RYAN HURD’S DEBUT ALBUM PELAGO OUT NOW (Audio & Video)
FEATURES PLATINUM “CHASING AFTER YOU” WITH MAREN MORRIS, “JUNE, JULY, AUGUST,” “COAST” AND “TAB WITH MY NAME ON IT”
CONFIRMS 2022 U.S. TOUR DE PELAGO
Here are the Intro, Outro and Story Work Parts to support the release of Ryan Hurd’s Pelago. Thank you for your continued support!!
PELAGO ALBUM COMMENTARY
“Pelago” is a title that means open sea or overwhelming passion. And so I wanted to put an album together that had the songs as like song forward, the writing is, all writing I’m really proud of and even if it’s like a fun song, it’s still clever and well written. I wanted something that really represented who I was as a writer and an artist and a person. I mean, it’s your first shot, you only get one time to have a debut album. So having all those summer songs on there was really important having some like, really, I think emotionally challenging songs on there was really important to me and I think that like, tracks one through 11 on the physical copy of “Pelago.” I mean it’s really is like who what I wanted to do with my first ever full length.
1. PASS IT ON
I wrote “Pass It On” with Jordan Schmidt and my wife, Maren, and Hardy. And originally it was an idea we were kind of angling toward Maren’s third album. And as the song kind of got moving, we kind of found Michael(Hardy) to be singing more of it. And so, it sort of felt more like it was more of a song for a guy to sing. And so somehow it fell out of the three artists in the room it fell to me and I’m really thankful that it did because I love just the recording of the way that it feels and it’s I love how unabashedly positive it is and I think that’s a great way to kick off an album. Also I love like hearing Hardy and Maren sing the background vocals on it like that, to me is really cool. And obviously neither one of them are featured and they don’t need to be there, they kind of speak for themselves. But it’s just really fun to have like your friends and obviously Maren sings on a lot of the album, but it’s fun to have them be a part of it.
2. COAST
“Coast” is probably my favorite song I’ve ever written because it’s so odd lyrically like we spent four months writing “Coast.” And Aaron sent me that original bones of the track said, “do you want to do this?” and I said, “absolutely.” And he didn’t realize I was gonna show up in his office, like every other day, for four months at 9am to just write two or three lines at a time. And another song that was kind of like that was “Michigan for the Winter” that I wrote with him. But sometimes songs just take a second to like, you got to chew on them, right? And you got to like, really draw out the weirdness. And I feel like the second verse of “Coast” is my favorite verse I’ve ever written. Like, I dropped like “Almost Famous” references, there’s a ukulele involved. I don’t really know but it really does like I love like writing songs from the perspective that’s not just like, uniquely Southern because country music obviously has like very southern roots, and I’m not from here, I’m from up north and so I like putting country music in that setting. And I feel like “Coast” does a great job of talking about summertime all over and not just in one spot. And so like talking about Chicago, Michigan West Coast’s all over Destin, I like name dropping all that stuff.
3. CHASING AFTER YOU
“Chasing After You” is, I didn’t write the song I really wish I did. The demo of it is Jerry Flowers singing and playing that guitar lick with just a kick in a snare drum and it’s one of the more stunning demos I’ve ever heard. And we’re just really thankful that whoever had it on hold before us didn’t ever release it and we’re really lucky that we, I can’t believe I got to sing it honestly. And it’s been amazing to see the ride that a song has taken us on and getting to do it with Maren is a dream come true. Getting to perform it at the ACM Awards on television and doing “Late Night.” Everything else like it really set up this entire album and it’s still like that song is the reason that we got to release this full length debut “Pelago.” And it will always be the most special song I think in our catalog.
4. JUNE, JULY, AUGUST
“June, July, August” I wrote after I wrote a couple songs with Chase McGill and Zach Crowell for Luke Bryan so it’s sort of like the third song in the summertime trilogy if you will. So we wrote ‘Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset,” we wrote “Waves” and now “June July, August” is sort of like the third release from this songwriting group. There’s just some clever lines in there. I think it sounds epic. It sounds like a massive radio hit. And I really love putting it number four, I feel like number four is like a really strong track on your album. And so I love just talking about Spring Break was talking about like, like that nostalgia that we do so well in Nashville. And getting to name drop a couple special places down in The Gulf. And yeah, I really I’m really proud of that tune.
5. PALM TREES IN OHIO
I came up with “Palm Trees in Ohio,” the title in a dream. And I remember waking up and I don’t know why that was on my brain, but I just wrote down into my phone “Palm Trees In Ohio. And then the next day had to write with a couple friends and I said the title and we sort of did that country music trick where it’s like, naming opposites a little bit. I just love the way it turned out, it reminds me of “Diamonds or Twine.” It’s like a similar feel, but a little bit more clever. I think it’s not necessarily as original of an idea, but it’s just got such amazing unique pictures in it that it works for me.
6. IF I HAD TWO HEARTS
I’m from Kalamazoo, Michigan. And Chicago, I was born in Chicago and grew up in Kalamazoo, it’s halfway between Chicago and Detroit to give you a little context. And there’s this beer company called Bells and they have, their most famous beers called “Two Hearted Ale.” It’s this really like heavy IPA. It’s delicious, it’s one of my favorite beers. And I just remember not having an idea that day and being like, something about two hearts. And so, I thought of the idea if I had two hearts, and I just like, thought of this guy saying like, “I wish I had another heart that wasn’t broken, but I know that if I did, I’d do the exact same thing that I did with the last one.” So, it was kind of a clever idea to me in the room, and it sounds like it gives me that feeling that I get listening to like my favorite Jimmy Eat World Record, and I like having a little bit of edge to the album.
7. TAB WITH MY NAME ON IT
“Tab With My Name On It” is probably the oldest song on this album. I love that it’s about, it’s a story song, but it’s like the timeline of the story is so concentrated, but you can tell everything that’s going on. And you know realizing that this guy doesn’t have anything without this girl, that he can’t move on, that the only thing he has to his name as a tab is a really I think defeating moment. But I think it’s like leaves it in a hopeful place at the end of the song saying like “hey, if you just come down for one beer that’s all I’m asking. I’m not asking you for anything else.” And I think that a lot of people have that moment whether it’s in a bar or somewhere else where they’re like “Gosh, I just I would give anything just to talk to this person that I love or that I miss.” And so that’s what that song is about, that’s where it comes from.
Oh! “Tab With My Name On It” too, we got to do a massive string day with that song and the next song “What Are You Drinking.” So we have a like an eight piece string section that was arranged and we got to go in there. And I have never been in the studio and said as little as I did that day because I was so blown away with the talent that was in the room and I was so just thrilled that we actually got to do that. It sounds amazing and it makes the song and adds to this like this movie feel. Like you can sort of see the story playing out even more so with that the strings behind this, what kind of sounds like a like a very like 90s feeling rock and roll tune right? But then you add like the steel guitar and the dobro and you add these strings and you’re like this feels very cinematic. And I’m really, that was probably one of my most, that was the most fun I had I think recording the album.
8. WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING
I didn’t write “What Are You Drinking” but it’s my favorite song on the album I think probably because I didn’t write it but a guy Troy Cartwright and Andy Albert and my producer Aaron Eschuis wrote this song. I was drinking on a beach in Mexico and it was like at night and I was by myself Maren had already gone to bed and I Aaron sent me this song. And I just listened to it probably 10 times sitting there really just fell in love with it and said I’m recording that and luckily those guys were cool with it and they didn’t write a bridge for it. So I got to, they were nice enough to let me like, contribute on the bridge for the song, but I don’t know I just thought like, that song sounds like a hit. And I’ve really enjoyed learning it and getting the opportunity to like play with my band and I think that’s my favorite track on the entire thing.
9. HELL IS AN ISLAND
“Hell Is an Island” it was just like a concept song so like it starts with the concept of like what uh, that song title makes you want to listen to it and that was one that I think I held for two years. It’s like nobody’s allowed to hear this except for me because this is cool and somebody is gonna cut it and it’s gonna be me. And I think that like it’s my “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” song. It’s like, hell is an island without you like I thought I’d come down here and get over you and party but all I can do is is everything here reminds me of you and I can’t have any fun. I can’t wait for people to hear that one.
10. THE KNIFE OR THE HATCHET
“The Knife or the Hatchet” is an older song and what a title, I mean? Brilliant, pretty intense as far as songs go, I love the back half of this album sort of being like, like somebody, I guess from the singer’s perspective, like watching their relationship fall apart, wanting to keep it together, wanting to, like, still be with this person, right? And part of Pelago is this overwhelming passion. And the knife of the hatches is just basically saying like getting to the end of your rope and saying like, please just like, either come back to me or leave like don’t leave me here in the middle and, because I can’t keep doing this. And I think everybody has been through something like that, where they’re like, we need to either, like, fix this or move on. And there’s zero fun things about that no matter which side of that coin you’re on. And I think that’s why it’s kind of a universal feeling. And I know it’s intense to call it like, use those pictures but I feel like it’s really relatable too.
11. I NEVER SAID I’M SORRY
“I Never Said I’m Sorry” I really love that it’s an apology at the end of a relationship. And I just thought like bookending my album with “Pass It On” which is unabashedly positive and then “I Never Said I’m Sorry.” I think you when you see that title you imagine it to be like I’m defiantly not sorry and it’s truly the opposite. It’s like coming back to somebody that you either did something wrong to or you just can sympathize with, like, even if it was the right decision like just saying, “I’m sorry that you were hurt. I’m sorry, I am, I’m sorry.” It is a big deal and I think like having someone say a real apology these days, I just thought that was important. I don’t think that like my album is important. I don’t think that like music always is but I think that like that sentiment is and I’m really thankful that that’s the way we wrap it up.
12. PLATONIC
We wanted to put some tracks that have already been released on this album on the digital side just because we want like, if you’ve never heard Ryan Hurd before, we wanted to give you the whole picture. And “Platonic” was like the kind of the cut of collection before “Pelago.” And it was sort of like me chasing a sound that we had with “To A T,” it was like a sonic highway that I really loved driving down. And I don’t know, like if we, like I think there’s a lot of elements of that in this album and I think it’s like something that we definitely jumped off to get to the rest of “Pelago” so “Platonic” was just an important track for me creatively and I wanted to include it.
13. EVERY OTHER MEMORY
“Every Other Memory” was my pandemic song. And it was like the moment that you know you thought you were about to have a massive hit on the radio and then everything kind of shut down. But I just, I couldn’t release a full length without including this song because it was such a huge part of my sonic story. And I just love what we do in Nashville with nostalgia. And so this is like sort of that part of this album where it’s like this, this song is like looking back on something that I think a lot of people can relate to. And a lot of like, I love that it’s all pictures, right? But you can grab even if you can’t grab on to all of them, you can grab onto one. And that’s something that’s really important in country music and in Nashville is like writing visually. And so that’s why this song is a really important part of this album.
14. TO A T
“To A T’s” my first gold record, and I don’t know why it was a hit, but it was a top 20 hit on Country radio. And I don’t know, what about it really made people love it, but people did. And that’s what people first knew about me, a lot of people and it’s the first impression they had of me as an artist and I’m really thankful for all the success that it’s had and it’s my first ever gold record, it’s my first ever Platinum record. It’s just part of my story and that’s why it’s a part of this debut full length.
15. DIAMONDS OR TWINE
“Diamonds Or Twine” is a song that I gave to Maren the weekend that we got married. And it’s so cool because it’s the song that so many other people have used as a part of their wedding. It’s a lot of people’s first dance. It will always have such a huge part of my heart and part of my artistry because you know that that song, like we came out of “Love in a Bar” and we didn’t really have anything to do and I think whenever I get stuck creatively, I go back to like, something that’s autobiographical. So writing my story has always done it’s always served me well. I think people know my story with Maren but like she’s, like her as a muse like has given me “To A T” and “Diamonds or Twine” and “Love In a Bar. And it’s like these, these moments that weren’t just good songs, they were true. That was my story and “Diamonds or Twine” was sort of like the last truly autobiographical thing that I have released. And you know, I look back on that time and I smile at it and every time I hear the song and play it, I just am really thankful for, you know, my family and my marriage and her. And you know, everything that’s come out of that.
Pelago,the debut album from rising country powerhouse Ryan Hurd, is out now via Arista Nashville—listen here. The album features the Platinum certified single “ Chasing After You”—his first ever duet with wife Maren Morris—plus previously released tracks “June, July, August,” “Coast ,” and “ Tab with My Name on It.”
Furthermore, Hurd is set to tour the U.S. next year. He kicks off the Tour de Pelago headline run in January with dates including Chicago’s The Vic, New York’s Irving Plaza, Nashville’s Marathon Music Works and more. Tickets are on sale Thursday, October 21 at 10 a.m. CT—see full routing below and visit ryanhurd.com for more information.
Hurd is nominated for two trophies at next month’s CMA Awards: Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Chasing After You,” currently in the top 10 and climbing at country radio. Hurd and Morris recently performed the track on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
Pelago, inspired by Hurd’s upbringing on the shores of Lake Michigan, was produced with childhood friend and longtime creative partner Aaron Eshuis, with further contributions from Jesse Frasure (Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, Little Big Town) and Teddy Reimer.
Hurd got his start in Nashville as a songwriter, penning Platinum hits and #1s for Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Lady A and Tim McGraw, among others. As an artist he’s released a series of EPs, spawning hits like the Platinum-certified “To a T” and earning more than 700 million streams to date. He’s garnered attention and praise from entertainment tastemakers including Esquire, GQ, Maxim, American Songwriter, Billboard, People, NBC’s “TODAY,” “CBS This Morning” and more.
RYAN HURD—PELAGO
Streaming Only Digital Audio LP
1. Pass It On
2. Coast
3. Chasing After You (with Maren Morris)
4. June, July, August
5. Palm Trees in Ohio
6. If I Had Two Hearts
7. Tab with My Name on It
8. What Are You Drinking
9. Hell Is an Island
10. The Knife or the Hatchet
11. I Never Said I’m Sorry
12. Platonic
13. Every Other Memory
14. To a T
15. Diamonds or Twine
RYAN HURD—PELAGO
CD and Download Only Digital Audio LP
1. Pass It On
2. Coast
3. Chasing After You (with Maren Morris)
4. June, July, August
5. Palm Trees in Ohio
6. If I Had Two Hearts
7. Tab with My Name on It
8. What Are You Drinking
9. Hell Is an Island
10. The Knife or the Hatchet
11. I Never Said I’m Sorry
RYAN HURD LIVE
| 21-Oct | Carol’s Pub | Chicago, IL |
| 30-Oct | DeltaPlex Arena | Grand Rapids, MI* |
| 4-Nov | Tuscaloosa Amphitheater | Tuscaloosa, AL† |
| 13-Jan | The Bluestone | Columbus, OH |
| 15-Jan | The Vic | Chicago, IL |
| 16-Jan | The Deluxe | Indianapolis, IN |
| 21-Jan | The Truman | Kansas City, MO |
| 22-Jan | Bourbon Theatre | Lincoln, NE |
| 23-Jan | Delmar Hall | Saint Louis, MO |
| 2-Feb | House of Blues | Boston, MA |
| 3-Feb | Irving Plaza | New York, NY |
| 4-Feb | Roxian Theatre | McKees Rocks, PA |
| 5-Feb | The Fillmore | Detroit, MI |
| 10-Feb | TLA | Philadelphia, PA |
| 11-Feb | The Fillmore | Silver Spring, MD |
| 12-Feb | Bogart’s | Cincinnati, OH |
| 24-Feb | Marathon Music Works | Nashville, TN |
| 26-Feb | The Signal | Chattanooga, TN |
| 7-Apr | Georgia Theatre | Athens, GA |
| 8-Apr | Buckhead Theater | Atlanta, GA |
| 9-Apr | Charleston Music Hall | Charleston, SC |
| 29-Apr | Stagecoach | Indio, CA |
| 1-May | Ace of Spades | Sacramento, CA |
| 4-May | The Depot | Salt Lake City, UT |
| 5-May | Knitting Factory | Boise, ID |
| 6-May | Knitting Factory | Spokane, WA |
| 7-May | Showbox | Seattle, WA |
| 8-May | Roseland Theater | Portland, OR |
*with Brett Young
†with Jon Pardi
Media Contacts:
Allen Brown
Sony Music Nashville
[email protected]
Cami Operé, Reid Kutrow, Asha Goodman or Carla Sacks
Sacks & Co.
[email protected],
[email protected],
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or [email protected]