It’s not easy for anyone to break into Music City and carve a name out for themselves, especially if you are an actor, or a dancer, wanting to make your artistry heard for the first time and have people take you seriously. Well, it just so happens that actor Alexander Ludwig and his music look promising within the new line of Country newcomers, with songs like “Let Me Be Your Whiskey”. Within the past year, he signed a major label with Broken Bow Row Records (home to Jason Aldean, Chase Rice, Tyler Farr, Dustin Lynch, to name a few) released his self-titled debut EP. That’s why I call him “Nashville’s Newbie”. Personally, his tone reminds me a lot of a mix between Kenny Chesney & Texas Country singer Kyle Park. His music inspirations in Country Music growing up were Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, and Jason Aldean
Now, his debut full-length album Highway 99 will release later this Summer on August 25th, with fans already getting the opportunity to pre-add his album to their playlists and popular streaming services. He talks about where the title for the album Highway 99 originated from, in an interview with Taste of Country, “Highway 99 is a road in Canada that I grew up driving since I was a kid from Vancouver to Whistler Mountain. All my favorite memories as a child were spent in the mountains in Whistler in my family’s cabin. That’s where I learned to play guitar, and that’s where I wrote my first songs”. Ludwig has been writing songs since he was 12. He goes on to quote about his place in Nashville; “Country Music has always been a part of me. It’s just that nobody knew I guess. Growing up, I’ve always been writing music and playing in little bars all over town. Once I finished Vikings, I had time on my hands and I started making trips to Nashville, getting in all the rooms and meeting all the right people”.
On his debut Highway 99, Ludwig met with some of Nashville’s best songwriters to help pen his first album.. David Lee Murphy (“Love Today”, “Sunset Town”), Jonathan Singleton (“Malibu Blue”), and Eric Arjes (“How It Rolls”), to name a few. However, Ludwig had the opportunity that many first time artists in Nashville with major labels don’t get, to pen his first song “Summer Crazy” for his first album. Writers Justin Williams, Kurt Allison, & Tully Kennedy. Ludwig quotes, “This song [‘Summer Crazy’], to me, was one of the first times I went, ‘Holy shit, this is so good!’. It’s another moment in time that just drops you right into Summer, especially right now, I feel like it couldn’t be coming out at a more important time. I miss these Summer anthems, and I can’t wait for people to hear this one”.
So far, my favorite song rock outs are “How It Rolls”, “Let Me Be Your Whiskey”, “Malibu Blue”, “Faded On Me”, “Summer Crazy”, and “Love Today”. Alexander Ludwig looks like an artist that has a very bright future ahead of him, and is already getting ready to play with the big timers in Country, as he performs at Nashville’s biggest event of the Summer, CMA Festival 2022.
You can pre-save Alexander’s Highway 99 on any streaming platform today. The album releases everywhere music is sold on August 25th.
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