Cory Branan with Tim Easton

As invigoratingly honest Alt Country or Americana continues to blossom amid the musical banalities of Modern Country like a desert rose, it brings with it a new phenomenon: the “No-Hit Wonder,” those contemporary, down-home troubadours whose grittily propulsive, slyly smart songs just can’t get commercial Country airplay but who nevertheless develop enough of a following to endure, if not exactly prosper.

It is to them that Cory Branan, a Punk-edged Southern troubadour and sterling guitarist who has toured with The Gaslight Anthem and Jason Isbell, has dedicated the title song of his latest album, The No-Hit Wonder (“Years of living blood to string/Years of living hand to mouth/Years just getting gig to gig/East to West, North to South”).

Branan seems to know the territory of which he sings. This is the 40-year-old’s fourth album since 2002, and he doesn’t have much chart success to show for it. Too bad, as his descriptive lyrics and juke-joint-rocking melodies (“Daddy Was a Skywriter,” “The Highway Home”) could get the Steve Earle of “Guitar Town” days dancing.

But not so fast. His hard work in mastering his craft has made him a favorite of the Nashville Alt Country music community, and it is now getting him increased national attention.

Since signing with Bloodshot Records and putting out his first album for the label in 2012, Branan has striven to increase his following and album production. As a result, Rolling Stone Country named him one of 10 Artists You Need to Know in 2014.

So Branan might yet break through like Isbell (who guests on a pair of No-Hit tracks) before him and become an Alt Country superstar.