Drivin N Cryin’s Kevn Kinney to Release Introspective Solo Album, ‘Think About It’

Drivin N Cryin frontman Kevn Kinney is releasing his first solo album in a decade – and he called on a group of famous friends to help.

On Think About It, Kinney collaborates with R.E.M. co-founders, guitarist Peter Buck and drummer Bill Berry, the Drive-By Truckers drummer Brad Morgan, David Barbe, formerly the bassist for Sugar, and Drivin N Cryin bandmate Laur Joamets. The new project was inspired by what Kinney learned in solitude during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the passing of his friend Col. Bruce Hampton, a fixture in the Atlanta music scene where Drivin N Cryin was founded.

Kinney traveled up the road to Athens, Georgia, for his new solo endeavor. The project is described as a blend of Americana, folk, jazz, and alt-country where he tributes to everyone from truck drivers to circus performers while also offering his perspective on the modern era and instant gratification culture.

Alongside original titles “Another Scarlet Butterfly,” “Stop Look Listen Think,” “ShapeShifterGrifter” and others, the album also features a re-imagination of Drivin N Cryin’s “The Innocent.” Think About It will be released on December 9. The project marks Kinney’s 10th solo album following 2012’s A Good Country Mile, a collaboration with The Golden Palominos.

“It’s a very introspective and lonely record, and a very personal record for me,” Kinney says in a press statement. “Really, it’s a record for people to listen to by themselves. There’s a lot of longing and thinking in it. I grew up in a version of America and the world before even answering machines or Star 69. The album expresses this desire to have time to actually ponder and reflect—like, give me a minute, let me think about it.”

The album will also be available on vinyl, Kinney’s first since MacDougal Blues, his debut solo album that was released in 1990.

Photo Courtesy of Kevn Kinney