Everything We Know About the Highwomen’s Self-Titled Debut Album
The Highwomen -- the all-female supergroup comprised of Amanda Shires, Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Maren Morris -- are gearing up to release their first full-length project. The band's name is inspired by another iconic country supergroup, the Highwaymen (no, it's not a pot reference).
The Highwomen came to be, in part, because of a desire to foster connections between female artists and help continue the strong tradition of women in country music that the collective's members enjoyed growing up. "Almost all of us are mothers of young girls. And we all grew up listening to country music," Carlile explains. "We recognize that we're in a time right now where our daughters don't have the same country music heroes that we had.
"Our goal is simply to elevate all women and completely abandon the concept of competing with one another," she adds. "So that we can let as many women through the door as possible, and give our girls those country music heroes that we all had."
Read on to learn everything we know about the Highwomen's upcoming new album.
The Title
The Highwomen's debut album will be a self-titled project.
The Release Date
During CMA Fest 2019, Carlile stated that the album was "finished," and on July 19, the Highwomen revealed that their album will be out on Sept. 6. The project is available for pre-order now, with $4 from each merch bundle purchase going to the non-profit organization She Is the Music.
The Record Label
The Highwomen will be releasing their new album via Low Country Sound and Elektra Records, which is part of Warner Music Group. The label is Carlile's home as a solo artist.
The Producer
The Highwomen's new album was produced by Nashville mainstay Dave Cobb, who has produced material for Shires, Carlile and Morris previously. At a recent listening party in Nashville, Cobb introduced the band by saying, "This project represents four badass women who cannot be contained," according to MusicRow.
The Album Cover
The Highwomen's debut album cover is a black-and-white shot of Carlile, Hemby, Morris and Shires, with the band's name above them in block lettering.
The Single
The Highwomen released their first single, "Redesigning Women," on July 19. Hemby co-wrote the song with Rodney Clawson; Carlile's collaborators, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, play bass and acoustic guitar, respectively, while Shires' husband, Jason Isbell, plays electric guitar. Elizabeth Olmstead directed the accompanying music video.
The Songs
In March, Carlile shared that she and Jimmy Webb, the songwriter behind the song "Highwayman," had worked on an updated version of the track for the Highwomen, this time focusing on the "stories of women who died in protest." Per MusicRow, those stories include "a woman who fled violent Honduras, a healer who was convicted of witchcraft, a Freedom Rider who gave her life to the civil rights movement and a female preacher accused of heresy." "Highwomen" opens the The Highwomen album.
MusicRow describes the songs "Loose Change," "Crowded Table" and "Redesigning Women" as having "feminist angles." "If She Ever Leaves Me," meanwhile, is reported to be a classic country story song told from a lesbian perspective, while the project will also include uptempo tracks named "My Name Can't Be Mama Today," "Don't Call Me" and "Heaven Is a Honky-Tonk."
Lori McKenna, Miranda Lambert and Laura Veltz, among others, all contributed their songwriting talents to the project, MusicRow reports. Additionally, Carlile has said that Yola and Sheryl Crow are both "honorary Highwomen" who contributed to the project; a press release confirms that Cobb, Isbell and the Hanseroths, along with Chris Powell and Peter Levin, all play on the record as well.
The Highwomen, The Highwomen Track Listing:
1. "Highwomen" (written by Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Jimmy Webb)
2. "Redesigning Women" (written by Natalie Hemby, Rodney Clawson)
3. "Loose Change" (written by Maren Morris, Maggie Chapman, Daniel Layus)
4. "Crowded Table" (written by Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Lori McKenna)
5. "My Name Can’t Be Mama" (written by Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires)
6. "If She Ever Leaves Me" (written by Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Chris Thompkins)
7. "Old Soul" (written by Maren Morris, Luke Dick, Laura Veltz)
8. "Don’t Call Me" (written by Amanda Shires, Peter Levin)
9. "My Only Child" (written by Natalie Hemby, Amanda Shires, Miranda Lambert)
10. "Heaven Is a Honky-Tonk" (written by Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Ray LaMontagne)
11. "Cocktail and a Song" (written by Amanda Shires)
12. "Wheels of Laredo" (written by Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth, Phil Hanseroth)
The Tour
The Highwomen haven't announced an official run of dates in support of the album yet, though Carlile has hinted that a "tour is being talked about." The band delivered their first full public set at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival, on July 26.
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