Following up the release of her acclaimed EP, The Days, breakout lyricist Hailey Whitters has revealed the drop date for her upcoming full album, setting February 28 for The Dream.
Highlighted as a singer-songwriter on the rise by Sounds Like Nashville in September, Whitters’ The Dream marks the indie artist’s second full-length project and will feature the six coming-of-age anthems found on the The Days EP (including the stunning “Ten Year Town,” all about the hard times and double standards associated with breaking through country’s glass ceiling). Six new tracks will also be revealed, and all but two — covers of Chris Stapleton’s “The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice” and Brent Cobb’s “Loose Strings” — were co-written by the rising star, including the bounding “Happy People,” recorded by Little Big Town for The Breaker in 2017.
Each will be drenched in Whitters’ organic roots sound, and filled with sharp observations on the personal toll extracted by chasing your dreams. It’s a combination which landed the Iowa-born upstart on multiple best-of lists last year, and has begun drawing the attention of country’s biggest names.
“This is the first record that feels 100 percent me,” Whitters says. “It’s a time capsule of my time in Nashville and coming to terms with dreams and what they mean to you.”
Despite a lack of major-label support, Whitters spent much of 2019 on the road with admirers like Maren Morris, Little Big Town and Lori McKenna, and will continue that trend by joining Tanya Tucker and Jordan Davis on separate tours in early 2020. She’ll also make an appearance at this year’s Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California, and plans to tease The Dream by releasing the John Prine-esque “Janice At the Hotel Bar” on January 24.
The Dream Tracklist:
