Earlier this year, country singer Ruston Kelly announced via "tweet": https://twitter.com/rustonkelly/status/1088928687595110401?lang=en his "official genre" is "dirt emo." He even made t-shirts to prove it. If you've heard Kelly's 2018 album Dying Star, which we named one of "the best country releases of the year": https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/the-10-best-country-albums-of-2018.html, this nomenclature needs no explanation. But for the uninitiated, Dying Star sounds like if Kurt Cobain (may he rest in peace) drove a jet-black tractor down to Nashville and recorded an album with Willie Nelson's harmonica player, throwing in the occasional Auto-Tune. The album tackles issues like drugs and addiction while seamlessly blending country, emo and rock. When you take into consideration Kelly's influences (he cites the aforementioned Cobain, as well as Townes Van Zandt and Eminem), it makes complete sense. Kelly, along with his dad and tour mate Tim "TK" Kelly, stopped by the Paste Studio in April to play two tunes from Dying Star, the title track and "Faceplant," plus a recently written, still unreleased song, "Closest Thing."