Charley Crockett Reveals New 20-Song Album “Age of the Ram”
This story has been updated.
Charley Crockett’s Sagebrush Trilogy of albums will be completed when he releases the Shooter Jennings-produced Age Of The Ram on April 3rd via Island Records. To complete the trilogy, it will take 20 overall tracks. Like the first two albums Lonesome Drifter (March, 2025) and Dollar A Day (August, 2025), the new album is co-produced by Crockett with Shooter, including the 19th track on the album “Me and Shooter.”
Though 20 tracks might sound like a lot, five of the tracks are marked as “themes,” with three making reference to Billy McLane, who has been the main protagonist throughout the Sagebrush Trilogy, and two named “Rancho Deluxe.” With some of these tracks featuring short run times, these are likely to be recurring instrumental beds to give the album a more thematic or cinematic feel. In fact, quite a few of the tracks have shorter run times.
Charley Crockett’s last album Dollar A Day included one of these instrumental theme tracks, appropriately titled “Age Of The Ram,” making it a precursor to the new album. The cinematic, Western flair of Dollar A Day worked in Crockett’s favor, landing him a nomination for the Grammy’s Best Traditional Country Album.
No lengthy press release coincided with his announcement on social media. But with track names such as “Lonesome Dove,” “I Shot Jesse James,” “Fastest Gun Alive,” and “Powder River,” there’s a good chance it will have Western flavor once again. We’ll also have to see if the track “Low Down Freedom” is the same song that Waylon Jennings cut originally authored by Billy Joe Shaver.
Crockett did say in a post on Substack, “The Sagebrush Trilogy has always been about a man trying to find his name in this world. Lonesome Drifter was the wanderer. Boots full of highway dust, chasing a song and a dollar. Dollar A Day was the rustler. A man learning what hunger will make you do. Now the Age of the Ram tells the story of the outlaw. The kind that don’t set out to be a legend, but winds up one anyway.”
What we do have is the debut single from the album called “Kentucky Too Long,” along with the accompanying lyric video definitely not shot in Kentucky (see below). Written by Crockett, the song and the album were all cut with contributions from Crockett’s touring band The Blue Drifters consisting of guitarist Alexis Sanchez, keys and trumpet player Kullen Fox, Nathan Fleming on pedal steel, Mario Valdez on drums, and Jacob Marchese on bass.
Age Of The Ram is now available for pre-order/pre-save.
TRACK LIST:
01 Life & Times of Billy McLane (Theme I) (0:56)
02 Lonesome Dove (3:04)
03 Rancho Deluxe (Theme I) (2:06)
04 My Last Drink of Wine (3:20)
05 Fastest Gun Alive (3:07)
06 Diamond Belle (Country Boy) (2:32)
07 I Shot Jesse James (2:48)
08 Life & Times of Billy McLane (Theme II) (0:26)
09 Crazy Woman Ridge (3:30)
10 Remembering Pat (0:46)
11 Sweet Mother Texas (1:36)
12 Kentucky Too Long (3:38)
13 Drifter’s Lament (Border Winds) (0:32)
14 Rancho Deluxe (Theme II) (2:08)
15 Billy McLane (3:16)
16 Life & Times of Billy McLane (Theme III) (0:42)
17 Powder River (0:46)
18 Low Down Freedom (3:03)
19 Me & Shooter (3;12)
20 Cover My Trail Tonight (3:42)
February 18, 2026 @ 8:40 pm
There’s a substack article he wrote explaining the trilogy. He also played Low Down Freedom live and it was in fact the original Shaver cover. He played a fair amount of the songs on this album which you can find via some kind folks on YouTube.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:25 am
Sweet Mother Texas is another Waylon cover, this one by Eddy Raven.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:30 pm
scooter jennings
and
charley crockadelic
—–so like-minded
talent so indescribable
they were meant for each other
self-telling jokes separated at birth
February 18, 2026 @ 9:17 pm
The not shot in Kentucky thing confuses me too. Its very obvious thats not Kentucky, which makes him claiming on Insta that he was just outside Big Sandy even more odd. Also odd is why in the promo is Charley wearing one pointed toe boot and one square toe boot? (Once you see it its hard to unsee).
Ive become a fan of Charleys this year, but its those type of things that his “fake cowboy” haters will absolutely latch on to.
February 18, 2026 @ 11:26 pm
Not sure what claim you’re referring to. However, based off the thematic arc of the trilogy it appears to be a vignette that serves as an illustration for one of his thematic messages (his substack provides further clarity).
Based on that, I think the promo is him “in character” as Billy McLain and since he’s on the run the mismatched costume serves that purpose as a “clue”.
To your point, to the simpletons who head bang to Lee Brice’s Country Nowadays or other such sonic atrocities likely are not paying enough attention nor giving enough thought to understand this. Though I hold out hope that one day they may see the light.
February 19, 2026 @ 12:16 am
All day I’ve been hearing about Charley Crockett’s Substack. Yet no link has been provided to it, here, on Charley Crockett’s social media, or anywhere else. Whiskey Riff referred to it in their article on the album, and quoted it. Didn’t link to it though. You’re always supposed to provide links to quotes.
Try to search it up, no dice. It can’t be found catalogued on the internet. I spent 20 minutes looking for it. By the way, let that be a lesson to all Substackers. Sure, the subscribe function is nice. The searchable nature of the media is very subpar. It’s even worse for Charley Crockett since he just started it.
I did finally find a link to it via consequence.net. My point is, if your media relies on a written explanation, you might want to make that written information accessible.
It[s going to be a brave new world as artists and labels eliminate publicists, and yet still want to public to remain informed.
Mini-rant over.
February 19, 2026 @ 4:07 am
Ummm sir so where’s the f ing link
February 19, 2026 @ 8:19 am
I added it to the story. Here’s the link:
https://charleycrockett.substack.com/p/0aa61042-1dee-4f60-a104-2c7ba9e9996e?updated=2026-02-18T16%3A27%3A31.567Z&postPreview=paid&sub=free&device=mobile&audience=everyone&free_preview=false&freemail=true
February 19, 2026 @ 4:29 am
Googling “what is a substack?”
February 19, 2026 @ 6:37 am
So it’s a an email newsletter? Kind of what SCM does monthly?
Whatever happened to EPK’s? I loved getting those as a buyer. Those would thrive in this social media, reels environment.
February 19, 2026 @ 10:41 am
I don’t want to poo poo Substack. It is a useful self-publishing tool for a lot of people. But I have cautioned folks that if you have a Substack, it’s very hard to find it via search engine. I guess I just don’t understand why Crockett didn’t post what he posted on social media, and why we got a press release for the single he released a few days earlier, but not for the album. But whatever.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:56 am
I opened the Substack app on my phone, searched his name and found it immediately. It looks like he just started it yesterday and has 118 subscribers so far.
February 19, 2026 @ 5:47 am
Thanks for the context- as I said im late to the Charley party and just trying to follow what the reaction was on Social media while also being confused as to why he literally posted that he was at Big Sandy. If its some kind of “outlaw story arc” that would make sense.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:23 am
The photographer said that the boots are the same but just look different in the photo.
February 19, 2026 @ 9:35 am
They’re obviously the same, snip-toe boots. If we’re going to clown the guy for his outfits, which is valid considering he obviously spends comically huge amounts of time peacocking and primping in front of a mirror, at least know what you’re talking about.
February 19, 2026 @ 6:43 am
Buddy loves releasing 20 song bullshit albums twice a year
February 19, 2026 @ 7:37 am
Same annoying excess as Zach Bryan too. People think that because everything is streaming they dont need to be selective any more (randomly all the later RHCP albums are guilty of this too)
February 19, 2026 @ 8:31 am
as Trigger stated and unless you have an issue with math, it’s quite clear the album has several short skits and vignettes and ends up only having about a dozen actual tracks. Right on par with the length an LP should be and nothing like Zach.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:38 am
Exactly. That is why I hunted down and put the time stamps on these tracks. There’s tracks that last 0:46, 0:36, 0:42, 0:56, and 0:26.
February 19, 2026 @ 9:01 am
For the record im terrible at math
February 19, 2026 @ 7:42 am
You can call this predictable, but I am less interested in this than I might have been several months ago.
That being said, I’ve never been his biggest fan, so perhaps that is skewing my reaction to this.
February 20, 2026 @ 11:42 pm
Bootlicker?
February 19, 2026 @ 8:00 am
He is prolific but his music is almost always of a high standard. I thought his last album might just be his best…..so far. One to look forward to.
February 20, 2026 @ 6:49 am
Wonder if the Ranch Deluxe song is at all tied to the Jeff bridges movie and great Jimmy Buffett soundtrack?
February 19, 2026 @ 8:18 am
Charley Crookett’s fifteen minutes were up the minute he began working with Scooter Jennings.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:38 am
…except he’s more popular and a bigger draw live than ever.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:59 am
And Shooter just picked up his fourth Grammy, one of three he was nominated for.
February 19, 2026 @ 10:02 am
Shooter’s career is nothing without Brandi Carlile.
February 19, 2026 @ 10:36 am
Huh. Something tells me that the success of Shooter’s career has a little bit more to do with the fact that HIS FATHER IS WAYLON JENNINGS than it has to do with Brandi Carlile. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be giving Shooter shit for? He’s a nepo baby, or whatever? But you just keep forwarding your theory. Best of luck with it.
February 19, 2026 @ 12:26 pm
Scooter’s Grammys are for producing Brandi Carlile, not for his own music, or even for country music.
February 19, 2026 @ 1:51 pm
This article has nothing to do with Brandi Carlile. It barely has anything to do with Shooter Jennings. For the record, I like Brandi Carlile and her music, so trying to intertwine these to to somehow discredit Shooter is not effective.
If you don’t stay on topic and you try to veer the conversation to what you want to rage about, your comments are going to get deleted.
February 19, 2026 @ 8:42 am
Really amped to hear his version of Low Down Freedom, it’s gotta be the shaver/jennings tune we think it is.
February 19, 2026 @ 9:33 am
This new song sounds a lot like Bill Withers. Not a bad thing.
February 19, 2026 @ 9:38 am
Yes I thought the same as well, Bill Wither’s “Use Me.”
February 19, 2026 @ 9:54 am
I own about fifty Charley Crockett albums already, and seen him live almost as many times, so I think I’m good at this point. I’ve done more than my part helping this dude buy more outfits and book more photo shoots, but I’m officially tapped out now – especially since he couldn’t just let the music speak for itself and decided to become a political blowhard. Dude’s exhausting. He’s like the Marvel Movies of country music. How much more of it do we really need?
February 19, 2026 @ 10:11 am
Kentucky Camp is a ghost town in Arizona. Maybe that’s where he is?
February 19, 2026 @ 11:20 am
I like Crockett but I’m not at all interested in following some sort of a story across three albums. Maybe I just don’t pay attention to lyrics that closely and try to thread the needle on a storyline across multiple songs unless it’s something like Rattlesnake Milk’s last album.
I’ll still check this out but not for whatever storyline he’s trying to tell.
February 19, 2026 @ 11:46 am
I find it a little weird all of the things people are commenting about this album and how basically none of them are talking about the sound of it. I may be a man on an island, but that’s what I look for in music. This tune sounds really cool
February 19, 2026 @ 12:24 pm
The reason for this is because Charley Crockett is now a political artist, which means he’s a polarizing artist. He took the poison that people like Joseph Hudak at Rolling Stone Country sold, which is that artists need to speak out politically. So to meet the political moment that was happening in Minneapolis with the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, Charley Crockett issued the complete non-sequiter about Donald Trump being a draft dodger, and how Elon Musk should be deported as opposed to speaking more universally on Free Speech and 2nd Amendment rights. Charley Crockett was already being heavily scrutinized as a phony, including by his fellow artists like Paul Cauthen. Now, that scrutiny will be brought to everything he does as the facade and mythology he’s built around himself cracks.
And unfortunately, the music will get lost in the shuffle.
February 19, 2026 @ 1:51 pm
Sad. The hardest part is that he is called out by the most hardened country artist of all time – Paul Cauthen. That dude has never strayed away from the music that his heart of hearts has desired to make and not to try and tap into the money in the industry.
I get it – personalities and politics play a role, but music should be music.
February 19, 2026 @ 2:25 pm
For someone who says they are not political, it seems to me, Trigger, you are being quite political. You certainly don’t know that Charley Crockett is a phony, or that his music will get lost in the shuffle……As much as I don’t agree with Ray Steven’s political statements, for example, it’s not up to me to judge whether he can make those statements. I can tell he’s still very talented, even though I may just shake my head with his lyrics and politics. Springsteen has every right to sing “The Streets of Minneapolis” if he wants to, and whoever is the most outspoken conservative at the moment also has the right to speak their mind. I understand you not wanting music to be political, but this is the real world, and music and politics will always be part of our existence. It certainly was a huge part of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. So let Charley Crockett speak his mind or Jason Aldean or Tyler Childers. Music, at it’s best, talks about what we already know about, but it can also open our mind to new possibilities. Why not look at it that way and enjoy the ride?
February 19, 2026 @ 3:09 pm
I don’t see how Trigger’s comments are political. However, I see what you’re saying here and mostly agree.
The difference is Trigger speaks realism – how people ACTUALLY behave. Whereas you (and I agree) are talking how people OUGHT to behave (normative argument) which is two different things.
Trigs right that in this day and age people will jump to conclusions and political comments are going to cause issues (both good and bad) for artists. However, that is not to say that it is the right thing. Unfortunately, when everyone has an opinion, nobody does (kinda like participation trophies). It would be far better for an artist to be deliberate, informed, and clear about the positions they take (instead of one-off cryptic Instagram posts). Though even then it is dubious whether the average consumer will take the extra time to actually engage in nuance that doesn’t fit “For-You-Page” attention economics.
In the end, we’re in a constant battle between improving the present and future while also dealing with the reality the present poses. Much like this…what ends up becoming of our current time is only known to God or whatever Universal entity you fancy.
February 19, 2026 @ 3:47 pm
I’m not being political, I am being anti-political. Charley Crockett just made my job much harder of trying to get people to focus on the music as opposed to the distractions, which as you asserted in your comment, seems to be what people are mostly focusing on, and I concur.
I did not say Charley Crockett was a phony. I said that has been a charge levied against him, and specifically by other artists, not just random commenters.
I also never said I don’t think artists should have the right to speak out. But I do think Charley Crockett would have been better served asking why an unarmed American citizen outnumbered 8 to 1 was shot in the back 10 times while laying on the ground as opposed to bringing up Trump’s failed casinos because that makes for a good applause line on social media. That’s how to use your platform instead of prat falling into political rancor.
February 19, 2026 @ 4:04 pm
His alter ego and schtick is a man from the 1800’s so it kinda makes sense that his views on politics would be 5 years behind.
February 19, 2026 @ 5:42 pm
Censorship is political.
February 19, 2026 @ 3:17 pm
When you can’t write a hit song just put out a trilogy of concept albums.
February 19, 2026 @ 3:41 pm
Billy McLane? Did he fall asleep to the early Simpson’s episodes with the McBain clips and then subconsciously think Billy McLane as some sort of alter-ego dream whatever was something brilliant? I always thought the sound of everyone else in the band besides himself was the strongest part of his “sound.” He’s not prolific enough to be pulling Jack White levels of bullshit with this theme nonsense. (Jack White is also not that good)
February 20, 2026 @ 6:34 pm
Mendooooooozzzzzzaaaaaaaaa
February 19, 2026 @ 4:29 pm
I like the song,, look forward to the new album. Last album was great, the one before, the first with shooter, was good. I hope this continues the second ones tracking. I too like another poster dont really care about the story hes trying to sell. Also a little disapointed ĺn his public words but its ok. I just focus on the music.
February 19, 2026 @ 4:51 pm
His next concept album will be “The Cowboy Grifter Rides Away”. As he heads towards his liberal spewing bullshit of a career trajectory like Jason Isbell. We just need the eventual puff piece that will throw him over the top for next years Grammys written by Josh Crutchmer.
What a dope shouting out big sandy which is a federal prison. The common man isn’t in a Kentucky federal prison, they’re in the state pen which is “ Castle on Cumberland” . He just reeks of a try hard who has heard the term big sandy on podcasts from rich men who were locked up for scheming.
February 20, 2026 @ 9:12 am
He plays a character. Don’t expect accuracy.
February 20, 2026 @ 11:21 am
Here is Charley on Friday promoting his wife’s awful thin lizzy album. He’s talking about convincing her to play an Austin show, that girl has never played any show, it’s embarrassing. I don’t know who’s music venture is more pathetic Marcus kings wife or her, Briley King is atleast successful with her hats.
February 20, 2026 @ 6:01 am
Is the Billy McCain stuff related to the character in Marty Robbins’ Old Red? If not, why did he pick that name? Events of Old Red lead me to believe that Billy McClain lived no other life than that of a bronc rider and had no third act. I don’t get why Charlie C picked that name.
February 20, 2026 @ 3:03 pm
Back in my day an artist may have 15 songs he/she wrote. Once a year or two they would take the 10 best and put out an album. They would sometimes tour and then start the process over.
Now you have to scour the internet. Find a book. Read it. Know the back story. Understand the conceptual shtick. Know the meaning of his outfit. Be up on all the lore. Know the entire discography from every famous country artist from the 1940s. It’s self referential and I’m sure it’s cool for the 9 biggest Charlie Crockett fans ever who are cooler than I’ll ever be. But for everyone else it’s like wtf..
February 24, 2026 @ 9:05 am
I see what you’re saying but, you might be mis-remembering. In most cases country artists didn’t write their own material and put out albums once, sometimes twice a year. George Strait put out an album a year for at least two straight (no pun intended) decades, and then continued at a similar clip for several more decades.
February 20, 2026 @ 8:32 pm
Charlie sucks, he is a two bit progressive hack that lies about any and everything.
February 24, 2026 @ 9:43 am
Been seeing Charlie live for ages and from early days the crowd was obviously not a “country” crowd – rather, “ironic” hipsters in funny clothes and curious lookie-loos who heard about him on NPR. Even today, read the comments about him on social media – a huge portion of them are like “I’m not a country fan, but I LOVE this guy!” He’s like the one “country’ artist (apart from Johnny Cash) people who hate country music gravitate to for political cool-factor reasons only.
It shouldn’t be about politics. Look at somebody like Sturgill Simpson. We know his politics. Dude’s insufferable, but it’s not his whole persona. He’s got the musical chops and, like it or not, pushes himself musically (country, rock, bluegrass, soul, funk etc.) and doesn’t have to act like a costumed side-show minstrel while doing it. He’s about the music, and shouldn’t that be the first priority? And before we say a country artist can’t dress like a country-western dandy, look at guys like Marty Stuart or Dwight Yoakam – but, again, musical chops first and foremost.
Charlie Crockett doesn’t have that. He’s what a person who hates country music thinks country music is and should be.
March 3, 2026 @ 6:26 pm
Charley is woke therefore I am not interested in streaming or listening to this or attending his shows. He views people like me, conservatives as racists, so why would I give his art the time of day? The fact his music is so staid, boring and such a cookie cutter pastiche and carbon copy of classic era country means he provides no value overall. The irony of much art is, the most profitable and sustaining path is the least likely for people to pursue.
If I’m a newer country artist, young, without an sonic identity so to speak, the last thing I’d do in 2026 is make music that’s a carbon copy of Morgan wallen. Sounds counter intuitive because he’s the biggest in our genre right now and has been for half a decade. He’s the biggest country artist of our lifetime. Why wouldn’t you then just start a Morgan wallen influenced band and let the money roll in by the zillions? Well the answer is: why would a fan of Morgan wallen listen to you, Morgan wallen carbon copy artist, when they can just listen to Morgan and hear a more authentic and real sound? The answer is Morgan wallen is one of a kind. He’s one of one, despite everyone trying to sound like him now. The knockoff brands serve no purpose, why would I want to listen to someone sound like Morgan and rip off his style when the real deal Morgan wallen exists? Why listen to something that sounds like More Than My Hometown and is similar when I can listen to the actual More Than My Hometown sung by Morgan?
Charley is that knockoff, not of Morgan wallen but of classic country music. Why listen to a carbon copy knockoff cheap brand of the 1960s and 1950s classic era via charley, when I can just as easily listen to the real thing, streaming allows you to hear every album by Porter and Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb and all the artists of old Charley rips off and steals the sound from. The answer is of course there is only one Hank and Hag and Possum, they created some of the greatest music of our genres history, there’s no reason at all for me to seek out soundalikes who do that style poorly and sophomoric as Charley does when I can just put on Hank Snow and hear beautiful music?
The money is actually in being yourself, Morgan was himself and made millions and is a legend because of it. That mix of rap and country is perfected in his sound, literally no one alive does what he does to the ability he does it. The money is not in making carbon copy knock off brand music that oozes boringness, and is totally staid.
The fact Charley is deeply unserious politically, is woke and has been propped up as a dei country artist only is enhancing factors in how he is a lost figure in the genre and not in a sympathetic way. He followed paint by numbers classic era rote stencils, while others like Morgan and Zach Bryan (despite my misgivings about his own wokeness notwithstanding) and this will be forgotten to the sands of time. Charley’s music is forgettable, background music, and he’s had zero hits on any major level.
Contrast that with singular, genre defining and generation defining artists like Morgan or Zach, who will be remembered, are legit artists who make legit art, who are restlessly creative, who are fabulously wealthy, and whose album announcements are major worldwide news events.
I will not listen to Charley, he’s a Marxist, he’s a socialist and he’s deeply unamerican. And I don’t want him in my genre.