Ryan Hurd’s ‘Her Name Was Summer’ + 5 More New Songs You Need to Hear

This week, country stars had a wide variety of new tracks to share, from melancholy breakup ballads to lovelorn odes of dedication -- and everything in between. Read on to get to know all the new jams!

Ryan Hurd, "Her Name Was Summer":

Ryan Hurd takes a turn toward the nostalgic in "Her Name Was Summer," a track keeps looking back long after a breakup, fixating on what was -- and what might have been. “'Her Name Was Summer’ is just country music nostalgia. It’s that experience that everybody had, just of being in love for the first time, what it was like, it being temporary but you still look back, remember it; and it makes you smile,” Hurd tells Sounds Like Nashville.

The singer co-penned the track with Aaron Eshuis and Mike Walker, and will be taking the song on the road this summer as he continues his headlining To a T Tour before joining Old Dominion for their Make it Sweet Tour in the fall of 2019. -- CL

Dillon Carmichael, "I Do for You":

The good ole boy in Dillon Carmichael's  “I Do For You” has turned into a not-so-secret softie, and for good reason: He’s getting married to the love of his life. Together, they have the sort of love that makes even the most stubborn guy enjoy attending weddings, sitting on a front-row pew at church and splurging for a hotel room with a hot tub in it. The feel-good song rides the same honky-tonk meets Southern rock vibe of Carmichael’s 2018 album Hell on an Angel. It comes from a second-generation talent. John Michael Montgomery and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry are Carmichael’s uncles on his mother’s side.-- BM

Clare Bowen, "Tide Rolls In": 

Fans may know Clare Bowen best from her tenure on the TV drama Nashville, but a growing number of fans will get to know her musical side following the release of Bowen's self-titled new album. Now, listeners can get to know the anthemic new "Tide Rolls In," a song that speaks to the power of self-love over any romantic relationship.

"We’ve all put our love in the wrong place at some point — my romantic career before I met my sweet, wonderful husband Brandon was a proverbial train wreck, with napalm on top," Bowen tells the Bluegrass Situation. Despite the fact that her romantic situation seems pretty enviable these days, the singer says that both their journeys toward a happy relationship began with a balanced, loving attitude towards themselves. "It started with self-love, for both of us," she explains. -- CL

Josh Gracin, "Lucky Stars": 

Josh Gracin celebrates the joy of getting a second chance at love in "Lucky Stars." While the singer didn't write the track  -- Aaron Goodvin, Skip Black and Terry McBride did -- he says he's connected to it deeply ever since the first time he heard it. Gracin himself got a second shot at romantic happiness when he married his wife, Katie, after fighting a difficult battle with depression, suicidal ideation and divorce.

“When I heard 'Lucky Stars' for the first time I immediately related to the story being told," Gracin explains to Taste of Country. "It applies in every way to the life I have now. It’s amazing how sometimes we need to be stripped down to our foundation to realize our purpose, our place in life, and exactly who we are meant to be.” -- CL

Mike and the Moonpies, "You Look Good in Neon":

Mike and the Moonpies draw on thematically classic country in "You Look Good in Neon" -- so classic, in fact, that song co-writer and frontman Mike Harmeier says he had to double-check to make sure that it hadn't already been written.

"I was binge-watching Yellowstone and towards the end of one episode, Rip says to Beth 'You look good in neon.' When inspiration hits, you go with it, and I wrote most of 'Neon' while searching to see if it had already been a song, " he recalls in a press release. "The search was in our favor, and we immediately went into yellow DOG Studios and cut it." -- CL

Gone West, "What Could've Been":

Grammy-winning singer Colbie Caillat anchors new supergroup Gone West alongside her fiancé, Hawaiian music mainstay Justin Kawika Young, and married couple Jason Reeves and Nelly Joy. The four-piece follow up its four-song debut EP with “What Could’ve Been,” a lament over love gone wrong. Caillat’s familiar voice, known in part for her hit Jason Mraz duet “Lucky,” joins three others in harmony as this tale of heartbreak and regret soars above its stripped-down blend of acoustic guitar, pedal steel and percussion. Debut EP Tides arrived in January via the group’s label home, Triple Tigers Records.—BM