Here 'tis: My list of the best country (and country-ISH) music released on @bandcamp.com in 2025, now live on Bandcamp Daily. Bluegrass, honky tonk, folk, Western swing, lo-fi twang, traditional fiddle and banjo tunes, countrypolitan, roots-rock and beyond. Thanks for another great year!

This all reminds me of the "Quinn The Brain" episode of "Daria," in which her sister is celebrated for an utterly vapid essay and Daria says, "Her writing is *bad*. Don't people know the difference between good and bad?" while lying dejected on her floor.

A quick "howdy!" to the new followers who found us via my New Year's Day post... We're the longest-running country music blog, and our founder, Kevin, started the blog in response to the indefensible treatment of The Chicks by the country industry and country-focused media.

Wearing a Band-Aid on my right thumb and just successfully used my laptop trackpad to move an image in MS Word.

If you’d like to help elect a progressive in a targeted red to blue flip in Central Kentucky, please sign up to volunteer today. Every single voter connected with is a step towards a win. We have in person and virtual opportunities from January-May. Sign up here: ErinPetrey.com/volunteer

Remembering how 2025 started, which was just way too on the nose for what it was.

VOTE for your favorite queer country album of the year! It's your chance to champion your queer country faves like Bells Larsen, Bonnie and the Mere Mortals, Arend Lee Jessurun, Wryn, and more! docs.google.com/form...

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Toby Keith was fully in his Patriot Act era and didn't bother to create an actual character for this song: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/30/e...

A perfect record. And the inspiration for a perfect episode of Designing Women: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/30/e...

Today's discourse is pushing me in the direction of a "Not All Jonathans" declaration.

Toby Huss is a national treasure.

Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" is projected to rise to #6 on next week's Hot 100. Hard to overstate how massive this single is shaping up to be.

Alan Jackson's regal era continued with a shrewd bit of image rehab disguised as an all-timer of an anniversary song: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/29/e...

Donna Fargo predicts the dynamic of the early seasons of Roseanne on "Superman": www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/29/e...

A very good song that deserved a better singer, as was often the case for Chesney when he wasn't in beachcomber mode: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/28/e...

Back on our historical overview project with an absolute stunner from Charley Pride: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/28/e...

That blows my mind.

Re-upping for the post-holiday skyline.

I wrote about one of the most underrated films of the year bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3...

Checked the new release calendar for the first week of January, and the first big drop of 2026 is a new Zach Bryan album, and so help me...

It's an album I certainly liked well enough, if it doesn't fully deliver the promise of its title, but I've been surprised by how often CMAT's Euro-Country has turned up on year-end best-of lists.

my friend, a Woody Guthrie scholar who has become friends with the family, published a beautiful essay this week prompted by some inane lyrics from Welles www.anotherjaneprattthing.com/p/after-year...

One of the better cousins said my new thicker glasses frames make me look like "old Johnny Knoxville." Which I don't see at all but have decided to take as a compliment, whether or not it was intended as such. And the Best Cousin appreciated my "Where Are My Background Singers" tee-shirt.

Reupping for the post-holiday crowd, because I am actually a Lunatic Country Music Person:

Look, I'm sure that Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey" will be fun, but I highly doubt it will be as good as the original.

Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it.

Tis the season for The Fleetwood Mac Of Cold Weather: www.youtube.com/watch?v=20iB...

A bell-curve distribution of the 400+ albums and EPs we've reviewed in 2025, for our end-of-year list making preparations: www.countryuniverse.net/2025/12/24/2...

Perform empathy. Please. Perform the fuck out of it. It's so good to act with kindness. I hope it penetrates to a place where you feel it, too, but if you must act some way, act the right way. I'm not here to judge your authenticity, I just want you to be kind, thoughtful, and mortified by meanness.

Ransone was wonderful in everything I've seen him in. My favorite performance of his was in a pivotal role (as "bodysuit") in Cory McAbee's genius and still out-of-time The American Astronaut.

We will have ***quite a bit*** of overlap on our own year-end features when they go live. Which is to say our pal Bee has flawless taste.

One of my oldest and dearest friends worked for many years in the high-end hospitality industry. Countless interactions with A-list celebrities... So many stories. Has said for well over a decade that she's never experienced anyone more heinous or who treated people worse than Nicki Minaj did.

just want to shout out everyone who does music writing/criticism/curation/radio for free or a nominal fee. i'm so awed by people's breadth and ambition in listening and sharing, over and over again

A tremendous document of the year in horror, courtesy of our pal, Bee!

"Zohran Mamdani treats timelines like they’re optional accessories." - Spambot comment on our review of John Berry's 30 year-old Christmas album, for whatever reason.

Craig is *correct*, of course. "Interstate Love Song," "C'Mon, Billy," "Burden in my Hand," "Feed the Tree" ... it's a long list. (Also, The Beek's acoustic guitar dorm room rendition of "Anna Begins" in The Rules Of Attraction is literally the perfect song choice for that exact character beat.)

Before going on hiatus until January 15, editor @rachelcholst.bsky.social highlights this year's trends and triumphs in queer country music -- and what's next for Rainbow Rodeo. rainbowrodeomag.com/... #QueerCountry #Americana #CountryMusic #RootsMusic #LGBTQMusic #QueerMusic #LGBTQMusician #lgbtq

For The Bluegrass Situation, I wrote about Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson’s WHAT DID THE BLACKBIRD SAY TO THE CROW and the LILITH FAIR DOCUMENTARY thebluegrasssituation.com/read/bgs-cla...

The year-end list you've all been waiting for: my Favourite Roots Albums of 2025 fervorcoulee.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/f... Give a read if that's your thing, and then listen in to the radio show Dec 28 and Jan 4 as I explore most of these albums on @cjsrfm.bsky.social CJSR.com

haven't seen ms patti posted here yet this season, place needs work www.youtube.com/watch?v=z84Q...

Really love to see the thoughtfulness and empathy in how Estill Co / Irvine are captured here.

I think this is exactly it. Probst does not-- can't?-- envision a Ken Jennings era for the show. Was a season 1, episode 1 viewer. Have not watched since 3 or 4 episodes into season 44 and just remained vaguely aware of winners and fan reception since.

"Walkin’ in the Parlour" is the final track on on our GRAMMY nominated album: What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow

🪩 My PATREON launches on January 1 🪩 First-month stories include: 10 Essential Found Footage Movies of 2025 Why Boycotting Scream 7 is the Right Thing to Do How Slay & Queens of the Dead Capture This Moment in Time www.patreon.com/BeeDelores?u...

To quote the SNL "UberEats Wrapped" sketch from last weekend: "Oh, no, I understood what it was. I just don't like that, and I don't want that."

AND our favorite songs of the year - mine are topical and yet NOT jesse welles!!! www.dontrocktheinbox.com/the-best-cou...

"I should be safe to assume that 'Pretty Paper' enjoys a similar prominence among holiday albums. Maybe it does, if you’re a diehard Willie fan and/or a Texan of a certain age. But I think a lot of other folks aren’t hip to 'Pretty Paper,' or haven’t given it the consideration it deserves."

God almighty.

Also we've fetishized "debate” in these spaces as some kind of civic good, when what matters is competence, trust, shared purpose. Medicine, engineering, boardrooms aren’t organized around debate or requirements of false balance. We've poisoned public discourse by insisting it be adversarial.