Shooter Jennings pays homage to Hee Haw and the classic “Freedom Rock” TV commercials in a new music video that also announces his upcoming album, Shooter. The nine-song LP, due August 10th, reunites Jennings with producer Dave Cobb, who produced Jennings’ 2005 debut Put the O Back in Country.
In the inventive, nostalgic video released Friday, Jennings performs the album track “Fast Horses & Good Hideouts” as the music guest of his own variety show: Hey Shooter!, a nod to Hee Haw complete with hayseed jokes and a cornfield full of guests, including Elle King, Jerry Cantrell, comedian Jenny Johnson and Eighties child star Danny Cooksey.
“I had a lot of my friends come over from all eras of my life,” Jennings says of the all-star cast. “Like Danny Nordhol, who was in this band Motochrist and was the first person I ever met when I moved to L.A.”
For the performance of “Fast Horses & Good Hideouts,” Jennings re-creates the song live with help from long-time bass player Ted Russell Kamp and rising country rebel Jaime Wyatt. (Listen to the album version below.) The track was inspired in part by actor Randy Quaid, who signed a note to Jennings with “here’s to fast horses and good hideouts” (Jennings gave Quaid a writing credit), and also pays tribute to Jennings’ best friend and manager Jon Hensley, who died in 2015. The song is the first taste of the upcoming Shooter project, which Jennings calls his “Bocephus record,” the follow-up to his electronica album Countach (For Giorgio).
“I was looking at country music and looking at my place in it and I had a different perspective after doing Countach,” he tells Rolling Stone Country. “Nobody is cutting a honky-tonk Hank Williams Jr. record right now. That is still missing from country and that’s what I and a lot of people want to hear. Everything is so politically divisive and everybody wants a break from that shit, and it’s that downhome attitude that this music was born out of.”
Shooter is available for pre-order now and will be released via Low Country Sound/Elektra. Jennings will support the album with a lengthy tour, including dates with the Turnpike Troubadours and Jessi Colter. See the full list of dates below.
Here’s the track list for Shooter:
1. “Bound Ta Git Down”
2. “Do You Love Texas?”
3. “Living In A Minor Key”
4. “D.R.U.N.K.”
5. “Shades & Hues”
6. “I’m Wild & My Woman Is Crazy”
7. “Fast Horses & Good Hideouts”
8. “Rhinestone Eyes”
9. “Denim & Diamonds”
May 18 – Ben Wheeler, TX @ Moore’s Store
May 19 – Rockwall, TX @ Rockwall Founders Day
June 2 – Brighton, CO @ Summerfest
June 8 – Austin, TX @ Republic of Texas Biker Rally
June 15 – Wappapello, MO @ The Camp at Lake Wappapello
June 16 – Kansas City, KS @ Tumbleweed
June 21 – Belton, TX @ Schoepf’s Backyard
June 22 – Splendora, TX @ Coals Smokehouse
June 23 – Pilot Point, TX @ Western Son Distillery
June 24 – Dallas, TX @ Taste of Dallas @ Gas Monkey Garage
June 27 – Bonita Springs, FL @ Southwest Florida Event Center
June 28 – Tampa, FL @ The Attic
June 29 – Tallahassee, FL @ Fifth and Thomas
June 30 – Blairsville, GA @ Granddaddy Mimm’s Distillery *
July 4 – Wayne, NE @ The Beaumont
July 5 – Lincoln, NE @The Royal Grove
July 6 – Tulsa, OK @ The Shrine
July 7 – Amarillo, TX @ Will Rogers Riders Rodeo
July 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall
July 13 – La Crosse, WI @ Cavalier Theater
July 14 – Mankato, MN @ Vetter Stone Amphitheater †
July 27 – Houston, TX @ Lawn at White Oak Music Hall †
July 28 – New Braunfels, TX @ Whitewater Amphitheater †
August 2 – Sacramento, CA @ Sofia Tsakopoulos Center
August 4 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley
August 8 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
August 10 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s
August 11 – Hollywood, CA @Troubadour
August 22 – Washington, DC @ City Winery
August 23 – Milton, WV @ Milton Performing Arts Center
August 24 – Winston-Salem, NC @ The Ramkat
August 25 – Black Mountain, NC @ Jam In The Trees
August 31 – Columbia, MO @ 9th Street Summerfest †
September 2 – Beaver Dam, KY @ Beaver Dam Amphitheater †
September 6 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl
September 7 – Bristol, TN –@ Maddie & Hall
September 8 – Atlanta, GA @ Harley Davidson of ATL
September 9 – Columbia, SC @ The Senate
September 12 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge
September 13 – Indianapolis, IN @ HiFi ^
September 14 – Springfield, MO @ The Riff
September 15 – Lee’s Summit, MO @ Legacy Park Amphitheater
September 22 – Tahlequah, OK @ Medicine Stone Festival †
September 27 – St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
September 28 – Wisconsin Dells, WI @ Kilbourn City Live
September 29 – Ferndale, MI @ Magic Bag
September 30 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
October 4 – Saskatoon, SK @ Broadway Theatre
October 5 – Cadillac, SK @ Cadillac Hall
October 6 – Edmonton, AB @ River Cree Casino ‡
October 13 – Ashland, KY @ Ashland River Front
October 20 – Fort Worth, TX @ KFWR Annual Ranch Bash
November 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
November 11 – Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
* w/Waymore’s Outlaws
† w/Turnpike Troubadours
‡ w/Jessi Colter
^ w/ Charley Crockett