Rich O'Toole Lets the Road Bring Him to His 'Mississippi Baby'

Texas singer-songwriter Rich O'Toole has a new album, on a newly created label, to share with the world soon, and he's giving The Boot's readers a sneak peek at one of its tracks. Press play below to hear "Mississippi Baby," a song about leaving, only to realize that you miss exactly what you had.

"Mississippi Baby" "is about finding lost love, about getting in your car and going on a road trip and understanding that you’ve cruised everywhere in the South just to realize that you miss your "Mississippi Baby,"" O'Toole tells The Boot. Earthy and breezy, the song was written by O'Toole, as is much of his new record.

"Sometimes you need an open road to diagnose that you just want something so simple in your life," he adds.

"Mississippi Baby" is one of 11 new songs on New York City, due out Friday (June 26). It's one of eight songs he wrote solo, while spending time in the Big Apple; of the other three, one is a co-write with Evan Gamble and Stephanie Lynn ("Talk About the Weather"), and the other two ("Coke," "American Steel") are outside writes.

New York City is being released on Buffalo Roam Records, a new Average Joes Entertainment imprint focused on, O'Toole explains in a press release, "some of the best up-and-coming artists out of the southwest." The artist is overseeing the venture, and is its first signee.

A Houston, Texas, native, O'Toole has earned three No. 1 singles and 23 Top 10 singles on the Texas Music Chart since releasing his debut album, Seventeen, in 2007. Visit RichOToole.com for more.

Listen to Rich O'Toole's "Mississippi Baby"