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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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On this special bonus episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, we welcome Gretchen Wilson to the Nashville Now cabin to talk about CBS’s hot new competition series, The Road, created by Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan. Gretchen is the “tour manager” to the contestants and shows them the ropes of a life lived on a bus and on a stage. She also opens up about the enduring appeal of her signature hit, “Redneck Woman,” and how it changed the game more than 20 years ago.

Country is Here…Nashville is Now.

Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly.

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Fans of real country music, this week’s episode of Nashville Now is for you. The legendary Jamey Johnson joins us in the Nashville Now cabin to talk about his no-cares-given career, from the time he didn’t play his hit “In Color” in concert to a wild decision to buy a golf course. Johnson also opens up about a brutal fall he took in 2010 that nearly derailed his songwriting and even affected his personality. Joshua Hedley, a fixture on Nashville’s Broadway stages, joins us too to talk about his new Western swing album, All Hat, and share the craziest things he’s seen in the honky-tonks.

Country is Here…Nashville is Now.

Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly.

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