(Warner) Rising 21-year-old country sensation Blake Whiten returns with the down-bad anthem "Hard to Break," out now via Enchntmnt / Warner Records. The lovelorn cut is the small-town South Carolina native's second major label single, and arrives in the middle of his first headlining US run, The Rollin' Stone Tour.
"Hard to Break" instantly reminds us of the storytelling and vocal gravitas possessed by the young man from Six Mile, SC (population: <800). The song opens on intimate strumming and a scene-setting line: "I try to let you go but I just keep givin' in / My head tells me to stop, but my heart ain't listenin'." From there, the sound blooms to include dobro, banjo, steel, and drums, all while Whiten's struggle grows more intense: "Maybe it's a rose, maybe it's a thorn / Either way I'm torn / It's a feeling that I just can't shake / You're a habit that's a little too hard to break."
Whiten's 2024 independently released breakthrough "Rollin' Stone" has recently been heating up and was just added to marquee playlists including Spotify's Hot Country, Apple Music's Country Risers, and The Highway station on SiriusXM. The track continues to increase streams week to week with over 52 million global to date, cementing Whiten as one of country music's rising stars.
The Rollin' Stone Tour stops in Lexington, KY, tonight before wrapping in Chicago on September 26. After that, Whiten heads down under for the two-stop Ridin' Hearts Fest and returns stateside for Florida's St. Pete Country Fest in November. This month, he announced that he'll be joining Bailey Zimmerman for 30+ dates on the 2026 North American Different Night Same Rodeo Tour.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]