Rodney Crowell released his anticipated Airline Highway today via New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by Tyler Bryant and recorded & mixed by Trina Shoemaker in New Orleans, Louisiana. Crackling with live-wire energy, the wise and vibrant album features contributions from some of the most exciting young blues and country artists working today, all of whom count Crowell as a foundational influence. Ashley McBryde co-wrote and sings on “Taking Flight,” Lukas Nelson co-wrote and sings the opener “Rainy Days in California,” Blackberry Smoke guitarist Charlie Starr sings on “Heaven Can You Help,” while Rebecca & Megan Lovell from Larkin Poe add harmonies and slide guitar throughout. Met with critical acclaim, 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 now spans well over 50 years" while NPR Music said "...he has continued to be one of the great songwriting masters of Country and Americana." PopMatters said, “Since the death of Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell has assumed the crown as the King of Country Music, at least the Americana side of the genre," No Depression said "...ceaselessly inventive, he fearlessly blazes new imaginative trails through familiar musical landscapes," while MusicRow said “This singer-songwriter belongs in the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
Airline Highway began when Crowell met Bryant, a young guitarist and producer whose band The Shakedown have toured with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Guns n’ Roses, AC/DC, among others. Crowell says, “He’s one of the most impressive young men I’ve met in a long time. As soon as I met him, I thought, ‘let’s go!’ We immediately started going back and forth between my home studio and his, making demos and talking about what we wanted to do.” A few months later, they packed up a truckload of gear to make the journey down to his old friend Trina Shoemaker’s remote Dockside Studio, in Maurice, Louisiana. “It’s right at the place where nowhere becomes now here,” Crowell laughs. “It’s got a great vibe, and the band all lived under the same roof. The beautiful Vermilion River is nearby. We thought with any luck we’d get eaten by alligators.”
The band worked fast and loose, rarely doing more than two or three takes of any particular song. The lively music and the humid surroundings unlocked old memories and complicated feelings for Crowell, and the players made sure the music reflected all that joy and loss and regret and wonder. “There’s a romance to the swamp, the semi-tropical climate. We put it to good use, even if it was just me romanticizing my connection to Louisiana."
Crowell has driven many of those backroads when he was growing up on the east side of Houston. Just a few hours west of the state line, he made wild forays into Louisiana as a young man to drink or carouse or mostly catch live music. “You could buy beer in Louisiana without a license, so as soon as we could get away from our parents, my friends and I would drive over the line and go to this club called The Big Oaks Club, where this band called The Boogie Kings played swamp pop soul. In fact, the first recording I ever did was when my buddy and I went over to Crowley, Louisiana, to record at JD Miller’s studio above a beauty shop. But it never came out because the songs we wrote weren’t any good!” It was a humble start to a long and celebrated career for Crowell, who brought a little bit of that swamp-pop fervor to Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band in the 1970s.
Airline Highway focuses on finding new perspectives on your past while living contentedly in the present moment. This is an album about moving on to something new—a different place to call home, a more compassionate understanding of an old love affair, or just the next song on the jukebox. “At a basic level there are a lot more years behind me than there are ahead of me,” Crowell says. “I’m up in the seventh decade of my life,” he says with a laugh, “and I’m glad that I’m still looking forward to certain things I want to do. My ambition isn’t to be a household name anymore. My ambition is to be satisfied with the work that I do. I’m at a place where it really is about having fun.”
Crowell has also announced his initial tour dates in support of Airline Highway. Launching October 1 at Largo in Los Angeles, the tour will feature stops at The City Winery in NYC, The Heights Theater in Crowell’s hometown of Houston, TX, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, IL, and more. The Secret Sisters, Thomas Csorba, and William Elliott Whitmore will appear as special guests on select dates. Prior to the Airline Highway tour, Crowell will make anticipated appearances at The Grand Ole Opry on September 3 as well as the Americanafest in Nashville, TN on September 13. Please see tour dates below.
Rodney Crowell moved to Nashville in the early 1970s, coming to prominence first as a writer before establishing himself as a critically acclaimed solo artist in his own right. With 15 #1 songs on the country music charts throughout his career, along with two GRAMMY Awards, he has written hits for such country legends as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and George Strait, as well as for current chart toppers like Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. He’s been covered by r&b icons (Etta James) and rock legends (Van Morrison, Bob Seger). Last month, the legendary Willie Nelson released his 77th solo studio album, Oh What A Beautiful World which featured new interpretations of 12 classic songs written or co-written by Crowell and features a duet between Nelson and Crowell on its title track.
Throughout the last 20 years, he has been celebrated by the music industry. In 2003, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting from the Americana Music Association. In 2017 he was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award, and in 2019 he was presented with the Poet’s Award by the Academy of Country Music. In addition to his prolific output as a singer, songwriter, and producer, he also found time to become a celebrated author, publishing his memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, and a lyrical retrospective, Word for Word, both to widespread praise. This year, he was inducted into the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters alongside Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry, and Sandra Cisneros.
Airline Highway is available across digital platforms, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited blue color vinyl edition autographed by Rodney Crowell, as well as a limited and autographed CD edition, is available at Independent Retailers. An extremely limited-to-100 yellow & purple split color “Bayou Vinyl Edition” is available exclusively at Louisiana and Texas retailers. An autographed CD edition and orange color vinyl edition limited-to-250 is available NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
Airline Highway Track Listing:
1. Rainy Days In California (Feat. Lukas Nelson)
2. Louisiana Sunshine Feeling Okay (Feat. Larkin Poe)
3. Sometime Thang
4. Some Kind Of Woman
5. Taking Flight (Feat. Ashley McBryde)
6. Simple (You Wouldn’t Call It Simple)
7. The Twenty-One Song Salute (Owed to G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon) (Feat. Tyler Bryant)
8. Don’t Give Up On Me
9. Heaven Can You Help (Feat. Charlie Starr)
10. Maybe Somewhere Down The Road
Rodney Crowell On Tour:
September 3 - Nashville, TN - The Grand Ole Opry
September 13 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley (Americanafest 2025)
October 1 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo #
October 21 - Pittsburgh, PA - City Winery *
October 22 - Phoenixville, PA - The Colonial Theatre *
October 23 - Washington, DC - Lincoln Theatre *
October 25 - Westerly, RI - United Theatre *
October 26 - New York, NY - City Winery *
October 28 - Richmond, VA - Tin Pan #
November 7 - Houston, TX - Heights Theatre ^
November 9 - Dallas, TX - The Kessler ^
November 13 - Montgomery, AL - Montgomery PAC *
November 14 - Decatur, AL - Princess Theater #
November 15 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage *
November 18 - Madison, WI - Atwood Music Hall +
November 19 - Iowa City, IA - Englert Theatre +
November 20 - St. Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theater *
November 22 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music *
Mar. 13 - 20 2026 - Miami, FL - Cayamo Cruise 2026
* With guests The Secret Sisters
^ With guest Thomas Csorba
+ With guest William Elliott Whitmore
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