Upcoming Albums - 2021 & 2022

[taylor is terrified]

I was gonna say, it'd be quite odd for & to only be available to the Church Choir, when it's a new major release from a country artist with a bigger name. Like...that'd be quite odd. Almost as odd as this rollout; why couldn't they just lump it all together as one record and call it Heart & Soul, lol. Plus it just means lots more money for those who buy physical versions still.

[gardyfan]

Well the link I got from Church does say the & album is only available to the Church Choir.

[taylor is terrified]

Jan 21, 2021 17:12:01 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Well the link I got from Church does say the & album is only available to the Church Choir.

Yeah, I saw something from him on Twitter and he explicitly states this.

That makes zero f**king sense to me, lol. I can kinda get the intention, but honestly that's like Carrie releasing My Savior to only her Fan Club because it's her biggest diehard fans that have waited for her gospel record since the dawn of time (and Xmas record for that matter). What about the OG diehard fans who have waited just as long who don't have the wealth to be in her fan club? The same applies to the Church Choir imo. That, and my OCD is gonna go insane knowing there's gonna be a whole extra SIX songs that I can't hear because I don't have the money to be in the Church Choir. Like I said, it should've just been lumped together as one double-disc album of 12 songs each (for the total of 24) a la The Weight of These Wings and three titles lumped together as Heart & Soul.

[gardyfan]

2 of the songs on it have already been released so i'm thinking maybe something was screwed up in the post.

[taylor is terrified]

Jan 21, 2021 20:04:24 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

2 of the songs on it have already been released so i'm thinking maybe something was screwed up in the post.

Yeah that only makes me laugh harder. If you're gonna release the six songs to only your fan club members, then why did we all get to hear two of them? You ruined it, so just give us the rest lmao

[.indulgecountry]

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

[someguy]

Jan 21, 2021 20:14:13 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

Yeah I’m confused by this rollout a little bit. I’d like to get the albums, but I think I will wait a little bit until the inevitable re-release as one package happens.

[Troublemaker]

Jan 21, 2021 20:14:13 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

Cody Jinks released 2 albums a week apart in 2019 and they both did well. My issue with Eric's release is the timeline, 12 weeks seems like a stretch considering fans have been waiting for it since last year 

Jan 21, 2021 20:19:28 GMT -5 someguy said:

Jan 21, 2021 20:14:13 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

Yeah I’m confused by this rollout a little bit. I’d like to get the albums, but I think I will wait a little bit until the inevitable re-release as one package happens.

See this is what pisses me off as someone who buys music (both digital and sometimes physical), maybe I should just keeps my coins...

[someguy]

Jan 21, 2021 22:18:55 GMT -5 Troublemaker said:

Jan 21, 2021 20:14:13 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

Cody Jinks released 2 albums a week a part in 2019 and they both did well. My issue with Eric's release is the timeline, 12 weeks seems like a stretch considering fans have been waiting for it since last year 

Jan 21, 2021 20:19:28 GMT -5 someguy said:

Yeah I’m confused by this rollout a little bit. I’d like to get the albums, but I think I will wait a little bit until the inevitable re-release as one package happens.

See this is what pisses me off as someone who buys music (both digital and sometimes physical), maybe I should just keeps my coins...

Me too! It is absolutely my biggest annoyance with the music industry. I still by physical music too, and I don’t want to stop, but releases are really annoying.

[Darkest Hour]

Jan 21, 2021 22:18:55 GMT -5 Troublemaker said:

Cody Jinks released 2 albums a week a part in 2019 and they both did well. My issue with Eric's release is the timeline, 12 weeks seems like a stretch considering fans have been waiting for it since last year

Maybe he wants to release the albums together with vinyls? The album rollout plan is not finalized until last November from what I have heard.

[bboat11]

I may not be a huge Eric Church fan, but I am really happy for his fans. I would probably have a heart attack if Martina ever tried to give me 3 new albums at once! 😂

Also, I am really happy to see these huge albums becoming more normalized lately, with Morgan Wallen followed by Eric Church. And not to mention Taylor Swift making huge waves industry-wide by releasing two large albums within a few months of each other, making a ton of money off of streaming while having very half-assed radio pushes for a small amount of songs to multiple formats. I think it makes all the sense in the world considering that streaming is finally starting to become important to the country music consumers, and 3-5 songs going to radio per album era is no longer the normal business model due to how slowly radio moves. If streaming allows artists to create a higher profile than radio does, I see absolutely no reason why "legacy" acts like Jana Kramer, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Reba McEntire, etc. couldn't jump in and try to heighten their profile as well. Heck, Reba has even kinda been doing that already, by re-releasing Read My Mind, "What If", and Rumor Has It, on top of all the collaborations she's landed with "Redhead", "Be A Light", "Dear Rodeo", "In The Ghetto", etc. With all that she's been doing, plus the conveniently "leaked" information of her apparently being in the studio with Carrie Underwood recently, there is a palpable sense that hype is going to be bigger for her next new album than it has been in quite awhile! I hope she is paying whoever has been in charge of her marketing lately VERY well, lol.

Anyway, I started ranting there, but the point is, I am happy to see country artists thinking outside of the box and finding ways to capture streaming attention. I think it would be super healthy for them to stop letting radio control the industry. Especially if it allows artists that radio doesn't touch to find success anyway, like Mickey Guyton, Kylie Frey, Lainey Wilson, etc.

Edit: I know huge albums aren't everybody's thing, but I would much rather be getting 20-30 songs at once for the artists that I stan for than only 8-10...

[Darkest Hour]

bboat11 I think the discussion of 'big' albums (multiple discs or different entities) in country music is interesting. I just don't follow your logic from 'big albums with big streams' to 'fewer radio singles per album eras' tbh. The counter-example is (obviously) Luke Combs who most likely will release sixth single from the second album soon, and technically the multiple album eras are happening at the same time so using 'fewer radio singles per album eras' to imply ditching of radio feels weird to me.

Using Reba as an example who embraced streaming era by re-releasing albums and releasing many collabs also feel a weird observation. If anything it's more of a strategy to stay in public's mind, which may favor streaming in the end but they don't relate much?

Isn't that instagram pic about Reba and Carrie's features in new Loretta Lynn's album?

Also do you mean Jamie O'Neal instead of Jana Kramer as an example of legacy acts lol

[bboat11]

Jan 22, 2021 5:43:14 GMT -5 Darkest Hour said:

bboat11 I think the discussion of 'big' albums (multiple discs or different entities) in country music is interesting. I just don't follow your logic from 'big albums with big streams' to 'fewer radio singles per album eras' tbh. The counter-example is (obviously) Luke Combs who most likely will release sixth single from the second album soon, and technically the multiple album eras are happening at the same time so using 'fewer radio singles per album eras' to imply ditching of radio feels weird to me.

Using Reba as an example who embraced streaming era by re-releasing albums and releasing many collabs also feel a weird observation. If anything it's more of a strategy to stay in public's mind, which may favor streaming in the end but they don't relate much?

Isn't that instagram pic about Reba and Carrie's features in new Loretta Lynn's album?

Also do you mean Jamie O'Neal instead of Jana Kramer as an example of legacy acts lol

I am definitely not the first person to imply that it would be a good idea for artists to focus on releasing more music more frequently to capitalize on streaming potential rather than worrying about getting a typical radio era. One recent example I can point to is the discussion surrounding Maddie & Tae’s upcoming new music, where people were shocked that they would move on already when their album is only 9 months old, but the consensus was ultimately reached that they are in a perfect position to capitalize on their momentum for streaming by releasing new music even if it means cutting their current era short with radio.

There has also been discussion I believe in Morgan Wallen’s album thread about how with country radio moving slower it makes sense for him to release such a huge album and capitalize on all the streaming. Like, he does climb the charts faster than most, but by the time country radio has let “7 Summers” climb for 4 months, he will have already gotten tons of streaming interest from other songs on the album, helping to give him a much larger profile than radio alone would have given him.

But perhaps the best example I gave in my last post of prioritizing streaming over radio is Taylor Swift’s two new albums. Folklore and Evermore are both really long albums that could have easily had 6-7 singles each using a normal release strategy. But instead, upon release of the first one she put out three different singles to three different formats...but didn’t waste a whole bunch of time promoting them. Then as soon as they had peaked, she put out another new album rather than another single from the current album, again with three singles to three different formats. Conceivably Lover could have continued to have more singles (especially “Cruel Summer”, RIP!), but it was cut short, and then Folklore definitely could have had more singles, but was also cut short...but ultimately the streaming of Folklore and Evermore in the past year has helped her to be MUCH more famous right now than if she was still pushing single #6 or 7 from Lover right now, even though neither new album has been that huge for her on radio. (I know Taylor’s not “country” anymore, but she is still a great example of how an artist could be wildly successful without relying on radio. And could conceivably be a harbinger for what music release strategies will look like in the future as streaming continues to overtake radio in importance.)

And no, I definitely meant Jana Kramer 😉 Because she’s somebody that radio is done with but still has a pretty large following, who has continued to release new songs to streaming services every few months, and could conceivably benefit from focusing on trying to get a streaming hit right now. Jamie O’Neal hasn’t been particularly active since her star faded. But I guess now that she’s put out a new album we’ll see if she keeps releasing music, or if she disappears again!

[phil1996]

Jan 21, 2021 20:19:28 GMT -5 someguy said:

Jan 21, 2021 20:14:13 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Eric Church's album release strategy is incredibly strange. I think he thought it was edgy and cool, but... yeah, no. They should've just slapped everything together into a double-album like Morgan Wallen and Miranda Lambert did.

Yeah I’m confused by this rollout a little bit. I’d like to get the albums, but I think I will wait a little bit until the inevitable re-release as one package happens.

I get the feeling the 6 songs on the “&” album will all be released before April, and then the vinyl just drops that Tuesday. 3 songs already will be released from it a week from now

[echocountry]

David Baron is one of the producers on Shania Twain's sixth studio album, which is coming out this year. It is said to have more of an indie feel to it. He did quote "it's awesome, and worth the wait"

[rbundy1987]

June 18th, 2021

Rory Feek - Gentle Man

Gaither Music Group

Source: All Access Country future releases

[.indulgecountry]

Jan 24, 2021 10:49:09 GMT -5 rbundy1987 said:

June 18th, 2021

Rory Feek - Gentle Man

Gaither Music Group

Source: All Access Country future releases

His voice doesn't hold a candle to his late wife's, sadly, but I am still nonetheless pretty excited to see he has new music coming out. One thing I'll give him props for is that he's a damn good songwriter, and he keeps it nice and authentically country, so I'm looking forward to hearing this record.

[cousingerard]

Dallas Moore's "The Rain" out April 9th.

www.dallasmoore.com/the-rain-pre-order

[rowdawg21]

Jan 21, 2021 17:12:01 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Well the link I got from Church does say the & album is only available to the Church Choir.

Am I misinterpreting the email that was sent out today or is the "&" album only available on vinyl?

[phil1996]

Jan 28, 2021 12:55:20 GMT -5 rowdawg21 said:

Jan 21, 2021 17:12:01 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Well the link I got from Church does say the & album is only available to the Church Choir.

Am I misinterpreting the email that was sent out today or is the "&" album only available on vinyl?

Correct: even though 2/6 of that album are out, that ones gonna only be available for church choir members. Although I’m sure they’ll end up on YouTube or something eventually

[rowdawg21]

Jan 28, 2021 13:36:55 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

Jan 28, 2021 12:55:20 GMT -5 rowdawg21 said:

Am I misinterpreting the email that was sent out today or is the "&" album only available on vinyl?

Correct: even though 2/6 of that album are out, that ones gonna only be available for church choir members. Although I’m sure they’ll end up on YouTube or something eventually

Yes, I understand the part about it being available only to Church Choir members. The part I was wondering about is it seems to only be available on vinyl (not CD or digital).

I would join the Church Choir if I knew I could get the "&" album on CD, but I have no way to play a vinyl record.

[castleoblivion26]

Jan 28, 2021 13:36:55 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

Jan 28, 2021 12:55:20 GMT -5 rowdawg21 said:

Am I misinterpreting the email that was sent out today or is the "&" album only available on vinyl?

Correct: even though 2/6 of that album are out, that ones gonna only be available for church choir members. Although I’m sure they’ll end up on YouTube or something eventually

My understanding of the email was that Church Choir members would be the only ones to have access to the vinyl, not that it would only be available that way. It could be available on vinyl only in physical form possibly, but I think it'll be available on streaming

[George Strait Junkie]

I have no idea what’s going on but I managed to pre-order the & album but the white versions of the other 2 were gone oh well so I pre-ordered the regular black ones plus the cds man I hope the & gets a cd copy


By the way it looks like “Heart on Fire” will be released digitally at midnight as it’s up for the choir to listen to right now

[gardyfan]

So what I am seeing is only the vinyl went on preorder today?

EDIT: I found them. I guess & isn't going to be on CD at all.

I guess I'm okay getting it on vinyl. Need to buy a record player anyways since I got Garth's Legacy set. & is basically free for me since I still had the discount code Choir members get every year for $13 off of music.

[gardyfan]

Jan 28, 2021 13:58:14 GMT -5 castleoblivion26 said:

Jan 28, 2021 13:36:55 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

Correct: even though 2/6 of that album are out, that ones gonna only be available for church choir members. Although I’m sure they’ll end up on YouTube or something eventually

My understanding of the email was that Church Choir members would be the only ones to have access to the vinyl, not that it would only be available that way. It could be available on vinyl only in physical form possibly, but I think it'll be available on streaming

If it was going to be on CD I would have thought it would have been up for preorder today with the other 2?

[CoJoFan]

Ok I didn’t know where to ask this but who was the female artist who recently released an album that had a song that featured Reba McEntire about being a redhead? For some reason I was thinking it was Tenille Townes but I was wrong.

[raylatch98]

Jan 29, 2021 16:31:45 GMT -5 CoJoFan said:

Ok I didn’t know where to ask this but who was the female artist who recently released an album that had a song that featured Reba McEntire about being a redhead? For some reason I was thinking it was Tenille Townes but I was wrong.

Caylee Hammack released it last year

[slowmo]

No date yet, but a new Blake album coming this year that they're working on right now. Happy Anywhere and Minimum Wage are part of it and not standalone singles.

There was a good interview with Scott Hendricks that Variety published yesterday.

Blake Shelton’s Producer, Scott Hendricks, Adds ‘Minimum Wage’ to Their Maxi-Streak of Smashes: Hitmaker of the Month

[schnetzka]

I could have sworn Blake said he was done releasing albums and was just going to release singles. I wonder what changed his mind... (I'm glad he changed his mind).

[stanches2318]

Roxan has an EP coming out on Friday.