Essie Country: Home of 21st Century Real Country Music

Month: February 2026

  • The Tree

    The Tree

    Essie Country Reflections 
    A review
    February 24, 2026

    The Tree
    Cowritten & Performed 
    by Hannah Dasher
    Released 09/27/2019
    Intro by Gene Johns 

    I’m going out on a limb by highlighting “The Tree.” It’s a song that accurately describes what’s happening to country music. But I’ve had second thoughts about sharing it, so read on to find out why.
     
    In recent years, several real country music artists have released songs about the sad state of today’s country music. This week’s Essie Country’s Reflection’s spotlight, “The Tree,” is one of those songs, and it’s a good one!
     
    “The Tree,” performed by Hannah Dasher, is a superbly written song about how today’s country music, with its watered-down hip-hop melodies, is branching out too far from the tree of real country music, therefore killing country music.
     
    Hannah’s “The Tree” is the perfect battle song for Essie Country’s fight against the invasion of fake country music into Nashville. As Hannah says in this song, “getting a little too far from the three chords and the truth bar, forgetting where the roots are, is going to kill the tree.” 
     
    “The Tree” is a warning, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane warning, that the winds of pop, hip-hop are uprooting the tree of country music and leaving it to die. That is why Essie Country promotes real country songs and real country artists. We are planting saplings of real country music in the minds of new listeners. 
     
    I would have preferred the musicality of this song to have a more traditional country sound. It’s a little too far from that sound. The musical interlude, with an almost heavy metal-sounding guitar, is, in my opinion, a bit hypocritical because it’s far from the tree of real country music. But Hannah’s real country vocal performance and the lyrics of this song could easily become the mission song for Essie Country and deserve to be heard.
     
    With some hesitation, I invite you to give Hannah and Essie Country the privilege of sharing with you an awesome fight song against today’s fake country music, which is branching out too far from the tree of real country music. Click the link below and listen to Hannah perform “The Tree.” 
     
    Please listen closely to the words of “The Tree.” The lyrics are awesome, but the music is a bit loud and messy. It can be noisy when trimming a tree. 

                                The Tree
                      by Hannah Dasher
    https://youtu.be/YNQPg3I2iJA?si=--caU2_DVbRxQAPX
  • Never Gonna Hear It from Me

    Never Gonna Hear It from Me

    Greetings to fans of real country 
    music, and welcome to this week’s 
    Essie Country’s 21st Century Real Country Music Song of the Week, for the week of 02/22/26 thru 02/28/26.

    Never Gonna Hear It from Me
    by Jamie Richards
    Released 10/14/2016
    Intro Gene Johns

    “Never Gonna Hear It from Me,” written and performed by country traditionalist Jamie Richards, is a classic country song that deserves recognition as this week’s Essie Country’s 21st Century Real Country Music Song of the Week. 
     
    The old-school country authenticity of Jamie’s easygoing vocals and his down-to-earth style lend believability to this heartfelt and straightforward goodbye to the one who broke his heart. This song may not be a chart-topping hit, but Jamie’s performance will touch your heart, and the lyrics will remind you how lucky you are to be with the one you love. 
     
    Jamie, an Oklahoma native, grew up on a dairy farm, where he learned to sing as his mom played gospel songs on the family's piano and he sang along. As he grew older, he became a serious country music fan. After spending years playing in honky-tonks across Oklahoma and then in Nashville, he moved to Dallas. 
     
    According to his bio, “He soon found that most Music City (Nashville) record labels were looking for artists with more of a pop sensibility and less of a hard country edge.” Jamie didn’t land on any fake country Billboard Hot Country Singles charts while in Nashville, but he has become a recording star on the Texas Regional Radio charts, with 12 singles in the Top Ten. 
     
    This week, I set aside another song I had already planned, a romantic love story because of a chance meeting, for this week’s song of the week, “Never Gonna Hear It from Me.” Why? Because when I heard this song, it was so good I had to make it this week’s selection. It’s a classic country song that underscores Jamie’s staunch traditionalist approach to country music and his desire to return it to its roots.
     
    Will I apologize for choosing this melancholic song over a more uplifting one? Well, no, you’re never gonna hear it from me.

            Never Gonna Hear it From Me
                      by Jamie Richards
    https://youtu.be/pNdvoPvjOFI?si=1ZDT7nlFyBTLV7fb

  • I’m Gonna Love You Anyway

    I’m Gonna Love You Anyway

    Essie Country Reflections
    I’m Gonna Love You Anyway
    February 17, 2026

    I’m Gonna Love You Anyway
    by Trace Adkins
    Released July 2000
    Intro by Gene Johns 

    Trace Adkins, the 1997 Academy of Country Music New Male Vocalist winner, released this week’s Essie Country Reflection subject in July 2000. I didn’t remember hearing this song before, but I recently came across a sample of it while watching a YouTube Shorts video playlist. 
     
    I heard enough of the song in the YouTube Shorts video playlist to want to hear the complete song. So I went to Spotify and searched for the song. I found it, and after listening to it, I knew I had this week’s Essie Country Reflection’s song. 
     
    I’ve always been a fan of Trace Adkins. My favorite Trace Adkins songs are “This Ain’t No Thinking Thing,” “Just Fishin’,” and “Every Light in the House.” I must say, “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway” is now my favorite Trace Adkins song. It’s one of those songs that keeps playing in your mind long after it’s over. 
     
    I was surprised it only reached #36 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The year was 2000, and the traditional songs and sound of country music were already being pushed aside by slicker, pop-influenced artists who helped usher in the pop-hip-hop fake country of today. No doubt, the #36 peak of this song was a warning of things to come. 
     
    Essie Country has made “I’m Gonna Love You Anyway” this week’s “number one” choice for the Essie Country Reflection’s song. It’s my hope you enjoy it as much as I do, but if you don’t, I’m gonna love it anyway. 

                     I’m Gonna Love You Anyway
                               by Trace Adkins
    https://youtu.be/UFiL0ZX0b3o?si=weybdDPAHpvW_zdT
    No comments on I’m Gonna Love You Anyway
  • She Makes

    She Makes

    Greetings to fans of real country 
    music, and welcome to this week’s 
    Essie Country’s 21st Century Real Country Music Song of the Week, for the week of 02/15/26 thru 02/21/26

    She Makes
    by Zach Top
    Released 08/29/2025
    Intro by Gene Johns 

    I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; Zach Top is possibly the best country artist alive today. His pure, smooth bluegrass-trained voice flows over wonderfully crafted country lyrics like warm, rich blueberry syrup over a stack of hot, fluffy buttermilk pancakes.
     
    We have featured Zach four times before for his praiseworthy songs, “Busy Doin’ Nothin’,” “Flip Flop,” “Bad Luck,” and “I Never Lie.” “I Never Lie” earned two Grammy nominations for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo (it should have won). It was also nominated for CMA & ACM’s 2025 Single Song (for composer) and Single (for artist and production team) of the year. 
     
    [Please note, “I Never Lie” was an Essie Country 21st Century Real Country Song of the Week for the week of 09-22-2024 and Essie Country’s Song of the Year for 2024.]
     
    Zach recently won the 2025 New Male Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music (ACM). New? Zach (age 28) began performing at age 7, forming a bluegrass band with his siblings, Top String. He made his first recording in 2019 and moved to Nashville in 2021. He is one of those “overnight success” stories that was in the making for years. He deserves the recognition.

    “She Makes” isn’t the best song Zach has ever recorded, but it is an excellent example of how a simple set of lyrics, merged with the magic of Zach’s bright, smooth tenor voice, creates a real country song and performance that earns a place in this week’s Essie Country’s 21st Century Real Country Music Song of the Week series. 
     
    So set aside that plate of hot, fluffy buttermilk pancakes, covered with warm blueberry syrup, and allow Zach to treat you to a serving of Essie Country’s 21st Century Hot Real Country Music Song of the Week, featuring his golden performance of “She Makes,” by tapping on “top” of the link below:

                            She Makes
                           by Zach Top
                        https://youtu.be/ji1ExetpcwE?si=aCM0k7CWiTZmzlij
  • Sea of Heartbreak

    Sea of Heartbreak

     

    An Essie Country 
    Reflections Moment 

    Sea of Heartbreak
    Performed by Don Gibson
    Released 05/22/1961
    Intro by Gene Johns  

    I was seven years old when the “Sea of Heartbreak” surged onto the shores of country music. Since then, it has been recorded by the unforgettable harmonious duo the Everly Brothers, “the Boss” Bruce Springsteen, the “Man in Black” Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash (yes, Johnny’s daughter), Poco (an American country rock band), the English rock band the Searchers, the “King of Country Music” George Strait, and even the “Mayor of Margaritaville,” Jimmy Buffet.

    Don Gibson’s 1961 hit, “Sea of Heartbreak,” is an up-tempo song that was slightly outside the norms of country music at the time, and it has long been a favorite of mine. The doo-wop-sounding “bom bom bom,” inserted throughout the song by a bass vocalist, anchors the rhythm, giving “Sea of Heartbreak” a classic 1960s country-pop sound. 

    Recorded on April 5, 1961, and released on May 22nd of the same year, this catchy, heartfelt classic country song, with a pinch of pop flavoring, reached number 2 on Billboard’s Country singles chart. It was a crossover hit, peaking at number 21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. “Sea of Heartbreak” became an international hit, charting at number 14 on the UK Singles chart and number 10 on the Norwegian Singles Chart. 

    Mr. Gibson was inducted into the “Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame” in 1973, which recognized his talent for writing country classics such as “Oh Lonesome Me,” Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams,” and the iconic “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” along with many other hits, including “Sea of Heartbreak.” He was nicknamed “the Sad Poet” for writing songs about loneliness and lost love.

    In 2001, only a couple of years before his death in November 2003, Don Gibson’s unique voice and singing style, along with songs like “Oh Lonesome Me,” “Blue, Blue, Day,” “Woman, Sensuous Woman,” including “Sea of Heartbreak,” and his brilliant songwriting skills, earned him a well-earned membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

    Don Gibson’s unforgettable “Sea of Heartbreak” is now just one click away from becoming an enjoyable and entertaining cruise for you on the “Sea of Heartbreak.” Bon voyage! 

    Sea of Heartbreak

    ⬇️

    https://youtu.be/B8L-JfR0kEg?si=S86N5E0v_PCeGd-s