I’ve been keeping an eye on Clarke Sexton for a while, and this session is one of those moments where you can hear an artist stepping out of the shadows and into his own lane. Clarke grew up in the same Eastern Kentucky soil that raised voices like Stapleton and Loretta, then moved to Nashville at 18 and did what a lot of good ones do—he grinded. A lot of y’all know him from the road with Nolan Taylor’s band, but this is Clarke carving his own path with a song that hits close to home for me. “Ain’t Worth It” is a straight-up, no-frills look at loneliness, bad habits, and the kind of trouble that’s always waiting when you’re running on fumes. The lyrics live in that space between wanting to call a thousand times and knowing it’ll only end in a small-town scene, pissed drunk, and feeling worse in the morning. What I love here is the honesty—“I don’t mind the hurting, but the trouble just ain’t worth it.” That’s a hard-earned line, and Clarke delivers it like he’s lived every word. If you’re into Appalachian-rooted songwriting with modern edge and real emotion, this one’s for you.