The Dirt Drifters Put Their ‘Blood’ Into Debut Album

For the Dirt Drifters' Matt and Ryan Fleener, Nick Diamond, Jeremy Little and Jeff Middleton, 'This Is My Blood' is more than the title of their debut album, it's truth. The project, released today (July 19), is a culmination of years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears for the band.

"Everything on the record is our life," says Matt. "Not only are we playing all the music on the album and writing the songs, we've lived them."

'This Is My Blood' includes the Dirt Drifters' debut song, 'Something Better,' as well as their current single, 'Always a Reason.' The title track is the only song on the record the group didn't write themselves. "It was written by a guy named Casey Woods, he's a Nashville songwriter and one of my close friends," Ryan tells The Boot.

"Casey had been through the Nashville ringer, working for publishers and had a bad experience," Matt continues. "He got a bad taste in his mouth, didn't want to write anymore. Then, I got a call from one of my other good friends, who said, 'Casey's writing again, and it's some of the best stuff I've heard in a long time.' 'This Is My Blood' was one of the songs, and I asked Casey if it was OK if we recorded it. We just wanted to see how it translated for us, it wasn't even for the record. It came across great, so we decided we had to do it for the record."

Picking the remaining 10 songs wasn't quite as easy for these songwriters. "We probably have 200 songs that are Dirt Drifters songs," Matt recalls. "It was pretty hard to whittle it down to 40."

"Then we had to pick 20, and then we had to choose 11," Nick remembers. "That was a nightmare."

"The hardest part was getting down to those 40 songs," Jeremy admits. "All the talks after that were cool, because it wasn't from the perspective of who wrote the song and cared about it. When they're up there on an index card, it wasn't really that much of an argument."

Another tune the band is excited for fans to hear is 'I'll Shut Up Now,' which features a living legend of country music. "Willie Nelson was our dream collaboration, so that was huge," Ryan says of their duet partner on the song.

"We had already recorded our part, when he came in and sang," Nick says.

"But we were in the studio when he came in," Jeff clarifies.

"We just stood there with out mouths open, looking like idiots," Matt remembers with a laugh.

"We were asking each other, 'Is this really happening?'" Ryan continues. "There were five excited guys that day. What's really cool, though, is that John Esposito, the head of Warner Music Nashville, was there and he was just as excited to meet Willie Nelson. Even our producer was excited. We all looked like little boys."

The Dirt Drifters are currently on the road, with their next show Friday, July 22 in Omaha, Neb. Get a full list of their tour dates here.