Gabby Barrett just released a new song from her next record. The American Idol alum dropped “You’re My Texas.” The song is from her sophomore Chapter & Verse album, scheduled to be released on February 2.
The song, which says in part, “You’re my home away from home / You’re blue bonnets growing wild / Boy, no matter where I roam / You’re my Nacogdoches sky / Where I hang my hat when I get restless / You’re my Texas,” is likely an ode to her husband, Cade Foehner. Barrett recently revealed that it is because of their relationship that she refuses to duet with another male artist, besides Foehenr.
“There’s been large song opportunities that have come in for me to do or be a part of, and [that’s] between myself and my husband,” Barrett told Shay Mooney’s wife, Hannah, on the Unexpected with Hannah Love podcast (via CMT). “I respect him a ton, and I listen to what he has to say, and I think he deserves that. The Bible talks about us doing that for our husbands. There have been songs that are just not appropriate to sing wording-wise … that are really intimate.”
Barret’s debut album, Goldmine, was released in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as she readies her sophomore record, the Pennsylvania native is eager to share more of who she is, as a performer, songwriter and person, with the songs on her next record.
“This one now, getting to know about myself and what I want to talk about with this next album, was fun to figure out and really dial down,” Barrett said at a recent media event. “I feel like there’s more consistency with this coming album than the first one, and definitely leans more in the country roots. So all that to say, it’s been really fun getting to create this body of work. And I really did have a specific vision for it, and just what life has looked like for me the past couple of years. So it’s fun to explain that to everybody.”
Barrett also honors Foehner with “Cowboy Back,” another song from Chapter & Verse that Barrett released last fall.
“I was inspired by my wonderful husband, a Texan, when I was writing this one,” Barrett said of the song. “‘Cowboy Back’ is all about appreciating the hard-working guys out there with strong values – those who are authentically ‘country.’”
Barrett currently has a Top 25 hit with “Glory Days,” the debut single from her next project.
“I wrote it with a group of friends, and we were just kind of talking about my life,” Barrett told Everything Nash. “I mean, I’ve lived a lot of life in a short amount of years, I would say. I have a husband, I’ve been married for four years, and I’m only 23. I have two children. I’ve done a lot of things in music, and in country music. I’ve been to awards shows. There are just a lot of lovely things that have happened, and I’m living in my glory days right now, I think.”
Find all of Barrett’s music at GabbyBarrett.com.