Welcome to 2026!
a look back and a look forward. Announcing a new series!
After a short hiatus after end-of-year season, we begin the new year. The end-of-year season is quite busy, producing four to five substantial pieces in a timeframe that typically yields one or two. I really hoped you guys enjoyed. The work put into that is on a whole different level than my usual. The process demands revisiting the year’s albums, rereading old posts, and making difficult judgment calls. After that, a feeling of vacation feels earned.
I do understand why many publications choose to bump end-of-year season earlier in the year, to the beginning of December or sometimes even late November. A nice vacation is an enticing proposition. But end-of-year content belongs at the actual end of the year. I hope that over your various Christmas and New Year’s breaks, you indulged yourself in some Today I Heard.
The first post of the new year looks both backwards and forwards. Backwards, because all that inspires the writing comes from that which has been written before. Forwards, because we must consider what 2026 will bring that is different, what will be the focus, and where the energy lies. Let’s begin by reflecting on where we’ve been.
A Look Backwards
This past year brought both growth and challenges. Coming off end-of-year season, which always brings increased readership, I increased output considerably—publishing fifteen percent more content than ever before. Yet readership remained relatively flat. Without subscriber growth for much of the year, view counts shrank despite the additional articles.
I’m determined to solve this puzzle. What makes you open these emails? What topics resonate? If readers have suggestions about what works or what changes they’d like, I’m listening. I hope the curation, longer essays, and quick hits provide value to readership. Your feedback will shape the year ahead. I’d like to spotlight the pieces that resonated with readers most. In order of most views,
“Ex Post Facto” (Morgan Wallen album review) - No surprise here. Wallen is the master of getting clicks.
“Kenny Chesney, Country Music Hall of Famer?” - Topical piece on a mainstream artist with broad appeal.
“Misplaced Nostalgia” - A critical take on the songwriting of Keith Urban and others. Apparently, people love a well-argued critique of established artists. I’m glad this one did well, I had a fun time writing it.
“The Backlog - End of July Bakers Dozen” - Honestly, I’m not sure why this one popped off vs. any other backlog post, but I’m not complaining. Maybe it’s because Waylon Wyatt and a couple other buzzy acts were featured?
“Nailed It!” - The culmination of months of thinking about artistic limitations and genre evolution. Applied to bro-country. Maybe there a huge undertapped swath of David Nail fans desperate for content. Maybe people feel nostalgic about bro country. Who knows?
The pattern is clear. People love to read about the popular acts. A bummer given how much fantastic independent music exists. But as I noted in my Luke Combs piece, when choosing between mainstream and independent artists as vehicles for an identical idea, this tips me to lean towards using the mainstream artist as the vehicle for the idea. The clicks follow the names, even when the ideas could work either way.
My favorite piece of the year tells a different story. “Painting a Culture”—connecting Muscadine Bloodline to Emily Dickinson—got modest traction but nothing like the mainstream pieces. Maybe too dense, maybe too conceptually out there. I dearly love these out there pieces, and amidst all the outlets out there it is what makes TIH different. Don’t worry, they still will be a part of things going forward. Meanwhile, swings like “Welcome to the (Not So) Wild Wild West”—my deep dive into Yellowstone, Western music, and Montana economics—barely registered despite being one of my most ambitious pieces. It’s a reminder that ambition and effort don’t always translate to views. The same went for the milestone of my first artist interview with fellow Substacker and self described Canadiana artist Mathew Joel Vanderkwaak. A lesson I’m still chewing over.
My positive takeaway is that thankfully there is an audience that appreciates critical engagement with the music they’re already hearing. No to just discovery of obscure alternatives. No to just blind praise thrown towards the crowds favorites like meat to stray dogs. Yes to engaging with the bigger acts, but with the essay length treatment I give any deserving idea or artist.
Over the past year, one thing I’ve come to appreciate is the small but dedicated community that’s formed around Today I Heard. Whether through email replies, comments, or the occasional conversation, knowing there are people genuinely thinking about this music alongside me makes the work meaningful. Of course id prefer more engagement. This year was a struggle in that regard, with subscribers and viewers counts staying flat and/or shrinking for much of the year. Dispiriting. But, even reaching fifty people consistently is no small thing. You could never assemble fifty people irl to hear you rant about obscure country musicians. Readership is deeply appreciated, especially when those people care.
….And A Look Forwards
I can never truly know what I’ll end up writing about. My history with guessing what I’m going to be inspired by is not great. For example, last year I thought I would have a dedicated article at some point going through and breaking down non-country albums that have had a particular influence on the young, up-and-coming sound of country music. The idea was to cover records from artists like John Mayer, Mumford & Sons, Bon Iver, Caamp, and the like. Ultimately, there was no dedicated piece, but the John Mayer record became a focus of mine. It was referenced in multiple pieces and ultimately manifested in the above mentioned wide-ranging article about the West, Yellowstone, and the new age of country music. It’s hard to know exactly how things are going to play out and how I am going to cover it.
Looking at the whole year reveals that country music is genuinely shifting. One could argue that every moment is transitional, making this observation less than completely novel. But things do seem to be moving in meaningful ways.
I have a broad theory of country music, which is that every ten years things change, but not on clean decade boundaries—from year zero to year nine. The shifts happen from year six to year five. For example, the neotrad 1986 to 1995, or the slick adult contemporary country pop of 1996 to 2005. If 2016 marked a shift—bro-country’s decline, organic sounds rising, veterans adapting through a pandemic—we’re now due for something new.
This past year, as I detailed in my end-of-year content, was a mixed bag. A lot of the stalwart veterans either didn’t show up or were not great. I am looking forward to a renewal from those artists. However, the young crowd is where a lot of the energy is taking place. A changing of the guard offers redefinition for both country music and mainstream sound.
Maybe that something new is the Zach Bryan-inspired music, taking acoustic folk and meshing it together with contemproary country with fuller fleshed out but still natural production. The further into the mainstream these sounds go, the more they will shift. Tracing that and seeing if the thesis proves itself to be true yet again would be intriguing.
Because of these emergent trends, I expect to delve deeper into the younger world of country music. The artists that first came up in that acoustic Zach Bryan mold are evolving and transitioning into a world of full sound. That can be very intriguing. What do we make of it? Are they successful? What is gained/lost as they pivot closer to the mainstream?
About two years ago, I wrote an article entitled “Five Guys,” wherein I assessed the state of the landscape of these young artists. At the time it was Evan Honer, Dylan Gossett, Sam Barber, Drayton Farley, and Wyatt Flores. All have released follow-up singles and full albums. Though I reviewed those individual records, a broader follow-up perspective on those albums seems useful. Typically, I don’t like to review 2025 albums in 2026. It seems that most of the buzz goes away once the new year turns over. However, in this case, they would not be album reviews. After all, I have reviewed many of these records in the past. This broad sweepng focus wiuld would additionally cover new artists that are in the same vein, such as Ty Myers, Vincent Mason, and others. I would expect something of that sort to happen this year.
I am also interested in how the veteran acts react during another shift period of change. In the year 2020, there was big talk about the end of the decade and what to expect going forward. A podcast I heard at the time discussed expected trends. One host suggested that due to the reality of streaming and the nature of the stars at the time, established artists like Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and Keith Urban wouldn’t fall off. She also thought that Sam Hunt would continue to reign as the most dominant figure in pop country. We were all convinced Hunt was a mega-level superstar. Instead, Hunt has largely disappeared from the conversation, proving how unpredictable these career trajectories can be when artists fail to evolve or make the wrong strategic choices.
How veterans navigate this shift depends entirely on the choices they make. In 2024, Keith Urban released HIGH, one of his best albums of the past fifteen years. It drew heavily from nostalgia for his earlier work gathering plaudits for resurrecting that electric guitar forward carefree abandon that characterized his 2000’s output. His live album that he just released is very much infused with that same nostalgia. These are intentional choices. Fan interest will wax and wane heavily based on these choices.
I think these twin themes—the veteran adjustment on one hand, the youth adjustment on the other—are the ones that I find to be most intriguing. I aim to have that dedicated post I talked about earlier in this piece and perhaps also something about some veterans.
Albums I’m Excited For
There are many albums I’m excited for this year. Aaron Watson is releasing an album in March. Texas was weak last year, and hopefully Watson will head off a much more fruitful year. Luke Combs has new music coming. I’m always excited for what he puts out. On the indie/ Americana side, the Cordovas are releasing a new record early in the year. That might be a favorite. Emily Scott Robinson always has something deeply interesting on her records. Get hyped! Calder Allan is another indie voice I’ve enjoyed in the past and am looking forward to. Ty Myers, fresh off his breakout 2025 is issuing a rapid follow up in March. Megan Moroney’s sophomore effort should arrive to great fanfare. I’m nervous she’s going more pop, but it’s a must listen regardless. Much credit goes to Trigger at Saving Country Music for his list of upcoming albums, which has always been a great resource for me to find what’s coming up.
New Features and Announcements
Last year, one of the things I wished to do and was unsuccessful at was to broaden the coverage of Today I Heard to include not just current releases but also retrospectives. Much of the content in the essays is pulled from my listening of country music from all eras, from trends and ideas gleaned from that. It’s been very constructive. However, much of my listening is focused on new releases, and there are many areas in country that I wish I knew better.
Instead of trying to tackle my entire backlog of unheard albums, I’m launching “Five Singles”. This is going to be an artist-focused deep dive where we pick five famous songs from artists, whether I’ve heard them or not. I’ll make sure these five singles come from a good spread of albums. The first artist is going to be Eddie Rabbitt, a big eighties popular act. I’ll explore the singles, maybe talk a little bit about the artist, share some takeaways and the like. I’m excited. I think it’s a blend that will work quite well.
Don’t worry. This new section will only add to Today I Heard, not replace anything. You’ll still get the album reviews, essays, and quick hits you’re used to. This is just another way to explore country music’s rich history alongside its present.
Additionally, I’m excited to announce that the third annual Letters to the Editor series will happen. This has become one of my favorite features each year1. It’s a chance to engage directly with your questions, dive deep into topics you care about, and have real conversations about country music.
Please submit your letters, questions, and comments by the deadline at the end of February. I will do my utmost best to deep dive and give you those answers in the lengthy correspondence that I’ve given in the past with the letters. This is your chance to steer the conversation, challenge my takes, or ask about something I haven’t covered. I aim to do so going forward.
So please, reach out. Tell me what made you open these emails this past year. What topics do you want more of? What am I missing? Your feedback—whether through Letters to the Editor or just a quick reply—genuinely shapes where Today I Heard goes next.
All of this is to say, we have an exciting year up in front of us. So with all that, let’s raise a glass and cheer on the year that is yet to come.