Stuart gains "Altitude"

This is Stuart's first album in seven years. The title track was released as was the previously released single "Country Star." Altitude is now available for pre-order.

"I've been quoted as saying the most outlaw thing you can possibly do in Nashville, Tenn. these days is to play country music. It can be done," Stuart sasid. "On 'Altitude,' there's twin fiddles, steel guitar and the legendary Pig Robbins playing piano on what turned out to be one of his last recording sessions. The song is a reminder to me, and to anyone else still interested, that there's a few of us out here who still know how to make authentic country music. I have an absolute belief that there's a world of people out there who still love it, as my wife Connie Smith says it's the 'cry of the heart,' Harlan Howard said 'it's' three chords and the truth' - that's country music."

"I've always loved songs that feel like old friends but still sound new and fresh," said Stuart. "The beautiful thing about country music is that the blueprint Jimmie Rodgers laid down—rambling, gambling, sin, redemption, Heaven, Hell—it's all just as relevant now as it ever was. It's the human condition, and if you're honest about it and you've got a real band around you, you can make something that's uniquely yours and stands the test of time."

Recorded in Nashville with his longtime band The Fabulous Superlatives – Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs – the collection finds Stuart picking up where he left off on 2017's "Way Out West," exploring a country landscape populated by dreamers and drifters, misfits and angels, honky-tonk heroes and lonesome lovers. Written primarily on the road, the collection was inspired in large part by Stuart's 2018 tour supporting Byrds co-founders Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, who reunited for the 50th anniversary of their seminal Sweetheart Of The Rodeo album.

"I bought my first copy of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo for $2.99 at the discount bin in a shopping mall record store in Goodlettsville, Tenn., and it became the blueprint for my musical life," Stuart said. "Revisiting it on the road with Roger and Chris put me back under its spell all over again. I was writing songs in dressing rooms and soundchecks and on the bus, and then one day, I looked up, and there was enough to make an album."

The tour kicks off tonight in Chattanooga, Tenn. with a performance at Stagecoach Music Festival on April 29. This summer, he will hit the road with Chris Stapleton for a run of dates. Tickets are on sale now, with more dates to be announced later this year.

The track list is:
1) Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 1)
2) Country Star
3) Sitting Alone
4) A Friend Of Mine
5) Space
6) Altitude
7) Vegas
8) The Sun Is Quietly Sleeping
9) Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 2)
10) Night Riding
11) Tomahawk
12) Time To Dance 13) The Angels Came Down 14) Lost Byrd Space Train (Epilogue)

Tour dates are:
Feb. 9 – Chattanooga, TN – The Walker Theatre
Feb. 10 – Augusta, GA – Imperial Theatre
Feb. 11 – Shelby, NC – Don Gibson Theatre
Feb. 17 – Clearwater, FL – Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
Feb. 18 – Ocala, FL – Reilly Arts Center
Feb. 19 – Stuart, FL – Lyric Theatre
Feb. 20 – Key West, FL – Key West Theatre
Feb. 23 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre Jacksonville
Feb. 24 – Decatur, AL – Princess Theater
March 4 – Hopkins, MN – Hopkins Center for the Arts
March 5 – Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folks Music
March 10 – Fayetteville, AK – Starr Theater - Walton Arts Center
March 24 – St. Louis, MO – Sheldon Concert Hall
March 25 – Senatobia, MS – Northwest Mississippi Community College for the Performing Arts
April 6-7 – Vienna, VA – The Barns at Wolf Trap
April 14 – Easton, PA – State Theatre Center for the Arts
April 15 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
April 16 – Wilmington, DE – Copeland Hall
April 27 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Tucson Theatre
April 28 – Scottsdale, AZ – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
April 29 – Indio, CA – Stagecoach Festival
May 4 – Lincolnton, GA – Little Roy & Lizzy Music Festival
May 13 – Greeneville, TN – Niswonger Performing Arts Center
June 2 – Shipshewana, IN – Blue Gate Performing Arts Center
June 15 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena #
June 16 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater #
June 22 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena #
June 23 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena #
July 6 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater #
July 19 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center #
July 20 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre #
Aug. 10-11 – Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion #
Sept. 30 – Steelville, MO – Wildwood Springs Lodge
# - with Chris Stapleton