Put A Record On: Gettin' Tipsy & Leaving Tips

But more than 20%, as Walker County demands...

Welcome back to Don’t Rock the Inbox! Here’s this week’s music recommendation post and playlist, which are for paying subscribers only. Subscribe to get access to all our new (and old) music picks and pans, and so much more — including new playlists weekly, which are always at the bottom of this email (paying subscribers — make sure you don’t miss them!).

Now, we know there are three dozen new Taylor Swift songs to listen to today, but there’s been a plethora of great new country songs and records released in the past few weeks (and a bunch of terrible ones - is this our biggest “The Bad” section of all time? Maybe). And why are so many country bros releasing Nirvana covers, poorly?

Anyway! Rest easy Dickey Betts, and on to the picks…

The Good

"A Bar Song (Tipsy)," Shaboozey: Such Millennial bait it's crazy, but also…brilliant?? A fiddle-laden, hand-clapping hoedown jam that quotes J-Kwon's iconic "Tipsy" — I can't believe I didn't dream it, it seems too beautiful to be true. — NW

“Guilty As Sin,” Chris Housman: That tone! Those hooks! Chris Housman always kills it, and I’m sure there are a whole handful of boring cishet dudes who would have loved to cut some nice polite version of this song. Sorry bros! - MM

“Florida!!!,” Taylor Swift featuring Florence + the Machine: I haven’t nearly listened to this whole double album yet, but I repeated this one twice so far not because it’s country but because…wait, is she shitting on some half-assed Music Row songwriter here? I refuse to hear anything different and because that simple idea is just so delightful! - MM

My Black Country: The Songs Of Alice Randall: Hopefully, this album will become an ur-text for country's next, more expansive and inclusive generation by spotlighting Randall's story and impact on Music Row. An all-star effort featuring Valerie June, Rhiannon Giddens and Allison Russell among many others, this collection is as lovely as it is creative and unexpected — you've never heard "XXX's and OOO's" like this before, I promise! — NW