Photo: Universal Music Group Nashville
Sam Hunt delivered his four-track EP titled after a Johnny Cash-inspired single and music video that premiered last month. The release also comes shortly before the Georgia-born country star makes his performance debut of the title track on the 2024 CMT Music Awards stage.
Hunt co-wrote three of the four tracks on the collection, which also includes credits by respected songwriters Ross Copperman, Zach Crowell, Jeremy Flowers, Luke Laird, Michael Lotten, Shane McAnally, and Josh Osborne. The EP includes previously-released “Locked Up” — the project’s namesake — and “Outskirts,” in addition to two never-before-debuted tracks:
“These four songs reflect, I don’t know, the last three or four years of my life and that season I’ve been in, that writing season, and I hope they’ll listen to them with the other seven songs as well, because they all go together,” Hunt said via his record label. “Yeah, I hope that they can appreciate all the things about these songs that they might have appreciated about songs in the past. There are some themes I touch on that I’ve touched on in the past and some new direction, but overall the sound, I think, is pretty consistent with what I’ve done in the past. It’s a chapter that I’m closing and hopefully will start the next one soon after.”
Hunt released the title track of Locked Up days before revealing his EP release date. The music video includes nods to music legend Johnny Cash, inspired by his Folsom Prison performance in the late 1960s. The “Locked Up” video also features Hunt’s then-pregnant wife, Hannah Lee Fowler, who was carrying Baby No. 2 at the time. Hunt and Fowler are parents to daughter Lucy Louise, turning 2 in May, and son Lowry Lee, who arrived in October 2023.
Before “Locked Up,” Hunt debuted “Outskirts,” a reflective ballad that sees the country star picturing a life he could’ve had if he and his ex hadn’t split up. The song also inspired the name of Hunt’s headlining tour, which also include Brett Young and Lily Rose: “But soon as I get out here on the outskirts/ I wish I was runnin' by your house first/ Somethin' 'bout a summer in the South, sure/ Shines like gold down these old/ Round bail river valley backroads/ Way back in the holler where the grass grows/ God almighty, baby, we were that close/ To ditchin' this town and settlin' down/ Out here on the outskirts.”
Hunt revealed earlier this week that he’s recruiting Russell Dickerson, Dalton Dover and George Birge for his headlining “Locked Up Tour,” slated to kick off on June 28 in Bend, Oregon. See the list of tour stops here.
The 2024 CMT Music Awards will return to Moody Center in Austin, Texas, taking place on Sunday, April 7, and airing live (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT). Viewers can watch on CBS and stream live and on demand on Paramount+.