New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On April 21, Jason Eady returns with his first album in more than three years in partnernship with Thirty Tigers. The self-titled release marks his sixth full-length effort and finds the Mississippi-bred singer/guitarist merging his distinct sensibilities into a stripped-down, roots-oriented sound that starkly showcases the gritty elegance of his songwriting.
Today, Rolling Stone Country has premiered "Why I Left Atlanta," the first single to be released from the forthcoming album. Robert Crawford called the self-titled release "...an acoustic-heavy album that makes room for electricity, eclecticism and guest appearances, with Eady serving as the master of ceremonies." Stream the track via Soundcloud:
"I've had relationships in the past that didn't work out because we just grew in different directions," Eady told Rolling Stone about the song. "It was no one's fault. It was just life. You look back later and wonder if you had worked harder, would it have worked. Maybe it would have and maybe not. There's no way to know. You just have to accept that the past was what it was and move forward."
Eady's S/T release is the follow up to 2014's critically praised Daylight/Dark — an album that "belongs on a shelf next to Dwight Yoakam's Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room, Joe Ely's Letter to Laredo, and yes, even Willie Nelson's Phases and Stages," according to AllMusic—Eady's latest finds the Fort Worth, Texas-based artist again teaming up with producer
Kevin Welch. Now longtime collaborators (with their past efforts including 2012's AM Country Heaven, a top 40 debut on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart), Eady and Welch worked closely in crafting the album's acoustic-driven yet lushly textured aesthetic.
"At the beginning I told everyone I wanted to make a record where, if the power went out, we could still sit down and play all the songs the exact same way," says Eady, who points out that steel guitar is the only electric instrument featured on the album.
Despite its subtle approach, the album radiates a warm vitality that's got much to do with Eady's gift for nuanced yet unaffected slice-of-life storytelling.
"I've always been drawn to writing that's got a simplicity to it, where you're digging deep into real day-to-day life," he notes. Here, that means touching on such matters as turning 40 (on the reflective, soul-stirring "40 Years"), his daughter's growing up and going off to college (on the sweetly heartbreaking "Not Too Loud"), and the everyday struggle to "embrace the messy parts of life instead of trying to get the point where you've somehow fixed all your problems" (on "Rain," a joyfully determined anthem featuring SteelDrivers fiddler Tammy Rogers). Throughout the album, Eady's soulfully rugged voice blends in beautiful harmonies with his wife, singer/songwriter Courtney Patton. And on "No Genie in This Bottle," the legendary
Vince Gill adds harmony vocals alongside Eady.
"When you first get started making music, your ideas are grandiose and more about the big picture. But the longer I've done this, the more I've realized that the real joy comes from the process rather than the end goal," he says. "Now it's about getting better and finding more of myself with every album."
Tracklist:
1) Barabbas
2) Drive
3)
Black Jesus
4) No Genie in This Bottle
5) Why I Left Atlanta
6) Rain
7) Where I've Been
8) Waiting to Shine
9) Not Too Loud
10) 40 Years
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