Haylie Davis

This one has been such a long time coming around here. Peaking interest with her early EP as Lady Apple Tree, Haylie Davis finally soars into a debut under her own name. Davis deepens her well on Wandering Star, a record feeding from the roots of Nashville country, Canyon Folk, and solid gold ‘70s singer-songwriters. Flip through the eleven assembled tracks here and shades of Dolly, Ronstadt, Perhacs, Emmylou and Kathy Smith all come into contrast. The record is carried on Davis’ soaring vocals and easy air, but she’s adorned it with rapturously deep embellishments that tug her record from fledgling legs to classic territory pretty quickly. She has a habit of turning modern moorings into the kind of dusted n’ dinged odes that fed Gram’s solo stint. The lights are bright, the night is just beginning, and there’s possibility around every corner, even when heartbreak’s at the back door.

After coming off of the strong showing of her last EP, Davis surpasses any expectations. This album comes as fully formed as any in the new country canon, reading like a worn-in high water mark of an artist who’s been slung through the studio twice as long. Behind her voice the guitars strum and saunter, twang hanging like a banner. The steel is soft and forgiving, the background vocals cradle Davis with just the right gossamer sway, and the keys caress the edges of each song. There are those records that reach out with eager arms to hold the listener, the kind that become well-worn favorites. It takes very few listens through Wandering Star to realize that Davis has crafted that kind of record on first crack, a debut that’s going to be a tall order to follow. I’d call it effortless if I didn’t know that Davis carved each note with a studied hand, but it sure feels like a dream made manifest and surely one of 2026’s best.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.