Here's a great Northland country music connection: Hermantown native Rafe Carlson just dropped a brand new country single and it's catchy!

If you are a Northland native, you've likely heard about Rafe Carlson or seen him out and about. He splits his time between Minnesota and Nashville and when back in the Twin Ports, he plays shows all around town.

He graduated from Hermantown High School back in 2017. He taught himself guitar years before that, teaching himself the instrument in 2014. Now, he is on his way to becoming a country music star, making a name for himself in Nashville.

It all began back in July when he released his very first single. The tune is called Lost & Found and the song is a great acoustic-type track that he also wrote. It is a break-up track of sorts, with Rafe singing about his former lover possibly having a new flame as he waits for her to come back to him.

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His new song officially dropped on Thursday (January 20th) and we played it on the radio for the very first time! The song is a breezy love song called Just Can't Explain. Rafe wrote it with Tim Rushlow, the lead singer of hit band Little Texas.

The two wrote the tune together back in May of last year when Rafe was in Nashville writing. Of the new song, Rafe says his inspiration was all about a common phrase we all hear often: you will meet someone when you least expect it. This is something we can all relate to.

He also wrote this tune back in May. It will be available on all streaming platforms on Saturday, January 29th. You can listen to the tune below:

This is one of many new songs you will hear in the near future. Rafe says he basically has a full album of music done, aside from a few songs he has to go cut vocals for in Nashville. He may hop back in the studio to add a few new songs to what he already has as well.

He can't say too much about what he has in the works but you can follow along with his journey on his social media pages, including his Instagram page, where he frequently posts videos of himself covering his songs and others.

We can't wait to see what he does next. It won't be long until he can add his name to the list of successful artists with massive hits from the Northland! There is a Biwabik native named Emily Shackelton who has a number one hit to her name: Carly Pearce's Every Little Thing. She continues to have massive success in the country music world!

Another Duluth success story is Jordan Schmidt, a Duluthian who has written some of the biggest country songs over the past decade. He currently has writing credits on Blake Shelton's hit Come Back As A Country Boy, which just entered the top twenty.

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