The album will be released on February 26
Today (1/15), rising country star Hailey Whitters announces LIVING THE DREAM, a deluxe edition of her critically-acclaimed 2020 album THE DREAM featuring five new songs, will be released on February 26 via Pigasus/Big Loud/Songs & Daughters. The deluxe album finds Whitters moving from fantasizing about "the dream" to actually living it, calling upon her close friends and collaborators Brent Cobb, Jordan Davis, Hillary Lindsey, Little Big Town, Lori McKenna and Trisha Yearwood to contribute vocals to the fresh tracks.
Following the release of her current single "Fillin' My Cup" (feat. Little Big Town), Whitters today dropped "The Ride" (feat. Jordan Davis), the second track to be pulled from LIVING THE DREAM.
"Jordan Davis took me out on his very first headlining tour when I was only an independent artist. I thought that was a bold statement for him to make, and I am very appreciative of him taking a chance on me," explains Whitters. "He's one of the key reasons I've been able to say I'm "living the dream", so when thinking about who to collaborate with on this project, he was a no-brainer. I just love his voice and everything he's bringing to the country format."
"All of the artists featured on this project are responsible for me being able to hang up the apron strings and make music full-time," says Whitters about LIVING THE DREAM. "The royalties from Little Big Town's cut on 'Happy People' helped pay for part of THE DREAM, Brent Cobb and Jordan Davis were two of the first artists to take me on tour, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey are my two songwriting idols and favorite co-creators, and Trisha Yearwood is one of the first artists that got me excited about moving to Nashville and pursuing country music. I wanted to show fans full circle what 'living the dream' looks like for me - from where I started with 'Ten Year Town' to the bucket list moments that have resulted since I released my record, THE DREAM. I felt it was important to show them what can happen when you don't give up on yourself."
Whitters' THE DREAM firmly established the Iowa-born artist as "Nashville's Next Big Star." By the end of 2020, it was hailed as one of the top albums of the year, landing at #1 on both Stereogum's "10 Best Country Albums of 2020" and Garden & Gun's "Best Southern Albums of 2020" lists. THE DREAM was named among the best albums of the year by The Washington Post, Paste Magazine, The Tennessean, and landed at #6 on Rolling Stone's "30 Best Country & Americana Albums of 2020" list, who proclaimed, "The Dream is the type of record that could propel an artist as talented as Whitters in a million different directions." Rolling Stone and American Songwriter also named her single "Janice at the Hotel Bar" one of the best songs of 2020.
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