Cali Tucker's latest single "Last Name" arrives like a perfectly timed conversation with a friend who finally found their voice. There is no need to carry the weight of famous family or live up to standards. Tucker instead makes something much more personal and meaningful to everyone. The daughter of LaCosta Tucker and niece of country legend Tanya Tucker could have easily leaned into her family's...

There's a curious jolt in hearing a title like "Us Against The World" from an act called The Cockney Cowboy. The name itself is a glorious contradiction, a pairing of gritty East London reality with the wide-open romance of Nashville. You half expect a joke, but what Justin Vella delivers is a dead-serious, straight-shooting country ballad that smells less of hay bales and more...