Earlier this year, I saw Devon Geyer play a show at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon. With tight writing and music spanning the decades, his style landed softly in the middle of a Venn Diagram of country, folk, classic rock and Americana.

His song, “Saviers Grocery Store,” feels like a Fredrik Backman novel put to music. Backman, who wrote the best seller, A Man Called Ove, delivers strong, complex and often unlikable characters who you grow to love. He’s one of my favorite authors. While Backman uses hundreds of pages to develop the often crazy, fantastic stories, Geyer did the same in just a few lines.

Much like Skinny Dyck’s “Ground Floor,” Geyer’s song tells a complete story that leaves you wanting to know the people better.

I recently finished Backman’s My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and I miss the heroes. And much like closing that book, I want to know what happens to the couple on the ground floor from Skinny Dyck’s song: Did they have a lovely dinner together? Did they eat all the meats and beats? And what about the heirs of Saviers Grocery? I hope they find some peace.

Great literature, music and art connect people — they foster society. After 51 weeks of pulling together these lists for you (and me), it’s easy to get lost in the process. But then, I re-listen to some of these songs, and I remember why I love music. That is the reason for this project. I love sharing songs that touch me with all of you.

Allen brings a complete sound to the full album, without losing any of the darker elements of his more stripped-down work. Again, I was a bit late to this one, but it’s still pretty new and overwhelmingly twisted and lovely.

I’ll admit it — when I saw the post on the socials about this new song, I thought it might be AI music because of the name and photo. But Ray is too raw and unpolished for that, making him the perfect blend of traditional and forward-looking honky tonk music. My apologies to Boo and the team. He’s for sure on my radar now.

I very much like where Ivey seems to be going with this song. His songwriting often feels like a cool kid writing poetry to expose the horrors of society that directly benefit him and his disgust with that situation — but perhaps with a bit more self-awareness (perhaps). Sources say there is a lot more of this where it came from. Excited to see local label Soggy Anvil Records welcome Ivey to the family.

Let’s make 2026 the year of women doing mainstream country music that doesn’t suck. This song could be the vanguard of the movement.

Twangy goodness, well-crafted lyrics in 6/4 time, this song could be a great slow waltz for a drunken dance floor experience. Or to drink away those voices…

I started this list with a Wald song, so I felt it fitting to add one toward the end of the year — and this one is better. Still a lot of older Red Dirt players in this guy’s voice.

Leigh can’t miss, and I find her work to stand up even better when presented in a stripped-down version.