The Boot’s Weekly Picks: Adeem the Artist, Teni Rane + More

Adeem the Artist has proven their songwriting prowess with the raucous Cast Iron Pan-Sexual. With their highly-anticipated crowdfunded debut album White Trash Revelry, Adeem digs into deeper territory on “Middle of the Heart.”

The song encapsulates many of the themes Adeem has explored in their more explicitly political music: pride in Appalachian upbringing, exploitation by the government, and the perversion of all that is good in the pursuit of capital. Or, it’s the story of a young person who uses their hunting prowess in the service of the U.S. military to make their parents proud, only to meet a tragic and inevitable end. -- Rachel Cholst

From Chattanooga to Scandanavia, Teni Rane's crystal clear voice and incisive lyrics take on the complicated experience of embodying two feelings at once. Written on a 5-month trip away from her loved ones, Rane grapples with the balance between liberation and loneliness. The song's gentle guitars and gradual swell allow us to find unity in discordance. -- Rachel Cholst

Washington state’s The Lowdown Drifters deliver hard-hitting country rock on “Cheating on a Memory.” The song begins with a thrumming guitar riff that calls to mind ‘80s metal as much as honky-tonk. The band’s mournful harmonies bring a powerful crescendo to a song that’s thunderous and arena-ready — an obvious sound for a band that’s already opened for the likes of the Cadillac Three, Stoney Larue, Cody Johnson, Lee Brice, Koe Wetzel and more. -- Rachel Cholst

Buzzed-about country newcomer Jonathan Hutcherson is back with his first new song of the year, "Blue Collar." Written by Hutcherson, Luke Laird and Mark Trussell, the upbeat number is a life anthem and a proud ode to the humble working-class Americans Hutcherson surrounds himself with.

"My kind of people are the ones who go to work, go to the church in the same blue jeans / My kind of people know how to live what they say, and say what they mean / Makin' all this money but they know it ain't all about a dollar," he sings in the boot-stomping singalong chorus, before excitedly welcoming listeners to "the home of the red letter, white picket, blue collar." More new music from Hutcherson is slated to drop in the coming months. -- Jeremy Chua

You never can tell the burden someone else is carrying. On “It Was You,” Brody Price explores this theme with deconstructed folk music. The song incorporates gentle finger-picking and steel guitar, yes, alongside Robert Ellis’s relentlessly exploratory piano and Andy Baxter (of Penny & Sparrow) on vocal harmonies. The song swells to a commanding presence before tinkling apart, reminding us of how conflict can burst into compassion and understanding. “It Was You” is the latest single from Price’s upcoming album Win a Trip to Palm Springs! on Ellis’ new label Niles City Records. -- Rachel Cholst