Rolling Stone Nashville Now

Vince Gill has earned a reputation in country music not just for his singing, songwriting, and guitar playing, but for the way he treats people. In this episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, Gill’s kindness is on full display as he walks us through his new series of EPs, 50 Years From Home, his ongoing gig as a member of the Eagles, and his own solo tours. Gill also recalls the time he was heckled by Eagles fans, reflects on his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame when he was only 50, and gives a candid answer when asked about performing at a polarizing venue last year: the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It’s an hour with a true country music legend, only in the Nashville Now cabin.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the Black Crowes reunited in 2019, brothers Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson recorded their comeback album in Nashville and also kicked off their reunion tour here. They returned to Music City to record their brand-new album, A Pound of Feathers, and embedded themselves in town. In our most free-spirited episode yet, the brothers strut into the Nashville Now cabin to talk about mending fences, how their reunion inspired Oasis’s comeback, and why the Crowes are touring with Texas country-rockers Whiskey Myers this summer. They also rail against AI in music and share a message to all those who said they’d never make it. It’s a must-see interview from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees.   Country is Here… Nashville is Now.   Check out our ⁠Hear Now⁠ playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Devon Gilfillian has been putting his own spin on Americana music since moving to Nashville from Philadelphia back in 2013. He pushes the boundaries even further on his forthcoming album Time Will Tell, which he recorded at historic RCA Studio A on Music Row. But, Gilfillian says, this is far from a Music Row-type album. During his visit to the Nashville Now cabin, the singer-guitarist talks about sidestepping the system as an indie artist, how Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music influenced his career, and why things have or haven’t changed for Black artists making their art in Music City. Get to know one of American roots music’s most dynamic voices on this episode of Rolling Stone’s all-things-Nashville podcast.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carly Pearce is unafraid to raise tough questions about faith, marriage, and success in country music. In a startling candid episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, the Kentucky singer-songwriter addresses the polarizing response to her new song “Church Girl,” opens up about the sacrifices she’s had to make for her career, and wonders if you can ever really “move on” from a broken relationship. “Those parts of your story, they’re never gone,” Pearce says. Also, we run down the week’s news, including word of a new Highwomen album, and give you our five Hear Nows, the songs in country music you just have to hear this week. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our ⁠Hear Now⁠ playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the singer of Rival Sons, Jay Buchanan has one of the most powerful voices in all of music, but on his new solo album, Weapons of Beauty, he dials back the volume in favor of a rootsy, Americana approach. The results are stunning. In a special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now, taped in front of a live audience, Buchanan talks about writing the album off the grid in the Mojave desert, where he slept with a pistol beneath his pillow. He also goes deep on his role in the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, and shares how Springsteen’s Nebraska inspired his new chapter. If you don’t know Jay Buchanan, you will now.    Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The story of the Band Perry remains one of the most fascinating in all of music. The sibling trio restored faith in real country music with songs like “If I Die Young” and dynamic live shows, but left fans confused when they exited their Nashville label to make pop music. Now lead singer Kimberly Perry is back with a revamped Band Perry lineup, new songs that continue to touch on her favorite subject (death!), and a long-awaited answer for those who ask what the hell happened. We welcome Kimberly into the Nashville Now cabin for one of our most revealing chats yet.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Justin Townes Earle may have traveled the world as an Americana troubadour, but the story of the singer-songwriter’s life can be told in just a few square miles in his native Nashville. In this special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now, Jonathan Bernstein, author of the new authorized biography of Earle, What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome, gives us an intimate walking tour of Earle’s Nashville, from the park where he found solace to the dive bar where he honed his craft. We also talk about the legacy of Earle, who died in 2020, and why his songs will continue to play on.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laura Veltz, the songwriter behind hits for Dan + Shay, Jessie Murph, and more, shares the secrets of the Nashville writing room in this week's episode of Nashville Now. Veltz  opens up about how she collaborates intimately with someone who may not share her own beliefs. We also preview Nashville's upcoming 615 Indie Live festival, where we'll host a live-audience podcast, and assess the health of Nashville's independent music venues with local champion Jamie Kent.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The deadliest mass shooting in modern American history happened at a country music concert. Journalist Mark Gray was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas for Rolling Stone when the gunfire started during Jason Aldean’s performance, and he recounts his harrowing experience on the Nashville Now podcast. He also talks about the relationships he and other survivors forged in the aftermath, which is the focus of Gray’s new book, The Las Vegas Massacre Connections. Join us in the Nashville Now cabin for one of our most personal and important episodes yet. Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our ⁠Hear Now⁠ playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Langhorne Slim made his bones as an acoustic singer-songwriter, but on his new album The Dreamin’ Kind he teams up with Greta Van Fleet’s Sam Kiszka and Danny Wagner to make a bona fide Americana rock & roll album. We go deep into how the Nashville troubadour bonded with the rock stars, and also ask Slim about what drove him to get sober. It’s a fascinating interview with an artist who isn’t afraid to decare, “We’re living in f-cked up times.” We also preview the country albums we’re excited to hear in 2026 and share what we’re listening to this week in our Hear Now segment.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jim Croce, the singer-songwriter behind indelible songs like “Operator,” “Time in a Bottle,” and “Bad Bad Leroy Brown,” would have turned 83 this on January 10. In a special bonus episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now, we sit down with Croce’s son A.J. Croce at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to discuss his dad’s legacy and influence on country music and Americana. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Nashville Now! If you’re online, you’ve seen Bryan Andrews all over your feed. The Missouri country singer has made a name for himself by singing traditional-leaning country music and unapologetically sharing his political beliefs in a series of viral posts. In doing so, he’s smashed the stereotypes of what it means to be both a country singer and an American. This week we welcome Bryan to the cabin to talk about what drives him and ask him one particular question: Is he a country singer or a content creator?    Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s our final official episode of the year and we run through our list of the best country albums of 2025 with Rolling Stone contributors Marissa R. Moss and Josh Crutchmer. We also talk about albums we loved that didn’t make the list and look ahead to what we’d most like to see in country in 2026. Plus, we have a very special interview with the artist behind Nashville Now host Joseph Hudak’s favorite all-genre album of the year –  singer, songwriter, and guitar hero Brian Dunne.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our ⁠Hear Now⁠ playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marcus King is helping revive guitar-rock in country music, while also working on himself. The South Carolina guitar-slinger joins us in the Nashville Now cabin to talk about getting sober (an Ozzy Osbourne quote inspired him), his new album Darling Blue, and the time he was caught sneaking into a club to give Warren Haynes a demo tape. King also gets candid about the response to his wife Briley King’s cover of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.”  It’s a conversation of Southern rock, self-awareness, and soul searching.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breland joins us in the Nashville Now cabin for one of the podcast's most honest conversations yet. It's a look behind the curtain at what it means to "play the game" in country music, with the "My Truck" singer and songwriter openly talking about his experience of being Black in Nashville. Breland also teases new music coming in 2026 and shares his candid reaction to one of his collaborators performing a controversial gig.    Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the singer-songwriter Todd Snider died in November, he left a gaping hole in the Nashville Americana music scene. We gathered some of those who knew him best, friends and musical collaborators Elizabeth Cook, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Chuck Mead, to share their memories of Todd. In this very special episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we remember the charismatic artist that Cook calls “the Pied Piper of East Nashville” and why Snider’s legacy will never be forgotten.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2025 CMA Awards took Nashville by storm this week, crowning new winners and welcoming fresh faces. In this special bonus episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we break down the good, the bad, and the “what were they thinking?!” Country music journalist Marissa R. Moss joins host Joseph Hudak to heap praise, talk smack, and question if the country music establishment finally got it right.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Owen is one of the architects of bro country, churning out radio smashes like “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” and “The One That Got Away.” But on his new album of outlaw country songs, he buries his bro persona. In a shockingly emotional interview on Nashville Now, Owen talks about his big musical risk and how he ended up working with producer Shooter Jennings on the new album Dreams to Dream. It’s a vulnerable interview that shows a major country star letting down his guard, and it’s only on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kings of Leon may be one of rock’s most global bands, but the group is forever tied to Nashville. This week, lead singer Caleb Followill joins us in the Nashville Now cabin to talk about the Kings’ surprise new EP, what it’s like to work with Zach Bryan, and what he thinks about all of those country covers of the band’s massive hit “Sex on Fire.” (Spoiler alert: Some make him cringe.) Caleb also takes us back in time to a much different Nashville, where he and his brothers tried to shop their songs on Music Row the old-fashioned way: Knocking on doors. Join us on a very royal episode of Nashville Now! Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ink is one of country music’s most fascinating new figures: Born in Germany, raised in Georgia, she’s gone on to write with Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and more. On this week’s episode of Nashville Now, Ink brings her swagger and joyful nature to the cabin to talk about her tremendous new EP Big Buskin’. Ink says she’s “making a permanent mark,” and it’s hard to disagree. We also send our cameras backstage at the Ocean Calling festival to talk to Nelly about his country crossover career that just won’t quit.   Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our ⁠Hear Now⁠ playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices