Buddy Jewell has been making music for the past 20 years, but he isn’t afraid to keep trying something new. The 59-year-old is back with a brand-new album, Bluebonnet Highway, a 15-track record of both new songs and new versions of some of his former songs, all a little bit country, and a little bit Americana, but with a bluegrass feel that Buddy had never fully done, until now. Although the songs on Bluebonnet Highway sound like Buddy has been performing bluegrass his entire life, he admits he was initially cautious to explore the genre.

“I was just concerned what people who had been in it for a long time would think about the guy who comes over from country honing in on their territory,” Buddy admitted to Everything Nash. “It’s like when you see people from other genres coming to country music, I know for me, I’d kind of go, ‘OK?’ But once we got to working on the project, and I started hearing some of the results, I’m like, ‘You know what? This is really cool. I had a lot of fun making it; it does feel different to me.”

Buddy wrote five of the 15 songs on Bluebonnet Highway, which includes his debut single, “Help Pour Out the Rain.”

“‘Help Pour Out the Rain’ was my first hit, when I won Nashville Star. We also did a bluegrass version of ‘Sweet Southern Comfort.’ I had written a song called ‘Hilbilly Water,’ That was on an album that I put out in 2008, but I thought it went really well with the project, so we ‘grassed’ it up as well,” Buddy said with a laugh. “I wrote a song on there called ‘Willie Gave Up Weed’. And then, my first single, ‘Teardrop in the Gulf of Mexico,’ I wrote with Jerry Salley.”

Buddy is of course home right now, because of COVID-19, but as soon as it is safe to travel, he will be back on the road, performing both in the United States and overseas, as he has done for much of his career.

“I’ve been really blessed, especially the past seven or eight years,” Buddy reflected. “I spent a lot of time in Europe, Scandinavia, and places like that. I tour over there, and I do my fair share of shows over here as well.”

It’s been 17 years since Buddy won Nashville Star, and has managed to stay busy doing nothing but music since then, with no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

“I guess go with the flow or you get lost,” Buddy stated. “So that’s what I’ve done. I’ve always got to continue to make music. If it’s not worth recording, then why do it? I record stuff that appeals to me, and I hope appeals to my fans.”

Bluebonnet Highway was released on Friday, June 26. It is available for purchase at BuddyJewell.com.