It’s ben 30 years since Tracy Lawrence burst onto the country music scene with “Sticks and Stones,” his debut single, and the title track of his freshman album. To celebrate, the 53-year-old just announced the release of a three-record compilation, Hindsight 2020, to be released throughout 2021, with 30 songs honoring the country singer’s 30 years of making music.
“It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to be so welcomed by country music fans,” Lawrence says of the project. “As I look back over the past 30 years, I am incredibly humbled to have been able to live my dream and to have so many folks support me along the way. I wanted to celebrate this amazing milestone with fond reflection and embrace the next chapter with the people who made it all happen, my fans.”
Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell will be released on April 23. The ten songs on the first record will be all new material from Lawrence, who wrote nine of the ten tracks.
“I had the idea for this song when we were out in Ventura, California. I was thinking of song titles and this one just kind of came to me,” Lawrence recalls of the title track, which he wrote with hit songwriter, Craig Wiseman. “I really had been wanting to write with Craig Wiseman for a long time and reached out to him. We actually got together and did a Zoom write. I have cut some of his stuff over the years and we had always talked about writing, but this was the first opportunity that we had really taken to sit down and write. I think this thing turned out great and the idea is phenomenal. It’s going to be a fun song to play on the road.”
The past year has been a challenge for Lawrence, as it has been for so many other people, since he could not do his favorite thing, which is perform for his fans. The Texas native says he found solace by leaning on his faith, and those closest to him.
“My family and I have found strength in God,” Lawrence tells Everything Nash. “I know that a lot of people say that’s a cliché, but we have leaned on Him. We’ve leaned on our friends. You can say that that things are different now than they’ve been over the last 30, 40, 50, 60, a hundred years. That’s the thing about life that I’ve learned, is that none of us can do this alone. It takes friends. It takes relationships, because there’s always going to be a time when you’re going to need to lean on somebody, when you’re not strong enough, or in a situation where you can’t take care of yourself.
“It takes a network of people … I’m blessed that I’ve got a support network of great people, and great faith and ministry people,” he continues. “My children are the same way. We’ve learned to lean on each other through all this stuff. It takes relationship. You have to be able to lean on other people.”
Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell is available for purchase at TracyLawrence.com.