Alana’s Top Country Songs of 2016

I am a sucker for a year-end list. The lists get me every time; the title could say "The Best Vegetable of 2016, " and I will go through the entire list. In case you're wondering, Kale still takes top honors, but the mushroom is not too far behind.  

Much like all genres of music, country music, goes through phases.  You'll remember the all too recent "Bro-Country" phase that much of the world seemed fascinated with as evidenced by the amount of headlines dedicated to it.  Critics challenged Nashville to do better.  Here's the thing, the consumer didn't want better at that time. We did want to hear stories of sitting on the back of tailgates while drinking beer, taking shots of Fireball and swinging our tan legs.  Country music heard the comments and not because they had to change, but because that's what music does, it changes. So. Country music changed.

Country music has always been good at telling stories.  Songwriters have three minutes to grab and keep our attention. What an incredibly difficult job to evoke an emotion in someone you've never met.  Time and time again songs end up touching our lives and become an integral part of them too.  From birthdays, deaths, anniversaries, weddings, girls' nights out, break-ups, make-ups, moves across the country, hangovers, music is always a constant.  And yes, I have a song for every one of those life events.  Without further ado, here's what rocked my playlist in 2016!