Ashley McBryde certainly stands out from the current crop of Nashville artists. Much less glossy and a lot more tattoo-centric than her contemporaries she has a bit more grit than one would expect. We’re not sure if “Martha Dive,” her latest song and video, is the first murder ballad of the year or not. Check it out and let your own eyes and ears be the judge.
The Wild Feathers are one of the best Southern Rock Lynyrd Skynyrd style bands in the game today right alongside Blackberry Smoke and Bishop Gunn. Here, they perform an acoustic version of “From Jacksonville To Jackson Hole from their upcoming album.
Pretty much much one of the more underrated bands over the last ten Years, Dawes consistently delivers supreme musicianship and taut songwriting album after album. Here, they take a musical turn on Chris Thile’s Live From Here web series.
Rooted in Cosmic Country three-harmony twang, this one is from their 2018 record The Santa Fe Channel. Thes guys blur the line between Rock, Country, and amplified Folk music with the best of them.
From the highly excellent record Raising Sand from way back in the day, circa 2007. Plant and Krause were the best Rock God/Americana Icon pairing this side of Emmylou and Mark Knopfler.
Technically released as a single in 2019, this one will get a 2020 nod since it will be included on his record to be released somewhere in the first quarter. “Burn One with John” was one of the first songs that Kacey Musgraves wrote after arriving in Nashville. Since Prine doesn’t smoke, at least now anyway, the song takes on a bit of a different meaning than you would expect.
Here, live from Darryl’s House, Dave Alvin weaves the tale of the last night on earth for Johnny Ace.
Billy Strings
Starting with Alison Krause and playing it forward on to Molly Tuttle and Amanda Shires, Bluegrass artists have been looked upon with somewhat of a skeptical ear. Much like bagpipes, a little banjo can go a long way. And then there’s Billy Strings. With a moniker like that this dude had better deliver the goods, and based on his latest record released in 2019, Home, he delivers the goods and then some. Showing he is no one-trick banjo-picking pony, the mix of Bluegrass, Country, and Cow-Punk is easily accessible to all ears that love good music.
Odd Morris
There is not a lot to go on here after all this band has only released two songs so far, “Lilac Leaves” and “What Might Be,” but so far, really good. A really absorbing band to watch, their cracking live shows have already caught lightning in a bottle across their home town of Dublin, Ireland. Very much of the Irish Post-Punk tradition there is the unavoidable essence of U2 prevailing here for sure, but these guys look to be about to blaze their own Rock and Roll trail.
Anna St. Louis
Having already been around a bit, her 2016 record First Songs is set for a vinyl reissue in early 2020, Anna St. Louis seems on the verge of bringing her 70’s Laurel Canyon vibe to the unwashed masses. Firmly based in Folk and Country Music with songs that have a certain haunting quality about them, look for her to be popping up on the soundtracks of binge-worthy television shows in the very near future.
Arnetta Johnson
We already have our ears poised to be including her debut album If You hear a Trumpet, It’s Me on our list of best instrumental records of the year for 2020 and it hasn’t even been released yet. Talent exudes from every pore of this 25-year-old trumpeter. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, she has already released to the world three highly provocative singles in “Meet Me There,” “Who Are You,” and “I’m Just Sayin.”
The Glorious Sons
Any band that releases a song called “The Ongoing Speculation into the Death of Rock and Roll” simply is required to be on any self-respecting list of artists to watch in 2020. They have opened for The Rolling Stones, middled for the Struts, and very much deserve to be the more deserving Greta Van Fleet of 2020.
The first incarnation of Steve Gorman’s post-Black Crowes band included Joan Osborne on vocals instead of Amber Woodhouse who is on their latest L.P., Full Circle & Then Some. Both albums are great and worth your ear-time.
Early James is the latest entry in the stable of Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio. His laid back style blends Blues, Folk, and a smooth Pop sensibility. His upcoming release, Singing For My Supper draws inspiration from Tom Waits, Fiona Apple, and Southern Gothic poets.
Rock Is The New Roll 