On April 11, 2025, fans across the country woke up to find The Price of Admission waiting for them on their streaming platform of choice. Hailed by many as some of the Turnpike Troubadours’ finest work, the band released it quietly and waited for the reaction. Before noon, the internet was abuzz, with hundreds of excited fans praising the arrangements, production, and above all, the songwriting. With the release of the new album, the Oklahoma-based Red Dirt legends signaled the beginning of a new era.
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Months after songs like “On the Red River,” “Heaven Passing Through,” and “What Was Advertised” captivated millions of country fans, Turnpike Troubadours’ principal songwriter and singer, Evan Felker, sat down with American Songwriter to discuss the present and future of the band.
Turnpike Troubadours Fans Will Continue to Be Surprised
Seeing a new Turnpike Troubadours album available to stream was a pleasant surprise for fans. However, it left many wondering why the band chose to release it without any fanfare.
“I had mixed feelings on those long releases. With the last one, it had been so long since we’d done a record, so there was a lot of hype and anticipation going into it,” Evan Felker says. “And I thought that was just too much. We realized that we don’t really work for anybody. We don’t have anybody to answer to. So, we are able to do things our own way,” he explains.
“Plus, we wanted to get it out there as quick as we could so we could start on the next project and get it out of our system,” he adds, casually hinting that new music is on the horizon. “To share the songs with people while you’re still close to the songs and close ot the creative process, and really know what those songs are about still, is a blessing.”
The release plan for The Price of Admission wasn’t a one-time thing. “I don’t see why not. I think that’s where we live, in the big scheme of things,” Felker says when asked if they’ll handle future releases the same way. “As an independent act, we get to do stuff like that. There’s nobody to tell us otherwise,” he adds.
The decision runs deeper than that, though. The reaction to the new album is, in part, why they’ll continue surprising fans. “I think it did as good or better, as far as successfully releasing a record. Secondly, I know the people who like our band had a much more pleasant experience with it, which is good. It’s always good when people walk away happy,” Felker explains.
Evan Felker on Touring While Sober
Before Turnpike Troubadours came out of their hiatus and hit the road again, Evan Felker quit drinking. During our conversation, we discussed how touring while in recovery is going for him.
“It was a little nerve-racking going from having never been sober on the road to actually touring as a person in recovery. It’s been so much easier. It has been amazing,” Felker says. “It’s a lot easier than it ever has been. I get some rest. I just go out there and play shows and sleep and eat. Our stuff is set up where traveling is a lot more functional and we’re able to do it in a pretty sustainable way,” he explains.
That was not always the case, though. “At one point, we’d get to where we were going and we were sharing a hotel room and were stuck in a bar all day,” he recalls. “Now, we’re kind of at a point in our career where we’re able to play these places that are good. We’ve got a good crew and everybody knows the drill. It’s not a party, really. It’s a safe place to be.”
Felker on His Writing Process
When we spoke, Evan Felker was taking a break from working with cows, preparing for fall. When he’s not working cattle, he stays busy in other ways. “I have a lot to do here, running cows. As much as I want to do. Then, we’ve got plenty to do with the kiddos. I took up roping, which is more addictive, I think, than drinking beer,” he says. “I get up early and try to accomplish something every day, if I’m not writing. If I’m writing songs, then I get up early and try to write two times a day and do whatever else in between.”
While some songwriters write constantly or spontaneously, Felker chooses to carve out time to sit down and put pen to paper. “I do the best when I schedule time and sit down and do it. You can have all the novel ideas in the world, and if you don’t get in that space where all your thoughts start to mix together and turn into something, they’re just novel ideas. They’re not songs. They’re not finished,” he explains of his process.
The Return of Lorrie and Other Turnpike Troubadours Fan Favorites
Turnpike Troubadours’ pre-hiatus albums contain an extended universe of sorts. Characters like Lorrie and Jimmy appear in multiple songs. Additionally, an heirloom Belgian-made Browning Auto-5 helped tie stories together between albums. Those characters have been absent from the band’s most recent releases. However, Evan Felker isn’t done with them.
“I have big plans to flesh all that stuff out and make that into one big project and let everybody have some finality with it,” Felker says. “It’s really just been snapshots. I use those characters in situations that I thought were particularly novel, that I knew I’d only get to write about one time, like the housefire stuff and the bird hunting stuff. I think we’ll definitely see more of that. Everybody can rest easy knowing that they’ll get some closure with those characters,” he adds. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when we can expect to hear that project.
A Proper Bossier City Release Is Possible
Turnpike Troubadours fans who have been around for a while know that there’s a “lost” album. They recorded Bossier City in 2007. It was an independent CD-only release that is no longer in circulation. Countless fans have expressed their desire to be able to stream or purchase the album. However, it hasn’t happened. Now, however, Felker says it is possible.
“I don’t see a reason not to do that,” Felker says when asked about a possible Bossier City release. “The only reason we ever quit making them was that the recording quality was just pretty low, and it just wasn’t super representative of the band, even up to the point when we did Diamonds & Gasoline. It was a completely different thing at that point in time,” he explains.
“It could be done very easily. I thought about re-recording it. It’s not like people would have to pay a million dollars for it or anything. That’s not a bad thing to do in the interim period.”
New Music Is Coming
While no one outside the Turnpike Troubadours camp knows when it will be released, Evan Felker revealed that new music is on the way.
“I have some other songs kind of laying around, and we’re going into the studio here pretty soon to sort of add onto The Price of Admission. Just some extra stuff, like a deluxe album kind of thing. It’s just stuff that we didn’t have finished or wasn’t fleshed out enough to do,” he reveals.
Featured Image by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
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