New Country

There's nothing quite like a big, bold blast of country music, and on the evidence of these Essentials, the genre is bigger and bolder than ever as it reinvents itself for the 21st century. Nashville has a mutual understanding with Oz, captured in a nutshell in the work of Keith Urban ("Long Hot Summer").

Genre-hopping troubadour Paul Kelly shows his country chops on "I Can't Believe We Were Married," which sits proudly atop a sonic haystack of banjo and fiddle, while the new face of country mega-stardom is represented by Carrie Underwood, who famously won the fourth season of American Idol and the photogenic Taylor Swift.

Here, alongside the titans of new American country (Toby Keith, Clint Black, Kenny Chesney) we've included our very own Sunny Cowgirls, who sing beautifully about farm life and thick blokes ("Six Pack Short"), as well as Oz country mainstay Lee Kernaghan, who began his career on radio at age five: "Livin' in Australia" says it all.

Our New Country Essentials playlist takes in a broad spectrum, and features homegrown artists as well as the biggest American names. Grammy-stealing crossover superstars like Lady Antebellum strut alongside Big & Rich, who add rock to the mix and lean away from tradition with the raunchy "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)." Put on your boots — it's country time.