Dylan Earl - Level-Headed Even Smile (2025) Hi-Res

”Among the artists rising up from the fertile twang-fields of Northwest Arkansas, Dylan Earl might just make the music that goes down the smoothest…”

Born in Louisiana and naturalized by the Natural State, Dylan Earl seeks to understand himself by understanding others and where he makes his home. His upcoming release, ‘Level-Headed Even Smile’ (2025), charts territory into his formative years discovering Arkansas, the people who showed him the ropes and back roads, and who he hopes to become. Offering poignant nostalgia, history, and a refreshingly progressive approach to country and western music, his newest effort is rife with wry wit, irreverence, and an endearing desire to colour outside the lines.

Born half a Cajun in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Earl was no stranger to exploring his lineage. Growing up, his mother seized every opportunity to educate on the swamp surrounding and play country tapes in their ‘89 Econoline. Earl gently remarks, “I love those songs almost as much as our memories.” This disarming vulnerability is something of a signature, and his genuine approach to life radiates from his work with warmth and familiarity. One could assume that these field trips as a youngster were transformative in dissecting how he fit into the world around him. At fifteen, after the devastation laid by Hurricane Katrina in ‘05, Earl relocated to Arkansas while his mother stayed in Louisiana to work. Quickly, he found himself day dreaming with the ravens along the cliffs of the Ouachita Mountains.

2017 marked his debut and foray into music as a singer-songwriter. “New Country To Be” (2017) and “Squirrel In The Garden” (2019) are remarkably mature efforts for a relative newcomer, underscored by trademark tenderness and curiosity in their approach, with deep respect to the heroes he’s emulating. While tracking his last critically acclaimed collection, ‘I Saw The Arkansas’ (2023), Earl found himself with an extra on the cutting room floor and, as he explains, it kicked off writing for a new project. That song is ‘High On Ouachita’, the debut single for this chapter: a poetically charged and nature-centric ballad, pulling listeners in with his near-perfected baritone twang and soaring pedal steel. A student in tasteful vocal phrasing and inflection, Earl has studied the greats thoroughly, and it shows.

From note one of the title track, ‘Level-Headed Even Smile’ seems the perfect encapsulation of this charming songsmith. Finding courage in feeling small, centering kindness in harsh times and his dogged determination echo through a driving groove with saloon piano and pedal steel swooning in the passengers seat. ‘Get In The Truck’ saunters through the mind of a traveller, timeless in essence, uplifted by mandolin and dobro in tandem. This song is particularly reminiscent of country and western in approach, alluding to Earl’s surrounding influences in the vein of Willie Nelson and John Anderson, and his ability to channel them into something unique.

Comfortable utilizing his privilege, Earl quietly revels in creating food for thought, and engaging in talk related to and beyond country music. ‘Outlaw Country’ is a prime example of this tongue-in-cheek bid for conversation, forcing questions about authority and whose side we’re really standing for. Earl asks, in a genre so content with tradition and status-quo, why not ruffle some feathers?

Describing these songs as “an exploration of identity” is fitting, but it’s certainly deepened by the subtleties and clever turns of phrase across the 10 track run-time. Earl is a welcome, original voice in the scene, finding favour in mainstream and alternative spaces alike as a loveable, alt-country hippie. Travelling counter-culture and across vast expanses, not unlike the inimitable White River in Arkansas, Earl carves a path distinctly his own in melody and lyricism, inviting listeners along for the ride with a ‘Level-Headed Even Smile.’