Promoting 21st Century
Real Country Music
Greetings, real country music fans. Essie Country promotes the kind of songs and artists that remind you what country music is supposed to sound like—steel guitar, honest storytelling, and a voice that feels real from start to finish. And that’s what Essie Country is all about: real country music.
About Essie Country
Mission Statement
The Story Behind Essie Country
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Video: What has happened to Country Music
Essie Country’s Fight Song: The Tree
Essie Country’s 2025 Song of the Year
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Now available
An Essie Country book:
“Off the Charts” is Gene Johns’ (Essie Country Creator) answer to today’s mainstream country scene—a review of songs and artists that never made the playlists, never topped the charts, but never abandoned what makes country music real.
Built from the Essie Country “Song of the Week” series, this book highlights music rooted in tradition—steel guitar, fiddle, storytelling, and voices that sound like country, not something borrowed from another genre.
An excerpt from my book Off The Charts
“Off The Charts” is
Available on Amazon ⬇️
Off The Charts by Gene Johns
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Essie Country’s Songs of the Year, 2000-2025
Essie Country’s Song of the Week Playlist for 2024, 2025, and 2026 is available at the bottom of this page.
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Essie Country’s Song of the Week
Real country songs by real country artists
- Just A Mom
- Callin’ All Cowboys
- In Walked You
- Easy to Love
- Crown and Coke
- Wasted Day
- My Kind of Lonely
- Cheap Paradise
- Goodbye Ain’t All That Bad
- Denver to Dallas
2026 Song of the Week Archives
Complete list of the Songs of the Week
for 2026, 2025, and 2024
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Best Playlists on the Internet
Essie Country’s 2026 Song of the Week Playlist
Essie Country’s 2025 Song of the Week Playlist (49 songs)
Essie Country’s 2024 Song of the Week Playlist (33 songs)
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To contact Gene, click on: Email Gene
Essie Country: Home of 21st Century Real Country Music 