Today, Jett Holden announces the October 4 release of his debut album The Phoenix as the first official release on Black Opry Records. Launched in partnership with Thirty Tigers, the new label continues the mission of The Black Opry, an organization and touring collective focused on celebrating and supporting Black roots and country artists. Along with the announcement, Jett shares the album’s debut single “Backwood Proclamation,” an unabashed declaration of love that was co-written with his friend and fellow queer singer-songwriter Roger Dale Locklear and features Charlie Worsham and John Osborne on electric guitar.
Billboard recently spoke with Holly G and Jett Holden about the news and shared the “Backwoods Proclamation” music video this morning, hailing the “smoky-voiced” singer and his “infectious, rock-tinged first single.”
Watch the “Backwood Proclamation” music video
Stream “Backwood Proclamation”
Pre-save / Pre-order The Phoenix
“'Backwood Proclamation' was co-written with my friend Roger Dale Locklear,” says Jett. “We were playing a line of Mother's Day shows in North Carolina. One morning, he'd gone out to the dollar store and I got the idea for a song about loving someone who feels like home whenever they're around. I sent him the first verse and chorus, he texted me back the rest of the song, and I put it to music. By the time he got back to the house, the song was done.” On Charlie Worsham and John Osborne’s contribution: “When this song came together and these people I’ve looked up to are jumping onto the track, it’s validating. It feels like they’re giving credibility to a song written by two queer people. It feels so good.”
Jett Holden had just given up pursuing a career as an artist when he met Holly G, founder of The Black Opry, after she stumbled upon his music online. “I found the first verse and chorus for ‘Taxidermy’ and asked if he planned on finishing the song,” she says. “He told me he wasn't sure, so I got him a grant to finish and record it.” She reached out to Rissi Palmer, founder of the Color Me Country Artist Fund, and sent her the first verses. Moved by his painfully earnest songwriting, Palmer awarded him the funds to complete the visceral track, setting Jett off on what has now become a full-circle journey.
Fittingly, The Phoenix opens with the song that started it all – “Taxidermy,” a powerful track written in response to police brutality – setting the stage for a collection of raw, honest confessionals reflecting on Jett’s experience as a Black, queer man growing up in the rural South. Jett’s gritty vocals compliment the evocative lyrics, as he toes the line between country and classic rock. In addition to Osborne and Worsham, the album also features vocal performances from ACM and Grammy-nominated artist Cassadee Pope and critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter Emily Scott Robinson.
Recorded at Cartoon Moon Recording Studio in East Nashville, The Phoenix was produced by CMA and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Will Hoge, who asked Jett to collaborate on the record after The Black Opry opened for him at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley. “From the first time you hear Jett you realize how genuine he is,” he says. “You feel the honesty. That comes through in the songs he writes. It comes through in the way he sings them. He’s a special artist and it’s exciting to get to watch the world discover it.”
Now that he’s finally sharing his voice in a genre where Black musicianship is still so rarely championed, Jett knows how important it is to be an example of what’s possible. “The first question Holly asked me was ‘Why do you write music?’ and I said ‘I write the music I wish I heard when I was growing up.’ If someone hears my music and it makes them feel safe and less alone, it’s done its job, and I’ve done my job.”
“The title The Phoenix represents the resurrection of my career,” he continues. “When Holly found me, when the Black Opry found me, I had quit music. I was done. This whole process pulled me back into music. Everything feels possible now.”
The Phoenix Tracklist
1. Taxidermy
2. Necromancer
3. Karma (feat. Cassadee Pope)
4. Perfect Storm
5. Scarecrow
6. When I’m Gone (feat. Emily Scott Robinson)
7. Better Off
8. 65611
9. West Virginia Sky
10. Backwood Proclamation (feat. Charlie Worsham, John Osborne)
