Rodney Crowell To Release “Then Again” ft. Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Benmont Tench, and More

Rodney Crowell will release Then Again on June 26, 2026 via New West Records. The 10-track set was produced by Crowell and Steuart Smith with additional production by Dan Knobler. Largely recorded two decades ago, the previously unreleased album features appearances by Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, Benmont Tench, as well as Emmylou Harris and Lera Lynn on the bonus track, “Go Light a Candle.” Crowell says, “I guess you could call it a lost album. I stumbled upon it in my vault at home. I’d forgotten about it completely.” Musically, Then Again is as varied and inventive as anything he’s ever done and a twenty-year wait means it is haunted by ghosts: old songs and old possibilities, as well as old compadres, old heroes, and at the center of it all an old version of Crowell himself. He says, “I’m glad I put it on the shelf, because now is the time for it. It may not be the time for it for the rest of the world, but it’s time for it for me.” Then Again has been biding its time, waiting for the moment when its songs would hit hardest. And they hit incredibly hard now, largely because age and experience have granted the legendary Crowell a richer perspective.

Today, Variety premiered the album's first single, “Are You One Of Us?,” saying "It might seem odd that anyone could record an album as first-rate as Then Again and then not only shelve it, but forget about it. But not everyone is Rodney Crowell..." The duet, or perhaps more accurately, a musical debate with the late, great Guy Clark, is the final recording between the two friends and collaborators. "Are You One of Us?" is about fractured communities in America, defining themselves as much by who they exclude as by who they welcome. Crowell says, “It’s two narrators, and I couldn’t think of anybody for the answer lines. I knew I needed someone who could sound like he knew he was smarter than the rest of you. Guy did it so beautifully.” The duo bring a bit of world-weary wisdom to a song that poses questions rather than provides answers—both a protest song about social and financial inequity and a sympathetic inquiry into some of the basest human instincts. Hear, “Are You One Of Us? (ft. Guy Clark)” HERE.

Back in 2006, Crowell was coming off a trilogy of albums—The Houston Kid in 2001, Fate’s Right Hand in 2003, The Outsider in 2005—that re-established him as a fearless voice in Americana and attracted new generations of fans drawn to his compassionate storytelling, his detail-laden songwriting, and his eloquent outrage over political injustices. In 2005, he went into Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville with the same band backing him, including Steuart Smith on guitar and co-producing with Crowell, and Benmont Tench flying in to play organ. But when he heard the masters, something didn’t feel quite right. He struggled to figure out exactly what was wrong or what was missing. “There was much talk of the previous albums as a trilogy, so when I finished this one, I listened to it and thought, Oh shit, I just hear all the same sounds and techniques glaring at me. I needed to have a different experience, so I went out to L.A. to make a record with Joe Henry.” Twenty years later, when he found the album in his vaults, he couldn’t remember exactly what tripped him up. He decided it was finally time, if only because “I heard a record I wasn’t sick of. I was no longer sick of myself. That’s what 20 years will do for you.” Putting the finishing touches on Then Again was a lot like catching up with old friends. “I just loved what happened once I rediscovered it. I wanted to call these guys up and say, Hey! Let’s make a new record. Then Again is like having one last dance with those guys.”

Added to the original Then Again sessions are two newly recorded selections, “If I Could Speak to Leonard,” a love letter to the late Leonard Cohen written before his death in 2016, as well as the new “Go Light a Candle,” which features Emmylou Harris and Lera Lynn (which was released last year).

Once lost and now found, Then Again, is something Rodney Crowell of the 2000s could never have predicted but something the Rodney Crowell of the 2020s recognizes instinctively: a work of nuance, insight, and sensitivity that considers death but celebrates life. “I’m trying to understand that this spirit of mine is going to leave this body and go off somewhere else. I’ve got a pretty good idea that it’s going to be someplace good, but I still need to perfect some part of my spiritual journey here before I check out. I can see that in these songs now.”

Rodney Crowell is set to launch tour dates next Saturday, April 25th in Badalona, Spain in support of last year’s Airline Highway. Met with critical acclaim, MusicRow exclaimed, “This singer-songwriter belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame” while Saving Country Music said “Rodney Crowell has been one of the most inspiring and influential characters in the history of country music in a career that spans well over 50 years.”

Then Again will be available across streaming platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. Limited “Swamp Green” vinyl and compact disc editions, both autographed by Rodney Crowell, will be available at Independent Retailers and are available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.