Charley Crockett Introduces His New Shooter Jennings-Produced Album ‘Lonesome Drifter’ with Swaggering Title Track

Charley Crockett announced his new album Lonesome Drifter yesterday (January 30). He produced the forthcoming 12-song collection which features his road band with Shooter Jennings. Today, he shared the title track and lead single. Listen to “Lonesome Drifter” below.

Crockett spoke about creating Lonesome Drifter with Jennings at Los Angeles, California’s legendary Sunset Sounds Studio in a statement. “Shooter and I barely talked about it. I just brought all my guys out, and the album made itself,” Crockett shared. “It was live without a lot of overdubs. There were no inhibitions. I wasn’t being judged, and I didn’t feel self-conscious,” he added. “Shooter knew how to cut loose and let things unfold.”

[RELATED: Watch Charley Crockett Deliver a Subtle But Poignant Message with His Waylon Jennings Cover at Farm Aid]

Charley Crockett Has Been Working on “Lonesome Drifter” for Years

Charley Crockett is a prolific songwriter. As a result, not everything he pens will immediately go onto an album. However, some songs stand the test of time and eventually find their way onto a tracklist. That was the case for “Lonesome Drifter.”

“I started writing the song back when I was still playing in subways in New York. It’s how I learned to play electric guitar with an amp on my shoulder,” Crockett shared. “While I was waiting for the next train, I wrote songs. A few years later, I was in California working on the ganja farms, and I came up with the ‘Lonesome Drifter’ section,” he recalled. “When I arrived on the West Coast, I worked to stay out there as a drifter, so I could get away with playing music for a living. At night, I was doing heavy electric blues and hillbilly sh*t at local bars for six hours,” he added.

“Shooter got me back into that mindset. The burden of becoming a troubadour is you’re standing in a position that gives you a clear perspective of the struggles of humans,” he explained. “When all is said and done, everyone is just seining a hammer to survive.”

Lonesome Drifter Tracklist and Information

Charley Crockett will release Lonesome Drifter, his Island Records debut, on March 14. Fans can pre-order or pre-save the album today.

Tracklist:

“Lonesome Drifter” (Charley Crockett)
“Game I Can’t Win” (Crockett)
“Jamestown Ferry” (Bobby Borchers, Mack Vickery)
“Easy Money” (Crockett)
“Under Neon Lights” (Crockett)
“This Crazy Life” (Crockett)
“The Death of Bill Bailey” (Crockett)
“Never No More” (Alan Block, Don Hect, Rita Ross)
“Life of a Country Singer” (Crockett, Shooter Jennings, Kyle Madrigal, Richard Lenz, Brotherton Jr.)
“One Trick Pony” (Crockett, Francis Farrell McDaniel)
“Night Rider” (Crockett)
“Amarillo by Morning” (Terry Stafford, Paul Fraser)

Featured Image by Gary Miller/Getty Images