[Cover photo credit to Kai Lendzion]

Jett Holden has announced the October 4, 2024 release of his debut album The Phoenix as the first official release on Black Opry Records. Launched in partnership with Thirty Tigers, the new label continues the mission of The Black Opry, an organization and touring collective focused on celebrating and supporting Black Roots and Country artists.

Along with the announcement, Jett has shared the album’s debut single “Backwood Proclamation,” a declaration of love that was co-written with his friend and fellow queer singer-songwriter Roger Dale Locklear. The song features Charlie Worsham and John Osborne on electric guitar.  

Holden says:

‘Backwood Proclamation’ was co-written with my friend Roger Dale Locklear. We were playing a line of Mother’s Day shows in North Carolina. One morning, he’d gone out to the dollar store and I got the idea for a song about loving someone who feels like home whenever they’re around. I sent him the first verse and chorus, he texted me back the rest of the song, and I put it to music. By the time he got back to the house, the song was done.

On Charlie Worsham and John Osborne’s contribution, he adds:

When this song came together and these people I’ve looked up to are jumping onto the track, it’s validating. It feels like they’re giving credibility to a song written by two queer people. It feels so good.

Recorded at Cartoon Moon Recording Studio in East Nashville, The Phoenix was produced by CMA and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Will Hoge, who asked Jett Holden to collaborate on the record after The Black Opry opened for him at Nashville’s 3rd and Lindsley.

Holden, who had nearly left music when The Black Opry reached out to him, says:

The title The Phoenix represents the resurrection of my career. When Holly found me, when The Black Opry found me, I had quit music. I was done. This whole process pulled me back into music. Everything feels possible now.