The "Tennessee Whiskey" and "Fire Away" songwriter's latest full-length includes a response to the 2017 mass shooting that claimed the lives of 59 concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival.
Chris Stapleton has announced details about his next studio album. Starting Over, his first studio album since 2017’s From a Room: Volume 2, is due out November 13 on Mercury Records Nashville and available for pre-order now. Along with the title track — which you can hear on the C&I New Music Playlist — it includes “Watch You Burn,” a therapeutic response to the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
In a wide-ranging interview with CBS This Morning co-host Anthony Mason, Stapleton says the album was recorded before the pandemic struck and that he has been dealing with the stress of the crisis by riding the mountain bike his wife, fellow singer-songwriter Morgane Stapleton, gave him for his birthday — and by working on new music. He also mentions being moved by the Black Lives Matter protests and the “broad awakening” that has changed his perspective on America — which means even though Starting Over isn’t even out yet, I’m already looking forward to the album to follow it.
Farm Aid Marks 35th Anniversary September 26
More than 20 musical acts will perform from 7–10 p.m. Saturday, September 26, in a virtual at-home festival streaming live in HD at farmaid.org and on AXS TV. Among the performers are original Farm Aid performers Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp, plus Dave Matthews, Black Pumas, Bonnie Raitt and Boz Scaggs, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, and more. This year’s show is free, but donations to support family farmers are requested.
Can’t wait till then? Check out the timeline of past Farm Aid concerts and festivals with video highlights.
Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Goes Online
The Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion scheduled for September 10–13 was canceled because of the pandemic, but artists including Jim Lauderdale, Acoustic Syndicate, Morgan Wade, and 49 Winchester — whose song “Long Hard Life” premiered with C&I on August 13 — will perform online nonetheless. Programming includes a Farm and Fun Time show from the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Festival Flashbacks videos, a raffle drawing, and announcements about the 2021 festival, whose scheduled performers include Tanya Tucker, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Blackberry Smoke.
Photograph, from Austin City Limits Music Festival 2016, by Emily Hughey.
