We already know that Gabby Barrett‘s sophomore Chapter & Verse album will have a few collaborations on it, but there won’t be any duets of love songs with her and another male artist, unless it’s her husband, Cade Foehner. The American Idol alum recently revealed why she has never released a duet with another male artist — and why she likely never, ever will.
“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 reasoning for not singing with anyone but Foehner is two-fold. Not only does she not want to have to do all the interviews and performances that accompany a duet with another successful artist, but she also doesn’t want to do anything that would make Foehner, who also competed on Idol, uneasy.
“If I’m singing with another man, is that going to make my husband uncomfortable?” Barrett reflected. “Probably. And I respect him and love him so much that I’m not going to jeopardize my marriage to do a duet with somebody. I care about this a lot more.”
The “Glory Days” singer, who is currently expecting the couple’s third child, feels firm enough in her faith to not worry about the opinions of others.
“I’m thankful for that in this industry,” Barrett added. “It would be so difficult if [my faith] was just like a wavering thing all the time. But He’s given me the spirit, and it’s really helped me to be very firm, no matter what the push is from outside industry and outside people.”
Barrett’s debut Goldmine album came out in June of 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Between the COVID-19 restrictions, and her newness to the country music scene, not to mention her youth, the now-23-year-old says she feels like Chapter & Verse is a much better representation of who she is, as an artist and a person.
“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.”
Chapter & Verse will be released on February 2. Barrett already released “Cowboy Back” and “Growin’ Up Raising You” from the record. She previously revealed that the project includes a song written by Luke Combs, and a song she wrote and performs with Miranda Lambert. Find music and tour dates at GabbyBarrett.com.