Description
Label Review.
2015 album.
Our Overview.
Nashville’s one-man hit factory presses pause on the production line for a soulful solo debut. 13 years in the writing, the tracks on Traveller possess choruses as effortlessly infectious as anything Stapleton has gifted to high profile clients like Adele and Luke Bryan but there’s a fascinating desperation to the themes here. From the wild, sleepless delirium at the heart of “Parachute” to the bandit bluegrass on “Outlaw State of Mind”, this is country rock that’s unafraid to explore drink, drugs and a very dark underbelly.
His own website explains Released in May on Mercury Records Nashville, Traveller initially debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart with more than 27,000 albums sold, making it the best-selling first week by a debut country artist in 2015. The album also received immediate and extensive critical acclaim and landed him bookings on “Late Show with David Letterman,” “The View,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” among others.
Following a historic turn on the CMA Awards — Stapleton is the first artist to win Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year at the same awards – Traveller became the first album to re-enter the Billboard 200 all-genre album chart at No. 1, where it stayed for two straight weeks. Stapleton also performed a “show-stealing” (Rolling Stone) duet on the live awards show with superstar and friend Justin Timberlake, which Entertainment Weekly called, “an unapologetic display of abnormal levels of talent.”
Stapleton capped off the year with four nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards — Album of the Year, Best Country Album, Best Country Song (“Traveller”) and “Best Country Solo Performance (“Traveller”).
Co-produced with Dave Cobb, who is also nominated in the Producer of the Year category, Traveller is comprised of songs written throughout Stapleton’s 15-year career and evokes his childhood when country, blues, rock and R&B swirled together to create a distinctive sound that still resonates with modern fans. Beloved by critics, fans and fellow artists, the album has received “Best of 2015” attention at publications as diverse as Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, NPR Music, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Stereogum, Taste of Country, Noisey and many more.