Album Premiere: Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Hard Times Are Relative

Jason Boland and the Stragglers, purveyors of red dirt country music for nearly two decades, are poised to release their latest album, Hard Times Are Relative, next week.

Below, you can stream the album in its entirety.

The album — the band’s ninth overall — was recorded in Wimberley, Texas. It features long-time members Grant Tracy on bass; Brad Rice on drums; Nick Worley on fiddle, mandolin, and harmonies; and Cody Angel on guitar and pedal steel.

The album addresses the passage of time, and how the past can be a passageway to new frontiers in the present-day.

“We don’t want to lose the chili recipes and the Schroeder Halls because people are moving on to faster, louder, and newer,” Boland said in a statement. “But instead of just hemming and hawing, remembering what’s old and gone, we want to have new experiences within those frameworks — make memories with what’s left of the good stuff.”

“I’m fascinated with the concept of template and color,” he added. “Multiple hues used on our common human foundations. How different experiences can happen through the same framework. As we all travel along, the past becomes a highway that connects us to new places, ideas, and flavors.”