Jon Pardi’s ‘Tequila Little Time’ + 9 More New Songs You’ve Got to Hear
Country and Americana artists of all stripes released new tunes this week. Read on to hear them all!
Jon Pardi, "Tequila Little Time":
Jon Pardi has released another track ahead of his new album, Heartache Medication. The playful "Tequila Little Time" makes a flirty pun -- if you say it out loud, it sounds like "To Kill a Little Time." In the uptempo song, Pardi croons over a girl who catches his attention in a bar, singing, “I want tequila little time with you / A little salt and a lime will do / Hey bar man, will you bring us two? / I want tequila little time with you / Talkin' it all out / Seein' what you're all about / I hope you want tequila little time with me too.” Heartache Medication will be released on Sept. 27. -- CC
Tanya Tucker, "Bring My Flowers Now":
Tanya Tucker has shared a somber new song that serves as a reminder to live life while you still have the chance. “Bring My Flowers Now” tells the story about how you should bring your loved ones flowers today, instead of waiting for the day that they die to regret all the things left unsaid. “Bring my flowers now, while I'm living / I won't need your love when I'm gone," Tucker sings. "Don't spend time, tears, or money / On my old breathless body / If your heart is in them flowers, bring 'em on.” “Bring My Flowers Now” will be included on Tucker’s upcoming album, While I’m Living. -- CC
Canaan Smith, "Beer Drinkin' Weather":
Canaan Smith's fun-loving and sunny "Beer Drinkin' Weather" is exactly what it sounds like: An ode to the carefree summer days made for partying, relaxing and cracking a cold one. Smith recently announced that he is the flagship artist signed to Florida Georgia Line's new label, Round Here Records, after signing to TreeVibez Music (the duo's publishing company) in 2018.
The country superstar duo had a hand in writing Smith's newest release, too: "Beer Drinkin' Weather" was penned by Smith, Corey Crowder and FGL members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. -- CL
Ingrid Andress, "We're Not Friends":
Ingrid Andress is calling it as she sees it in her new song, “We’re Not Friends.” Andress lists out a multitude reasons why she and her not-love interest are more than just friends, ultimately declaring that they need to label it what it is.
“But we're a kiss at 2am that tastes like wine / We're a ride home in the dark with our fingers intertwined / You and me keep on tryna pretend," Andress sings. "But you and me, yeah, we gotta admit / We're an extra set of clothes on the bedroom floor / Where I see you all the time but still wanna see you more / You and me keep on tryna pretend / But you and me, whoa, we're not friends/ We're not friends, no.” Andress wrote "We're Not Friends" with AJ Pruis, Derrick Southerland and Nate Cyphert. --CC
Vince Gill, "A World Without Haggard":
Vince Gill pays tribute to a country legend in "A World Without Haggard," a song that begins in the moment that he learns that Merle Haggard has passed away -- April 6, 2016 -- and spans outward, reflecting on the impact the legendary singer had on him personally and on the world. Gill describes all the ways that Haggard influenced him as a musician and a man, singing "Oh, I'm lost in a world without Haggard / Oh, who'll tell the truth to you and me?"
"A World Without Haggard" comes off of Gill's forthcoming new project, Okie, which will be released on Aug. 23. A proud Oklahoma native, Gill reclaims an often derogatory term used to disparage residents of the state in his album's title, with the help of some of his greatest influences -- Haggard front and center among them. -- CL
Kelleigh Bannen, "Boys Don't Cry":
Kelleigh Bannen provides a heartbroken female friend with a necessary reality check in this mid-tempo, tough-as-nails new song, "Boys Don't Cry." The woman in the story should stop wasting her time crying, checking her phone and trying to analyze the past, Bannen sings -- because her ex sure isn't doing any of those things.
"Quit whining to your mama / You're done shedding those tears / Don't check your phone, 'cause baby, he ain't gonna call ya / Girl just stop," the song's lyrics go. The truth might be painful, but it's got to come out one way or another. -- CL
Aaron Lee Tasjan, "My Whole Life is Over (All Over Again)":
Aaron Lee Tasjan's pared down piano ballad, "My Whole Life is Over (All Over Again)," comes off of Reincarnated, a retooled, acoustic new issue of his 2018 album Karma for Cheap. While "My Whole Life is Over (All Over Again)" emerged from the same batch of songs as the tracks that ultimately made their way onto Karma for Cheap, the singer says he never quite got this song the way he wanted it -- until now.
"I wanted to do something new for people to come back to," Tasjan tells Billboard, explaining that he thought the new project's stripped-down style might be a better setting for the track . "I didn't want to just put out the same track list again. I knew right away I was singing something that was very personal, and it seems like in a lot of ways our culture has shifted, particularly in the past few years, to a place where people are interested in hearing somebody's original experience again. It felt like the right time to put out a song like this." -- CL
Stephanie Quayle, "Whatcha Drinkin 'Bout":
In her newly released song, "Whatcha Drinkin 'Bout," Stephanie Quayle playfully ponders all the different reasons that drive people to the bar. Quayle and her co-writers on the song, Joey Ebach and Ryland Fisher, wrote the track during their very first meeting: "I brought some whiskey and beer for the guys and figured either way we’d have a blast. It wasn’t until we got into the studio that we realized the magic we had created," the singer recalls. -- CC
Jeremy Ivey, "Greyhound":
Jeremy Ivey's latest release, "Greyhound," tells the true story about what it feels like to be traversing the country one bus ticket at a time. “Everyone on a Greyhound seems homeless, even if it’s just a temporary thing. In transit, between two lives. Everyone seems like they are in the throes of some intense drama. An alcoholic returning to a rehab in Tuscaloosa, a retired toll booth operator with a Christmas present for his estranged son in Chattanooga. It’s like a mobile society. A modern caravan through a burned out Canaan,” says Ivey. "Greyhound" features Margo Price, Ivey’s wife and producer, and will be included on his debut album, The Dream and the Dreamer, set for release this September. -- CC
Karen & the Sorrows, "Guaranteed Broken Heart":
The title track to a forthcoming new album from Karen & the Sorrows, "Guaranteed Broken Heart" is toe-tapping and world-weary, a story that acknowledges the weight of life's ups and downs, but doesn't dismiss the silver lining, either.
"One of the things I love most about country music is trying to find those moments in your life that are totally sad or heartbroken, but you find this moment of humor in it, just a twist or turn of a phrase with a bit of wit in it," frontwoman Karen Pittelman tells Billboard. "You can take this moment in your life that's painful but find a witty way to sing about it. It's devastating but smart at the same time." -- CL