New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Nashville-based country artist Andy Velo released his new album Way Out. Produced by Jimmy Ritchey (Jake Owen, Clay Walker, Robert Counts), it evokes traditional country of the '70s, '80s, and '90s as Velo charts his own path while simultaneously carrying the classic country torch.
Velo first began teasing new songs from Way Out last fall when he released "Whiskysippi," an intoxicating track that suggests the free-spirited love child of
Jason Aldean and
Little Big Town. American Songwriter raved it "straddles that line of sounding fresh and new yet still carrying that traditional torch." It was followed by the summer fun anthem "Shade Tree," which The Boot called, "country-with-a-capital-C...The upbeat, traditional-leaning love song is unpretentious and full of fiddle and steel guitar," and "Drinkin' Friends," a blue collar punch that recalls timeless churning honky tonk from the likes of
George Strait and Mark Chestnutt.
Sounds Like Nashville raved "Filled with glass-in-one-hundred-percent-full positivity and featuring a jiving honky-tonk sound, its a rowdy new standout with an old-school approach, ready to order up a night on the town."
"Way Out is a culmination of not only 2 years of writing, taking song pitches, and recording, but of my brand development to put me and my music in the right lane that includes two things: simple and natural," stated Velo. "I am so proud of this record and what it has become over this process. My goal has always been to make simple, good, country music and I feel that Jimmy Ritchey and I have done that with this project. I think this record spans a wide swath of country styles while keeping me in my own lane. I feel like we checked all the boxes, put in the sweat and work, and created a great project to build the rest of my career on."
Since his debut, Velo has accumulated over 5 million streams across Spotify and Apple
Music alone and played shows with artists such as Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Ashley McBryde, Jason Aldean, and many others. His breakthrough 2019 single "Half-Truths & Other Lies" spent three weeks at #1 on CMT's fan-voted 12 Pack Countdown. Country Living named him "The answer to those looking for a traditional country sound," while Country
Music Pride exclaimed "He's the next big thing!"
A native of North Georgia, Velo began his country music path at just 11 years old. He started going out on the road full time right after high school with then rising country artist Corey Smith. In 2012, he made his official move to Nashville and released his self-titled debut EP. It was followed by his second EP Blue Collar Cruise and the North Georgia Pines LP shortly after, all of which continued to provide the backdrop to his high-energy live shows as he spent time playing festivals, headlining clubs, and opening for several of country's top artists. Velo is also honored to be one of few artists that are brand ambassadors for Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbon. He is also partnered with Monster Energy, playing some of their marquee events such as PBR and NASCAR races. On the side, Andy has been cast in stunt roles for movies such as We Are Marshall and The
Blind Side.
