Colter Wall’s New Album “Memories and Empties” will be COUNTRY
You’ve been warned before around these parts, but now we have confirmation. Colter Wall has a new album on the way called Memories and Empties that will be released on November 14th via LaHonda Records, and this thing is going to be COUNTRY. Not that you had to worry about Colter Wall venturing into the world of synth pop or anything, but he’s always been more distinctly a cowboy & Western artist with his recorded material.
On this new album though, Colter Wall is said to be “carrying the torch of traditional country music’s legacy beyond Nashville’s commercial influence” and is releasing a “collection of drinking songs and blue collar stories is tailor-made for the honky tonks, barrooms, porches, and pickups it will soon be inhabiting—all deeply inspired by that 1970s era of country music that still permeates early breakfasts at the diner before work and late Saturday nights that bleed into Sunday mornings.”
Well that all sounds like music to our ears. Co-produced by Colter Wall and his regular studio collaborator Patrick Lyons, Memories and Empties was recorded in the legendary RCA Studio A in Nashville where so many legendary classic country albums were cut. The studio musicians were made up of members of Colter’s backing band the Scary Prairie Boys.
And not only are we to expect a distinctly traditional country sound from this new album, Colter Wall appears to have something to say about the state of country music with this project. The opening song from the album called “1,800 Miles Away” (to be released at midnight Eastern, 9/26) says,
“I don’t know what you think you’ve been told.
If I ever was for sale, I never sold.
It’s short on flashing lights and rhinestone clothes,
1800 miles from Music Row.
It’s Tyson songs on the fiddle and guitar.
And the pedal steel man drives a real mean bar.
You won’t hear it on your radio.
It’s 1800 miles from Music Row.”
Another interesting note about the album is that Colter Wall wrote all the songs himself, save for a tribute to Ian Tyson to conclude the album in “Summer Wages.” Though Colter always includes a few songs he wrote on records, he’s also been just as inclined to cover old traditionals and Western tunes as well. On this one, it’s his intention to put his own stamp on Western music’s more popular cousin.
With so many wanting to make “country” albums these days, Colter Wall is one interloper the country music community will be more than happy to take in.
Memories and Empties is now available for pre-order.
TRACK LIST:
1. “1800 Miles” – 3:24 (Colter Wall)
2. “My Present Just Gets Past Me” – 3:04 (Colter Wall)
3. “Like The Hills” – 2:21 (Colter Wall)
4. “Memories and Empties” – 3:22 (Colter Wall)
5. “It’s Getting So (That A Man Can’t Go Into Town Just To Have Him A Drink)” – 2:46 (Colter Wall)
6. “Living By The Hour” – 2:29 (Colter Wall)
7. “4/4 Time” – 4:59 (Colter Wall)
8. “The Longer You Hold On” – 2:50 (Colter Wall)
9. “Back To Me” – 3:01 (Colter Wall)
10. “Summer Wages” – 4:32 (Ian Tyson)
September 25, 2025 @ 8:57 am
New Colter Wall music is always a good thing.
Also, that is one badass mustache.
September 25, 2025 @ 9:00 am
So we are expecting new/different from Colter? Will this be his first “country” album? I’d call the first two Folk, and the last three Western. Interested in hearing that first single tonight to hear what he means by “country”. If Summer Wages is any indication it should be pretty country. Regardless, I’m sure it will be interesting and cool.
September 25, 2025 @ 9:06 am
Really excited for this one. He doesn’t miss.
September 25, 2025 @ 9:08 am
Am looking forward to any new Colter Wall music of course, but are albums now clocking in around just 30 minutes like this one? This is not a good trend.
September 25, 2025 @ 10:53 am
Country music albums used to clock in at 30-35 minutes. Then things got real bloated around 2000. To sell an album the thought was more tracks = more value (when in reality it was just a bunch of filler). And studio time got real expensive. Artists would book a block of time in the studio and try to record as much as possible despite the quality then package it to on an album.
Now an artists doesn’t even need a studio to record (or physical albums) and if he/she has 10 or less quality tracks, they can quickly release them to their fans (and follow up with extra singles released later).
The new strategy for independent artists like Waylon Wyatt, Nicholas Jamerson, and so far Ole 60 is steadily release a bunch of singles, then when you get to 10 re-package them on an album that feels more like a greatest hits compilation.
September 25, 2025 @ 11:19 am
It’s how they used to make records, so it really shouldn’t be surprising from an artist like Colter Wall. The frustration is in that he only drops a new album every couple of years.
September 25, 2025 @ 11:44 am
The trend I’ve been seeing most folks complaining about is artists dropping 30-song tomes on the public. I frankly find a 10-song, 30 minute album refreshing, and the song and album length would coincide with the “’70s country” think Colter is going for here. Totally understanding folks wanting a few more songs from Colter, but at this point he’s a full time rancher, part time musician. We’ll take what we can get when it comes to tracks, albums, and tour dates.
September 25, 2025 @ 9:21 am
I love Colter Wall. That is all.
September 25, 2025 @ 10:14 am
Yes, Yes, Yes. Releasing on my birthday! Now that is a present I am looking forward to.
September 25, 2025 @ 10:59 am
I’m sure it will be a great album, but as someone who primarily listens to western music these days I’m a little bummed that one of the few guys who knocks on the door of the mainstream with my kind of music is jumping to straight-up country this time around. It would be different if he was an album-a-year kind of artist, but at the rate he records it might be 2028 before we get the next round of cowboy tunes from him.
September 25, 2025 @ 11:10 am
Bring it on!
September 25, 2025 @ 11:45 am
Fuck. Yes.
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I’m so sick of artists changing up the formula or trying new sounds after a few albums, like they can’t figure out what kind of music they want to sing. With Colter I know what I’m getting and it’s damn good every time. I don’t want to hear Colter Wall put out a rock album, like I don’t need a synth rock album from Sturgill or a gospel album from Childers or a weird autotune rock album from Brent Cobb. I love those guys, but that’s not what got me interested. It was COUNTRY.
Alright, commence the vitriol, I’m ready.