ROB BAIRD Seeks Unwavering Love On New Single, "Won't Ever Change"
JUNE
13 — Denver, CO — Globe Hall
14 — Ft. Collins, CO — The Coast
21 — Austin, TX — 3ten Live
22 — Ft. Worth, TX — Tulips
JULY
12 — Nashville, TN — 3rd and Lindsley
Hard Luck Recording Company and Rob Baird are proud to present “Won’t Ever Change,” the latest single to be lifted from the Friday, June 21 release of Burning In The Stars, the acclaimed Texas-based singer-songwriter’s seventh studio album. “True love becomes harder to find as you get older,” Baird reflects. “At the same time, what you do love becomes more important every day. What we all want is unwavering love that will be there till the day we die.” Stream “Won’t Ever Change” on YouTube HERE and on all platforms HERE.
“Won’t Ever Change” follows the release of the music video for “Hold Tight,” a clip directed by Corey Wilson (Bebe Rexha, Travis Kelce, Chris Lake, Fisher) that features an appearance from American martial artist Luke Rockhold. A major visually stylistic departure for Baird, “Hold Tight” details the nuances of a brittle relationship and all its complications. Watch the video for “Hold Tight” on YouTube HERE.
Recorded with Baird’s longtime touring band and produced by frequent collaborator Brian Douglas Phillips, Burning In The Stars digs deeper than ever before with raw, vulnerable reflections on hope and loss, faith and resilience, heartbreak and redemption. “Seven records in, I feel like I’ve finally become the artist I always wanted to be,” Baird reflects. And with his extraordinary new album, it’s easy to hear why. The songs are lean and compact here, cutting to the quick with surgical precision, and the performances are similarly direct, fueled by earnest, melodic arrangements that call to mind everything from Tom Petty and Bob Seger to Lucinda Williams.
The result is a cinematic mix of alt-country intimacy and rock and roll ecstasy that refuses to shy away from pain in its pursuit of growth, a masterfully mature work of lyrical and sonic craftsmanship built around the promise that it’s never too late to learn from our mistakes. Pre-order Burning In The Stars on vinyl via Rob Baird’s online store HERE.
“I’ve got this Charles Bukowski poem taped to my fridge,” singer-songwriter Rob Baird explains, “and it says, ‘If you’re going to try to go all the way / Otherwise, don’t even start.’ This is the first record where I felt like I was able to live up to that, where I was able to go all the way.” Born and raised in Memphis, Baird first fell in love with music at an early age, sneaking into juke joints on Beale Street and landing between-set gigs at local clubs before he was even old enough to drink. After high school, he headed to Texas for college, but by his early twenties, he’d already landed a publishing deal and relocated to Nashville.
“I went from writing songs on the couch in my dorm to being in the room with some of my heroes in what felt like the blink of an eye,” Baird recalls. “I did that for about five years, and it was an incredible experience, but after a while I found myself longing for the independence I had back on that couch. It was important for me to be in control of my music and my destiny, and Texas felt like the place to do that.”
So Baird returned to Austin, where he spent the better part of the next decade grinding it out on the road, releasing six widely lauded studio albums on his label as he worked his way up from rough-and-tumble honkytonks to dates with the likes of Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff, Ryan Bingham, and Billy Joe Shaver. Along the way, he would go on to earn praise everywhere from Rolling Stone to The Wall Street Journal, land songs in prominent television series including Yellowstone and Nashville, and rack up nearly 100 million streams across platforms, all while operating as an entirely independent artist.
Burning In The Stars, Baird’s forthcoming LP, opens with the bittersweet title track. Balancing regret and optimism in equal measure, the tune soundtracks a late-night, behind-the-wheel meditation from a narrator grappling with what could have been (and what remains in the aftermath). “Trying to get back to a place I’ve never been / Light a prayer and let the ashes burn on that western wind,” Baird sings, setting the stage perfectly for an album steeped in longing, uncertainty, and the kind of tough questions that keep a man up at night. The rousing “Break My Fall” wonders if a romance has what it takes to last through the hard times, while the aching “California Line'' chases a memory that hangs just out of reach, and the stirring “High Road” feat. Baird’s old friend Ruston Kelly wrestles with doubt and hope in the face of addiction.
“I feel like at this point in my life, I don’t want to bullshit my way through things anymore,” Baird summarizes. “Love, art, career; I don’t want anything that isn’t real. I’ve figured out who I am and who I want to be, and it’s up to me to rise to that occasion.” With Burning In The Stars, Baird has more-than-met the challenge. He’s gone all the way.
Rob Baird will be making the following appearances this summer. Dates below with more to be added soon.
