Best Country Song in Nashville 2026: Ashley Monroe, “I Hate Nashville”
I’ve always thought Darrell Scott’s “Heartbreak Town” was a perfect depiction of the quiet pain of giving your life to an industry that all too often values artists far too little. Ashley Monroe moved to town as a teenager, just a few years after Scott released that song. Nearly 25 years later, she penned “I Hate Nashville,” her own Music City lament that will no doubt still resonate with artists decades down the line. Over a crying steel guitar, Monroe weighs her unending love for the music against the toll the business has taken on her. “Country music is the reason I’m alive,” she sings on the unflinchingly honest track. “Paul Franklin playing steel / God knows I love Vince Gill / But I hate Nashville.”
