Jimmie Allen Announces Third Album, ‘Tulip Drive’

Talk about striking while the iron is hot.

Written by Chris Parton
Jimmie Allen Announces Third Album, ‘Tulip Drive’
Jimmie Allen; Image Courtesy of Academy of Country Music

Continuing what has already been a monumental phase of his country career, rising star Jimmie Allen has announced plans to release a new album. Marking his third studio project overall, Tulip Drive will arrive on June 24, and the announcement comes after a long string of achievements.

Just last Sunday (April 3), Allen was featured as a Best New Artist (all-genre) nominee and performer at the 64th Grammy Awards. Before that he co-hosted the 2022 ACM Awards with Dolly Parton and Gabby Barrett, and in November he won New Artist of the Year at the 2021 CMA Awards. Meanwhile, he just scored another Number One with “Freedom Was a Highway” (featuring Brad Paisley), and there was that little eight-week stint on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars a while back, so Allen is arguably one of the hottest acts in country at the moment — and he’s looking to keep the heat on.

As reported by CMT, Allen describes Tulip Drive as much more personal than his previous work, which was often inspired by relationship issues he witnessed friends going through, or even read about online. At least some of the songs will sound “traditional country,” perhaps like his current single “Down Home,” and as for the rest, expect a smooth mix of flavors from country’s cutting edge.

“No matter what kind of country you like, you should at least find one song in there that you love,” he says. “I really got to take my time with this thing.”

Adding to the personal theme, Allen has also once again mined his upbringing for the album’s title. His first set Mercury Lane was named for the street he grew up on in Delaware, while Bettie James nodded to his grandmother and father. Likewise, Tulip Drive was the street where grandma Bettie lived, which Allen says he would visit often as a young man.

“A lot of the songs on this album are from that time period,” Allen says. “I was in high school and college at a place where I was just learning a lot of life lessons from my grandmother. I wanted to honor her by naming this album Tulip Drive, after the street she lived on in Lewes, DE.”

Sounds Like Nashville will share more about the project when new information is available.