Pistol Annies Drop 3 New Tracks From New Album “Interstate Gospel”
This story has been updated.
After months of hints and allegations, The Pistol Annies are back, and in a big way, dropping three surprise tracks Wednesday (9-26) night off a new album called Interstate Gospel that is set for release on November 2nd. “Got My Name Changed Back,” “Best Years of My Life,” and the title track all populated via streaming and download services late Wednesday night, sending Pistol Annie fans into a tizzy, and setting the table for an official announcement of the record soon.
A rare, modern day country music supergroup comprised of “Lonestar Annie” (Miranda Lambert), “Hippie Annie” (Ashley Monroe), and “Holler Annie” (Angaleena Presley), the group released two records between 2011 and 2013, going #1 and #2 in the charts respectively. Since then fans have waited for a reunification of the group first started when Miranda wanted to collaborate with fellow women in the country business, and now they have their wish. The trio specializes in sassy storytelling buoyed by strong songwriting. It’s a passion project with an independent streak, yet with commercial implications in the mainstream.
Along with making appearances together on Miranda Lambert’s recent tour stops and dropping hints on social media ahead of the release, The Pistol Annies have been sending out postcards to fans with nuggets of information about the new album, including the names of tracks. “The best way to describe this record is that three women came unleashed and told a bunch of truth,” the trio says. “We didn’t hold back and we’re proud of it. There are 13/14 songs and they’re our stories… our friends stories and your stories.”
The trio also performed together at the Country Music Hall of Fame Wednesday night as part of Miranda Lambert’s Artist-in-Residency. They will play Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on October 25, The Town Hall in New York City on November 2, and LA’s downtown concert hall The Novo on November 7. Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 5.
You can hear the new tracks below, and Interstate Gospel is now available for pre-order.
Interstate Gospel Track List:
- Interstate Prelude
- Stop Drop & Roll One
- Best Years Of My Life
- 5 Acres Of Turnips
- When I Was His Wife
- Cheyenne
- Got My Name Changed Back
- Sugar Daddy
- Leavers Lullaby
- Milk Man
- Commissary
- Masterpiece
- Interstate Gospel
- This Too Shall Pass
All tracks are written by Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, except “This Too Shall Pass,” which is written by Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley.
September 26, 2018 @ 10:02 pm
Best Years of My Life is just a little too real. It’s why I love the Annies!
October 4, 2018 @ 4:11 am
Agreed!!! When I first listened I was driving to work at 4:00 am and was the only one on the road.. Good thing because the song almost put me in a daze thinking to myself how perfect it was.
September 26, 2018 @ 10:39 pm
Wow she is still bashing Blake?
The true question is….Will radio play them? Probably not..
September 26, 2018 @ 10:47 pm
Let’s please not devolve this into a Blake vs. Miranda thing again.
My first question here is which one of these songs is going to be the one radio single they send to corporate radio and dare them not to play. I don’t want two singles like Kacey Musgraves did, and I definitely don’t want three. Have an A&R man from Sony select what they believe is the most radio-friendly track, put a full promotional camping behind it, and if it fails, it fails. Don’t let radio off easy by folding your hand before the cards are even dealt. Pick a single, any single, and shove it down people’s throats like you do the guys.
September 27, 2018 @ 12:00 am
Agreed, Kacey Musgrave album was handled poorly…
I think Kelsea Ballerini is being handled poorly too. I Hate love Songs is falling, She is releasing a pop collaboration, she is touring with Kelly Clarkson next.
All country female artists are opening for pop artists lately. Mareen Morris/Nail Horan, Musgraves/Harry Styles. Ballerini/Kelly Clarkson.
At least pop artists recognize and celebrate country females
September 27, 2018 @ 5:40 am
“Let’s please not devolve this into a Blake vs. Miranda thing again.”
Unfortunately, it’s gonna happen, and those clowns will drag the Troubadours into it as well. Watch and see.
September 27, 2018 @ 5:59 am
I have nothing to say about Evan Faker!
September 27, 2018 @ 6:30 am
These songs were all written well before the split with Evan Felker so doubtful this album will have anything to do with that relationship. Now ML’s next solo album may be a different story.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:01 am
Miranda’s PR is trying to make people forget about the Evan affair. He’ll be lucky/unlucky if she keeps Trouble in Tacoma for her solo album. Evan and Anderson East are fortunate because they’re not famous enough to use. Blake Shelton is Miranda’s miscarriage story.
September 27, 2018 @ 9:48 am
Just looked up “Trouble in Tacoma” and she wrote it with the love junkies not Evan Felker.
September 27, 2018 @ 10:10 am
Didn’t say she wrote it with Evan but word is it’s about Evan since that’s where they hooked up. We’ll have to wait and see.
September 28, 2018 @ 6:32 pm
Where can I find this track?! My interest is officially peaked.
September 29, 2018 @ 7:24 pm
Oh wow, that is so exciting! …and so NOT relevant to this story. When will you trolls realize that the true followers of this site are here for the music, not to discuss who is sleeping with whom. I have a question: what did you think about the music? Oh, I get it, you didn’t even listen to it. You are not here for the music, you are just here to gossip. Which means you don’t belong here wasting space and people’s time. Read the mission statement, then go somewhere else, please. Doesn’t TMZ have a comments section or something where you can spew your trash?
September 27, 2018 @ 7:16 am
I love all three, but I think one of the two more upbeat tracks would be a good choice as a first official single. They’re both really catchy and fun.
September 26, 2018 @ 10:48 pm
So excited for new Annie music! Really enjoying these new songs.
September 26, 2018 @ 11:54 pm
First impression … 14 original, new tracks (from what I can tell). Which for projects like this, is “super” rare, but true to their last two albums.
September 27, 2018 @ 12:00 am
For comparison, The Highwaymen yielded 2 (?) original songs over three albums … and they had an extra member!
September 27, 2018 @ 12:09 am
Off topic, but have you noticed the new hip thing for country artists and labels to push is Deluxe Albums… after one year of initial release.
Thomas rhett, Luke Combs, Dylan Frankenstein Scott, Kelsea Ballerini, and many others are doing it.
Why release more songs? Can’t they be placed on the next album?
Songs cut from initial releases are usually done so because they aren’t strong enough or don’t fit the album flow.
Is it a way to milk the original album more in sales?
It sure has helped Luke Combs.. But it’s annoying. Just save it for the next album or release an EP, imo.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:54 am
For some like Luke I just take the new songs and make myself a nice little EP of new material. Works wonders! I love the 4 new songs he has.
September 27, 2018 @ 1:54 pm
Why would “She Got the Best of Me” be taken off the original release? These deluxe albums just scream “We ran out of good radio singles… so lets do a deluxe edition to have another single so we can milk the sales” – its desperate and annoying.
I still buy physical albums at the local Target – Yup, proud of it. But its annoying now that a deluxe album could exist in a year’s time. I don’t want to buy 2 albums.
September 27, 2018 @ 3:01 pm
Yeah for some reason they never put that song on the first 2 “This One’s For You’s” Maybe they thought it wouldn’t fit with the rest of that bunch until they saw it was a crowd favorite when he played it live. It’s a rerecorded produced version with the same arrangement smoothed over. If they had balls they’d a put “Can I Get An Outlaw” on the deluxe version. I’m sure they didn’t want to offend the Mom/daughters though with the chorus.
Back on topic……… I like these tunes!
Carrie and the other new Pop/country girls could never come close to this.
September 27, 2018 @ 2:52 am
It’s fuckin’ Christmas!!!!!!!
These tracks are awesome! So glad the Annies are back
September 27, 2018 @ 8:41 am
Glad you’re back too.
September 27, 2018 @ 8:59 am
Thanks, but where’d I go?
September 27, 2018 @ 9:21 am
Don’t know, you tell me.
September 27, 2018 @ 2:00 pm
~ Plays “Missing” by William Michael Morgan. ~
Welcome back Black Boots, I’m head over boots for you pal.
Please keep it clean, don’t get dirt on them.
September 27, 2018 @ 3:07 am
Love “Interstate Gospel” (& i’m not a fan of the two Pistol Annies albums).
Gospel…Josh Turner is releasing a new album called I Serve A Savior (10/26).
Two duet tracks with Sonya Isaacs, a couple of live tracks (“live from Gaither studios”) & the 1001 version of “Amazing Grace”.
September 27, 2018 @ 5:03 am
Really looking forward to this! Sonya Isaacs is the stuff, voice of an angel.
September 27, 2018 @ 3:32 am
These tracks are pretty damn good. I felt the crunchy guitar solo on “Best Years of my Life” took me out of the song a bit, and felt out of place. But great songwriting and singing by these ladies!
September 27, 2018 @ 5:36 am
I love when artists release announce the release date of their albums before songs are sent to radio. It kinda has a feel of “I’m releasing the album irrespective of how radio treats the single”. Then again radio has never really embraced them.
November 2 seems pretty stacked to me with them and Rosanne Cash (also Randy Houser) releasing the same day.
September 27, 2018 @ 6:01 am
Way CooL! I can’t wait to buy this album (CD) as I am a Pistol Annies fan.
September 27, 2018 @ 6:37 am
I love the Pistol Annies, and I loved the first two albums. I have listened to these tracks, and I really enjoy them a lot. I wish radio would play them, but I don’t think they will. This is why I have a love/hate relationship with radio in general.
Here is why I think radio will not play them:
Interstate Gospel: They will say that our audience doesn’t really like country gospel music, and this is too Gospel.
Got My Name Changed Back: This is to hootenanny for country radio.
Best Years of my Life: They will have a problem with the lyric recreational purposes, an itching to get high.
All the reasons why Country radio won’t play these songs are all the reasons why I like them.
September 27, 2018 @ 6:57 am
On initial listen, all three of these songs to me sound better than anything on Annie Up. Encouraging.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:09 am
Beautiful voices making beautiful country music. Can’t wait for album release, Nov.2. Especially love “Best Years Of My Life”.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:10 am
What I liked about these girls is that the music breathes, they keep everything subtle and give every part of the music its own space. you can hear each part fit together and nothing drowns out anything. and they bother with differing dynamics and just the sonic variety and seamlessness on each individual track is an audiophiles dream come true.
And forget whether or not Miranda is bashing Blake, I’M still bashing Blake. Long Live us old farts and jackasses, we will never forget!
THIS is what I wish more of were being produced.
It’s MATURE music, by mature people, and its not just stupid twenty somethings making stupid music for other stupid twenty somethings. Its about real issues that I can relate to and not just an endless college fantasy!
I wish all the other “Country” singers would take note!
September 27, 2018 @ 7:11 am
Nice!! Not even sure I could pick a favorite, I love all three tracks. Maybe “Best Years of My Life”? Love the lyrics to that one. But the other two are super catchy. If the rest of the album is as good as these three tracks, this might be my favorite Pistols release.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:45 am
I’m excited about the new album and enjoying the new tracks. I hate how all the Miranda drama detracts from how talented all three of these women are. “Best Years of My Life” is the best out of the batch, but I like all three.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:51 am
I love Miranda and the Pistol Annie’s !!! You have done it again put y’all’s real feeling out there for the world to share !!!! Out standing Lady’s can’t wait to buy the CD…… I hope Shelton’s hearts still hurts for loosing such a Classy Woman like Miranda Lambert……he has become the looser and you are the winner, there’s someone special waiting for you down the road sweetie keep your faith, Shelton lost the best love and woman of his life and God will bless you and give you a real marriage and love keep your faith !!!! Love you girls !!!!
September 27, 2018 @ 12:10 pm
For f**k sake Nancy. Give it up. It’s been 3 years. 2 other relationships. East is her ex too. Her PR team is counting on fans like you to latch onto Shelton. Read Trigger’s excellent review of the songs. Typical country fare. So if you believe it literally then “broke his heart and took his money “. Come on. Enough.
September 27, 2018 @ 7:56 am
Good stuff…hope it gets some radio play.
September 27, 2018 @ 8:07 am
Interstate Gospel is a killer, but radio would not touch it. Doubt any of the 3 see the light of day from radio. Too bad, all 3 are very good.
September 27, 2018 @ 9:10 am
I’m a Miranda fan but none of these tracks do much for me . I’ll want to hear more of this record. I don’t hear a ‘ single ‘ , but that’s saying nothing in these times . Very little mainstream radio stuff sounds like singles to me either .
And 14 TRACKS ?……hmmmm .
September 27, 2018 @ 5:50 pm
I’ve read your comments Albert that show you are knowledgeable about Music. Of course a lot of this is based on opinion also. I don’t get what you are saying about the number of tracks……Are you against it being that many? As a fan who buys Albums I am glad an Artist that I like includes as many tracks as possible on them. It seems that 11 has become a standard amount across all Music Genres these years. I’m always noticing how many tracks, esp. glad when it is any amt over that number. It also can show, I think, a talented/prolific songwriter, who always seems to have more, or much more, than that standard number of 11.
September 29, 2018 @ 8:25 pm
Nan ….its not so much that I’m against the number of tracks. I understand that as a fan you’ll take all you can get from an artist . What I’m saying is :
If an artist has 20 songs ready to go there are probably 10-12 GOOD ones that MOST listeners would agree on .. ( MOST ) and , if they’re lucky they may have one , maybe two GREAT ones . I’m talking from a SONG perspective now . There are just so , so many songs released today from SO many artists and most of them are NOT very good …they are generic , often just trend-chasing cliche and mostly forgettable …no matter the artist it seems .
I think that if you want to stand out from the herd in that respect , put your best 10 songs out there on a record …the cream of the crop . Keep the quality of YOUR output as high as you possibly can for your fan base . The listening public doesn’t need more songs….they need more QUALITY songs. Radio won’t play them…most won’t get played in a concert or if so then maybe once .
I love Miranda but I can only appreciate about half of her last double record set . We have PLENTY of songs coming a us . I want to hear the 10 BEST an artist can give us .
September 30, 2018 @ 3:22 pm
Thanks for responding. I see what you’re saying–never heard anyone have that opinion before, that’s what is so nice about this Site. I guess as a fan, and with an Artist I like/trust, I do prefer as many tracks as possible, (assuming they are not adding them unless all considered as good). I’ve had a different opinion, that with the lower amt of 10-11, they haven’t given fans as much as they could, esp if the Artist has taken time between Albums. As a fan I expect more, then. To your point, though, if it means the other tracks are not as good, not as much attn. given, I’d rather there be less.
I read your comment on another article that you are a fan of Josh Groban (!) —I consider his voice a ‘Gift to Humanity’.
September 30, 2018 @ 7:31 pm
Groban : I wholeheartedly agree ..his voice is an undeniable ”gift to humanity” indeed , Nan. It is effortlessly moving .
And , to the extent that we can REALLY know any celebrity …particularly very successful ones , he comes across as a genuinely lovely human being who seems as grateful for that gift and his blessings as we are. I am so happy that he doesn’t feel he need to waste his talents on trite fluff .
September 27, 2018 @ 9:46 am
IMO, they’re better together than individually. And that’s saying something.
The songwriting, the harmony, the attitude- it’s all there!
September 27, 2018 @ 9:59 am
Welcome back! Love “Got My Name Changed Back”. Killer! All are pretty cool though.
Not to geek out, but others have mentioned it. This is an example of some really cool production. Great separation of instruments and the tones are ace. Everything sounds real, almost like you’re at a great sounding show. Did they do this with Dave Cobb? This sounds clearer than his production touch.
September 27, 2018 @ 10:43 am
The songs are great. Album already pre-ordered. I have been waiting a LONG time for this. Couldn’t be happier!
September 27, 2018 @ 11:54 am
Got to say I was not impressed with these 3 songs. At all. And I own their other albums. Hopefully other songs will be better. But, sigh, here we go again with dragging Shelton into it. Ang has already said that song is not about anyone in the band. And for what it’s worth Anderson East is Miranda’s most recent ex. I don’t count Evan. So i agree with Trig. The album is by all 3 women. And so far sound like something they would have written in the past.
September 27, 2018 @ 1:35 pm
Same lyrics. Same sound. Same everything we’ve heard from them before.
Nothing different.
But it may be interesting. It may be toe-tapping. But are the songs posted above anything different from what we’ve heard before? No. They are not.
I’ll still listen, but I’m not inspired.
September 27, 2018 @ 2:25 pm
Off topic – but I recently interviewed Dustin Lynch for my upcoming podcast – and the guy is a total douche. He snapped at me & left after I asked him a few questions. One of those questions was “do you feel like your new music is trailing away from traditional and going more pop, since Cowboy and Angels is quite different from your newer songs”
That was my question to him & he flipped- cursed at me & left. We were only 6 minutes into the podcast. I’m tempted to release the podcast still – so you can hear him curse and flip and all.
Did I cross a fine line here? was it rude to ask that?
September 27, 2018 @ 2:32 pm
I think that’s a question that everyone needs to be asked, “are you moving away from what is normally considered Country Music? do you consider yourself a Country Artist? are you worried about the moving away from the genre’s roots?”
everyone has to answer those.
And I think you should release it. make it clear that the traditionalists won’t be silenced.
September 27, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
His reps later contacted me & said not to release it… So I don’t think I will. It’s nasty.
But maybe he was fed up with other things at the moment and went off on me for no real reason. I don’t want his reps or management to sue or get angry at me.
September 27, 2018 @ 6:02 pm
I think you should release it anyway, or at least write a piece covering it and release that. OR require a followup interview and ask the questions.
This is what we’re fighting against, the powers that be trying to cover Country up and silence the truth
September 27, 2018 @ 7:01 pm
Trigger has my blessing if he wanted to write an article on this site about it.. Not much newsworthy though.. Dustin just cursed at me. Said it was a ridiculous question to ask. He interestingly stated in a rage that he “deserved the opry invite”. I never even talked about the opry. He might of thought I asked that question as a dig at his invitation… Literally the name of my podcast has “traditionalist” in it..
September 27, 2018 @ 6:21 pm
I’m curious as to what grounds they would have to ask you not to air it. He agreed to the interview knowing it was going to be aired; if he didn’t want to come out looking bad, he shouldn’t have said anything that reflected poorly upon him.
Of course, I have absolutely zero experience in this sort of stuff, so I could be (probably am) way out of my depth.
September 27, 2018 @ 6:36 pm
I 100,% could air it… I might still. But we are a new podcast, literally Dustin was my first guest. I have Scotty Mccreery next as he is performing at the local Durham Fair in Connecticut, my home state.
I just don’t want to be boycotted by other artists. If I release a 6 minute podcast… it would look like I was blackmailing Dustin or something. Not how I want my first show to go.
Maybe in the future…?
We are still working on marketing the podcast. It’s called “Howdy Arnold and the Traditionalists” fyi 🙂
September 27, 2018 @ 7:38 pm
Arnold:
I think the best thing to do would be to interview each new artist, ask each of them questions about modern vs classic Country, but maybe not air those parts of the interviews right away, and instead air them all together as part of a special. Obviously as fans of Country Music we’ve a right to know if our modern and emerging singers actually value our genre and its heritage
September 27, 2018 @ 8:03 pm
Hey Arnold, that’s completely understandable, and that’s kind of what I figured. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
September 27, 2018 @ 8:06 pm
Thanks @FuzzyShirts – we are planning to launch our podcast mid-October/early November. We literally are starting from the bottom , we don’t have many country artists connections lol. Just trying to get a hold of any artist that comes to Connecticut. Scotty Mccreery is all we have so far locked down. And the disaster that was Dustin. We will be launching a twitter and other social media platforms soon. Hope you enjoy Howdy Arnold and the Traditionalists soon!!!
September 27, 2018 @ 5:24 pm
I didn’t realize their prior 2 albums went to #1 and #2—it would be great to see this one reach the top!
I like so much that these gals are such talented songwriters. Angaleena had said since they were last together as a group, they had 2 marriages, 2 divorces between them…..”We’ve definitely been thru some stuff…..” And as true songwriters seem to do, they put what they’ve lived thru on paper to share with us all.
Glad it was mentioned in this article, about Miranda’s Hall of fame Concerts. What a treat for that audience, for them to hear the ‘Ones that Got Away’, and all of the guests that appeared.
One article I read about it, said that during the show, not one person budged, like they were hanging on her every note. She does seem to have an innate ability to connect with an audience, and no flash, nothing fancy needed, just her and her guitar and the ‘True Artist’ that she is.