Ole 60 Announces Debut Album “Smokestack Town”

It’s not every day that a band that already has a Certified Platinum single (“Smoke & A Light”) and is scheduled to headline their first arena before the end of the year is announcing their debut album. But nothing is really conventional with Ole 60, from their meteoric rise with virtually no help from the music industry, to their music that mixes Appalachian country, earnest folk, and blistering rock.

The world got very big for Ole 60 very quickly. But intentionally, they didn’t take everything dangled in front of them, and instead took their time to get their debut album together, and made sure it was the best representation of themselves in this moment. Called Smokestack Town and set to arrive on October 3rd, the Kentucky-based band’s first album will be a conceptualized one.

Produced by Jacquire King, the album is said to exist in its own fictional universe based around a small map dot town, exploring multiple characters that tend to populate these kinds of places, and tying them all together through a cohesive narrative told through the songs. In a trailer for the album, frontman and songwriter Jacob Ty Young is seen playing some of these characters.

It turns out that pizza plays a big role in the lineage of Ole 60. Many of the members of the band worked at Galaxy Pizza and BBQ in Hawesville, KY between 2020 and 2023, though none of them worked there at the same time. The cover art is inspired from a pizza box.

“We’ve been working on this project for the last few months and didn’t want to wait to get it to you,” Jacob Ty Young says. “These songs tell stories that all of us from tiny, map dot towns have seen played out all our lives. Ready to play this music for y’all and welcome you to ‘Smokestack Town’.”

Along with Jacob Ty Young, Ole 60 includes Ryan Laslie on lead guitar, Aden Wood on drums, Colby Clark on bass, and steel/banjo/utility player Dwight McGlynn. The band gets their name from Hwy 60 that connects the hometowns of founding members Jacob Ty Young and Tristan Roby.

Ole 60 previously has released a series of singles and EPs that have lead to their incredible following and sold-out headliner shows. But despite their wild popularity in certain circles, Ole 60 remains an enigma to many music fans. That might all change with Smokestack Town.

Smokestack Town is now available for pre-order.