2025 is off to a scorching hot start for country music.
We may just be a few months into the year at this point, but I don’t recall another recent year with this spectacular of a new music résumé prior to the end of April. With records already out from Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Isbell, Charley Crockett, Muscadine Bloodline, and many more, it’s clear that the genre’s heavy hitters wanted to start the year off on the right foot. In fact, it’s hard to imagine that it can get much better from here. Though I’m sure hopeful it does.
I’d normally wait until June or so to put out a list of my favorite albums of the year thus far, but with the year we’ve had up to this point, I just couldn’t resist putting a list together a little early. With that said, I’ve compiled a ranking of my 15 favorite albums released so far in 2025, as well as 10 additional honorable mentions in alphabetical order that ought to warrant just as much attention from country music fans.
And while 25 albums may seem like a lot, there were more than 60 records I considered before finalizing the list below, and plenty of albums that are well-worth the listen got cut off. So make sure to give all of these a listen, but don’t stop there, because the amount of good music being released at the moment is rather unprecedented.
Anyway, here are my 25 favorite albums released so far in 2025:
Angel White – GHOST OF THE WEST: THE ALBUM
Song Pick: “2733”
Colin Nash – Hello, I’m Collin Nash
Song Pick: “The Way We Used To”
Courtney Patton – Carry You With Me
Song Pick: “Tonight It’s Raining”
Drew White – Concrete Americana
Song Pick: “Red Eye Lover”
Kip Moore – Solitary Tracks
Song Pick: “Flowers In December”
Ringo Starr – Look Up
Song Pick: “Breathless” ft. Billy Strings
Tennessee Jet – Ranchero
Song Pick: “The Oklahoma Rose”
Todd Day Wait – Letters From the Road
Song Pick: “Oh Don’t Tell Her”
Tony Logue – Dark Horse
Song Pick: “Grindstone”
Willie Nelson – Oh What A Beautiful World
I don’t think anyone actually knows how many albums Willie Nelson has released, but it’s well over 100 at this point. What a career for the 91 year old.
Song Pick: “Banks of the Old Bandera”
15. Hayden Redwine – Spade
Song Pick: “West Texas Blues”
14. Mason Via – New Horizons
Song Pick: “There Goes Another One”
13. Alison Krauss & Union Station – Arcadia
Song Pick: “Richmond on the James”
12. Justin Wells – Cynthiana
Song Pick: “Little Buildings”
11. Leon Majcen – Better Days
Song Pick: “Grey Hairs on Momma’s Head”
10. Nolan Taylor – Nolan Taylor
Song Pick: “Don’t Have the Words”
9. Jason Scott & the High Heat – American Grin
Song Pick: “Natalie”
8. Jason Boland & the Stragglers – The Last Kings of Babylon
With 7 of the 10 songs written or co-written by Boland himself, the album acts as a prime showcase for his songwriting prowess, and follows a general theme as a reflection upon Boland’s life on the road over the years as a career, and the experiences, relationships, and lessons learned along the way.
At a time when Red Dirt is almost ubiquitous in country music and the scene has a further reach than ever before, Boland’s decision to pay homage to two of the scene’s pioneers adds to the magnitude of the project as well.
Song Pick: “Drive”
7. Sierra Hull – A Tip Toe High Wire
With her virtuosic mandolin prowess and exceptional lyricism on full display, Hull’s latest album weaves seamlessly through mind blowing bluegrass ballads that feature breathtaking harmonies and cover an array of subject matter. With an A-list band of musicians backing her, and plenty of talented collaborators involved, Hull’s 10-track projected marks some of her best work to date.
Song Pick: “Muddy Water”
6. JD Clayton – Blue Sky Sundays
Arkansas native JD Clayton has a unique sound that everyone needs to hear. His catalog is steeped in the songwriting and storytelling tradition of folk music and is heavily influenced by the great southern rock bands of yesteryear, yet his sound leans funkier than the majority of his contemporaries. All the while, it is still undeniably country.
This is abundantly present throughout his latest record Blue Sky Sundays, his strongest work to date, that was recorded alongside his red hot touring band and was largely inspired by the change in his lifestyle following his return home to Arkansas from a stint in Nashville.
Song Pick: “Let You Down”
5. Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
It isn’t even up for debate at this point – Jason Isbell is one of the best southern songwriters of all time. With a propensity for introspection and brutally honest lyricism, the Alabama native proves this time and time again with each release, and his latest album is far from an exception. After getting kicked out of the Drive-By Truckers for his substance abuse and pursuing a solo career, Isbell began getting sober in 2012, thanks in large part to the help he received from Amanda Shires whom he would marry in 2013.
That same year, he released an absolute masterpiece of an album with Southeastern, a clear-minded and vulnerable look into his struggles with addiction, and a monumental project within the ethos of non-mainstream country. Well, just over a decade later, Isbell has unexpectedly divorced Shires, and he’s proven once again that he has an uncanny ability to turn his personal turmoil into a masterpiece.
Song Pick: “Ride To Robert’s”
4. Muscadine Bloodline – …And What Was Left Behind
Few bands have been as prolific as Muscadine Bloodline over the past four years, and with each release, the duo of Gary Stanton and Charlie Muncaster continue to prove their names belong up there with the modern songwriting greats. They’ve managed to release four albums in as many years without sacrificing quality for quantity, and their follow up to 2024’s The Coastal Plain is no exception.
An extension of the prior album that is hyper-focused on nostalgic tales set in the duo’s home state of Alabama, …And What Was Left Behind features some of the best work yet from one of country music’s biggest independent acts.
Song Pick: “Ballad of the Blanton Brothers”
3. Charley Crockett – Lonesome Drifter
While we’re on the subject of prolific artists, Charley Crockett, the smoothest operator in country music, is up there with the best of them. His third album within the last 12 months, Lonesome Drifter feels like a semi-autobiographical project that draws inspiration from Crockett’s days of drifting and busking early in his career, and it plays perfectly into his persona as an cowboy entertainer in the American West.
Song Pick: “Never No More”
2. The Wilder Blue – Still In The Runnin’
The Wilder Blue is quietly claiming their spot in country music’s upper echelon. Reminiscent of the Eagles in many ways, with a wide range of sonic capabilities and absolutely killer harmonies, The Wilder Blue are one of the most versatile bands in country music, as evident in the new record. And on top of how great they sound, frontman Zane Williams is a formidable lyricist, and his songwriting prowess is on full display in this album as he paints picture after picture for the listener with vivid imagery and captivating storytelling.
Song Pick: “Still In The Runnin'”
1. Turnpike Troubadours – The Price of Admission
The 11 track follow up to A Cat in the Rain continues the band’s collaboration with producer Shooter Jennings, and finds the crew in a new headspace, enjoying the moment while still reckoning with an admittedly troubled past. With an array of subject matter at hand and their signature country sound on full display, overarching themes of embracing the present and grappling with temptation tie the project together in a manner that only a master lyricist like Evan Felker is capable.
The Turnpike Troubadours have continued to prove time and time again that they are the greatest band of all time, and their billboard-revealed surprise record is no exception. I’ll be surprised if there’s a better album released this year than The Price of Admission.
Song Pick: “On The Red River”
