The Best Country Indie Songs

It seems like every time an English indie guitar band goes over to SXSW these days they come back home wearing a cowboy hat extolling the joys of two-stepping and telling anyone who’ll listen about Townes Van Zandt, but the tradition of indie bands soaking up the influences of country and americana goes back to a time long before that.

Jonathan Richman made a whole album of country songs, Orange Juice added a little red dirt twang to their Scottish indie pop sound on Texas Fever back in the early '80s and Eugene Kelly from The Vaselines and Isobel Campbell from Belle & Sebastian discovered their hidden country sides after going solo.

More recently, Jess Williamson and Waxahatchee recorded one of the most quintessential country records of recent years when they got together to form Plains. Phoebe Bridgers and boygenius have never shied away from the influence that Taylor Swift and The Chicks had on them, while indie artists like Faye Webster, Florry and Fust have all got a country edge to their cool slacker pop.

We’ve put together our favourites in our Holler playlist of The Best Country Indie Songs for those of you who like a little bit of slap, crackle, and twang with your indie pop.

See the full tracklist below:

1. 1.

   Bitter Root Lake

   Case Oats

2. 2.

   Abilene

   Plains

3. 3.

   Time Ain't Accidental

   Jess Williamson

4. 4.

   Outlaw

   Clover County

5. 5.

   Joker Lips

   MJ Lenderman

6. 6.

   Right Back to It

   Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman

7. 7.

   Massachusetts

   Jensen McRae

8. 8.

   I'm In Love

   Slaughter Beach, Dog

9. 9.

   Cowgirl Giving

   Florry

10. 10.

    Naturally

    Sarah Gross

11. 11.

    Johnny Cash

    Sofia Wolfson

12. 12.

    Paradise

    Anna St. Louis

13. 13.

    Can't Cut Loose

    Erin Rae

14. 14.

    Country

    Sam Evian

15. 15.

    Keeps Me Running

    Esther Rose

16. 16.

    Who Did You Leave For Me

    Molly Parden

17. 17.

    Sadness As A Gift

    Adrienne Lenker

18. 18.

    It's Not A Sad Thing

    Faye Webster

19. 19.

    Motion Sickness

    Phoebe Bridgers

20. 20.

    How Quickly Your Heart Mends

    Courtney Marie Andrews

21. 21.

    My Love Mine All Mine

    Mitski

22. 22.

    Big Time

    Angel Olsen and Sturgill Simpson

23. 23.

    New Song

    Maggie Rogers and Del Water Gap

24. 24.

    Wide Open Spaces

    Soccer Mommy

25. 25.

    Cool About It

    boygenius

26. 26.

    Shampoo

    Izaak Opatz

27. 27.

    Aloe Vera

    Chris Acker

28. 28.

    Runnin

    Ohtis

29. 29.

    One Too Many

    Maggie Antone

30. 30.

    Tequila or Whiskey

    Willow Avalon

31. 31.

    Violent Jubilee

    Fust

32. 32.

    She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Double)

    Wednesday

33. 33.

    You're Still The One

    Christian Lee Hutson and Julia Jacklin

34. 34.

    Everywhere I Go

    Cat Clyde

35. 35.

    Pigeons

    Bill Callahan

36. 36.

    Big Love

    Camera Obscura

37. 37.

    Born For Loving You

    Big Thief

38. 38.

    Lucky

    Teethe

39. 39.

    i was all over her

    salvia palth

40. 40.

    Nothing on This Earth Can Make Me Smile

    Dougie Poole

41. 41.

    get clean

    vegas water taxi

42. 42.

    Lamplight

    Del Water Gap

43. 43.

    El Paso

    Howdy

44. 44.

    I Try

    Kacey Johansing

45. 45.

    Tonight

    Katy J Pearson

46. 46.

    The Light Of Day

    Kacy & Clayton

47. 47.

    Roll Back Your Clocks

    Buck Meek

48. 48.

    Tear Us Apart

    Becca Mancari

49. 49.

    Karaoke Angel

    Molly Sarlé

50. 50.

    Long Wave

    Bonny Doon

51. 51.

    One Of These Days

    Bedouine

52. 52.

    Both My Friends

    Harrison Whitford

53. 53.

    Every Once In A While

    Cut Worms

54. 54.

    Anything But Me

    MUNA

55. 55.

    Shanghai Cigarettes

    Caitlin Rose

56. 56.

    Wakin on a Pretty Day

    Kurt Vile

57. 57.

    Pressure to Party

    Julia Jacklin

58. 58.

    Let Me Get There

    Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions

59. 59.

    By Your Side

    Beachwood Sparks

60. 60.

    Fade Into You

    Mazzy Star

61. 61.

    Corner Store

    Jonatha Richman

62. 62.

    The Day I Went Down to Texas

    Orange Juice

63. 63.

    I'm Holding You

    Ween

64. 64.

    Steak For Chicken

    Moldy Peaches

65. 65.

    Older Faster

    Eugene Kelly

66. 66.

    (Do You Wanna) Come Walk with Me

    Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

67. 67.

    Checking Out

    Divorce

68. 68.

    Never Love Again

    Sentimental Family Band

69. 69.

    Fiddle

    Bad Flamingo

70. 70.

    Electric Lizard

    Angela Autumn

71. 71.

    Valleys (My Love)

    Whitney

72. 72.

    Town

    Val Son

73. 73.

    There Was A Moon

    Magic AL and Molly Searle

74. 74.

    Smoke Signals

    Phoebe Bridgers

75. 75.

    Pretend You Love Me

    Sonny & The Sunsets

76. 76.

    Heartbreaker

    Girls

77. 77.

    Time Is Just the Same

    Isobel Campbell

78. 78.

    Cowgirl in a Ditch

    Florry

79. 79.

    Asheville Blues

    Adeem the Artist

80. 80.

    Drunk on a Plane

    Izaak Opatz

81. 81.

    TV Dinners

    MJ Lenderman

82. 82.

    Cool Dry Place

    Katy Kirby

83. 83.

    Teeth Marks

    S.G. Goodman

84. 84.

    Hot Rotten Grass Smell

    Wednesday

85. 85.

    Morning Zoo

    Ratboys

86. 86.

    Dreamer Boy

    Suckerpunch

87. 87.

    Low Sun

    Hermanos Gutiérrez

88. 88.

    Oom Sha La La

    Haley Heynderickx

89. 89.

    Chevrolet Van

    The Nude Party

90. 90.

    You Can't Stay The Same

    Bonny Doon and Waxahatchee

91. 91.

    Ponies in Town

    Jess Williamson

92. 92.

    Right Side of My Neck

    Faye Webster

93. 93.

    It Must Be Someone Else's Fault

    Courtney Marie Andrews

94. 94.

    All The Good Times

    Angel Olsen

95. 95.

    If Only You Played Football As Well As You Played Girls

    Maggie Antone

96. 96.

    Betty

    Christian Lee Hutson

97. 97.

    Emmylou

    The Best Westerns

98. 98.

    Wanna Give My Love

    The Sons of Rainier

99. 99.

    Room in the City

    Kassi Valazza

100. 100.

     Fort Benton

     Caroline Keys

Subscribe and Listen to Holler's Best Country Indie Songs Playlist Above.

For more of Holler's playlists, see below: