Fri 2/24
Friday February 24 marks the official release of Stampede, the new album from Ohio’s alt country/Americana band The Shootouts. That same day the band will be making their debut at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, kicking off a national tour that takes them across the south as far west as Texas and up to Chicago to close the month of March.
The album is the follow-up to their April 2021 sophomore release Bullesye, a top ten Americana album, which took the Akron-based band to another level. It gave them more opportunities to tour and open for national artists including Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaac and Steve Earle. They attracted the attention of Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson, who co-produced Stampede with Sam Seifert.
The new album, recorded here in Northeast Ohio, features a raft of special guests including Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Raul Malo and Jim Lauderdale. And while the bulk of the album is the band’s originals, they honor their northeast Ohio roots with a cover of Michael Stanley’s “I’ll Never Need Anyone More.”
The band was conceived by lead singer/guitarist Ryan Humbert as a side project from his singer/songwriter-focused Ryan Humbert Band to feed his interest in traditional honky-tonky country. But the side project, which debuted in 2015, soon eclipsed his other band and absorbed some of it, with the Shootouts’ focus expanding to include a range of country- and roots-influenced sounds. They released their debut album, Quick Draw, in 2019.
The lineup features Humbert’s long-time vocal partner Emily Bates, lead guitarist Bran Poston and bassist Kevin McManus. Also featured on Stampede are drummer Dylan Gomez, bassist Ryan McDermott and guitarist Al Moss.