Everything We Know About Randy Houser’s ‘Fired Up’
After three years, the wait for new music from Randy Houser is almost over. Fired Up, Houser's upcoming album, is set for release in March; its first single, "We Went," is currently climbing the charts.
While fans wait to hear the rest of the singer's new material, The Boot has compiled all of the information that's currently known about the project.
The Title
Houser's new album will be called Fired Up. The disc takes its name from its 11th track.
The Release Date
Fired Up will be released on March 11. It's not available for pre-order yet, but fans can download "We Went" on Amazon and iTunes.
The Record Label
Fired Up will be Houser's second album with Stoney Creek Records, following his previous album, 2013's How Country Feels. Houser signed with the label in 2012, after previously releasing Anything Goes — featuring his breakout hit of the same name and the single "Boots On" — on Universal South Records.
The Cover
The project's cover is simple: It's a shot of Houser and his guitar, with Houser grinning off into the distance. The album's title is off to the right.
The Single
Houser released the album's story-song first single, "We Went," in May. Following the outlaw theme from his 2014 hit "Like a Cowboy," "We Went" was written by Justin Wilson, Matt Rogers and John King. In both rhythm and lyrics, the song is "more progressive than what I've ever done," Houser tells Rolling Stone Country. "[The songwriters] told me they put this song together like a puzzle, and I think they did a great job with the alliteration and how the lyrics fit together seamlessly."
"We Went" tells the story of Bonnie and Clyde-esque bandits, but with a twist: The couple featured in the song's music video is on the run with cash stolen from a drug cartel, but instead of keeping the money for themselves, they take off on a Robin Hood-like thrill ride, dodging cops and the cartel while giving away the cash to pastors, single mothers and bar patrons.
The Songs
Fired Up is a big album, with a massive track list that's sure to excite Houser's fans: The disc features 17 new songs, five of which were co-written by Houser himself. Other songwriters featured on the album include King, Chris Janson, Chris Stapleton and, from Old Dominion, Trevor Rosen.
Fans have been waiting three years for new tunes from Houser, and he's excited to deliver.
"I'm very excited to finally get some new music out there," Houser says in a press release. "Three years is a bit longer than I expected in between How Country Feels and this record, and so much has happened in that time. I wrote a handful of songs on Fired Up, but there are songs like "A Little Bit Older" that I knew I had to record the moment I heard them."
Randy Houser, Fired Up Track Listing:
1. “Back” (Jeffrey Steele, Bridgette Tatum)
2. “We Went” (Justin Wilson, Matt Rogers, John King)
3. “Chasing Down a Good Time” (Randy Houser, Jeffrey Steele, Anthony Smith)
4. “Senior Year” (Randy Houser, Rob Hatch)
5. “Mine Tonight” (Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins, Ben Hayslip)
6. “Lucky Me” (Randy Houser, Dallas Davidson, Craig Wiseman)
7. “Song Number 7” (Justin Wilson, Ben Hayslip, Chris Janson)
8. “Before Midnight” (Randy Houser, Shane Minor, Derek George)
9. “True” (Randy Houser, Rob Hatch)
10. “Yesterday’s Whiskey” (Brice Long, Kylie Sackley)
11. “Fired Up” (Rob Hatch, Dallas Davidson)
12. “A Little Bit Older” (Neil Thrasher, Michael Dulaney, Tony Martin)
13. “Gotta Get You Home” (Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley, Kelley Lovelace)
14. “Hot Beer and Cold Women” (Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Travis Meadows)
15. “Same Ole Saturday Night” (Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip, Martin Johnson)
16. “One Way” (Chris Stapleton, Lee Miller)
17. “Whiskeysippi River” (Josh Jenkins, Matt Jenkins, Trevor Rosen)
The Producers
Houser is teaming once again with Derek George, the producer of How Country Feels and its three consecutive No. 1 hits ("How Country Feels," "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" and "Goodnight Kiss").
The Vibe
It's likely that the songs on Fired Up will be fairly clean and family-friendly -- in part because of Houser's young son.
"There's certain things as a songwriter that I don't really care to write about, and there are certain things I won't sing about anymore," he tells The Boot. "There are just so many things that I probably thought was okay for me, or have been in the past, that I would never want my son to think was okay. You start checking yourself a little bit, and that definitely has affected my songwriting."
Clean doesn't mean boring, though. If "We Went" is any indication, Fired Up will contain at least some of the heart-pumping, adrenaline-fueled story songs that listeners loved on How Country Feels.
The Tour
Though the album has yet to be released, Houser has been on a tour supporting the record since mid-November. The We Went Tour is, of course, named for the disc's lead single. Houser currently has shows planned across the country through September, some of which will be with Dierks Bentley, on Bentley's 2016 Somewhere on a Beach Tour.
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