Oliver Anthony’s meteoric rise to country music stardom continues, and fans of the Virginia native will certainly be excited to learn that his first studio album will be released in 2024.
Most of all of the music that’s been released by Anthony, whose actual name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, has been stripped down and as authentic as possible. Look up any of his music videos and it’s just him and his guitar belting out hits in the middle of the woods, and listen to any of his songs and you’ll notice there’s a reason for the simple sound he’s become known for.
Oliver Anthony sat down for an interview with Billboard to talk about his upcoming album, and explain what kind of (improved) sound fans can expect:
“In my opinion, it’s probably going to blow away everything else I’ve done so far, because everything has been recorded with just the internal microphone off of an about broken-in-half Android phone with a cracked screen.
Even the ‘Radio West Virginia’ videos used very basic equipment, so I had never had anything recorded with studio-quality equipment. So even just the vocal quality should absolutely knock people’s socks off, compared to what they’re used to hearing.”
Yeah, anything that Oliver Anthony has produced thus far has been absolute gold, and aside from the Radio WV material, he’s recording most of it through a broken, beat-up Android phone. Imagine how great his voice and music will sound with just the slightest bit of production, not that he really needs it, or even wants it.
Anthony continued in the interview and spoke on his desire for his first album to still have his signature, genuine sound:
“I want everything to still be authentic, and I want it to be me playing the music and not like a whole group of people involved. Everything now is just so carefully refined and edited and so we won’t have any of that.
If anything, some of the songs are going to be recorded on older equipment from the ‘40s, ‘50s, (and) ‘60s.”
That stereo sound from the 1940’s through the 1960’s will certainly pair up with Anthony’s style, and hearing that he wants his new album to sound older only makes sense for a country artist that seems to be from an entirely different generation.
And you might have noticed that Anthony said he doesn’t want a lot of people involved in the album-making process. He’s only ever done music by and for himself, and that’s gone over pretty well so far.
Anthony will continue to do that when he records his first album in a studio in Georgia. Though he’ll probably only be a couple of hours from Nashville, he made sure to point out that he wants nothing to do with the country scene in the Music City:
“I’m never going to be in Nashville sitting with people co-writing, ever. Most anything I put out is going to be something I write just by myself and if I do co-write something with somebody, it’s going to be with another artist and we’re going to be singing the song together.
I don’t ever want to sit in some writing circle somewhere and have somebody in khaki pants and a collared shirt figuring out what my words are from my song. There’s a million other people that can go do that. I’m not one of those guys.”
Until that new album finally comes out, I guess we’ll all just have to queue up some of his already released hits like “I Want To Go Home.”
Take a listen:
Oliver Anthony’s ‘Out Of The Woods Tour’
In addition to the new album, Oliver will also be hitting the road next year, touring across the United States, as well as parts of Europe. Dubbed the Out Of The Woods Tour, the fun will kick off in February with a European leg that begins in Sweden, and it will wrap up on February 13th in Ireland.
He’ll return to the US at the end of February to tour across the Southeast, up to the Midwest and Northern parts of the country from late February through September of 2024.
FEB 1, 2024
Cirkus Arena
Stockholm, Sweden
FEB 2, 2024
Sentrum Scene
Oslo, Norway
FEB 5, 2024
TivoliVredenburg
Utrecht, Netherlands
FEB 7, 2024
Barrowland Ballroom
Glasgow, Scotland
FEB 8, 2024
Albert Hall
Manchester, UK
FEB 10, 2024
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
London, UK
FEB 12, 2024
Ulster Hall
Belfast, UK
FEB 13, 2024
Vicar Street
Dublin, Ireland
FEB 21, 2024
Ryman Auditorium
Nashville, TN
FEB 22, 2024
Ryman Auditorium
Nashville, TN
FEB 24, 2024
Florida Strawberry Festival
Plant City, FL
MAR 2, 2024
Abacoa Amphitheater
Jupiter, FL
MAR 3, 2024
Hertz Arena
Estero, FL
MAR 8, 2024
Rapides Parish Coliseum
Alexandria, LA
MAR 9, 2024
Brandon Amphitheater
Brandon, MS
MAR 15, 2024
CMC Rocks QLD 2024
Willowbank, Australia
APR 4, 2024
Billy Bob’s Texas
Fort Worth, TX
APR 5, 2024
Round Rock Amp
Round Rock, TX
APR 6, 2024
Cook’s Garage
Lubbock, TX
APR 12, 2024
Cadence Bank Arena
Tupelo, MS
APR 13, 2024
First National Bank Arena
Jonesboro, AR
APR 19, 2024
Albany Civic Center
Albany, GA
APR 20, 2024
Bulls, Bands & Barrels
Savannah, GA
APR 26, 2024
Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Greensboro, NC
APR 27, 2024
Gas South Arena
Duluth, GA
MAY 3, 2024
Mountain Health Arena
Huntington, WV
MAY 4, 2024
Beaver Dam Amphitheater
Beaver Dam, KY
MAY 10, 2024
The Corbin Arena
Corbin, KY
MAY 11, 2024
Appalachian Wireless Arena
Pikeville, KY
MAY 17, 2024
Atlantic Union Bank at the SERVPRO Pavilion
Doswell, VA
JUN 14, 2024
MTN Dew Park
Marion, IL
JUN 15, 2024
Ozarks Amphitheater
Camdenton, MO
JUN 16, 2024
Westfair Amphitheater
Council Bluffs, IA
JUN 22, 2024
CMAC
Canandaigua, NY
JUN 28, 2024
Stage AE Outdoors
Pittsburgh, PA
JUN 29, 2024
Buckeye Motorcycle and Music Rally
Columbus, OH
JUL 18, 2024
Rock the South Music Festival
Cullman, AL
AUG 16, 2024
State Fair of West Virginia
Lewisburg, WV
AUG 23, 2024
Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
Indianapolis, IN
AUG 24, 2024
Dow Event Center
Saginaw, MI
SEP 1, 2024
Alaska State Fair
Palmer, AK
SEP 13, 2024
Allegan County Fair
Allegan, MI
