Today marks the sought-after release of Chapter & Verse – the boldly ambitious and beautifully-realized album from Warner Music Nashville’s MULTI-PLATINUM star Gabby Barrett. A major leap forward for the 23-year-old singer-songwriter, Barrett’s sophomore LP arrives as an autobiographical tour-de-force that more than fulfills the immense promise of her PLATINUM-certified, history-making, hit-stacked debut Goldmine. Available everywhere, listen here.
In an extraordinary evolution of Goldmine – a 2020 release that came to life during lockdown and delivered smash singles like the 7X PLATINUM #1 “I Hope” – Barrett stepped into the studio for the very first time in the making of Chapter & Verse and co-produced the full album alongside GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter-producer Ross Copperman. As she claimed a whole new level of creative control, Barrett co-wrote nine of the 14 songs, and ultimately dreamed up a high-concept yet emotionally candid body of work, brightening every moment with her soul-stirring vocal. With its title nodding to the chapters and verses within each book of the Bible, the result is a deeply moving and exquisitely detailed portrait of her experience as a wife, mother, and woman of faith.
Mainly recorded at Nashville’s iconic Blackbird Studio, Chapter & Verse took shape with a stellar lineup of musicians who helped craft the album’s lush and timeless sound – an element informed by Barrett’s decision to fully lean into her Country roots. In addition to co-writing with luminaries like the iconic Miranda Lambert, Barrett teamed up with Country superstar Luke Combs on “Dance Like No One’s Watching” (a track she teased to overwhelming response in an Instagram post last year). Laced with tender pedal steel tones, the nostalgia-tinged stunner speaks to the enduring sustenance of a father’s love and the indelible wisdom passed from parent-to-child (from the chorus: “And he said dance like no one’s watching / Whatever you do / And if life gives you love, fall in / But always be you”). After co-writing “Dance Like No One’s Watching” with Emily Weisband and James McNair, Combs handed the song off to Barrett and lent his unforgettably warm background vocals to the track. “I grew up being a daddy’s girl, and now I get to watch my husband and daughter have that father-daughter bond,” says Barrett. “That’s just irreplaceable.” Listen to “Dance Like No One’s Watching” here.
Showing her incredible range as a songwriter and vocalist, Chapter & Verse encompasses everything from feel-good anthems to tearful piano ballads, and full-hearted love songs exploring the more nuanced and complex dimensions of long-lasting romance. Along with the previously released songs “Cowboy Back,” “Growin’ Up Raising You,” and “You’re My Texas,” the album includes Barrett’s current single “Glory Days” – a heart-thumping ode to living in the moment and appreciating the lovely simplicity of everyday life. Now Top 20-and-climbing at US Country radio, “Glory Days” marked her second time in the coveted most-added position with 77 first-week stations (the most first-week adds for a female artist in the genre in 14 months). That triumph is proving to be par for the course for Barrett, whose record-breaking achievements with Goldmine included earning the most first-week debut album streams of any Country act in history.
Opening on “The Chapter” (a soaring and soulful anthem that muses on the ups-and-downs of early adulthood), Chapter & Verse closes out with “The Verse: Doxology (Amen)” (a breathtaking a cappella rendition of one of Barrett’s most cherished hymns, featuring singer-songwriter Phil Wickham). All throughout Chapter & Verse, Barrett infuses her songs with equal parts honesty, grace, and warmhearted perspective — and, in turn, fully affirms her status as one of the most formidable young talents in Country music today.
GABBY BARRETT’S CHAPTER & VERSE TRACK LIST
1. “The Chapter” (Gabby Barrett, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite, Hillary Lindsey)
2. “Cowboy Back” (Gabby Barrett, Jon Nite, Jesse Frasure)
3. “Dance Like No One’s Watching” (Emily Weisband, James McNair, Luke Combs)
4. “Glory Days” (Gabby Barrett, James McNair, Emily Weisband, Seth Mosley)
5. “Had It All” (Gabby Barrett, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite, Hillary Lindsey)
6. “Hard To Read” (Gabby Barrett, Josh Thompson, Jon Nite)
7. “Growin’ Up Raising You” (Gabby Barrett, Jon Nite, Zach Kale, Jimmy Robbins)
8. “Off The Highway” (Gabby Barrett, James McNair, Emily Weisband, Seth Mosley)
9. “You’re My Texas” (Gabby Barrett, Miranda Lambert, Hillary Lindsey)
10. “Jesus On A Train” (Gabby Barrett, Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally)
11. “Grow Apart” (Emily Weisband, Lydia Vaughan, Sam Bergeson)
12. “God, Money & Love” (Lori McKenna, Corey Crowder, Phil Barton)
13. “All Of My Life” (Jon Nite, Jordan Reynolds, Josh Miller)
14. “The Verse: Doxology (Amen) (Feat. Phil Wickham)” (Phil Wickham, Thomas Ken, Louis Bourgeois)
Produced by Ross Copperman and Gabby Barrett
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| PHOTO CREDIT: ROBBY KLEIN |
