Rachel Parker
Audio By Carbonatix
By now, we know Charley Crockett does whatever the hell he wants. That includes surprise dropping a new record called Clovis on Tuesday night. But though the outlaw country musician has become known as a prolific artist (Clovis marks his sixth LP released since 2024 and his 17th overall), we didn’t expect two albums just weeks apart.
Earlier this month, the San Benito, Texas, native — though we’re proud to claim him as one of our own through his long roots in North Texas — released Age of the Ram, the final installment of his Sagebrush Trilogy, a series of concept albums. In our track-by-track breakdown of Age of the Ram, we lauded his penchant for raw storytelling, noting “there’s a fearless honesty in every arrangement, lyric and beat as Crockett’s work showcases a master storyteller at work.”
Don’t expect a serving of more of the same on Clovis, though. His “no filler” approach takes the latest record in a different direction, one that’s less settled into the soft pensiveness found in the rolling hills and more road-warrior anthemic.
The album, which boasts 14 tracks and features co-production from frequent collaborator Shooter Jennings, feels like a course turn onto brighter, sunlit Texas backroads. “Down by Law” is laced with funk-tinged riffs and a bouncy hook. Elsewhere, “Eagle and the Crow” follows the same buoyant polarity of the record’s predecessor as Crockett sings, “I am a song and dance man/I got just what you need.” To be sure, he’s once again very much creating his own world here. The instrumental title track sounds like it could score an old Western tale set just before the turn of the 20th century.
“You can fuckin’ drop a record whenever the fuck you want,” Crockett says in a video posted to his Instagram last night. “And what’s more important to me is dropping all this really good art right now.” The video comes after Crockett recently cleared his Instagram, then uploaded a still of Marlon Brando as a bandit named Rio in the 1961 film One-Eyed Jacks. The photo shows Brando attempting to escape a jail cell; Crockett captioned it with a lone ram emoji. And it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that the album’s third track is titled “One Eyed Jack.”
We’ll let you draw your own conclusions there, but the sentiment seems to be a response to his leaving Island Records. According to Saving Country Music, Crockett is no longer with the major label through which he released his Sagebrush Trilogy. Clovis is listed as being released through “$10 Cowboy,” which mirrors his 2024 album of the same name.
As of publication, the record is only available to stream on Spotify. Crockett will be in town next on Aug. 28 at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth. We aren’t the betting kind around here, but the chances of him dropping at least one more album are better than zero.
