Chris Stapleton Sets Release Date for “From ‘A’ Room Vol. 2”
This story has been updated.
The second installment from the Chris Stapleton From ‘A’ Room sessions with producer Dave Cobb at Nashville’s historic Studio ‘A’ will be arriving on December 1st. This is the news coming out of Friday night’s (10-13) show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Stapleton addressed the capacity crowd, saying succinctly and unexpectedly between songs, “We’ve got a record coming out. From ‘A’ Room will be out on December 1st,” causing the crowd to cheer loudly before Stapleton launched into the guitar riff of the next song (see below).
From ‘A’ Room Vol. 2 will follow up what continues to be incredible sales performances for Chris Stapleton album releases. Vol. 1 went #1 all genre in pure album sales upon its release on May 5th, became country music’s first record released in 2017 to be certified gold, and has sold over 525,000 copies so far. The album is also currently up for Album of the Year at the upcoming CMA Awards on November 8th.
Meanwhile his debut album Traveller has sold over 2,075,000 copies, is certified double platinum, and continues to be a perennial Top 5 on the Country Albums charts, usually beating out From ‘A’ Room Vol. 1. As writer Grady Smith pointed out recently, “The other albums in the Top 15 Country chart have sold 1,914,000 cumulatively. And, mind you, of those album sales, 525,000 are for Stapleton’s latest, ‘From A Room, Vol. 1’.”
Unfortunately Stapleton hasn’t been faring as well on radio, with the first From ‘A’ Room single “Either Way” stalling out at #26 on radio, and the current single “Broken Halos” stuck at #32 despite strong sales, and better chart performances on the Hot Country Songs chart which measures in streaming and sales metrics.
So far there is no news if an new single will accompany the release. But Stapleton has already been playing some new songs in concert, including one called “Tryin’ To Untangle My Mind.” From ‘A’ Room Vol. 2 is available for pre-order on iTunes.
From ‘A’ Room Vol. 2 Track List:
1. “Millionaire” (Kevin Welch)
2. “Hard Livin'” (Chris Stapleton, Kendell Marvel)
3. “Scarecrow in the Garden” (Chris Stapleton, Brice Long, Matt Fleener)
4. “Nobody’s Lonely Tonight” (Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson)
5. “Tryin’ to Untangle My Mind” (Chris Stapleton, Jaron Boyer, Kendell Marvel)
6. “A Simple Song” (Chris Stapleton, Darrell Hayes)
7. “Midnight Train to Memphis” (Chris Stapleton, Mike Henderson)
8. “Drunkard’s Prayer” (Chris Stapleton, Jameson Clark)
9. “Friendship” (Homer Banks, Lester Snell)
From A Room: Volume 2. December 1. pic.twitter.com/vBbls1D5hz
— Chris Stapleton (@ChrisStapleton) October 14, 2017
October 14, 2017 @ 10:13 am
The tracklist is:
1. Millionaire
2. Hard Livin’
3. Scarecrow In The Garden
4. Nobody’s Lonely Tonight
5. Tryin’ To Untangle My Mind
6. A Simple Song
7. Midnight Train To Memphis
8. Drunkard’s Prayer
9. Friendship
October 14, 2017 @ 10:57 am
Looks like it has populated on iTunes now and some other places with pre-order links. Once again revealing this info on a Friday evening and letting it trickle is about the worst way to handle PR, but whatever.
October 14, 2017 @ 10:23 am
I’m somewhat surprised that “Broken Halos” hasn’t taken off at radio. That song seemed tailor-made for Country radio, much more so than “Either Way”. Of course, Stapleton’s “success” at Country radio is pretty irrelevant for him and his label at this point, so maybe the tepid response to his two singles has a lot to do with neither involved party (radio and Stapleton/label) caring all that much about the other.
October 14, 2017 @ 1:54 pm
I responded but my response disappeared …apologizes if its a duplicate now .
Broken Halos is a great song …great lyric and music and great vocal performances
BUT …it , like so much of the production on CS album sounds like a demo ..its incomplete ……and radio won’t play demos .
October 14, 2017 @ 2:53 pm
How is it incomplete?
October 14, 2017 @ 11:29 pm
Contemporary ‘country’ radio demands more ‘ colour ‘ in the way of instrumentation . That is…. more musical support in terms of sonics . A couple of lead guitars perhaps , a steel guitar , a fiddle (in a more traditional song) ….perhaps a keyboard or a synth pad etc.
Broken Halo is far too stripped down for radio’s ( and many radio listener’s ) likes . Not even a guitar solo ….little in the way of BG harmony . Again ….I’m talking radio . I’m not saying the song needs anything . But I am saying it would have been a better -sounding , more complete song with even a bit more musical support . It would help create energy/dynamics and maintain listener interest . As it is , it lacks that colour instrument in the very least , and some support dynamically .
October 15, 2017 @ 5:42 am
You’re correct Contemporary ‘country’ radio demands a more douchbag, shit sound for it’s listeners.
October 15, 2017 @ 7:04 pm
Country radio demands more steel guitar and fiddle, perhaps even a keyboard?? Guys, I think we have a time traveller here! Welcome to 2017, country radio sucks, but we’ve got the PS4, so there’s that.
October 16, 2017 @ 4:53 am
Albert, I understand exactly what you are saying about the sparse minimalist approach taken by Stapleton/ Cobb on the album. Yes radio most often prefers a bigger produced sound. Truthfully I think Stapleton likes the stripped down sound. He was influenced by Red Headed Stranger by Willie. That seems to be his current muse. When I saw Stapleton live, he played as a trio with drums and bass and Chris played all the solos. In a live setting it worked well. To change things up, he used numerous guitars and different effects pedals. Some tunes he played with a telecaster and flanger giving it a Waylon feel, others he played a hollow body Gibson with a bluesy overdrive, other tunes he played clean with mostly natural amp sound. My point is that sonically it held the crowds attention . So sometimes less is more. I believe part of that strategy is to allow his voice to be front and center, and his voice is really a powerful instrument.
October 16, 2017 @ 4:27 am
Dave Cobb produces like Bryan Cranston acts.
BC: Burp!
Wow–nice belch! Here’s an Emmy!!
DC: I think I’ll use the Neumann U87 here.
Wow–nice mic choice! Here’s a Grammy!!
Both are excellent at what they do, but I don’t want to see Bryan Cranston as Batman, and I don’t want to hear Dave Cobb produce Come On Over.
(Although, maybe Shania should have called him earlier this year and said, ‘Help! NOW!’)
October 16, 2017 @ 5:03 am
“From a Room Vol 1” reminds me of Willie’s “Redheaded Stranger” as far as the production goes. Just simple and uncluttered.
October 17, 2017 @ 12:14 am
Just to reiterate my point above and clarify . Yes ….I’m sure Chris Stapleton wanted the sparse , stripped down production he got on his record ( s ) . And I’m happy for him . My point was to address the lack of airplay on his singles .
Radio DOES NOT LIKE sparse , demo-like product .And lets face it …radio doesn’t seem to know a good song from a piece of shit so they aren’t listening to the song so much as the SOUND of the song firstly . That thing has to live alongside every trendy thing they are playing. CS single releases don’t . They are great songs . I wish I’d written them …I’m so envious . BUT…. I also completely understand why they don’t stand a chance on contemporary ‘country ‘ radio . The mystery to me is why Chris and his ‘handlers’ don’t understand it . Why even worry about radio play when your record is doing so amazingly well without it ?
October 14, 2017 @ 10:28 am
Broken Halo’s is currently #26 on the itunes country sales chart, and should be top 30 at MB this week. This should have been the lead single, but he killed his momentum at radio with “either way” which was just a poor choice.
It will be interesting to see the sales number for Vol 2. Vol 1 sold well, but it wasn’t as good as Traveller, and it doesn’t feel like their is as much buzz for Vol 2. I’m sure it will still sell very well.
October 14, 2017 @ 10:58 am
It will be interesting to see what umg does at radio though. Generally you’d want a song from the current album, and since they don’t seem to care about peaks that much, maybe they just pull broken halo.
That said unless you’re name is Luke, Broken Halo is still a “young” song at radio at only 12 weeks. Most chart runs nowadays are 6 months+ & many of the songs around BH are older than Halos: if they really want Chris to have succus at radio, they have to support the long chart runs.
October 14, 2017 @ 1:08 pm
‘Traveller’ will almost certainly be his career best album commercially and the big question is what kind of long term staying power will he have.
Not sure country music has ever had an album only long term successful artist. Meaning no major radio hit making success.
October 14, 2017 @ 10:58 am
i was just wondering yesterday when Vol. 2 would be out. I remembered him saying it would be out “later this year” and it seemed to be getting very late, indeed. This is great news! Kind of a Christmas present of sorts.????
October 14, 2017 @ 2:32 pm
I loved “Either Way” the minute I heard it I thought #1.
October 20, 2017 @ 5:00 am
It’s a great song, no question about it. But I much preferred Lee Ann Womack’s version.
October 14, 2017 @ 3:27 pm
Great news. I’ve become a Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson junkie.
If they ever perform together, my hypothalamus would rev. And then where would I be? Reptile aliens made of light would cut me open and fire away. And then where would I be?
October 14, 2017 @ 7:45 pm
Saw both at forecastle a few years ago on the side stage. Pretty epic.
October 14, 2017 @ 4:26 pm
I was almost expecting the next album release to be more timed with the CMA Awards on Nov. 8. Would have benefited from CMA sales spike, as well as Black Friday. Interesting that more acts are releasing in December (Miranda last year, Stapleton and Luke Bryan this year) which was almost unheard of in years past.
October 14, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
October is a good month to release it. November is too late to make any best of the year lists, so it needed to be this month. Broken Halos is such a beautiful song and Either Way is too. Chris is on an a high, so I’m not questioning the timing of this release.
It makes sense.
October 14, 2017 @ 5:32 pm
I meant announce it, not release it. It doesn’t matter when you release Chris. He’s always going to do well.
October 14, 2017 @ 6:03 pm
Won’t it be interesting when next year 3 of the best selling country albums belong to him???
I gave up on radio loooong time ago, it’s obvious they are stuck on stupid
October 14, 2017 @ 6:38 pm
All right! Looking forward to it. 🙂
October 14, 2017 @ 7:16 pm
“What Are You Listening Too” is still the best song this guy has released.
As a “country” act, I think the gig is about up. No amount of talent can overcome the utterly boring material he puts out.
If he wants to really get some staying power, he needs to start singing some Country Music. I haven’t spent a wooden nickel on him yet, but if he’d record a solid Country album, I would.
October 14, 2017 @ 8:00 pm
He’s really not a country singer.
October 15, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
What do you base that on?
October 15, 2017 @ 7:33 pm
Based on decades of experience in country music, I understand that Stapleton’s tone, note choices, rhythmic phrasing, and overall style show he is more a mix of R&B and rock. That’s fine by me, he’s just not a country artist. There aren’t many of those left. I have heard friends compare his vocal stylings to Michael Bolton… ouch!
October 15, 2017 @ 8:34 am
Yup saw him at this show and it was the furthest thing from a country show no steel no fiddle no nothing just a guy singing soft rock/adult contemp/r&b or whatever in a cowboy hat. Stuff for soccer moms to drink wine to. At least he played Was it 26.
On another note Brothers Osbourne was one of the worst ive seen. Some bizzare hipster-meets-fratboy cross. No thanks.
October 15, 2017 @ 11:52 am
Unfortunately, I think the fact that his voice is more “soft rock/adult contemp/r&b or whatever” is why he exploded so much with Traveler. There are lots of people (like us) who enjoy true country music, but “pop culture” has turned its nose up at it for decades. Stapleton’s voice allows him to crossover to the ignorant masses.
October 15, 2017 @ 6:51 pm
I saw him twice the last couple of years and really liked the fact that his band was stripped down to the basics with him singing and playing guitar. I’m pretty sure Johnny Cash never had a fiddle player or steel player on stage with him either and that didn’t make him any less country.
October 15, 2017 @ 9:07 pm
Clearly, Chris needs to have a worse voice and write fewer of his own songs if he REALLY wants to be country.
October 15, 2017 @ 11:38 pm
Neither did Willie Nelson.
October 16, 2017 @ 5:11 am
Hillbilly, I agree, see my comment above. I feel that live he does play a country sound, and it’s tinged with rock and blues influences. Whatever. It works.That said, would I enjoy seeing a pedal steel in his band? Yes. Clearly he could afford one, but it’s currently not in his vision.But I understand that he doesn’t sound like George Strait or Alan Jackson and many folks are gonna whine that he “ain’t country”.
Can’t please everybody. Kinda funny that so much space is taken up here discussing him. Isbell and Simpson and yet those three may be the most polarizing. Some folks feel none of it is country, others say nothing is more country. Seems to me that there is a lack of consensus on what is real country music. But that’s nothing new.
October 15, 2017 @ 1:38 am
Looks like he will continue to have a song that he wrote and someone else originally recorded years ago with “Drunkard’s Prayer” and “Midnight Train to Memphis”.
He wrote “Drunkard’s Prayer” with Jameson Clark and it was recorded by John Montgomery Michael in 2008. Judging by the iTunes preview (yes you can preview the entire From A Room Vol. 2), it is miles better than the JMM recording.
“Midnight Train to Memphis” is a Steeldrivers track from 2008 as well and the From A Room Vol 2 version (plus if you’ve heard him play it live) is more of rock version than the bluegrass original from the Steeldrivers.
I know radio success does not matter to Chris Stapleton but “Hard Livin’ would be a phenomenal lead off single in my opinion as it has a completely different feel than “Either Way” and “Broken Halos” and “Scarecrow in the Garden” would be a really good single as well. Still don’t know why he didn’t choose “Up to No Good Livin’ as a single from Vol. 1
I can’t find the other songwriting credits for the songs but I was hoping the song he wrote with Dwight Yoakam would’ve shown up here. Maybe on his next album? But after previewing the entire album a few times, I think it will fare better than Vol. 1
October 15, 2017 @ 7:03 am
hmmmm now that someone else mentioned this, I’m tried of him releasing previously recorded songs he wrote for others. It started with “Either Way” and needs to stop
October 15, 2017 @ 8:23 am
why does it need to stop ?….many of those are great songs and didn’t get the exposure they deserved the first time around . he obviously thinks highly of and is likely quite proud of these songs and perhaps even performs them regularly in live shows . when you are a writer , you’re songs often mean something to you on a more personal and artistic level than , say , a co-write where you are asked to bring your skills to bear on the sessions but , perhaps , not personal experience in terms of the narrative .
in any case , I think fans of an artist enjoy his or her version of something they’ve written . have you heard tom douglas’ version of the miranda lambert song ‘ the house than built me ‘? this is the version that moved her to record it and the rest is country music history .
October 15, 2017 @ 9:10 pm
Bruce Robison’s version of Angry All the Time is fucking incredible, too.
October 15, 2017 @ 8:53 am
Actually it started with “Whiskey and You” (Recorded by Tim McGraw originally) but I agree with Albert, those songs are some of his best. He definitely is proud of them and I personally am super excited to hear Drunkard’s Prayer in its entirety (Before I found out it was recorded before, I thought this was the Yoakam/Stapleton Collab)
I was a little sad to see that “Scarecrow in the Garden” was also recorded previously but Chris’ version sounds very superior to it. His versions of all 3 sound superior to the original recordings. I own a few of his demo cds and they are an absolute pleasure to listen to
October 24, 2017 @ 1:28 am
He’s gone on record saying he hasn’t had much time to actually sit down and write new stuff since Traveller came out so he’s just going through all his previously written stuff write now and hopefully he’ll take time off from touring soon to write new stuff.
October 15, 2017 @ 3:54 am
If anybody is interested, Margo Price’s new album
is previewed by NPR.
http://www.npr.org/2017/10/12/556867464/first-listen-margo-price-all-american-made
October 15, 2017 @ 7:04 am
Yep, I’ve been digging that one and the Dori Freeman one (‘Letters Never Read’)! 😀
October 15, 2017 @ 7:59 am
Thanks missed Dori Freeman… Gonna listening to it later this evening 🙂
October 15, 2017 @ 1:36 pm
Love her new release.
October 15, 2017 @ 2:34 pm
Preface: I loved everything about MWFD.
Shocked, but I did not get into this one at all. Total snooze fest. Woke up for Cocaine Cowboys and the next few songs. Didn’t even reach an opinion on the political stuff because I was too disinterested to pay attention.
Thought there would be more spunk. Maybe it was the wrong moment or something. Might have to try it again later.
October 15, 2017 @ 3:09 pm
Really enjoyed the Dori Freeman album though… YMMV
October 15, 2017 @ 6:06 am
Unfortunately, Country radio only plays pop music now or maybe some “rock/guitar” music if the lyrics are about living in a small town or hooking up. Artists like Stapleton play a different sport. He’s about albums and concert performances, not radio and I think he can have a long career if he continues to release strong albums and plays solid shows. In 2017-18, lots of fans don’t listen to the radio. We listen to albums and attend shows.
Eric Church, for instance, has seen his career take off without solid radio play. Relying on award-winning albums and strong live shows. In fact, I’m hoping he releases “Why Not Me,” just to see if radio will truly play it. I don’t think they will. Maybe for a week, but not after that. It’s sad but true, but if Aldean released “I Won’t Back Down,” and Church released “Why Not Me,” Aldean would have another multi-week No. 1, but Church, with his own song, would get very little long-term airplay.
That doesn’t mean Church won’t be playing the song to sell-out crowds for the next decade, it just means an acoustic poem like “Why Not Me,” has no play on current radio.
October 15, 2017 @ 12:03 pm
Church may not be getting the radio play as much anymore, but he got plenty for many years. I still can’t get that damn Springsteen song out of my head…
October 15, 2017 @ 5:01 pm
I don’t know where you live, but Eric Church is on the radio quite a bit. Kill A Word and Record Year were on the radio more than I wanted. Also, Round Here Buzz got a decent amount of play time. His singles from albums before Mr. Misunderstood got a lot of spins.
October 15, 2017 @ 9:12 pm
Which radio songs would you have *rather* listened to than Record Year?
October 15, 2017 @ 8:26 am
”That doesn’t mean Church won’t be playing the song to sell-out crowds for the next decade, it just means an acoustic poem like “Why Not Me,” has no play on current radio.”
This is exactly my point above re: airplay for Chris Stapleton , Derek. Thes ‘acoustic poems’ don’t sit well alongside the wall of ( pop) sound radio is trying to relentlessly pump at us .
October 15, 2017 @ 12:12 pm
This does sound a bit adult contemporary for me. Hard livin’ and midnight train are awesome though.
It does make me wish Stapleton would put a little more effort in. Write some new songs, add some studio embellishment and really put out an album.
October 15, 2017 @ 12:49 pm
This is off-topic, Trigger, but I’d love your opinion on Carly Pearce’s new album.
October 15, 2017 @ 12:50 pm
It’s on the radar…
October 15, 2017 @ 1:21 pm
Given the number of songs that are re-records, I just wish that he’d done a double album, or engaged in editing.
October 15, 2017 @ 2:41 pm
When is ‘The Right Ones’ gonna be released on an album?
October 16, 2017 @ 6:54 am
Tryin to Untangle My Mind is on Kendell Marvel’s excellent album that came out last Friday. They also wrote Either Way together. If you haven’t listened to Lowdown & Lonesome, go check it out. One of my favorite albums this year. https://open.spotify.com/album/3PK2k1rJCVe0bDhoO7KQEM
October 16, 2017 @ 7:39 am
Trig,
Are you treating these volumes as one release? I feel like vol 1 was an “incomplete” for me and I need the second volume to get a better feel for the project.
October 16, 2017 @ 10:00 am
Yeah, I’m not exactly sure how I am going to regard these releases until I hear the second installment in full. Like others have said, it feels like we’re getting a little short changed here with only 9 songs each, and including cover/previously released songs. Miranda Lambert had a double album and it was 24 songs. It just feels like Stapleton had too much material for one record, had trouble culling it down, and decided to do it this way, which frankly feels a little awkward now. But let’s listen to the music and give it a chance, and regard the project as two separate things or one big thing, or however it feels best.
As an aside, I think it’s interesting that basically NO major media outlets have reported on the release so far because there’s been no press release about it. They haven’t reported it yet because they haven’t been told by their buddies in the industry that it’s okay. Once again this release is being bungled from a PR standpoint, but I think as we saw with the last installment, Stapleton will still be fine. The question is how much better could it be if it was actually handled properly?
October 16, 2017 @ 11:58 pm
I agree. Just 9 songs is irritating. But as a fan I will buy any album he puts out. Good, sincere music is hard to find and I feel like I need to support it since the corporate taste makers will not.
October 16, 2017 @ 11:18 am
Just preordered the t-shirt bundle. They got that out sooner than the first one, that’s for sure.
October 16, 2017 @ 11:22 am
Also, Rolling Stone and a bunch of other outlets are covering it today, so they are reporting on it with six weeks to go. The PR push has been much better with this one.
October 16, 2017 @ 1:21 pm
His voice sounds the same on every song, no matter what it’s about.
October 22, 2017 @ 4:11 am
It’s almost like it’s his voice or something. How many artists voices sound distinctively different on different songs?
October 16, 2017 @ 3:41 pm
I’m glad he’s exposing folks to “Millionaire”. I was wondering when he’d pull out a Kevin Welch song. Kevin is one of my all time favorite singer-songwriters. The VERY DEFINITION of underrated. Kevin is also who kind of introduced the world to Mike Henderson and Harry Stinson, his guitarist and drummer, respectively, on his first few albums, and co-owners of the Dead Reckoning record label in the 90s, before they went on to form the Steeldrivers.
Y’all check out Kevin Welch. A rich and wonderful Americana- Country catalog.
October 16, 2017 @ 5:52 pm
Yep, hes real deal. He and Kieran Kane are pals. Ive seen the two of them live onstage with two guitars and a bottle of whiskey. Great writer.
October 16, 2017 @ 11:53 pm
From the preview I really like Millionaire. The kind of song that can be liked by a wider audience. Made me curious about the author and I looked him up.
October 22, 2017 @ 4:16 am
I’ve always loved the Ledoux version of millionaire. Was so excited when I saw that was the one Stapleton was releasing and I really enjoy his take on it.
October 16, 2017 @ 9:39 pm
I still think rhis whole Vol 1 and 2 approach is Chris’ attempt to satisfy his Mercury contract, which was probably a 3 album deal. I think re-using songs he’s provided other artists reduces how much new material he gives to Mercury, so he can save that material for wherever he lands post Mercury. Both albums are pretty short as well. I have never seen a recording artist talk positively about being on Mercury. Mercury views this as a cash grab to boost their sales this year so they are milking this while he is hot and they don’t have to spend much on marketing.
October 17, 2017 @ 5:04 am
Interesting. Good take.
October 20, 2017 @ 8:20 am
This is definitely an interesting thought and something I didn’t think of. Your comment made me wonder though, how much does Chris even need a label right now? They’ve done nothing to get him to the top of the radio charts and I can’t imagine his albums and tours not selling if he went the Thirty Tigers route.
October 22, 2017 @ 4:14 am
Chris has also gone on record saying he hadn’t written much new material since Traveller. Right now he’s just pulling from his catalog which is why we’re seeing a handful of songs previously recorded by other artists but hopefully after this we’ll see him take time to write new stuff.