Maren Morris is one of many up-and-coming female country singer-songwriters trying her hand at success in Nashville, but one of the few actually getting the success she deserves. She's written songs such as Kelly Clarkson's "Second Wind", and the music video for her debut single, "My Church", has over 2 million views on Youtube. Her first EP to come out on major outlets such as iTunes gives a taste of what's hopefully to come. There are several standout tracks, with the entire EP being written by well-known songwriters in addition to Morris herself.

It's been five years since Laura Bell Bundy released her last album, and after many delays, the wait is finally over . Another Piece of Me is released on Big Machine Records, the same label group that houses Taylor Swift and Maddie & Tae. Another Piece of Me is well worth the wait (it was second place in the most anticipated summer albums poll on this blog), with excellent tracks written by Laura Bell Bundy herself, as well as almost all the well known country songwriters you can think of. Seriously. Name one, and that person probably worked on her album. 

This post is coming extremely late, because I'll admit, I was not as excited about reviewing this album as I hoped I would be. Kacey Musgraves proved herself as the country artist who is critical of country with her first Grammy-winning album Same Trailer Different Park, but despite the themes of the title track of Pageant Material, her sophomore album sees her reinventing herself as someone who more grudgingly accepts family and small towns as a part of her life than a country rebel, but still holding on to her cynicism. There are some standout tracks, as well as some tracks that are thematically, similar to her old music, but overall the album appears to be a transitional one, and is weighed down with ballads that are nowhere near as emotionally evocative as those on Same Trailer Different Park.