Hot on the heels of his 2021 tribute album to Texan country great James Hand, Charley Crockett has announced his 10th full-length album Music City USA, out on 17th September via Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers.
Crockett also shared the video for the album single “I Need Your Love”, a southern soul number accompanied by a retro-styled wide-screen video directed by Bobby Cochran.
“I like to think of my sound as ‘Gulf & Western’, and this number here is all gulf coast music,” explains Crockett. “Something you’d hear out of southeast Texas recording studios or southern Louisiana. I’d been foolin’ around with this song for a while, and when we went to record it, we decided at the last minute to double the length of the chorus. I felt right then that we had something. I’d wanted to bring the horns back for a couple tunes on this album. Soul and Country R&B from the deep south is a whole lot of who I am. I hope it shows though on ‘I Need Your Love’”.
Crockett also announced additions to his extensive US tour schedule, and he’ll be announcing even more dates soon. Crockett is a part of the line-up at several premier festivals this summer, including both weekends of Austin City Limits festival, MerleFest, Under the Big Sky festival and Hinterland Music Festival, and he will perform at Orville Peck’s Rodeo at Red Rocks on July 22nd with Peck and Yola.
Crockett will tape his debut for prestigious US TV show Austin City Limits on July 28th, joining a season 47 line-up that also includes Miranda Lambert, Brittany Howard, Jon Batiste, Leon Bridges, Sarah Jarosz, Billy Strings, Jade Bird, Brandy Clark, Terry Allen, Dayglow and Jackson Browne. Crockett was also recently nominated for the 2021 Americana Music Association awards “Emerging Act of the Year” alongside Amythyst Kiah, Joy Oladokun, Allison Russell and Waxahatchee.
Crockett is also a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s latest exhibit, “American Currents”, alongside acts like Eric Church, The Chicks, Luke Combs, Mickey Guyton and Maren Morris. The San Benito, TX native donated the custom Fort Lonesome suit he wore during his Newport Folk Festival debut in 2019 to the exhibit, and he’s currently featured on a larger-than-life billboard outside the museum in Nashville alongside one of his heroes, fellow San Benito, TX native Freddy Fender.
Read an essay on Crockett and Music City USA penned by writer, historian, Willie Nelson biographer and fellow Texan Joe Nick Patoski here.
Charley Crockett 2021 US Tour Dates
July 9 – BarrelHouse Brewing Co. – Paso Robles, CA
July 10 – Delfino Farms – Camino, CA
July 11 – Sundays in the Park – Ukiah, CA
July 14 – The Olympic Venue – Boise, ID
July 15 – Old Saloon – Emigrant, MT
July 16 – Red oxx – Billings, MT
July 18 – Under the Big Sky Festival – Whitefish, MT
July 20 – Soundwell – Salt Lake City, UT
July 21 – Warehouse25sixty-five – Grand Junction, CO
July 22 – Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
July 23- Globe Hall- Denver, CO
July 24- Globe Hall- Denver, CO
July 26- Santa Fee Bandstand- Santa Fe, NM
July 30 – Silver Saloon – Terrell, TX
July 31- Gruene Hall- New Braunfels, TX
Aug 1- Gruene Hall- New Braunfels, TX
Aug 4 – Turf Club – St. Paul, MN
Aug 5 – Fargo Brewing Company – Fargo, ND
Aug 6- The Raccoon Motel- Davenport, IA
Aug 7 – Waiting Room Lounge – Omaha, NE
Aug 8 – Hinterland Music Festival – Saint Charles, IA
Aug 19 – The Majestic – Fort Smith, AR
Aug 20 – Missouri State Fairgrounds – Sedalia, MO
Aug 21 – Blue Ox Music Festival – Eau Claire, WI
Aug 22 – El Club – Detroit, MI
Aug 25 – Mercury Ballroom – Louisville, KY
Aug 26 – Hi-Fi – Indianapolis, IN
Aug 27 – RiverEdge at Marcum Park – Hamilton, OH
Aug 28 – Up In Smoke Fest – Chicago, IL
Aug 29 – The Winchester – Lakewood, OH
Sept 1- Anthology- Rochester, NY
Sept 2- Roxian Theatre- McKees Rocks, PA
Sept 3- Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
Sept 4- The National- Richmond, VA
Sept 5-The NorVa- Norfolk, VA
Sept 6- Lincoln Theatre- Raleigh, NC
Sept 8- Saturn- Birmingham, AL
Sept 9- Brooklyn Bowl- Nashville, TN
Sept 11 – Mountain Song Festival – Brevard, NC
Sept 12 – Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion – Bristol, TN
Sept 15- Brighton Music Hall- Boston, MA
Sept 16- The Fillmore Silver Spring- Silver Spring, MD
Sept 17- Music Hall of Williamsburg- Brooklyn, NY
Sept 18 – Watermelon Pickers Fest – Berryville, VA
Sept 19 – MerleFest – Wilkesboro, NC
Sept 20- The Senate, Columbia, SC
Sept 21- The Windjammer- Isle of Palms, SC
Sept 22- Hargray Capitol Theatre- Macon, GA
Sept 23- Variety Playhouse- Atlanta, GA
Sept 24-Georgia Theatre- Athens, GA
Sept 25- Phenix City Amphitheater- Phenix City, AL
Sept 30 – Jefferson Theatre – Beaumont, TX
Oct 2 – Austin City Limits Music Festival – Austin, TX
Oct 9 – Austin City Limits Music Festival – Austin, TX
Oct 16 – State Fair of Texas – Dallas, TX
Dec 30- The Criterion, Oklahoma City, OK
Dec 31- Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
photo credit Bobby Cochran