Warner Brothers RecordsIt’s been close to two years since Cole Swindell released his self-titled debut album. Just this week, his label gave him a plaque commemorating its three platinum singles and the fact that the record itself has gone gold.
In fact, all three of Cole’s singles so far have shot to number one– “Chillin’ It,” “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight” and “Ain’t Worthy the Whiskey”– with his current song, “Let Me See Ya Girl,” threatening to arrive there any day.
There’s only one problem — Cole’s fan are hungry for new music. To satisfy that craving, he came up with the idea to put out 5-song EPs in between his major, full-length albums, unveiling the first volume a year ago. Now, he’s back with the second edition of Down Home Sessions, named for his fan club, the Down Home Crew.
But while the first one was mainly songs that wouldn’t fit on his first CD, Cole says the second one is quite different, since he’s already working on his sophomore effort.
“It’s tough. It may be different every year but this year it was honestly, I knew that this thing has to be strong. Not that I would ever not put out, you know, my best stuff,” he clarifies, “but it’s just, this EP is a chance for me to get everybody fired up, you know, for my album. What made the cut here is just the best songs.”
Since there likely won’t be a single from Down Home Sessions II, Cole says he wanted to be sure he kept it to songs he’d written himself.
“You know, I wanted to keep a lot of these for the album. When you’re picking songs — and these are ones I wrote. That’s the thing about the Down Home Sessions. They’re always gonna be songs I write just because I’m getting some great songs sent to me and I feel I don’t want to put a song that somebody really, really loves on an EP where it doesn’t even have a chance to be a single.”
Even though they likely won’t have the chance to be heard on the radio, Cole believes they’re on par with the hits he’s released so far. Instead, he’ll focus on making these songs concert classics.
“Literally there were some that I thought may have been singles off the next album but it’s just, nah, I want it out now. And I don’t get to put out an album for awhile so, or until next year. It’s just the best stuff I got and also I’m thinking live. I’m doing this tour around the thing and these songs are gonna be, I think, a blast to play live and just build the whole tour around these five songs. And I’m ready for people to hear some new music.”
You can download Down Home Sessions II today, with lyric videos for two of the songs, “I Should’ve Ran After You” and “Shuttin’ It Down,” already available online. Cole kicks off his headlining tour next Wednesday in New York City.
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