Better get the tissues ready for this one.
I’ve said before that Craig Campbell is one of the more underrated guys in country music today. He’s got some absolute heaters in his catalog, like “Family Man” and “Outskirts of Heaven,” which may be up there for one of the best country songs of all time.
And while he may not get the radio airplay that he deserves, Craig is still cranking out some damn good country music – and people need to hear it.
Today, Craig released his first full-length album since 2013. And if you liked the old stuff we got from Craig Campbell, you’re going to love this one.
The Lost Files: Exhibit A is a collection of 16 brand new songs – sort of.
According to Craig, many of these tracks are songs that he had recorded for other labels earlier in his career that never made it onto an album. And Craig says this album is full of the kind of songs that he really wants to release:
“This album has been a long time coming. This collection of music is very special to me, I have been chomping at the bit to get this to my fans. These are songs that I love and believe in with all that I am.
My fans fell in love with me when there was steel and fiddle on my records. I truly hate that I got away from that for a bit trying to chase something that wasn’t real, but I humbly admit, I am a work in progress.
Not everyone is going to love this album, and I am ok with that. However, THIS is the real me. Unfiltered, unapologetic, and from my heart.“
The album features duets with Travis Tritt, Trea Landon, and his wife, Mindy Ellis. And it also features a classic country cover of the Lorde hit, “Royals,” a song that Craig has performed live for years now.
But the highlight of the 16-track project may be a tearjerker called “God And the Ground She Walked On.”
Written by Jess Brown and Philip Coleman, the song tells the story of an old man who’s lost his soulmate and life partner, but he still goes to church every Sunday, so that he can be sure that he’ll get to see her again someday:
“He stands up and sings Rock of Ages
He fumbles to find 1st Psalms
He feels her turning the pages
Like she was right there reading along
He puts his tithe in the offering
Somewhere in his heart she’s not gone
That old man still worships
God and the ground she walked on”
Tell me that one doesn’t put a lump in your throat.
I saw Craig perform the song live at his coffee shop, Grindstone Cowboy, just outside of Nashville a few months ago, and at the show he said this is one he’s wanted to release for a while now:
“I’m not saying it’s going to be a radio song or anything like that. It’s just, I believe in this song and always have.”
If there were any justice in the music industry these days, this song WOULD be on the radio, and it would be a massive damn hit.
Either way though, whether it’s on the radio or not, Craig Campbell has new music out – and fans of real country music need to hear it.
