Scotty McCreery fans can rejoice! The country music singer’s Same Truck: The Deluxe Album is officially out via Triple Tigers. McCreery’s latest offering comes after his 12-track Same Truck 2021 release and includes six additional brand-new cuts. The extended edition of the North Carolina native’s album follows his heartwarming “It Matters To Her” single and the success of “Damn Strait,” his fifth consecutive No. 1 single on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.
Music Mayhem had the chance to talk with McCreery, 29, about his newest project that he calls a continuation of his original record, ahead of its release.
McCreery shared that while he is no stranger to recording deluxe projects, this time, his approach was different as he penned and recorded the six new tracks before the 2020 World Health Crisis. Those songs were initially supposed to be released as part of the artist’s Same Truck project. But, when the world went into lockdown, McCreery found himself in the writing room with ample material to work with. He didn’t have enough room to fit every song into one project.
“This is new for me than other deluxe projects,” McCreery says. “Typically, for me, it’s like, ‘Oh. Let’s get some more content out there.’ But this is really just a continuation of the original Same Truck project. We made the first album before the pandemic, and we had a lot of songs recorded and ready to go. Then the world shut down, and we had all this time to write and record new stuff.”
“The new stuff is what made the original project, but we still had all of these other songs, and I wanted to find a home for them,” the Season 10 American Idol winner adds. “So the deluxe album is really the first album that I made. So, it’s kind of cool that they still get a chance to get out there.”
Before releasing his Same Truck: The Deluxe Album, fans were given a taste of the new project with “Nothin’ Right,” a summertime anthem that has McCreery “Making the most of these good ole days,” as heard in its cheerful lyrics. Another track McCreery shared ahead of the debut is the sentimental “Small Town Story,” where he gives glimpses of his relationship with wife, Gabi McCreery and reflects on the stages of his life through chapters.
When McCreery was building the tune, he had not yet met his first child, a son named Avery, who he welcomed on October 24, 2022. In “Small Town Story,” he asks the question, “Are we talking kids?” He answers, “We’re gonna have to see / Gonna have to read / The small town story /The small town story of my life.”
“I was in the same creative headspace when I wrote these songs on the deluxe project as I was when I wrote the songs that made the first album,” McCreery shared, noting how the project turned out to be one cohesive body of work. “For me, one of the songs on there is called “Small Town Story.” In that song, towards the end, it talks about how in chapter 5, the dog arrives. In chapter 6, are we talking kids? Now, it’s going to come out a month after my first child was welcomed. So it’s cool how it all worked out.”
“Falling For A Stranger,” “Here and Ready,” “On It,” and “Live A Little” are the other tracks that make up the extended project, produced by Frank Rogers, Derek Wells, and Aaron Eshuis. Out of the new material, McCreery says his personal favorite is “Falling For A Stranger,” which reminds him of his wife, whom he’s known since childhood.
“For me, a favorite song is probably ‘Falling For A Stranger.’ The idea behind it is me and my wife we’ve known each other since we were 5-years-old. So, we have never been strangers, but the idea of like ‘Man. If we never met and today, and you walked into a bar, for me, I would do everything in my power on earth to get to know her. So it’s a pretty cool song,” McCreery shared of his wife, who he wed in the North Carolina mountains in June 2018.
McCreery is enjoying his time with Gabi and his son Avery while on parental leave. His first show after becoming a new dad takes place on November 30 in Las Vegas.
He will resume touring in December. Same Truck: The Deluxe Album is available on vinyl, CD, and digitally.
