There’s a high noon showdown going on inside MULTI-PLATINUM star Dustin Lynch.
At 38 and single, he’s admittedly at a crossroads: Does he settle down, start a family, and lean into domesticity, or continue to carve out a life of extraordinary experiences that most people only dream of?
Announcing his statement-making sixth studio album, Killed The Cowboy, today, the charismatic man in the Resistol hat bravely tries to figure that out. Celebrating the September 29, 2023 release, Lynch is now featured across Paramount’s billboards in New York City’s Times Square in partnership with CMT. Pre-save/pre-add Killed The Cowboy (Broken Bow Records) here.
“When I’m off the road and working on my farm, I have a lot of inner dialogue. It’s a boxing match inside of me, between living in the moment and enjoying where I am, versus what’s the best version of me five, 10, or 20 years down the road,” Lynch explains. “What do I want to be? What do I want life to look like? Who do I want to be around? Killed The Cowboy is that back-and-forth. It’s me asking myself, ‘Am I okay? Or am I weird for not having found my person yet? And is she even out there?’ My hope is that this album finds someone who needs to hear it. I want Killed The Cowboy to embrace the single people of the world and lift them up, to let them know that you don’t have to live a ‘normal’ life to still be happy in your own skin.”
It’s a stunningly self-aware series of questions not only for Lynch to ponder, but for single and newly single people everywhere. Through his 12-track journey – with five to his songwriting credit – on Killed The Cowboy, they’ll realise they’re not alone, thanks to highlights like the introspective “If I Stop Drinkin’,” the shadowy ballad “Blue Lights,” and the yearning come-on “Lone Star.” But they’ll also find a friend at the party via his raise-‘em-up anthems, from “Honky Tonk Heartbreaker” and “George Strait Jr.,” to “Chevrolet” – a nostalgic dirt road rocker with Lynch’s labelmate Jelly Roll.
Available today (Sept. 8), the lone cowboy squares off in the brooding title track with a power strong enough to bring even the toughest man to his knees: “A girl like you.” Set to Zach Crowell’s moody production and creating a smoky, midnight-Country sound as muscular as it is wounded, the Jordan Reynolds, Devin Dawson, and Anderson East-penned ode captures a romantic duel where only one will walk away.
“When I first heard ‘Killed The Cowboy,’ I was drawn to its haunting melody, and then I got to thinking about the lyric and realized, ‘Damn, I’m this guy right now in my life,’” adds Lynch. “Relationships can come in hot and heavy and then implode. But that heartbreak, in a weird way, also makes you feel alive, to have another person move you like that. You feel that roller coaster of emotion and passion, and that sparks me creatively as an artist.”
Dustin Lynch’s Killed The Cowboy Track List:
1. “Killed The Cowboy” (Jordan Reynolds, Devin Dawson, Anderson East)*
2. “Honky Tonk Heartbreaker” (Dustin Lynch, Hunter Phelps, Zach Crowell, Ben Johnson)+
3. “George Strait Jr.” (Dustin Lynch, Hunter Phelps, Jordan Reynolds, Andy Albert)*
4. “Chevrolet (feat. Jelly Roll)” (Chase McGill, Jessi Alexander, Hunter Phelps, Mentor Williams)^
5. “If I Stop Drinkin’” (John Morgan, Dallas Davidson, Kyle Fishman, Jordan Minton)*
6. “Only Girl In This Town” (Devin Dawson, Josh Thompson, Kyle Fishman)#
7. “Breakin’ Up Down” (Hunter Phelps, Zach Crowell, Blake Pendergrass, Brent Anderson)*
8. “Trouble With This Truck” (Dustin Lynch, Hunter Phelps, Ashley Gorley, Zach Crowell)*
9. “Blue Lights” (Jameson Rodgers, Jake Mitchell, Brent Anderson, Hunter Phelps)*
10. “Lone Star” (Devin Dawson, Jordan Reynolds, Alysa Vanderheym)*
11. “Listen To The Radio” (Dustin Lynch, Hunter Phelps, Randy Montana, Ben Johnson)*
12. “Long Way Home” (Dustin Lynch, Kyle Fishman, Andy Albert)*
* Produced by Zach Crowell
+ Co-Produced by Zach Crowell and Ben Johnson
^ Co-Produced by Zach Crowell and Ben Phillips
# Co-Produced by Zach Crowell and Kyle Fishman
As the much-anticipated follow-up to Blue In The Sky, Lynch’s 2022 release delivered the history-making “Thinking ‘Bout You (feat. MacKenzie Porter),” which became the #1 song on the Mediabase 2022 Year-End Chart Country and #2 on the Billboard 2022 Year-End Country Airplay Songs chart. The PLATINUM, six-week #1 collaboration remains the longest-running Top 10 single in Billboard Country Airplay chart history at 28 weeks and Broken Bow Records’ longest-reigning single at Country radio. The acclaimed fifth studio album also featured hit “Party Mode” – launching an in-demand PARTY MODE TOUR – and Lynch’s latest chart-rising single “Stars Like Confetti,” that’s currently Top 15-and-rising at Country radio.