Rodney Crowell Announces Guest-Filled Album ‘Airline Highway’ & Shares Single Featuring Ashley McBryde

Veteran singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell recruited an impressive cast of guest musicians for his upcoming new album, Airline Highway, which will be released on August 29 through New West Records. Crowell shared the lead single from his 21st album, a duet with Ashley McBryde entitled “Taking Flight.”

McBryde co-wrote and provided vocals on “Taking Flight.” Additional contributors include Lukas Nelson, who co-wrote and sings on the opening track, “Rainy Days in California.” Blackberry Smoke guitarist Charlie Starr appears on “Heaven Can You Help.” The 10-song album also features vocals and slide guitar by Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell and Megan Lovell.

“This record is a document of me falling in love with these musicians,” Crowell stated. “That’s one of the great perks of this job – falling in love with the people you’re playing with. And we caught that on tape.”

Crowell recorded the follow-up to 2023’s The Chicago Sessions with producer Tyler Grant at engineer/mixer Trina Shoemaker’s Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana.

“It’s right at the place where nowhere becomes now here,” Crowell said. “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 eat.en by alligators … 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.”

Stream “Taking Flight” featuring Ashley McBryde via its official music video:

Airline Highway Tracklist

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