Please join us for Charley Crockett – Age of the Ram Tour on Tuesday, June 30th at the Downtown Billings Skatepark.
ABOUT CHARLEY CROCKETTCharley Crockett spent 15 years positioning himself firmly outside of the cogs and gears that drive the music industry. The road to stardom never interested the San Benito, Texas, native. It was another path, the one forged by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, which captivated Crockett. “What is classified as solid country gold from Willie and Waylon now,” he says, “was absolutely what they saw as disruptive, not country, dangerous, counterculture, whatever you want to call it.” Now, proudly in the crosshairs of those same labels, Crockett is not just in his element, he’s thriving.
The April 3 release of Age of the Ram marks Crockett’s third studio album in just over a year and third with Island Records. The LP completes The Sagebrush Trilogy, joining 2025’s Lonesome Drifter and the Grammy-nominated Dollar a Day records to paint a vivid picture of Crockett’s journey from Texas dreamer, New York street singer, and twice-convicted felon to the belly of the country music beast. Like the previous two, Age of the Ram was produced by Shooter Jennings at the venerable Sunset Sound Studio 3 in Los Angeles.
In Jennings, he found a friend, a peer, and a producer with a grasp on Crockett’s approach that most others missed. “They didn’t have a good handle on how I create and how fast I can move when I’m inspired and the microphones are on,” he says of the traditional music industry.
After threading characters and storylines across the first two albums in the project, Age of the Ram finds Crockett and Jennings pushing their creativity with a concept record echoing the legacies of Nelson, Jennings, and even Gram Parsons. This is Crockett’s vision of hard country music. Guitar and pedal steel are the rule on the album, often accompanied by piano, harmonica and keys. The liner notes set the expectations:
“Age of the Ram is the story of Billy McLane, a small-time cattle rustler who finds himself in the crosshairs of the Santa Fe ring. Pursued by bounty killers working for the shadow syndicate, Billy McLane escapes into the crazy mountains, where the outlaw will become a legend.’
Not until his cover of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Low Down Freedom” does Crockett break from his characters and his concepts to pay tribute to late nights hanging with his producer — and a lyrical cameo by Crockett’s wife and partner, Taylor Grace — on “Me & Shooter.” After all, that’s still his right as the biggest thorn in Music City’s side.
“Any time a Texan goes into the Nashville machine and keeps his faculties,” Crockett says, “that machine’s bound to change.”
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