Singer, songwriter and musician Ruston Kelly has announced the March 14th, 2025 release of Dirt Emo, Vol. 2. 2019’s Dirt Emo, Vol. 1 became a fan-favorite release. Kelly continues to reimagine the genre with this new collection.

Dirt Emo, Vol. 2 is comprised of five well-known cover tracks, including Kelly’s take on Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” which is out now and features Annie DiRusso.

Kelly explains:

Complicated was always a banger. Especially when you’re an angsty teen at the local swim club, fantasizing a relationship with the lifeguard who’s older than you. You try to impress her by doing a double front flip off the diving board, but you belly flop – and that’s the moment you get her attention.

Released late last year,  Kelly’s cover of Morgan Wallen’s “Sand In My Boots” is also included on Dirt Emo, Vol. 2.

Kelly says of the new collection:

On Dirt Emo, Vol. 2 we went to expand the concept a bit, and include songs that were (in my opinion) emo-adjacent – as well as making it clear that ‘dirt emo’ doesn’t have to be a specific genre, per se, but more a mood or style in which I perform / reinterpret a song. It’s like angsty tumbleweeds or weeping holding a banjo, etcetera.

In celebration of the second volume’s release, Kelly has already sold out two ‘Dirt Emo Nights’ at The Basement East in Nashville on March 10th and 11th, 2025. He will also be playing at Railbird Music Festival in Lexington, KY on May 31st.

Dirt Emo, Vol. 1 featured covers of songs by artists by such as Taylor Swift, Dashboard Confessional, The Carter Family, Wheatus, Saves the Day and Blink 182.