Turnpike Troubadours To Release New Album “A Cat in the Rain”
This story has been updated.
The Turnpike Troubadours will release a new album called A Cat in the Rain on August 25th. It will be their first new album since 2017’s A Long Way From Your Heart, and the first album since the band’s hiatus between May 31st, 2019 and April 8th, 2021. It comes at a time when the band has been on a meteoric rise in popularity, including selling out large venues and being booked as headliners at numerous festivals.
The news was confirmed on Tuesday morning (5-3) by an announcement posted on the band’s website that went live at 6:00 am. Shortly thereafter, either the website crashed due to the traffic coming to the site for more information, or the announcement was taken down. Either way, turnpiketroubadours.com was later serving a 404 error as opposed to the announcement.
Since the message said that the single “Mean Old Sun” was “available now” (which it currently isn’t), the announcement was likely meant to go live on Friday (5-5), and was displayed to the front-facing internet on accident. Nonetheless, the proverbial cat was out of the bag, and the announcement was being shared on social media, along with outlets like Whiskey Riff running with the information.
UPDATE: The Turnpike Troubadours website has since come back up with the announcement, and the availability of “Mean Old Sun” has been changed to May 5th.
Saving Country Music can confirm that Cat in the Rain is being released by Bossier City Records in conjunction with Thirty Tigers, and that the session was produced by Shooter Jennings.
The debut single for the album “Mean Old Sun” initially leaked via TouchTunes on April 14th before promptly being taken down. The song is likely to be released on Friday (5-5) at midnight EDT, if not before. The band debuted the song live at the Stagecoach Festival last weekend, which was streamed on Amazon Prime.
The name of the new Turnpike Troubadours album is taken from another new song that frontman Evan Felker debuted in Houston on May 7th, 2022. There is also a song on the album co-written by Turnpike bassist RC Edwards with up-and-coming Oklahoma songwriter Lance Roark.
Formed in 2007 in Talequah, Oklahoma by frontman and primary songwriter Evan Felker, and bassist and songwriter R.C. Edwards, the Turnpike Troubadours went from a group of guys getting together to play some music for fun, to one of the biggest and most successful independent country bands in history. Joining them along the way in the most long-lasting lineup of the band has been fiddle player Kyle Nix, guitarist Ryan Engleman, and drummer Gabriel Pearson. “Hammerin’ Hank Early” also joined the band in recent years on steel guitar, dobro, and accordion.
Known for crafting sensible melodies underpinned by substantive lyrics, and imbuing traditional country with an energetic attitude, they are a band most everyone can enjoy, and have so to the tune of becoming one of the biggest drawing and best-selling acts in Texas/Red Dirt of all time.
A Cat in the Rain is now available for pre-save.
May 3, 2023 @ 8:39 am
As I said with the TouchTunes leak, the last thing I want to do is spoil any surprises. But when you have something as anticipated as this release, a leaky ship, and other outlets sharing this news, your hand is forced.
May 4, 2023 @ 9:55 am
Trigger what’re your thoughts about having 2 covers on a 10 song album?
May 4, 2023 @ 10:30 am
I have not seen the track list yet, and I don’t believe in talking about that kind of stuff until we have pre-order links to present with it. But generally speaking, I just want Turnpike to put out the best album they can. If that includes a couple of covers, so be it. Expectations are going to be super high for this release, and so it’s important to just put out something quality. There has also been murmurs of a Evan Felker solo record, so maybe that will be forthcoming with more original material for folks. If we get eight new quality songs, I’ll be happy.
May 8, 2023 @ 7:02 am
The Turnpike covers of Doreen and If You’re Going to Play in Texas are fantastic. I’ll take another “Doreen” all day long.
May 3, 2023 @ 8:42 am
End of August huh?
May 3, 2023 @ 8:45 am
People are starting to get real fed up with waiting on the single to drop. Their PR hasn’t exactly been the best recently
May 3, 2023 @ 9:04 am
Seriously, its like they just can’t get out of their own way. There is so much built up demand. Quit with all the PR gimmicks and just put the music out ASAP.
I know Isbell isn’t the most universally beloved artist here, but he has released 3 singles for his new album. I found out about each with an email from his team the morning it was released, and each dropped mid-week, not on your typical Friday.
Trig, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Stagecoach stream. Ryan Bingham, Turnpike and Childers back to back to back on the secondary stage! I was pretty disappointed that Lainey Wilson cut into some of TT’s set and couldn’t stay up for Childers but loved that fact that the livestream was available. Just wish that was the Saturday lineup, not Sunday.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:28 am
This stuff is not hard. The Jason Isbell roll out is a good example. The TouchTunes leak was excusable. Someone just didn’t get the memo. But whatever happened this morning is NOT excusable. At all. And “attempting” to do an album announcement of this caliber as an exclusive behind a paywall is a pretty catastrophically bad decision, especially when you screw it up.
As far as the Stagecoach stream, I did poke my head in there. But it feels a little disingenuous to report on something that I didn’t witness in person. I don’t like sharing videos of unreleased songs before we hear the studio version. That’s why I avoided “Mean Old Sun.” Folks get the live version in their brain when there’s lot of stage energy and potentially a different arrangement. And then when they hear the studio version, it can be deflating because your brain has already grown comfortable to the first version you hear. I like the idea of freshness in music, tearing the plastic off an LP or CD, and listening with anticipation the first time. Sure, a lead single or two is fine. But after that, leave the rest for the album listening experience.
May 3, 2023 @ 2:27 pm
This! I’m tired of hearing 4 of 11 songs before the release. And they wonder why people don’t have an attention span.
I ordered the Sister Bobbie/Shires LP after hearing less than 15 seconds.
May 3, 2023 @ 7:28 pm
I watched the full set of bingham, turnpike and tyler. TT by far had the least energy. Bingham knocked it out of the park and even Tyler was very high energy. that said, it was awesome to see TT on stage together again.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:48 am
Agreed, this whole release process from Sacks & Co has been ass.
The Stagecoach livestream footage was pretty killer. It seemed like the sets were somewhat cropped on Sunday, vs the footage I saw on Friday/Saturday, but that Sunday lineup was a dream lineup for a festival day.
Nikki Lane’s set on Saturday night might’ve been my favorite of them all.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:06 am
This was a complete fuck up by their publicity company, Sacks & Co. I’ve been on their case for YEARS, and was just chirping about them yesterday on the release radar article. The announcement on the website was supposed to go up on Friday with their paywalled feature in Rolling Stone written by Josh Crutchmer, which I could have told you is how they were going to announce this album two years ago.
First, you don’t need to do a paywalled exclusive to get the press to talk about the Turnpike Troubadours. This is an irresponsible decision by Sacks & Co, especially when you consider that they fucked it up. And no, I’m not saying this because Saving Country Music didn’t get the exclusive, because I don’t do exclusives because I believe they are BAD for artists, especially at Turnpike’s level. I also don’t do interviews.
Second, IF you’re going to do the annoucement through a paywalled exclusive, you better not fuck it up like they did here.
Third, the best thing for the Turnpike Troubadours would have been to release a press release to the wide internet, or announce the new album on social media, or both, and let EVERY outlet cover it, making it the biggest news of the day. Instead, it trickled out, we still don’t have the full details, we still don’t have the single, and everyone’s in a scramble drill.
The Turnpike Troubadours will be fine, and this release will hopefully be great. But when you know how much these artists and bands pay Sacks & Co. compared to other publicity companies that actually care and do their job right, and then you see things like this, it’s really enraging.
Looks like it time for me to write the Sacks & Co. article I’ve been wanting to write for a long time.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:12 am
Nail their butts to the wall, Trigger!
May 4, 2023 @ 7:38 am
Sounds like you’re just a little jealous Crutchmer got the story and not you.
May 4, 2023 @ 9:41 am
Not possible to be jealous of Crutchmer. I do not do “exclusives” because I believe they are bad for artists, and I rarely do interviews. This is all stipulated in the submission guidelines of the site. Ironically, the fact that the album was rolled out this way was a benefit to a site like Saving Country Music, because it meant less competition for the information. The concern is not with Crutchmer or Rolling Stone. The concern is about yet another leak about this release, and the fumbled rollout where physical pre-orders are not available, which will result in less support for this release. This is not on Crutchmer who did a good interview. This is on PR.
May 4, 2023 @ 11:07 am
They haven’t had a release in 6 years and have been selling out arenas. Their release will be just fine.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:59 am
The “mean old sun” release has been a total cluster. First of all they should have just moved up the release after the touch tunes leak. Instead we’ve had weeks of “presave the single it’s coming out soon!” With no real idea when it’s actually getting released. Then this. Turnpike needs a new PR team
May 3, 2023 @ 10:38 am
Insane that the first impression was allowed to be a concert video with terrible quality
May 3, 2023 @ 11:12 am
That’s why I don’t like sharing concert videos of unreleased singles. Let the folks that were there live in that moment, and let’s wait to hear the studio version when it’s how the artist and producer intended it to be heard.
May 3, 2023 @ 12:02 pm
The pre-save links don’t even work for me ????
May 3, 2023 @ 10:18 am
The RS article was a great read tho. I was able to read it via an incognito browser window without paying.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:06 am
No offense meant to Rolling Stone here, or Josh Crutchmer who conducted a solid interview. If you can get this scoop, all the more power to you. They’re not the bad guys here necessarily, they’re the beneficiaries. The bad guys are the PR firm who set this situation up, and it very well might negatively impact the Turnpike Troubadours pre-order cycle. At the least, you tell Rolling Stone to drop the paywall for this story. If you actually give a shit about the music, you know exclusives are where viral events go to die. You want EVERY outlet talking about this. But then again, this story wasn’t even supposed to come out today, so it completely screwed up the entire situation.
These releases are very delicately choreographed with specific things set to happen on specific days to help maximize pre-orders and exposure. I’ve known about a lot of stuff about this release that I’ve not been publishing for months now, because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, or screw up that cycle. This did not happen like it was supposed to. Ultimately, I think Turnpike Troubadours will be fine, because they’re the Turnpike Troubadours and remain one of the hottest bands in country music. But you don’t want to see these kinds of mistakes from a band with a history of them.
May 8, 2023 @ 7:04 am
I ended up ordering Josh Crutchmer’s book “Red Dirt” after I read the RS interview and learned that he wrote a book. First paper book I’ve bought in like a decade. Looking forward to digging into some historical Red Dirt.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:02 am
I want that Sacks & Co article.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:57 am
They easily could have just dropped the bomb on Instagram and the impact would have been miles better, honestly the Josh RS “exclusives” are getting boring af, that’s what like 3 now?? And it’s not like he’s biased or anything he’s only spent the last 3 years kissing felker’s ass.
May 3, 2023 @ 1:22 pm
Look, I don’t want to throw Josh Crutchmer under the bus. He’s doing stuff to help spread the word about the Turnpike Troubadours. But yes, it is achingly, nauseatingly predictable that the way they ultimately announced this album was by an exclusive interview by him in Rolling Stone. This is just as much about Josh Crutchmer and him building his brand as it is about the brand of the Turnpike Troubadours and how to best to get information to the public. That said, this isn’t exactly how this all was supposed to go down. If “Mean Old Sun” had been released Thursday night/Friday morning, everyone would have gone crazy over it, the pre-order had been posted on social media, and then the Crutchmer piece would come Friday morning with the rest of the album info. It wouldn’t have been as bad. When the info leaked out (once again) and Whiskey Riff ran with it (once again), Rolling Stone was forced to post the article today, because they didn’t want to lose their supposed exclusivity.
All of this is the reason I 1) Don’t do exclusives 2) Don’t do interviews. Journalists have to kiss the ass of the artists so they get access to them, and then the outlets are discouraged from posting critical articles of artists because they want to land the next big exclusive. As much of a pom pom waver as I’ve been for Turnpike, when they were cancelling shows left and right, I was criticizing them as much as anyone. If the new album sucks, I want the ability to say so, not feel like I have to smooth it over because I want an “exclusive” with the band for the next release.
Interviews with artists can be useful and important. Exclusives are bullshit. I get it when an artist is tiny and the only way they can get the media to commit to cover them is if they offer them something exclusive. The Turnpike Troubadours are so demonstrably beyond that level though, it’s embarrassing their publicity believed this was the best way to release the information was only through one outlet. And it didn’t even work because Whiskey Riff had it before anybody because they screwed up.
May 4, 2023 @ 9:12 am
As a journalist, blogger, whatever you call yourself. You keep droning on about how this was released, yet you can’t even get names correct (it’s Crutchmer btw). You state you don’t do exclusives yourself so what is your problem other than to bitch and to try to belittle people? All you do on your page is reword other articles. Move on & do a better job. Maybe someone would reach out to you for some first hand content.
May 4, 2023 @ 9:20 am
Josh’s name was corrected about an hour ago. It was my mistake, and I’ve reached out and apologized.
“All you do on your page is reword other articles.”
This couldn’t be more false. You can click on any of the articles on the home page and find coverage that is way more in-depth and original that most anything you will find on any other music site. This article is a bit different because it’s a basic news announcement.
This album announcement was supposed to happen on Friday. There are no physical pre-orders up to take advantage of all the attention created by the announcement yesterday. As I have stated explicitly on numerous occasions in this comments section, I don’t blame Josh Crutchmer or Rolling Stone for this. I’m not sure why some are taking it that way. This was clearly a PR bungle, and I was responding to concerned Turnpike Troubadours fans raising this issue in a comments section. That’s all this is. It’s a conversation, not an article.
May 4, 2023 @ 7:44 pm
Trigger,
Seems doubtful criticisms like these aren’t really about the nitpicking errors and claims presented. I’m always impressed and somewhat amused by your good faith replies as if they are.
May 3, 2023 @ 3:31 pm
Goodness you’re being a baby! Its like they owe you something. Cancelling shows short notice is something to cry about, but this?
May 3, 2023 @ 4:22 pm
I’m not following. How does this have any similarities to canceling shows? I’m not mad at Turnpike here. I’m disappointed in the professionals they pay to roll out these things fumbling at their responsibilities.
May 3, 2023 @ 4:02 pm
Clearly you are butt hurt!
May 3, 2023 @ 4:21 pm
Butt hurt about what? That Turnpike’s publicity had a fart and fall down moment?
May 3, 2023 @ 8:51 am
“Mean Old Sun” from Stagecoach is on YouTube for anybody who doesn’t want to wait. Definitely sounds like the Troubadours!
May 3, 2023 @ 9:02 am
Cool, now we need a Turnpike / Gaslight Anthem / Lucero tour.
May 3, 2023 @ 12:14 pm
This is the correct take. Glad I’m not the only Turnpike + Gaslight megafan.
May 3, 2023 @ 4:08 pm
Very stoked about the Gaslight reunion/tour. Brian Fallon’s solo stuff during the hiatus was fine but lacked the punch of GA’s stuff. Those three on tour – sign me up!
May 3, 2023 @ 9:08 am
They should bring back the fighting rooster logo hat. I missed out on ordering one before. Mostly because their merchandise team was not good at shipping items.
Great news about the album. Hopefully, it is actually released on that date.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:15 am
Curious how Shooters production will go. I haven’t been overly impressed with some of the stuff he’s been involved in. Either way, looking forward to this!
May 4, 2023 @ 2:59 am
I think his work with the white buffalo is pretty good
May 3, 2023 @ 9:19 am
I was just thinking that the PR on Turnpike is alarmingly horrible. And I am a former record company publicist. The idea of a paywalled exclusive to “break” this is next level moronic.
Anyway, can’t wait for the record.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:22 am
Why is it taking 18 months for a record to be released that was recorded in February 2022? Why are we still waiting on “Mean Old Sun”?
May 3, 2023 @ 12:06 pm
No this!! I feel like generally album announcements have been getting shorter and and it’s not harming anything! This is over three months away?? A months and a half would have sufficed.
May 3, 2023 @ 2:51 pm
The album was started in February of 22, but tracking was not finished until end of January of this year. It’s surprisingly difficult to get into the studio during touring, so completing the album had to wait until the band’s typical “winter break.” Then mixing, mastering, artwork took awhile, but are now done. However, it hurts the business end to release without physical copies, and vinyl and cd manufacturing take longer now than it used to. Trust me when I tell you that no band wants to wait months and months to release the art they’ve worked on (especially when some of these songs have been done for over a year).
Cheers
May 3, 2023 @ 4:57 pm
Spoken like a true Troubadour… ;o)
May 3, 2023 @ 9:24 am
AUGUST 25?!
So much for the “summer of Turnpike” we all expected.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:38 am
I see they cancelled that misguided DC area arena show.
Glad a new album is coming. Not sure why anyone would need to wait until august when we’ve been waiting how long since the last album?!
May 3, 2023 @ 10:15 am
Are we so sure these were mistakes made by their marketing team? I mean, the whole internet is buzzing about it. Maybe it was an intentional “mistake” to keep everyone talking. I mean, there’s no such thing as bad press right? Just a thought.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:17 am
It this was intentional, they’d allow us to pay for the things they’re promoting today.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:44 am
Yes, there were definitely outright mistakes made in this situation. That is why Turnpike’s website showed a 404 error for 4+ hours this morning, and that is why the original message said that “Mean Old Sun” was “out now” as opposed to “out May 5th.” This new album information was not supposed to come out today. It was supposed to come out Friday to coincide with “Mean Old Sun.” There was a scramble drill after the announcement went live on the website and folks started sharing it on social media, and then Whiskey Riff shared a story about it. This forced Rolling Stone’s hand to publish their exclusive story announcing the album before Turnpike was ready. Whether this is 100% PR’s fault, or whether the management team had an hand in it too, I don’t know. But ultimately, it’s PR’s job to control the info, and in this case, they didn’t.
With the TouchTunes leak, I think a case could be made it was bad PR turned good. I don’t think that is the case here. Right now, there are only three outlets talking about this: Saving Country Music, Whiskey Riff, and Rolling Stone. If you release this information properly, you’re going to have ALL country music websites covering this story, not just three. That is what you want as a band. That is what you want as a PR firm. The reason other outlets aren’t covering it is because they still really don’t have any information. And the information that is out there is exclusive to Rolling Stone.
Also, the majority of comments I’m seeing is people pissed that they STILL don’t have the “Mean Old Sun” single, that it’s taking until August for the album to come, and complaining that they’re getting jacked around by all the promises, pre-orders, and announcements. “Just release the single already!” is the refrain. If folks don’t even know the single’s on the way yet, they wouldn’t be griping. That’s on PR. If this had been handled right, the single would have been a surprise, folks would have been excited, and the focus would be on the music, not the bullshit. People think they’re getting gamed by all the leaks. That’s not the publicity you want.
May 3, 2023 @ 12:09 pm
Internet’s not buzzing like it was when they announced their comeback. The circle you follow might be but the Twitter mentions are nothing near what they were. The RS article likes are pretty low also.
May 3, 2023 @ 1:28 pm
Rolling Stone and the Turnpike Troubadours fan base is like oil and water. Anybody who knows anything about the Turnpike Troubadours knows that. This is all about leveraging relationships of people who hang out in certain Twitter cliques. In certain respects, I’m glad Rolling Stone is covering the Turnpike Troubadours. I want everybody covering the Turnpike troubadours. But this whole thing was a fuck up.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:20 am
I try to stay out of the comments of Turnpike Troubadours’ articles because y’all love them so much, but I find them equally as abusive to their fans as Morgan Wallen.
Their PR Team has always been dysfunctional. It’s embarrassing and an insult how they handled the DC cancellation and tried blaming it on Ticketmaster.
But, I don’t get the rush to new music from fans. Don’t you really love the old stuff? What happens if the new music sucks?
No one enjoys the voyage anymore, just the destination (and some times the destination sucks).
I had to leave all Yellowstone groups because it has finally sunk in we aren’t getting any new episodes until the final season in June 2024 and people are losing their minds. I’m in no hurry to get to the end of the series. I am fine with marathon weekends and on demand watching because I still enjoy the series.
I see this with all fans who demand new music on a timeline even if it sacrifices the integrity of an artist’s established discography or concert set lists. If Jamey Johnson never puts out another album, that doesn’t mean I don’t love “In Color” any less or not want to see him in concert anymore.
I get the excitement new music brings, but that feeling might be fleeting especially if your artists changes artistic directions or the music doesn’t hold up to past releases. And the songs you’ve come to love and lived with for years might get cut from set lists in lieu of the new stuff.
Enjoy the ride.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:24 am
Friend,
It has been 6 years.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:38 am
This is a terrible take. You don’t want new music because it might not be as good as the old stuff?!?
May 3, 2023 @ 10:50 am
I’ve seen people comment they weren’t buying anymore concert tickets until TT release new music. I’m saying, there’s a chance you may not like the new music and your favorite TT song might get axed from the set list for the new stuff, so be careful of of what you wish for and enjoy the concerts now.
Also, people are chasing that “new feeling.” If the new music isn’t up to the past standards or goes in a different direction, people will be let down because they hyped up and rushed the demand for new music.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:22 am
I’m fine taking the chance that an artist I like will release new music that I don’t love every single time. If they do and I love it great, if they do and it sucks, I’ll just keep listening to the stuff I love. It doesn’t have to “tarnish” the old stuff if I don’t like the new stuff as much.
Case in point-Sturgill Simpson. I’ve hardly given his last 3 albums of new material a spin since they were released. But hell if I don’t keep wearing out my High Top and Metamodern Vinyl, and play his Sunday Valley stuff in my truck daily. I would love for him to release new music soon regardless of what side it falls on for the little chance it would join the rotation.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:43 am
But unlike Morgan Wallen, Turnpike Troubadours make great music, so I personally don’t mind cutting them a little more slack.
As commenter “Michael” stated, it’s been 6 years since their latest release. I’ll always consider their previous albums some of my favorites of all time in any genre, no matter how the new album sounds. The new album may very well blow (although I doubt it), but after 6 years it’s time to at least give the people something new to listen to and try out.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:00 am
True about cutting slack to the better artists.
TT were on hiatus (and getting right) during that 6 year time span – you have to keep that in perspective.
And it’s coming! There’s light at the end of the tunnel. I see crazy fanatic posts on Instagram on Twitter demanding new music now and fans expressing their rage and hurt by making them wait.
It’s an just interesting and perplexing study in human behavior.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:39 am
Incorrect.
They have been active for three out of the six years since the last album came out.
May 3, 2023 @ 1:36 pm
I didn’t say they were on hiatus for 6 years. If you go back and read my comment, I wrote “during that 6 year time span.”
May 3, 2023 @ 5:03 pm
Great post, hoptown, couldn’t agree more.
May 3, 2023 @ 11:38 am
I’m worried with the way this was botched they are going to announce some limited vinyl run and I’m not going to hear about it in time, so I’ll miss it.
At least folks who stream the album know they will be able to get it the second to becomes available, regardless of how far in advance they heard about it.
May 3, 2023 @ 12:29 pm
How DIVA can one group get?
Thank goodness Kyle Nix has new music coming out.
May 3, 2023 @ 5:13 pm
With you, Di.
Felker is talented, ok, but come on. They are still in the land of wishcasting to me. Self-congratulating Texas hype, what Lyle Lovett pokes at.
Maybe I need to visit that podunk wannabe called Texas to undrstand their appeal.
May 3, 2023 @ 6:02 pm
D Hey!
Corncaster, Hope you & yours are doing very well.
Generally speaking, I Adore Texas men. And, Oklahoma men, for that matter.
Love men in general.
Had amazing role models in my Father, Grandfathers, Great Grandfather, Uncle’s, & cousins.
Very strong men, who loved their women with a serious, but soft touch.
While in the Oklahoma panhandle for 10 years, can not tell you how many times the Texas & Oklahoma men stepped up.
: D I swear, some of them even wear capes.
Kid you not.
The TT’s have had some beautiful opportunities that they have absolutely squandered.
Calling them out is an attempt to get their attention. Light a stick of dynamite under their arses, get them moving.
Sometimes you Can Not teach by giving people a soft place to land.
And, bitch as Trigger will, i could give 2 shits.
Still have hope for Trigger, as well.
Not being in the music biz, i could have gotten these guys a lot more favorable exposure.
Trigger needs to stop whining about how everyone is doing the TT’s wrong – and call them out.
Come on, Evan.
GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR
May 3, 2023 @ 1:05 pm
Shooter can’t sing worth a hoot, but he seems to be everywhere as a producer. Don’t know how his hand will be on this album. Let’s hope for the best.
May 3, 2023 @ 2:21 pm
Yeah, I am not thrilled that Shooter is the producer.
May 3, 2023 @ 2:41 pm
I think some of Shooter’s last few productions including with Kelsey Waldon have at least earned him the latitude to have the benefit of the doubt before we hear any music. As someone who’s sometimes been hard on Shooter over the years, I think his record as a producer recently is pretty solid. Who knows, it may suck. And with so many expectations about this album, it’s going to be difficult to deliver for everyone. But I don’t see Shooter’s involvement as concerning. Let’s wait to hear it before we start passing judgement.
May 3, 2023 @ 3:41 pm
Any word on physical releases? Preferably CD, my interest doesn’t lie in the new vinyls
May 3, 2023 @ 4:25 pm
My guess is we’ll get info on that on Friday when the “Mean Old Sun” releases. This is one of the reasons the way this info leaked out is concerning. As soon as you announce an album, you want to present people with the ability to smash the pre-order button on physical product. This is how you chart. This is how you take all the buzz you create, and make it into something tangible.
May 3, 2023 @ 5:14 pm
The two new songs they’ve played live sound amazing. I cant for the release
May 3, 2023 @ 5:29 pm
Why all the complaining and crying on here? I guess that’s what you do in 2023.
Turnpike is releasing new music! That’s all that matters! Can’t wait.
May 3, 2023 @ 5:38 pm
Trigger don’t get caught up in all the negativity on here. Put down the pitchfork. TT is releasing new music and everything is gonna be ok.
May 3, 2023 @ 8:51 pm
Personally, I feel like you feel salty here. Get off of your soap box bud. Idk what your issue is here. Turnpike is fine. Everything is fine. I used to respect this blog back in 2013ish (when you were actually trying to save country music), but these days I’m starting to view you as a bitter gatekeeper. Boy… how things changeZ If you don’t have anything worth while to say about todays “current events”, don’t comment to them.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:07 pm
“If you don’t have anything worth while to say about todays “current events”, don’t comment to them.”
I think it is very worthwhile to explain what happened today with this Turnpike Troubadours album announcement. I didn’t post a biting article screaming about how bad this was handled. This is the comments section and I am simply responding to people’s fair concerns that THEY broached, which I’ve been doing since 2013, and before.
As I have said in this comments section numerous times .. yes, Turnpike will be fine. And it’s important to underscore that. But what happened today was supposed to happen on Friday. There are no CD/LP/merch bundle pre-orders for people to take their enthusiasm, and turn it into tangible support for this band. This is not how this was all supposed to go. I don’t think there is any issue with point this out. I actually think it’s pretty damn important.
And yes, I am salty about this. Because I fucking care.
May 3, 2023 @ 9:41 pm
Come on man, I care too. I’ve followed this blog for over a decade now… you’ve put me on to so many great acts, and I’m thankful for that. I’ve been here since the Hightop mountain review. Back when there was an actual war going on and a real fight to fight. So, I really appreciate you and value your opinion. But… you’re wrong here man. The whole RS “paywall” article is irrelevant at this point. It’s publicity… who cares? I mean they could be on “Hot Ones” or Theo Von’s podcast… It’s nothing to focus on. The only thing that truly matters is that Turnpike is releasing new music. That makes me happy and I know that makes you happy… so who cares? It took 6 years… I don’t care… I’m just thankful that a new record is releasing. It’s time to celebrate bud, not critique.
May 3, 2023 @ 10:18 pm
Hey Bear Claw,
I totally understand what you’re saying, and I appreciate you and others chiming in her with this important perspective. You’re right, we need to keep some perspective here.
But at the risk of digging a deeper hole for myself, I just feel the need to point out that there is no article on Rolling Stone’s paywall. The article mentions none of this, partly because the Rolling Stone article went up very shortly after this one. We’re just jawing off in a comments section. This was instigated by readers like yourself coming here to complain about the bad PR moves with this release, and since I have some good insight into the matter, I respond. We’re just talking shop here. I agree it’s just PR, and probably not fit for a whole article. But it didn’t get one either.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
May 4, 2023 @ 6:19 am
I’m looking forward to this release. I’m not so much in an uproar over the single and announcements. I try to avoid pre-release singles because it ruins the album for me. Don’t know how many times I’ve been disappointed when an album drops and I’ve already heard the best songs for months. I may give a sample listen initially, but try to wait.
May 4, 2023 @ 7:42 am
It was the first decent Rolling Stone article in years.
But the author kept referring to Turnpike as Americana.
They aren’t Americana.
May 4, 2023 @ 8:03 am
Agreed. I get so annoyed by that. They are a country band and I wish they would correct journalist when they are referred to as Americana.
May 4, 2023 @ 9:37 am
Hank Early actually addressed this in an interview a while back.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/turnpike-troubadours-book-d-c-show-hank-early-talks-arena-shows/
“I’m actually more embarrassed to call it Americana,” Hank Early responded. “We played the AmericanaFest a few years back, and we stuck out like a sore thumb. We did not fit in with those sleepy, shoe-gazy country folk. Our stuff is definitely … we’re not embarrassed to call it country. Obviously it doesn’t sound like mainstream country radio, and that’s okay. Country’s kind of a big tent term.”
May 4, 2023 @ 1:17 pm
Am I the on my who thinks this new record is going to be hollow and soulless? I’m glad they “got better”, but the snippet from “Mean Old Sun” really sounds like there is no soul to it.
I’m sure after getting clean that Evan is probably on a bunch of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds so he doesn’t kill himself or someone else.
I hope it goes well for them. I love TT, but when Evan decided to try to write hit songs with Miranda Lambert, it should have been a warning sign of things to come.
Guess that bell can’t be unsung! ????♂️