The band’s new album, Outrun, is due out May 23rd on Sun Records
For the last two decades, Grammy-winning quintet The SteelDrivers have had a pretty simple process of whittling down songs to record for their new albums: Do we all like them? Do they have that SteelDrivers sound? With their new single, “Booze and Cigarettes”—the latest from Outrun, the band’s upcoming album on the legendary Sun Records—the choice was a no-brainer. Like most SteelDrivers songs, there’s a good time layer to their bluegrass Americana styling with a slight tinge of something deeper at play. But make no mistake, it’s a catchy number that will be stuck in listeners’ heads well after the first listen.
“I stop by right around 5 almost every day / I work close by and this little dive keeps calling out my name,” sings SteelDrivers guitarist Matt Dame to set the scene. “I can’t say I’m a regular, I ain’t quite there yet / I’m just here for the booze and cigarettes.” The walking bass line and chugging mandolin wind their way around a bluesy arrangement. Fiddle and banjo dance over the top leading into the song’s chorus, putting a little dark spin on the dive bar aesthetic: “The booze goes down easy / And the smoke calms my nerves / It’s like nobody sees me / Sitting here all alone getting just what I deserve.” “I wrote this one about seven or eight years ago with Verlon Thompson,” says SteelDrivers fiddler, Tammy Rogers. “That’s the great thing about songs…they don’t have an expiration date!”
“Booze and Cigarettes” is the latest single from Outrun, which is due out on May 23rd. The project features the classic, blues-infused bluegrass sound the band has been known for for two decades now, freewheeling and fun, rich with stories and singalongs alike. Beyond the ever-evolving musical nature of The SteelDrivers, this seamless ebb and flow between intricate bluegrass and the hardscrabble blues, another key element of Outrun is this underlying tribute to late founding member Mike Henderson. And though Henderson passed away in 2023, his memory and presence is still profoundly felt by the group, onstage and in the studio.
In addition to rolling out their new album, The SteelDrivers are celebrating quite the milestone this year with The SteelDrivers 20th Anniversary Tour.
