January 5, 2024: Today, the Josh Abbott Band shares new single “She’ll Always Be,” a sweetly poetic serenade to Abbott’s eternally free-spirited six-year-old daughter. The song is from the band’s seventh studio LP Somewhere Down The Road, due out on January 26, 2024 via their Pretty Damn Tough label. Over the next two days, the band will play a pair of shows at Fort Worth’s famed Billy Bob’s Texas club before heading out on the road for the Somewhere Down The Road tour next month. For a full list of dates, please see below or visit joshabbottband.com.
Produced by Dwight A. Baker (who also produced 2015’s Front Row Seat) and recorded at his Matchbox Studios in Austin, Somewhere Down The Road is the Josh Abbott Band’s first full-length LP since 2020’s critically-acclaimed The Highway Kind. It also marks the first effort from the band’s newly reconfigured lineup, including longtime members Eddie Villanueva (drums), Austin Davis (banjo), David Fralin (keys) and Jimmy Hartman (bass) as well as recent additions Adam Hill (fiddle) and guitarists Cale Richardson and Kris Farrow. Sonically, thematically and lyrically, the album represents the very beginning of a new chapter for the band.
“For a long period of time I wanted to write hooky three-minute songs that would sound good on the radio, but now I’m writing from the heart more than I ever have,” shares Abbott about the album. “This record came from getting back to who I really am as a songwriter, and there was a lot of exorcizing some of the demons from my past.”
A staple in the Texas music scene since forming in 2006 at Lubbock’s Texas Tech University, the Josh Abbott Band has become an icon in the Lone Star State thanks to numerous successful singles and albums over the last decade plus. The group’s relentless on-stage attitude quickly made it a successful touring act, building out from a Texas band to a regional act to a national crew with a devoted following from coast to coast. Over the course of their career, the group has earned two top 10 debuts on the Billboard country albums chart, two RIAA Certified Gold singles, two top 40 hits including features with Kacey Musgraves and Carly Pearce and upwards of 235 million streams, fully affirming JAB as a formidable force in modern country music.
Somewhere Down The Road tracklist:
1. Astronaut (Intro) (Josh Abbott, Dwight A. Baker)
2. Astronaut (Erik Dylan, Randy Montana, Driver Williams)
3. The Sale (Josh Abbott)
4. What Were You Thinking (Josh Abbott)
5. Guilt of a Man (Josh Abbott)
6. She’ll Always Be (Josh Abbott, Neil Medley, Grant Gilbert)
7. Somewhere Down The Road (Josh Abott, Jon Randall)
8. Back To Normal (Josh Abbott)
9. Closer To You (Erik Dylan, Doug Waterman)
10. Unplug The Jug (Ryan Beaver, Neil Medley, Joe Clemmons)
11. Barstool Boys (Josh Abbott, Erik Dylan, Josh Kiser)
12. Brutus Judas And You (Josh Abbott, Erik Dylan, Brett Sheroky)
