Our Top Ten Posts of 2023

Thanks for hanging with us through our first (half) year trying to really make this thing happen!

Us at the amazing Deep Vellum in Dallas after doing a talk for Her Country !!

By Natalie

First off, cheers to a happy holiday and an even happier new year! Sending the best vibes for a mellow, reflective (or not), uneventful and contented final weekend of 2023 (woof). A little note for our paying subscribers (and anyone who might want to become one) — our first subscriber-only event of 2024 will be a book club focusing on Chris Molanphy’s fantastic Old Town Road book for Duke University Press; he’ll be joining us to chat about it on Wednesday, January 10 at 6 p.m. Still plenty of time to pick up a copy from DUP for 30% off with coupon code E23OLTWN! Or grab it from your local library or bookstore of choice — it’s a super quick, super informative, super thoughtful read, and we can’t wait to hear more from Chris in January!

Anyway! In the spirit of reflection, I just put on the playlist of all our 2023 recs (paying subscribers can listen to it here!) and am thinking about just how much we’ve pulled off this year. The pace of Substack (and, obviously, life in 2023) is not enormously conducive to savoring accomplishments, or thinking about anything beyond what the hell we’re going to post next week. But somehow we’ve kept this thing moving since restarting in earnest in May, trying to build something you can count on and a community of thoughtful country (etc.) music fans in the process. We are so grateful for your readership and support! If a country music writer wants to explore the genesis of the Justified theme song and nobody reads it, are there even long hard times to come?? Or something. Point being, we write to be read — to share music and ideas that we think are compelling or important — and we can’t do that without you. Thank you!!

We wanted to look back at your favorite posts from this year, and elected to draw from those that are free to everyone (although plenty of our weekly recommendation posts for paying subscribers are among the most popular ones! So happy you guys are digging those). Take a gander and buckle up for a brand new year of zeitgeisty (or not) country music Takes! :) See you in 2024!

Bonus: Issue #10: We Listened to An Hour of Country Radio So You Don't Have To - By Natalie and Marissa

Lest we forget the Morgan Wallen doublewide…

10. Issue #16: AMANDA SHIRES - By Natalie and Marissa

Our Q&A with the wonderful Amanda Shires, culled from our first-ever Don’t Rock The Inbox Live! Zoom sesh.

9. ISSUE #22: It's the "summer of the woman," everywhere but country radio - By Marissa

A necessary callout of how things are worse for women at country radio than they’ve ever been, somehow!!

8. Issue #26: ALANIS & ANGER - By Marissa

A GOAT on a GOAT (and women’s influence getting perennially undersold).

7. Issue #6: TAYLOR SWIFT - By Marissa

Marissa on T-Swift, giving the people what they want (also the sweetest photo of her daughter imaginable).

6. Issue #15: The 'Justified' Theme & the Not-So-Lonely Road to Its Unforgettable Blend of Bluegrass and Hip-Hop - By Natalie

The aforementioned Justified theme song piece, which was so much fun to write and report and I certainly could never have placed in any publication besides ours.

5. Issue #20: God, country music and a Jewish Agnostic walk into a bar - By Marissa

Another banger of a personal essay from Marissa about finding beauty and truth in music of a faith you may not share.

4. ISSUE #35: OUR FAVORITE SONGS & ALBUMS OF 2023 - By Natalie and Marissa

Huzzah for good music!! So many great tunes packed in here. Big shout out to Stereogum, too, for partnering with us on our first AOTY list!

3. Issue #19: The Summer Of Country Discourse - By Natalie and Marissa

One of our famous (?) Slack chats, as we tried to reckon with the dumb political shitstorm that overtook country music this summer and the overall state of the genre.

2. Issue #33: Zach Bryan and the never-ending search for authenticity - By Natalie

Thrilled that this resonated with people, as I didn’t want to take a stab at ZB discourse without actually listening to all of his songs (at least the ones that are available on streaming!). It took a long time !!! As you might imagine. Tried to capture why I don’t really connect with his work, and why it seems like a lot of people do…

1. Issue #11: JASON ISBELL - By Marissa

Marissa’s heartfelt review of Isbell’s Weathervanes was far and away our most popular post of the year, and it’s no surprise given how evocative and personal her take on the album was.

Happy reading and again, happy new year! We’re so excited to go even bigger next year :)