Canada’s Country

Though Nashville remains the cradle of country, Canada has a pretty long history with it too, taking the styles and sounds of its Southern neighbors and applying its own rustic, regional spin. Honky-tonk, outlaw ballads, beat-driven pop crossovers—these songs represent a cross-section of Canada’s best modern country. This week, Mitch Zorn gets real on “Sober,” a revealing new single from the Nakusp, B.C., native. A midtempo ballad about leaving intoxicating substances—and subsequently toxic behavior—behind, “Sober” gives Zorn a chance to indulge his more tender side, both lyrically and as a vocalist. Zorn tells Apple Music he wrote the emotional tune several years ago during a period of intense mental health and substance abuse struggles. “Writing the song led to a year-long stint of sobriety,” he says. “I’m lucky to be in a place now where I am able to go out and enjoy myself responsibly, but it took a lot of work to get there. I wrote this song for the folks in my life that I have seen struggle—often much worse than I have—but it’s for all of us.” Listen to it now and add Canada’s Country to your library to stay up on the songs shaping the future of country music.