Country music has a great tradition of artists covering each other’s songs or turning songs outside the format into country classics. We’ve comprised a list of the best cover songs performed by country artists over the last ten years. The list was ranked with the quality of the performance in mind, as well as the artist’s ability to make someone else’s song their own by putting their own musical spin on it.
Honorable Mentions:
- Heaven (Bryan Adams) – Jason Aldean
- Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (John Mayer) – ERNEST
- American Girl (Tom Petty) – Parker McCollum
- The Promise (When In Rome) – Sturgill Simpson
- That’s How I Got To Memphis (Tom T. Hall) – Charley Crockett
- Where Corn Don’t Grow (Waylon Jennings) – Riley Green
10. Country Roads Live (John Denver) – Charles Wesley Godwin, Zach Bryan
For those who haven’t seen Charles Wesley Godwin live, he ends most of his shows singing of his home state, covering John Denver’s iconic “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Add in a Colorado snowstorm with a rowdy crowd, and you get this electric performance of the West Virginia anthem. With snow falling nonstop all night, CWG only had time for one song as the opener for Zach Bryan’s electrifying live album performance. He took advantage and knocked this one out of the park.
9. Seminole Wind (Ray Pennington) – Eric Church
Through his five live albums, titled “61 Days in Church”, Eric Church has just about as many covers as any country artist. Initially written by Florida native John Anderson, “Seminole Wind” has been covered by Luke Combs and James Taylor, but none give it the energy that Church does. He has stated that he enjoys playing a song with a link to where he is touring. Live in Tampa, Church conveys as much Florida Seminole spirit as possible through this Everglades classic.
8. Good Time Charley’s Got The Blues (Danny O’Keefe) – Charley Crockett
In 2018, Charley Crockett released a whole album full of covers titled “Lil G.L.’s Blue Bonanza.” The song “Good Times Charley’s Got The Blues,” originally by folk singer Danny O’Keefe, stands out. This is pure country blues, and Crockett nails this one. It’s easy to tell that when Charley sings of not being a kid at 33, it’s reflective of his life. It took the Texas singer-songwriter until his late 30s to crack the big time, and despite the success, that sentiment of realizing your childhood dream at an older age is reflected here. It may not be Crockett’s writing, but he damn sure means it.
7. Shine A Light (Rolling Stones) – Koe Wetzel
Koe Wetzel might make headlines for wild stories, being drunk on stage, etc. But what gets lost in his charasmatic antics is that Koe Wetzel simply has one of the best voices in music. This cover of one of the Stones’s most well-written songs helps to show just how good the Texas tornado can be. It’s rare to hear Wetzel not singing over a heavy guitar riff, and “Shine a Light” provides a perfect change of pace with an arrangement of horns and piano carrying most of the song. Koe Wetzel stands out in a cover album of several great artists covering iconic Stones songs.
6. Long White Line (Buford Abner) – Sturgill Simpson
This is pure Sturgill. It’s a straightforward country song with enough swing and drive to make even the most citified folk consider purchasing a good pair of boots. Buford Abner wrote the song, first recorded by Charlie Moore and Bill Napier in 1965, as more of a trucker anthem. This cover is the jumpiest song on the Kentucky native’s “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music” album. However, it fits perfectly with a spacey slide solo and drummer Miles Miller giving it enough refrain. This is Simpson’s best cover among many gems, including Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” “The Promise” by When In Rome, and John Prine’s “Paradise”.
5. Cowpoke (Elton Britt) – Colter Wall
Colter Wall didn’t write Cowpoke, but the prairie cowboy sings about himself the whole way through. He drifts with the wind and seems more concerned about life on the range than any stardom. It’s what makes him one of the most likable characters in the genre, and one of the biggest touring draws on the indie country scene. Colter’s voice fits like a hand in a glove on this song, and his yodeling could not be more well-placed. There are several different versions of Cowpoke, and being an old soul, Colter takes after the original version by Elton Britt. This song, first released in 1955, became popular again in 2020, and that’s the magic of Colter Wall.
4. Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) – Luke Combs
In 1988, Tracy Chapman performed “Fast Car” for the first time to a raucous crowd in Wembley Stadium. The song brought the crowd to a standstill. Thirty-six years later, Chapman performed the song again at the Grammys with Luke Combs. Combs’s cover went straight to #1 without being initially considered as a radio single. His ability to think outside the Nashville box with songs like this makes him one of the top artists in the genre. The country star’s powerful and gritty voice takes sturdy command one of the best-written songs ever, and absolutely does Tracy justice.
3. Cover Me Up (Jason Isbell) – Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen’s distinct Tennessee drawl shines on this one, making for one of the best cover songs in recent memory. Penned by Alabama native Jason Isbell, “Cover Me Up” touches on the chains of addiction, and the journey towards breaking those chains with the love of a partner. Wallen dropped it as a single in 2019 and then released it on his sophomore album “Dangerous” in 2021. The Sneedville native’s incredible voice pairs exceptionally well with Isbell’s emotional and provocative lyrics, making for a total gem that has earned its place in Wallen’s setlists on every tour.
2. Tennessee Whiskey (Dean Dillon, Linda Hargrove) – Chris Stapleton
It’s ironic that one of country music’s best songwriters’s most famous song would be a cover, but that’s how the music business goes. With almost 950 million Spotify plays, you’ve likely heard this cover if you live in the south, or have been in a bar in the last ten years. It’s played at more weddings and country bars than almost any other country song this decade. Stapleton’s brilliant cover and an earlier George Jones cover helped bring attention to this classic love song. Though it was never released as a true radio single, “Tennessee Whiskey” remains Stapleton’s biggest hit by a wide margin. The cover has evident roots in the Etta James hit “I’d Rather Go Blind,” with an identical chord structure as well.
1. Rock Salt and Nails (Utah Phillips) – Tyler Childers
Childers is a premier talent in country music, and absolutely lets loose on this chilling cover of Utah Phillip’s best-kept secret. There are a few tremendous covers of this song by Sun Jr. and Waylon Jennings, but Childers’s version stands tall as the best of the bunch. Phillips wrote the song overseas in Korea after receiving a letter from his wife stating that she had found somebody else. While Phillips never liked to sing it due to the deep personal ties, Childers can channel the anger in the lyrics in a way only the prodigy from Kentucky coal country ever could. It sounds like he wrote it, which truly defines a great cover.
