Rodney Crowell Releases Album And Lands Airline Highway Tour

Today Rodney Crowell released his anticipated Airline Highway via New West Records and announced a fall run of dates including pre-tour stops at the Grand Ole Opry on Sept. 3 and at Americanafest on Sept. 13 in Nashville.

Launching Oct. 1 at Largo in Los Angeles, the tour features stops at The City Winery in NYC, The Heights Theater in Crowell’s hometown of Houston, TX, The Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, IL, and more. The Secret Sisters, Thomas Csorba and William Elliott Whitmore will appear as special guests on select dates.

The 10-song Airline Highway was produced by Tyler Bryant and recorded and mixed by Trina Shoemaker in New Orleans, Louisiana, with contributions from an impressive group of young blues and country artists who cite Crowell as an important influence. Ashley McBryde co-wrote and sings on “Taking Flight,” Lukas Nelson co-wrote and sings the opener “Rainy Days in California,” Blackberry Smoke guitarist Charlie Starr sings on “Heaven Can You Help,” while Rebecca & Megan Lovell from Larkin Poe add harmonies and slide guitar throughout.

Airline Highway began when Crowell met Bryant, a young guitarist and producer whose band The Shakedown toured with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Guns n’ Roses, AC/DC, among others. Crowell says in a release, “He’s one of the most impressive young men I’ve met in a long time. As soon as I met him, I thought, ‘let’s go!’ We immediately started going back and forth between my home studio and his, making demos and talking about what we wanted to do.”

A few months later, they packed up a truckload of gear to make the journey down to Shoemaker’s remote Dockside Studio, in Maurice, Louisiana. “It’s right at the place where nowhere becomes now here,” Crowell laughs. “It’s got a great vibe, and the band all lived under the same roof. The beautiful Vermilion River is nearby. We thought with any luck we’d get eaten by alligators.” 

Crowell drove many of those Louisianna backroads while growing up on the east side of Houston and making forays across state lines for booze and music. “You could buy beer in Louisiana without a license, so as soon as we could get away from our parents, my friends and I would drive over the line and go to this club called The Big Oaks Club, where this band called The Boogie Kings played swamp pop soul. In fact, the first recording I ever did was when my buddy and I went over to Crowley, Louisiana, to record at JD Miller’s studio above a beauty shop. But it never came out because the songs we wrote weren’t any good!”

It was a humble start to a celebrated career.

With 15 No. 1 songs and two Grammy awards, Crowell has written hits for Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Strait, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. In 2003, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame; in 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting from the Americana Music Association; in 2017 he was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award; and in 2019 he was presented with the Poet’s Award by the Academy of Country Music. This year, he was inducted into the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters alongside Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry and Sandra Cisneros. 

At 75, Crowell is uncovering new perspectives on Airline Highway. “At a basic level there are a lot more years behind me than there are ahead of me,” Crowell says. “I’m up in the seventh decade of my life and I’m glad that I’m still looking forward to certain things I want to do. My ambition isn’t to be a household name anymore. My ambition is to be satisfied with the work that I do. I’m at a place where it really is about having fun.”

Rodney Crowell On Tour:
Sept. 3 – Nashville, TN, The Grand Ole Opry

Sept. 13 – Nashville, TN, 3rd & Lindsley (Americanafest 2025)

Oct. 1 – Los Angeles, CA, Largo

Oct. 21 – Pittsburgh, PA, City Winery *

Oct. 22 – Phoenixville, PA, The Colonial Theatre *

Oct. 23 – Washington, DC, Lincoln Theatre *

Oct. 25 – Westerly, RI, United Theatre *

Oct. 26 – New York, NY, City Winery *

Oct. 28 – Richmond, VA, Tin Pan

Nov. 7 – Houston, TX, Heights Theatre ^

Nov. 9 – Dallas, TX, The Kessler ^

Nov. 13 – Montgomery, AL, Montgomery PAC *

Nov. 14 – Decatur, AL, Princess Theater

Nov. 15 – Atlanta, GA, Center Stage *

Nov. 18 – Madison, WI, Atwood Music Hall +

Nov. 19 – Iowa City, IA, Englert Theatre +

Nov. 20 – St. Paul, MN, Fitzgerald Theater *

Nov. 22 – Chicago, IL, Old Town School of Folk Music *

* With guests The Secret Sisters 

^ With guest Thomas Csorba

+ With guest William Elliott Whitmore