Tim McGraw
will release a holiday single next week as his first new music
after officially cutting ties with his longtime record label, Curb Records. In a message posted Friday (Dec. 2) on his website,
McGraw announced he will release "Christmas All Over the World" and follow it up with another new single in early 2012. Earlier
this week, a Nashville judge granted McGraw's request to be freed from his existing 20-year contract with Curb Records, his
label home that released his first single in 1992. Still pending is a Curb's lawsuit claiming McGraw breached his contract.
The matter is scheduled to go to trial in July. McGraw says he delivered an album,
Emotional Traffic, which Curb delayed
releasing. Immediately following Wednesday's court ruling in McGraw's favor, Curb released "Better Than I Used to Be," a track
from the album.
Country Aircheck, an industry publication and website, reported Friday that Curb will now release
Emotional
Traffic on Jan. 17. "I fought very hard for the release of
Emotional Traffic," McGraw said in the message on his
website. "It's an album full of music of which I am very proud. It's extremely unfortunate that it wasn't released earlier
this year in conjunction with the Emotional Traffic tour, but all I want to do now is focus on the positive and look to the
future. I'm really excited about the new music I'm recording. Next week, I'm putting out a holiday song I've just recorded
called 'Christmas All Over the World.' After the first of the year, I'll have a brand new single which I can hardly wait to
share with everyone. I am so appreciative of the support I've received over the years, and I'm looking forward to this next
chapter of my career."
