5 Must-Hear New Country Songs: Kassi Ashton, Parker McCollum, Charles Wesley Godwin & More

Collaborations abound in this week’s Must-Hear column. Kassi Ashton and Parker McCollum team up for a sultry new ballad, Charles Wesley Godwin joins musical forces with Ernest, and Dani Rose partners with Brent Cobb. Meanwhile, Zach Top and Billy Strings offer a take on a Ricky Skaggs classic, while JD Clayton offers up music on his new project, Blue Sky Sundays.

Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.

Kassi Ashton feat. Parker McCollum, “Sounds Like Something I’d Say”

Enveloped in a cool, sultry swagger, Ashton and McCollum sing about the hazy, morning-after regrets that follow a night of decisions intended to make one forget the loneliness that haunts them. “It sounds better in the dark than in the light of day,” Ashton sings about recalling words spoken under the influence of heartache and alcohol. They both venture into fervent, soulful territory here, to mighty impact.

Charles Wesley Godwin feat. Ernest, “Dead to Rights”

Charles Wesley Godwin teams with Ernest for this track included on Godwin’s seven-song EP, Lonely Mountain Town, which released Feb. 28 on Big Loud. Somber, acoustic-driven and steel guitar-inflected, “Dead to Rights” finds the song’s protagonist reflecting on how he once reveled in nights on the town and the single life, until finding a love worth trading it all in for. “You crashed into me, like that d–ned left hook I never got to see,” Godwin sings. He’s got a voice with all the warmth of a crackling fire, and he employs it admirably here.

Zach Top and Billy Strings, “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown”

Bluegrass-and-beyond luminary Strings and ascendant country star Zach Top serve up a slab of classic country, taking on Ricky Skaggs’ 1983 hit “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown.” The track is from Top’s new three-song EP, Me & Billy, which features a trio of songs previously featured as part of their Apple Music Sessions, and now available to stream everywhere. Strings, of course, has become an arena draw with his superb, genre-agnostic musicianship, while Top is has become one of the most-buzzed-about new country artists. Top also comes from a bluegrass background, formerly leading the band Modern Tradition, which won the SPBGMA Band Championship in 2017. He also issued his solo, self-titled bluegrass-leaning project in 2022, before issuing his breakthrough country project in 2024. Their musical camaraderie and mutual love for the genre is undeniable here.

JD Clayton, “Slow & Steady”

On his previous project Long Way From Home, Clayton focused on more pared-back folk and country vibes. But on his new album, Blue Sky Sundays, he returns to his rock influences. Here, a tale about a balmy Sunday drive gets a laid-back, Southern rock surge, thanks to the solid percussion and muscular guitar work Clayton and his band employ here. His grizzled voice lays into lyrics about soaking in a carefree day, from first sunlight to when the sun’s rays fade. “I said let’s take it slow/ You know we ain’t got no place to go,” he sings.

Blue Sky Sundays released Feb. 28 on Rounder Records.

Dani Rose and Brent Cobb, “I Ain’t Livin'”

Rose and Cobb trade harmonies gloriously on this track, which marked Rose’s fifth placement on the Paramount’s Yellowstone series. The track was written by Cobb and Jessi Alexander, and co-produced by Rose and Maks Gabriel. Together, Rose and Cobb turn in a cool, sultry rendering, declaring devotion to living life to the fullest and seeking adventure wherever they come across it. “May I ride till the wheels fall off/ But my soul’s out there in the ether,” they sing, wrapping in elements of a freewheeling, 1970s feel.