Big & Rich Confirm ‘Inevitable’ New Album Coming Soon

Big & Rich are traveling across the country on their Xtreme Muzik tour and are having so much fun, it sounds like their reunion will also result in new music. The award-winning duo of Big Kenny and John Rich agreed to do the tour with a little encouragement from fellow headliner Gretchen Wilson, after spending the last few years on a self-imposed hiatus, while Big Kenny recovered from back surgery and both men pursued solo careers. But while the two, who never officially ended their partnership, are happy to be sharing the stage again, they hadn't publicly committed to doing another album together -- until now.

"Kenny and I are swapping songs, swapping ideas, so I would say it's inevitable, it's coming," John tells Billboard.com of the possibilities of a new album. "And it's not like people can pitch you songs for a Big & Rich record; our music is not like anybody else's stuff. It really is a meeting of the minds between me and Kenny, so it's just a process. But we're pumped about it, I can tell you that."

The reigning 'Celebrity Apprentice' winner says he never intended for their break to be permanent. "It was a break from Big & Rich, not an ending of Big & Rich," he notes. "I think a lot of people spun it into, 'Oh no, Big & Rich is over.' We didn't say that. There wasn't, like, a Brooks & Dunn farewell tour. There never was a concern about whether we would want to come back and do it; our concern was whether the fans would still be there. And sure enough they are."

The tour, which wraps up September 25, will give the guys just enough time to hit the studio by the end of the year, which is their goal, even though they're still unsure of what direction the upcoming project will take. "Since the last record we've both had kids, which changes your perspective on a lot of things," John acknowledges. "Year to year you become a little bit different, so there might be different subject matter on there. The one thing you can count on is when you put it on your stereo, it won't sound like anything else you put on your stereo -- and I still have a stereo!"

They may have to pen songs for the new CD, but their first single, 'Fake I.D.,' is already soaring up the charts -- and has earned a coveted spot on the highly-anticipated film, 'Footloose.' "We had recorded this song but hadn't decided to put it out yet," John notes. "The 'Footloose' people heard it and said, 'We want this song in the movie. We want to play the whole song in the movie,' and it really is used that way, in this really cool bar scene. So we said, 'What the hell. Let's put it out,' and now we kick off our shows with 'Fake I.D.' "

The Xtreme Muzik tour, which includes Two-Foot Fred and Cowboy Troy as opening acts, heads to Nevada tonight, followed by shows in Arizona and California. Keep track of their itinerary here.