Every week, The Boot highlights recent favorites from country, Americana, folk and everything in between. In every list, you'll find picks from our contributing team that we think you'll love. Keep reading to check out the latest installment of The Boot's Weekly Picks.

  • Miko Marks

    "Feel Like Going Home"

    Miko Marks discovers her true self on the southern rock and gospel-tinged “Feel Like Going Home,” the first single from her highly anticipated follow up to last year’s Our Country and Race Records, expected later this year.

    A new member of CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2022, Marks compares her journey back to country music after an extended hiatus to a journey back home and to who she is at her core. The second verse highlights this best, with Marks singing “It’s been a long time waiting / and I’ve got a long way to go / The light is surely fading / and I can barely see the road” before looking back on “years that I have wasted / they feel just like a dream / good things I have tasted / they’re never what they seem.” -- Matt Wickstrom

  • The Kentucky Gentlemen

    "Alcohol"

    For a little escapism, turn your ears to The Kentucky Gentlemen. The twin brothers have the unmistakable chemistry of people who have grown up making music together -- the famed "blood harmony." The Gentlemen revel in a delicious blend of R&B, country, and pop: "Alcohol" is just the latest in a string of bouncy jams that emphasize groove, storytelling, and the excitement of perpetual summer. -- Rachel Cholst

  • The Damn Quails

    "The Punxsatawney Rambler"

    Beloved Oklahoma band The Damn Quails are readying their first release since 2022 with the John Calvin Abney-produced Clouding Up Your City. Abney's preference for spare production elevates the Red Dirt band's lyricism, placing an emphasis on Byron White's gentle tenor as he takes a half-jaunty, half-regretful look back at wild memories. -- Rachel Cholst

  • Christine Sweeney

    "Better Parts"

    New York based Christine Sweeney throws together country, folk, blues, soul and pop on “Better Parts,” the latest single from her new album Heart in a Hurry that dropped last week.

    The song is a declaration of love to partner’s everywhere that there’s nowhere I’d rather be than with you. This manifests itself throughout the song with jubilant lyrics like “If I was a bird you’d be my feather / if I was a breeze than you’d be the weather / if I was a cat you’d be my ball of yarn / and if I was a house you’d be my green, green lawn” and other quirky comparisons that illustrate how much her significant other means to her. -- Matt Wickstrom

  • Willi Carlisle

    "Tulsa's Last Magician"

    Queer cowboy poet Willi Carlisle's newest song, "Tulsa's Last Magician," is just a taste of what's to come with his July album Peculiar, Missouri. Carlisle is a veteran of the punk scene and has fallen in love with the ballads of the Ozarks, which he now calls home. "Tulsa's Last Magician" is a poignant biography of a tragic figure, questioning the hypocracies of the morals we are raised with. It's an ode to anyone who feels like an outsider. -- Rachel Cholst

  • Bryan Martin

    "Everyone's An Outlaw"

    Finessing top 40 country sounds with the gritty distortion of outlaw country, Bryan Martin's new song goes down easy amidst its message of defiance. A former "roughneck" oil rig worker turned TikTok sensation, Martin's upcoming album Self Inflicted Scars is a culmination of his dreams.

    "Everyone's An Outlaw" espouses typical country music values: hard work, middle class aspirations, teaching your kids to stand up for what's right -- and never backing down. That last one is what makes "everyone" an outlaw, though it must be asked what, exactly, we are all standing up against, and how we can reconcile those things with each other. -- Rachel Cholst

  • The Wilder Blue

    "Picket Fences"

    With harmonies that hit stronger than the best bourbons, Texas based honky tonkers The Wilder Blue reminisce about an old family farm “down where the river rolls pretty as you please” that leads to a piece of heaven “where time goes driftin' like a feather on the breeze” on “Picket Fences,” the lead track on their newly released and self-titled album.

    From lead singer Zane Williams pointing out the initials his grandfather carved into the barn when he built it 100 years prior to resting under an old oak tree on the property that his grandfather frequented, the song uses vivid imagery to make simple farm life into a magical memory. -- Matt Wickstrom

  • Cloudbelly

    "Whistling"

    Massachusetts folk duo Cloudbelly has unavoidable charisma. Singing in hushed tones, "Whistling" is an intimate celebration of everyday life. Anand Nayak, who earned a Grammy nomination for producing Alastair Moock's 2013 children's album, anchors the song with his reassuring harmonies.

    Corey Laitman brings a warmth to the song with their self-assured vocals: not too perfect, not too rough. But absolutely perfect when it comes to shining a light on how our love for each other grows in fits and starts into something beautiful. -- Rachel Cholst

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