Country music singer Colby Acuff found his footing with Sony Music Nashville after being the man in charge of sending out his own press for his releases. He’s the latest member of this new-age outlaw country joining the likes of Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell, Parker Millsap, Tyler Childers, Brandy Clark and there’s plenty more where it came from.

His debut record Western White Pines was birthed in early 2023 securing critically-acclaimed success as the album was his first big label project following the smash record, If I Were The Devil. 

Produced by Eddie Spear – the producer & recording engineer behind Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak, Cody Jinks’ Mercy, Brent Cobb’s Providence Canyon, Brandi Carlile’s By The Way, I Forgive You and countless more, Acuff’s work is in good company. Western White Pines Deluxe houses six songs, in addition to the original ten, and it’s brimming with the singer’s bona fide grit and raw technique. 

“Through My Windowpane” demonstrates his conventional makings and love for country music. It opens with an eclectic picked electric moving over to acoustic and a shy dose of harmonica. “Movin’” picks up the pace significantly channeling more of a rootsy, bluegrass vibe. It puts a sound to his move from Idaho to Tennessee as he sings, “Country music makes me feel alive.”

“Ain’t No Time To Die”  rides off the energy of the latter while “Livin’ Too Close To The Dream” dials it back a little bit, but still represents Acuff’s authentic storytelling. The song is pure outlaw which is one of the most achieved sounds right now.

“Cherokee Rose” is a lot more than just a flower. It’s heavily glossed in vulnerability and symbolism as Acuff sings about loss and the symbol that keeps on giving. He sings, “He said at night I go pickin’ a Cherokee rose / I’ll lay ’em on her headstone / ‘Cause she loved them the most / No matter how many I have won’t bring her back / I suppose
But it makes me feel close / To my Cherokee Rose.”

“River Runs Through It” closes out the album leaving you with the itch for more.

Acuff says about the release, “The whole project has always been a completion of 16 songs in my mind. The story of ‘Western White Pines’ is not one you can get with one go-round. These extra 6 really round out the project as a whole and complete the story. It was always meant to be this way.”

The songsmith recently made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry and will embark as an opening act on Luke Combs’ 2024 Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour. 

This fall, Acuff has acquired numerous date openings for Charles Wesley Godwin, Paul Cauthen, Lainey Wilson, and Flatland Cavalry.