Music

Hear Cole Swindell’s Down Home Sessions II

Brand New Music From Old Merch Guy
by 10/30/2015

This is some kind of irony. I went out last night in a T-shirt Cole Swindell sold me, and woke up this morning to a stream of Cole Swindell’s new music.

Check out this awesome Album Premiere from Cole Swindell!

I was wearing the vintage T-shirt – it says “Luke Bryan You Make Me Want To” – because I was interviewing Bryan at his Chicago show on Thursday night (Oct. 29). We talked about how when I’d bought it in 2008, Swindell was working as Bryan’s merch guy. Meaning, he sold the T-shirts, CDs and more that Bryan would have set up at a table in the back of the bar during those early days.

So fast forward seven years, four Top 10 singles and three albums later, Swindell has come a long way.

Richard Gabriel Ford/WireImage
Hearing the story behind his path from college boy to merch guy to rising country star is one thing, but hearing this new music from his Down Home Sessions II is even better. (The EP will be available Nov. 6, but you can hear the songs now on CMT.com.)

The tracks include “Shuttin’ It Down,” “Should’ve Ran After You,” “Dangerous After Dark,” “Blue Lights” and “My First Radio.” That last one, if you listen close enough, even has a nice little piece of one of Bryan’s songs nestled inside.

Alison makes her living loving country music. She's based in Chicago, but she's always leaving her heart in Nashville.
@alisonbonaguro