Today, Fancy Hagood announces the October 25 release of his anticipated sophomore album American Spirit. Featuring guest vocals from Michelle Branch and Nickel Creek’s Sean and Sara Watkins, the community-forward project is a testament to his journey towards resilience, healing and growth. Along with the announcement, Fancy shares his latest single “Losing Game,” a delicate country love song about the rush of jumping headfirst into romance with someone you know isn’t quite right.
Listen to “Losing Game” via YouTube
Stream “Losing Game”
Fancy on the new single: “I wrote this song in 2020 during the pandemic. Dealing with some personal trauma of my own and the loneliness that was 2020, I found myself falling into old habits and being a bit boy crazy. This song is about knowing someone is absolutely not good for you, but jumping in headfirst anyway, just for the rush!”
American Spirit marks both a return and an arrival for Fancy, an embracement of his past while moving forward into his future. The album features songs produced by John Osborne (The Brothers Osborne, Ashley McBryde’s Lindeville), Jarrad K (Ruston Kelly’s Dying Star) and Jeremy Lutitio (Joy Oladokun, Devon Gilfillian), as well as co-writes with Caitlyn Smith, Mindy Smith, Sean McConnell and Mary Steenburgen. Brimming with the kind of truth and vulnerability that emerges in the company of close, trusted collaborators, these songs traverse all the complex emotions of being alive, from experiencing grief for loved ones lost (listen to the bittersweet new single “Good Grief”) to remembering that pain is a human experience that can’t be avoided (listen to the aptly-titled boot stomper “Through”).
Originally from Bentonville, AR, Fancy moved to Nashville at just 17 years old with the dream of becoming an openly queer country artist. After a detour that took him to the Los Angeles pop scene and on the road opening for Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande, his 2021 full-length debut Southern Curiosity found Fancy finally embraced by the community he tried all those years ago. He has garnered praise from Rolling Stone and People, Brandi Carlile called him an “artist to watch,” and his 2022 single with Kacey Musgraves, “Blue Dream Baby,” prompted Elton John to declare “We need more people like Fancy.” This year, Fancy has been named a member of CMT’s Listen Up Class, nominated for GLADD’s Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist Award, and guested on Orville Peck’s new duets album Stampede. Earlier this summer, he released his own 5-song EP, Smothered, Covered & Fried, featuring collaborations with She Returns From War, Jamie Wyatt, TJ Osborne, The Kentucky Gentlemen and Brooke Eden.
After years of ups and downs, American Spirit sees Fancy standing fully in his artistry, more sure of himself than ever before. He explains, “I knew after Southern Curiosity had been well received by this community that I wanted to go pedal to the metal and really go back to my roots and that original dream of wanting to be a country artist.” The joy he found in creating music again seeps into the music itself. “It’s like I’m sitting at a table where I don’t have to explain myself,” he says, “and I just wish I could invite the younger versions of myself to this moment to say, ‘Look, we’re doing it, and it feels really good.’ In some ways, this album is really for that 17-year-old who was brave enough to move to Nashville and beat the door down and say, ‘I belong here.’”
American Spirit Tracklist
1. Ever Really Ready
2. Isn’t That Life feat. Michelle Branch
3. Losing Game
4. Savior Self
5. Good Grief
6. Through
7. American Spirit
8. Navy Blue
9. The Chase feat. Watkins Family Hour
10. Soulmates
11. Fly Away
Fancy Hagood 2024 Tour Dates
September 9 - London, UK @ The Lower Third
September 11 - Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
September 12 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 Poetry Club
September 14 - Odense, DK @ Posten
November 2 - Roswell, NM @ The Liberty *
November 3 - Tucson, AZ @ The Maverick *
November 6 - San Diego, CA @ House of Blues - Voodoo Room *
November 7 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge *
November 8 - San Jose, CA @ The Ritz *
November 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord *
November 10 - Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post *
November 12 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
November 13 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern *
* - Supporting Kaitlin Butts
