This week, several artists issue bold musical statements, expressing frustration, compassion and calls for action. Ashley Monroe releases a stirring declaration on disillusionment with the Nashville music industry, while Amy Grant and Ruby Amanfu team up for an anthem calling for unity, empathy and love.

Other new releases this week include a romantic ballad from Drayton Farley’s new album, as well as new offerings from Coleman Jennings, Del McCoury Band and a new video from Alison Brown and Steve Martin, featuring Della Mae.

Check out all of these and more in Billboard‘s roundup of some of the best country, bluegrass and/or Americana songs of the week below.

Ashley Monroe, “I Hate Nashville”

Ashley Monroe returns with a surprise new eight-song EP, Letter to Nashville, spearheaded by this key track. In this song of self-examination, she astutely etches a distinction between the beloved styles of country music that continually inspire her musical passion and creativity — including the works of artists and musicians like her frequent collaborators Paul Franklin and Vince Gill — and the industry’s harsh, endless and often unforgiving demands. “You give and break/ And it just takes the best years of your life,” she sings all too knowingly, wrapping her feathery voice around lyrics that translate the heartbreaks and frustrations of any number of artists of all success levels in Music City. Monroe co-wrote and co-produced Letter to Nashville with celebrated songwriter-producer Luke Laird.

Amy Grant feat. Ruby Amanfu, “How Do We Get There From Here”

Amy Grant and Ruby Amanfu team up for a powerful, vulnerable collaboration, one steeped in reflection, grief and concern. Released on the third anniversary of the tragic Covenant School shooting in Nashville, “How Do We Get There From Here” contemplates the current divisions in the nation and ponders what it would look like if individuals chose to work together. “How do we learn to trust each other/ Instead of living life in fear,” they sing. Grant’s gentle, earthy tones blend well with Amanfu’s soulful soprano. The song is the latest new music released ahead of Grant’s upcoming album The Me That Remains, and judging from the songs released thus far, it is shaping up to be a collection of some of her most unfiltered, powerfully contemplative songs to date.

The Del McCoury Band, “Long Way Around”

Written by Larry Keel, this latest offering from The Del McCoury Band lays out a perspective of gratitude and patience, with appreciation for all the things that come his way, from someone who is just “trying to do my living/ All before I die.” Led by Del McCoury’s distinctive lead tenor and guitar playing, the song also features Rob McCoury on banjo, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Alan Bartram on bass and Christian Ward laying down an engaging fiddle line. “Long Way Around” marks a catchy new track that has an uplifting spark and a driving groove.

Drayton Farley, “Love We Mean”

After seeing recent songs including “It’s Called Doubt” and “Turn Around” featured on shows including Landman and Sheriff Country, Drayton Farley returns with his new album A Heavy Duty Heart, again produced by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden. The album opens with this pared-back, contemplative love song. On one of the album’s most tender tracks, Farley looks at making the most of every moment he has with a lover, as they take stock of the memories they’ve made, and the ones they have yet to make. Like the rest of the album, “Love We Mean” was recorded live to tape. The recording’s washes of elegant guitar let his dynamic vocal take the lead on ruminative lines such as “I can’t always be here with you/ So how can I be what you need?,” while capturing the song’s raw intimacy. Overall, the song retains Farley’s rustic, unpolished sense of connection, while bolstering it with a more full-bodied sound.

Coleman Jennings, “Good While It Lasted”

Jennings applies a lively melody and humorous charm to heartbreak on his latest release. His vocal intonation and phrasings harbor shades of Willie Nelson’s influence, while he etches a tongue-in-cheek story of a blazing, but short-lived, romance. “It was good while we had each other/ I’m a little glad that it’s up and over,” he sings, signifying the song’s easy-come, easy-go approach to finding the silver lining in a fizzling relationship. Jennings brings admiration for timeless country sounds, with swaths of steel guitar throughout this track, but Jennings’ burnished voice and the song’s crisp textures give it a fresh feel. Jennings’ Dave Cobb-produced debut album Lead You Home will release May 8 via Big Loud Texas/Mercury.

Alison Brown and Steve Martin feat. Della Mae, “Cluck Old Hen”

Steve Martin, Alison Brown and bluegrass group Della Mae join forces in the new music video for “Cluck Old Hen,” from Martin and Brown’s recent album Safe, Sensible and Sane. Filmed at Jalopy Theatre and School of Music in Brooklyn, N.Y., this performance video showcases the depth of each musicians’ creative prowess. Martin takes the lead on vocals on this revamping of a classic tune, but is eventually joined by Della Mae’s Celia Woodsmith, who brings verve to a perfect vocal contrast.

James Blake has requested that his production credit on Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) new album, Bully, be removed.

The producer took to his Vault social media platform over the weekend to respond to a fan’s comments about AI possibly being used on Bully closer “This One Here.” Essentially, he doesn’t feel his contributions on the track are still represented in the final version of Ye’s creative concoction.

“The way I pitched his vocals and constructed the track from his freestyle is partially there, majorly peppered with other newer vocal takes etc,” he wrote. “But the spirit of my actual production is mostly absent other than that. My original version is a completely different production in spirit.”

Blake continued: “Happy for the fans but I’ve asked to be taken off the producer credits for now as I don’t want to take credit for other people’s work and this version isn’t what I created with Ye.”

He also made sure to clarify that this was not something he has against Ye, who in recent years has faced backlash for his antisemitic hate speech, for which he has since apologized. “It’s not personal,” Blake said, noting that his request was solely about the creative side. “I just hit a point where don’t want to be credited on music where I can’t affect the end result.”

Billboard has reached out to Ye’s rep for comment.

An earlier version of “This One Here” was previewed by James Blake in September 2022 at a nightclub event in London following London Fashion Week. Blake and Ye previously teamed up for “Talking,” which landed on West’s 2024 Vultures collab album with Ty Dolla $ign.

Kanye returned on Saturday (March 28) when Bully finally hit streaming services after another brief delay; the set was originally expected the day before. The LP is Ye’s first solo album since 2022’s Donda 2.

As for Blake, the Grammy-winning producer released his Trying Times album independently on March 13.

Backstreet’s Back, all right? The boy band make an audio cameo in the new trailer for PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie with their bubbly new single, “Bottle Up.” The first look at the courageous puppy heroes from the animated Nickelodeon series who set off on a new adventure on a dino-packed island in the film comes in about halfway through the minute-long preview that dropped Monday morning (March 30).

After the puppies crash land on the uncharted island, they suit up for their latest escapade and go from being terrified of the prehistoric inhabitants to getting super psyched about the blast from the Jurassic past. “Take this moment/ Bottle up this feeling,” the BSB sing in the trailer as the pups set out on a plan to save the island. After a chorus of “whoo hoo hoo”‘s, fans get one more quick listen to the “bottle up this feeling” refrain on the percussion-heavy song.

Based on the wildly popular children’s series, Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie will hit screens on August 14 and feature the voices of Snoop Dogg, Mckenna Grace, Terry Crews, Jennifer Hudson, Fortune Feimster, Majeela Jamil, Paris Hilton, Billy Nye and others. According to a synopsis, “after their ship gets caught in a mysterious storm, the Paw Patrol pups crash land on an uncharted tropical island filled with dinosaurs. They meet Rex, a pup who has been stranded on the island for years and has become an expert in all things dino-related. When the Paw Patrol’s archrival, Mayor Humdinger, begins recklessly mining in hopes of exploiting the island for its natural resources, he inadvertently causes a huge, dormant volcano to erupt. The Paw Patrol pups are thrown into a series of high-stakes, dino-sized rescues bigger than anything they’ve done before, as they must stop Humdinger before everything on the island goes extinct.”

The soundtrack tune is the first new song from the BSB since the release of their most recent studio album, 2019’s DNA, which featured the singles “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” and “Chances.” Last year they dropped the one-off single “Hey” from the Millennium 2.0 album in the lead -up to their debut at Las Vegas’ Sphere for their ongoing Into the Millennium residency.

Listen to “Bottle Up” in the PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie trailer below.

The Universal Music Group announced on Monday (March 30) that it will be implementing a share buyback program to repurchase the company’s own stock for an aggregate amount of 500 million euros ($574 million), which will be executed by an independent broker.

“Since our transition to a public company, we have consistently delivered sustained growth, strong financial results and strategic leadership, establishing a robust foundation for long-term value creation,” UMG CFO Matt Ellis said in a statement. “We currently see a meaningful dislocation in UMG’s market valuation. Our strong balance sheet and cash generation gives us the flexibility to repurchase shares, while preserving ample capacity to invest in our growth strategy, and reconfirming our commitment to maintaining our credit ratings and our divided policy.”

The buyback program will be executed within the existing authorization of the Board of Directors to repurchase the company’s own shares at the UMG Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 14. UMG is publicly traded on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam.

The company announced it intends to repurchase shares to meet its obligations under the 2022 Music Group Global Equity Plan, with the maximum number of shares used for purposes of the equity plan remaining unchanged.

Earlier this month, UMG reported that its 2025 revenue and earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and appreciation) grew by 9%. Virgin Music (under UMG) also announced the completion of its acquisition of Downtown Music in February in a deal worth $775 million following a European body review. The board also shared they were shelving plans for a dual U.S. stock market listing.

In March 2025, hedge fund Pershing Square Holdings announced it was selling 50 million shares of its UMG holdings, valued up to $1.5 billion.