“I Hate To Make Any Huge Promises… But There’s Some Stuff Lying Around”: Could Turnpike Troubadours Be Releasing More New Music Sooner Than We Think?

As part of their recent headline UK tour, the Oklahoman red-dirt legends Turnpike Troubadours rolled into London’s Islington Assembly Hall, where they sat down with Holler ahead of their set to hint at what might be coming next.

Their latest album, Price of Admission, was released in April of this year to high critical acclaim, acting as the follow up to their 2023 comeback album A Cat in the Rain. With a billboard in Stillwater, the band gave the first indication of something being on the way. Then, the album was announced out of nowhere, giving their fans a week to get seriously excited about the forthcoming album drop.

Why? Well, Evan Felker, Turnpike Troubadours frontman, gave us a simple explanation: “It was fun and we just wanted for all this stuff to be fun, because it should be.”

“We want to get this out, play these songs live, write more songs, record more songs,” Felker expanded to Holler. As a band that captures such personal details in their music, an immediacy in recording and releasing of music can keep that momentum going: “It was way more gratifying to just be like, here it is and it’s out,” R.C. Edwards, Turnpike’s bass player, said. 

Reflecting on that release strategy, the group looked to what could be next for the band. They've been keeping busy opening for Zach Bryan, being part of the huge Boys from Oklahoma tour with Cross Canadian Ragweed, and playing a handful of headline shows too. However, they might have managed to find some writing and studio time along the way. “Does the writing continue?” Holler asked - with not a moment of hesitation, Felker replied “Oh yeah, definitely.”

“I think it’s our goal, and I hate to make any huge promises, but I think it’s our goal to put out more music,” Felker expanded. “There’s some stuff laying around that we might add onto this thing at some point in time,” he says, speaking about Price of Admission. Perhaps there could be a deluxe version on the way?

“We might do another record in a reasonable amount of time,” Felker added. Before the two year gap between the latest record and A Cat in the Rain, the band were on a long hiatus, leaving six years between new releases. The time was necessary for Felker to work on some personal issues relating to alcoholism and addiction, spending time in recovery and working his way back. Now the band are back in their happy and healthy prime, it could be that they’re keen to keep releasing music at regular intervals.

Price of Admission has been embraced by fans as somewhat of a clean slate for Turnpike Troubadours, it has very quickly become a “classic album” for its mix of reflective songs, bluegrass-inspired tracks and moments that call back to some of their time spent in the cajun honky tonk sound of their earlier days. When asked about how they approached the creation of the new album, Turnpike responded saying “we might have walked in thinking that we wanted to make a more country record.” The motto that they kept in mind throughout the process: “if we find situations where we are at a crossroads, always take the country path.”

What the next album from the ‘Heaven Passing Through’ band will sound like is yet to be discovered, however, when Holler asked if there was anything on the latest album that sparked a new idea moving forward, Ryan Engleman - Turnpike’s lead guitarist - seemed to suggest they would be following a similar strategy. “Leaning into what we did last time… we have this amount of time to do it and we’re going to do our damndest to finish it in that amount of time. Follow our instincts.”

So, by the sounds of it, perhaps the next record will have similar roots to the country-focused Price of Admission. One thing we might be able to rely on though, is the inclusion of a fast song, full of life: “I didn’t think we were in an era of people missing the barn burner fast songs. Once we graduated from A Thousand Cedars to these big, big venues, the energy of those songs kind of just gets lost in the air when you’re out in that big of a crowd. So it’s nice to see that level of interest in these fast bluegrass type songs again,” Felker said.

A track like new fan-favourite ‘Ruby Ann’ shows just how well Turnpike make these lively, bluegrass-style songs - so hopefully we’ll be hearing some more of those. “I thought we were just doing it because we liked it,” Felker explained. “That’s something that I think I took to heart from the process.” If Turnpike choose to follow the same process, an album similar to Price of Admission is definitely something to look forward to, that goes for both the band and their fans.

“We realise that we do like to do this, you know,” Felker said, “this isn't something we have to do, we really enjoy it.” If you’ve been lucky enough to see Turnpike live over the past couple of years, there’s no denying that they truly do love what they do, they shine on stage. As they look forward to what’s on the horizon for the group, capturing that joy again might just be what makes their future music a sure-fire success. Whether it’s live or in the studio, Turnpike’s passion comes through.

“The more we can put out, I think the happier we are, and I think the happier everybody is.” We’re certainly happy to hear that over at Holler, and as Turnpike wrapped up their epic summer of shows in Dublin and the UK, they’ve left some very happy fans in their trail. Perhaps with new music on the way, hopefully that will continue.

For more on Turnpike Troubadours, see below: