For some reason, 2024 brought a lot more country and Southern rock to my playlist than usual. There’s always some mixed in, but at least according to Spotify, three of my top five bands and four of my top five songs of the year were country and Southern rock – and I can’t deny that the genres produced two of my absolute favorite albums of 2024. I’m still a metal guy through and through, so I’m sure there’s some great stuff out there that I missed that will leave the true aficionados of country shaking their heads, but here’s a look at my favorites for what it’s worth:
No. 10. JOHNNY BLUE SKES – ‘PASSAGE DU DESIR’: I’m firmly in the camp of folks who wish that Sturgill Simpson would return to the traditional country of High Top Mountain or even the psychedelia of Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, but I guess we just have to accept he’s not going to do that. The things he’s done since then have been a mixed bag, some I liked and some I really disliked. Now comes his alter ego Johnny Blue Skies, a mix of country, blues, blue-eyed soul and at least one song that has some ’80s pop leanings. While I like it, Passage Du Desir is very much a mood record for me and not something I’d listen to regularly. I’m still more drawn to the songs here that lean to the country side of his sound.
Standout songs: “Scooter Blues,” “Who I Am,” “Mint Tea,” “One for the Road”
No. 9. JACKSON TAYLOR AND THE SINNERS – ‘IN MEMPHIS’: This would probably rank a little higher on my list except for the fact that most of the material is not really new. Much of it has been dripped out in singles released over the last three or four years. The songs on In Memphis are, perhaps, a little less rowdy and raucous than what we’ve come to expect from Jackson Taylor, but it’s still the rowdier songs that I enjoy the best. The highlights for me are the infectious “Angels (Can’t Fly)” and the harder rocking “Blessed 45,” his love letter to the television show Supernatural.
Standout songs: “Used to be Bad,” “Johnny Without June,” “Angels (Can’t Fly),” “Blessed 45,” “One Night or a Lifetime”
No. 8. RED CLAY STRAYS – ‘MADE BY THESE MOMENTS’: If you’re looking for an album that represents, at one time or another over the course of 11 songs, just about everything that classic country and Southern rock have to offer, Made by These Moments is the one that you’re looking for. On their second album, the Red Clay Strays run the gamut from tear-jerking sad songs to soulful country blues to hand-clapping gospel to hard-driving Southern rockers with maybe even a touch of cowpunk on the opening riff of “Ramblin’.” The sound has a real ’70s vibe to my ears, but singer Brandon Coleman boasts a classic voice that adapts to fit the feel of whatever the song calls for. While they scored a hit with “Wanna Be Loved,” it’s no surprise that the darker tunes like “Drowning” and “Devil in My Ear” are the ones that I’m more drawn to.
Standout songs: “Disaster,” “Wasting Time,” “No One Else Like Me,” “Ramblin’,” “Drowning,” “Devil in My Ear”
No. 7. JAMEY JOHNSON – ‘MIDNIGHT GASOLINE’:If there’s one artist that’s been sorely missed in country music, it’s Jamey Johnson. Finally, 12 years after his last album and 14 years after his last collection of original music, he returned in 2024. Midnight Gasoline was worth the wait. While I don’t feel like the album is quite as strong as a whole as That Lonesome Song or The Guitar Song, Johnson still has the songwriting chops we know and love. Among the 12 songs here, we get heartfelt tear-jerkers, plaintive reflections, rowdy good-timers, a couple of songs that are just silly fun, and a cover of one of my favorite Charlie Daniels Band tunes, “Trudy.” It’s nice to have him back.
Standout songs: “Bad Guy,” “Midnight Gasoline,” “Someday When I’m Old,” “Trudy,” “One More Time,” “Saturday Night in New Orleans,” “Sober,” “I’m Tired of it All,” “What You Answer To”
No. 6. TAYLOR HUNNICUTT – ‘ALABAMA SOUND’/’WITH ALL DUE RESPECT’: My introduction to Taylor Hunnicutt came when I saw her open for the Steel Woods earlier in 2024. I admit that I groaned a little when I found out Taylor was a woman. While I realize that it’s completely a “me” problem, I often find the twang in female country vocals a little off-putting. Then, she stormed the stage with her band and delivered about a 45-minute set of stomping Southern rock that instantly made me a fan. Taylor Hunnicutt wears her influences on her sleeve, but puts her own spin on them. The storytelling of “Saw Blade Hill,” puts me in mind of Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road.” There’s a hard-driving down-and-out blues feel to “Undone,” there are shades of Stevie Nicks in “Trail of a Broken Heart,” a definite nod to Tom Petty on “Runaway,” and her hard-rocking version of Blackfoot’s “Left Turn on a Red Light” was the highlight of her live set. These two records would have been Top 5 country/Southern rock releases for me in just about any other year, but she had some tough competition this year.
Standout songs: “Saw Blade Hill,” “Trail of a Broken Heart,” “Alabama Sound,” “Undone,” “Runaway,” “Left Turn on a Red Light”
No. 5. JOE CLARK AND THE PEACEMAKERS – ‘HILLBILLY VOODOO’: Joe Clark was another nice accidental find in 2024. I stumbled across a video of him doing a partial version of “Wish a Mfer Would” as a solo acoustic performance before this album was released. While it’s obviously a song meant to get a reaction, it intrigued me about the rest of the album. Clark delivers a raw and rough-around-the-edges blend of country and Southern rock with a lot of ’70s influence. “G.A.S.S.” was probably one of my most-listened songs of the year, hitting close to home since my Give a Shit ship also sailed in many respects this year. But aside from the rowdy ones like the two aforementioned pair, he’s also able to deliver some thoughtful and soulful tunes as well. It’s certainly not as polished as many of the other records on this list, but that’s part of the appeal.
Standout songs: “Enemy,” “It Is What It Is,” “I’m Gone,” “Hillbilly Voodoo,” “Little Miss Innocent,” “G.A.S.S.,” “Wish a MferWould”
No. 4. JOSH MELOY – ‘WHERE YOU CAME FROM’: While I’ve enjoyed Josh Meloy’s grittier tunes like “Natural Born Killer” and “Met the Devil in Oklahoma,” he’s always had just a few too many breakup songs for my tastes, something that even he joked about when I saw him open for Cody Jinks a few years back. While the breakup songs are still here, this album is far more balanced in subject matter and also takes a few risks that are fun. I’m particularly fond of the swinging, jazzy sound of “Son of a Sinner,” which has become my favorite of the 11 tracks. Granted, it’s still the gritty tunes like “Trouble” and “Backroads” that I keep returning to, but I even have to admit that some of the breakup tunes on this album are pretty good.
Standout songs: “Where You Came From,” “Killin’ Me Inside,” “Not This Time Around,” “Son of a Sinner,” “Trouble,” “Backroads”
No. 3. NATIVE HOWL – ‘SONS OF DESTRUCTION’: Here’s the dilemma – do you put “thrashgrass” under country and Southern rock or hard rock and metal? While there’s certainly a little more rock on Sons of Destruction than their previous records, I still think the bluegrass and country elements are stronger. This album would have ranked high on either list. I’ve been a fan since I heard their signature tune “Thunderhead” seven or eight years ago, but they earned a deal with Sumerian Records on a YouTube competition for unsigned bands that was judged by, among others, Alice Cooper and Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, who also appears on this record on a re-recording of “Mercy.” Sons of Destruction is a bit more refined than some of their past work, but they don’t lose any of their uniqueness, whether it’s a hard-hitting number like the title track, a dark and melancholy piece like “Devil I’ve Become,” or an absolutely fantastic cover of Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”
Standout songs: “Mercy,” “BOG,” “Sons of Destruction,” “Waco,” “Stockholm Syndrome,” “Wide is the River,” “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” “Devil I’ve Become”
No. 2. BLACKBERRY SMOKE – ‘BE RIGHT HERE’: Back in February, I was convinced that this would be my album of the year. I’ve told my story about The Whippoorwill and its impact on me a few times now when writing about Blackberry Smoke, and finally, they recorded an album that felt very much like that one without all of the personal baggage and association. Be Right Here delivers exactly what I want from Blackberry Smoke, a rootsy Southern album that sits right in that perfect pocket between country and rock with some fantastic songwriting that really speaks to me and where I’m at in life. While The Whippoorwill was a record for getting me through one of the hardest periods of my life, Be Right Here was one for better times, for a time of exploration and kind of figuring out who I am later in life. I don’t know that it will have the kind of impact on others that it did on me, but I do know that it’s filled with great songs that any fan of the twangier side of Southern rock should be able to enjoy.
Standout songs: “Dig a Hole,” “Hammer and the Nail,” “Like It Was Yesterday,” “Azalea,” “Don’t Mind if I Do,” “Whatcha Know Good,” “Little Bit Crazy”
No. 1. CODY JINKS – ‘CHANGE THE GAME’: So what could dethrone an album with the impact of Blackberry Smoke’s Be Right Here? One with probably the two most personally meaningful songs of the year for me. The Whippoorwill back in 2012 was probably the last and only time that a non-metal album was my favorite of the year, but if I had to pick a winner across genres this year, Cody Jinks’ Change the Game would be it. And it’s largely because of those two songs – “Sober Thing” and “What You Love.” The first one kind of struck me out of the blue. I don’t struggle with sobriety, and I never have, but there were still a lot of sentiments expressed in “Sober Thing” that hit me very close to home. The lyric that really punched me in the gut was, “I’ve been fighting regrets and memories/Time has not healed me like I thought it would.” I think lines like that and those about finding himself are relatable to most of us. But it’s the second song that really gets down to where I’m living right now. It was a year where I realized that I have often played life safe and, as Jinks sings in “What You Love,” wasted a lot of days on dreams that don’t fill me. Though it’s a soft song, this one became sort of a rallying cry for me this year. Beyond those two, there are a lot of really good songs, many of them more upbeat, like the rebellious title track, the uptempo (though still dark lyrically) “A Few More Ghosts,” or the driving “I Can’t Complain” (another favorite). Is it Cody Jinks’ strongest record front to back? I don’t know. But it was the one that I needed this year.
Standout songs: “Sober Thing,” “Outlaws and Mustangs,” “I Can’t Complain,” “Take this Bottle,” “Deceiver’s Blues,” “A Few More Ghosts,” “Change the Game,” “What You Love”
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