Chris Stapleton Hints New Music Might Be Coming in 2020

2020 might be the year of new music from Chris Stapleton! The singer dropped a major hint, revealing that he was writing former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers band member, Mike Campbell, and planned on sharing some of what they were creating, perhaps later this year.

“He’s probably my favorite guitar player of all time,” Stapleton told Rolling Stone. “To sit around with him and write some songs has been cool … We did some last year too.

“I don’t want to make any promises,” he added. “But there is probably some new music on the way.”

Stapleton has plenty to keep him busy in 2020 besides new music. He will also continue his All-American Road Show Tour, where he will be joined for one concert, at Wrigley Field on August 29, by The Highwomen. Jason Isbell, husband of band member Amanda Shires, plays guitar for the band.

“We wanted to get the Highwomen in there because they hadn’t played many shows,” Stapleton said of the all-female group, which includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby, and Shires. “I was talking to Jason the hallway with Amanda and he said, ‘I’m gonna come out for that.’ We were looking for some other folks [to play], and, well, Jason said he was gonna come anyway, so that’s how that show happened.”

Stapleton’s last album, From a Room: Volume 2, was released in December of 2017, although he vows he will never feel pressured to put out new music solely by the calendar.

“Like everything else, I will make the record when it’s exactly the right time to make the record and it feels like the right thing to do,” Stapleton told Billboard. “Nobody’s pushing me on it at the moment, and if they did, I probably wouldn’t respond very well to it anyway because I think music should be made when you feel like making music and not the other way around.”

Campbell’s new band, the Dirty Knobs, will also perform at the Madison Square Garden show, as will Isbell’s band, the 400 Unit. Stepleton is rumored to also be recording with Dave Cobb at the historic RCA Studio A. Tickets for all of Stapleton’s upcoming shows can be found by visiting his website.

Photo Credit: Getty / Jason Kempin