Mainstream Sounds & Genre Blends: What’s New in Country for the Last Half of 2025
The act of making music is a worthy undertaking for the soul, but when it connects the musician to an audience, the experience deepens.
At least 15 country artists have their first album or EP set for release during the last half of 2025, and many are already receiving the kind of feedback that confirms they’re making a connection.
“I got these young kids, they’re like 14 years old and their favorite song is ‘Weak,’ and their mom is sending me videos of them trying to play the solo,” notes Valory newcomer Preston Cooper. “That’s the most heartwarming thing ever, because they’re loving it and they’re growing up with that music. That’s important to me.”
That’s a sign that the hand-me-down nature of music – where the sound of one generation is incorporated and reinterpreted by the next – is alive and well.
Cooper, Hudson Westbrook and Chase McDaniel have fashioned what they’ve learned from their predecessors in a way that has each of them currently charted on Country Airplay, giving them an informal leadership role in a class of artists that’s more than willing to test the boundaries of the format. That’s particularly true of the seven women, several of whom fold in a fair amount of western, folk and Americana influence.
Here’s a look at the 15 country artists with their first album or EP arriving between July 1 and Dec. 31:
- Annie Bosko (Stone Country) – Bosko has already collaborated with Joe Nichols, Vince Gill and Dwight Yoakam. The California cowgirl has a decidedly country voice, whether she’s contemplating faith in “God Winks” or kicking up her heels in “Country Girls! (Who Runs The World).” Her first album comes this fall.
- Karley Scott Collins (Sony Music Nashville) – She possesses a smoky resonance and a worldly confidence, and applies that sound to tracks awash in hard knocks, drama and frustration. Collins enlisted Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Lady A) to co-produce her first album, Flight Risk, arriving Sept. 26.
- Preston Cooper (Valory) – Eighteen months removed from a small-town Ohio postal route, Cooper stamps his music with a bluesy scratch and an undeniable power. His first single, “Weak,” ably introduces his raw approach, further certified in the full Toledo Talkin’, planned for an Aug. 29 release.
- Carter Faith (MCA) – She certainly puts her Faith in country music. Whether she’s exploring cinematic productions, honky-tonk pieces or sweaty, truck-bed workouts, the North Carolina native packages classic sounds with modern frankness, mindful of Deana Carter and Lindi Ortega. Her first album, Cherry Valley, is due Oct. 3.
- Micah Fletcher (Grey Area) – The indie artist, raised in Virginia, has his first EP, Highway to Heaven, on the books for a July 18 release. The six-song project pairs his everyman vocal tone with real-world songs about faith and family built on easy-going hooks and modern production.
- Dylan Gossett (Big Loud Texas/Mercury) – He’s already pocketed a platinum single with the 2023 release “Coal” and made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Now Austin-born Gossett is set to mine his sturdy, uncluttered approach to country with a 17-track debut album, Westward, on the way July 18.
- Spencer Hatcher (Stone Country) – Raised in Timberville, Va. – from the same I-81 corridor as country stalwarts Ricky Van Shelton and The Statler Brothers – Hatcher’s unencumbered phrasing fits the ‘90s-country revival that’s still turning heads among the genre’s base. His debut EP is slated to hit the market in November.
- Zandi Holup (Big Loud) – The world isn’t easy, or simple, and Holup conveys that with detailed lyrics and spare, acoustic-guitar-based arrangements. Her grainy, sometimes-shuddered vocals carry an intimate quality perfectly suited to her penchant for sad story songs. Her first album, Wildflower, arrives Aug. 1.
- Alexandra Kay (BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville) – Featured on Jelly Roll’s 2024 tour and the Twisters soundtrack, Kay owns a Main Street eatery, The Coffee Girl, in her hometown of Waterloo, Ill. Her music percolates behind a girly tone and a brassy ‘tude, with her first major-label album expected before year-end.
- Chase McDaniel (Big Machine) – McDaniel applies a fuzzy tone to the quiet songs on his debut album, but kicks into clear, arena-level power when required. Both aspects are on display as he slips the occasional haunting piece in among songs of personal commitment on Lost Ones, expected Sept. 19.
- Peech. (CCMG/Tamla) – The Utah-bred artist-writer brought his indie-folk sound to the Capitol Christian Music Group’s Tamla imprint, which issues his first major-label-affiliated EP in August. His conversational phrasing and relaxed productions could easily fit in the current country landscape, nestled stylistically between Jelly Roll and Zach Brown.
- Ketch Secor (Equal Housing / Firebird) – Twenty-five years into his run with Old Crow Medicine Show, frontman Secor released his first solo album, Story the Crow Told Me, July 11. With appearances by Marty Stuart, Molly Tuttle and Jaren Johnston, it revels in rough-cut country and a traveler’s wisdom.
- MaRynn Taylor (Black River) – Her unassuming delivery and crystalline timbre give Taylor the aura of the girl next door, enhanced by the everyday topics – boys, beauty and “Season 2 of Friends” – that work their way into her material. Expect her self-titled inaugural album in August.
- Thelma & James (Big Loud) – Married couple MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge vacillate from sweet sonic embraces to dark, dangerous soundscapes in the handful of brooding, acoustic-driven songs they’ve released to date. Appreciated by John Mayer and Luke Combs, they’re currently building their debut EP, expected this fall.
- Hudson Westbrook (River House/Warner Music Nashville) – The red-dirt scene has increasingly yielded artists ideal for country’s mainstream, and Westbrook is the latest example, behind subtle melodies and trad-country instrumentation. His first radio single, “House Again,” is at No. 24 on Country Airplay; his first album, Texas Forever, bows July 25.
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