Tracy Lawrence: ‘Out Here In It’ – EP Review

For country legend Tracy Lawrence, his new EP has been years in the making. With almost four years since his last studio release, the retrospective Hindsight 2020, this new project reflects the beginning of a new chapter.

Out Here In It, out now, allows the acclaimed singer to put his timeless voice on some new tunes, making his own brand of traditional yet modern country. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in the studio,” shares Lawrence in a statement. “I always have a blast working up new songs so it felt so good to cut new music. My last project, the 30th anniversary album Hindsight 2020, was the closing of a chapter of my life. With this new project, I really wanted to freshen things up a bit. A little bit more contemporary but still very country. I’m very proud of it and hope you all really enjoy it.”

With over 13M albums sold and 18 number 1 hits, it would be easy for Lawrence to ride off into the proverbial sunset and rest on his laurels. Instead, he enlisted some of Nashville’s best songwriters, including ERNEST, Rodney Clawson, Jacob Durrett, Wyatt McCubbin, Devin Dawson, Lee Thomas Miller and more, to create something new.

The EP opens with ““Pretty Dang Good,” which may be the most unique sounding track on the album, combining Lawrence’s familiar voice with varied instrumentation as he celebrates the fact that every day is a good one. Here, he’s ready to seize the day over a driving guitar riff as he celebrates all the dang good things in his life. “It’s a dang good life I’m living, even if it ain’t going like it should, it ain’t always easy, but it’s always pretty dang good.”

Likewise, the collection’s title track sends a similar message, finding the icon rolling with the punches and dealing with whatever life sends his way.

“Good or bad, when the jury’s in // I hope they know I did it // When a rumor is I said it //  You can bet I probably meant it I’ve been drunk and I’ve been sober // Hit the under and the over //  Been caught between the praying and the sinning //  I may be losing, I may be winning // Life’s for the living // So I’m out here in it I won’t run, I won’t hide // No one gets out of here alive”

“A Cowboy Would,” “I Could Use One,” and “Gulf of Mexico” are both 90’s tinted ballads that sit right in Lawrence’s musical wheelhouse. On “Gulf,” he’s a heartbroken balladeer, musing that Gulf of Mexico full of whiskey or a Grand Canyon full of wine wouldn’t be enough to mend his broken heart. Alternately, “A Cowboy Would” has him offering to be the mender, as he saddles up to a broken-hearted lass in a bar, promising that a cowboy could treat her right.

“Honky Tonk Up” concludes the EP on a high note, leaving listeners wanting more. It’s a catchy uptempo invitation to hit the honkytonk and throw down for a good time. “It’s high time to get a good time off the ground, honky tonk up when the sun goes down?”

While Tracy Lawrence may be a country icon known for hits like “Paint Me a Birmingham” and “Time Marches On,” his new EP proves he’s still as good as they come.

Out Here In It EP Track List:

1. Pretty Dang Good (Wyatt McCubbin, Bobby Pinson, Carson Chamberlain)
2. I Could Use One (Brent Rupard, Brad Hutsell, Kyle James, Anthony Olympia)
3. A Cowboy Would (Jacob Durrett, Ernest Keith Smith, Devin Dawson, Rodney Clawson)
4. Gulf of Mexico (Monty Criswell, Derek George, Bubba Strait)
5. Out Here In It (Trey Lewis, Lee Thomas Miller, Chris Utley)
6. Honky Tonk Up (Monty Criswell, Derek George, Thomas Archer)