Rodney Crowell Goes Back to His Swampy Roots with New Single “The Twenty-One Song Salute (Owed to G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon)” (Exclusive Premiere)

Earlier this year, Rodney Crowell announced his next album, Airline Highway. Upon announcing the album, he shared the lead single, “Taking Flight,” which features Ashley McBryde. Then, last month, he shared “Sometime Thang.” Today (July 23), American Songwriter is proud to premiere the third single from the forthcoming record. Watch the official video for “The Twenty-One Song Salute (Owed to G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon)” below.

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Ahead of today’s premiere, Crowell sat down with American Songwriter to discuss the origins of his new single and its connection to his earliest recordings.

[RELATED: Rodney Crowell Announces New Album ‘Airline Highway’ with Devastating New Single ‘Taking Flight’ Featuring Ashley McBryde]

Rodney Crowell on His Swampy Roots and Latest Single

Rodney Crowell recorded Airline Highway at Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana. Being in the swampy area of Louisiana sparked a deep feeling of nostalgia for him. Raised in East Houston, Texas, he often traveled to Western Louisiana in his youth to bask in the music that came from the area and buy beer without an ID. Later, he would record his first songs in an old studio above a beauty shop in the Bayou State.

“That song, I can trace it back to the very first recording studio I entered to put music on tape,” Crowell said of his new single. “It was in Crowley, Louisiana, at JD Miller’s studio, which was famous. They used to make Race Records at JD Miller’s studio. So, it was swampy and mildewed,” he recalled.

The single’s title is an ode to two musicians who made those memorable times in Crowell’s youth possible. “I stole bits and pieces from 21 different songs to make my love of blue-eyed swamp-pop-soul known. As I was putting that puzzle together, G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon just kept whispering to me,” he said, explaining the song’s title.

 Who are G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon?

“G.G. Shinn was one of the lead singers of a band called the Boogie Kings. They played at a club called Big Oaks in Western Louisiana. Every music fan from Beaumont to Houston went there,” he explained. “We couldn’t get into the Big Oaks Club, but it was a clapboard building with people dancing and the Boogie Kings were playing blue-eyed soul with a four-piece horn section and two singers: G.G. Shinn and Jerry ‘Count Jackson.’ Even Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) was drawn over there,” he said of the club. “It was very much a part of my romantic attachment to performing. I grew up on Hank Williams, but right across the state line, you had the Boogie Kings.”

Cléoma Falcon, Crowell explained, was the first woman to record Cajun music in the 1920s. She was discovered in Crowley, Louisiana. Her recording helped shape the music of the area and had a huge impact on countless listeners and artists, including Crowell.

Airline Highway will hit record stores and digital streaming platforms on August 29. Pre-order or pre-save the album today.

Featured Image by Neilson Hubbard