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Songwriter and musician Kendell Marvel will embark on his “Don’t Tell Me How To Drink” headline tour this fall with a stop at Nashville’s Exit/In on October 18.
The upcoming performances celebrate Marvel’s highly new album, Come On Sunshine, which will be released September 23. Ahead of the release, Marvel has unveiled three album tracks: “Put It In The Plate,” “Hell Bent On Hard Times,” and “Don’t Tell Me How To Drink” featuring Marvel’s longtime friend and collaborator, Chris Stapleton.
Produced by Beau Bedford (Paul Cauthen, Leah Blevins), executive produced by Marvel and recorded at Dallas’ Modern Electric Sound Recorders, Come On Sunshine explores the wide range of Marvel’s influences, both musically and through his choice of collaborators. To create these ten tracks, which delve into some of life’s most honest and authentic experiences, Marvel was joined by several renowned writers and musicians including Stapleton (vocals, electric guitar, songwriter), Dean Alexander (songwriter, background vocals), Al Anderson (songwriter), Dan Auerbach (songwriter), Nick Bockrath (electric guitar), Kolby Cooper (songwriter), Dan Dyer (background vocals), Devon Gilfillian (songwriter, background vocals), Josh Morningstar (songwriter), Waylon Payne (songwriter), Mickey Raphael(harmonica) and Dee White (songwriter).
Reflecting on the album, Marvel shares, “I’m 51 years old, which means I’m long past the point of catering to anybody. I’m just telling the stories I want to tell,” and continues, “I like to work with people who are different than me. Working with Beau Bedford in Dallas meant that I was playing with guys I’d never met before. Guys who had different ideas, different tones, and different ways of playing than my friends back home. We recorded the album live, finishing the whole thing in four days. That’s how you capture magic. The same thing can be said for the people I write with. I prefer left-field people—people who come from different backgrounds and different genres. Devon Gilfillian comes from the R&B world; he hears different melodies than I do. Waylon is a gay man, so he has some experiences that are different than mine. I love to surround myself with people like that, and sit in the writing room with someone who isn’t just like me. Because that’s how you capture magic, too.”
Born and raised in Southern Illinois, Marvel is one of Nashville’s most respected songwriters with cuts by Chris Stapleton (including the GRAMMY Award-winning “Either Way”), Brothers Osborne (GRAMMY Award-winning “Younger Me”), George Strait, Jamey Johnson, Gary Allan, Jake Owen, Lee Ann Womack, Blake Shelton and more.
Come On Sunshine is Marvel’s third studio album following 2019’s Solid Gold Sounds, produced by Dan Auerbach and David Ferguson.
