Chris and Morgane Stapleton performed a “spellbinding” (Billboard) version of “Starting Over” during last night’s 54th Annual CMA Awards. Watch HERE. Later in the evening, Stapleton joined “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for “A Very Covid Christmas” and will return to the show tonight for a performance and chat with the host.
“Starting Over” is the title track of Stapleton’s anticipated new album, which will be released tomorrow on Mercury Records Nashville (pre-order/pre-save). As a special preview, SiriusXM will debut the full album today across all country channels. The special will feature stories and insight from the two men closest to the project, producer and six-time Grammy Award winner Dave Cobb and Stapleton himself. Full details here.
Already receiving widespread acclaim, the Associated Press declares, “a sure-footed masterpiece…one of the year’s finest albums,” while Entertainment Weekly praises, “…a dynamite and dynamic new album from the mighty-voiced Kentucky native…the singer-songwriter is hitting new heights, nailing the crossroads of country, rock, gospel, and pop across 14 tracks.” Stapleton was also recently featured on NBC’s “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist.” Watch the full profile HERE.
Starting Over is an album of startling prescience—completed in late February only days before the shutdown began. Across its fourteen tracks are songs that examine life’s simplest joys and most serious struggles. Alongside eleven songs written by Stapleton with both longtime friends and new collaborators are three carefully chosen covers: John Fogerty’s “Joy Of My Life” and Guy Clark’s “Worry B Gone” and “Old Friends.” The resulting album—both timely and timeless—speaks to and transcends the current moment in ways unimaginable even while it was being created.
The album finds Stapleton back in his second home, Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A (with additional work done at Muscle Shoals Sound and Compass Sound Studio), surrounded by his trusted collaborators as well as some new faces. Produced by Cobb (who also plays acoustic guitar), the record features his beloved wife, Morgane Stapleton (vocals, tambourine), with J.T. Cure (bass) and Derek Mixon (drums). Special guests include legendary musicians Mike Campbell (electric guitar), Benmont Tench (Hammond B3 organ) and Paul Franklin (pedal steel) as well as the All Voices Choir who are featured on “Watch You Burn,” written by Stapleton and Campbell.
Kentucky-born Stapleton is a 5x Grammy, 10x CMA and 7x ACM Award-winner and one of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians. Following 2015’s quadruple platinum breakthrough solo debut album Traveller, Stapleton released two No. 1 albums in 2017. Both From A Room: Volume 1 (certified platinum) and From A Room: Volume 2 (certified gold) take their name from legendary RCA Studio A, where they were recorded with Cobb. Released to overwhelming critical acclaim, The Tennessean praises, “Both are rich with the textures of Stapleton’s vocals that make him one of country music’s most beloved artists, classic country sounds and thoughtful articulate lyrics about love, life and pain.” He was recently announced as the first-ever “Artist-Songwriter of the Decade” recipient by the Academy of Country Music and, next year, will be the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show” tour is planned to resume next year. Highlights include headline shows at Washington State’s Gorge Amphitheatre, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, New York’s Madison Square Garden and “A Concert for Kentucky”—a special performance benefitting his newly created Outlaw State of Kind Hometown Fund to be held at University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field on April 24. Presented by Live Nation, the performance is the first concert ever held at UK’s Kroger Field and will feature very special guests Willie Nelson & Family, Sheryl Crow and Yola. 100% of the concert’s net proceeds will go toward Chris and Morgane Stapleton’s Outlaw State of Kind Hometown Fund. Established in partnership with the Blue Grass Community Foundation, the fund will specifically support local and national organizations directly impacting Kentucky, with initial grant distributions focusing on music and arts education. See below for complete itinerary.
