Rodney Crowell Duets With Ashley McBryde on ‘Taking Flight’

“The next time hell starts freezing over/be sure to give a call,” Rodney Crowell sings with Ashley McBryde on the new duet “Taking Flight,” a soaring blues-rock ballad about the miles and years separating former lovers. Ending with an electrifying solo by Tyler Bryant, “Taking Flight” appears on the songwriter’s upcoming studio album, Airline Highway.

Produced by Bryant, a Nashville guitar hero and solo artist, Airline Highway features cameos by McBryde, Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr, Lukas Nelson, and the country-rock sibling duo Larkin Poe — making for a particularly high-octane album.

“Ashley McBryde came over to the house to take a swing at writing a song together. ‘Flight’ is a fictional account of a discussion we had about stardom and driving at night in the south,” Crowell says of the collaboration with McBryde, who appears with the songwriter in the music video too. “With the exception of the Allman Brothers, I can’t say I was ever a fan of ‘Southern Rock.’ Tyler Bryant’s off the cuff solo at the end of the song made me reconsider.”

“Simply sitting across from Rodney is magical,” McBryde says. “Writing a song with an icon is such an honor and being able to call him my friend is one of the great joys of my life. ‘Taking Flight’ explored heartache on a plane I hadn’t been on before. For Rodney to choose me as a cowriter and a singer is something that only existed in my dreams. This record speaks for itself and I am so happy I get to be part of its journey.”

Airline Highway, due Aug. 29 on New West Records, is the follow-up to Crowell’s 2023 album with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, The Chicago Sessions. He says the idea for this record came during recording that album.

“A chance presented itself to make a record with Jeff Tweedy at his place in Chicago, something I’d always wanted to do. While we were recording, I got to thinking about the first time I sang into a microphone at JD Miller’s Studio in Crowley, Louisiana,” Crowell says. “The record is long forgotten, but not the experience. Producer Tyler Bryant, recording engineer Trina Shoemaker, and I were talking about what comes after The Chicago Sessions. I said, ‘How about Louisiana?’ Trina cried out, ‘I know the perfect plac e —Dockside Studios on the Vermillion River in Maurice. If we don’t get eaten by alligators,’ she said, ‘We’ll make a damn fine record.’ ‘Game on,’ Tyler and I shot back, and off we went. A chance to redeem myself after the pitiful drivel we’d put on tape back in Louisiana in ‘72. Airline Highway will take you there.”

Along with McBryde on “Taking Flight,” Nelson appears on “Rainy Days in California,” Starr sings on “Heaven Can You Help,” and Larkin Poe add their signature playing and harmonies on various tracks. Crowell, 74, will support the album with a tour kicking off May 30 in Arkansas and appearances at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville in September.

Airline Highway Track Listing: 
1. “Rainy Days in California” (Feat. Lukas Nelson)
2. “Louisiana Sunshine Feeling Okay” (Feat. Larkin Poe)
3. “Sometime Thang”
4. “Some Kind of Woman”
5. “Taking Flight” (Feat. Ashley McBryde)
6. “Simple (You Wouldn’t Call It Simple)”
7. “The Twenty-One Song Salute (Owed to G.G. Shinn and Cléoma Falcon)” (Feat. Tyler Bryant)
8. “Don’t Give Up on Me”
9. “Heaven Can You Help” (Feat. Charlie Starr)
10. “Maybe Somewhere Down the Road”