The Best Country Music of 2013

It’s been a great year for country music, and we’ve rounded up some of the best tunes of 2013 for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Best Albums

It was a great year for country music, with a number of excellent albums being released. Here are some of the best albums of 2013.

Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park

Kacey Musgraves took the country world by storm in 2013 with her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park. The album was a critical and commercial success, earning Musgraves a Grammy Award for Best Country Album and a nomination for Album of the Year.

Same Trailer Different Park is full of thoughtful, introspective lyrics about small-town living, love, and heartache. Musgraves’ clear, powerful voice is the perfect vehicle for these songs, and she delivers them with conviction and emotion. The production values are top-notch, giving the album a polished yet down-home feel.

This is an excellent debut album from one of country’s most promising new artists. If you’re a fan of country music, or just looking for something different, give Same Trailer Different Park a listen.

Eric Church – The Outsiders

The album was released on February 11, 2014, and produced three number one singles on the Country Airplay chart, as well as two number ones on the Hot Country Songs chart. The album’s fourth single “Talladega” also peaked at number one on the Country Airplay chart, making Church the first artist to ever have four consecutive singles peak at the top of that chart. The album has been certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Carrie Underwood – Blown Away

Carrie Underwood’s fourth studio album, Blown Away, isn’t due out until May 1st, but the early reviews are in, and they’re all raves. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2009’s Play On features fourteen tracks, eleven of which were co-written by Underwood. It’s a mix of uptempo party songs and sentimental ballads, and according to critics, it’s her best work yet.

Best Songs

It’s been quite a year for country music. We’ve seen breakups, makeups, new babies, and everything in between. country music has never been more popular, and 2013 has been a great year for the genre. From catchy toe-tappers to heart-wrenching ballads, there’s something for everyone in country music this year. Let’s take a look at some of the best songs of 2013.

“Merry Go ‘Round” – Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go ‘Round” is one of the best songs of 2013. The song is a perfect example of the new traditionalism in country music, with Musgraves’ clear, twang-free voice singing smart, clever lyrics over a minimal backing of acoustic guitar and pedal steel. The song is about the endless cycle of small-town life, with its “white picket fences and new blue jeans” but also its gossip and rumors, and it’s ultimately a complex and compassionate portrait of a place that’s easy to dismiss.

“Like Jesus Does” – Eric Church

“Like Jesus Does” is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Eric Church. It was released in September 2011 as the fifth single from his album Chief. The song became Church’s fifth consecutive No. 1 hit on the Billboard Country Airplay chart in March 2012. It also charted at number 44 on the Hot 100, his highest peak on that chart to date.

“Blown Away” – Carrie Underwood

This could be Carrie Underwood’s strongest song to date. “Blown Away” exudes confidence and a sense of control — two themes that come up often in the best country songs of 2013. The production is top-notch, with a rumbling bass line and rattling drums forming the perfect storm around Underwood’s voice. One thing is certain: this song is a force to be reckoned with, and it definitely lives up to its title.

Best New Artists

It was a big year for country music in 2013, with a number of new artists making a splash on the scene. From the soulful sounds of Kacey Musgraves to the catchy hooks of Florida Georgia Line, there was something for everyone. Here are a few of the best new artists that made a name for themselves in 2013.

Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves is a country music singer and songwriter from Golden, Texas. Musgraves self-released three albums before appearing on the fifth season of the USA Network’s singing competition Nashville Star in 2007, where she placed seventh. In 2012, she signed with Mercury Records Nashville and released her debut album Same Trailer Different Park. The album’s lead single “Merry Go ‘Round” charted within the Top 40 of the Country songs chart and won Musgraves the Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 2014 ceremony. At the 2014 Academy of Country Music Awards, she was nominated for Album of the Year and Best New Artist, winning the latter.

Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Gilbert didn’t have the biggest radio single in 2013, but his album *Just as I Am* was the year’s best-selling country release. Gilbert’s 2013 was defined by songs like “Bottoms Up” and “One Hell of an Amen,” heavy anthems that rode motorcycles right off the charts.

Ashley Monroe

If there’s one thing Ashley Monroe is good at, it’s writing a heartbreak song. The 25-year-old singer/songwriter from Knoxville, Tenn. has a way with words that belies her years, and a voice that can go from sweet to sultry in the space of a few notes. She first made waves as one-third of the country trio Pistol Annies, but with the release of her solo album Like a Rose in March, she’s stepped into the spotlight on her own.

Monroe’s debut album, Satisfied, was released in 2007 to little fanfare. It was followed by a string of EPs and singles (most notably “‘Til I Was Loved by You,” which was co-written by Monroe and recorded by Miranda Lambert), but it wasn’t until she joined forces with Angaleena Presley and Miranda Lambert to form Pistol Annies in 2011 that things really began to take off for her. The trio released their well-received debut album Hell on Heels in August 2011, and though Monroe continued to work on her solo material, it was clear that the Annies were where her heart was.

All that changed with Like a Rose, an album on which Monroe finally comes into her own. Working with producer Vince Gill (who also plays guitar on several tracks), she crafted a collection of songs that are both personal and universal, rooted in classic country traditions but with a modern twist. From the wistful “Two Weeks Late” to the feisty “Weed Instead of Roses” (a duet with Presley), these are songs that stay with you long after the last note has faded away.