Julie Roberts Speaks the Truth on New Album

Julie Roberts has been keeping secrets her whole life. The singer will release a new album, 'Good Wine & Bad Decisions' next month, which she says will finally speak the truth.

“You know, I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” Roberts tells Taste of Country about the new set of tunes. “But for my whole life, I always hid what my relationship was with my dad and what I grew up like. For a few years, I hid that I had MS. And now I’m at the point where, you know what, I record honest music, I record music that I can relate to. Why not?”

The 34-year-old credits her difficult upbringing with helping her find her unique, classic country sound that permeates the new album.

“My dad was an abusive alcoholic, and we would leave the house and go stay with my grandmother across town," she explains. "When we’d leave, she’d turn the radio real loud and it was always classic country, because it was what we were living.”

Roberts included a poignant tune written by Chris Stapleton, 'Daddy Doesn't Pray,' on the new record. But while Roberts had no problem conveying the emotions of the powerful song, which is about a man who prays every day until he dies, she says the lyrics are far from the truth about her own father.

“My dad is actually still alive, so that part did not connect with me, but what did connect with me was this past December I -- I don’t talk to my dad on a regular basis -- but he reached out to me and asked if I’d sing at his church for Christmas,” she recalls. “And I was surprised, No. 1, that he was going to church because he never did my whole life. But I thought, ‘You know what? Yeah. I will.’ I wanted to know who that man was that I never knew."

She adds, "We reconnected, and now I haven’t talked to him again. So to me, it’s like he’s gone away again. And I can relate to that last verse. If he’s still alive, he’s not here anymore.”

'Good Wine & Bad Decisions' will be released on Sun Records. See a complete track listing below, and pre-order the album here to receive a free download of one of the new songs.

Julie Roberts, ‘Good Wine & Bad Decisions’ Track Listing:

1. ‘Good Wine and Bad Decisions’
2. ‘He Made a Woman Out of Me’
3. ‘Keep Me Up All Night’
4. ‘Gasoline and Matches’ (Feat. Buddy Miller)
5. ‘Old Strings’ (Feat. Vince Gill)
6. ‘Arms of Jesus’
7. ‘I’ll Close My Eyes’
8. ‘Bones’
9. ‘If I Were You’
10. ‘Old Habit’
11. When It’s Over’
12. ‘Daddy Doesn’t Pray’
13. ‘Wrong About You’
14. ‘I’m Not Getting Any Better at Goodbyes'