#DUET SONGS 2020 HOW TO#
#DUET SONGS 2020 FULL#

“And I’m proud to be, oh, black like me.” It’s 2020, and a country song like this shouldn’t feel out of ordinary, but the fact of the matter is this song is radical. “Yeah, it’s still the same.” She calls for equality, but, ultimately, she’s displaying hope and pride: “Oh, and some day we’ll all be free,” she sings. In the former, Guyton sings freely about the racism she encountered in childhood-and, sadly, still faces today: “Now, I’m all grown up and nothin’ has changed,” she sings. That hasn’t stopped Guyton, who has released some of the best country songs of the year in her singles “Black Like Me” and “Heaven Down Here,” both written in response to 2020 and ongoing current events. Unfortunately, women in country music still don’t receive radio airplay equal to that of their male counterparts, and for a Black artist like Guyton, the odds are even more stacked against her. Nashville’s Mickey Guyton is the unapologetic voice country music needs right now. It’s a comfort to know Isbell will be there to sing about all stages of life, including the “hard part”: letting go of the ones you love. “Letting You Go” is sure to devastate any father who hears it, but even for those of us who aren’t parents, the song lands like a sweet ode to the finite nature of time and growing up. Isbell has always had a flair for the tender, but only recently have those gentle, quiet feelings been focused on the fatherly kind. It’s Isbell’s turn to express parental devotion on the equally beautiful “Letting You Go,” which tracks their daughter Mercy’s life from the moment she’s brought home from the hospital to her predicted first heartbreak down the road. Last year, 400 Unit member and Isbell’s wife Amanda Shires sang on the lovely (but heartbreaking if you let it be) song “My Only Child,” from her supergroup The Highwomen’s self-titled album.

#DUET SONGS 2020 HOW TO#

“Being your daddy comes natural / The roses just know how to grow,” Jason Isbell sings on “Letting You Go,” the final song on Isbell’s and the 400 Unit’s excellent new album Reunions, which releases a series of timely social outcries alongside intimate personal narratives. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: “Letting You Go”

#DUET SONGS 2020 FULL#

The song arrives with a punchy music video à la the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt opening credits, full of gussied-up black-and-white footage, edited internet memes and plenty of pink power. Not only are they chastising a low-down scoundrel for getting himself into this mess, but they’re also calling him (and everyone in the music industry who ostracized them all those years ago) out with guns blazing: “You made your bed and then your bed caught fire.” It’s the same spirit of “Goodbye Earl,” but with a post-#MeToo edge. “You’re sorry, but where’s my apology?” they sing. It’s a revenge track, a breakup song and a souped-up, banjo-featuring country banger all in one. Seventeen years after they were shunned from the country music institution (and popular music at large, at least for a while), this single was almost too good to be true. If they didn’t already have enough of these already, “Gaslighter,” the lead single and title track from the Dixie Chicks’ new album of the same name, is another anthem for women scorned. McBryde quickly and acutely sums up the unspoken rules of one-time hookups in a way that quietly but undeniably flaunts her agency as a 21st century woman. Ashley McBryde: “One Night Standards”Ĭarrie Underwood walked on the sultry 2000s hit “ Last Name” so Ashley McBryde could run on the equally sexy “One Night Standards,” one of a few wonderful singles released ahead of her record Never Will. Listen to the Best Country Songs of 2020 So Far playlist on Spotify right here. Songs are listed alphabetically by artist. It’s just what we like, and we hope you like it too. It’s not a list based on radio play or popularity. We gathered some of our favorite country tunes of the year so far. Some of these songs deal with social issues, while others are more concerned with letting the good times roll. Artists who didn’t speak out about Black Lives Matter were called out for it. This has also, in some ways, been a year of reckoning for the country music industry. Thankfully, we’ve still been treated to an excellent crop of country music this year (despite the less-than-ideal circumstances for gathering together). Country songs sound like summer-patios, picnics, boat rides and beach days-but this summer has left us only daydreaming of abundant summer bliss. There weren’t many typical summer gatherings, and those that did occur were (hopefully) socially distant. There wasn’t a dominant “Song Of The Summer” that seemed inescapable as June and July rolled into August.

Duet songs 2020