Several strong efforts among the albums reviewed this week.
Trey Pendley
Signs of Life
Signed to the same label as Zach Top, Pendley arrives as another 90s-country acolyte who’s upstaging his labelmate by showing up with actual songs. Co-writers look outside Music Row’s go-tos (Kendall Marvel!), suggesting he’s got a strong growth curve ahead.
Rhonda Vincent
A Possibility
Her once-in-a-lifetime talents as a singer and picker have never been in question, but her taste in material hasn’t always been consistent. Song-for-song, this may be the best collection she’s ever written and curated, and with some nifty minor-key work, to boot.
Keb’ Mo’
The Breakdown
Modern titan returns with an album steeped in personal losses, which inspired some of the most introspective writing of his storied career. A couple of tracks do break the throughlines, but those still boast his tremendous command of blues forms. Close to his very best.
Eli “Paperboy” Reed
Getting There
I looked askance at his affectations on his debut a lifetime ago and have scarcely looked at him since, but that “A Swamp Dogg Production” tag got my attention, and I’m glad it did. This collaboration cuts through his earlier cosplay and kind of cooks.
Alicia Blue
Country Desire
An instant standout even in a killer year for new artists, Blue’s glasscutter of an instrument is the kind of voice that was truly meant to sing only country music. A few narratives go on walkabout, but the majority of these songs reflect a clear sense of self.
Worth noting, too, that Shooter Jennings is most often bringing his A-game these days when producing albums by women, as compared to the bands he gives a more uniform wash. This record may be his best work of 2026 thus far, and it’s perfectly attuned to Blue’s vibe and vox.
Benjamin Tod
Country is Dead
Multiple concurrent truths: This covers album is actually the best Tod has ever sounded on record, with dialed-in and technically solid vocals and a tight backing band. As before, he remains a newer talent who is more “interesting” than “great right now.”
But the reactionary defensiveness of this set, which tips its hand from its very title, is incredibly off-putting and doesn’t recognize the actual health of the genre. Not that it needs to be, be country won’t be resurrected by anyone who thinks it’s the exclusive purview of straight white men
And he may have gone with some terrific deep cuts, but the only song he’s chosen to represent the country music he’s mourning here that isn’t exclusively the work of straight white men is “You Take Me for Granted,” written by Leona Williams but popularized by The Hag. The optics are what they are.
Medium Build
King of Having Fun
“Contemporary Folk” in the sense that no two consecutive tracks sound anything alike and none of them give any clues as to who or what he’d cite as an influence, but damned if the kid can’t structure a hook and write a self-lacerating, legit funny line. Fun? Sure is.
Grace Potter
Trespasser
Aesthetically, a stretch even to consider this “Americana,” as this is fully of a late-90s / early aughts Adult Pop piece. Some of the lyrics lapse into clichéd images and turns of phrase, but she remains an absolute force of nature on record.
Mason Ramsey
Outlaw in Love
The novelty wore off long ago, leaving a still very-young kid who clearly hasn’t been surrounded by folks with the wherewithal to help him develop a consistent artistic POV. His adult singing voice is just okay, and he sounds ill at-ease in some of these narratives.
Leave a Reply