Charley Crockett Signs with Atlantic Outpost, Plots Return of New Album “Clovis”
The saga continues for Charley Crockett and his 2026 album Clovis, with the plot thickening from a new label signing, and a promise for the album’s return this Friday, July 3rd—the day before Independence Day in the United States.
On Monday (6-29), Charley Crockett announced that he has signed to Atlantic Outpost. In a statement on social media, Crockett said, “Happy 4th of July week y’all. Sometimes to be free you need to fight. Goliath vs Goliath. On this 250th birthday for America, I’m reminded that freedom is something you continue to fight for. A war that never ends. Today, we win one battle. Clovis is out 4th of July weekend on Atlantic Outpost. Let’s ride.”
Other artists on Atlantic Outpost include Sturgill Simpson (Johnny Blue Skies), Sam Barber, Stella Lefty, Willow Avalon, Cameron Whitcomb, and The War & Treaty. Officially formed by Jeff Levin and Ian Cripps in July of 2025, the label’s slogan is “Move fast and break things.”
Charley Crockett surprise released Clovis at 8:00 pm on Tuesday night, April 28th. He subsequently explained that he was basically dropping the record to get back at Island Records who he’d just released his third and final album from, Age of the Ram, on April 3rd.
In a now deleted post, Crockett said, “Every time I find out I signed a deal I don’t like, and I go to these fuckin’ business people, and tell them I don’t like the deal, I don’t think it’s fair, they say ‘Tough luck kid, you shouldn’t of fuckin’ signed it.’ As soon as I hold them to that same standard, I’m the fuckin’ bad guy,” (laughing).
However, due to contract stipulations likely restricting Crockett from releasing new music so soon after his contract expired—or perhaps that Island would get first dibs on any music recorded while Crockett was under contract with them—the album was pulled on May 6th. Every since then, Crockett has been trying to reconstitute the title via streaming and download services, while also giving away CD copies to fans at CMA Fest and live shows.
Charley Crockett is known as a prolific artist. He recorded Clovis in the New Mexico town of the same name at the historic Norman Petty studios with Shooter Jennings as producer.
June 29, 2026 @ 8:23 am
“Clovis” is an outstanding album, and it’s great that it’s now being officially released (again). However, drawing a direct historical parallel between the struggle of releasing the album and the War of Independence requires a tremendous amount of self-confidence.
June 29, 2026 @ 10:52 am
Self-importance
June 29, 2026 @ 12:39 pm
I think Charley’s comparison between himself and American patriots is all symbolic, and a pretty obvious thing to do when you’re releasing an album on Independence Day weekend. Not sure it’s worth making too much over.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:49 pm
Now we have Charley Smollett taking down Goliath.
Dude is full of himself.
His fans are retarded.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:12 pm
This guy. Pretty sure the Goliath vs. Goliath he’s referencing is Atlantic/Warner vs. Universal. I’d say his fans are more intelligent than his detractors. Can’t wait for your low brow counter here.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:28 pm
His fans are retarded? I take you are one then considering the drivel you espouse here.
July 1, 2026 @ 10:22 pm
Free Clovis!
June 29, 2026 @ 8:55 am
Whilst I was surprised at Clovis being released so soon as his last album (which is very good), I do hope Clovis gets a release (or re-release), it is a super album. I suppose we will never really know what happened between Crockett and Island records but I would be surprised if all the wrong is on one side. My guess is that Island are less than impressed with Crockett and the lawyers might continue to be be busy.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:49 pm
If Charley had lost, wouldn’t Clovis still be in limbo or never released at all? It sounds like all Island succeeded in doing was delaying the release of the album for less than two months while allowing demand to grow. Now guess which of this week’s album releases will get the most press?
June 30, 2026 @ 12:21 am
I do not disagree.
June 29, 2026 @ 9:22 am
It’s a really good album hope I can listen to it again soon
June 29, 2026 @ 9:38 am
Can’t wait to see another social media post from Crockett in a few months bitching about his deal with Atlantic Outpost.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:01 pm
Aww poor little UMG got beat up by evil super villain Charley.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:44 pm
Very interesting that Atlantic Outpost is the same label that Sturgill Simpson ran off to. Sturgill felt like he got so screwed over by Atlantic the first time, he made an entire album and Anime film (“Sound & Fury”) seething about it. Then he returns.
All these folks think the grass is always greener on a major label as opposed to Thirty Tigers. They always find out the hard way. We’ll see how things go. But just like Sturgill, Charley is a control freak and mercurial. That makes for a great artist, but not always the best businessman.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:07 pm
Did he sign a long term contract or just for distribution of one album? One of today’s statements says he got back control of Clovis a few weeks ago and found a “team” to get it out ASAP. Maybe he kept creative control while the label got a cut of the action.
July 6, 2026 @ 6:35 am
I’d also argue that’s why the quality of Sturgill’s and Charley’s albums are always exceptional.
June 30, 2026 @ 8:14 am
Guy made 14 albums independently. Gets into a legal fight with universal one time and now you’re crying about how the artist is just bitching and doing the multinational conglomerate wrong? And we wonder what happened to country music…..
June 29, 2026 @ 11:21 am
*Yawns
June 29, 2026 @ 11:29 am
Crockett made a hell of a stretch there comparing his situation to the War of Independence. But hey, I guess suffering with a rotten record deal is equal to the British prison hulks where 10,000+ Americans made the ultimate sacrifice.
June 30, 2026 @ 10:06 am
Would you mind listing some of your current favorite artists? Contemporaries. Pretty please.
July 1, 2026 @ 10:04 am
Turnpike, Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, George Strait are the big ones.
None of then would be as stupid to compare their struggles to the Revolution.
July 1, 2026 @ 10:54 am
Stupid or pretentious enough.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:30 am
I cannot stand this guy. Put him down there with Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers. His voice makes my blood boil.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:42 pm
That’s pretty good company to be in.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:31 pm
I’d love to hear what artists you like although dopey Zach Bryan does not belong in the same sentence as Tyler and Charley(who has a damn good voice).
July 1, 2026 @ 1:07 am
Have you considered attending anger management classes? That reaction is not normal.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:39 am
There’s some real haters in here. This guy dropped 14 albums independently. Fucking 14. He finally goes to a major that surely promised him everything you could imagine. Who else has done something like this in recent memory? Sturgill went major after just 2 albums. Tyler after 1. Colter after what 3? Crockett cranks out 3 damn albums in a year while getting shelved basically by Disney kids at island. Of course we can say he should’ve known better but why would you hate on the guy for giving it a shot? Now he knows the score. He manages to get out of it crazy fast, turns around and releases what is maybe his best record and probably the best country record this year and beyond he obviously got into some legal shit with UMG. I heard that manager he had that works with kid rock and Hank jr is a lunatic. I live in San Marcos, TX and used to work in music biz around Texas. I can tell you that for years the scenesters around here keep saying his careers over. Ain’t no way universal thought he’d do something like this. We should be championing an artist who can fight them and stay inspired. Sturgill melted down went scorched earth and disappeared for years. The folks in here lining up with “the man” against him are just a fucking joke. I think Clovis makes 6 albums since 2024. Not to mention touring year round for like a decade or more. 20 years from now CC is gonna be viewed as his own mountain and arguably the tallest of this period. Free Clovis. F*ck the bootlickers yelling from the cheap seats. Seriously this website is called Saving Country Music, not apologize for the system. Good on you for reporting on him Trigger.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:50 pm
FYI, this is not the usual “Big Jilm.”
I agree though. I’m surprised how many grassroots fans are turning on Charley Crockett like he’s a pariah. My guess is Charley violated some contractual obligations he should have known about with “Clovis.” But I quite literally founded this website to advocate for performers to have the freedom to release their music however they want, whenever they want. Even if you hate Charley Crockett’s music, you should be personally offended he’s not able to share it as he wishes.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:08 pm
It’s so ridiculous…people calling him a fake like Minnie Pearl really forgot to take her tag off her hat. The thought has crossed my mind that because he releases new music before a lot of fans have had the time to process the previous album, does it offend the indie fan’s feeling of being an expert? I was able to learn every word Sturgill ever sang but I can’t get like that with Charley because another 15 songs drop before you’ve given the last record a half dozen spins. We’ve got to be honest, the type of fan who hangs out here, we do like being “one of the real ones” who knows everything, myself included, so I wonder if that doesn’t offend our psychology somewhat…just a hypothesis.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:48 pm
Charley Crockett called the President a draft dodger and now anything he does is deemed reprehensible. That’s what’s going on, full stop.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:50 pm
Immature move by Crockett.
June 29, 2026 @ 1:58 pm
That’s it. And that’s all. An inconvenient truth for supporters of the president. Crockett to my knowledge hasn’t supported or endorsed any politician. But the cult of personality worship in this comment section for the Donald is formidable and has cost Crockett a lot, for now.
June 29, 2026 @ 2:03 pm
Ahh, I missed that one.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:33 pm
Well he is right. I mean bone spurs? C’mon.
June 30, 2026 @ 9:59 am
It’s fair to point out that Crockett has had his detractors and skeptics for years, and that all predated the political acrimony. But that certainly has added jet fuel to the fire.
People love to hate Charley Crockett. Even those that claim they “don’t care” are their first with their noses in a story like this, and leaving six comments.
Please love to hate more than they love to love. This article has 50 comments and counting. Billy Strings just announced a brand new album, and released a brand new song, and that article has zero comments so far, and half the traffic. That’s what “nobody cares” about truly. And that’s sad. If you spend your music life focusing on what you hate, you’re depriving yourself of a lot of joy.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:06 pm
And you hate Gavin Adcock…So what is your point?
June 30, 2026 @ 12:26 pm
When did I ever say I ‘hated” Gavin Adcock? It’s my job to call balls and strikes as I see them. When Gavin announced a classic country covers record, I was excited about it. Turned out to be mostly a dud, but I give every artist, and every piece of music my objectivity as opposed to hating everything someone does because someone passed me a 20-year-old video of Charley performing on the subway in New York City and act like he’s tried to scrub it from existence as opposed to putting it in his own documentary, and talking about it on the biggest podcast in the world.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:39 pm
When did Charley’s detractors on here say they hated him?
Calling out someone’s lies is not hate.
Well, I guess, to liberals it is.
Anyway, all controversy is publicity. Charley’s detractors are actually helping his career along. He knows this. That’s why he keeps embellishing. Lord knows he can barely play guitar.
Liking a narrative over the truth is retarded. That is what Charley’s fans are.
June 30, 2026 @ 8:45 am
Trig you have quite a number of folks in here who aren’t actually grassroots fans on much of anything. They’re really more politically motivated culture war type commenters. Rarely do we get a glimpse of actual current musical taste from this crowd. Instead it’s almost entirely identity politics that motivates them. Wallen gets a pass by many of them because he codes hard red. His manufactured low level output is overlooked as he is politically convenient. Somebody like Crockett reminds me much more of the complex personas of Cash or Haggard who often wrote as populists trying to walk the line between left and right but always stood up for the downtrodden, and we simply don’t allow for that kind of nuanced individual in American public figures nowadays. You have to code red, or code blue very obviously. The billionaire class for example has commented repeatedly that they often generally do not like or even respect Donald Trump. But they can get what they want from him so they go along. This same argument could be made with Obama for a certain kind of ownership class. In modern “country music” that’s about the size of it. But you see it in mainstream pop very clearly too which tends to code blue. Olivia Rodrigo is a good case to look at. Her politics are exactly what the elite progressive types want in a young pop star. So the reality that she’s a Disney kid and the Music is absolutely mid level at best is excusable. Next thing you know she owns pitchfork and they’re heralding her a generational talent tho her development and machine is basically the same as Wallen’s. Then all the social media commenters jump in and have their little wars over political identity. I for one think this Crockett is doing more for real artists in the field than anybody in a long long time just by staying in the game.
June 30, 2026 @ 9:32 am
Wallen is not liked here.
June 30, 2026 @ 9:31 am
Artists do have that freedom. They can self-release. Breaking legally agreed obligations sounds great and rebellious until someone does it to you.
Everyone is for those actions until someone breaks a contract on them.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:59 pm
Almost any artist writes 10 songs to every one they release on an album.
Charley just releases everything he writes along with a bunch of half-assed covers.
That doesn’t make him prolific; It means he is a hack.
June 29, 2026 @ 11:35 pm
The guy is on a roll. You on the other hand sound just plain annoying and boring. Why are you even here? Tell us what great current artists you are into.
June 30, 2026 @ 9:54 am
That’s the problem, you know, great artists isn’t around anymore if you’re used to those from yesteryear.
It’s like comparing a ’25 Tesla to a ’67 Corvette.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:33 am
how bro felt after saying that : 😈😎👺😏
June 30, 2026 @ 7:34 am
…now we wanna know, jim with an “l”.
June 29, 2026 @ 2:00 pm
Phew… Who’s commenting next? “Big Jilmmm”? “Big Jilmmmm”? “Bigger Jilm”? “Biggest Jilm”? “Jig Bilm”?…
June 29, 2026 @ 10:31 pm
I’m calling it…Slim Jim
June 30, 2026 @ 8:03 am
Slim Jilm you mean.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:03 pm
Looks like Charley won after all. Good for him. Clovis is a helluva album.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:46 pm
Well, we don’t know the details, and what devil might be in them. My guess is Atlantic Outpost had to pay off Island to make this all happen.
June 29, 2026 @ 12:32 pm
“Today, we win one battle.”
Good for you, Charley.
🇺🇸
June 29, 2026 @ 1:34 pm
If you don’t like. Don’t listen. Many of you need to relax.
June 29, 2026 @ 5:40 pm
Its good for charley. I wasnt as impressed with clovis as some were but im all for it being out. I dont really think the hate has anything to do with his politics but who knows.
June 30, 2026 @ 2:23 am
…friction is the driving force of mr. crockett. it makes him who, as well as the artist, he is. instrumentalising one of the most important quests for freedom (of some) in history for an album release looks to be completely blown out of proportion though. if feels charley, but kinda ignorant too for once.
June 30, 2026 @ 6:04 am
I’m just gonna unfollow the drama and enjoy the music. I love Clovis but Charley’s posturing makes me crazy.
June 30, 2026 @ 7:14 am
Hank senior cosplay, completely fabricated back story, manufactured underdog narrative, savy social media marketing, and maybe a semi decent song once in every couple of albums. This is Charley Crocket
June 30, 2026 @ 10:35 am
Crockett is not Dylan — obviously — but you could say, and the same has been said, about Dylan in his early years. Just substitute “Woody” for “Hank.” In his recent years, moreover, Dylan has offered up “a semi decent song once in every couple of albums,”
So I don’t listen to Dylan anymore. Maybe it would contribute to their renewed good humor if some of the more excitable contributors here did the same for Crockett.
June 30, 2026 @ 11:44 am
fabricated backstory how? is it him being raised in a trailerpark? there’s photos and census records that prove you wrong there. Is it the tale of the money laundering and stock scams he pulled as a youngin’ with his brother Josh, you saying he faked that? because there’s FBI & court documents that back up his claims there. Don’t believe me? Look up the name Joshua Wayne Lankford, specifically around 2008-2012, that’ll tell you all need to know. Maybe you’re talking the street performances and being homeless all around the world. Oh wait, there’s photos and videos of all of that. Literally all of it. Is it him supposedly faking an accent and saying “Crockett with 2 T’s just like Davy”? Because guess what, I got video from Feb. 2009 of him doing that too, on an open mic. There’s photographic evidence of the smuggling charges too. The only thing you could even argue he “faked” was the whole Son of Davy schtick, and even he didn’t make that up. That story was in his family for generations. You’re a moron.
June 30, 2026 @ 7:34 am
The most fun thing about Charley’s machinations with his music and the record labels is watching some people get their Alans all in a twist over the guy, especially in some of the comments here. Look, Charley has churned out an extraordinary amount of content in his career, and when you put out a lot of stuff, everything’s not going to be perfect or appeal to everyone. I’m a big fan of his music, but there are things I care for less than others in his catalog. But that’s not unique to Charley.
But he can churn out all he wants. My wife and I have seen him live twice and he may be one of the hardest working acts out there. And the second time, we went to see him specifically, but he was the *opening act* for Leon Bridges, who brought the place down after Charley was finished firing up an appreciative audience. We already have another date with the guy in September.
The detractors can piss and moan about the guy all they want, but I’m certainly getting more than my money’s worth with him.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:03 pm
Waylon Rides Again does not appear to be on the official track list for the cd being sold by Atlantic Post, but remains on spotify (grayed out right now). I wonder if it will be cut from the album at the end of the day.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:23 pm
“Waylon rides again” is one of my favorites from “Clovis”, together with “Down by law” and “Eagle and the crow”.
June 30, 2026 @ 12:50 pm
Probably an oversight.
Waylon Rides Again shows on Spotify and on the image of the disc for sale.
It does not show on the track list on the site where the disc is being sold.
Guess we will have to wait and see. Hope it remains.
June 30, 2026 @ 2:16 pm
The track numbers on the compact disc in the image seem to match the track list written next to it on the website.
On the compact disc in the image “Waylon rides again” seems to be the final song, which fits with the option that the track list written next to it may have left it out by accident (that would be the final song listed there then if I am not mistaken).
Looks like the signed copies are sold out!
June 30, 2026 @ 12:28 pm
Although zooming in on the thumbnail for the CD preorder it shows it on the disc, just not on the track list associated with the CD. Guess we will see!
June 30, 2026 @ 1:27 pm
Am glad Crockett is still with us, despite cardiac issues.
Glad he seems predisposed to leaning on the trim side.
Hope he continues to protect his health.
June 30, 2026 @ 2:24 pm
I am just glad he isn’t named Charley Croquette, because then it might be a whole different story…
July 3, 2026 @ 12:02 pm
New to the artist after this album popped up on itunes. Previewing the tunes, there’s more good than bad but it seems very uneven. Cutting the fat and dropping 4-5 weaker songs would have probably led me to buy it.
Tge label drama has been an entertaining read though.
July 7, 2026 @ 12:02 pm
charleycrocket.com has finally changed to match Clovis, but it has no link to store.charleycrockett.com, which is still stuck on the Age of the Ram settings. Another avenue of undercutting Island