Country Music Almanac 2026: Artists to Watch

Every year the cornucopia of rising country talent overflows with noteworthy artists in Nashville and beyond. To help you keep up, we’ve picked out 12 artists with outstanding songs and vital perspectives to share.

Palmyra

Palmyra’s debut album Restless is a reckoning. Released in March 2025, it reflects on the fatigue of constant touring, the discovery of a bipolar diagnosis and the nuances of gender dysphoria — but lifted by the vocal harmonies of Mānoa Bell, Teddy Chipouras and Sasha Landon, those struggles are transformed into stories of redemption and resilience. It’s been a treat to see this Virginia trio rise lately, recently signed to Oh Boy Records. Their homegrown blend of alt-country and folk is perfect for fans of Saintseneca or The Avett Brothers, and they’re unafraid to plumb the depths for transcendence. ANNIE PARNELL

Nathan Evans Fox

North Carolina native Nathan Evans Fox describes his music as “songs that sound the way gas stations feel.” Travelers who embrace backroad escapism on wayward drives between one town and the next know exactly what Fox means. With songs layered in roots, gospel and folk, Fox often lends his melodies to capturing life’s overlooked complexities; after all, for every group of locals at a rural rest stop, there’s a story to tell. Those new to Fox’s music should spin “Hillbilly Hymn (Okra & Cigarettes),” his buzzworthy take on an old-time spiritual number that opens with: “When the Lord comes back  / Ain’t gonna be no cops / You can cook your own / You can smoke your crops.” Expect more when Fox releases a new album later this year via Free Dirt Records. MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

Lizzie No

Eagle-eyed readers will note that Lizzie No has appeared on this list before, and they’re always someone to keep an eye on. The relatively recently arrived Nashvillian releases and relentlessly tours heartfelt, often-rocking country music, like last year’s live LP Commie Country and 2024’s Halfsies. They also co-host two thoughtful podcasts: Basic Folk, in which they interview fellow musicians with co-host Cindy Howes, and Y’allidarity Social Club, in which they discuss the intersection of music and labor theory and policy with the aforementioned Nathan Evans Fox. And they maintain a vibrant social media presence as well as run an OnlyFans account to make ends meet in an economy that is not friendly to artists. Lizzie No has a lot to say, and we’d all be wise to listen. STEPHEN TRAGESER

Laci Kaye Booth

In her song “Cigarettes,” Laci Kaye Booth addresses something that’s all too familiar to young artists: getting swept up in the promise of being “the next big thing” only to be dropped by a major label that never seemed to support their artistry. “The same Champagne that they bought me / I popped it when they dropped me,” Booth sings, nodding to a newfound sense of creative freedom. When it happened to her, Booth followed her instincts and they proved correct: She soon signed with storied Los Angeles label Geffen. Her breakthrough 2024 album The Loneliest Girl in the World, a stellar collection of ethereal, bootgaze-y songs, showcased her lyrical prowess and smoky vocals and earned her the title of “country Lana Del Rey” among fans. Booth built on that fanfare in 2025 with “George F****** Strait,” a cheeky ode to the King of Country and his ability to get more handsome with age, and “Luck of the Draw,” a poignant look at life’s disappointments. If there’s a shred of justice in the music industry, Booth really will be the next big thing — this time on her own terms. BOBBIE JEAN SAWYER

Adam Mac

Kentucky native Adam Mac, the self-described Disco Cowboy, is the best kind of cowboy. Tapping into the gaudy, horny, petty energies that make folks like Jeannie C. Riley and Conway Twitty such a fun listen, Mac rebels against country norms while falling into the intersecting portion of a wonderful Venn diagram of country traditions. His 2025 LP Southern Spectacle is comfortable — with itself, with the broader cultural situation, heinous as can be, and with addressing his audience without any bullshit. His knack for genre integration — a li’l disco here, a li’l countrypolitan there, some soul runs sprinkled amid the yacht-rock turnarounds — underscores his lyrical exploration. He presents pop bona fides and country authenticity while being thoroughly, delightfully queer. “All Dollars, No Sense” takes aim at consumerist class identifiers and over-accessorized artifice, while “Dust Off Your Boots” and “Southern Spectacle” tap into a post-Kesha Music City polygenre playfulness. SEAN L. MALONEY

Kashus Culpepper

No one in country music seems to approach songcraft quite like Kashus Culpepper. In a town where carbon-copied melodies can spread as quickly as a winter cold, there may not be a higher compliment. An Alabama native, Culpepper stakes his sonic claim at the four-courner crossroads of country truth-telling, rock ’n’ roll bravado, hand-raising gospel and fleet-fingered folk. Listen for yourself this month, when his debut album Act I hits earbuds and turntable speakers via Big Loud. The album features 18 songs, all co-written by Culpepper and tracked in Muscle Shoals, Ala., including the previously released blues-rockin’ duet with Marcus King, “Southern Man,” and “Broken Wing Bird,” a stunning acoustic collaboration with Sierra Ferrell. If you’re not sold on our endorsement, take Sir Elton’s word for it: He described Culpepper as “if Bill Withers made country music.” MATTHEW LEIMKUEHLER

Bryan Ruby

Bryan Ruby has had a downright methodical approach to building his life in country music since arriving in Nashville, similar to the way he handled his former baseball career: head down, take the gig, give it all you got, see where it leads. But he’s also stayed true to himself: Ruby is the first pro ball player to come out while he was active in the sport. Ruby’s first album, Diamonds Are Forever (2023), was a wholesome farewell to that chapter in his life, showcasing his made-for-CMT bourbon-smooth voice and sincere songwriting.Last year’s Growing Season found him recovering from a devastating breakup with his almost-fiancé. With his recent singles “Mood Ring” and “Take You There Sometime,” Ruby shows his flirty and thriving side. Now that Nashville is catching up to Ruby’s ’90s sensibilities, here’s hoping he finally hits his home run in 2026. RACHEL CHOLST

Olivia Ellen Lloyd

When considering the country and folk scenes near me in New York City, one artist always floats to the top of my mind: Olivia Ellen Lloyd, a Brooklyn songsmith who originally hails from Shepherdstown, W.Va. In May 2025, she delivered her sophomore LP Do It Myself, an airtight collection of masterful tunes that fuse country-rock and bluegrass references, all anchored by her powerful voice. I’ve witnessed Lloyd tear through these songs in front of a packed room with a full band on a Saturday night and in front of six people as an opener on a random Tuesday. No matter the setting, her lyrics always hit; their simple and poignant honesty makes you want to be more honest with yourself. I’ll always follow Lloyd’s career because I’ll always have room in my life for more of her beautiful songs. Newcomers have a lot to catch up on, and here’s hoping she’ll make her way back to Nashville soon. JACQUELINE ZEISLOFT

The Delines

On their 2025 album Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom, Portland, Ore.’s The Delines cast their narratives of bad luck and thwarted dreams in music that redefines the sound of country music. Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom is The Delines’ sixth album, and singer Amy Boone delivers bandleader Willy Vlautin’s songs without any extraneous dramatization. The tactic works perfectly: Vlautin describes the bad situations that transpire in “Nancy & the Pensacola Pimp” and “Maureen’s Gone Missing” with a novelist’s eye for detail. Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom is also musically innovative: Vlautin anchors his songs with keyboards, horns and electric guitars. The band has a new album, The Set Up, slated for March release. EDD HURT

Meels

Meels came to our attention with two videos straight from the cathode-ray era of country variety shows. Through meticulous attention to detail, her vids manage to draw on the high weirdness of Hee Haw without playing the irony card or drifting into parody. They’re an impressive tribute to a lost art form and provide a slightly disorienting framework for “Willow Song” and “The Wizard,” two tracks that feel disconnected from the natural flow of time. Meels weaves clever, contemporary concepts into structures that are more ancient, more mycelial even than the visual era she is evoking. And there’s a harmonica-playing raccoon puppet sittin’ on a log — that’s just good art. While it doesn’t feel like Meels has made A Definitive Artistic Statement yet, it does feel like a trailer for a career that will be putting butts in theater seats for a long time. Her debut EP Across the Raccoon Strait is due Jan. 30, so expect some high-visibility moves as 2026 rolls along. SEAN L. MALONEY

Nick Shoulders

Sometimes an artist making music in an old style feels superficial. Not so with Arkansas’ Nick Shoulders, whose acoustic-centered and solidarity-oriented country-folk is both contemporary and timeless, even though it sounds like something you might have heard in the 1950s on a radio show with Barn Dance in the name. Shoulders isn’t dour, but you never get the sense he’s anything less than honest, and that lets lines like “Every misdeed I committed / I had a choice and I won’t forget it” on his recent LP Refugia Blues knock you on your ass. Add to that the work of Gar Hole, the label he co-founded and whose signees include Sabine McCalla and Jonny Fritz, and you’ve got a recipe for some serious indie country power. STEPHEN TRAGESER

CMAT

The music on the three studio albums CMAT has released to date skews to pop, but it’s filtered through a sensibility that makes room for country. Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson was born in Dublin, Ireland, and sang in the electro-pop duo Bad Sea before releasing her first single in 2020. CMAT’s 2022 debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead includes a superb and surprising song titled “Nashville,” which you might expect from an artist who is country, pop and Americana all at once. Her 2025 album Euro-Country is unlike anything coming out of Nashville at the moment, and it’s brilliant. CMAT’s lyrics split the difference between self-revelation and outrageousness, and she creates music to match. EDD HURT

Country Music Almanac 2026

Talking ‘Cruel Joke’ with Ken Pomeroy, speaking with the founders of the Country Latin Association and more