Grammy nominee Charley Crockett has signed with Island Records, where he will release his upcoming album Lonesome Drifter on March 14th. The album’s first single, the title track, will be released on January 31st.
Crockett has put out a staggering 15 albums over the past nine years on his own label, Son of Davy. Lonesome Drifter will be his major label debut. The album was co-produced with Shooter Jennings, recorded over 10 days at Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound. “Shooter and I barely talked about it,” Crockett reflected. “I just brought all of my guys out, and the album made itself. It was live without a lot of overdubs. There were no inhibitions. I wasn’t being judged, and I didn’t feel self-conscious. Shooter knew how to cut loose and let this thing unfold.”
The Texas native is currently up for Best Americana Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards for 2024’s $10 Cowboy. It’s his first nomination.
Crockett was born and raised in Texas, but spent summers growing up in New Orleans with his uncle, a bouncer at strip clubs on Bourbon Street. He recently told NPR, “it really was in New Orleans where I learned all the different styles. I learned drinking songs, playing in front of tourists on Royal Street. I got a sense of jazz timing, of how to really strum a guitar, how to pick a guitar to a two-beat, to a shuffle. I’m not a jazz musician by any stretch, but I learned some jazz positions to substitute in for simple country and blues chords, there on those streets, you know?”
Last year, Crockett played more than 100 shows across the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K. He’ll be hitting the road again starting in February, where he’ll be playing shows across the U.S. with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Leon Bridges, and Tyler Childers. More information can be found on Crockett’s website.
Order Charley Crockett’s Lonesome Drifter.
