There are 50 states that make up our country, and although we call ourselves the United States, we’re very different in many ways. Geographical terrain, historical record, social mores, climate, arts and entertainment options, sports preferences, you name it.

I’m always disappointed to read surveys that say many Americans haven’t traveled to more than 10 or 12 of them. That’s a sad commentary on our provincialism, in my view, and it speaks to an underlying need to spread our wings and leave our home town/state more often.

I’m proud to report I’ve been to 43 of the 50 states in my lifetime. (Visiting a state, according to my rules, means you’ve slept at least one night within its borders. If you merely drove across it and maybe stopped for a meal, sorry, that doesn’t count.) This year alone, I’ve been to Tennessee, Ohio, California, New York and Georgia, visiting family and friends.

This week, it was fascinating to watch the mid-term election results and the different ways the voters responded in the various states. Places like Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama, traditional conservative states, chose more liberal candidates for a change.

All this got me thinking about how popular music has offered up quite a collection of songs that have U.S. states in the title.

I’ve written in the past here about “Songs of California” and “Songs of New York” simply because there are so many of them, but I wanted to take a closer look at the other 48. As you might image, some states haven’t inspired many popular songwriters while others have healthy handfuls of songs from which to choose.

I decided to be thorough and offer 50 songs, one from each state, to write about. I didn’t always select the obvious choice; sometimes it’s good to hear something new, but in other cases, my options were very limited by what’s out there. Regardless, there’s the customary Spotify playlist so you can hear the old favorites and new-to-you obscure selections as well. I think you’ll find they’re worthy of your attention.

Let’s head on out and discover America!

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“Alabama,” Neil Young, 1971

As he read about the historical injustices perpetrated on blacks in the American South, Canadian Young turned his anger into song lyrics, first in the bitter diatribe “Southern Man” on 1970’s “After the Gold Rush,” and then a second time on this track with his temporary group The Stray Gators on the #1 album “Harvest” in 1971. Good ol’ boys Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t take kindly to these songs, and responded in their hit “Sweet Home Alabama,” but the band and Young eventually reached a level of mutual respect. Still, the words no doubt still sting: “I’m from a new land, I come to you and see all this ruin, /What are you doing, Alabama? You got the rest of the union to help you along, /What’s going wrong?…”

“Far Alaska,” Jethro Tull, 1999

Since 1968, this extraordinary British rock group has mastered blues, folk, progressive rock, Elizabethan madrigals and everything in between, always led by singer/songwriter/flautist Ian Anderson. On Tull’s 20th album of new studio material, “Dot Com,” this inventive piece offers an unusual stop-start mix of tempos while Anderson’s lyrics speak of “placing people in their dreamscape with fantasies of foreign fields” as they fly off to distant points on the planet, “from far Alaska, down to Rio in the Carnival, to Norwegian fjords…”

“Arizona,” Kings of Leon, 2007

Three brothers from just outside Nashville — Caleb’s Nathan and Jared Followill — formed Kings of Leon in 2000, offering an evolution of styles from Southern rock and blues to alt rock, eventually reaching the Top Five on US album charts with four consecutive LPs in 2008-2016. Just before that, their “Because of the Times” album earned praise as “an epic wide-screen movie of an album full of unbelievable beauty and familiar, lovable grit.” One track, “Arizona,” offers quirky observations about a strange relationship.

“Arkansas Mud,” Ashley McBryde, 2026

Her farmer/doctor/preacher father and religious mother didn’t approve, but McBryde moved from small-town Arkansas to Nashville to pursue a career in country music, and it has paid off for her. Her five LPs between 2018 and 2026 have all won praise, and her latest, “Wild,” includes “Arkansas Mud,” a hard-rocking country tune that pays tribute (of sorts) to her upbringing: “You can shine me up, you can whittle me down, but, oh, what’s underneath, you can’t scrub out, /It’s in my throat, it’s in my bones, it’s on my boots and in my blood, /That Ozark streak sure runs deep, and it sticks to me like that Arkansas Mud…”

“Going to California,” Led Zeppelin, 1971

There are probably a hundred or more songs in popular music that focus on California, but I’ve selected this appealing tune from Led Zeppelin’s best-selling fourth album. Amidst the seismic hard rock that dominates the LP, this delicate acoustic number references the band’s fondness for Joni Mitchell and her heartfelt folk music: “Going to California with an aching in my heart, /Someone told me there’s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair…”

“Colorado,” Manassas, 1972

This tune, filled with pedal steel guitars and sweet harmonies, is a highlight of the fine double LP Stills recorded with his group Manassas following the initial disbanding of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  Stills has always loved the Rockies, and these lyrics refer to women on the East and West coasts (presumably former lovers Judy Collins and Rita Coolidge) who declined to move with him to Colorado to keep their relationships alive: “I am a man, I live alone, don’t much bother me, /It won’t be long, come a woman who wants to be near me and my mountains, /We’ll be right here, Colorado…”

“The Wives Are in Connecticut,” Carly Simon, 1985

Throughout the ’70s, Simon earned plenty of hard-earned praise as a talented singer-songwriter, operating for a while in the shadows of then-husband James Taylor. By the ’80s, her popularity waned, and efforts like 1985’s “Spoiled Girl” stalled on the US album charts (in this case, #88), and were met with mixed reviews. One of the more interesting tracks was this one that recalled her days as the young daughter in the Simon & Schuster publishing family, observing the comings and goings of the upper class socialites.

“Hello I’m in Delaware,” City and Colour, 2005

A musically talented young Canadian man named Dallas Green didn’t think his name had much appeal, so he used the stage name City and Colour (get it?). He’d started as the lead guitarist and singer of an Ontario “post-hardcore” band called Alexisonfire, but he concluded he was best suited to “write sad songs on guitar.” His first solo effort as City and Colour, “Sometimes,” came out in 2006 and included this song of yearning for a woman who is temporarily gone and getting further away as he hits the highway.

“Mainline Florida,” Eric Clapton, 1974

Following a harrowing couple of years in the depths of heroin addiction, Eric Clapton got clean and headed for Miami to record his mid-’70s comeback LP, “461 Ocean Boulevard,” which was the address of the house he rented there during recording sessions. His cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” got most of the attention, but there are better songs to be found here, like “Let It Grow” and “Motherless Children.” Appropriately, and a bit euphemistically, the album closes with “Mainline Florida,” a gutsy rocker by Clapton’s guitarist bandmate George Terry.

“Heads in Georgia,” J.J. Cale, 2006

Tulsa-based singer-songwriter-guitarist Cale enjoyed a career of modest fame as a performer, but earned much more as a writer of tunes made more famous by others, especially “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton and “Call Me the Breeze” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In 2006, Clapton and Cale joined forces on a solid album, “Road to Escondido,” which includes the great but grammatically inaccurate “Heads in Georgia” (the opening line is “My Head’s in Georgia”), about a guy who’s following his woman to California even though he’d rather stay in The Peach State.

“Blue Hawaii,” Elvis Presley, 1961

In 1937, singer-actor Bing Crosby made a musical comedy film called “Waikiki Wedding” that featured the song “Blue Hawaii,” and Crosby’s rendition reached #5 on the “Hit Parade” chart of that era. More than twenty years later, Presley re-recorded the song as part of the soundtrack album for his film of the same name, and it went on to become a hugely successful LP for him, even though the film itself was fairly lame with a threadbare plot. Sadly, it set the stage for his questionable career path in the ’60s, where his film soundtracks outnumbered his studio albums.

“Private Idaho,” The B-52s, 1980

From Athens, Georgia, came the B-52s, the new wave/post-punk sensation known best for the punky “Rock Lobster” and later hits like “Love Shack” and “Roam.” On their second LP “Wild Planet” in 1980 was this curious tune about isolation, loosely based on an old “Twilight Zone” episode: “You’re living in your own private Idaho, underground like a wild potato…” Idahoans didn’t exactly embrace it because the lyrics advised, “Get out of that state…”

“Illinois,” Dan Fogelberg, 1974

This sensitive singer-songwriter, who scored several big hits in the late ’70s/early ’80s (“Longer,” “Heart Hotels,” “Same Old Lang Syne,” “Leader of the Band,” “Run for the Roses”), was born in Peoria, and after a spell in Southern California nurturing his career as a recording artist, he longed for the familiar surroundings of his home state: “My mind goes running three thousand miles east, I miss the harvest but I won’t miss the feast… Illinois, I’m your boy…” The song appeared on his marvelous breakthrough LP “Souvenirs” in 1974, which featured stars like Joe Walsh, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Don Henley, Glen Frey and Al Perkins.

“Indiana Wants Me,” R. Dean Taylor, 1970

Toronto-born Taylor had his only big commercial success with this self-written tune about a guy who murdered a man for insulting his woman, then went on the lam from the Indiana authorities. The police sirens included on the recording caused some controversy — when drivers heard the song on the car radio, they thought they were being pulled over by police. It reached the Top Five in the US, the UK and Canada: “If a man ever needed dyin’, he did, /No one had the right to say what he said about you, and it’s so cold and lonely here without you, /Out there, the law’s a-comin’, I’m scared and so tired of runnin’, /Indiana wants me, Lord, I can’t go back there…”

“Iowa,” Dar Williams, 1996/2010

Singer-songwriter Dorothy “Dar” Williams came out of Chappaqua, NY, in the 1990s and became a visible part of the growing movement of female performing/recording artists. From her second LP “Mortal City” in 1996 came “Iowa,” one many songs she’s written about geographical locations. She re-recorded the song for her collaborative 2010 LP “Many Great Companions” with Mary Chapin-Carpenter and others: “I woke up from a nightmare that I could not stand to see, /You were a-wandering out on the hills of Iowa, and you were not thinking of me…”

“Kansas Rain,” John Stewart, 1974

California-born Stewart was an integral member of folk music giants The Kingston Trio from 1961-1967, and also earned fame as a songwriter when The Monkees took his song “Daydream Believer” to #1 in 1967. ZAs a solo artist, he bounced around several record labels, and recorded a double live LP of original songs, “The Phoenix Concerts,” in 1974, which included his tribute to the The Sunflower State, “Kansas Rain.” Stewart went on to have a Top Five song, “Gold,” in 1979.

“Kentucky Woman,” Neil Diamond, 1967

One of Neil Diamond’s modest (#22) mid-’60s singles was this infectious tune he wrote about a woman he knew from Louisville: “She shines with her own kind of light, and a day that’s all wrong looks all right, and I love her, God knows I love her, Kentucky woman…” In 1968, British heavy-metal pioneers made the curious choice to record a cover of “Kentucky Woman” which managed to sneak onto the charts as the B-side of their #4 smash hit “Hush.”

“Louisiana Blues,” Paul Rodgers, 1993/1997

Rodgers, the powerful vocalist of Free and Bad Company, put together a stellar group of guest guitarists to each play a track on his “Muddy Water Blues” 1993 CD tribute to the legendary Delta blues guitarist. Trevor Rabin, who was Yes’s guitarist during their 1980s period, provided some tasty licks on Waters’ gritty “Louisiana Blues,” a tale of trouble in New Orleans. That album is now hard to find, but Rodgers included an in-concert version of “Louisiana Blues” on his 1997 “Now and Live” double CD.

“Maine,” Noah Kahan, 2020

The two most recent releases by this Vermont-born singer-songwriter, “Stick Season” (2022) and “The Great Divide” (2026), have made Kahan one of the biggest stars of the current popular music scene. Prior to that, though, he struggled along with two earlier albums and two EPs, one of which, 2020’s “Cape Elizabeth,” featured the track “Maine,” which the self-effacing songwriter described at the time as “the only one of my songs I listen to.”

“Maryland,” Vonda Shepard, 1999.

Shepard, born in New York City, was raised in California and began her music career there, where TV producer David E. Kelley saw her perform in a Hollywood club. He tapped her to play a fictionalized version of herself and be the voice and inner thoughts of the title character in the popular TV series “Ally McBeal” from 1997-2002. On one of several soundtrack albums released, she recorded her song “Maryland”: “I’m just working for a living, singing with my friends as I cast my dreams to the wind, /Maryland, I’m coming home…”

“Massachusetts,” The Bee Gees, 1967

Australians Robin, Maurice and Barry Gibb co-wrote this piece in a hotel room in New York, having never even been to Massachusetts at that point. It was written as an answer to the “let’s all go to San Francisco” trend at the time. “We just liked the sound of the name,” said Robin. They intended to give it to the New Seekers but ended up recording it themselves, and it went to #1 in five countries, and #11 in the US: “Feel I’m going back to Massachusetts, /Something’s telling me I must go home…”

“Especially in Michigan,” Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2006

This enormously influential LA-based band formed in 1982 and became hugely successful on the charts and on concert tours beginning in the 1990s and is still popular today. Their ninth LP “Stadium Arcadium,” originally slated as a trilogy of single albums but instead condensed to one double LP, came out in 2006 and reached #1 on US charts, with the single “Dani California” peaking at #5. Also on this disc you’ll find “Especially in Michigan”: “Life is my friend, rake it up to take it in, /Wrap me in your cinnamon, especially in Michigan…”

“Minnesota Girls,” The Shackletons, 2017

Running along under the radar of most fans since their 2014 debut ids The Shackleton’s, comprised of Colin Cameron and Evan Campbell, two friends from Minneapolis whose music includes indie rock, blues and punk influences. They’ve released two full-length albums in 2021 and 2024, and in 2017 they released their first EP including the song “Minnesota Girls,” a tongue-in-cheek spoof of The Beach Boys’ “California Girls”: “Why can’t they all be Minnesota girls, /I’m sorry, Brian Wilson, but you were wrong, /It’s now 30 below, and I can’t feel my toes, /Damn it’s great to be home…”

“Mississippi Queen,” Mountain, 1970

Drummer Corky Laing and guitarist Leslie West collaborated to write Mountain’s early ’70s rock classic, with lyrics that referred to “Mississippi Queen” as both the famous steamboat and a woman on board.  Their producer required so many takes to get it right that Laing started using a cowbell to count it off, which ended up remaining in the released version”. “You know she was a dancer, she moved better on wine, /While the rest of them dudes was gettin’ their kicks, buddy, beg your pardon, I was getting mine, /Mississippi Queen, if you know what I mean…”

“Missouri Road Song,” Bill Staines, 1979

A prolific folk/country songwriter and recording artist from New Hampshire, Staines recorded 23 albums between 1966 and 2010, with many other artists recording his songs, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Peter Paul & Mary, Nanci Griffith and The Highwaymen. He died in 2021 at age 74. His LP “The Whistle of the Jay” in 1979 including “Missouri Road Song: “Oh, good morning, Missouri, and how have you been? /I’ve been moving all night just to see you again, /And there’s thunder behind me and plenty of wind, and mountains ahead where I’m goin’…”

“Montana,” Frank Zappa, 1973

This funny, quirky song from one of rock’s true iconoclasts appeared on his amazing 1973 LP “Overnight Sensation,” which featured the notorious “Dinah-Moe Humm.” People weren’t sure what to make of lyrics like, “Moving to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon, yes I am…” Combined with an unusual multi-part arrangement and the “Yippy-ty-o-ty-ay” cliched cowboy ending, “Montana” became one of Zappa’s best loved tracks in concert and among casual fans.

“Nebraska,” Bruce Springsteen, 1982

Following the party atmosphere and full E Street Band band sound of “The River” in 1980, Springsteen did a 180-degree turn and made “Nebraska,” a bleak, bare-bones album about blue-collar failures and edgy criminals and outlaws. The title track tells the story of mass murderer Charles Starkweather, who killed eleven people in the late 1950s. As the harrowing lyrics state: “They wanted to know why I did what I did, /Well, sir, I guess there’s just a meanness in this world…”

“Stop in Nevada,” Billy Joel, 1973

Raised in Levittown on Long Island, Joel has always been a New Yorker at heart, but he spent his early professional life in California playing in a piano bar, which is where his iconic “Piano Man” song comes from. When his breakthrough “Piano Man” album emerged in 1973, which also includes the popular “Captain Jack” and “Travelin’ Prayer,” it sold well and introduced the world to his deft songwriting skills on sleeper tracks like “Stop in Nevada”: “Now she’s heading out to California, it’s been a long time coming, /But she’s feeling like a woman tonight, and she left a little letter, /Said she’s gonna make a stop in Nevada, /Goodbye, goodbye…

“New Hampshire,” Bridget Rian, 2022

Rian, a New Yorker now based in Tennessee, has been described as an alt-country singer-songwriter known for her melancholic and introspective songs that blend elements of alternative, country, and folk music. Her sound is characterized by a distinctive vocal style and emotionally resonant lyricism. Since 2021 she has released a series of singles and EPs, one of which, “New Hampshire,” tells an enigmatic tale of a fractured relationship that will evidently prevent herr from visiting The Granite State: “Keys rattle at the door, I think that it’s you, I forget you’re not coming back, that’s new, I don’t think I’ll ever love again that same way, I’ll never go to New Hampshire…”

“Jersey Girl,” Tom Waits, 1980

“This is my first experiment with using ‘sha-la-la’ in a song,” noted Waits wryly in 1980, in reference to his poignant song “Jersey Girl” from his 1980 album “Heartattack and Vine.” Better known for earthy, raw blues/jazz compositions, Waits was a New York guy who was dating (and eventually married) a girl from Jersey, and came up with this great song to describe the dynamic between the two: “I’m on my way to see that girl of mine, yeah, /Nothin’ else matters in this whole wide world when you’re in love with a Jersey girl, /Sing sha la la la la la…” Perhaps not surprisingly, Bruce Springsteen has a popular version of Waits’ song on his “Live 1975-1985” CD collection.

“New Mexico,” Johnny Cash, 1957

Before becoming an iconic solo country artist, Cash worked in Memphis with The Tennessee Two (guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant). They recorded dozens of songs with Sam Phillips’ Sun Records before Cash signed with Columbia, taking the other two with him. Once Cash was established as a star, Phillips didn’t waste any time before releasing the early tracks, including “New Mexico,” a little ditty written by Leon Lampson that warned against leaving Griffin, Texas, for the Southwest desert: “Go back to your friends and loved ones, tell others not to go to the God-forsaken country they call New Mexico…”

“The Only Living Boy in New York,” Simon and Garfunkel, 1970

As with California, there are many many songs that mention New York in their titles, but most tend to refer to New York City rather than New York State. When Paul Simon was writing songs for the fifth Simon and Garfunkel album, his partner Art Garfunkel was in Mexico filming “Catch-22,” and Simon felt somewhat abandoned. He came up with this song to describe his emotions when he felt as if he was the only living guy in the whole state of New York. It’s one of Simon’s best songs, a deep track on “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in 1970.

“Charlotte’s in North Carolina,” Keith Whitley, 1984/1994

I was tempted to use James Taylor’s “Carolina In My Mind” or even brother Livingston Taylor’s “Carolina Day” to represent North Carolina, where both men were born and raised, but I felt I should use a song that clearly mentions North Carolina. I found this winning tune by Keith Whitley, a country/bluegrass artist from Kentucky whose promising songwriting and recording career was cut short by alcoholism that caused an early death at only 34. But he wrote some great songs before he left us, including “Miami, My Amy,” “I’m No Stranger to the Rain” and “Charlotte’s in North Carolina,” which refers to a woman, not the city: “I hope she finds what she’s looking for, that’s all that matters to me, /’Cause all it cost me was my heart to set my sweet Charlotte free, /Charlotte’s in North Carolina, back where she wanted to be…”

“North Dakota,” Lyle Lovett, 1992

Houston-born Lovett has carved out a decent career as a country singer-songwriter with a 12-album catalog between 1986 and 2022, sometimes broadening his oeuvre to perform with a 15-piece band. Mostly, though, he writes and records introspective acoustic songs like “North Dakota,” which can be found on his 1992 LP “Joshua Judges Ruth,” which exa mines a romantic relationship by contrasting the northern prairie state with his home state of Texas: “Now the weather’s getting colder, it’s even cold down here, /And the words that you have told me hang frozen in the air… /And the boys from North Dakota, they drink whisky for their fun, /And the cowboys down in Texas, they polish up their guns, /And they look across the border to learn the ways of love…”

“Ohio,” Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, 1970

The shooting of four students by Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University in May 1970 has forever branded The Buckeye State, thanks in large part to CSN&Y’s incendiary single, “Ohio.” Neil Young wrote and David Crosby helped produce and arrange the song after seeing the infamous Life Magazine photos of the event, and CSN&Y recorded it and released it only three weeks after it occurred. It still packs a wallop today: “Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down, shoulda been done long ago, /What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground? How can you run when you know?… /Four dead on Ohio…”

“Oklahoma Boy,” Lazarus, 1973

The gentle trio Lazarus were three compatriots from Texas led by singer-songwriter Bill Hughes, who wrote gorgeous melodies carried by acoustic guitars, piano, and three-part harmonies. They never got the accolades they deserved, but their music is still available if you look hard enough. On their “A Fool’s Paradise” LP in 1973, member Carl Keesee sang the lead on “Oklahoma Boy,” the group’s only country song, about being a simple boy from Oklahoma who learns tough life lessons through music: “Just an Oklahoma boy, saddle, spurs and cards, /Never did learn very much ’til I got that old guitar, I started playing Texas bars, seeing something new, /People drinking to forget lost love they’d been through…”

“Oregon,” Brendan Abernathy, 2026

Abernathy is a new indie-country-folk-pop artist out of Georgia who writes about “the fickle interaction of discontentment and hope,” as he describes it This song explores the challenge of trying to help a friend cope her way through a romantic breakup. “‘It’s not you, it’s me, I’ve got to spend time alone’… But it’s me who’s to drive his car across Oregon, it’s me who used to worry about moving forward again…”

“Pennsylvania Turnpike,” Train, 2026.

Founded in San Francisco in the late 1990s, Train eventually became a very successful band across the country, with ten LPs between 1998 and 2026, six of which reached the Top Ten on US album charts. On their latest LP “Mad Dog in the Fog,” there’s a thought-provoking song called “Pennsylvania Turnpike,” about a troubled man driving in hopes of getting comfort from his friend: “I’m not in love, not even close, but I know you better than most, and I sure could use a friend, /Got a ring around the Rosie and a pocket full of dust, /The Pennsylvania turnpike and a heart that’s full of rust…”

“Rhode Island is Famous for You,” Erin McKeown, 2006

McKeown is a non-binary multi-instrumentalist with a wildly eclectic musical pedigree, dabbling in pop, folk, swing, rock and electronic styles over a 25-year career. With a strong voice and innate sense of fun in the presentation, McKeown has entertained audiences and listeners internationally. The 2006 LP “Sing You Sinners” offers an exhilarating take on standards from the swing music era, most notably “Rhode Island is Famous for You,” a spirited 1940s tune that name-drops more than a dozen states before coming around to The Ocean State: “The wheat fields are the sweet fields of Nebraska, and Kansas gets bonanzas from the grain, /Ol’ Whiskey comes from Ol’ Kentucky, ain’t the country lucky? /New Jersey gives us glue, /And you, you come from Rhode Island, and little Rhode Island is famous for you…”

“South Carolina,” The Outlaws, 1976

Founded in Tampa, Florida in the late ’60s, The Outlaws have had an inordinate number of personnel changes over a half-century and are still performing today. In their mid-’70s heyday, they were one of the pre-eminent Southern rock bands, featuring ferocious dual-guitar interplay on tracks like “Green Grass and High Tides” and “There Goes Another Love Song.” From their popular second LP “Lady in Waiting” in 1976, guitarist-singer Henry Paul contributed “South Carolina,” a tribute to the state where he eventually settled down: “It’s time to pack up and get ready to go, things I think lately are things I used to know, /And I’ve been thinking, Carolina, we can find a way to be together every night, and I’ll have you every day, /South Carolina, stars in her eyes, Blue Ridge Mountain, home in the sky…”

“South Dakota,” Chris Stapleton, 2023

Kentucky-born Stapleton was his class valedictorian who headed to Nashville to study biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt, but his love of country music pulled him toward songwriting and performing, and he’s become successful “beyond my wildest dreams,” he has said. In songs he has written for others and those he’s recorded himself, he has been partial to storytelling about hard-luck cases and lost love, and on his most recent LP, 2023’s “Higher,” his song “South Dakota” continues that trend: “Nights are long as the day is cold, staying alive is getting old, /Nothing is everything I got left, staring down the devil, but I’m scared to death, /I’m in South Dakota, I keep on staying behind, /I’m in South Dakota, trouble ain’t hard to find…”

“Tennessee Waltz,” Sam Cooke, 1963

This timeless country classic, written in 1946 by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King, is best known in traditional arrangements recorded by Patti Page, Patsy Cline, Anne Murray, Emmylou Harris and many others, but I was more intrigued by the double-time R&B version recorded by the great Sam Cooke in 1963. Puzzling, I think, that this song was so popular, seeing as how it’s about a guy’s best friend stealing his girlfriend: “I was dancing with my darling to the Tennessee Waltz, when an old friend I happened to see, I introduced him to my loved one, and while they were dancing, my friend stole my sweetheart from me…”

“Texas Flood,” Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1983

Bluesman Larry Davis wrote and recorded this superb slow blues tune in 1958, later re-recorded by other artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, who made it the title song of Vaughan’s 1983 debut. Davis, who wrote the song in California, used the news of a flood in Texas as a metaphor for his troubled relationship with his girl: “I’m going back home to stay, where there’s no floods or tornadoes, and baby, the sun shines every day…”

“Utah,” Madison Violet, 2022

Canadians Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern each have roots in Nova Scotia but met in Toronto in the late ’90s and formed a duo they called Madison Violet, and have released nearly a dozen albums since their 2002 debut, making prominent use of fiddle, piano and mandolin in their music. Their voices blend well, and on their most recent LP, 2022’s “eleven,” they offer alternating earthy and lovely vocal interplay on tracks like “Utah”: “When I’m with you, you make it clearer in my mind, /You make the sun shine, Utah…”

“Moonlight in Vermont,” Billie Holiday, 1957

Back in 1944, the team of John Blackburn (lyrics) and Karl Seussdorf (music) collaborated on “Moonlight in Vermont,” which is the unofficial states song of Vermont. As Blackburn noted, the lyrics are unusual for their era because they don’t rhyme, although that wasn’t the intention when he started writing them. Margaret Whiting made the initial recording, followed by dozens of other artists in th ensuing years, including Jo Stafford, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Bobby Womack and Willie Nelson. I’m partial to Billie Holiday’s 1958 rendition from her LP “Songs for Distingué Lovers.”

“Sweet Virginia,” The Rolling Stones, 1972

From the band’s epic double LP “Exile on Main Street” comes this loose, Gram Parsons-inspired country tune that could very well be about the state, but is more likely about a woman with that name who comes from horse country. Much as they had in their earlier “Wild Horses,” the Jagger-Richards songwriting duo tipped their hats to American country music traditions in the midst of their bluesy rock ‘n roll format: “Come on, come on down, sweet Virginia, come on, come on down, I beg of you, /Come on, come on down, you got it in you, got to scrape that shit right off your shoes…”

“Washington,” Jamie Grace, 2023

Born Jamie Grace Harper in Atlanta, Grace has developed into a fine singer-songwriter of primarily Christian-based songs since her 2011 debut. She has worked closely with widely respected Christian musician/producer TobyMac, who helped her evolve her singing and songwriting. Her most recent LP, 2023’s “Dreamers,” is perhaps her most consistently appealing work, including the charming, optimistic “Washington”: “I was in Washington on a West Coast run, it rained for days all over my face, my joy was gone, /But Washington, I see your sun, and I can almost hear the birds singing over me, /It’s time to be free…”

“West Virginia Rain,” The Wildwoods, 2023

Hailing from the heart of Lincoln, Nebraska, The Wildwoods have grown into a folk/Americana trio rooted in rich harmonies and heartfelt storytelling. Formed by husband-and-wife duo Noah (guitar) and Chloe Gose (violin), and joined by longtime friend and bassist Andrew Vaggalis, the band crafts songs that feel both intimate and expansive — tales of home, hope, and the open road. From their 2023 LP “Foxfield Saint John” is the lovely “West Virginia Rain”: “West Virginia rain, misty mountains calling out my name, /West Virginia rain falling down to take away my pain…”

“Wisconsin,” Madilyn Bailey, 2020

Essentially a YouTube personality with strong songwriting talent, Bailey has released both original and cover songs mostly through online distribution, gaining notoriety and followers that have boosted her presence in recent years. Born in Wisconsin to a musical family with five siblings, Bailey has made numerous TV appearances in Europe and the US to perform. In 2020, she wrote “Wisconsin” as a loving reminder of her roots in that state: “Oh, Wisconsin, my old friend, I didn’t forget about you, /Do you remember when I was thirteen? I’d stay up ’til 3AM singing to no one, /You were listening, oh, Wisconsin, you were always listening…”

“Song of Wyoming,” John Denver, 1975

Henry John Deutschendorf became John Denver at age 18 because of his love for the Rocky Mountains, and he enjoyed a lengthy run at or near the top of the US pop charts on six albums and multiple singles in the 1972-1976 period. His 1975 LP “Windsong,” which reached #1 on the strength of hit singles “I’m Sorry” and “Calypso,” also included the serene closing track, “Song of Wyoming”: “Here comes that big old prairie moon rising, shining down bright as can be, /Up on the hill there’s a coyote singing a song of Wyoming for me…”

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