Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me tonight is Leah Jones, host of The
Struts Life. Leah, welcome to the show. Thanks
for having me. I'd like to start by asking you
my first -time guest question, and that is, what
does the word mixtape mean to you? I am 31 years
old, so mixtape for me was the age when In middle
school, we would all LimeWire a random conglomeration
of songs for our friends and then pass them out
at lunch so that we could load them up on our
iPods that night. The views and opinions expressed
by Leah do not necessarily – I constantly – I
mention like all the time that I used to LimeWire
things and I feel kind of bad about it. But I
also don't because I was 13. I couldn't afford
that. There you go. Well, tonight we're going
to be talking about a topic that is outside of
the Struts universe in many ways, and that is
the year in country music for 2024. So I guess
my first question is, where did your love of
country music come from? And then with that,
what were you looking for in the songs you brought
to the table this evening? Okay. So I have loved
country music literally as long as I can remember.
My parents love to talk about how the first song
I was ever obsessed with was Faith Hill's This
Kiss. I was probably five. I had a Walkman with
the tape and I don't even know what other songs
were on that tape because I would just listen
to the same song on repeat. I'd be like, can
you rewind this so I could listen to it again?
Thank you. And when most kids my age in middle
school were coming home watching MTV, I spent
every day after school at my grandparents' house
and we were only allowed to listen to country
music because pop music was like bad and I don't
know, it was a whole thing. And so I would watch
CMT and GAC for hours a day. I had like the entire
countdown memorized. I only listened to the local
country radio station for a solid two or three
years, about 2006 to 2009. And then I like got
my own. music taste and branched out a little
bit just outside of country. It also helped that
Taylor Swift branched out of country about the
same time I started exploring other genres. But
this year, to quote Lainey Wilson, country's
cool again. Everyone's doing country. I feel
like it kind of got a little lackluster in the
early 2000s, but I feel like it's back. There's
a lot happening, a lot of really cool stuff happening
in the space. Couldn't agree more. For me, my
country music love came from when I spent several
years living down in North Carolina when I was
in college. Obviously, most of the radio stations
down there in the 90s were country music stations.
So as you're flipping through, it's like country,
country, country. Oh, there's a rock station.
But with other people that lived in the area
and I became friends with, they started going,
no, man, you need to. Check out some stuff. You
need to become a local and listen to what the
locals listen to. And when I moved back to New
Jersey and I went to college up here and joined
the radio station, they said, we really don't
have any airtime for you unless you could do
something that's not on our current roster of
shows. So I looked at all the shows and every
rock show, hip hop show, alternative punk metal,
it was all taken, but nobody had a country show.
So I said, How about country? And they said,
we'll give you a Monday morning, 7 a .m. to 9
a .m. I'm like, I'll take it. I called all my
buddies down in North Carolina and said, send
me everything you can about country. And doing
that show weekly for the last three years of
college made me fall in love with the genre because
then I started branching out looking for stuff
myself. And the thing I like about 2024 country
is it does have a modern sound, but there are
definite moments of throwback to the 90s country
sound that i fell in love with and i feel like
that balance is what really helped me pick my
songs for this evening because there's definitely
a mix of stuff that leads us into the future
but also gives me that little hit of nostalgia
So with that said, let's get down to business.
As I mentioned at the top of the show, Leah and
I will be curating the ultimate 2024 country
music mixtape, and we're going to use that old
cassette deck approach. Leah, as my special guest,
will begin side A with her first song choice,
and then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
up that choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for side
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip
and we'll map outside. Be only this time. I'll
kick things off with Leah choosing second. Our
overall goal for this episode is to craft the
best 2024 country music mixtape possible through
only 20 songs. at the end of the show you can
take our conversation to the next level by visiting
the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com to give
our final mixtape a listen via the embedded playlist
and if you like what you're hearing on the show
you can help me out by either telling a friend
leaving a show a five -star review wherever you're
tuning in, or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at
patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. There
you can find ad -free episodes of the show, gain
early access to upcoming episodes, chime in on
future topics, become a guest curator, and so
much more. And a few of the Patreon mixtapers
chimed in with the songs they would use to kick
things off tonight, and I want to give a quick
shout -out to some of those. Sean Goff chimed
in with Austin by Dasha, calling the song a good
old foot stomper with a familiar and catchy chorus.
Brandon from Virginia chimed in with Orville
Peck and Willie Nelson's duet Cowboys Are Frequently
Secretly Fond of Each Other. Chad Lamas is going
with Sarah Evans' Pride off her Unbroke album.
And Chris Pizik is using the Americana angle
and running with the old 97s where the road goes.
Once again, if you want to chime in for future
episodes of My Weekly Mixtape, come join the
fellow mixtapers at patreon .com forward slash
My Weekly Mixtape. Now with that, Leah, I'm officially
pressing the record button on our mixtape and
the floor is yours. Maybe it's Faith Hill's This
Kiss, even though it's 2024. But what song are
you kicking off our 2024 country music playlist
with? I'm going to open with a song that I feel
like came from the movie of the summer to become
the song of the summer. I feel like I heard this
everywhere. I heard it literally as I was leaving
work today to come record this. And that is...
Ain't No Love in Oklahoma by Luke Combs. Nice.
This song is one that every time I hear it, I'm
like, yeah, this is a good song. I feel like
the ones that they play on the radio a lot, they
can get really, really grating really fast, but
not this one. Luke Combs is one of the main names
in country music. So I love that we're starting
with this. The lead single from Twister's The
Album. In a strange synergy with Canada, the
song reached number 13 on the Billboard US Hot
100, as well as the Canadian Hot 100, and number
one on the US country airplay charts, as well
as the Canada country charts. It also reached
number 21 on the Australia ARIA charts, and charted
in Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, which is
pretty big for a country song. To me, this is...
country rock to its core. And it definitely sets
the tone for one of the best. I guess we'll call
it soundtrack events of the year, meaning this
is one of the few soundtracks that if you go
into Walmart today or into Target in that tiny
little CD or vinyl section, they have carved
out in the back of the store behind like the
clearance aisle, because, you know, they try
to they're not in on the physical media anymore.
You'll still find a copy of this. And it's also
in all the record stores still. Hell, it's. out
longer than the movie's been in theaters. You're
not wrong. The soundtrack's incredible. It includes
Lainey Wilson's Out of Oklahoma, Jelly Roll's
Dead End Road, Megan Maroney's Never Left Me.
I mean, I think you nailed it with the album
opener because it's the album opener from Twisters
and it's a great tune to set things off for tonight.
And to follow that up, I like where you're going
with this. And I'm going to follow that up with
a song that is also an album opener, but has
the same groove and drive that I think flows
nicely out of Luke Combs. But I think it's going
to give you a little bit of room to move out
of the country rock vibe and maybe more into
some straight ahead country. And I'm going to
go with the opening track from his first album
in over a decade. And that is Uncle Cracker's
High on My Horse from his Coffee and Beer album.
Uncle Cracker had a huge resurgence this year.
He was part of Kenny Chesney's 2024 Sun Goes
Down tour with Zac Brown Band and the person
I just mentioned, Megan Maroney. And it really
brought his music back into the spotlight. Now,
while we didn't specifically talk about this
song, if you're a fan of Uncle Cracker, I'd be
remiss not to mention episode 48, the ultimate
Uncle Cracker playlist, because. He joined the
show to talk about stories from his days as DJ
for Kid Rock's Twisted Brown Trucker, all the
way to the first few singles from Coffee and
Beer. But High on My Horse has the groove that
I think flows perfectly out of Ain't No Love
in Oklahoma. Keeping the party going. I think
that's a great summer song as well. I feel like
country music is just a summer genre. I always
find myself reaching for my playlists when the
temperature starts to climb. And it's a great
segue into my next pick because there is only
one person who can accompany Uncle Cracker when
the sun goes down. And that is Kenny Chesney.
So I chose Just to Say We Did, which is from
his 2024 album, Born. And I feel like growing
up listening to Kenny Chesney, he has a lot of
nostalgic songs. When I was younger, I always
looked ahead like, wow, I can't wait to have
these cool memories with my friends. And then
this album dropped and this song specifically.
And I was like, oh, I have those memories now.
Like I listen to these retrospectively now. Like
I think about doing really dumb things with my
friends in my early 20s. His 20th. studio album
try to wrap your mind around that this song reached
number 28 on the billboard us country airplay
chart and number 56 on the billboard canada country
chart lyrically the line so let's raise our hands
up to the sky stay on this roller coaster ride
just to say we did i mean that gives me goosebumps
because it really brings me back to just a completely
different time in my life Kenny's been doing
this since 1994. So when you talk about the artists
that I played on my radio show back in the 90s,
he was one of them. And if you told me back in
the late 90s that 25 years from now, he would
still be putting out the same vibe and selling
out stadiums across the country. I don't know
if I would have believed it, especially in New
Jersey, because I had a hard time convincing
people that country music was a viable genre
in New Jersey in the late 90s. And here we are,
every country music concert, pretty much an instant
sellout at MetLife Stadium. So I absolutely love
this pick. And coming out of that, I'm actually
going to go with something that doesn't remind
me of the 90s. It's something that I would say
falls into the more modern country era. And I'm
going to go with something that, when I say the
name, might even raise some eyebrows as to, come
on, dude, are you really doing a country music
playlist here? And that's Post Malone. And I'm
going to go with his first foray into country
music, the hugely popular F1 Trillion album.
And I'm going to go with I Had Some Help, which
features Morgan Wallen. It was a worldwide hit.
It topped the Billboard Global 200, as well as
hitting number one on the Billboard US Hot 100,
Adult Airplay, Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs,
and Pop Airplay charts. It also hit number one
in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Bolivia,
and South Africa. One of the biggest songs of
the year that I think safely establishes Post
as a force to be reckoned with in the country
music space. Whether you're a fan of his music
or not, I've actually told people who are not
a fan of his pop music to give this album a try.
And it shocked a lot of people. And I'm guessing
this is going to be one of the few instances
tonight that I can actually break out a cover
song. Because all these songs came out in 2024,
but as quickly as the song dropped, Goldfinger
and less than Jake teamed up and dropped a ska
punk cover version of it. So if you're a fan
of ska punk songs, you definitely want to check
out that cover. It's really, really wild. Okay.
First off, you beat me to putting post on the
playlist because. I love this album, the whole
album. I love it so much. Ever since Post Malone
first posted, I think it was two years ago, he
did a Brad Paisley cover on TikTok that caused
Brad Paisley to change his TikTok bio to say,
I write songs for Post Malone. I was like, there's
been whispers of this album happening and I've
been dying for it. So when it finally happened,
I put it on and the whole thing is just, it's
a masterpiece. Like he's so respectful for the
genre while still adding in these little like,
Post Malone flares. I don't really know how else
to describe them. My pick for the album would
have been the song with Luke Combs, but Luke
Combs is already on here. So I'll give you a
Morgan Wallen. All right. And to be perfectly
honest, I'm actually not the biggest Morgan Wallen
fan, but this song, the two of them work really,
really well together because a lot of the stuff
he put out, I was kind of not, not bad. It's
not for me. And I understand why people like
him. Hell, he sold out MetLife Stadium as well.
So I get why people like his music, but I don't
know. Maybe it's too many headlines. Maybe it's
just too much TMZ drama. I don't know. There's
other artists that I gravitate to, but this song,
I was like, okay, you got me. You got me. The
song is a party. It's so, you can tell they had
fun making it and they had fun making the video.
Like it's just, it's so much fun. All right.
So what are you going to follow up post with?
We're going to keep the fun vibes going. And
we've got to add some girls into this mix. And
so I'm going to add Lainey Wilson's Hang Tight
Honey. I stole Lainey from you. You stole Post.
I stole Lainey. I had to beat you to it. That's
what started this whole country conversation.
I did not get into Lainey until this year. And
it was this song specifically when it dropped.
It was the lead single off of her Whirlwind album.
that came out this year. It came on, I guess,
my Spotify weekly radar. And I was like, oh,
this song is really fun. I think I get it now.
I think I get the Lainey hype. And so it caused
me to do a deep dive into her previous works.
I'd only really heard the radio hits. It's just
got that Western country vibe. There's so many
different flavors of country. And all of her
songs kind of gave me just this mental image
of sunsets and horses and deserts. And this is
no exception. My favorite country album of 2024.
You definitely scooped me. This track is absolutely
incredible. Reach number 61 on the Billboard
US Hot 100, number 13 on the US Country Airplay
Charts, number 81 on the Canadian Hot 100, and
number three on the Canada Country Chart. Obvious,
obvious scoop for me. I could have picked...
Pretty much any track off the album. I mean,
the title track's incredible. 4x4 by You was
incredible. Good Horses, her duet with Miranda
Lambert. I love it. Like you mentioned at the
top of the show, Country's Cool Again's another
one. And if you picked up the CD at Walmart,
because every now and then they include bonus
tracks, there is a song, Where the Sun Don't
Shine. is just as good as anything on the album.
And I'm actually shocked that this didn't make
the initial album. It's that great of a song.
So bravo on the pick. And I feel your female
country vibe. So I'm going to stay in that lane
right now. And I'm going to go with something
that one of the Patreon mixtapers chimed in with.
And I'm going to give a shout out to Sean Goff,
who chimed in with this one. And we're going
to go off of her second studio album, What Happens
Now. I'm going to go with Dasha's Austin, Boots
Stop Working. In 40 years, you'll still be here,
drunk, washed up in Austin. This is truly a 2024
song because you can't talk about this song and
not bring up the TikTok connection. The viral
nature of this song propelled it to number 16
on the Billboard Global 200, number 18 on the
Billboard U .S. Hot 100, number three on the
U .S. Hot Country Songs charts, number 11 on
both the Canadian Hot 100 and Canadian Country
Artist charts, number 10 on the Australian Aria
chart, and number one. Number one on the UK country
airplay charts. And it also charted in 20 additional
countries. This is TikTok taking a song and making
it a global smash. And to me, you have to acknowledge
that because you don't think about country music,
at least maybe here in the US. I always think
of country music as a US thing. But when a song
goes global like that. It shows that country
music is loved all over the world. And this song,
had it not been for TikTok, I don't know if she
would have had the exposure. Yeah, I agree. That's
how I found her, found the song, found her entire
album, which is so good. You did scoop this one
for me. So payback, I guess. My personal favorite
is Didn't I from the deluxe version. But this
probably is the 2024 song, quote unquote, because
it was everywhere. I mean, I couldn't scroll
through TikTok without seeing two or three videos
of people dancing in their boots, like boot sales
rose. It had all kinds of crazy impacts. But
it always fascinates me how global country music
is because I feel like it's a southern U .S.
thing. And then you find out that the Brits go
crazy for country music. Sure. We just trade
artists. We get the ones they don't understand.
They get our country music. Yeah. Hey, look,
as far as I'm concerned, the more music that
goes global, especially for artists that are
really struggling, having a hard time making
a name for themselves. If TikTok is the way that
you find global stardom, so be it. I mean, artists
need to find new avenues to get their music out
there because. The traditional get signed to
a record label and become an overnight sensation.
It just doesn't happen anymore. No, it doesn't.
You have to have TikTok presence. There's not
even a social media presence anymore. It's TikTok
presence. Sadly, my TikTok presence is, well,
let's not even get into that. Following up, Dasha,
you have? Let's keep the My Favorite Female Artist
vibe going. And this song that I've chosen next
is from one of my... Truly one of my favorite
artists. Megan Maroney, Am I Okay? The title
song from her 2024 album that just had a deluxe
version drop not that long ago. This whole album
is incredible. But the opening track, it's the
opening track and the title track. It kind of
flips her previous album. on its head a little
bit because her first album was all about being
sad and heartbroken and telling all these stories
and then she opens with this song of oh my god
am i in love am i actually okay now it's spoilers
she's not by the end of the album but it was
such like a fun album opener coming off of an
album that was a little depressing and a little
sad and the whole package is phenomenal she did
such a good job with this rollout i get to see
her next June, I believe. And I cannot wait to
hear the song live. Well, considering it reached
number 71 on the Billboard US Hot 100, number
20 on the Hot Country Songs chart, number 100
on the Canadian Hot 100, and number 38 on the
Canada Country charts, I don't see any universe
where she's not playing this song. It's the name
of the tour. Yeah. And I would have to think
that the earlier tour I mentioned, Kenny Chesney
with Zac Brown Band and Uncle Cracker, had to
get her name out there a lot more throughout
this year because that was a stadium tour and
she was on the bill. So that's like instant credibility.
And I feel like I've heard this song a lot more
than those chart positions that I mentioned indicate.
Only reaching number 71 on the Billboard US Hot
100 actually surprises me. I would have assumed
that this song would have tracked much higher.
I think it was more of a sleeper hit, fan favorite,
almost a deep cut. But I think it got its own
legs from the fans. Well, I think I'm going to
stick with what you just said there, an album
cut, a deep cut, if you want to call it. And
I'm going to go with my oldest favorite country
artist, at least for right now, because she's
in high school. That favorite artist status could
change by the week. But right now and for the
last several months, it's been this artist. And
I've heard. probably more Zach Bryan songs this
year than any other country artist. But if I
were to pick one song of his that might, cause
my daughter's like, you got to hear this one.
You got to hear this one. You got to hear this
one. So I've heard pretty much every album in
its entirety several times. But the one song
that really jumped out to me this year from his
2024 album, the great American bar scene would
be better days featuring John Mayer. Well, don't
get angry. Listen to the sounds. Them good times
will find their way back around. I've had kind
of a tough year this year. I've gone through
some personal stuff that I'll get into a little
later on, but that line really resonated with
me. And I'll also throw out there that John Mayer
is by no way, shape or form a country artist.
But if you listen to his Born and Raised in Paradise
Valley albums, this song. fits into the vibe
of both of those albums. And his guitar work
on Better Days is very reminiscent of what he
did on both of those albums. And I adore those
two albums. So I think as a shout out to my oldest,
I'm going to go with Better Days. However, I
know she's going to immediately, if she hears
this episode, yell at me for not picking Pink
Skies featuring Watch House. So I have to acknowledge
that one as well. I'm with her. You should have
picked Pink Skies. Sorry to both of you. Zach
Bryan is an amazing lyricist and his music captures
such a, to go back to being nostalgic, a nostalgic
feeling, but like a very specific niche of this
nostalgic feeling. And he's incredibly talented.
This song is not one that I gravitate towards
myself, but I do get where he's coming from and
get the appeal. So I'm going to stay in that
vein. We're mellowing out the mixtape here before
we flip it. So I'm going to go with an artist
whose 2024 album is actually not quite out yet.
But by the time you're listening to this, it
will be out. So I haven't heard the rest of it.
But Kelsey Ballerini's collaboration with Noah
Kahn, Cowboys Cry 2. And we were talking a lot
about 90s country. And this is a song that would
not have made it in the 90s because it is the
opposite of everything that 90s country... Stood
for men showing their feelings. How dare we?
So I love this song because it shows such a progression
in the genre. It got really, like I said, it
got really stagnant there for a while. It was
very much beer and trucks and that's it. That
was kind of all we had for a couple of years.
And now we're back to writing emotional songs
about deep topics that people need to hear. And
I love the two of them together. They did a collab
on an award show and I'm blanking on which one.
And they kind of kept hinting at a song together.
And when they dropped this one, it turned out
better than I could have imagined. Couldn't agree
more. I love the perspective that this song takes
on that just brush it off form of toxic masculinity,
because I'm a father of two daughters. And to
me, that hits home. I don't ever want to give
off that vibe to them. And I don't want them
to ever think that that vibe is something that's
OK. That's just my personal. feeling. I want
them to know that, you know, hell, your father
has feelings too. It's okay. And this year, like
a lot of things, they've seen a lot of those
feelings out of me. And I'll get into that again,
like I said later, but this song reached number
50 on the Billboard US Hot 100, number 16 on
the Hot Country Songs chart, number 49 on the
Canadian Hot 100, number 36 on the Canada Country
chart, and back over the pond, number 48 on the
UK Singles chart. Kelsey, to me, is one of the
most, I'd say, consistent female country artists,
along with Lainey Wilson. Ever since I first
heard Hole in the Bottle back in 2020, I was
instantly taken back by her style and her vibe.
And I'm going to be honest. In 2020, I was late
to the game. I had no idea that she had albums
before that. So I had to go back and listen to
Unapologetically and The First Time over the
last couple of years. And I've fallen in love
with her music ever since. So I love this pick.
And yeah, I can't wait to hear the rest of the
album when it does drop. Unfortunately, when
the mixtapers are out there listening to this,
they've probably already heard it already. So,
oh, well. I hope so. So closing out side A. I
am going to stay with this female vibe we're
going with, and I'm going to stay with this,
I don't know, more deep topic of country music.
This is not the beer and trucks and. partying
type song. And it's one of those songs that might
end Side A on a little bit of a downer. But you
know what? Country music has some downers and
we have to respect those. And this is the lead
single from her fourth studio album, Hummingbird.
And I'm going to go with Carly Pierce's We Don't
Fight Anymore, which features Chris Stapleton.
This song reached number 67 on the Billboard
US Hot 100, number nine on the country airplay
chart, number 35 on the Canada country charts,
and number 19 on the UK country airplay charts.
Everything Chris Stapleton pretty much touches
is gold. I think we can agree on that at this
point. Last year, His feature on Alana Springsteen's
Ghost in My Guitar was one of my favorite country
songs of 2023. And here we are again, as this
song is just as haunting and just as powerful.
And the thing that gets me about it is it's not
a tear -jerking breakup song. It's not a love
song. It's pure indifference. And that is a powerful...
vibe to go for in a country song that I don't
know if you were getting five, six, seven, eight,
maybe even a decade ago. No, I agree. I don't
think this would have worked maybe until this
year, the last year or two. I'm not a ballad
person at all. I do not gravitate towards ballads.
The exception is a country ballad about dying
or breaking up. I will eat that up every day.
And this is one of them. Their harmonies on this
song are just perfect. Well, the only word I
could use is perfect harmony. Chris Stapleton
has this magic about him when he features on
a song that he can add so much while kind of
barely being there. I don't mean that in a negative
way. He doesn't try to steal the spotlight on
his features. He's just there to add exactly
what it needs, and he knows when to back away
and not steal the show. And to me that you can't
get a better collaboration than that using those
ingredients. Well, that mixtapers concludes side
A of the ultimate 2024 country music mixtape,
which consists of Luke Combs. Ain't no love in
Oklahoma. Uncle Crackers, High on My Horse, Kenny
Chesney's Just to Say We Did, Post Malone's I
Had Some Help featuring Morgan Wallen, Laney
Wilson's Hang Tight Honey, Dasha's Austin, Boot
Stop Working, Megan Maroney's Am I Okay?, Zach
Bryan's Better Days featuring John Mayer, Kelsey
Ballerini's Cowboys Cry 2 featuring Noah Kahn,
and Carly Pierce's We Don't Fight Anymore featuring
Chris Stapleton. A lot of features there. Head
over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the
songs we've discussed in this mix through the
playlist embedded on the episode page. And now
to kick off Side B. Like I said, we had a lot
of collaborations on Side A. Four out of ten.
And I'm going to keep that going. I'm going to
go with another collaboration here. And I'm going
to go with a collaboration that, to me, was one
of the more... Huh? collaborations to come out
in 2024 and this is the lead single from his
album california gold but i'm actually going
to go with an alternate version of this song
because it really caught my attention over the
summer because of that wait a minute avril lavigne
is on the track And I'm going to go with Nate
Smith's Bulletproof featuring Avril Lavigne.
It reached number 37 on the Billboard U .S. Hot
100, number three on the U .S. Country Airplay
charts and number 52 on the Canadian Hot 100.
The intro of this song has a pretty unmistakable
vibe. It's along the lines of Tom Petty's Mary
Jane's Last Dance. And anybody who knows me knows
Tom Petty's my favorite artist of all time. So
as soon as I catch that vibe, you have my attention.
And I couldn't get this song out of my head.
And I'm used to the girlfriend, losing grip,
complicated, love sucks version, pop punk Avril
Lavigne. Hearing her sing country. I was kind
of taken back by it. This was kind of what you
would expect from a modern country rock slash
pop song in 2024. But hearing her voice on a
country song, I think it worked. And it had to
work because they duetted again on the same album
on the track. Can you die from a broken heart?
So I don't know if this is Avril's way of saying,
you know what? I'm going to try to dip my toe
into the country music waters the way Post Malone
did or not. But her voice actually works with
this. So Nate Smith, bulletproof to kick off
Side B. I was going to say, I feel like everyone
needs to dabble in country folk music a little
bit at some point in their career just for for
something different. And her voice really does
work on this. I heard some of her slower stuff
like Head Above Water. It kind of. lends itself
to that style. So I can see how she could very
easily make a segue into country music. And she
made two good excuses with the songs that she
featured with Nate Smith. So we'll be curious.
I'll be curious to see if that happens in 25.
Maybe she'll pull a post. So what are you going
to follow up Nate Smith with? How about we break
away from collabs and into a band? We haven't
had a band yet, have we? No. I don't think so.
No. Brothers Osborne, Break Mine. This is from
an EP that they released this year. I think it's
called Break Mine. I should look that up. Good.
Got that right. And something about this song
production wise, it just gives me like the best
feeling. It's a really sad song because it's
talking about basically if you want to break
a heart, I'm here. Please break mine. But the
guitars and just sonically. Going back to what
you were saying about the previous song reminding
you of your favorite artist, something about
this reminds me of The Struts, and I don't know
where the connection is, but every time I hear
it, I think of The Struts. So, break mine. Reach
number 59 on Billboard's US country airplay charts.
I think this is a song that flows perfectly out
of Nate Smith. It's got that mid -tempo drive,
and it fuses. Kind of that 90s country sound
because you could hear that in their voices.
Obviously, they have that Brooks and Dunn 90s
country sound to their voice. And I'm talking
tonally in their voices. But the music is that
modern country slash pop. And I can actually
hear the pop side of the struts coming out in
this song. It's very, very interesting. This
is something that Brothers Osborne has been doing
across all of their albums. So I'm kind of curious
to see if this is the first piece of the puzzle
to the next Brothers Osborne album, because they
haven't done anything since their 2023 Brothers
Osborne album. So I'll be curious to see where
they go from here. But this is definitely kind
of a bridge between country and pop, and they
do it extremely well. But following that up.
I'm going back to the solo artists. And yeah,
I'm going to go back to the collaborations because
there's just been so many amazing collaborations.
And this song was originally featured on this
artist's album, Keeping the Lights On. But again,
an alternate single was released. And when you
include the incredible Marcus King on the track,
you have my attention. And I'm going to go with
Cameron Marlowe's High Hopes featuring Marcus
King. If you're a fan of NBC's The Voice, you
might remember Cameron as he was a contestant
on season 15. I was not introduced to him via
The Voice. I was introduced to him via You Might
Like This Song on Apple Music. And when I heard
Marcus King, I'm like, ooh, Marcus King dabbling
in country music here? I'm a huge fan of his
blues rock stuff. I mean, we talked about him
on episode 55, the modern blues rock episode
of My Weekly Mixtape. He has got that genre on
lockdown. But hearing him branch out and do something
like this, it's very interesting. And believe
it or not, it made me want to check out more
of Cameron's music and more of the Keeping the
Lights On album. And it's a great album. This
song didn't chart anywhere. And I don't even
know if it's a cut that a lot of people are familiar
with. And it's such a great track that I want
more people to be familiar with it. So if this
is my quote unquote deep pick of the night, so
be it. Because yes, we could just rattle off
the top 20 songs on the country charts for the
year. But I feel like to personalize it a little
bit, here's a song that you might not know, but
damn it, you should. I agree. Marcus King is
an artist that kind of I knew of, but have never
sat down to listen to in depth. And now I feel
like I need to listen to him in depth because
this song, we've had a lot of collabs on this
list, but I think this one might be one of my
favorites. And it's really hard to follow. That
it is. There's a definite blues edge to this
song. But I think I have a song that weirdly
is going to pair with this very nicely. And that
is Kacey Musgraves' Deeper Well. Oh, okay. Title
track of her early 2024 release, Deeper Well,
which has been one of my favorite albums this
year for many reasons. When she announced that
album, I was cautiously excited because I love
KC, wasn't super crazy about Starcrossed. And
so when she started hinting at kind of this return
to maybe golden hour -esque folky sound, I was
like, okay, you have my attention. And then this
song dropped and I was like, oh, how is this
song relating so perfectly to my life? Because,
you know, every 30 years, if you're into astrology,
which I'm not really, but I'm aware of this because
the song, your Saturn that you were born under
returns. And that's when you start to experience
like. big changes in your life and your perspective
on life. And as I've said, I'm 31. So my Saturn
has returned. And like, I feel like this year
has been a year of growth and changes and kind
of getting out of maybe some of the worldviews
that I had growing up, which she talks about
in the song as well, where it was like the world
was really flat growing up, but I've had to make
my own way and figure out things for myself.
And the song for me has to be on the top. Country
songs of 2024. Well, the album debuted at number
two on the Billboard US Hot 100 as a whole. I've
been a fan of Casey's since 2013. Same trailer,
different park. And like you, I. enjoyed but
didn't really gravitate to some of the poppier
stuff he did so i was all in when she went back
to this kind of more americana style sound because
i think it just suits her voice so so well you
scoop me on the artist i actually had the song
too good to be true on my list for tonight because
that track interpolated breathe 2am by anna nalik
from the early 2000s and i loved that kind of
folksy take on those lyrics i really really liked
it but you can't go wrong with anything from
this album and i would highly suggest if you're
going to dive into deeper well go with the expanded
edition deeper into the well because there's
just more greatness on it casey's back and i
think she took 2024 by the horns and ran with
it with this album and i hope it continues down
this path because this is where i feel like She
really knocks it out of the park. And I'm not
disrespecting her pop stuff. I understand that
some fans definitely gravitate more to that style.
She had some stuff to work through on that album.
It was her divorce album. We'll let it pass.
But you brought up something on this song and
what it meant to you and how this year was a
year for change for you. And this year was very
much a year for change for me personally. And
I'm probably going to get a little serious here
for a moment, so bear with me. But this is something
I haven't actually talked about on the show as
of yet. I've talked about it on social media,
but I don't know who that listens to the show,
follows on social media. But there was several
weeks or close to two months where I was actually
not running the show over this summer and through
the beginning of the fall. And on my social media
accounts, that was all thanks to my amazing family
and some podcasting friends who helped me keep
the show afloat. I had pre -taped some of my
summer shows so I could take a couple of weeks
off to spend with my family. And about a week
before I was going to take that time off, I started
feeling pains in my chest and ended up not chalking
it up to heartburn and just making a call to
a cardiologist just to check. Because I had no
idea. It was a feeling I had never felt before.
And a couple of days, a few blood tests and some
failed tests later, I was going in for double
bypass heart surgery. And I was told by several
doctors that had I not done this, I would not
have made it through the summer without either
a major heart attack or even worse. So to take
that into the song I picked, while I was laying
in the hospital at night, I was Using music as
my way to kind of keep me occupied, keep my mind
at ease, keep me relaxed, keep me grounded. My
family was there all day and all afternoon with
me, but at night they would go home and I would
just be laying there on my own in this room connected
to all these tubes and struggling to wrap my
mind around the fact that I'm in my 40s going
through something. that kind of early in life
to be struggling with mortality. And the lead
single from Jelly Rolls, Beautifully Broken,
is called I Am Not Okay. And this song could
be interpreted in many, many, many different
ways. It could be about being sober. It could
be about a relationship. But the lyrics, I am
not okay, but it's going to be all right, it
really, really hit me this summer. It helped
me get through. One of the hardest things and
probably the hardest thing I'll ever have to
go through. And damn it if I never have to go
through it again. I'm doing everything I can
right now to ensure I never have to go through
that again. But before I pivot back into the
song, I will say this much. If you're ever feeling
like something's off, don't hesitate to reach
out to your doctor. Because had I not done that,
this episode might not be happening right now.
So I really want to stress that to those listening.
It's not this is not a health program. I am not
a doctor, but something just told me that I needed
to make that phone call. And thank God I did.
So moving on into the actual song here. This
song was massive. It reached number 18 on the
Billboard US Hot 100, number five on the country
airplay chart and hot country songs chart, as
well as number 44 on the Canadian Hot 100 and
number 18 on the Canada country chart. It also
hit number 98 on the Billboard Global 200. But
for me, this song was so much more than that
because it really, I needed somebody to tell
me things were going to be okay. I had nurses
saying it. And I know that's their job. I had
family telling me that. And I know that that's
what family's there to tell you, family and friends.
But hearing it in a song from some stranger,
I don't know. I don't know why it just hit me
on a different level. And this song is hard for
me to listen to. But I couldn't do an episode
on country music in 2024 and not talk about this
song because it really truly resonates with me
on an entirely different level than probably
any of the songs we're going to be talking about
tonight. Well, I'm glad that you went when you
did and that you're still, now you're okay. to
come back to doing what you love to do. Thank
you. Me too. I don't have a good follow -up or
segue after that. So I guess I'll just jump into
my next one. Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the
show down. I really didn't. No, we kind of had
like a couplet of songs that were like the theme
songs of the year. And I'm going to keep things
sad because like I said, I love a country ballad.
I love a country duet and a sad country duet.
So I'm going to pick yet another collab of Orville
Peck featuring Noah Cyrus, How Far Will We Take
It, off of his 2024 album Stampede, which is
his duets album, which is such a fun album. You
guys should all go check it out. One of the highlights
is Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting with
Elton John, like kind of reimagined. It's a phenomenal
collaboration, but this song was one of the singles
that came out before the album. And Orville already
has this really kind of sultry, croonery voice
to begin with. You pair that with Noah's voice
and the two of them just sound incredible together.
The song is really sad. It's about being alone
after breaking up with the love of your life.
But it sounds incredible. That it does. The whole
album's great. I mean, Orville has this. You
had said, I think the word you used was sultry
voice. Was that? Yeah, sultry, croonery voice.
Croonery voice. To me, it was like a Roy Orbison
-esque 50s delivery. blends so perfectly with
that modern sound of Noah's voice. The whole
album's excellent. He teamed up with everybody
from Willie Nelson, who I mentioned, Patreon
mixtape, or Brandon from Virginia chimed in with,
with the song Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly
Fond of Each Other, all the way to Midland. You
had mentioned Elton John. And then there's guys
like Teddy Swims and Nathaniel Rateliff, which
the two of those guys have that Joe Cockery kind
of gravel to their voice. And then you pair it
with him. It's an incredibly fantastic collaboration
album. And I think, yeah, I know it's the year
of collaborations. I'm sticking with it. I've
mentioned the name before, and I'm going to go
with another collaboration. And look, if you
put out a tribute album to my favorite artist
ever, and it's all country music, yes, it's going
to be towards the top of my list. Now, you scooped
me on Laney Wilson on Side A. However, there's
no rules in my weekly mixtape that if Laney Wilson's
a feature on a track, I can't bring it up as
well. So I am going to go with Winona Judd featuring
Laney Wilson's cover of Tom Petty's Refugee.
This whole album is fantastic. I loved hearing.
country artists take on Tom Petty songs. If you
listen to the Wildflowers album and a lot of
Tom Petty's music, there is some country woven
into the fabric of what he makes musically. So
this album was not a huge swing to me. I know
it catches some flack online from Tom Petty purists
who don't want to hear modern country artists
do his music, but I'm sorry, I love it. I love
it, love it, love it. I love this version so
much. I had actually created at the early part
of the summer, a bonus episode of the show called
Under the Cover, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Refugee. And I break down seven different versions
of Refugee. And this is one of them. So I'm not
going to say anything else about this one other
than it's Tom Petty, it's country, it's 2024.
There's no way I wasn't including it. And Laney.
and Wynonna together, Chef's Kiss. It is a great
cover. It is so fun. I listened to it and was
jamming in my car. I know I keep saying song
of the summer. This also really makes me think
of summer and just driving with the windows down
and just screaming at the top of your lugs. It's
such a fun song. The haters can just deal with
it because I love when they take an artist and
do like a cover album. They've done like an Elton
John one in the country vein and they always
turn out so fun. Like, sorry, you don't like
fun. You want to hate on this album. I'm a cover
song fanatic and I know some people are like,
why? Just listen to the original. I just love
hearing artists put their stamp. on another artist's
song because I love the original. So if I love
the original and I love the artist covering it,
I really want to hear how they interpret what
their vision of that song is. And this is a perfect
example of that. Especially when they've been
inspired by the artist they're covering and you
can hear the influence in their music. Just a
cool full circle moment. Amen. All right, we
got a couple songs left. So what do you have
next? We're bringing the vibe back up, and I
think it's time for me to pull out my deep cut
from maybe an artist that people have not heard
before. I don't even know how I found them, but
there is a pair of sisters out of Connecticut
who perform under the name Presley and Taylor.
That's their names. And they have a song called
Never Not a Good Time that is, again, such a
fun song. It's just talking about how... They're
never not having a good time when they go out
and hang out with their friends. And it just
brings up memories of hanging out with friends.
And there's certain people you hang out with
that you never don't have a good time when you're
together. And their voices, you know how siblings
have that special kind of harmony that you can't
achieve with other people? They have that throughout
all of their songs. And they actually have a
feature on this. Her name is Hayley Mae Campbell.
And she adds this whole extra level too. their
little harmonies that they do. Yeah, this sister
duo could be a piece of the future of country
music for 2025 and beyond. Hearing this song,
I hear a 90s country pop fusing with modern sound.
So if you took Shania Twain in the 90s, now when
you add Hayley Mae Campbell into the mix, the
Dixie Chicks of the 2000s and modern pop country.
I think you get never not a good time. So I'm
actually shocked this song didn't get bigger
because it's a ridiculous earworm. It's really
catchy. It's catchy as hell. And I'm going to
keep this party vibe going and go with probably
what I feel might be the most catchiest earworm
of a song. Maybe it's because I was a fan of
Jaquan's Tipsy in 2004. But we can't not talk
about the fourth single from where I've been
isn't where I'm going. It took four singles to
get to a bar song, Tipsy by Shaboosie, a worldwide
smash reaching number three on the Billboard
Global 200. And it topped the charts number one
in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Norway,
Belgium and Sweden. It was also a top 10 hit
in six. other countries. It was also the longest
running number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100
in 2024. So regardless of if you like this song
or not, if you're mad at the fact that they interpolated
tipsy from hip hop to country, whatever your
reasoning is, this song is unescapable on any
chart this year. This song is everywhere. And
there's a reason it's everywhere. 10 years from
now, when I hear this song, it's going to remind
me of 2024. So it has to make the list. I know
it's an on -the -nose pick for my last song of
the night, but you can't not acknowledge the
biggest songs of the year. No, I think it's a
great pick. It is such also an earworm, also
really fun. I keep saying that for all these
songs, but it was a good year for really fun
songs. Okay. This one, I don't know if it's because
I'm just in the South, but it plays on our local
pop station and our country station and the hip
hop station. So we don't have a lot of circulation
going on, apparently, among stations. But it's
another song that when it plays on the radio,
I'm not trying to skip past it and find something
else. I'm like, OK, we can listen to this. We
can jam to this for a couple of minutes. It's
everywhere. And it's a song of the year. Certainly
is. And now you get to close us out. with the
final song of the night that i cannot believe
i've been holding out for this the entire time
waiting for you to steal it from me so i'm glad
that it made it to the final because i will see
tipsy and raise you what i think is the biggest
song of the year by an artist who has never released
a country album until this year that's not post
malone that is beyonce's texas hold 'em so you
want to talk about a song That was everywhere.
This was truly everywhere. Going back to TikTok,
there were days that every other video was using
this song. And it was for random stuff. It had
nothing to do with Texas or Beyonce, or it wasn't
even a dance like Dasha's song was. It was just
that catchy. And Beyonce's album better get the
awards that it deserves come award season because
it is such a... Interesting take back of country
music and the stuff that she does on it with
her collaborations, with her interpolations,
with her artwork. The album is phenomenal. It
deserves the world. Beyonce knocked out of the
park. Reach number one on the Billboard Global
200, the Billboard US Hot 100 and Hot Country
Songs chart, the Canadian Hot 100, the UK Singles
chart, as well as topping the charts in Belgium,
Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
And a historical thing happened with both Tipsy
by Shaboozy and Beyonce's Texas Hold 'em. It
was the first time. In Billboard Hot Country
Songs chart history, that two consecutive black
artists held the number one position on that
chart. So we get to close out tonight with two
history making songs, as well as two amazing.
songs that I'm sure are going to be talked about
for years to come. And that, Mixtapers, concludes
Side B of the Ultimate 2024 Country Music Mixtape,
which consists of Nate Smith's Bulletproof featuring
Avril Lavigne, Brothers Osbourne's Break Mine,
Cameron Marlowe's High Hopes featuring Marcus
King, Kacey Musgraves' Deeper Well, Jelly Roll's
I Am Not Okay, Orville Peck, How Far Can We Take
It featuring Noah Cyrus, Winona Judd's Refugee
featuring Lainey Wilson, Presley and Taylor's
Never Not a Good Time featuring Hayley Mae Campbell,
Shaboosie's A Bar Song Tipsy, and Beyonce's Texas
Hold 'em. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to
hear all the songs we've discussed in this mix
through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. Now, Leah, I know we've been talking a
lot about country music tonight, but you have
brought up the Struts. So why don't you let everybody
know about the Struts Life podcast and where
they could find the show? Yeah, the Struts Life
podcast is an oral history of the band featuring
me as your co -host and my other four co -hosts
are the band themselves. And so at least one
member joins us every week of the show to talk
about. Past, present, future, likes, dislikes,
hopes, dreams. We've got some cool stuff coming
down the pipeline. There's a bunch of episodes
out already. You can find it on thestruts .com.
There's a link to all of your listening sites,
wherever you listen to podcasts. Well, thank
you so much for joining me tonight on My Weekly
Mixtape. It's been a great time talking country
music with you tonight. Thanks for having me.
And remember, you can find my weekly mixtape
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tunes.