Join us on Friday, May 30th at 4:00 PM for an intimate instore performance & album signing by Anderson East! We’ll be celebrating the release of Worthy the day the album drops. We can’t wait to see Anderson play songs from his new record in the record shop and hope you’ll be here on this fun occasion too! You can preorder your copy of Worthy on vinyl & CD in the record shop and on our webstore now to score a wristband for Anderson’s post-performance signing. We’ll also have copies of the album available for in the shop on the day of our event.

Anderson East is a Nashville staple and a well respected part of our creative community and he’s multi-talented—working as a singer/songwriter, instrumentalist, producer and engineer. After a late night recording session with longtime producer Dave Cobb at his new studio in Savannah, Georgia,  Anderson wondered if he and his longtime band of bassist Gregg Garner and drummer Darren Dodd were actually capturing anything worthwhile. Or were they just passing some days with an old friend? But when Cobb pressed play on "Never Meant to Hurt You" late that night, everything changed. The sound coming through the speakers was exactly what Anderson had imagined decades ago, recording on his TASCAM four-track in northern Alabama—real, grand, convincing. As a songwriter, singer, and even producer, this was the music he'd been working toward his entire life, realized here in a moment of unexpected and absolute triumph, through a country-soul classic that felt like an apologetic and warm hug.

The song "Never Meant to Hurt You" stands as the cornerstone of Worthy, Anderson's debut for Rounder and the most commanding and affecting album he's ever made. In fact, it is a record he nearly never made at all. Anderson has always treasured the magic of musicians together in a room, conjuring in real time. But he shaped 2021's Maybe We Never Die largely alone, grappling with cold technology in his little Nashville studio as the world grappled with a pandemic outside. He abhorred the process, even if he liked the results. The subsequent tour yielded a conundrum of its own. As he sang these songs into rooms full of people desperate for live music, he wondered if it all wasn't a bit artificial. When his major-label deal ended, the relentless cycle of recording and touring had begun to feel hollow against what he truly wanted from music.

But in June 2023, he and the band decided to head to Cobb's studio, without agenda. During songwriting sessions with Nashville collaborators, he'd found melodies and lines that resonated deeply with his life—regrets of the past, aspirations of the present and future—and tucked them away for the right moment. There was "Before It Gets Better," a dashing bit of vulnerability penned with Natalie Hemby, and "Fool Myself," a surrealist confessional written with his pal Trent Dabbs. Perhaps he and the band could explore these, see if anything caught their ears and imaginations? A lifelong recording nerd who was then finishing his own second home studio, Anderson wanted to see Cobb's new setup and console, regardless, to geek out on gear together. There were no expectations, no labels, no sense that a record had to be made.

Worthy blooms from that lack of pressure, from the freedom it afforded. After recording with Cobb, Anderson took the results back home to Nashville and dove in alone. He recorded his own vocals and used some of the digital know-how he'd harnessed on his prior LP to augment his analogue loves. He deliberately left space for accidents and magic, often taking days-long breaks from tracks so as not to overwork them. He kept things casual. When friends Foy Vance and Bonnie Bishop stopped by to spend the night during a road trip, he asked if they might like to sing on "Never Meant to Hurt You." Their mighty vocals reinforce its powerful embrace, giving it an unexpected gospel conviction. He could do what he wanted. Anderson made Worthy on his own terms, with its Muscle Shoals radiance, soulful horns, and interior lyrics; it’s a portrait of the artist he has become. But it is also a portrait of the person he has become, capable of seeing his past as a gateway to a present of love and happiness, of someone worthy of those things. Worthy is a reintroduction to Anderson East, more confident and commanding than ever now that he knows there is nothing to prove.

Don’t miss your chance to join us in welcoming Worthy into the world on release day! We hope you’ll be here to celebrate with Anderson and all of us. You can preorder your copy of Anderson East’s upcoming album on limited edition translucent sea blue vinyl & CD in the record store or on our site here and score a wristband for his signing. This is a free & all ages shindig, however wristbands are required to participate in the album signing. Like space in the shop, wristbands are limited. Wristbands also guarantee entrance to the event. (Wristbands are required for the signing for all 13+. Kids 12 & under do not require wristbands if attending with a wristband-holding adult.)

Anderson East - Worthy translucent sea blue vinyl