. I'm a big Jason Isbell fan. 

I think if you took the songs to their core of the songwriting, they'd be country, but when you add all these different [elements] and production, it's just a whole new world of possibilities. It's also important to me to try and experiment a little bit and do a little bit more pop production. 

Like, "Hopeless Romanticism" and "The World: Alone" are definitely influenced by younger artists that I listen to. It goes without saying that I'm from a generation that primarily grew up listening to Top 40 radio and [remembers] hip-hop becoming the biggest genre. I'm very R&B-influenced.

I like to take little pieces of each genre of music and artist I listen to and see what I can craft and come up with. There's a lot of music you can listen to where you may really enjoy it, but you don't feel as connected to the artist. That's something I wanted to make sure can be done.

There's a lot of talk about Nashville's incremental steps toward diversity and inclusion. But on the main, is it still this conservative Iron Man you have to face off?

[Knowing laugh.] It definitely can feel like that. 

I just signed a record deal with Universal a few weeks ago. What is kind of interesting about that situation is that my record was done prior to entering talks with or signing with Universal, and that's not typically how it goes at all. Usually, a major label is very involved in the writing process and production and who's going to be on it and what the cover's going to look like.

I would say it definitely can feel like that and that's the norm, but Cyndi Mabe and Mike Dungan at Universal Nashville have really opened up and taken a risk by embracing me. It's definitely slowly changing. You may not see it every day. It comes down to support, but there are a lot of artists out there now pushing the envelope than there have been in the past 10, 15 years.

Yola is someone I think of off the top of my head. She's truly amazing, and a few years ago, she may not have been able to enter the scene like she has. Even queer artists like Brandi Carlile that have been in the industry for a long time are able to do more and be more [included] and seen in this landscape is telling that it's heading in the right direction, even if it's not as fast as we would like it to be.

Is there anything we didn't touch on about Glasshouse Children that you'd like to express?

[Long pause.] I would just like to convey that I wasn't really trying to put anything across that wasn't me while making this record. It's a melting pot of traditional country songwriting and storytelling that's in the DNA.

My dad was really forced into the music industry and started to make his own sound of music and do his own thing later in his career, after standing in his father's shadow for a long time. I'm grateful I got to do something that was uniquely me from the get-go instead of being "Hank, Jr. Jr." for however many years and then switching it up. I'm grateful for that and I hope it just surprises the ear of the average country listener and that people are pleasantly surprised by it.

Brooke Eden On Advancing LGBTQ+ Visibility In Country Music & Why She's "Got No Choice" But To Be Herself

When you're talking country music, New York City may not be the first place that springs to mind for most people. But New York has hosted a hearty country scene for decades. And the roots that were planted generations ago have led to new branches on the music's family tree ever since.

For as much as New York has always been a rock 'n' roll town, over the years, everything from punk to jam-band music has seeped into the country sounds born on the city's streets. Tethered to tradition but intoxicatingly idiosyncratic, NYC country has always somehow managed to be both closer to the music's core than much of what's emerging from Nashville, and more consistently surprising than most mainstream fare. And as the genre continues to boom around the globe, New York country is more abundant — and exciting — than ever. 

With a long history of local country music love and lore to look back on, it's only natural that a powerful pack of New York voices is bringing an earthy twang to the city's musical conversation today. The scene's current crop of true believers toss alt country, honky tonk and all manner of acoustic roots music into a blender, serving up a citified country cocktail. It may not be a breeding ground for commercial acts, but as alt-country singer/songwriter Mya Byrne points out, that's what makes NYC's ever-evolving country scene so special.

"The folks who get together to play country in New York City are sharing a passion," Byrne says. "This is not an industry town for country music. Nobody's trying to latch onto the next big thing here." To the contrary, country artists in town are doubling down on their commitment to creativity. "People here just take songwriting very seriously," Byrne adds. "I came up writing songs in New York City, where it was about the songs you were writing, it wasn't about trying to meet a metric."

A vast array of vibrant sounds rebound across the boroughs these days. Along with Byrne, Emily Duff offers homegrown country-soul; Jack Grace sardonically channels Tom Waits with a twang; The B-Breakers bring an all-instrumental Merle Haggard-meets-surf-rock sound; and duo The Demolition String Band provides heartbreaking harmonies. Sean Kershaw channels some cowpunk/rockabilly swagger into his sound, while Pete Mancini stirs some power pop hooks into his alt-country recipe. But those are only a few of the city's buzzy acts — and with a constantly shifting cast of intimate venues helping to keep the scene alive, NYC is overflowing with country talent.

"There's so many folks here who write good music and care about writing," continues Byrne, "not to get a hit but just to get ahead in their own artistic purposes. It's a town full of poets. It still is, even though it's become harder to do that here. I believe in it."

Below, take a look at how New York City's country scene got started, where it's at, and where it's headed.

The Early Days

New York has had a love affair with country music since long before the current crop of Americana urbanites were born. Carnegie Hall hosted Johnny Cash, the Carter Family and George Jones in 1962; the celebrated venue is also where Buck Owens recorded his milestone live album Carnegie Hall Concert in 1966. In the '70s, historic Union Square club Max's Kansas City found room among the rockers for the likes of Gram Parsons and Waylon Jennings. Eclectic, long-gone live music joints the Lone Star Cafe and the Bottom Line were go-to spots for outlaws (Jerry Jeff Walker, Kinky Friedman) and old-school legends (Doc Watson, Ernest Tubb) alike.

Folk music was always a factor in the NYC country equation too. "There's this longer, old connection to the country world in New York when you go back to people like ['60s Village folk legend] Dave Van Ronk and the people that hung around them," says Jack Grace. Byrne adds, "I just read about Buddy Holly and how he was hanging out with all the Village folkie kids like Ramblin' Jack Elliott before he died. And just thinking about Woody Guthrie at [musical gatherings at] Huddie Ledbetter's [aka Leadbelly's] house on E. 10th St. There's always been this tradition of roots music here."

When the '80s arrived, a loose-knit gang of local roots rockers including Joey Miserable & The Worms and Barbecue Bob & The Spareribs overlapped with twang merchants like The Surreal McCoys, The Blue Chieftains and The World Famous Bluejays (featuring future Diesel Only Records founder and SiriusXM Outlaw Country program director, Jeremy Tepper). By the '90s, those bands and bars fostered a fertile scene where future jam-band giants (Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler) played reliable dives like Nightingale's alongside local alt-country heroes like The Five Chinese Brothers.

"You really had two factions," explains Grace, who for a time was the booker of Midtown '90s/'00s country hotspot Rodeo Bar. "There were people from the jam bands who went more Americana and the punk rockers who went country."

In the late '90s, righteously ramshackle East Village joint 9C provided the kind of inclusive, no-nonsense vibe that welcomed ex-punks, hardcore honky tonkers, and anybody else curious enough to amble in. By the time the new millennium arrived, there'd be more room for everybody, with country fandom becoming an above-ground phenomenon in New York while the homegrown scene leaned harder into community-building. 

The Growing Appetite

The underground country scene remained strong in the early 2000s, with 9C remaining a popular local spot to boost rising acts, even as it changed to Banjo Jim's (an ode to widely beloved NYC soundman, musician, and downtown fixture Banjo Jim Croce) in 2005. Even the biggest NYC-born balladeer of the 21st century, Norah Jones, formed country band The Little Willies in 2003, and then all-female Americana trio Puss n Boots in '08, the latter graduating from Rodeo Bar pop-ups to the town's bigger rock venues like Bowery Ballroom. Jones has also chimed in on recordings by Grace and other local country cohorts.

Along the way, the popularity of mainstream country music continued to grow. Superstars like Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Jason Aldean were making regular stops at the city's big-ticket venues. By 2011, Nielsen reported that New Yorkers bought more country albums than anybody else in America.

As the city's interest in country music boomed, Karen Pittelman and Bryn Kelly created a forum for acts in the LGBTQIA+ community — like Byrne, a trans woman — with The Gay Ole Opry, which was founded in 2010 and based out of Brooklyn's Branded Saloon. Though it's now mostly inactive, Byrne considers the coalition's creation a "watershed moment" for the scene. "It became the centerpiece of how queer country artists gathered," she says. "Those were people in New York saying, 'I love country music and it belongs to me.'"

West Villager Emily Duff started her own scene by establishing her long-running monthly residency at stalwart neighborhood Tex-Mex spot Cowgirl in 2014. Once a month, Duff and her band (which has often included the likes of Bruce Springsteen keyboardist Charlie Giordano) rock the house in a three-hour blowout, sometimes sharing the night with a hand-picked special guest. "It's become a really cool room," she says, "and people who are out on tour, national acts, call me and say, 'Can I do something there?'" 

Cowgirl's hopping little sibling down by the Manhattan seaport, Cowgirl Seahorse — which opened in 2009 — has hosted NYC country lifers like Alan Lee & The Whiskey Bumps, Maynard & The Musties, and Sean Kershaw for their live music series on Monday nights.

On the more mainstream, fan-driven front, Queens-raised country fan Stephanie Wagner founded Country Swag in 2015 after recognizing New York City's ever-growing country music market. The brand hosts fan-focused happenings in conjunction with big-ticket country concerts in the New York metro area, as well as events around town that give rising Nashville acts an opportunity to shine.

But while the city's general interest in country music was still seemingly very much alive going into the 2020s, many folks are concerned that the bygone days of local live music joints are waning. Banjo Jims closed in 2011, and Brooklyn's gloriously grimy bar Hank's Saloon shuttered in 2018. As of press time, Leon Chase of Brooklyn outlaw country hellraisers Uncle Leon & The Alibis was in post-production on a documentary about Hank's; as he tells GRAMMY.com, the beloved bar "represented a level of truly unique character and personal freedom that I fear is disappearing from New York City forever."

The Promising Next Wave

Along with the city's never-ending real estate wars, the ever-increasing expense of being a New Yorker has also posed a threat to local musicians in recent years. 

"Where can you live for $500 a month rent and buy $2 taps at your country bar?" Jack Grace ponders. "That lifestyle seems pretty hard to attain now, and it used to just be the norm. The city's just gotten too expensive, and it's hard to make something grow." 

But like some mythical, unvanquishable beast, the New York country circuit keeps regenerating itself. When he's not playing in points North of NYC or touring the UK, Grace brings his room-rattling baritone and wry, rhythmically supple songs to local haunts like the Ear Inn and 11th St. Bar in Manhattan, and Superfine and Skinny Dennis in Brooklyn. 

Old Brooklyn standby Freddy's Bar — long ago forced from its original Prospect Heights home to make way for the Barclays Center arena after a fierce battle — is going strong in the South Slope, offering an unassuming haven for roots music of all stripes. Not unlike many music spots on the main drag in Nashville, most of these rooms are bars first and music venues second, but they help the scene continue to thrive on a real grassroots level.

Keeping with the country-folk connection, the nonprofit Jalopy Theatre and School of Music — a modest, homegrown organization tucked into an out-of-the-way corner of Red Hook, Brooklyn — has been seeding the local roots music scene since the mid-2000s. Since '09, Eli Smith of old-timey string band Down Hill Strugglers has partnered with them to present the annual, increasingly popular Brooklyn Folk Festival, which happens at the historic St. Ann's Church.

"We also present the Washington Square Park Folk Festival, the Brooklyn International Music Festival, free roots music in Bryant Park, and lots more," says Smith. "Since the founding of the festival, the old-school country music scene in New York City and nationally has blossomed in a wonderful way."

The BFF holds space for country bands like Wilson & Walsh and The Slide Stops, who are also the house band for a continually sold-out line-dance/two-step series at Jalopy called Burstin' Boots. "No one ever feels left out and everyone always has a great time," Jalopy/BFF Communications Director Natalie Jordan says of the dances. "It's been a real cornerstone of joy for me for the past few years."

Another country dance party that's always sold out happens every month at Gotscheer Hall, a roomy German pub in Ridgewood. Honky Tonkin' in Queens is run by the country DJ team Charles Watlington and Jonny Nichols (best known as DJ Moonshine & DJ Prison Rodeo). National country acts like Charley Crockett and John Paycheck (Johnny's son) play there alongside locals like Laura Cantrell and Nathan Xander.

Brooklyn's bluegrass faithful keep their chops up with the Sunday Bluegrass Sessions led by Sean Kershaw at the South Slope's Prospect Bar & Grill, as well as the Bluegrass by the Bridge jams at Delia's Lounge in Bay Ridge. The long-running Tone's Bluegrass Jam happens Saturdays at Red Hook roots music institution Sunny's Bar. 

On the troubadour side, singer Katie Curley — perhaps the closest NYC comes to claiming its own Emmylou Harris — helps Brooklyn to cry in its beer when she hosts her weekly Sad Song Happy Hour singer/songwriter roundup at Young Ethel's. Sitting right alongside the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Mama Tried couldn't occupy a more urban setting, but as the Sunset Park bar's Merle Haggard-honoring name suggests, it opens its arms to Americana (along with lots of other things), hosting the likes of rootsy troubadour Cliff Westfall and country-rockers Girls on Grass.

These days, Mya Byrne favors queer-owned/operated Bed-Stuy club C'mon Everybody, Bar Freda on the Brooklyn/Queens border in Ridgewood, and Lower East Side institution Parkside Lounge. "Kipp Elbaum, who used to run Hank's Saloon, has done an incredible job of making that a welcoming, inclusive space," she says. Stud Country's Tuesday night Queer Country Dance Socials are another indication of New Yorkers finding ways to make the country scene more accessible to the queer country crowd.

Nassau County — NYC's sprawling suburban neighbor to the East — is in the mix, too. When its native son Pete Mancini isn't touring solo or as accompanist/opening act for legendary songsmith Jimmy Webb and filling in those famous Glen Campbell guitar lines on "Wichita Lineman," he frequently takes his righteously rocking Americana all over Long Island, from The People's Pub in Bayport to Swing the Teapot in Floral Park.

Challenges notwithstanding, the city's appetite for country music culture seems to be increasing almost by the day. Within just weeks of press time, two new country-themed bars opened in Manhattan — Daisy Dukes Honky Tonk down in the Financial District, and Common Country Bar in Kips Bay — that will each offer live music a few nights a week.

In a city where the only constant is impermanence, country venues will come and go as they long have. But as long as locals keep twanging around town, it seems there will always be ears out there for it. Among those carrying New York's country flame forward, there's no single style that dominates, but they all share a few core qualities: a distaste for BS, an untarnished affection for the sound of American roots, and a commitment to pushing the music forward.

"I think it's always going to thrive," says Emily Duff. "Country music is part of New York City. It rings the bell of authenticity, and New York City is always going to crave something like that."

Ahead of the 2025 GRAMMYs on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, the Recording Academy invites you to relive the magic of music with two unforgettable "GRAMMY Greats” specials airing this December on CBS and Paramount+. 

Each special offers a unique and unforgettable way to celebrate the magic of music, featuring legendary performances, compelling stories, and never-before-seen content.

“GRAMMY Greats: The Stories Behind The Songs”

Air Date: Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, 9 PM ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+

Co-hosted by Mickey Guyton and Gayle King, this two-hour special dives into the inspiring stories behind the winners of the coveted Song Of The Year GRAMMY Award. The show will feature newly recorded interviews, previously aired performances, and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

Featured Artists & Songs:

Adele – "Hello"

Alicia Keys – "Fallin’"

Amy Winehouse – "Rehab"

Billie Eilish & Finneas – "Bad Guy"

Bonnie Raitt – "Just Like That"

John Mayer – "Daughters"

Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald – "What A Fool Believes"

Sting – "Every Breath You Take"

…and many more!

“GRAMMY Greats: The Most Memorable Moments”

Air Date: Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, 9 PM ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+

Co-hosted by Jimmy Jam and Gayle King, this two-hour special celebrates some of the most memorable moments in GRAMMY history. Combining newly recorded interviews with previously aired performances, iconic artist duets, and a behind-the-scenes look at how the GRAMMY team responds to unexpected events, this special is a must-watch.

Featured Artists:

Brandi Carlile

Dua Lipa

Keith Urban

St. Vincent

Chris Martin

…and many more!

How To Watch

Mark your calendars and gather your loved ones for these unmissable specials airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Relive iconic GRAMMY moments, discover the stories behind your favorite songs, and celebrate the legacy of music this holiday season. Don’t forget to join the conversation on social media using #GRAMMYHolidaySpecial!

Stay tuned for more unforgettable moments at the 2025 GRAMMYs, Music's Biggest Night, on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 8 pm E.T. / 5 pm P.T. on CBS and Paramount+.

A little over a year ago, Canadian singer/songwriter Noeline Hofmann was only a few months into making a full-time go at her music career, networking and playing small local shows around her hometown in rural Alberta. Armed with a powerful, husky voice and a remarkable clarity and acuity in her songwriting, Hofmann quickly proved that her music resonated well beyond her home province.

"In a life having the upper hand's a myth/ Your only fighting chance is too stubborn to quit," the rising country star sings on her debut single, "Purple Gas," which she released as a duet with Zach Bryan in June. The song didn't just become her breakout hit — it helped her check off career milestones within a matter of months.

In 2024 alone, the now-21-year-old released the duet with Bryan and put out her first EP of the same name; signed a record deal; landed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; opened for Colter Wall, Wyatt Flores, Charley Crockett, Turnpike Troubadours, and Shane Smith & the Saints; played Americanafest; and made her Grand Ole Opry debut. And she already has a promising 2025 lined up, opening for 49 Winchester and playing Stagecoach in April, and performing at Under the Big Sky Festival in July.

Hofmann's rise stands in contrast to the characters whose stories propelled it — the lyrical, haunting "Purple Gas" is about the dual resignation and resilience she witnessed in rural agricultural communities growing up, and working as a ranch hand in Manitoba after high school. "You can dull the edge, you can look ahead/ But can't get there, it goes on forever," she sings, neatly laying out the delicate balance between determination to keep going, and acceptance of the hand you've been dealt.

The rest of Hofmann's debut album includes stories of similar mettle: the dual intoxication and grit of "Rodeo Junkies"; a scorned but steadfast woman, "One Hell of a Woman"; perseverance through tragedy, "August"; and the slyly autobiographical "Lighting in July (Prairie Fire)" about an underestimated person. Each song is a lesson she's learned, which gave her the determination to go for her dreams when she got the chance.

"Growing up where I did, there was no real life example of [a music career]," she tells GRAMMY.com. "It really felt outlandish to even admit something like that to somebody, but it was always in my heart."

Before the pandemic, Hofmann, new driver's license in hand, planned to try to play shows, now that she could drive herself. Instead, with live music on hold — and no interest in going to college online — she took the ranch hand job, motivated by her musical ambitions to keep going through the long hours.

"It's always been a North Star, no matter what I've been doing," Hofmann says. "The lessons I've learned in other jobs and work experience and grit, it's all connected."

Fresh off her first official headlining shows, Hofmann talked to GRAMMY.com about her whirlwind breakout year. In her own words, she reflects on some of the biggest moments.

Releasing Her First Song

I was eating breakfast on Canadian Thanksgiving last year, when my phone started blowing up. Two days earlier, I'd thrown up my new song, "Purple Gas" on TikTok, without much thought, because I'd never had a successful video on there. When I woke up the next morning, it was kind of comical how many notifications I had. People really connected to the video.

Then I got a message from a photographer in Montana, who suggested I post the song to Instagram Reels, too. When I did, I messaged him. At the time, I didn't think much of his response, which was something like, "Oh my buddy Zach is going to like this." But when I woke up that next morning, my phone was full of messages from friends and I had a notification that Zach Bryan had shared my video. I didn't think it was real.

I messaged Zach to thank him, still not expecting anything else to come of it. But we started chatting and he said, "You know, this would be amazing on The Belting Bronco" [Bryan's acoustic video series recorded in the back of his 1988 Ford Bronco] and he invited me down.

After I recorded that video in December, we kept in touch, and Zach eventually told me he wanted to put "Purple Gas" on his next album, and asked if we could record it as a duet. I didn't know it was going to be a single until he called me and asked about releasing it a few days later. His team helped me get a Spotify profile set up, [we released it June 6,] and "Purple Gas" debuted at No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts on June 22.

Signing To La Honda Records

Colter Wall was my gateway drug into modern alternative country and Americana music. My parents are both music fans and we listened to a lot of classic country, but I didn't hear a lot of contemporary music growing up.

Around the time I started to discover my own music tastes, my uncle played me Colter Wall; he had his album Colter Wall on vinyl and we were just hanging out shooting pool and he put on the record. I'll never forget that, because I couldn't believe that music I heard was made recently; I fell in love with it.

It really inspired me, especially because Colter is Canadian. I'd always had a dream to make my own music, and Colter's music gave me a modern example. Colter was on La Honda Records, so I thought they were so cool, and discovered and loved other La Honda artists. I loved how intentional they were, it just felt so real. We're in a resurgence right now of the true songwriter and the true artist. And to me, La Honda stood for that authenticity that I aspired to.

Going On Her First Tour

One of my most memorable shows this year truly was night one of the Charley Crockett tour. I'd never been on tour before, and I will never forget it. There was so much build up to this tour and so many unknowns, so much energy going into that first night. I will always remember that first step onto stage and thinking that it felt like the first step of the rest of my life; it felt like it was a really monumental moment.

Night one was in Vancouver [British Columbia] at the Commodore Ballroom, a legendary Canadian music venue, which as a Canadian musician you hope you get the chance to play one day. It was the biggest crowd I'd ever played to and the band and I had rehearsed for the month prior.

Because Charley is such an icon to me, I felt a lot of responsibility and that I had a lot to prove; I took that very seriously. I had so much anxious energy — this was before I had any music out — and it was game time. I didn't have the choice to panic, I had to bring it, and we brought it and it was amazing.

Recording Her EP Purple Gas (And Meeting Wynonna Judd)

We recorded the album at Wynonna Judd and husband Cactus Moser's studio that they have on their property. When we started out, we were just going to record two tracks, and then with the "Purple Gas" single in the picture we decided to do a couple more, and eventually to make a full EP so people would have something else to listen to. I would go into the studio a little bit at a time between touring.

We first recorded "One Hell of a Woman" and "August." And Wynonna surprised me at my very first studio session. Everybody saw her before me. We were trying to chart out a song and I was playing and focused. And then I turned around and gave her a big hug, and we had cheeseburgers and hung out. She's the sweetest, and I'm so glad we got to be at their place — that made it magical as well.

Playing The Opry

My family loves country music, so to me, the Grand Ole Opry has always been the peak of country music. My whole family came down, and friends.

Stepping into the circle for the first time, I was overcome by emotion and shivers and everything, it was really magical. Also, the Oak Ridge Boys were there the same night, and I've always loved their music, especially "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight." I think some of the story of that song I've always been like, "Oh, this song is about me."

There were lots of those mystic, full-circle moments that you just can't make up when those things happen. I cannot believe it actually happened. In a lot of ways, I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch my breath since that day, to really sit in the moment. But oh man, it was such a highlight of my year.

Editor's Note: This article was updated with a new photo and YouTube videos on Dec. 16, 2024.

When it comes to holiday music, you can never go wrong with the tried-and-true classics.

Who doesn't love Nat "King" Cole's "The Christmas Song," Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas," Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You," Charles M. Schulz's GRAMMY-nominated A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, or any new version of a festive favorite?

Even so, it's always good to get out of one's comfort zone. With that in mind, unwrap these 12 outside-the-box Christmas songs, spanning rock to rap and featuring everything from refreshing spins on the familiar to unexpected holiday thrills.

Read More: New Christmas Songs For 2024: Listen To 50 Tracks From Pentatonix, Ed Sheeran, LISA & More

This firsthand account of spending the most joyous holiday locked up and separated from the one you love offers a different kind of longing than the average lonesome Christmas tune. In signature John Prine style, "Christmas In Prison" contains plenty of romantic wit ("I dream of her always, even when I don't dream) and comedic hyperbole ("Her heart is as big as this whole goddamn jail"), with plenty of pining and hope to spare.

"Christmas In Prison" appeared on Prine's third album, 1973's Sweet Revenge, and again as a live version on his 1994 album, A John Prine Christmas, which makes for perfect further off-beat holiday exploration.

When it comes to gloriously tasty six-string instrumentals, no one does it better than GRAMMY-winning Texan Eric Johnson. For his take on this timeless Christmas carol, the "Cliffs Of Dover" guitarist intermingles acoustic-based lines, sublime clean guitar passages and Hendrix-y double-stops with his trademark creamy violin-like Strat lines. The result is a sonic equivalent on par with the majesty of the Rockefeller Christmas tree. (For more dazzling holiday guitar tomfoolery, look into the album it's featured on, 1997's Merry Axemas.)

Who doesn't want a large semiaquatic mammal for the holidays? For then-10-year-old child star Gayla Peevey, not only did she score with the catchy tune, she also got her wish.

The 1953 novelty hit, written by John Rox, rocketed up the pop charts and led to a fundraising campaign to buy Peevey an actual hippo for Christmas. Children donated their dimes to the cause, and the Oklahoma City native got her hippo, named Mathilda, which she donated to the Oklahoma City Zoo.

The song itself features plodding brass instrumentals and unforgettable lyrics such as, "Mom says a hippo would eat me up but then/ Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian." It seems Peevey still has a fond legacy with the hippo activist community — she was on hand in 2017 when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a pygmy hippopotamus.

In a contemplative mood this Christmas? Try getting into the holiday spirit by way of meditating on the true meaning of the season with this brash, uptempo Southern California crust punk tune.

Now the best-known song from the Vandals' 1996 Christmas album of the same name, "Oi To The World!" remained a relatively obscure track by the Huntington Beach punkers until it was covered by a rising pop/ska crossover band from nearby Anaheim, Calif., in 1997. (Perhaps you have heard of them — they were called No Doubt.) Ever since, the song has been a mainstay of the Vandals' live sets, and they have also played the album Oi To The World! in its entirety every year since its release at their annual Winter Formal show in Anaheim, now in its 29th year.

Though it's best known from OutKast's 1994 debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, the Christmas version of the track "Player's Ball" was released earlier on A LaFace Family Christmas, an L.A. Reid-led project to introduce new acts. The then-young Atlanta rapper duo took a Southern hip-hop spin on the season, which can come across as a little irreverent, but at least they're honest: "Ain't no chimneys in the ghetto so I won't be hangin' my socks on no chimneys." Though some people may not find it cheerful, OutKast's season's greetings give "a little somethin' for the players out there hustlin'."

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more heartbreaking Christmas story than this Tom Waits' masterpiece from 1978's Blue Valentine. "Charlie, I'm pregnant and living on 9th Street," begins the Christmas card narrative in which a woman writes to an old flame, reporting how much better things are going since she quit drugs and alcohol and found a trombone-playing husband.

Waits' signature early career piano-plinking and tall-tale-storytelling weaves through a dream world of hair grease and used car lots, even sneaking in a Little Anthony And The Imperials reference. In the end, our narrator comes clean with the sobering lyric, "I don't have a husband, he don't play the trombone" before pleading, "I need to borrow money to pay this lawyer and Charlie hey, I'll be eligible for parole come Valentine's Day." For the uninitiated, this is the off-beat genius of GRAMMY winner Waits at his finest.

Though they took some lumps in their '80s hair-metal heyday, few would dare deny Winger's talent and musicianship. Surely on display here, frontman Kip Winger (a GRAMMY-nominated classical musician) and his bandmates begin with a traditional unplugged reading of the Franz Xaver Gruber-penned holiday chestnut, complete with four-part harmony.

But then it gets really interesting: the boys get "funky" with an inside-out musical pivot that fuses percussive rhythmic accents, pentatonic-based acoustic riffing, Winger's gravely vocals, and some choice bluesy soloing (and high-pitched vocal responses) courtesy of lead guitarist Reb Beach.

With lyrics that include "I know I should have thought twice before I kissed her" in the opening, you know you're in for a sleigh ride like none other. It's therefore no surprise that Cyndi Lauper and Swedish rock band the Hives' unconventional Christmas duel describes many marital hiccups that might make some blush.

Yet, the raucous duet somehow comes out on a high note, concluding, "We should both just be glad/And spend this Christmas together." The 2008 track was the brainchild of the Hives, who always wanted to do a song with Lauper. "This is a Christmas song whose eggnog has been spiked with acid, and whose definition of holiday cheer comes with a complimentary kick below the belt," wrote Huffington Post in 2013. "It's also an absolute riot."

Leave it to LCD Soundsystem's producer/frontman James Murphy to pen a holiday song about the depressing side of the season. "If your world is feeling small/ There's no one on the phone/ You feel close enough to call," he sings, tapping into that seasonal weirdness that can creep up, especially as everything around you is incessant smiles, warmth and cheer, and pumpkin-spice lattes. While he doesn't shy away from examining the depressing side of surviving the holiday season as an aging 20-, 30-, 40-something, Murphy does at least give a glimmer of hope to grab onto, transient and fleeting though it may be, as he refrains, "But I'm still coming home to you."

As Snoop Dogg declares, "It's Christmas time and my rhyme's steady bumpin'." This track from the 1996 album Christmas On Death Row lets you know why "Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto." Church food, love between people, and happiness stand out as Christmas is "time to get together and give all you got; you got food, good moods and what's better than together with your people." Love in the hard hood might have to watch itself, but the various artists of Death Row contagiously testify to abundant love and seasonal joy.

Bypassing the urge to write new material on their rocking Christmas album, 2006's A Twisted Christmas, Twister Sister instead took the most recognizable holiday classics in the book and made them faster, louder and more aggressive. The result — which, to date, equate to the group's seventh and final album — is a supercharged concept collection of songs such as "Silver Bells," "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and "Deck The Halls" bludgeoned by chainsaw guitar riffs, thundering drums and lead singer Dee Snider's soaring screams. This unusual combination makes A Twisted Christmas the perfect soundtrack for any child of the '80s still hoping to tick off the neighbors this holiday season.

In anticipation of the 2025 NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco, P-Lo breathes new life into T.W.D.Y.'s classic "Players Holiday." Featuring Saweetie, Larry June, Kamaiyah, LaRussell, G-Eazy, thuy, and YMTK, the track celebrates Bay Area culture with its infectious energy and hometown pride. With its dynamic lineup and energetic vibe, "Players Holiday '25" is a love letter to the region's sound and legacy that bridges hip-hop and basketball culture.

This article features contributions from Nate Hertweck, Tim McPhate, Renée Fabian, Brian Haack, Philip Merrill, Nina Frazer and Taylor Weatherby.