Rising country artist Wyatt Flores's new song, “Welcome To The Plains,” is out today. Listen/share HERE.
Reflecting on the song, Flores shares, “For my debut album, I wanted folks to know where I come from. Oklahoma has long been called a flyover state, but it’s far more than that to me. It’s filled with the kindest people, a dark history, and a resilience that’s like nowhere else. I hope ‘Welcome to the Plains’ brings a little curiosity not only to the Red Dirt sound but also to the culture that defines it.”
“Welcome To The Plains” is the title track of Flores's highly anticipated full-length debut album, which will be released this Friday, October 18, on Island Records (pre-order/pre-save here). Ahead of the release, Flores has shared three additional songs: “Little Town,” “Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight,” and “Oh Susannah,” about which NPR praises, “It just speaks to his power as this young songwriter in the country lane, doing what I think is some of the most powerful music I’ve heard in a very long time.”
In celebration of the new music, Flores will make his late-night television debut on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” tomorrow, October 17, and will continue to tour through the end of this year with his “Welcome To The Plains Tour.” The extensive run includes Flores's largest headline shows to date, with upcoming stops at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium (two nights), Brooklyn’s Brooklyn Paramount, Tulsa’s Cain’s Ballroom (two nights), Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Atlanta’s The Eastern, Chicago’s Vic Theatre, Pittsburgh’s Stage AE, Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club, and Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas among many others. See below for the complete tour itinerary. Full details can be found at www.wyattfloresmusic.com/tour.
Produced by Beau Bedford (Orville Peck, Shane Smith & The Saints) and recorded between Los Angeles and Asheville, Welcome To The Plains details Flores's journey as he balances the struggle of leaving his hometown of Stillwater, OK, with the highs and lows of life on the road. Across these 14 tracks, including songwriting collaborations with Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor and Aaron Raitiere, Flores delivers the grounded and sincere storytelling he’s celebrated for, seamlessly blending traditional country and folk sounds.
Of the project, Flores reflects, “It’s an album about home and a search for happiness. It’s an album about Stillwater, Oklahoma, and all the other little towns that have raised people like you and me. It’s an album about my family, and the people and places in my life who have defined who I am today. This album is happy on one side and heartbreak on the other, and whoever you are, I hope you find something you love in here.”
Further adding to his breakout year, Flores is the latest addition to Apple Music’s Up Next program—their global artist initiative geared towards identifying, showcasing, and elevating rising talent. Additionally, Flores is one of Rolling Stone’s 25 “Future of Music” artists, was selected as Amazon’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year, was included in Spotify’s Hot Country Class of 2024 and CMT’s Listen Up class, and made his Grand Ole Opry debut. Flores has garnered over 325 million streams to date, has seen his 2022 breakout single, “Please Don’t Go,” scale the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, and has had his song “Before I Do” with Jake Kohn featured on the soundtrack for the new Twisters movie.
Born and raised in Oklahoma, the Mexican-American artist has established himself as one of country music’s most vital voices with his three previous EPs, including Half Life, which was released earlier this spring. He has received widespread critical attention; The New York Times praised, “Wyatt Flores…Has a Superpower: Tapping Emotions,” while NPR Music declared, “A fantastic record…he is making a big splash out there,” and Holler proclaimed, “Flores at his gloriously life-affirming, existential best.”
WELCOME TO THE PLAINS TRACK LIST
Welcome To The Plains
When I Die
Oh Susannah
Only Thing Missing Is You
Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight
Habits
Right Here with You
The Truth
Forget Your Voice
Angels Over You
Little Town
Stillwater
Falling Sideways
The Good Ones
