What’s This Playlist All About? On the heels of releasing his personally reflective and politically charged new album, Desperate Man, and announcing next year’s Double Down Tour, the country-rock outsider compiles some of his favorite tracks from his monthly Outsiders Radio show on SiriusXM’s The Highway Channel.What You Get: A juicy blend of all-American classics (Billy Joel, John Denver, John Mellencamp, and “American Pie”), a few newer slices of twang (Blitzen Trapper, Ryan Adams, Jason Isbell), and one mighty tough, go-f-themselves anthem (Halestrom’s “Here’s to Us”). It’s a mix fit for Church’s own humble Southern charm and rock star defiance.Biggest Surprise: Amid all the red, white, and blue comes Florence + The Machine’s fiery, fist-pumping “What Kind of Man,” a throbbing, horn-infused kiss-off directed to every type of toxic relationship.Who’s the Biggest Outsider of Them All? No one could ever surpass Church’s musical hero and ultimate outlaw Johnny Cash, featured here transforming Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” into a fragile, ominous elegy.
