Chase Rice came across my radar thanks to the endorsement of , something I take pretty seriously. Rice was a member of Bro Country, Inc. for years, and this album was heralded as a departure of sorts by Moss and others.
Since the singles started dropping off his album ELDORA, I started to understand why folks were using this language to describe the work. Using the skills he acquired in Nashville, he delivered more powerful story songs — most specifically “Circa 1943” — which are undeniably country.
He also incorporates many modern touches and styles that don’t always excite me about the music and its direction, but they continue to expand the audience. It’s almost as if he delivered a grown-up version of Bro Country.
There are several radio-ready singles and a few great collaborations. Overall, this is a more mature version of the early days of Bro Country. Also, it’s more mature than most of the pop music being produced.
When considered side by side with “Bro Country,” another song offered as the next iteration of the sub-genre by capital letter enthusiasts HARDY and ERNEST, the songs on ELDORA feel like they have less to prove and more to share. They are ready for your interpretation of the story — not some manufactured idea of what is real.
It might be a sneaker on my Best of 2025 list. And let me say again, “Circa 1943” is a fantastic song.
Chloe Kimes - “He Still Listens to the Radio (Hammer & Nail Me)”
The spiritual opposite of “Uh Huh,” featured on this list earlier this year, “He Still Listens,” provides listeners with a soft, classic list-based love song that feels incredibly well-lived. “He’s got real good taste in music that he doesn’t have to prove.” I want to hang out with this guy.
There is something bigger in Kimes’ music. I expect to see her and her team playing larger venues to more people in the years to come.
A Quick List of Covers
Each one of these songs should be a standard, and I hope we start to see more artists adding a few covers to their album efforts. There is more than nostalgia in this sentiment — it provides artists an opportunity to deliver a classic in a slightly new way and measure up to the greats.
Ross Holmes and Katie Shore cover David Ball’s “Beaumont Dent & Alignment” on dual fiddles and Shore’s perfect vocals. I saw Shore play solo and sing at a loud bar — supported only by her fiddle, and the way she commanded the room was something else. The depth of sound these two create on this EP is special.
Did you hear that Braxton Keith covered “The Chair,” originally performed by George Strait? Well, his team sure didn’t want you to — and for good reason. While the song is produced as it would have been back in 1985 (14 years before he was born), Keith brings his style to the vocal performance.
Lukas Nelson, Sierra Ferrell and The Travelin’ McCourys are back with a grassy version of Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend.” These two could sing the phone book, and I’d sign up to talk about it, but this song, which has been expertly covered by so many, is incredible.