LISTEN: 49 Winchester’s “Hillbilly Happy” And “Make It Count”

Fresh off of an electrifying Bonnaroo performance last month 49 Winchester return with Leavin’ This Holler on August 2, 2024 via New West Records. The 10-song set was produced by the band and Stewart Myers and features appearances by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, singer-songwriter Maggie Antone, fiddler Philip Bowen, and guitarist Cole Chafin.

Leavin’ This Holler is the follow up to their New West debut Fortune Favors the Bold. The album quickly generated over 150 million global streams and the band also received a nomination for “Best Duo or Group” at last year’s Americana Music Awards.

Today, the band released two additional new songs from the forthcoming record – the live favorite “Hillbilly Happy,” (listen above) and the album highlight “Make It Count” (listen below) Lead singer & guitarist Isaac Gibson says “‘Hillbilly Happy’ is the rocker on the record. When I wrote it, I wanted something that felt like a Summertime anthem… a fun song that also hits hard enough to kind of be a cut-loose-and-slam-it-home moment on stage. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written to play live, and I love how it turned out on the record.”

49 Winchester previously released the video for the emotional sledgehammer, “Fast Asleep.” Gibson said, “I wrote it when I was 19 years old, as one of the very first 49 Winchester songs. We used to play it live, back in those earliest days, but it somehow worked its way out of the setlist. We knew it was still a great song and wanted to breathe new life into it, and I think we achieved that.” They also previously shared “Yearnin’ For You” and the fan favorite, “Tulsa,” as well. “Tulsa” was one of the first new songs written for the album, and one whose chorus references both the Don Williams classic “Tulsa Time,” as well as the Kenny Rogers and The First Edition favorite “Tulsa Turnaround.”

Last October, while standing on stage in front of 20,000 people at London’s 02 Arena, it dawned on Gibson that on the same day, exactly 10 years ago, he formed his rising alt-country band. “There’s been nothing in my life that’s ever lasted a decade,” he says. “We had just gotten out of high school when we played our first show — 10 years later, we’re on the road in the UK and Europe with Luke Combs.”

Gibson felt it was a moment where he could honestly reflect on the hard-earned, unrelenting determination and grit within the band that’s brought them to this current juncture of increasing notoriety. “It’s a testament to the uncommon fact that we’re musicians from a very specific place in the world,” Gibson says. “And it’s a testament to viewing each other more as family than as friends.”

Hailing from Castlewood, Virginia (population: 1,122) in Southern Appalachia — a place where opportunity seldom knocks — 49 Winchester came to fruition when Gibson, his childhood best friend, Chase Chafin, and his hometown crony, guitarist Bus Shelton, decided to step off the front porch (on Winchester Street) and take their music to whatever stage would have them.

On the heels of supporting Tyler Childers on his recent arena tour and the band’s debut appearances at both Bonnaroo and the CMA Fest, 49 Winchester are already on tour in support of the album. The Leavin’ This Holler tour will feature a 2-night stand at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, and in a highly-anticipated appearance, they will also headline the famed Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion in September — a homecoming festival of sorts for the band, who played some of its earliest gigs at the renowned gathering.

Captured in a handful of studios around the country whenever there was a rare moment between relentless touring schedules — the album has 49 Winchester’s signature sound of rollicking country and searing rock music, but with a matured approach this go-around. Leavin’ This Holler offers up a more focused sense of self — a new bountiful level of intent and purpose. Gibson says, “We wanted to explore every possible sound we could on this record. No stone left unturned sonically — we got it exactly where we wanted it.”