It ain’t easy to just step through those swingin’ doors fully formed, with all the historic elements of country music at your back. The rollicking dancehall boogie, the sweeping, churchy high and lonesomeness of the big tear-stained love song, the bellied up to the bar honky tonk — the still has to cook just right, with that one last ingredient that sates the need for a burn at the back of your throat while you wipe the tears from your eyes. It’s in the voice, and Nicolette Huong has it. With her band The Nobodies, Huong delivers the goods with a tone somewhere between the bell-like tone of The Virginian-era Neko Case, and the smoky drama of ‘90s Faith Hill. From subtlety and softness in the verses to a full volume crystalline tone in the hooks on their April 2024 debut full-length The Long Way, Nicolette shows a deep well of familiarity with the hallmarks of country music, while The Nobodies play it tight and clean, effortlessly shifting from Tennessee to Bakersfield to Texas, with all the stops on the dusty highway between.

— Mike Dunn