Brantley Gilbert has announced he’ll be releasing So Help Me God (Deluxe Edition) on April 21, featuring five new songs he co-wrote, including “Wrote The Book Around Here,” “Tailgates of Heaven,” “Bury Me Upside Down,” “All Over the Map,” and “Behind the Times.”
The album also includes his current single “Heaven By Then” with Blake Shelton, featuring harmonies from Vince Gill, as well as the previously released collaborations “The Worst Country Song of All Time” featuring Toby Keith and HARDY, “Rolex® On A Redneck” featuring Jason Aldean and “Son Of The Dirty South” featuring Jelly Roll.
Gilbert talked to Music Mayhem about his upcoming new music, a special project he’s working on with Jelly Roll, and what fans can expect from his tour with Nickelback this summer.
“We’ve done the deluxe release several times in my career and it’s always my way of tying up the loose ends on the record, [and] kind of completing the story just punctuating the sentence,” says Gilbert. He’s not sure what kind of reaction he’ll get from the song “Bury Me Upside Down,” saying “I think it’s funny. Hell, but it’s basically me upside down, so the world could kiss my ass.”
On a more serious not, “Behind the Times” talks about the things Gilbert loves. It’s “about being an old soul and it’s about the things I love, where ‘Heaven By Then’ is about the fact that if this country ever becomes a place where country doesn’t fit in, I don’t want to be here anymore. ‘Behind the Times’ talks more about the things that I actually love, talks about what those things are. So it comes full circle there.” Gilbert shared that “Tailgates of Heaven,” which he wrote with Josh Phillips, is “one of my favorite songs that I’ve written in a long time.”
So Help Me God (Deluxe Edition) Track List
1. Heaven By Then with Blake Shelton featuring Vince Gill (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Michael Hardy, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Hunger Phelps, Taylor Phillips)
2. Rolex® On A Redneck featuring Jason Aldean (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Michael Hardy, Randy Montana, Taylor Phillips)
3. Miles of Memories (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Josh Phillips)
4. She’s The One (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Taylor Phillips)
5. The Worst Country Song Of All Time featuring Toby Keith and HARDY (Brantley Gilbert, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Will Weatherly)
6. Son Of The Dirty South featuring Jelly Roll (Brantley Gilbert, Andrew Baylis, Jason Bradley DeFord)
7. How To Talk To Girls (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Brian Wayne Davis, Brandon Day, Chase McGill, Josh Phillips, Taylor Phillips, Michael Ray)
8. Little Piece of Heaven (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Greylan James, Taylor Phillips, Cole Taylor)
9. Gone But Not Forgotten (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Jason Blaine, Jay Brunswick)
10. So Help Me God (Brantley Gilbert, Michael Hardy, Hunter Phelps, Will Weatherly)
11. Wrote The Book Around Here (Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Phelps, Josh Phillips, Will Weatherly)
12. Tailgates Of Heaven (Brantley Gilbert, Derek George, Josh Phillips)
13. Bury Me Upside Down (Brantley Gilbert, Brock Berryhill, Brian Davis, Brandon Day, Chase McGill, Josh Phillips, Taylor Phillips, Michael Ray)
14. All Over The Map (Brantley Gilbert, Randy Montana, Josh Phillips, Will Weatherly)
15. Behind The Times (Brantley Gilbert, Jake Mitchell, Randy Montana, Taylor Phillips)
Gilbert Teased A Forthcoming Collaborative Project With Jelly Roll
The album includes the previously released “Son Of The Dirty South” featuring Jelly Roll. The pair is currently working on a special project together. “We pretty much just moved into Lee Brice’s studio for about a week, wrote a bunch of songs, recorded a bunch of stuff, and I think right now we’re just trying to figure out whether it’s an EP or a full album project.”
Gilbert and Jelly Roll want this to be a truly collaborative effort and are being very intentional about it, so they are taking their time and don’t have a release date set yet. “It’s one of the first approaches in a while to a co-released project, a true 50-50 co-released project. And if we’re going to be on the forefront of whatever the new version of that is, this thing can’t just be another album. It can’t just be an EP. It’s got to be, in my words, I’d say it’s got to be an MF-er, but it’s got to be special. It has to make a statement and it has to stand on its own two feet. So we’re not taking it lightly, man. It’s something we’re approaching very, very intentionally and I think folks will appreciate that when it comes full circle and comes out.”
Gilbert recently teased a video on Instagram that he filmed with Jelly Roll and Struggle Jennings, which is part of a separate project with Jelly Roll.
“We were able to go in and the Davidson County Sheriff let him [Jelly Roll] come to the jail that he was incarcerated at when he found out his daughter was born. And he actually performed in the pod itself and you could see his cell from where we were performing. He put on an hour-long show. Me and Struggle Jennings got up and did one song with him that we’ve got coming called ‘Behind Bars.’ It’s a cool ass song, but it was an awesome experience, man. It’s something I’ll never forget my entire life.”
Says He Wrote Songs With Nickelback, Bailey Zimmerman And Jelly Roll
The “Country Must be Country Wide” singer recently shared a photo on Instagram with Jelly Roll, Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger, and Bailey Zimmerman, with the caption “What a crew! Having zero fun with these fellas #bgnation”
“That night is probably going to get left alone for the most part,” Gilbert told Music Mayhem with a chuckle. He did reveal that the group ended up in Peter Frampton’s studio in Nashville the following night. “We did a little songwriting and I don’t know that it’s anything we’re releasing, but the four of us were together and we were like, ‘Hey man, there’s no telling what’ll happen if we get in a room together and write a song.’ So that was a fun night. Fun couple of nights, actually.”
Brantley Gilbert Will Soon Hit The Road With Nickelback
Gilbert is set to join acclaimed rock band Nickelback this summer for the Get Rollin’ Tour, kicking off June 12 and performing across Canada and the U.S. with stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Nashville before wrapping August 30.
“I’ve always been a huge Nickelback fan and I’ve seen their show, even when a lot of people had their opinions about ’em, it was like, man, go see a show and then talk. Don’t talk shit unless you’ve been to a show,” says Gilbert. “They were one of those bands that I remember going to Walmart or the Best Buy, picking up that album the day it came out and living with it for a minute. And to me, they’ve put out records that you can listen to from top to bottom and be entertained and really kind of go on a journey with ’em.”
Nickelback has welcomed Gilbert with open arms and will be partnering with him to build a unique tour experience for fans.
“That thing is going to leave a crater wherever it touches down,” Gilbert declares. “A lot of times when you go on tour, it’s a different experience. You kind of have to fight for stage space and being able to shoot pyro or cryo or being able to run this screen or it can be a bit of a struggle.” That isn’t the case with Nickelback. “They’re really about working together as opposed to two separate camps making something happen.”
For a complete list of tour dates and ticket details, visit brantleygilbert.com.
