Chris Stapleton - Traveller

Like many country troubadours, Chris Stapleton cut his teeth as a songwriter in Nashville, churning out tunes that wound up hits in the hands of others.

Chris Stapleton delivers variety of songs on his debut album. He casually switches gears between bluegrass waltz, Southern rockers, crunching blues, soulful slow-burners, and swaggering outlaw anthems, every one of them belonging to a tradition, but none sounding musty due to Stapleton's casualness. Never once does he belabor his range, nor does he emphasize the sharply sculpted songs. Everything flows naturally, and that ease is so alluring upon the first spin of Traveller that it's not until repeated visits that the depth of the album becomes apparent.

The album features a Dillon & Linda Hargrove tune "Tennessee Whiskey", which was popularized by George Jones and David Allan Coe in the early '80s.

Heavyweight double vinyl produced by Mercury Records. Gatefold sleeve.