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.
September 16, 2025 @ 10:28 pm
This is great news. One of the most promising new bands. I’m very curious about the album.
September 16, 2025 @ 10:43 pm
I know that alcohol is the worst drug out there.
But at least its enjoyable and many people use it with no ill effect.
What is with the resurgence of encouraging people, including younger people, that smoking is in any way ok? ?
Not only does it kill people, its so inconsiderate of other around you.
We talk about artists who have kicked alcohol addictions, but can we also applaud artists that manage to kick nicotine.
90s country seemed to be moving away from it, (I like when Mary Chapin Carpenter changed the words to ‘I take my chances’) but it came back and is getting worse.
Sorry for the rant. Hope its good music. Can’t stand the cover OR the name of the single.
September 17, 2025 @ 6:07 am
Although I never got into the habit of smoking cigarettes, it was such a part of my culture growing up living in North Carolina and Western Kentucky that I get why it’s still sung about to this day in country music like moonshine.
I went to high school at Hopkinsville Kentucky. I graduated in 1994. Up until 1993, there was a smoking room for Juniors and Seniors to sit and smoke cigarettes. My walk to the school bus, I passed two barns that hung tobacco leafs to dry in the fall and to this day that sweet smell defines my childhood. Like the coal industry (which is sung about in country a ton), tobacco was a ruling industry and looming presence in the south.
September 17, 2025 @ 8:28 am
Did they still have the Baskin Robbins in Clarksville, while you were there?
A bunch of us from the sport parachute team at Ft. Campbell, loved that BR.
“My walk to the school bus, I passed two barns that hung tobacco leafs to dry in the fall and to this day that sweet smell defines my childhood.”
What a great memory, Hop.
September 17, 2025 @ 10:51 am
I’ve also noticed an increase in songs mentioning cigs. I assume it’s because it’s now viewed as the most rebellious between it, alcohol, and weed. I have to admit that it’s also a very illustrative word that seems to work in almost any lyric.
September 17, 2025 @ 4:21 am
How would you categorize them in your system? What type of instrumentation do they have?
September 17, 2025 @ 7:19 am
I have not heard this album yet or even a song from it, so I don’t want to be presumptuous. Their sound definitely has a lot of rock in it, but then they’ll release songs that feel like folk. They have a multi-instrumentalist in the band that plays steel guitar and banjo.
Honestly, I just felt this was newsworthy because they’ve been a massive band in the independent country circuit that didn’t have a landmark album out yet. We’ll see what unfolds with it.
September 17, 2025 @ 5:50 am
This is awful. No wonder they have huge streams and will be selling out arenas. This is custom made for the clowns who believe Morgan Wallen is deserving of anything beyond playing at the Good Ole Days Sports Grill in Morristown, TN.
September 17, 2025 @ 7:20 am
Yeah, Morgan Wallen fans and Ole 60 fans are not the same thing.
September 17, 2025 @ 9:00 am
The biggest Ole 60 fan I know won’t even listen to Wallen’s more country songs without demanding a skip.
September 17, 2025 @ 6:29 am
Count me among the people to whom Ole 60 is an enigma. Checked them out real quick on Apple Music. I’d say that for me I’m not sure. I’m interested in hearing the album though.
Interestingly, the band that shows up as similar to Ole 60 in the recommendations from Apple Music is Trigger’s favorite band Treaty Oak Revival.
September 17, 2025 @ 7:25 am
This is a rock band with Appalachia folk tendencies. I’m not here to ringingly endorse this album because I haven’t even heard it yet, or even a song from it. But these dudes play all the big independent fests, they play the same circuit as folks like Charles Wesley Godwin, Tyler Childers, and others from the region. When I saw them earlier this year perform at the same event as Treaty Oak Revival, they came across as the good guys right now mixing country and rock, who actually care about lyrics as opposed to beer cans getting whipped back and forth. I’m not saying they’re for everyone, but they are a HUGE band in this space. The fact they’re releasing their debut album seemed newsworthy.
September 17, 2025 @ 6:32 am
I’ve never smoked and didn’t drink (and never much except on very rare occasions) until age 26,but please fill me in on Ole 60.
September 17, 2025 @ 6:55 am
Been waiting on this one for a long time, but the “concept album” note definitely raised an eyebrow. Kind of a risky move for a debut.
They are absolutely huge on the regional scene here in Kentucky. They just broke attendance/gate records at Beaver Dam this summer (6K+), and there have been a ton of big acts roll through that venue.
If you have any doubts, just know that these guys don’t have a proper album out yet and they’ve had Nick Jamerson and Kashus Culpepper opening for them this year.
September 17, 2025 @ 10:14 am
I’ve liked what I’ve heard from these guys and get what they are doing. As always, everything is not for everyone. They have a sound that will appeal to a lot of people. I will definitely check them out live if I can.