Jewly Hight

The brassy roots-rocker's anthem conveys her determination to revel in her corporeality and flamboyant performance style. "That kind of flash is Americana," she says. "It is big."

The country-punk singer-songwriter explores complex emotions with a newfound refinement. "If self-control is what you want," she sings, "I'd have to break all of my fingers off."

The sequel to 1999's album of vintage country duets, In Spite Of Ourselves, will be out Sept. 30. Hear Prine sing the opening song, "Who's Gonna Take The Garbage Out," with Iris DeMent.

For the fiddle player of Nickel Creek fame, asserting herself as a songwriter hasn't always come naturally — but on her third solo release, she leaned into the process.

On her third solo album, the versatile Nickel Creek veteran continues to evolve as a songwriter, speaking a language of cutting clarity.

Ann Powers and Jewly Hight, NPR Music's team in Nashville, dive deep into the country music industry's biggest annual party and report back on what's in store for the genre in the coming year.

The rising star, whose "Burning House" was the biggest country song by a female solo artist in 2015, talks about being taken seriously while breaking into a genre that's dominated by men.

Side by side, with good humor and the wisdom of experience, two veteran songwriters dwell on what it means to be creatures of habit, all while learning to live with deficiencies and disappointments.

The singer and songwriter grew up under difficult circumstances in South Carolina. Today she uses her music, and the legacy of Southern black women's music, to come to terms with the past and present.

On his ninth album, Ripcord, the pop-country superstar delves deeper into programmed beats, but in an interview, Urban says rhythm has always been the anchor of his musical sensibility.

On A Sailor's Guide to Earth, Simpson focuses on bringing beauty and a sentimental spirit to his buzzed-about country sound. The album is meant to be a musical letter to his wife and son.

Few who've been following the Sugarland singer's career could deny her expressive range, but even she had never reveled in it quite this freely until now.

Singer Kacy Anderson and fingerstyle guitarist Clayton Linthicum carve out plenty of room for play in their take on British and Appalachian folk and pre-electric blues.

The singer, a veteran of TV's True Detective, uses sensual minimalism to get at emotional truths. Hers is the sort of wistful awareness that gets under your skin.

Kelley has spent years stocking his musical bag of tricks, and it shows: The singer's new album is an unfussy collection of soft rock, soul, adult pop and country.

The funky, down-home boogie comes from the beloved Nashville singer-songwriter's first album in six years. "I was so rusty I had to go to a craft store and make collages," Cook says.

The side-by-side harmonies of the Everly Brothers inspire this contemporary triumph of classic pop partnership. "I like to say that Kelly is the light and I am the dark," Teddy Thompson says.

The singer-songwriter's sparse ballad pushes country music's fascination with cowboys into a more adult direction.

Great new Haitian/Creole-influenced music and video from the singer-songwriter-violinist (and ex-Carolina Chocolate Drop); plus, an interview about where her creative energy now resides.

A debut solo record, born of both heartache and imagination, is saturated with sounds of '60s and '70s Nashville.