Rolling Stone Nashville Now

Jim Croce, the singer-songwriter behind indelible songs like “Operator,” “Time in a Bottle,” and “Bad Bad Leroy Brown,” would have turned 83 this on January 10. In a special bonus episode of Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now, we sit down with Croce’s son A.J. Croce at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to discuss his dad’s legacy and influence on country music and Americana. Country is Here…Nashville is Now. Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Nashville Now! If you’re online, you’ve seen Bryan Andrews all over your feed. The Missouri country singer has made a name for himself by singing traditional-leaning country music and unapologetically sharing his political beliefs in a series of viral posts. In doing so, he’s smashed the stereotypes of what it means to be both a country singer and an American. This week we welcome Bryan to the cabin to talk about what drives him and ask him one particular question: Is he a country singer or a content creator?    Country is Here…Nashville is Now.   Check out our Hear Now playlist on Spotify, updated weekly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices