There are some records that feel polished and carefully mapped out from the start, and then there are records that seem to arrive almost on instinct. For Emily Scott Robinson, her fifth record, "Appalachia," became less about chasing perfection and more about returning to the places, people and emotions that shaped her.

Jaime Wyatt is a fantastic country singer that has just released her third album, "Feel Good," and is currently on her first headlining tour. This trek has taken her to places and venues where she's never played before and has been a heartening success.

Rodney Crowell's career is littered with butterfly-effect decisions that, in retrospect, represent life-altering milestones along the singer/songwriter's star-crossed path. If the Houston native hadn't moved to Nashville at age 22, he wouldn't have been discovered by Jerry Reed...

Steve Earle pays tribute to one of his mentors and heroes, Jerry Jeff Walker, on "Jerry Jeff," which follows his "GUY" tribute to Guy Clark and "TOWNES" tribute to Townes Van Zandt. Earle has called these projects a necessary form of therapy, as each of these great artists have passed on.

The title track to James McMurtry's "The Horses and the Hounds" plays out like one of those great running songs, namely Merle Haggard's "The Fugitive." "Lord I've been running for so long I just can't find a way back home," McMurtry sings, in that enjoyable deadpan vocal tone of his. When the Haggard song is mentioned, though, McMurtry responds, "I don't really remember.

Back before the world retreated into makeshift fallout shelters for a year of Netflix binging, board games and what Warren Zevon referred to as splendid isolation, Nashville-based singer/songwriter Shannon McNally was invited to play a Music City benefit concert.