The Showdown: Brantley Gilbert vs. Scotty McCreery

Reba McEntire has won her way into the Hall of Fame with her latest single, "Until They Don't Love You." We're starting fresh with a brand new Showdown faceoff between two of the hottest young male stars in country music.

Brantley Gilbert's new single is "Stone Cold Sober," a song he says was inspired by a real-life phone call he placed to his now-wife, Amber, ten years ago. The character in the song drunk dials the woman he's interested in, only to wake up hungover and alone the next morning, full of regret. It's a powerful song that draws from Gilbert's own past history to make it ring true.

Scotty McCreery has taken a turn in a new direction with his new single, "Southern Belle." The track takes a much edgier and more aggressive musical stance than the singer's previous offerings, and is both more challenging and somehow even more appealing as a result. McCreery and Gilbert both have massively devoted fan bases — but only one of them can move on to the next Showdown round.

Listen to clips of both Gilbert and the McCreery’s songs and vote for your favorite here. You can vote once every hour until this Showdown ends on Friday at 8AM ET, so come back and vote often to be sure your artist wins. The winner of this matchup will face a new challenger on Friday.

Listen to Brantley Gilbert, "Stone Cold Sober"

Listen to Scotty McCreery, "Southern Belle"

Showdown Rules: The song with the most votes wins, and the winner goes on to face a new challenger in the next Showdown. Vote as much as once per hour online. If a song wins five Showdowns in a row, it will be retired into the Taste of Country Showdown Hall of Fame to allow for new songs to compete. Some songs will be considered for a second Showdown if voter turnout is healthy in a losing effort.