Mo Pitney Details Debut Album ‘Behind This Guitar’
Mo Pitney has revealed details of his long-awaited debut album Behind This Guitar, which will be released October 7th on Curb Records. Marked by Pitney’s traditional-leaning approach to mainstream country music, 10 of the LP’s 12 tracks were penned by the artist. The album features the new single “Everywhere,” which Pitney wrote with Phil O’Donnell (whose hits include Blake Shelton’s “Doin’ What She Likes”) and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame legend Dean Dillon, the writer behind dozens of hits for George Strait, among others.
In addition to “Everywhere,” the songs “Country” and “Boy and a Girl Thing” will be available with pre-orders of Behind This Guitar. Pitney, who has earned standing ovations for his Grand Ole Opry performances of the album’s first single “Country,” penned with songwriting veteran Bobby Tomberlin and Country Music Hall of Fame icon Bill Anderson. His “Clean Up on Aisle Five,” “I Met Merle Haggard Today” and the lump-in-the-throat ballad, “It’s Just a Dog,” are sincere, slice-of-life observations that helped earn the Illinois native a spot as one of Rolling Stone Country‘s Artists You Need to Know in 2015. And although he has eclectic musical tastes, from James Taylor to Randy Newman, Pitney admits his approach to country music has earned high praise from fans of traditional country.
“I tend to attract the purists,” the singer told Rolling Stone Country. “They want to immediately link arms and say, ‘Let’s fight this other monster.’ And I say, ‘It’s not a monster. They’re artists and they’re doing what they do.’ There are more tweets on my Twitter that say #saviorofcountrymusic. I’m like, ‘Don’t put that on me!’ I just want to make music. I’m honored that people see me as that but I’m not doing this as a way to be different.”
Behind This Guitar track listing:
- “Country”
- “Clean Up on Aisle Five”
- “Come Do a Little Life”
- “It’s Just a Dog”
- “Everywhere”
- “Boy and a Girl Thing”
- “I Met Merle Haggard Today”
- “Take the Chance”
- “When I’m With You”
- “Love Her Like I Lost Her”
- “Behind This Guitar”
- “Give Me Jesus”