Shaboozey is set to return with a new album this year, and it just might be his most creatively ambitious project yet.
On July 31, he will release his fourth album, the concept project The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, via his record imprint American Dogwood in partnership with EMPIRE.
Overall, the concept album will feature a story arc that follows an outlaw revenge story. After watching as her sheriff father is killed by the Bootcut Boys, Cherie Lee begins to take revenge, until she unexpectedly begins to fall in love with one of those outlaws. That decision ultimately leads to disastrous consequences.
Shaboozey is known for his collaborations with artists including Jelly Roll, Stephen Wilson Jr., Sierra Ferrell and BigXthaPlug, and his upcoming album is set to feature more genre-melding collabs. Meanwhile, the lead single from The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, “Born to Die,” will release Friday.
Shaboozey will celebrate the album with a pop-up saloon experience at Stagecoach this year. The pop-up will run April 24-26 and will take fans inside a saloon environment that is inspired by the album’s narrative.
The new album follows his 2024 breakthrough project Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, which featured his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” a song that reigned at the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks. The song also spent seven weeks atop the Country Airplay chart, and Shaboozey followed with more Country Airplay No. 1s: “Amen” with Jelly Roll, and “Good News.” “Amen” also earned a Grammy for best country duo/group performance.
“Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going was a journal entry and an opportunity for the world to get to know more about me as a person,” Shaboozey said in a statement. “That album changed my life. I never expected people to connect with the album and enjoy it the way they did. But now I want to show the world who I am as an artist and storyteller. The Outlaw Cherie Lee is a project that’s been several years in the making and has gone through many iterations. It’s a western about revenge told continuously through every song, centered on the character Cherie Lee.”
He added, “It explores so many themes, as many timeless westerns have: revenge, redemption, and romance, through the eyes of a protagonist looking to challenge everything she once thought true about her world. I poured all of myself into this and I hope people become as immersed in the world and the journey as I have. This album was a promise to myself and something, no matter what, I had to keep. It pushed my songwriting and storytelling to new heights, and I couldn’t be more proud to say it’s done and almost yours.”
See the album trailer for The Outlaw Cherie Lee and Other Western Tales below:
