For CMA New Artist of the Year Brett Eldredge, work began on his second album the day his first one went on sale.
Things like the sudden fame and acclaim that came his way when that debut album dropped in 2013. BRING YOU BACK spun off three No. 1 hits — “Don’t Ya,” “Mean to Me” and the Billboard No. 1 song on Country Airplay for 2014, “Beat of the Music.” Taylor Swift picked the newcomer to open on 19 stops of her epic RED Tour and America welcomed him into their living rooms on his many national television performances. The momentum continued this year as he joined Darius Rucker’s Southern Style Tour.
Eldredge has been living in the fast lane over these past two years. That’s one reason why he took that solitary stroll in Manhattan, instead of whooping it up on what should have been an occasion to party.
That very night, Eldredge went to work, sketching out ideas for songs that he would feature on his next album. As he worked, he realized that the new material was coming him from a wider field than before. Yet paradoxically, his inspiration narrowed over time to a tighter focus, taking him back to before his rocket ride began. Illinois is a starting point for several different journeys — back to the small-town values that Eldredge cherishes, out toward further-flung vistas of expression and at the same time deep into the bedrock of country music.