Since releasing his Same Truck collection in 2021, Scotty McCreery has been laying the groundwork for his fifth studio album, and he confirms that “It Matters To Her” is the final single from his current project.
“I’m Ready For The Next Chapter”
Although he is looking ahead at what’s to come, McCreery shares that he feels a bit nostalgic about moving forward with new material.
“Album chapters, all of these cycles are always so wild to me because it still feels like yesterday that I was like putting this all together with the team in the studio recording all of the songs, and now we’re doing it all over again,” McCreery told Audacy’s Katie Neal of Same Truck. “But, it was a lot of fun….. Had a lot of fun with this record, but I’m ready for the next chapter!”
Often Inspired By His Wife Gabi
Those familiar with the North Carolina native’s previous releases are well aware that he stays open about his personal life. Much of his material has been inspired by his relationship with childhood sweetheart turned wife Gabi (Dugal) McCreery. Songs like “Small Town Story,” “This Is It,” and “You Time” have reflected that.
Acknowledging his knack for penning songs that are true to his world, relationships and personal growth, McCreery said, “I think that I’ve found what works for me and what I’m doing is pretty autobiographical stuff and writing about life.”
And while the arrival date and title of his next project remains unclear, fans can expect to hear more of that when it comes to McCreery’s forthcoming release.
Incorporating His New Role As A Dad Into His Songs
On October 24, McCreery and Gabi welcomed their first child, a son named Merrick Avery, who was born 11 days before his due date. Now that he has settled into navigating the challenges of fatherhood, he shares that his outlook as well as his songwriting has changed. And he intends to incorporate his new role as a parent into what he sings about on stage.
“I think it’s my perspective, you know, in life. You kind of realize what’s important and what’s not,” McCreery shared. “So, I think that’s coming through in the songwriting and kind of what I’m writing about. So, yeah. Things have definitely changed in a lot of ways, but definitely in the songwriting.”
“There will be a baby song on my next album, many more, every song has been inspired by him, every song has been influenced by the last six months of raising him,” McCreery also shared while previously co-hosting the Country Countdown USA. “It’s a good place to be. I feel I have a lot of ideas and a fresh place to be.”
Insists The New Project Will Be Purely Country
Along with that, McCreery insists that the album will be purely country.
“It’s Country. Our steel guitar player, Mike Johnson, got in the studio with us, and he’s like, ‘Man, I actually get to play Country music this week!’ He was lovin’ it, and I love singing that stuff, so hopefully folks are ready for a good dose of country music,” he shared.
At this point, McCreery has consecutively charted five singles, “This Is It,” “Five More Minutes,” and “In Between,” from his Seasons Change album went No. 1. He has also charted two No. 1 hits — “Damn Strait” and “You Time” — on Same Truck.
“Brick by brick we’ll make believers, and I still feel that way. It’s been wild to have five in a row, you know, fingers crossed for the next one. I’m not going to say anything about it,” McCreery said. “But, yeah. I still have that mentality. It’s never enough. I always try to raise the bar. I still appreciate it all. It’s been the wildest few years of my life, these last few, but still trying, still not satisfied, still want to keep growing and getting better, write better songs, have better shows, like, it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun, but we’re still grinding.”
According to the country hitmaker, he has been playing some of the new tunes live during his headlining concerts.
“We got a lot of new music we’re working on,” McCreery recently told Journal & Courier. “For me, it’s kind of fun to play some songs that might be recorded, might not be recorded. Playing off the crowd, seeing what they think, seeing how their reaction is. It kind of gives us the gauge of what we should record and what the next album should look like. It doesn’t happen every year, because we’re not always making an album, but we’re doing that this year. So it kind of gets to be fun out there doing that.”
While there isn’t an official release date for his new project, McCreery revealed that he hopes to release it sometime later this year.
“We’ll have a new song out on the radio here, I’d say in the next month or so,” McCreery divulges. “And then a new album early next year, is probably what I think. But we’re working hard on it, and hopefully folks enjoy it when it finally gets here.”
Additionally, Scotty McCreery is currently out on the road performing and later this year he will return to the Grand Ole Opry for Opry Country Christmas.
